It’s about 11 PM on Friday, July 16th. I am on the front porch with a fan and it is cool breeze with the fan. Ouananminthe has public electricity for about 4 hours in the evenings. Hopefully that will be enough to charge up the inverters for the batteries to run the fans all night. Hopefully. The porch would be an ideal place to sleep if you had a screen mesh tent/canopy. And of course can sleep through the passing motorcycles or mopeds or if it is the night before market—the massive trucks that you could never imagine come out of nowhere for the border markets on Fridays and Mondays. People on top of people. Some trucks are from as far away as Port au Prince.
Events of today—
Closing program for the Day Camp/VBS hosted by the churches from Lincolnton, NC—the kids had a blast in skits, choreography, projects
Saying good byes from the mission teams and the kids—wow, that was incredible to witness and see the love that has brewed over the past 3 to 4 years and multiple trips down to minister during the summer as Christmas!
Crossing the border with the teams to their bus—through market day at the border and meandering between people on top of people. Let’s just say that the word “close” seems to be a mild statement in regards to one’s personal bubble.
Loading the bus and getting all the paperwork at the border—Haiti has implemented some additional paperwork and it takes quite a while to put everything together for a team of 17 people—wow. What an incredible crew.
Then to the Dajabon Grocery store—here we got the essential. Gatorade—a case of that along with some apple juice boxes for Levi and chocolate milk boxes. And of course some peanut M & M’s for Cindy, Zero bars for Tim and Snickers for Joanne the house mom we are living with right now. The store actually has all the essentials a person would need. Not huge variety but nothing would be available to this degree outside of here. Border towns in Haiti have an advantage.
OK—so have not mentioned the heat. 95.5 today. That would not be so bad if it was outside. That was the temp in our bedroom. Whew. Pray about that with us please. We are having to make sure all of us are hydrated well—harder for the boys, but if you over do, sometimes it’s too late before you know you have overdone it!
These kids are so precious!! Oh my gosh. You can tell they are already loving having Blake, Ethan and Levi around. Levi going down the slides with one if the boys—Blake and Ethan playing basketball with a group of boys . . . . amazing to see the ministry and the bonds building. It was really helpful having the mission team here. Helped a lot to have our family be exposed to others that have had a long term relationship with this ministry and have seen the integrity over many years. That’s no surprise from what I have seen or knew already. Just a confirmation.
The ladies that are here that run the ministry—are overwhelmed. The needs are so great for help—staffing, projects, maintenance. We are meeting tomorrow to identify those things that are priority and create a work plan. Some are simple (I can do them), but others are going to require teams or people funding projects. So much is being accomplished and I can surely testify to that—making a difference in a country that is barren in so many ways.
Hard to be away from family. Pray for my uncle. Dennis. He was having a lot of tests before we left and was hospitalized. A small tumor has finally been found in his small intestine that is resting on his bladder. He has been losing quite a bit of blood and has been in a lot of pain the last few days. Morphine was not strong enough. He had a CT contrast scan today. Pray for my aunt as well. Ginny.
Today, during the program there was lots of singing and action songs and then it came time for more quiet worship songs this was led by 3 of the kids. I have to day there was a powerful presence as they led worship. These kids were serious about taking us before the throne. And I had to realize that these kids—the orphans perhaps really do know the Father in a way that I do not. Since Scriptures tell us that He is the Father to the fatherless, their relationship is different than mine. It’s hard to describe other than they were able to take us to the One that has known them before they ever came to the orphanage and the one that has met their needs in more ways than a lifetime. I am at a loss for words as to how they were able to lead us in worship other than it was as if we were all in His lap. One by one, all at the same time. I met the Father to the fatherless today with some of His kids. Heaven is gonna be beyond imagination.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday we just were folks out and about in Santiago.
Seeing and noticing things. How clean the city is. How the power lines look a lot like those we saw in China. We did the Multicentro La Sirena. The Dominican version of Wal-Mart. While in China we were IN a Wal-Mart—this was just the DR version. Very nice store! While Spanish is a challenge, it’s nothing like going to China and being able to decipher nothing. Blake and Ethan were very helpful to be able to come up with some Spanish to get us through! Mrs. Flores and Mr. Olivarez would be proud. We were!
