Please pray...

for the people living in those parts of Haiti hit by yesterday's earthquake.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, a place that has experienced political turmoil and violence for decades.

Please ask God to help Haitians and agencies and groups, including many churches, that will provide aid, so that life there can be rebuilt and strengthened.

Please particularly pray for the witness of the whole Christian Church there as it brings both material aid and the more significant comfort and hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ to the people.

A colleague of mine, who serves on the staff of a Lutheran congregation in Columbus, is deployed full-time in Haiti with his wife. I received a blast-email from him yesterday, assuring all of us that he, his wife, and the people of the community he serves there are fine, that the earthquake had hit a different part of the country. I'm sure that he and Upper Arlington Lutheran Church, through which he has been called to Haiti, will be doing a lot to address this tragedy.

Please keep Pastor David Mann, his wife Pam, and the people of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in your prayers as they care for the many needs of the Haitian people.