Rain Forest and Flower Garden

Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis 2010-2011 Spirited Worship offering blog! This church year we are very happy to have voted to help children in the Caribbean nation of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, but a country RICH with traditions and culture, kindness and strength. We decided to help in two ways....a "Macro" and a "Micro," if you will. I would explain it to the children in Spirited Worship this way:

Macro is like a Rain Forest. It's big, expansive, and is made up of so many smaller components. It's like looking at a whole puzzle after it's all put together. It's the "BIG PICTURE."

Micro is like your own Flower Garden. You are right in there touching it, smelling it, feeling it. You know each plant individually and get your hands right in there to care for each one. It's what's right in your "OWN WINDOW."

This year, we are going to split the Spirited Worship collection between a "Rain Forest" and a "Flower Garden." Our Rain Forest will be the UUSC - Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. They are doing big work in Haiti, helping in a broad range of areas. From their web page on their work in Haiti:

"UUSC stands with those who are working to reverse the cycle of collapse and dependence that has plagued Haiti throughout its history. Including policy and advocacy initiatives and constituent engagement in its approach, UUSC is using all of its tools to respond to this emergency. By partnering with Haitian organizations and social movements, UUSC will help their vision become reality." 

We are happy to support this UU organization that is helping Haiti in so many ways. Please check out their website!


Our Flower Garden is Real Hope for Haiti, a small, family-run organization doing big things for their community in Cazale, Haiti. Sisters Lori and Licia and their families run a Rescue Center which houses around 60 severely malnourished and sick children in a rural area. They also work in community development, food boxes, clean drinking water, and environmental sustainability. We have a personal connection to them and they will correspond with us. We will start by sending them handmade (at Social Service Sunday on Oct. 17) fleecy knot dolls to comfort the sick children, as well as photos and pictures from our UUCD kids!


The Rescue Center has a very active blog written by Licia. Her sister Lori also has a blog but she doesn't post as often as she did in the past (you can imagine how busy they are, seeing hundreds of patients each day). If you want to see what life is like for the poor in Haiti, not just in Cazale but in every corner, I urge you to read their blog and share what they and the UUSC organizations are doing in Haiti. Send people you know to this blog to donate!


Parents, before going to the Haiti Rescue Center blog with your children beside you, please check out their latest blog entry that will show at the top of the page first yourself, and make sure that your children will be ok seeing any photos that may be posted. Some of the children come into the Rescue Center in a very shocking condition...it is not something that your kids will be used to seeing. But it's reality. And these organizations can HELP!

Gerald admitted to the Rescue Center at 30 lbs

Gerald in the Rescue Center now at 35 lbs!

Thank you so much for supporting Spirited Worship! We hope to get the word out about this blog to the general blogging public who has a heart for Haiti. I would love to see each Sunday's collection matched, and watch our collection meter grow! Please become a follower of this blog (see right column) so you can be alerted when there is a new post.

Of course you can donate to both Real Hope for Haiti and the UUSC on their respective websites, but we would love it if you would be part of our yearlong church collection to help encourage the children and youth at our church to always strive to reach higher and do more. We even have our Youth group and some church families wanting to go on the UUSC Work trip to Haiti in early 2011! 

If you donate using the button, please leave a comment and tell me what you donated so I can update the tracker! We would love to be able to share the comments you leave with our kids at church! Let them know they are helping make a difference and the world hears them!


Thanks, and Blessed Be!


Steph