A time for every purpose under heaven

I've lived my entire life below the Mason-Dixon line, so I'm not used to a great deal of winter weather. In the towns and cities where I've lived - in Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina - you can usually expect autumn weather to extend to the end of November, with spring picking up sometime in mid-February. The "cold" months of December and January rarely see temperatures in the 30s lasting more than 2 or 3 days in a row.

That changed last weekend. We got about 7.5 inches of snow in Durham, and it is sticking around. Readers from more northern climes might read that sentence with a yawn, but Southern blood tends to be of a thinner sort. The pictures attached to this post are of our house and neighborhood on Saturday morning. It has felt bitterly cold.

It's nice, in a way, to see evidence of that elusive fourth season of the calendar year. It's a reminder that, as Ecclesiastes speaks about so eloquently, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (3:1).

This blog is right at 3 1/2 years old. The writing that I began on it at the same time my wife and I moved to Durham has been profoundly enjoyable, and it has put me in touch with people from all over who I would never have known about otherwise.

But in blogging, too, there are seasons and times. And right now I'm entering a season where I need to turn my attention to some other tasks that will keep me from being able to post as much. I'm not going to shut the blog down, and I may pop up from time to time over the coming months. I do need to back away from writing in this medium as often, as a way of prioritizing my time. So keep me in your reader if you subscribe that way, or just drop by every now and again. I'll let you know when I can start posting again more regularly.

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Note: If you've been following my posts on Haiti, then you ought to take a look at this excellent story in the New York Times that gives some historical perspective on Haiti's struggles.

Sad news from UMCOR

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is now reporting that two mission leaders at the agency have died as a result of injuries sustained in the Haiti earthquake.

Early reports that Sam Dixon and Clint Rabb had been rescued and were safe were apparently premature. Both men were removed from the rubble of the Hotel Montana. But follow-up reports indicate that UMCOR head Sam Dixon had passed away before he could be pulled out of the collapsed hotel. And while Clint Rabb was successfully rescued and airlifted to Miami, he died from injuries sustained in the earthquake in a hospital there.

The UMCOR website has posted stories about the lives and ministries of both men. You can find the story on Sam Dixon here. The story on Clint Rabb is at this link.

The devastation in Haiti has been disheartening to watch on television and the Internet. Receiving word that two Methodist pastors have been killed brings the sense of loss home in a certain way. But the deaths of Dixon and Rabb should also serve as witnesses to the gospel. Both men gave their lives in service to Jesus Christ, and because of that their ministry will continue to echo throughout the Church as signs of the coming kingdom.

Additional links:
-- Online site to donate to UMCOR relief efforts in Haiti

-- NY Times story in the role of faith in sustaining Haitian earthquake survivors

-- Recent update by the NY Times on continuing rescue and relief efforts

Help for Haiti

The stories about Haiti's earthquake paint a dire picture of what the Haitian people are facing. Some accounts speculate that perhaps 100,000 people have lost their lives. As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti isn't well equipped to cope with the fallout from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck two days ago.

The most recent reports point out that, added to the challenge of finding survivors and getting food and water where it is needed, there is also the looming problem of untreated disease that could claim many more lives if proper nutrition and medical treatment are not available.

I traveled to Haiti on two different occasions about a decade ago to work with the Christian Mission of Pignon in the small town of Pignon on Haiti's north central plateau. The country I experienced was remarkably lacking in basic infrastructure. And with no resources to fall back on in times of emergency such as this, the suffering of Haiti's people will only be multiplied.

The United Methodist Church is gearing up to respond in anyway it can. I want to invite you to prayerfully consider making a contribution to the relief efforts in Haiti. The United Methodist Committee on Relief - or UMCOR - is already working to get needed supplies into the country. UMCOR has got a special advance fund set up to provide Haiti with immediate crisis relief. You can give an offering via UMCOR's online giving service at this link.

For anyone reading this post in the Durham, North Carolina, area, you should be aware that Epworth United Methodist Church has volunteered to serve as a clearing station for emergency relief supplies that will be sent to the MERCI station at Goldsboro this weekend. The specific supplies that are needed right now are related to triage care, so you'll need to contact the church to get that list before you start gathering donations. Epworth UMC is located at 4002 Hope Valley Road in Durham, and you can contact the church during the day by calling 919-489-6557. The church is asking that donations be brought either during normal business hours on Friday or during the morning on Sunday.

Other links:
-- Link to Haiti donation site for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

-- Link to Haiti donation site for the American Red Cross

-- Listing of UMCOR stories on the Haiti earthquake

-- Listing of news stores and blog posts at the main UMC website

-- Op/ed article on the earthquake disaster by Tracy Kidder, the author of an excellent book on Dr. Paul Farmer's work in Haiti entitled, Mountains Beyond Mountains

-- Link to the homepage of Partners in Health, which is the organization probably doing the best healthcare work in Haiti. Provides a way to donate to earthquake relief through PIH on the site