We are a bit late with Thanksgiving greetings, but want to combine them with our Christmas greetings. We have so much to be thankful for this last year. Yes, there have been the "downs" and "hard times", but don't we all face those every year? And hasn't God brought us through to rejoice another day? We've had hurricanes, floods, and other disasters, we've had medical problems, emotional problems, but we can still rejoice in the fact that God is God, and He is above all. In 1 Thess. 5: 18, it says, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It does NOT say, FOR all things... it says IN all things. So, in circumstances like the hurricanes, we pray, "God, make something come of this where YOU receive the glory." And we can rejoice, because so many people have come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, THROUGH THE HURRICANES. What satan meant for evil, God allowed for GOOD. Our faith was lifted so much by the response to the request for help for those who suffered. Just ONE of the stories where help was given is in the picture attached here. This is Cequer and his mom, after they got the walls up.
Their house was standing after the hurricanes...until someone touched the wall, and it fell in. It was a stick and mud house and this man and woman had taken in their grand kids and then lost everything. We were able to help one of seven of their children (Cequer) rebuild them a home, of cement blocks. All because of the caring hearts of so many of you. A smile is worth a thousand words...it brought tears to my eyes to see her and her son after he started working on the house. She has a home and can care for her grandchildren. These two photos are from just before the final walls fell down, to where they are now. They have a roof to put on and doors and windows to put in. The right half is the one being built. The one on the left is the family that took them in. The roof is part of what we helped with.
Praise God for the help sent to them. And this story is repeated several times. Add to that, the amount of people we were able to help with food. Wow, the praises that went up when a family could feed their kids. These are just a few of the many, many praises we have had.Now we add to that, those of you who have realized that the situation for the people here is going to take a long time before they are anywhere near self-sufficient again. We praise God for your continued help to help those in need. Our God is great, but the people He has used are also high up on that list for us. The needs continue, and God supplies, through you...and we are humbled by it all.
We have had some fantastic teams who have accomplished so much in so many areas, especially those who helped bag and fill so many buckets of food to deliver. I wish I could name them all, but we don't have the paper for that. Working in clinics, doing work in evangelism, working on churches, schools, homes, and the dorm, too!! The list goes on and on. And aside from the work they did, they uplifted our spirits a lot. We were blessed, very blessed, and so thankful.
We still have our prayer requests, I think everyone does. So we will share them. And we will ask you to rejoice with us as God answers them, too.
- For the help to continue for these hurting people and their situations here.
- For health and strength for both of us.
- For our son and daughter-in-law as they continue this long drawn out process of adoption. That God would intervene and let their new son come home to them.
- For all of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, that the Lord would make Himself a constant presence in their lives.
- For Karen's brother as he undergoes chemo therapy for colon cancer.
- For the government of Haiti, that the Lord would put His Hand on it, and change hearts and lives for Him, from the president on down.
- For the president elect of the US, that God would be a guidance and a presence in all decisions made.
- For this coming year...that the world would start to see the mighty works of the Lord in new and miraculous ways.
As we leave 2008 and enter 2009...we pray that the Lord will become a vital part of many things, not only in the US, or in Haiti, but in the world. Pray with us for revival to start and build mightily. Starting in hearts and progressing to governments. The time is short and we are praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in an awesome way.
"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 2 Thess. 2: 16,17.
Our special praise and thanks go to:
- Missionary Flights, Int'l. for their unending service and help to all missionaries in Haiti, the Dominican and the Caribbean.
- Stan & Gloria Curtis for their team leadership, containers, unending encouragement and love and all the work they do 24/7 for Haiti.
- Our families for allowing us to follow the Lord and do what He has called us to do.
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