Back to the shopping—there is no Wal-Mart in the DR. While we were there though we ran into these incredibly American looking young men—dark pants, white shirt, tie and yes they were Mormon. It’s always helpful to run into English speaking folks—we did yesterday, a couple of guys here with their families for Go Ministries based out of Louisville. They helped us order lunch. Back to the Mormons. Odd. Here we both were missionaries of sorts looking at each other, talking and sharing tips. I sensed that they truly wanted to please God and serve Him. I only pray that they will quickly come to trust and know the Jesus that died for them and provided for their atonement by the cross. Mormons do not believe that our Atonement and His grace are only through the cross.
Francisco—a friend of the ministry drove us around today. At the end of the day when it was just the two of us he wanted to show me his house and serve me a cup of coffee! He made it in his Greco. Gotta get one of those—makes great coffee! How did he know I loved a good cup of coffee? His son believe it or not lives in Charlotte. I have his number to give him a call! It was a nice home—mi casa he says. So proud to have me as a guest. The man loves the Lord.
We have gotten some stares as a white family in a culture that is not ours walk around with an obvious member of our family that is Asian. Some are gentle and subtle stares and others are gawking. There are 3 other little 4 year olds waiting to play with Levi in Haiti. Guervens, Jamison and Lubenson—they all four have overcome many obstacles. Makes you wonder. What was it about these little boys that was different then the millions of others that do not have hope? Will we ever know?
One of my favorite quotes about life in general comes from a missionary—by the time I came around as a student at Wheaton; a dorm had been named after him. Jim Elliott wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” It’s so close to my favorite passages in 2 Corinthians—“What you see in temporary and what you do not see is eternal.” “Our treasure is in this earthen vessel”
Trying to imagine and give a picture to Cindy, Blake & Ethan of the even greater contrast of Haiti tomorrow. It’s just hard to communicate. They’ll know tomorrow.
Seeing and noticing things. How clean the city is. How the power lines look a lot like those we saw in China. We did the Multicentro La Sirena. The Dominican version of Wal-Mart. While in China we were IN a Wal-Mart—this was just the DR version. Very nice store! While Spanish is a challenge, it’s nothing like going to China and being able to decipher nothing. Blake and Ethan were very helpful to be able to come up with some Spanish to get us through! Mrs. Flores and Mr. Olivarez would be proud. We were!
Back to the shopping—there is no Wal-Mart in the DR. While we were there though we ran into these incredibly American looking young men—dark pants, white shirt, tie and yes they were Mormon. It’s always helpful to run into English speaking folks—we did yesterday, a couple of guys here with their families for Go Ministries based out of Louisville. They helped us order lunch. Back to the Mormons. Odd. Here we both were missionaries of sorts looking at each other, talking and sharing tips. I sensed that they truly wanted to please God and serve Him. I only pray that they will quickly come to trust and know the Jesus that died for them and provided for their atonement by the cross. Mormons do not believe that our Atonement and His grace are only through the cross.
Francisco—a friend of the ministry drove us around today. At the end of the day when it was just the two of us he wanted to show me his house and serve me a cup of coffee! He made it in his Greco. Gotta get one of those—makes great coffee! How did he know I loved a good cup of coffee? His son believe it or not lives in Charlotte. I have his number to give him a call! It was a nice home—mi casa he says. So proud to have me as a guest. The man loves the Lord.
We have gotten some stares as a white family in a culture that is not ours walk around with an obvious member of our family that is Asian. Some are gentle and subtle stares and others are gawking. There are 3 other little 4 year olds waiting to play with Levi in Haiti. Guervens, Jamison and Lubenson—they all four have overcome many obstacles. Makes you wonder. What was it about these little boys that was different then the millions of others that do not have hope? Will we ever know?
One of my favorite quotes about life in general comes from a missionary—by the time I came around as a student at Wheaton; a dorm had been named after him. Jim Elliott wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” It’s so close to my favorite passages in 2 Corinthians—“What you see in temporary and what you do not see is eternal.” “Our treasure is in this earthen vessel”
Trying to imagine and give a picture to Cindy, Blake & Ethan of the even greater contrast of Haiti tomorrow. It’s just hard to communicate. They’ll know tomorrow.
Monday, July 13, 2009
0 Days, 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds
I happen to see that countdown on my blog and it made me feel a bit odd. Time had run out.
OK, so that's in reference to the travel date for our departure from Kernersville, NC via the Raleigh-Durham Airport, Miami and then arriving here last night in Santiago for a couple of days before we head over to Haiti. But the tim(er) had run out.
