(Photo courtesy For Haiti with Love)
Haiti (FHWL/MNN) — Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks, to the abundance that is already present.
On this Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. we look at another impact story that describes this perfectly. This time, it comes from For Haiti With Love.
FHWL founder Eva DeHart says a Texan man called them last month after hearing an MNN newscast about their need for burn cream. He’s a regular MNN listener who responds to stories by praying and giving.
After their initial conversation, DeHart ran the man’s credit card number for the amount he specified. It didn’t go through, so she called him. He wanted to make a donation but decided to go about it a more traditional route: traditional, for him, that is. “He went for his recorder, and he recorded the name and the address and promised to send his check.” That’s when DeHart realized this donor was visually impaired. She was humbled even more by his generosity and amazed by God’s hand in the whole situation. “We have a blind man in Texas, calling Florida, to reach out and help burned people in Haiti as an outreach of his own personal ministry.”
(Image of burn cream courtesy Wikipedia)
Here’s why the burn clinic is crucial to For Haiti With Love’s ministry: in July, the staff performed 1,022 services to the most vulnerable. Of those, 492 were a result of burn accidents. And of the burns, 30 were 3 years of age or younger.
DeHart explains that accidents involving hot oil, burning coals, or open flame are common in Cap Haitien: fingers of children too hungry to let the food cool before they start eating, children reaching or touching things when mamma turns her back for just a moment–putting innocent little hands in boiling water, being under a spilled pan of boiling food or water. All of these are accidents that without proper treatment would leave patients dead or scarred for life. But believers gave money for the burn cream, bandages, and tape to keep the burns clean while they heal.
(Photo courtesy For Haiti With Love)
In a land where there are no home medicine cabinets, the burn clinic sees a lot more than burns. 150 of the patients came in with cuts: those treatments vary from cleaning, triple antibiotic cream and a band aid, to cleaning and stitches. But through donor generosity, God has provided a safe place for them to come and receive the care they need, all in the name of Christ.
It’s just a reminder that even with our own challenges, God can touch hearts to reach beyond ourselves to the needs of others.
