The following article was written by Ed Welsh from Restoring Christ to Counseling & Counseling to the Church
Never has so much been crammed into one word. Depression feels terrifying—your world is dark, heavy, painful. Some days you think that physical pain might be easier to endure; at least the pain would be localized. Instead, depression goes to your very soul, corrupting everything in its path. Dead but walking is one way to describe it. You feel numb, but you still remember when you actually felt something. Somehow that makes it harder to bear.
So many things about your life are difficult right now. Things you used to take for granted—a good night’s sleep, having goals, looking forward to the future—now seem beyond your reach. Your relationships are also affected. The people who love you are looking for some emotional response from you, but you feel empty. Sometimes you are cranky and doubt their love, and then relationships are even more strained.
You aren’t alone, of course. Depression affects as much as 25% of the population. But statistics offer little comfort. In fact, a depressive spin on them can make you feel worse: You wonder why so many people are depressed, and you’re afraid that means there is no solution to the problem. Yet there is another perspective. God tells us that he cares about one wandering sheep in a hundred (Matthew 18:10–14) and counts the hairs on individual heads. If he has this much compassion for a solitary, lost individual, he certainly cares for you and such a large group of suffering people. You may not understand how he cares for you, but you can be certain that he is.
SUFFERING MAKES US AWARE OF GOD
You are suffering, and suffering brings God into view. That’s the way it always happens. The soldier who escapes from a treacherous battle will instinctively thank God. The stock broker who just lost a fortune might instinctively curse him. When hardships come we either cry out to God for help, shake our fist at him, or do both. There is actually a picture of this in the Bible: throughout history God has taken his people out into the wilderness, and you are certainly in the wilderness.
The journey in the wilderness is intended, in part, to reveal what is in our hearts, and to teach us to trust God in both good times and hard times. Why does he do this? To show us those things that are most important. Don’t forget that God takes his children into the wilderness. He even led his only Son into the wilderness. We shouldn’t be surprised if he takes us there as well.
While you are in the wilderness what are you seeing in your own heart? How are you relating to God? Do you avoid him? Ignore him? Get angry at him? Do you act as though he is very far away and too busy with everything else to attend to your suffering? Are you frustrated that God is powerful enough to end your suffering but he hasn’t? In your depression, let God reveal your heart. You might find spiritual issues that contribute to or even cause your depression.
WHICH PATH WILL YOU CHOOSE?
You are on one of two roads: faith or isolated independence. On the road of faith you are seeking and following God. You are calling out to him. You don’t understand what is happening, but you have not lost sight of how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ assure you that he is good. You feel like you are walking in the dark, but in your best moments you are putting one foot in front of the other as an expression of your trust in God. Whether you know it or not you are being heroic. On this path, although you are suffering, you are still able to notice and marvel that God’s Spirit is empowering you to trust him through darkness and pain.
The other path is the more common one, even among Christians. Even if you believe that God has revealed himself to you in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t seem to make much difference. You don’t feel as though you are consciously avoiding God. You are just trying to survive. But if you look closely you will notice that you are pushing God away. Look at the tell-tale signs:
You have no hope, even though Scripture, God’s words to you, offers hope on almost every page. Here’s just one example, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21–23).
You think life is meaningless, even though you are a servant of the King and every small step of obedience resonates throughout eternity. This is God’s purpose for you today, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
You think God doesn’t care, even though Scripture makes it clear that we run from God, not vice versa. Listen to what God says to you, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6–7).
Hudsonville Rev. Stephen Igo says Haitian earthquake aftermath 'made my soul tremble'
By John Agar | The Grand Rapids Press
January 19, 2010, 8:21PM
Hudsonville pastor Stephen Igo was in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.HUDSONVILLE -- In the hours after the earthquake in Haiti, Pastor Stephen Igo wasn't prepared for the loss and the profound grief of survivors he and others encountered on their way to the devastated capital, Port-Au-Prince.
