Greetings and welcome…
We
arrived back in Haiti just over 2 weeks ago. And we thought our trip to the states was a
whirlwind. We have been constantly on
the move here and trying to catch up on simple daily things.
We
stayed with our daughter again this year.
As much as we would have liked to stay at the farm house we were
offered, it was 26 miles from town. We
were going daily to different areas and the added time of travel would have
hindered so much. But we were so
thankful for the couple who offered us the use of the house. It really was awesome and so quiet.
Our
grandson has a “companion” dog…well, maybe he isn’t really a dog… he acts more
like a person. We had to stop using the
word “out” because he would immediately head for the door. So we had spelled it…and he picked up on
that, too. He is so good and so
obedient. And doesn’t bark. I am not
really an animal person, but Beau changed that.
He is something else.
I
think our biggest blessing while stateside was seeing how the Lord used His
people to help us in some awesome ways.
When we seem to be at the end of our rope, the Lord ties a knot and then
give us a ladder to climb up on. We are
simply praising God for the people He has put in our lives over the years. And we praise Him for our longtime friends,
as well as our new friends. Only the
Lord could open some of the doors we have been blessed to walk through.
We
were able to share a few things with others about our ministry. How the Lord stepped in and opened another
area for us is awesome. I think most of
you know about our “bucket ministry”. We
fill 5 gallon buckets with various food items, some soap & shampoo, and
whatever else the Lord provides, then we top it off with scripture booklets. Once the food is gone, they can use these
buckets for water and for storing things.
But the neat thing is the scriptures.
We try to put 2 booklets of John & Romans in each bucket along with
tracts and a salvation message coloring book for children. The reason for 2 of them is simple. Books of any kind are cherished here. They will keep one (even if they can’t read)
and share the other one. Then they will
find someone to read it to them. Not
only do we reach those we give the buckets to, but it goes beyond that and they
are reaching out to others, also.
It
really is a blessing for us to have teams come in and do these buckets for
us. Having help to not only fill
buckets, but to have help in purchasing the food items is HUGE. And they get to help by distributing some of
them.
One
of the things we were able to do while in Wisconsin, was to help our son out
just a bit. His is working with food
distribution to the needy families. They
have a food pantry and work in conjunction with the county on helping the
really poor. We were able to help for an
evening and the next morning with moving things around so they could rearrange
things for new equipment. I know our son
really enjoys working with people and helping them this way is really
neat. We worked with some of the board
members and they were just as wonderful as our son. This was a fairly new job for him and he is
now really in his element in helping others.
After
talking with several people, and some who are coming down to help a Haitian
pastor as well as us, we were blessed with items they have gathered for the
buckets. So part of my job now is to
redo the price list of food and organize things on this end for the team. I want to share a bit of a
story how the Lord worked for us with this.
The Tuesday we flew in, I was handed a bill for the cargo we were taking
in with us. It was HUGE! I looked at the pilot checking us in and
said, "Well, guess we need to pray and ask the Lord to help us with
this." Got home, went through our 2 months of mail, and there
was a check from a sweet gal who had been here YEARS ago... one of the sweetest
women you'd want to meet.... and we haven't heard from her in about 8
years. The check she sent covered our shipping cost!!! Isn't
God awesome? He sure does walk before us!! We did have to pay
customs, which is natural, but it wasn’t near what we had thought it would
be. We could really feel the Lord’s arms
around us through all of this.
We
are back to our normal workload here now.
And trying to catch up on things that need doing. It was good to see everyone and be able to
sit and share just a bit with them.
Vero
came to us just the other day and shared a new project she is starting. Her brother, who died a few years ago, had
some land. She wants to use this land as
a memorial to him. They will start by
reaching out to the area around that land and evangelize the area. The second step will be to set up a program
to help the people in the area learn to read and write. That is so needed out in the very rural
areas. It’s hard to see people taken
advantage of because of the lack of these basic needs. They are working now on setting up an agenda
for over the next couple of years and see where the Lord leads them. Vero has been involved in evangelism for
quite a few years. Seeing her reach out
to yet another area is exciting. But
please keep her in prayer as she is still struggling with the issues concerning
her legs and feet.
We
just received some disturbing new from Savanah’s lawyer. The birth mom has to go to Port yet again to
sign papers in front of the judge. I
asked them, once she does that when will the adoption be final? They said, “Oh, 5 to 6 months.” I said, “WHAT? It’s already been 5 years and the Canadian
papers for the adoption end on Savanah’s birthday on October 16th.” So, here we go again…this poor kiddo wants to
go home to her family so bad. I DO
realize that the Lord knows all of this and it’s in His time it will be
completed, but I am wearing out both mentally and physically with all of
this. How can I relay to this child that
it’s all in the hands of people who don’t really seem to care what
happens? So, prayers are needed yet
again. For the adoption, yes, for the
Lord to touch people and to move it along.
But also for my attitude toward those who are holding this whole thing
up. And for strength for us as we wait
yet again for something positive to happen.
I
would also like to ask for prayers for Missionary Flights, Int’l., again. This month they are hoping to bring the new
DC-3 from Africa to the states. Well,
that is new to MFI anyway. Would you
join us in prayer for this? MFI and
their staff can always use your prayers, as do we. They are a totally faith based mission, with
everyone having to raise their own support. And they really DO “Stand In The
Gap” for missions all over the Caribbean.
Well,
enough for now. But know we appreciate
all the prayers and concern going up on our behalf, with all the things going
on here in Haiti. We are praying for you
on that end too, that the Lord would step in and be the strength and wisdom you
need as well. Blessings….
