WHY HAITI?

My band HAPPY LITTLE DAY was new in 2002. I had the "dream" of going into churches and music festivals accross the country, trying to CHALLENGE Christian people from all walks of life.

From the begenning, we got booked at major Christian Music Festivals, we got radio airplay on some of the top Christian radio stations, and we got a national distribution deal for our small record label. In 2003, we were nominated as "New Artist Of The Year" by ChristianBeats radio tracking and we were "on our way" as they say.

THEN, it happened. Our record label couldn't get in touch with our distribution company, and while we had spent tens of thousands of dollars to promote our new CD, we never got paid a single dime for CD sales, and our label went out of business.

So in 2004, we decided to take a year off, and pray about things, and decide what to do. I got invited to Haiti for a week long short mission trip, and I was stunned at what I saw. I expected to see misery and poverty and I had heard stories about satanic worship and vodoo.

NSTEAD, what I saw in Haiti, was HOPE! I saw a small country of 8 million people with virtually no money, no electricity, no paved roads, no food, children everywhere with no clothes, no parents, and no place to sleep at night. I saw people dying of starvation and disease, laying in the witch doctor's doorway. I saw thousands of people living in small shacks the size of my livingroom with no toilets and no protection from diseased misquitos. But again, the one, MOST AMAZING thing I saw in Haiti, was HOPE!

I was happy, sad, puzzled, and encouraged all at the same time.

Haiti does not have enough water to supply the people there. The land is rocky and not suitable to grow much. The trees have been stripped down to a waste land in many places.

The people of Haiti NEED HELP, and the most amazing thing in Haiti, is that, it seems, everywhere you turn, there is a little mission, or a school, or a new water supply going in, and it's being done by MISSIONARIES! Catholic's, Pentecostals, Assembly of Gods...Canadians, Americans, and missionaries from South America!

Everywhere you look, people are happy to see you, and little children run up to you to hug you! It's one of the most hard to describe places I've ever seen, but AGAIN, I tell you, the one thing it filled me with was HOPE!

I felt like I COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Those of us in the United States really don't appreciate what we have. In Haiti, they are 10 times more thankful than we are, and they have almost NOTHING! The poorest Americans would be the richest Haitians.

So, in 2007, Happy Little Day is doing a ROCK FOR HAITI concert series. We not only want to raise support for the poor and the orphans, but we want to try to raise AWARNESS. We would like to get YOU involved!

During my trip to Haiti, I got to meet a guy named Tom Osbeck with JESUS IN HAITI Ministries. Tom is one of the people in this world, who, instead of sitting around complaining, Tom is DOING! Tom is down in Haiti, taking care of orphaned children that no one else will. Tom is working with GRACE EMMANUEL SCHOOL, to give these kids a chance to learn. With Jesus In Haiti, Tom is helping to feed starving families. Tom has adopted children himself, and believe me, I HAVE BEEN TO TOM's HOUSE FOR SUPPER TIME...it's like feeding an army there!!! Tom is DOING SOMETHING!

I want to do something.

How about you?

Write to me at RockForHaiti@hotmail.com, or contact Tom at www.JesusInHaiti.org. Come to one of our concerts, or host one. Call up the pastor or YOUR CHURCH. PRAY! Just, stop sitting there on your computer, drinking your $5 Starbucks Coffee, and stop thinking, "Gee, someone should do something." HOW ABOUT YOU??

If you are a Christian, then that means that JESUS CHRIST died to PAY FOR YOUR LIFE! RIGHT? So, if your life is now His life, then, shouldn't you be living it FOR HIM?

It's Only "reasonable" - ROMANS 12:1