Outside a collapsed school were the bodies of 15 girls. Some were found seated at desks, pens still in their hands. Igo saw families that were destroyed and heard the wailing of parents.
In silence, he walked to the girls' bodies. He raised his hand and said a prayer.
"It made my soul tremble," he said Tuesday.
A female high school student is rescued from a collapsed four-story school building in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She was one of ten saved. Forty to fifty were reported at the time to have been killed. The Rev. Stephen Igo from Hudsonville helped in the rescue efforts.
Igo, pastor at Cedar Presbyterian Church, returned home on Sunday. He said he will never forget the "profound sorrow" of so many, but he won't forget the spirit, either, of the Haitian people, who struggled with daily life even before the Jan. 12 earthquake.
A female high school student is rescued from a collapsed four-story school building in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She was one of ten saved. Forty to fifty were reported at the time to have been killed. The Rev. Stephen Igo from Hudsonville helped in the rescue efforts.Igo, pastor at Cedar Presbyterian Church, returned home on Sunday. He said he will never forget the "profound sorrow" of so many, but he won't forget the spirit, either, of the Haitian people, who struggled with daily life even before the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Just moments after he blessed the victims of the four-story school collapse, his group, which brought power tools, shovels and a jackhammer, helped Haitians -- who had dug overnight with their hands -- rescue 10 girls trapped in the rubble.
In an e-mail, he wrote: "The Haitian men rallied. All morning, we listened for voices, drilled holes, sent workers down into the belly of death and the grave, and lifted young girls to the light of God's new day for their lives. In mercy and grace, God gave these exhausted, dust-covered girls a second chance."
Igo, and his 16-year-old son, Jon, were staying with friends outside of Port-Au-Prince. His son and others left the night before the earthquake. Igo recalled he was swimming in a pool, when he felt dizzy and the water started sloshing. He soon got a message from a friend in the capital that a massive earthquake had hit.
"They thought the world was coming to an end," he said.
Early the next morning, Igo and others went to Port-Au-Prince. In the immediate aftermath, faith-based and nonprofit groups act as first responders, but after professionals showed up from other countries in the following days, Igo said he and others were no longer considered essential.
But the decision to leave was not easy, he said. No one wanted to abandon the Haitians.
Igo and others were flown out by NASCAR's Hendricks Motorsports and greeted by a crowd at a Florida airport. He needed a ride to Fort Lauderdale, two hours away. A woman approached and said her husband would take him.
"It's just the power of the community of faith," Igo said.
Igo said he was stunned that so many want to help Haiti. People want to help with the immediate response, but long-range support of organizations that know the community create "micro-ministries" that will prove crucial, he said.
Rebuilding New Orleans after the hurricane pales to the task ahead in Haiti, Igo said.
"(New Orleans is) an American city," he said. "I can only estimate that in Port-Au-Prince, it'll be a five-, seven-, 10-year rebuilding project. After a period of time, people lose that passion, zeal."
He said he is also concerned because the Haitian government is "historically fiscally unreliable."
Igo said he couldn't help but feel humbled by his experience.
"I realize the frailty of human life," he said. "We all know it, but sometimes Americans and Christian people, in a way, need to be reminded."
16 January 2010
Steve Igo & the Hopps are flying on Geoff Jordan and Jimmy Johnson's jet from the Bahamas to Ft. Pierce, Florida. Thank you for all of your prayers! Everything went very smoothly! Port Au Prince seemed like it was under control. There were no signs of unrest. Thank you God for His mercies and grace. Keep praying for the country of Haiti!-----
16 January 2010
Steve Igo is departing for the airport early this morning with hopes of catching (1) a Missionary Flight International DC-3 back to US soil or (2) as a backup plan, a military transport. You won't hear from us for most of the day. Please pray for safety and God's will to be done!