The days leading up to getting on that plane were remarkable. Family times, friends and our church family, neighbors stopping or calling. Wow--I just cannot help but think about how the time ran out. Did we bring everything we planned? Everything we needed? What God knows we will need? What we forgot or did not bring--guess it really does not matter now.
The events leading up to the time running out--our prayer time with our incredible brothers and sisters in our Sunday morning family--hard to call it a class, that sounds so formal. The connects we have made that are even deeper with family.
Th process the Lord has brought us through to this point can only lead us to firmly believe and know that what He has in mind for the next 35 days are life changing.
Thank you for joining in and following along. We wish everyone could be here to experience and catch a glimpse of what God's heart really looks like in the faces and lives of people, moms, dads, children, brothers and sisters that live in the country that is labeled the poorest in the western hemisphere.
It will be a test not just for our physical endurance but for the strength of everything that God has called us to be--as parents we cannot help but be anxiously awaiting what His plans are for aour sons. What His plans are for thier lives. This is no vacation, it is a mission.
Pray with us that we will be joyfully obedient in all things. Just because we find ourselves in Haiti does not mean we get a pass'n go card ( or something like that) like some monopoly game. We so earnestly want to hear His voice and see His heart.
"Oz" Chambers has something to say today about "Seeing the Lord"--
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, "I saw the Lord," there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, "In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You."
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
OK, so that's in reference to the travel date for our departure from Kernersville, NC via the Raleigh-Durham Airport, Miami and then arriving here last night in Santiago for a couple of days before we head over to Haiti. But the tim(er) had run out.
The days leading up to getting on that plane were remarkable. Family times, friends and our church family, neighbors stopping or calling. Wow--I just cannot help but think about how the time ran out. Did we bring everything we planned? Everything we needed? What God knows we will need? What we forgot or did not bring--guess it really does not matter now.
The events leading up to the time running out--our prayer time with our incredible brothers and sisters in our Sunday morning family--hard to call it a class, that sounds so formal. The connects we have made that are even deeper with family.
Th process the Lord has brought us through to this point can only lead us to firmly believe and know that what He has in mind for the next 35 days are life changing.
Thank you for joining in and following along. We wish everyone could be here to experience and catch a glimpse of what God's heart really looks like in the faces and lives of people, moms, dads, children, brothers and sisters that live in the country that is labeled the poorest in the western hemisphere.
It will be a test not just for our physical endurance but for the strength of everything that God has called us to be--as parents we cannot help but be anxiously awaiting what His plans are for aour sons. What His plans are for thier lives. This is no vacation, it is a mission.
Pray with us that we will be joyfully obedient in all things. Just because we find ourselves in Haiti does not mean we get a pass'n go card ( or something like that) like some monopoly game. We so earnestly want to hear His voice and see His heart.
"Oz" Chambers has something to say today about "Seeing the Lord"--
The Price of the Vision
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, "I saw the Lord," there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, "In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You."
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Father Himself is the father to the Fatherless - Caring About What is Most Precious to Him
What Does the Bible Say about Orphans?
Psalm 68:5, "A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation."
2. God considers caring for orphans to be pure spiritual service. (and) a religion that does not care for orphans is no religion at all.
James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress."
3. God's people are commanded to care for orphans. To see an orphan afflicted, and to turn a deaf ear, is sin, even rebellion.
Exodus 22:22, "You shall not afflict any widow or orphan."
Isaiah 1:17, "Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
Isaiah 1:23, "Your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless."
4. We can be the hands and love of Christ Himself by providing practical care.
Deuteronomy 10:18, "He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing."
Psalm 10:14, "But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless."
Matthew 18:5, "Whoever receives a child in My name, receives Me."
Matthew 25: 45, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto Me."
5. Orphans are to be taken care of with the same honor and provision as a Pastor or Priest.
Deuteronomy 14:28-30, "The Levite (priest), because he has not portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do."
6. A portion of all that we possess is sacred and belongs to the orphan.
Deuteronomy 26:12-14, "You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments."
Adapted from Tom Davis, author Fields of the Fatherless.
HAITI: Only a 90 minute Flight From Miami, but poorest country in Western Hemisphere
Orphan Statistics (Haiti)
• In Haiti alone, there are 490,000 orphans.
• In addition, 300,000 children are in slavery.
