Catch up time

Catch up time again,

Does time ever slow down?  Nope it doesn’t but it sure seems to speed up once in a while.  Let’s see if I can explain that one to you.  I think the first thing that comes to mind is our leaky roof.  We’ve prayed and waited, and praise the Lord, the funds came in to replace it.  BUT… now we will have to wait until we return in August to get it done.  We have the roofing now, but the one person we would trust to do it, has a problem getting here before we leave.  A wise person made a statement, “There must be a reason, or the Lord would have had him here.”  And as strange as it sounds, I’m at peace with that.  I KNOW it will get done, and it will be finished when the Lord tells us to do it.  Our heavy rains seem to have stopped, and for some reason, these last storms have not caused problems in the house.  Could it be a “God-instance” and He plugged a few holes for the time being?  I’m fine with whatever He does. 

And our kiddo, Cequer.  We have not gone out to see him, and for a definite reason.  The Lord impressed on me not to, YET.  Vero and I talked about it and at first, I was a bit confused why I shouldn’t go.  But after our conversation, I have a very definite feeling both Vero and I know why.  The Lord impressed on both of us that we need to encourage the Haitian Christians, who totally believe in the Lord’s power to heal, to go out and pray with him.  And after talking to several strong Haitian pastors, I know what we felt is true.  People in this country have seen the power of voudou.  But they have rarely seen the power of the Lord manifested.  Oh, they have seen foreigners come in and talk and preach on God’s power but haven’t seen much of it.  We need those who are walking in tune with the Lord to go and pray and for others to see God using Haitians to step in and use the power the Lord has given us, to pray for and receive answers to those prayers.  And it has been exciting to see those pastors and other believers do exactly that. The first breakthrough was over a week ago.  Our Abbie, who is a strong believer in God’s power at the age of 13, went out to see Cequer for the first time last Sunday.  She has been praying fervently for him.  When she got there, Cequer recognized her…the first person he has recognized.  (I have been told this by quite a few who are there with him).  He is now recognizing more and more people.  He is walking with crutches.  He is up and eating.  He is progressing, and it IS THE LORD!!  Very few believed he would even survive after the horrific accident and all the injuries to his head and leg.  But we serve an awesome, miracle working God, who has stepped in and is answering all those prayers.  We will now go out and see him in the next day or so. The community has seen God working through His Haitian believers and that is awesome, too.  Isn’t God amazing?  Keep praying for Cequer.  We need him back with us, working at the airport and at our home and being the lighthearted kid he was before.  I know ten days ago he celebrated his 44^th birthday, but he’s still a “kid” to us!!

Abbie is really an inspiration to us.  She is showing her upbringing by her mother, for sure.  Her 13^th birthday was just 2 days ago, but her wisdom where the Bible is concerned is amazing.  And her mom has instilled in her a love for reading and learning.  When she comes home from school and has either an A- or a B+ on a test, she is upset.  Like all kids she went through a VERY SHORT period of rebellion where school was concerned.  But she overcame that and is an excellent student and her love for learning is awesome.  Ask her “study buddy”, grandma.  Grandma is learning things she never knew before, too.  (And here I thought I was too old for that!!)

Vero and her ministry keeps growing.  Our concern is that she will overextend herself and wear out.  Her problem with her legs is still there, but not as bad as it was, thankfully.  She just doesn’t let that slow her down at all.  Her list goes on and on…she works with the IDADEE orphanage, she is a worker for MFI at the airport, in charge of the container, she (and others) do a lot of evangelism work, they have a ministry teaching adults to read and write, they have services for kids out in the country in a high voudou area, they are teaching young girls who are pregnant, basic schooling, since they can’t attend regular school.  Some of these girls are 12 and 13 years old!  All of this out in the area where they are dealing with a strong presence of satanic worship.  But they are making a huge impact.  On top of that, she comes home and does dishes and cleans… against our wishes.  We started calling her our resident restovec (Creole for slave)…she gets upset and says, “NO, I like doing this!!”  

I’m still enjoying working with MFI (but don’t tell them that), and with the IDADEE orphanage, and with a few other ministries and individuals.  Don is working on trying to finish up the bathroom in Vero’s place.  There is nothing simple here, one small job can take ages, since things keep going wrong, or you have to fix one thing to fix another.  The list goes on and on.  And we are hoping to get another delivery of buckets out before we take our trip to the states.  There are people constantly at the door needing help, especially now that school is about to end, and they have to pay to take the tests here.  And of course, medical bills that people have a hard time coming up with the money for.  And medicine, too.  But that is why we are here, to help alleviate some of those problems.  Keep us in prayer as we try to keep on keeping on through all of this.

I’m enjoying working with English Bible Fellowship.  I’m leading service today and we’ll be focusing on the word “FEAR” in the Bible.  Many Haitians have no concept that fearing the Lord is NOT to be afraid of Him, but to revere and honor Him.  So it will be a very short topic, but a needed one.  It’s been a joy to see so many Haitians in our service.  And when they don’t understand a word, they are willing to ask, knowing we’ll do our best to help them.  It’s opening up the Bible and it’s meaning to a lot of them.  Please keep it in prayer.  Our committee is doing a great job.

Must close for now but remember to keep both Haiti and the US governments in prayer.  Last week one of the verses I shared at English church was 2 Chronicles 7: 14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  We need to keep the governments and all the leaders in prayer, that the Lord will work in and through them.

Until next time, blessings beyond measure to you and yours, and keep your eyes on the Lord ~~~ HE IS COMING SOON!!!

Living in a Whirlwind of time

Greetings,

Mid May and I am just getting another update on here.  Sorry for the delay…a lot has been going on.