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15 January 2010 - 8:30PM
Steve Igo is still stuck in Haiti with dear missionary friends, the Hopps. Many people working and praying to get us out, but still at a stand still. Please know, we are VERY VERY safe 15 miles north of Port au Prince. We have water, food, electricity, enough gasoline to drive to the airport when we get the "phone call". We ...are just hot, tired, and a little on edge. God bless you dear friends!
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How Things are Going for Us in Haiti Today - 15 January 2010 - 10:47AM
How Things are Going for Us in Haiti Today - 15 January 2010 - 10:47AM
We thank you again for your continued notes of encouragement and support as well as your prayers. We know God's people are praying for us. We are all fine here at the Hopp home in Kaliko, 15 miles north of Port au Prince. We continue to have power from the Kaliko resort each night. They are beginning to ration but we are grateful to have power as it allows us to stay in close communication. We have plenty of food and water. The problem currently is the lack of fuel. Ben and I traveled out to Cabaret yesterday to try and find diesel for the truck. The gas stations were empty.
At the present time we are still making plans to get out of Haiti. We have several options including flying out on a US National Guard aircraft (today perhaps) or possibly flying out with Missionary Flights International tomorrow. Pray that we would soon have concrete plans so we can make our way down to the Port-au-Prince airport. This is a difficult decision and it will be difficult to leave people behind. But we know it is important that we not become a liability ourselves. Ben would like to return as soon as practical.
At the present time we are still making plans to get out of Haiti. We have several options including flying out on a US National Guard aircraft (today perhaps) or possibly flying out with Missionary Flights International tomorrow. Pray that we would soon have concrete plans so we can make our way down to the Port-au-Prince airport. This is a difficult decision and it will be difficult to leave people behind. But we know it is important that we not become a liability ourselves. Ben would like to return as soon as practical.
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15 January 2010 - 9AM
Some of you have been asking about how best to contribute to the relief effort. Always remember that Haiti is one of the top 10 most corrupt nations in the world. The Haitian government will find ways to skim money and much will go to waste. That being said, the US and Canadian governments are working through the military to get the first round of aid here. Our recommendation would be to hold off giving until a good assessment can be made of the situation. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church Relief Fund is one option (www.opc.org). Ben Hopp will disburse it after he returns to Haiti and can determine how we can best steward those funds. But we leave this matter to your own conscience.
Some of you have been asking about how best to contribute to the relief effort. Always remember that Haiti is one of the top 10 most corrupt nations in the world. The Haitian government will find ways to skim money and much will go to waste. That being said, the US and Canadian governments are working through the military to get the first round of aid here. Our recommendation would be to hold off giving until a good assessment can be made of the situation. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church Relief Fund is one option (www.opc.org). Ben Hopp will disburse it after he returns to Haiti and can determine how we can best steward those funds. But we leave this matter to your own conscience.
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Packing Our Bags - 14 January 2010 - 5:07PM
Packed his bags last night with his missionary friends, the Hopps. We are safely and quietly waiting on our compound (15 miles north of Port au Prince) to see which flight opportunity will materialize. Several dear friends are trying to help us get out as quickly and safely as possible. Please pray, and we will keep you posted as events unfold.
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Steve is hoping to evacuate Haiti with our missionaries soon. We believe our work is now done, and the climate will grow unstable before it gets better. Pray that we secure a timely flight out of Haiti in the next 24 hours. My regularly scheduled flight is not until next Tuesday, a bit late for our liking.
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Watching God “Roll the Stone Away” in Haiti - 13 January 2010 - 10:46PM
The Bible tells us that God raises the dead! Do you believe that? I do! On the third day, he raised Jesus from the grave so sins could be forgiven. And one day, he will raise all those who are in Christ to their eternal home in heaven. But today, I watched the Lord “roll the stone away” for ten high school girls at a high school called Ecole Normale de Delmas in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. And with “Easter-like” emotion I can say to you, “They are alive!”
