So as yesterday, the latest developments of Haiti (according to CNN and The Nightly News with Diane Sawyer)has been a mixture of profound despair, small victory of rescue, and continued faith.

1.6 million Haitians are homeless, living on the streets in makeshift tents (but they are really blankets) without food, water, or proper medical supplies. The smallest of the living are the children who are the most vulnerable as the days wear on. The longer they go without these basic needs, the more of them that will be plagued by disease and even death.

Despite the international response for relief advertised on television, there seems to be limited help actually getting to the people who need it. While former President Clinton brings medical supplies to the largest hospital in Haiti’s capital, people on the ground like Wyclef Jean are digging up children’s corpses from broken buildings to give them a Christian burial.

Now the smell of death has settled in the air in Haiti. The stench is so strong that the living use toothpaste under their noses to lessen the smell. Family members create simple graves all over the region to bury their loved ones. But there are thousands upon thousands of bodies littered on the side of the road in hopes that a garbage truck will dispose of them.

And sadly, because the region is so vast, the number of fatalities cannot be accurately determined.

Yet there are spots of triumph in this sea of despair. Young people and adults are being rescued alive from leveled buildings after five to six days without food, water, or medical care.

And I question, just as many reporters have been asking continuously, how can the reporters who are covering the news get to the people in need more easily than the relief organizations and international supplies?

The question is never answered completely. Some authorities claim that there is too much red tape in the Haitian government because the infrastructure was destroyed literally and figuratively by the earthquake.

Others claim that help has been coming but not as quickly as it should throughout the entire region (not just the country’s capital city).

Whatever the case may be, there is a general breakdown of organization by Haitian authorities to distribute aide in a timely manner and the Haitian people end up being the victims of this problem.

So the world watches the television and reads the newspaper every day hoping for a change. What can we do REALLY?!

Aside from using our texting prowess by texting “haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 a text to The Red Cross and donating goods to reputable organizations, what can we REALLY do?!

As for me, every chance I get, I pray for the Haitian people. And from what I have been seeing on television, they have been doing the same, trying to stay encouraged in the face of disaster.

I believe that God has a plan for all of us and it is so large and intricate that we as mere mortals cannot grasp its blueprint. But I do believe that we all are threads in this tapestry, connected and serving His purpose on the ground.

Knowing this, we need to be open and receptive to what God calls us to do for His sake and ACT!