Haiti in perspective.....to us

It has often been asked by folks attempting to understanding a situation that things be put into a proper perspective. This is not always the easiest task but nevertheless it is a tool that helps individuals to grasp a true picture. The death toll in Haiti is now estimated to be at 150,000 individuals. This death toll number includes children and adults killed by or deaths that are the results of the earthquake that occurred on January 12, 2010.
To understand the impact of these deaths just imagine if everyone in the following counties where suddenly killed. Bell 29,055; Knox 32,810; Whitley 38,668; Laurel County 57,586; Harlan 30,783; Total 158,119 deaths! If this happened here at home I believe it is clear the ciaos that we would leave behind. Just imagine no ambulances to come to our aid, no law enforcement officers to help secure things, and no medical services because there was no place safe to house those injured and no medical professional to render aid because there too were killed. No local church pastor’s or staff members to pray with us, no local elected officials coming out to survey damages, and those that survived find themselves at the total mercy of assistance from those in our surrounding counties. Lee County, VA has a population of 23,448 they could help some, Clairborne, TN has a population of 31,461 and they could help a little more. Moving north looking to Madison with 82,192 residents they could help and our best resource would be Fayette County with a population of 282,114. Given these facts, their close location to us would help in response time, but still they would need time to gather the necessaries required just to come to our aid.
Imagine all that to be true and think how it must be in Haiti facing the number of the dead and the condition they now find themselves in because of this earthquake. It seems hopeless right, and if that status isn’t correct, then we could certainly agree it would seem overwhelming for sure. Thinking about these conditions let’s just consider the added fact that you were the only surviving family member of your entire family, and you had no immediate cash or items of monetary value to sell or trade for goods or services. These conditions are hypothec for us today here in Southeastern Kentucky, but this is not a made up scenario for the people of Haiti, it’s reality.
We are thousands of miles away but we can help. If this type of catastrophic event happened here Southeastern Kentucky we would expect help from our neighbors and it is logical for us to understand the task would be too enormous for them alone. We would pray the State of Tennessee came to our aid, and that the Commonwealth of Virginia step up to send aid through the Cumberland Gap to assist us in our great hour of need. I cannot imagine being a Christian and not thinking I too must act. The time is now.

Until then