God began his rescue mission by stranding our missionary friend, Chris, in Port-au-Prince on the day of the earthquake. He was so overwhelmed, especially when he came upon a four story school building that had completely collapsed. Cries called to him from the building. Feeling so alone, he did all he could to free them with his bare hands. It worked. Slowly, students were extracted from the ruins. As darkness settled upon the scene, it soon came time for Chris to leave for home. But he could still hear voices within the ruins as he began his 15 mile hike and hitch-hike up to our missionary compound. And he was haunted by those voices.
When he knocked on our door that night, our dust covered friend looked exhausted. He asked missionary Ben Hopp and me to join him at 6:30 AM the next morning on a mission to free more students. The next morning, we joined a two truck caravan of 15 rescue workers, a combination of missionaries and Haitian nationals. Racing the clock down the newly paved Haitian highway, we arrived to a scene of utter exhaustion. Fifty Haitian men had labored all night to free as many students as they could, but they had reached the limit that bare hands could accomplish. By God’s mercy, we surged upon the building with a generator, power tools, shovels, sledge hammers and fresh bodies. The Haitian men rallied. All morning, we listened for voices, drilled holes, sent workers down into the belly of death and the grave, and lifted young girls to the light of God’s new day for their lives. In mercy and grace, God gave these exhausted, dust-covered girls a second chance. Praise His good name! How will God use them in days to come, I can only wonder. But how will we who witnessed these ‘resurrections’ allow God to use us?
These ten female students escaped with minor injuries, or none at all. But sadly, we also lifted a dozen bodies whom God in his wisdom has seen fit to send ahead to the next world. Several of them were still sitting in their desks with pen and notebook in hand. How sudden God can take any of us home. Are you ready to meet God today? Christ will prepare you if you turn from self and embrace him by faith.
The death toll is mounting in Port-au-Prince. Personally, I think it will hover at about ten thousand. But I cannot speak for other cities. I fear that tomorrow will permit us to rescue few - if any - from the rubble. The building infrastructure is woefully unsafe in Haiti. When buildings collapse, they “really” collapse – cement is low grade and metal reinforcement scandalously thin. I don’t expect many stories of 3 and 4 day rubble survivors like we sometimes hear of in the US. I hope I am wrong.
Please pray for missionary Ben Hopp and me as we travel to Port-au-Prince in the morning to work with a fellow missionary’s medical team on site near the international airport. I expect we will do much listening, praying, and scripture reading with the many casualties suffering in great pain from injuries and awaiting appropriate medical attention. Pray that we can comfort them with the resurrection hope that Christ offers to all who trust in Him.
I have included several photographs of the rescue efforts at the school. Any victims you see in the photos are “survivors”, Praise God! We have been careful to honor the fallen by not posting photos of the deceased.
Grateful for your prayers,
Pastor Steve Igo
Cedar Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hudsonville, MI USA
God began his rescue mission by stranding our missionary friend, Chris, in Port-au-Prince on the day of the earthquake. He was so overwhelmed, especially when he came upon a four story school building that had completely collapsed. Cries called to him from the building. Feeling so alone, he did all he could to free them with his bare hands. It worked. Slowly, students were extracted from the ruins. As darkness settled upon the scene, it soon came time for Chris to leave for home. But he could still hear voices within the ruins as he began his 15 mile hike and hitch-hike up to our missionary compound. And he was haunted by those voices.
When he knocked on our door that night, our dust covered friend looked exhausted. He asked missionary Ben Hopp and me to join him at 6:30 AM the next morning on a mission to free more students. The next morning, we joined a two truck caravan of 15 rescue workers, a combination of missionaries and Haitian nationals. Racing the clock down the newly paved Haitian highway, we arrived to a scene of utter exhaustion. Fifty Haitian men had labored all night to free as many students as they could, but they had reached the limit that bare hands could accomplish. By God’s mercy, we surged upon the building with a generator, power tools, shovels, sledge hammers and fresh bodies. The Haitian men rallied. All morning, we listened for voices, drilled holes, sent workers down into the belly of death and the grave, and lifted young girls to the light of God’s new day for their lives. In mercy and grace, God gave these exhausted, dust-covered girls a second chance. Praise His good name! How will God use them in days to come, I can only wonder. But how will we who witnessed these ‘resurrections’ allow God to use us?
