Buckets of Hope

Wow! It's been a loooooonng time since I've written, and although I've neglected my blog recently, I'm turning to it now to get the message out about a program called "Buckets of Hope." Read on...

By now we all know about the devastation in Haiti... the massive earthquake and the huge aftershocks have left most of the country in turmoil. Although the physical damage is extensive, the emotional damage could last a lifetime for many. While the country is healing, they need help... not from people with money (although that DOES help)... but from people with a compassionate heart.

I feel like I might should include a bit of a qualifier here, before I get to my blog. I DO NOT think it is an OBLIGATION that the people of the United States provide aid to Haiti. There are some of you out there, and I do not judge you if you are one of these people... but there are some of you who will read this and will be condescending at the very thought that anyone would ask you to help someone less fortunate than you. There are some of you who will read this and will truly believe with all your heart that you aren't going to help the people of Haiti - by all regards a 3rd world country - because you feel like they should be smart enough and strong enough to help themselves. If you happen to be one of those people, PLEASE read no further.

I sometimes have a hard time with the grace of God. (I know that statement may seem unrelated, but stay with me here because it really is important.) I have a hard time accepting God's grace into my life. I have a hard time admitting that I might need the help of someone infinitely wiser than me. I want to GIVE charity... not BE charity. But the problem with this is that at some point in my life, I had to come to the conclusion that I am God's charity case. And it's humiliating. And I use that word - humiliating - purposefully. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines humiliating as "extremely destructive to one's self-respect or dignity." And that's SO TRUE. But I had to be humiliated to realize that my own thoughts of myself weren't nearly as good as the thoughts that God thinks about me. And the moment that I chose to believe what He thinks about me rather than what I think about myself, I had to accept God's charity. I needed him to completely save my life.

So this post is meant for those of you who are, like me, living on God's charity...

The "Buckets of Hope" ministry came out of the Haiti Response Partnership between the Florida Baptist Convention, the International Mission Board, the Baptist Global Response, and the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Whether or not you're a baptist... or whether or not you agree with baptists... this program has been designed to provide relief to a group of people who desperately need God's charity... and He tells us in Matthew 25:45 that whatever we do for the least of these - for those whose standard of living is so far beneath us that we sometimes wonder how they even exist... for those who have not yet discovered the strength or the ambition or the creativity to make a life comparable to our own - whatever we do for them, we do for Him.

A "Bucket of Hope" is a five-gallon plastic bucket packed with pre-determined food products that will sustain one Haitian family for an entire week. For approximately $40, you can purchase the bucket and food and include the shipping charge to have a bucket delivered to a family in Haiti.

The Bucket:
The bucket should be a 5-gallon plastic bucket with a tight-fitting lid and a handle, and it should be new and unused with no logos or commercial markings on the outside. You can buy buckets like this at Lowe's or Home Depot for about $5... or you can try your local Wal-Mart bakery. Their cake icing comes shipped in these buckets, and they clean and re-sell them for $1 each.

The Food:
Any of this food can be generic or store-brand items. Once the food is used, Haitian families will be able to use the plastic bucket for a variety of everyday things - everything from collecting water to doing laundry. PLEASE DO NOT SUBSTITUTE ANY ITEM LISTED AND DO NOT ADD ANY ADDITIONAL ITEMS INSIDE THE BUCKET!

2 - 5 lb. bags of long grain enriched rice
1 - 48 oz. plastic bottle of cooking oil
1 - 2 gallon plastic ziplock storage bag (to wrap the bottle of cooking oil)
2 - 2 lb. bags of dry black or red beans
1 - 5 lb. bag of all-purpose flour (NOT self-rising)
1 - 20 oz. cylinder container of granulated white sugar (used for coffee)
2 - 1 lb. boxes of spaghetti noodles
1 - 40 oz. plastic jar of smooth peanut butter

Packing Instructions:

1. PRAY FOR THE HAITIAN FAMILY WHO WILL RECEIVE YOUR BUCKET!
2. Lay the bucket on its side.
3. Place the rice packages in the bucket. Lay bags side-by-side, flat, running in the direction from top to bottom in the bucket. Gently compress the bags (without breaking them!) as flat as possible to create room for the other items.
4. Place the bottle of oil inside a clean, unused 2 gallon storage bag, compress the air out, wrap the excess portion of the bag tightly around the bottle, and close. (This is just a precaution to protect the food should there be a leak or break in the bottle during transport.)
5. Lay the bottle of oil on top of the rice bags. Lay the wrapped container so that the bottom of the bottle is at the bottom of the bucket and is approximately in the center of the bucket.
6. Place the peanut butter jar on one side of the oil.
7. Place the cylinder of sugar on top of the wrapped oil bottle.
8. Place the boxes of spaghetti noodles on the other side of the oil.
9. While holding the sugar and peanut butter containers in place, stand the bucket upright.
10. Place one bag of beans down along the inside of the bucket next to the peanut butter.
11. Place the bag of flour on its side on top of the peanut butter, gently packing down the flour bag to clear the rim of the bucket.
12. Place the second bag of beans next to the flour.
13. Close the lid on the bucket and make sure it snaps securely.
14. Place $10 check made out to STATE BOARD OF MISSIONS in a SEALED ENVELOPE and attach to the top of the bucket.
15. Take the filled "Bucket of Hope" to your area collection center by March 5, 2010. For a complete list of collection sites, please visit www.alsbom.org/haiti. If you can't get it to a collection site from wherever you are, contact me and I will find a way to get it where it needs to go!

I'm not one to really be a huge advoate for asking people to spend their money, but... this is a phenomenal program to provide food to people who HAD nothing and now have even less. I am PLEADING with everyone who reads this to find a way to make a bucket. If this isn't up your alley or if the location is a problem or if you just want to try something different, I am encourage you to look into www.ahomeinhaiti.org, a mission to provide tents for displaced residents of Haiti.

COME ON FRIENDS! Get involved! I am literally BEGGING you, and that's a rarity for me. (I don't beg.) But I am humiliating myself to help these people. For the same amount of money I would spend on a nice night out, I can provide an entire week's worth of food for a family in need. The decision has already been made. I pledge that I will send a bucket full of hope.

Maybe I'll send two.