Opinion: To whom much is given...

Marty Duren is a freelance writer, Southern Baptist minister, entrepreneur and co-author of the book, JOURNEYS: Transitioning Churches to Relevance. These are his reflections of a recent trip to Haiti (reported by the ABP).

Last week I had the opportunity to spend time on a medical mission in Haiti, arriving in the shaken country less than three weeks after the Jan. 12 earthquake. While the United Nations and the Red Cross have a large presence in Port-au-Prince, any kind of national reconstruction will take more than governments, the military or Halliburton can accomplish.

There is not a block in Port-au-Prince without a collapsed building. Not merely damaged, but fully collapsed. My unofficial estimate is 10,000 collapsed buildings in the capital city...

Clean-up is painfully slow. Our team saw no more than four dump-truck loads of rubble being removed over the course of four days, yet saw 25 or more dump trucks sitting idle near the airport. There are simply not enough bulldozers and loaders to keep the trucks working...

Despite news broadcasts to the contrary, there is not a nationwide or even Port-au-Prince-wide shortage of food. If anything, there is more food than the people can consume. Fruit rots at the various markets because there is an oversupply of product and too much competition. It seems as if every other person has a booth or table where fruit or candy is sold. Fresh fruit is piled on top of the rotting fruit while hogs roam freely, eating as much of the rot as they desire.

The problem is distributing the food. Supply chains for getting food to the tent cities are weak. Desperation because of death, no money and no food sets a continual stage for panicked rioting when the United Nations or military personnel finally do arrive. The week before my arrival, a food-distribution attempt spiraled out of control when 200,000 people rushed the trucks -- resulting in the trampling deaths of three people. When our team distributed food in a smaller area the stampeding effect was much the same, though the numbers were smaller. The fear of missing the blessing is a strong motivator for pushing and shoving...

Jesus said in Luke 12:48, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” For Christians the world over, many of whom have been blessed beyond measure, this is a perfect opportunity to help a struggling church.

With the eyes of believers worldwide now drawn to this easily accessible but largely unknown nation, perhaps the church will respond with compassion toward our brothers and sisters in a way that will make a temporal and eternal difference. It would be a shame and, I believe, a sin to allow this time to pass unexplored and unused.

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