These ten female students escaped with minor injuries, or none at all. But sadly, we also lifted a dozen bodies whom God in his wisdom has seen fit to send ahead to the next world. Several of them were still sitting in their desks with pen and notebook in hand. How sudden God can take any of us home. Are you ready to meet God today? Christ will prepare you if you turn from self and embrace him by faith.
The death toll is mounting in Port-au-Prince. Personally, I think it will hover at about ten thousand. But I cannot speak for other cities. I fear that tomorrow will permit us to rescue few - if any - from the rubble. The building infrastructure is woefully unsafe in Haiti. When buildings collapse, they “really” collapse – cement is low grade and metal reinforcement scandalously thin. I don’t expect many stories of 3 and 4 day rubble survivors like we sometimes hear of in the US. I hope I am wrong.
Please pray for missionary Ben Hopp and me as we travel to Port-au-Prince in the morning to work with a fellow missionary’s medical team on site near the international airport. I expect we will do much listening, praying, and scripture reading with the many casualties suffering in great pain from injuries and awaiting appropriate medical attention. Pray that we can comfort them with the resurrection hope that Christ offers to all who trust in Him.
I have included several photographs of the rescue efforts at the school. Any victims you see in the photos are “survivors”, Praise God! We have been careful to honor the fallen by not posting photos of the deceased.
Grateful for your prayers,
Pastor Steve Igo
Cedar Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hudsonville, MI USA
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Need Your Prayers for Disaster Relief in Haiti - 12 January 2010 - 11:53PM
Dear Friends,
I am sad to say that the reports from Port-au-Prince get worse by the hour. On the positive side, all of our missionary friends and area pastors are reporting that they are unharmed - so far! Praise the Lord! But the stories they send by email about injury, death and destruction is almost overwhelming. One missionary couple watched their 3 story school building in Port-au-Prince collapse to the ground. Praise God it occurred at 4:53 PM when all the children were gone. Another missionary couple has many injured and dead lying in their front yard, while they try to get some sleep on the bottom floor of their home with neighbors and a visiting mission teams tonight. A mission team of American doctors and nurses who “happened” to be in Haiti this week are busy working with the sick and injured. I am 15 miles north of this devastation with missionaries Ben and Heather Hopp, and I can only imagine how sleepless and distressing the night in Port-au-Prince will be. We were on pins and needles, especially when after-shocks began to intensify between 8 and 9 PM in the evening. Were people shouting and panicking in Port-au-Prince when the earth rumbled yet again?
Some missionaries are stopping by our compound tomorrow morning at 6 AM to pick up missionary Ben Hopp and me to join their team of disaster relief workers. One of them was in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake, helped as many as he could during the daylight hours, and then made his way back north to our community in the dark. He was soot and dust covered when he knocked on Ben and Heather’s door for a ride home. Since UN workers are limited and government services are in disarray, it really appears that the first stage of relief will only come from civilian and faith-based workers. So God willing, here we come!
Please pray for the many civilians, church workers and people of faith who will clearly have their work cut out for them during the daylight hours tomorrow. In God’s providence, our church sent me with a team of disaster relief workers to New Orleans 5 years ago - 3 weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The church has also sent me on many disaster relief trips since then to Bay St. Louis, MS. That experience has taught me that God works powerfully among his people during times of disaster. No doubt, tomorrow we will dig people out of the debris and help transport people to places of help. But in the midst of the overwhelming physical work, the most important thing we will do for the people of Haiti is profoundly spiritual. We will pray with them. We will listen to their stories. We will weep when they weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. And we will urge every one we meet to lift up their eyes to the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Jesus Christ will be present with us tomorrow, and we fully expect him to make himself known among the people we serve in His name.