• One in seven children in Haiti dies before their 5th birthday - mostly of preventable diseases
• 60% of Haitian children do not have access to the most basic medical care.
• 25% of infants suffer from low birth weight. Sometimes it is fatal.
• 24% of children suffer from stunted growth as a result of malnutrition.
• Roughly 46% of children are not vaccinated against polio and measles.
• Nearly half of the population of Haiti are children under the age of 18 years.
• 48% of the adult population is illiterate.
• 200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children).
• Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death
• 9.71% of children die before or during birth.
• Every year, over 5000 babies are born infected with HIV.
Source: UNICEF, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
• In Haiti alone, there are 490,000 orphans.
• In addition, 300,000 children are in slavery.
• One in seven children in Haiti dies before their 5th birthday - mostly of preventable diseases
• 60% of Haitian children do not have access to the most basic medical care.
• 25% of infants suffer from low birth weight. Sometimes it is fatal.
• 24% of children suffer from stunted growth as a result of malnutrition.
• Roughly 46% of children are not vaccinated against polio and measles.
• Nearly half of the population of Haiti are children under the age of 18 years.
• 48% of the adult population is illiterate.
• 200,000 orphaned Haitian children live in institutions (the rest are fostered, live with relatives, or are street children).
• Child-headed households are becoming more common as potential guardians succumb to AIDS or other causes of death
• 9.71% of children die before or during birth.
• Every year, over 5000 babies are born infected with HIV.
Source: UNICEF, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
A Day of Preparation
Tonday feels like a day to prepare. Prepare communications. Prepare budgets. Prepare lists (which may last more than one day to put together). I am thinking it's a day to prepare hearts and minds for what He is doing. Preparing our hearts for what we do not even know we will experience yet.
Pray for us on that one. Pray that we listen and obey. Thnk you in advance for praying!
Oswald Chambers words today are-
If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, "Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful." And Jesus says to us, ". . . I have called you friends. . . ." Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.
Pray for us on that one. Pray that we listen and obey. Thnk you in advance for praying!
Oswald Chambers words today are-
If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, "Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful." And Jesus says to us, ". . . I have called you friends. . . ." Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Get Moving! Abide in Me . . . . John 15:4
Think of the things that take you out of the position of abiding in Christ. You say, "Yes, Lord, just a minute— I still have this to do. Yes, I will abide as soon as this is finished, or as soon as this week is over. It will be all right, Lord. I will abide then." Get moving— begin to abide now. In the initial stages it will be a continual effort to abide, but as you continue, it will become so much a part of your life that you will abide in Him without any conscious effort. Make the determination to abide in Jesus wherever you are now or wherever you may be placed in the future. Oswald Chambers
We could have done anything this summer. Well no not quite. God became our summer plans in a way that is not subtle. How could spending 30 days in Haiti be subtle. In the midst of unemployment, looking for a job or contract, here is what God lands right in our laps. Who else could drop what they are doing and go? Who else could? That's not for me to answer because God happened to place the opportunity for me. So I guess it's like this is my job for the next 3 months--the month getting ready, the month we are there and the month getting back, debriefing, and speaking again and continuing the decision making process.
Robenson is the oldest young man there. He is in 8th grade and is 17. The same age as our boys Blake and Ethan. He loves the Lord and one day wants to be an Ambassador. My boys need to meet Robenson. Robenson needs to meet meet them. They have alot in common. Worlds apart. But they are brothers.
When I left down there about 2 months ago, the night before I left I met with the older boys from ages of about 12 to 17. These would be the faces we would see on a regular basis if we we there, calling Ouananminthe home. These would be our boys. Our sons. I did something I knew God was leading me to do. After we had a time of some Bible reading and sharing verses that were important to us and maybe a few reasons why. It was time to pray. I am thinking this had never been asked of these young men before. But they stepped right up without hesitation. We had been talking about the decision at hand and why I was there. I was asking them to pray for me. But I wanted them to come and pray over me while I knelt before them on the floor in the cafeteria. I moved into place and suddenly I saw around me feet. I realized what I was seeing were soles/souls. The prayers--they began slowly and then more frequent and then there was not taking turns--all at once. I felt God's presence. I knew nothing of what they were praying. But I do know this. We are heading out on July 13th for 30 days. My entire family will meet these boys. Faces will be real and the hugs will be firm. I don't know what they prayed, but I know God has moved and will continue to move to provide the means for us to arrive on July 14th.
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