It may be resolved by the time you read this, but as I write 10 volunteers from a Southern Baptist church in Idaho are in jail in Haiti, accused of illegally trying to spirit 33 Haitian children across the border into Dominican Republic.

The volunteers’ stated intent was to provide these children, many of whom are orphans, with a stable and safe environment in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the nation Jan. 12. Estimates now have risen to 200,000 dead and some say as many as a million children are orphaned or homeless.

Haiti was basically a refugee camp as a nation before the earthquake. Two thousand charitable organizations operated in the capital city to provide food, education, job training, small business incubators, education and orphanages to Haitians whose government apparently has been incapable of providing such basic services for its own citizens.

Add to that the chaos following the earthquake and it is little wonder that people with a heart to help feel they can just come and do; that paperwork, permission and process are pushed aside for the sake of expediency. Who wants to wait on a document when children are hungry and exposed to the elements?

Southern Baptist Convention leaders Morris Chapman, president of the Executive Committee; current SBC President Johnny Hunt and immediate past president Frank Page have asked President Obama to intervene on behalf of the jailed volunteers. In some quarters, there is a feeling – or just hope – that their fate and freedom has already been assured and “we” are simply allowing the drama to play out to affirm Haiti’s sovereignty.

But the scary truth is that these Baptist volunteers, if convicted of the crimes for which they are charged, could face 15 years in Haitian jail.

Baptist and government leaders are reluctant to express full support for the volunteers – please don’t call them missionaries – because their true intent is unknown. And because the volunteers, no matter their intent, operated with a western brashness that implies we are the cavalry and everyone else is a horse thief.

In their letter to President Obama, Chapman, Hunt and Page said that although this group did not coordinate their effort with any Southern Baptist relief organization, "It is possible that the Baptist mission volunteers currently detained in Haiti have acted with the noblest of intentions in a desperate situation to meet an immediate need. We pray that is the case."

They called for diplomatic negotiations toward "a solution that respects the rule of law, honors international agreements and ensures the best possible care and full legal representation for these Baptist mission volunteers."

This dreadful case illustrates the need for awareness among volunteers that good intentions are not a passport to swoop into other cultures, scoop up children and carry them to another nation for care – temporary or otherwise. There already are rumors of homeless Haitian children being gathered under false pretenses and sold internationally as household servants or sex slaves.

That is the context that colors perceptions of the Idaho group’s actions.

Their sad circumstance demonstrates the importance of coordinating volunteer efforts with people and organizations that have credibility, experience and efficiency operating in disasters – especially disasters in countries other than your own.

North Carolina Baptist Men coordinates disaster response for North Carolina Baptists. Gaylon Moss has directed this effort for 12 years and a network of professionals and volunteers orbit around his office. He and N.C. Baptist Men Director Richard Brunson are wise enough to know that, even with their extensive experience, they would not drop kick volunteers into a disaster scene without an onsite connection familiar with the field.

That is why before N.C. Baptist Men sent its first volunteer into the Haitian mess, it found and connected with Global Outreach Haiti, a part of an international Global Outreach ministry in Mississippi that has been in Haiti since 1983. Global Outreach Haiti has provided a connecting point, a beachhead for our assessment teams and medical volunteers to land.

Had there been Southern Baptist missionaries in Haiti, we likely would have connected with them. Mark Rutledge, an IMB missionary in Haiti for 26 years before the IMB team changed locations to Dominican Republic and Rutledge came stateside for a year, has been back in the area helping SBC and Florida Baptist Convention volunteers get a foothold. Florida Baptists have a long-term presence in Haiti.

While gladly acknowledging that hundreds of organizations small and large were present, selflessly serving Haitians before the earthquake, these are the conditions that spawn crooks, thieves and liars who make their living by taking advantage of the soft spots in Christian hearts for those who are hurting.

As you are prompted to give and support efforts of all kinds in Haiti, resist sending a dollar to any organization created to respond to the need there. Just as after Hurricane Katrina anybody with a pickup and a magnetic sign on the door was suddenly a contractor, unscrupulous people create organizations to siphon donated dollars during such times of generous outpouring.

As North Carolina Baptists marshal resources to respond as quickly, effectively and appropriately as we can, it is vital that we do it in a way that will empower Haitians long-term. How can your group embrace, include, educate and train Haitians to rebuild their nation while you are there helping them do it?

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert wrote “When Helping Hurts” which shows how good intentions sometimes leave bad results. They want to “help churches help the poor to help themselves.”

 “When it comes to helping the poor, the natural reaction is to do for them rather than empowering them to do it for themselves,” Corbett and Fikkert say. “In the past, relief beneficiaries were often seen as passive patients and victims who are totally dependent on external experts for help. The best relief programs engage and build upon the local knowledge, labor, networks, and all types of productive resources from the first day. Furthermore, the Haiti work will quickly shift to rehabilitation and development work, which demands even less ‘doing for’ the Haitian people.”

Fifty Baptist associations are drop-off points for “Buckets of Hope” in which you can spend $30 and fill a plastic bucket of food, tape a $5 bill to it and ask Baptist Men to send it Haiti. That is a good thing.

But as a church project can you instead raise $2,300 to buy the materials for a house that N.C. Baptist volunteers will come alongside a Haitian family to build? Or for larger churches, maybe you can raise $12,000 for materials to rebuild a church in Haiti.

We are in Haiti for the long term. When we do it right our gospel seeds will find fertile soil.