Thanking you in advance for your prayers,
Pastor Steve Igo
Cedar Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hudsonville, MI USA
I am sad to say that the reports from Port-au-Prince get worse by the hour. On the positive side, all of our missionary friends and area pastors are reporting that they are unharmed - so far! Praise the Lord! But the stories they send by email about injury, death and destruction is almost overwhelming. One missionary couple watched their 3 story school building in Port-au-Prince collapse to the ground. Praise God it occurred at 4:53 PM when all the children were gone. Another missionary couple has many injured and dead lying in their front yard, while they try to get some sleep on the bottom floor of their home with neighbors and a visiting mission teams tonight. A mission team of American doctors and nurses who “happened” to be in Haiti this week are busy working with the sick and injured. I am 15 miles north of this devastation with missionaries Ben and Heather Hopp, and I can only imagine how sleepless and distressing the night in Port-au-Prince will be. We were on pins and needles, especially when after-shocks began to intensify between 8 and 9 PM in the evening. Were people shouting and panicking in Port-au-Prince when the earth rumbled yet again?
Some missionaries are stopping by our compound tomorrow morning at 6 AM to pick up missionary Ben Hopp and me to join their team of disaster relief workers. One of them was in Port-au-Prince during the earthquake, helped as many as he could during the daylight hours, and then made his way back north to our community in the dark. He was soot and dust covered when he knocked on Ben and Heather’s door for a ride home. Since UN workers are limited and government services are in disarray, it really appears that the first stage of relief will only come from civilian and faith-based workers. So God willing, here we come!
Please pray for the many civilians, church workers and people of faith who will clearly have their work cut out for them during the daylight hours tomorrow. In God’s providence, our church sent me with a team of disaster relief workers to New Orleans 5 years ago - 3 weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The church has also sent me on many disaster relief trips since then to Bay St. Louis, MS. That experience has taught me that God works powerfully among his people during times of disaster. No doubt, tomorrow we will dig people out of the debris and help transport people to places of help. But in the midst of the overwhelming physical work, the most important thing we will do for the people of Haiti is profoundly spiritual. We will pray with them. We will listen to their stories. We will weep when they weep, and rejoice when they rejoice. And we will urge every one we meet to lift up their eyes to the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. Jesus Christ will be present with us tomorrow, and we fully expect him to make himself known among the people we serve in His name.
Thanking you in advance for your prayers,
Pastor Steve Igo
Cedar Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Hudsonville, MI USA
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We Are Safe in Haiti - 12 January 2010 - 7:23pm
A few hours ago, Port au Prince suffered a 7.3 earthquake which collapsed a hospital and several buildings. We are still waiting on reports, but the cell phone network is completely down in Haiti. So we can only watch the news on the internet like you can.
When the earthquake hit, I was with missionary Ben Hopp 20 miles north of Port au Prince at his home. We were out swimming with his kids when the earthquake hit for about 20 seconds. At first, I thought I was just dizzy from playing games with the Hopp kids, but then as we stood in the water and saw everything shaking, we stumbled out of the pool and stood together until it was over. Two aftershocks hit a few moments later, but now we are just feeling slight vibrations. Other than being scared a bit, we are OK. My 16 year old son, Jonathan, is already back in the United States with the rest of our team, so he is OK. I will be here for one more week working with churches and teaching pastors on the Haitian Island of LaGonave.
Please pray for the people of Port au Prince. We expect to hear more news over the next day, but it may not be good. The buildings are very poorly constructed in Haiti, and they rarely get earthquakes, so it could be significant. Our fellow missionaries up in the Central Plateau reported shaking for 2 or 3 minutes, and the rural villages are in an uproar. Their huts & small homes can easily collapse, since many of them are slightly constructed. We will have to wait and see.
