From the monthly archives:

February 2010

Social Media in Haiti: Seeing Beyond the Messengers to the Message

by Rhett Smith on February 24, 2010

[image by Adam McLane] When I was called and asked to be a part of the Adventures in Missions YMATH Team, I was told that one of the reasons I was being asked to go was to communicate through my blog, Twitter and Facebook during my time there. In an earlier post Why Haiti? And [...]

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Are You Doing Enough to Educate Adolescents on Technology and Pornography?

by Rhett Smith on February 22, 2010

“There is a Tsunami coming. We are a hundred years from understanding what we are dealing with regarding the influence and impact of cybersex on mankind.” Those are the words of Dr. Patrick Carnes, one of the foremost experts on addiction and recovery issues, especially when it comes to pornography and the influence of technology [...]

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The Cycle of Destruction, Praise and Redemption

by Rhett Smith on February 20, 2010

I experienced lots of emotions during our time in Haiti. It felt like a roller coaster ride, and at one moment I was on the mountain top experiencing wonderful feelings of joy, and the next moment I was plummeted to the valley and felt despair. It was up and down the entire time, and it [...]

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Why Haiti? And What You Can Do

by Rhett Smith on February 18, 2010

This last week of my life has been an unbelievable whirlwind of emotions and it’s going to take a long time for me to process everything that I have witnessed. It was only two and half weeks ago that I received a phone call giving me 12 hours to see if I would be interested [...]

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Haiti Day #4: Displaced People-Displaced God-Displaced Disciples

by Rhett Smith on February 15, 2010

[image by Anne Jackson of tent city of 5000 in Marassa] Displaced People About one month ago one of the most horrific disasters in human history struck the small island of Haiti. In the wake of that destruction thousands upon thousands of lives were lost, and thousands upon thousands of people were displaced. We have [...]

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Haiti Day #3: Stripped of Everything But God

by Rhett Smith on February 14, 2010

I have always been pretty good about being self-reliant. It’s an inheritenly deep American, Westernized trait that we forge our own paths, and pick ourselves up by our own bootstraps. And if you don’t, then often you are left behind, or looked down upon as if you have some sort of deficiency. And so that’s [...]

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(Re)Birth in the Chaos of Haiti

by Rhett Smith on February 13, 2010

Today has been almost indescribable. After each experience I found myself trying to process what was taking place, and just when I thought I had a good enough grasp on how to try and convey it into words — the scene switched and a completely new experience — a completely new paradigm had been opened [...]

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Redemption in Haiti

by Rhett Smith on February 12, 2010

Rudy was a Haitian man that we met today in a field hospital in Jiminia, Dominican Republic. He was recovering from injuries he sustained in Port-au-prince, Haiti during the January 12th earthquake. Sitting next to him is his girlfriend. Just blew my mind…there wasn’t a dry eye around.

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Naked and Vulnerable: First Day in Haiti

by Rhett Smith on February 12, 2010

“Prayer requires that we stand in God’s presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is, ‘Do your best and God will do the rest.’” (Compassion: A Relfection on the Christian Life by [...]

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Travel Day: Hands Open

by Rhett Smith on February 11, 2010

Today was a long but amazing day so far. It started at 4:00am as I drove down the North Dallas Tollway as fresh snow was covering the road. A beautiful, but unexpected surprise. I picked up Lars Rood and we took a flight to Miami where we met the rest of our team, and flew [...]

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