Editor’s note: Christian musician Shaun Groves has planned—in partnership with Compassion International—a benefit concert for Haitian earthquake victims, to be held Saturday in Nashville. Performers include Alison Kraus, Jars of Clay, Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman, and more. We asked Groves to write a brief article about his motivation behind the event, which will be broadcast live online at 7:30 p.m. Central on Saturday.
In 2005 my wife and I sold our dream house and moved into a starter home. We canceled the cable. I learned how to live a fulfilling life with three pairs of jeans and the phone that came free with the plan. We simplified our lives, shuffled our priorities, re-appropriated our energies so that more children can simply live. All because of Yanci.
Yanci was six when I first visited her in El Salvador. She’s the first of many children my family has sponsored through Compassion International. I traveled to San Salvador to push her in a swing, let her paint my fingernails silver, and hear her laugh. She traced my hand in crayon and I traced hers. She told me how she used to eat once every few days but can eat every day now. She read a book to me, sang a song about Jesus for me. I got to see how much hope Compassion brings to the developing world: one donation and one child at a time.
When she laid her sweaty head on my chest and dozed off I was flooded with a sense of urgency that hasn’t been drained from me yet. Since that say with Yanci my obsession has been finding ways connect the talents and cash of first world Christians with the joy and need of third world children and their families.
On January 12th an earthquake struck Haiti and the statistics began streaming in: Multitudes without food and clean water, in need of medical help and counsel. But behind the numbers I saw faces: Mothers pleading Heaven for the lives of their children. Fathers searching the rubble for scraps of food. Children shivering without shelter. I saw family, Compassion’s family, my family.
I made a call to someone at Compassion and pitched a crazy idea. What if I called some musician friends of mine and we put on a show in Nashville? And what if we built a website and invited the world to watch the show on-line? What if we introduce thousands to the children of Haiti the way I was introduced to Yaci? What if they gave? What if thousands gave up cable, coffee, to give food, clean water, shelter and Jesus to the people of Haiti?
“Help Haiti Live” was launched. Alison Krauss and Union Station, Big Kenny, Jars of Clay, Mat Kearney, Jon Foreman, Matt Wertz, Brandon Heath and Dave Barnes have all donated their talent to Compassion International. On February 27th we’ll gather at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN for almost three hours of music in hopes that thousands watch on-line at HelpHaitiLive.com.
More than $500,000 in streaming, design and production services have been donated to this event so that 100% of net proceeds from Help Haiti Live can be given to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund.
The goal is simple: Rebuild and restore the lives of Compassion’s children and their families in Haiti in Jesus’ name. One donation and one child at a time.
All because of Yanci.
For more on the Help Haiti Live event, click here. For more on Shaun Groves, click here.
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