Does God Hate Haiti?

Yesterday a parishioner forward a blog post by Canadian pastor Jim Taylor in which he asks, "Dear God, why do you keep picking on Haiti?"  He follows his question with a short summary of all the human-made and natural disasters and dilemmas the island nation has faced.  And they were and are many.  I recently taught a course on the history of Haiti, and there is little question that both nature and foreign powers all seemed and seem to be aligned against the first independent black-led nation in the West.  

I think Taylor's post is theologically tongue-in-cheek.  Certainly I don't believe God is picking on Haiti or any other nation for that matter.  I just don't think that's how Divine Love operates.
But I do think God expects us to reach out in responsible ways to our sisters and brothers in need.  And they don't come any needier, at least not in this hemisphere, than folks in Haiti.  

Responsible ways.  Sustainable ways.  Haitian directed ways.  Too often Americans and other good hearted folks just pour money into a problem without giving it a lot of thought to how it will be spent.  That has happened over and over again in Haiti.  To really make a difference we need to ask questions of the charities and organizations we help fund.  Who will be overseeing the spending of donations?  How will projects and efforts be chosen?  Will folks on the ground be involved in the choosing, especially nationals?  Is the technology to be used appropriate for the location and the people who will be using it?  What plans are being laid for the future?  Is the project sustainable?

No, God isn't picking on Haiti.  God doesn't hate any nation.  But God is expecting us to respond.

(If you want to read Taylor's full post you can find it at http://quixotic.ca)