Aid in Haiti. Example of short-term thinking producing harmful results

There is much to say about this lead story in the WSJ weekend edition, "Aid Spawns Backlash in Haiti".

But quickly here - this is a great real world, painful example of why the way most of think of and do is harmful.  There are three kinds of aid:

 Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development.

Groups rushed into Haiti to give relief.  Great!  That is exactly what they needed.  But now they need rehab and developmental aid.  And it seems very few are doing that.  (contrary to the article's assumption, it is not a problem that no one is "in charge" or that the ngo's are not coordinating.  Spontaneous order is the best solution for wealth creation and this case wealth means medicine, training, fewer tent cities, etc.)

Relief is very attractive to donors and individuals.  It seems they are actually making an impact because of the tangible nature of the aid.  It is quick (so therefore relatively easy), and it is also quite quantifiable.  So one can go home and report to friends or donors what got accomplished and for how much money and present a bunch of other statistics, raise a bunch of money and then go do the same thing all over again in some other country, leaving people worse off than they were before because they are not giving long-term rehabilitation and development aid.

It is a good thing that at least the government is recognized as dysfunctional (when will the U.S. government finally be realized as dysfunctional?).  That people are recognizing private organizations as key to solving the problem is a significant step in the right direction.  The people there don't need a government to fix the country, they need people to build relationships with them, to show them meaning in life, to show them Jesus the King.  They need doctors to teach, teachers to train, architects to show how to build homes, they need other countries to remove trade barriers that affect their citizens.

How to support mission work

Sometimes we the thought of supporting Christian mission work can seem overwhelming simply because the need seems so great but we don't have any idea what we can do other than give money to missionaries or to the church or other missions organization.  Eternal Perspectives Ministries has compiled a very thorough list of many ways to support world missions beyond just donating.  They've got the following categories:

Create mission awareness
Comissioning
Prayer support
Keep in touch - Stay informed
Practical Support
Financial Support
Welcome back
Deputation work
Children's education
Retirement
Support of mission agency