Nine days ago, Haiti was struck by a strong earthquake. Since then, the media has been full of images from the island nation that show devastation on a scale that is truly hard to imagine. Hundreds of thousands are feared dead, and hundreds of thousands more face the grim prospect of hunger and disease.

The humanitarian response has been swift. Relief workers from around the world have been streaming in to Haiti, and charitable donations to organizations doing work on the ground have skyrocketed. Among the nations to offer aid was Israel. Soon after the quake, Israel dispatched military and civilian medical professionals and search and rescue experts to Haiti.

The field hospital Israel quickly set up is state-of-the-art, and was the first facility equipped to handle complex surgical procedures required by some of the earthquake's most badly injured victims.

One U.S. doctor commented on Israel's relief efforts: "I've been here since Thursday; no one except the Israeli hospital has taken any of our patients," she said. "It's like another world here compared to the other hospitals. They have imaging… they have [scanning] machines here, operating theaters, ventilators, monitoring. It's just amazing." Israel's efforts have also earned the respect of the Haitian people. Last Sunday, a woman who gave birth to a baby boy at the Israeli field hospital said she would name her son "Israel" as a gesture of gratitude.

The quickness and efficiency of Israel's response to the disaster in Haiti is rooted in the sobering fact that Israel is accustomed to having to cope with unexpected disasters. Through the years, the ongoing threat of terrorism has forced Israel to find new and creative ways to save lives and give relief to the injured. Now, Israel gladly shares its knowledge in Haiti, just as it has in years past when other humanitarian needs have surfaced throughout the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summed it up: "This is the true heritage of the State of Israel and the Jewish people… We may be a small country, but we are a country with a big heart. This is the expression of Jewish ethics and heritage—to help others."

It is difficult to find any comfort in disasters such as this, where the scope of devastation is truly beyond our imagining. But I am reminded of the words of the Psalmist, who spoke of God's presence even in the midst of darkness and despair: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there… If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." (Psalm 139:7-8, 10-12)

Sure of the promise that God is with all of us, in good times and bad, let us pray fervently for the people of Haiti who have suffered so greatly, and who will face daunting challenges in the months and years ahead as they seek to rebuild shattered lives. Pray, too, for the relief workers of all nations who have gone to Haiti to try to in some measure alleviate that suffering. And let us continue to pray for the day when God blesses all his people with shalom, peace.