The Shirt
It finally happened. It’s what I had always dreamed of. It probably has been happening for a long time. But I had never heard it expressed so vividly.
When I went to do relief work after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I noticed the United Nations working everywhere. How did I know it was the U.N.? They were all wearing light blue T-shirts with a large “UN” on the front of them. I noticed that when people needed help, they turned to one of these people in the light blue shirts.
As I pondered the situation, I thought—wouldn’t it be wonderful if when people saw Christian Relief Fund team members that they thought those are the people who will help me? And the orange CRF shirt idea was born.
What color could be seen by everyone and even from a distance? Orange. Why do road crews wear orange? And if you put big bold letters on them that say “CRF,” people will know that someone is there to help them.
Now people wear the orange CRF shirts all over the world as we help children, bring water, and assist with relief.
But I heard what I always wanted to hear last week. Ayrton Citalan, our CRF director in Guatemala, said that when someone wearing an orange CRF shirt arrives during this coronavirus crisis, people start running as fast as they can. They run because they know the orange shirt represents that help is on the way. I love this. It was always the goal. And Ayrton even had on his orange CRF shirt when he was saying it.
When people think of CRF, I hope they always think of Christian people who want to help. And I hope that we will always be the kind of people who are there in disaster situations actually helping. I hope people feel confident that they can run to us for help.
And that’s what you and CRF are doing during this pandemic. You are actually helping. People are running to you. If you have an orange shirt, wear it proudly.
Would you like a CRF shirt like our team members wear? It’s a great way to show your support and spread the word about CRF. We would be happy to send you one at our cost.
