I did something two days ago I never thought I’d do. I prayed for Osama bin Laden.

It happened while I was out on a run. I was thinking about how US forces have been unable to capture Bin Laden. And I wondered if it isn’t a testimony to Bin Laden’s hiding skills or the talent of our soldiers but that God, for some reason, doesn’t want him to be found yet.

Bin Laden has been the instigator for terrible things. And a part of me would just like to see him dead. But then I thought about Saul (who later became Paul). He murdered people for a living. After standing in approval of Stephen’s death, “Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:3). As the apostles and believers continued in their work, Saul’s rampage also continued. “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Acts 9:1).

A realization grabbed my heart. Saul was the 1st century church’s Osama bin Laden. But Saul was rescued from his life of hatred and murder. And I don’t see why Bin Laden couldn’t be either.

It is often the extreme cases that teach us what we really believe about something. In principle, a man can be against adultery. But when a beautiful woman tries to seduce him, what does he REALLY believe? How will he choose?

We can say that God is capable of touching anyone – that He can save anyone from their sin. But do we believe it? Even for Osama bin Laden? Did Jesus die for Osama bin Laden? Does forgiveness have any bounds? Does it transcend nationalism? It does. It would be to God’s glory to rescue Osama from the sin he’s been living in. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have to answer for his sins to an international court. But that courtroom is but a child’s playground compared to the eternal judgment of God. May Jesus somehow speak to Bin Laden the same way He did to Paul!

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.” (Acts 26:14,16).

Today, I prayed for Osama bin Laden.

At about 5am this morning in Haiti it rained. My friend, Holly Frew, is on the ground there and tweeted this:

Last night when it was raining I could hear children crying & people chanting “I may be afraid but I have Jesus”. Heart-wrenching.

Here’s the reality. At least 700,000 people in Haiti are without homes. Rene Preval, Haiti’s president, called for 200,000 8-person tents to be made available by the international community. That hasn’t happened so far. Holly has reported that she’s been witnessing protests on the ground of the Haitian people crying out for tents. This photo she took is among the most poignant I’ve seen. Notice the sign. Notice also the great coincidence/irony of the guy’s shirt – Uncle Sam saying, “I Want You.”

We’ve asked the question: what can I do to help the people of Haiti? Many of us gave donations right away. There’s another movement that has captured my heart.

Atlanta pastor, Shaun King, has been coordinating Haiti assistance through Twitter since the earthquake happened. Two of my friends (Jeremy Cowart and Holly Frew) have worked directly with Shaun in going to Haiti and assisting on the ground. In short, he is the real deal.

He’s started a movement called A Home In Haiti. In short, you buy a tent and have it shipped to his church’s Atlanta offices. They have arranged to have the tents shipped to and distributed in Haiti.

Why Is This So Important?
Besides the fact that many families are sleeping under makeshift tents of bed sheets and sticks, the rainy season is coming. Haiti has two rainy seasons and the first one begins right around this time of year.

I did some research this morning. Seattle just had its rainiest three months. That data, from the National Weather Service, is listed (averages from 1971-present). This first rainy season for Haiti (March, April, May) is also listed. There’s more rain in Haiti! Almost twice as much by May!

Imagine you and your family (pretend you have a family if you don’t) living under downpours you can’t take shelter from. Would you want someone a couple thousand miles away to have bought you a tent? If regular people like you and me don’t do something, there will be too many tragic stories. This chart I made shows the rain is on the way.

WHAT TO DO
First, if you’re a blogger, I don’t want you to retweet this blog post. I want you to write your own post. I’ll explain.

This morning, Shaun posted stats about the campaign.

We have had 25,589 hits @ http://aHomeInHaiti.org & over 4,000 tweets, but only 28 tents have been purchased & $220 raised.

That means about 1 in 1000 people who visited the site bought a tent.

In my opinion, the problem is that the appeal isn’t personal enough. You can dare someone to buy a tent, but it needs to be very personal for most people (including me).

Here’s my appeal:

I bought a tent this morning. It cost me $225.

I don’t say this to brag. I want you to know I took action. I’m asking you to buy one also. If you’re like me, there’s a voice somewhere in your heart that just said, “I don’t know. That’s a lot of money.” You have this heavy kind of skeptical feeling. I had it, too. But I bought a tent because I know that Shaun has secured transportation TO Haiti and distribution ON THE GROUND in Haiti. They just need lots of regular people like you and me to buy tents!

Since this morning, more people are participating. All of this is very legit! The current stats:

If you decide to buy a tent and you’re a blogger, I ask you to write a post similar to this one and appeal to YOUR blog readers to buy a tent. I don’t want this retweeted because they know YOU and not me. It means more if you buy a tent, tell them, and ask them to do the same. If you DON’T have a blog, feel free to retweet this and tell people you support the cause.

Don’t go into debt to buy a tent. Money, for me, isn’t something I can spend at will. Times are kind of tight. But trust the Lord will provide for your needs as you provide a roof over the heads of people who have only the sky as their current ceiling – a roof that will soon drop rain in significant downpours. Talk to God and tell Him you trust Him to replace the money you’re spending on this.

I haven’t written on this blog for some time and just wanted to say that, regardless of whether or not you can afford a tent, I love all of you reading this!

Give a Haitian family back some hope. The total goal is 200,000 tents. But really, it’s one tent. From you and from me. We couldn’t stop the earthquake, but we can stop more heartache. Get into this action, bros and sisters!

Click here to buy a tent.