May the God of hope fill us with joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When the earthquake hit, I was with missionary Ben Hopp 20 miles north of Port au Prince at his home. We were out swimming with his kids when the earthquake hit for about 20 seconds. At first, I thought I was just dizzy from playing games with the Hopp kids, but then as we stood in the water and saw everything shaking, we stumbled out of the pool and stood together until it was over. Two aftershocks hit a few moments later, but now we are just feeling slight vibrations. Other than being scared a bit, we are OK. My 16 year old son, Jonathan, is already back in the United States with the rest of our team, so he is OK. I will be here for one more week working with churches and teaching pastors on the Haitian Island of LaGonave.
Please pray for the people of Port au Prince. We expect to hear more news over the next day, but it may not be good. The buildings are very poorly constructed in Haiti, and they rarely get earthquakes, so it could be significant. Our fellow missionaries up in the Central Plateau reported shaking for 2 or 3 minutes, and the rural villages are in an uproar. Their huts & small homes can easily collapse, since many of them are slightly constructed. We will have to wait and see.
May the God of hope fill us with joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But hours after this week's devastating earthquake, Igo was working with his bare hands alongside other exhausted rescuers at the site of a collapsed four-story school in Port-au-Prince. "By God's mercy, we surged upon the building with a generator, power tools, shovels, sledge hammers and fresh bodies," Igo wrote in an e-mail to a fellow pastor, who forwarded it to members of Igo's Hudsonville's Cedar Presbyterian Church. "The Haitian men rallied. All morning, we listened for voices, drilled holes, sent workers down into the belly of death and the grave, and lifted young girls to the light of God's new day for their lives. In mercy and grace, God gave these exhausted, dust-covered girls a second chance." Igo and his son, Jon, 16, went to the island as part of the Haitian American Friendship Foundation, led by Eric Hausler, the pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Grand Rapids. Hausler brought his boys, Joey, 16, and Daniel, 15. All but Steve Igo left Haiti on Monday. He decided to stay another week. Now it's unclear when Igo will return. "It turned from a mission trip into a relief effort," said Donna Hausler, Eric Hausler's wife. Igo wrote of the rescuer's joy in rescuing 10 girls from the school's rubble, but it was tempered by the deaths of 12 others. Some were found sitting at their desks, with pens and notepads still in their hands. "How sudden God can take any of us home," Igo wrote. As the death toll mounted in the crumbling capital city, Igo had a dim view of the number of survivors that will be found in coming days. "I fear that (Thursday) will permit us to rescue few -- if any -- from the rubble. The building infrastructure is woefully unsafe in Haiti. When buildings collapse, they 'really' collapse. Cement is low-grade, and metal reinforcement scandalously thin. In the first hours after the earthquake, Igo -- staying 20 miles north of Port-au-Prince -- could not imagine the destruction under way in the cramped city. He felt the ground shake, but didn't think it was a harbinger of disaster. "Other than being scared a bit, we are OK," he wrote in an early e-mail to his Hudsonville church. But Igo, staying with missionaries Ben and Heather Hopp and their children, soon began receiving e-mailed reports of death, injury and destruction that were overwhelming. "I am sad to say that the reports from Port-au-Prince get worse by the hour," he said. It's not Igo's first rescue experience. He traveled to New Orleans to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.Hudsonville pastor Steve Igo's e-mail details rescue, heartache in Haiti
By John Agar | The Grand Rapids Press
January 14, 2010, 7:24PM
Rev. Steve IgoHUDSONVILLE -- Hudsonville pastor Steve Igo likely thought his trip to visit missionary friends in Haiti would be more lighthearted.
"I don't expect many stories of 3- and 4-day rubble survivors like we sometimes hear of in the U.S. I hope I am wrong."HOW TO HELP
• Helping Haiti: West Michigan charities providing earthquake relief