I guess I will have to do this in sections to try and cover things for you.  I want to start with someone I had met back in February, when I had been at the MFI banquet in West Palm Beach.  A young man came up to me after the banquet and we spoke for a few minutes.  He shared some cards he had with both me and with Pastor Paul Romeus.  They are like a credit card in size and shape and heavy plastic.  Paul and I both agreed they were great evangelistic tools.  After I returned to Haiti, I showed them to several pastors and those who do evangelism.  They were thrilled with them.  Those I had were in Creole, and everyone was VERY interested in them.  Since that time, Ryan Robbins, from GoKnock.org, and I have been in communication.  I purchased those that I could afford, and as an incentive, Ryan included more, free of charge on our first order.  The photo below shows the English one that I have.  There were 10 different cards in the Creole packets.  As you can see, there are catchy one or two words on the front, and the back has scripture.  They really are awesome.

Now, on to the happenings in the last month or two. 

The first was a horrible accident.  One of “our kids” was on the side of the road, and was hit by a small bus.  A very long story short, is that he had severe head injuries and his ankle/foot was pretty mangled.  This was about April 15^th.  He was taken to the hospital here in the north, in Milot.  After a few days, sent, by helicopter, to Port au Prince.  Not very responsive and in extreme pain.  He had spent a lot of time there.  Then we heard he had to leave that place, since it was an emergency only facility.  He was brought back up to the north and taken to his own home.  Still not eating, drinking or able to care for himself.  I believe at this time they are trying to make arrangements to put him in the hospital/clinic that is a part of the IDADEE orphanage.  When the request went out, Missionary Flights sent in a really nice wheelchair for him to use.  But at this time, no updates have come our way, so we are asking for continued and constant prayers for Cequer.  He is a very important part of our lives here.

Then on April 24^th we were blessed when our son and grandson arrived for a week.  They had been asked by English Bible Fellowship (EBF) to come and do a one day conference.  The TOT (Teaching Our Teachers) conference was centered on teaching those in position to teach others how to evangelize, effectively.  We ended up with about 40 there including our EBF committee.  Half way through we supplied a wonderful lunch from a local restaurant. At the conclusion each of the attendees were given a packet of the 10 GoKnock cards, and a bag of personal care items. Those along with their papers from the conference, the tablets and pens were a blessing for them.  They were all very thrilled with the conference and will be teaching what they learned in their own churches and ministries.  We had quite a few pastors as a part of this and they immediately asked when would Dale come back and teach again. (Did this mom’s heart good to hear that!)  Our translators were awesome, too, even though Dale didn’t need one, he did use one.  Gregory was happy to have one though.  So, thoughts are in gear for another conference in the future.  Photos below showing you what all went on.

We spent some time setting up and getting ready for the sign in.  

 It really was nice having it out in the air, yet covered from sun.  And the attendee's had school desks to use for taking notes, and they ALL were taking notes with the outlines handed out.

 Dale had Joab as his first translator. 

 His second translator was our good friend Pastor Paul Romeus. 

 And Gregory had Enoch translating for him.  You can tell they all had a good time.

 Sunday at English Bible Fellowship, Gregory was able to share again.

 Then, while Dale and Gregory were here, they worked on food buckets for us.  What a joy to be able to get these done and they were able to help deliver most of them, too.  The sad part was after just a week they had to leave again.  But while here, we took Abbie with us and sent to town for a meal.  No one could believe Abbie ordered the Boukanye Burger (the BIG one) and then she ate the whole thing!!

Dale and Gregory went out with Marco, who along with Vero, head up a great ministry of not only evangelism, but teach adults how to read and write.  They went into areas where Marco knew the needs were great.  I'm only showing a couple of the stops they made, along with some of the evangelism team.  The first one is Dale with a baby a woman wanted to give me.  Of course he didn't take her, but she sure is cute.

Two of the women who received buckets, along with Marco and one of the gals on the team, and Gregory.

 These two gals on the team love to be able to minister in ways like this for the very poor.  And this was a great experience for Gregory, too.

And then there is Abbie and the monster hamburger.  Grandpa couldn't believe she ate it all!

After our kids left, there was an American Warden’s meeting and town hall meeting for Americans at the new Sadama Hotel.  So Don and I were there for the wardens meeting, which then flowed into the American town hall meeting.  We met Maureen Smith, the Deputy Consul General of the US Embassy.  The meeting was very informative and only a very small group showed up.  But I think the highlight of the day was the hotel, and the road to get to it.  I honestly thought we were on the wrong road going up to the top of the mountain.  It was SO, SO bad.  And if we had met another vehicle, we would have been in trouble.  It was one lane.  Then at the top….I had almost stopped because it looked like the road ended and we would go off the mountain.  No guard rails or signs or anything.  (and no, I didn’t take a picture, I was driving).  Then the road turned sharp right and there was the hotel.  There is not another one like it in Haiti, I would bet.  It is AWESOME!  (Not that I want to travel that road again to get there).  Very top notch.  I’ll put some pics for you to see.  Very honestly, I pulled them from the web site, but we did see this.  The only one I took was of the city of Cap Haitian, while we were sitting waiting for the meeting to start.  I checked on line, and if you can believe it, back in 2015 there were supposedly 357,000 people in Cap Haitian.  (not sure how they could count…but they did have a figure).  And we know since that time, the city and area have grown a lot.  When you look at the photo of the city… try and picture that many, in this small area.

This picture was obviously taken from a plane or helicopter.  The hotel was carved into the side of the mountain. 

 

This was the dining room our meeting was in.  Nice view!

 And then there is the view of Cap Haitian and off in the distance, the airport.

 On to Missionary Flights, Int’l. (MFI) and the airport.  If you have flown into Cap Haitian in the recent past, even up to 2 and 3 months ago… you would not believe the changes at the airport now.  We who work there have been going through “growing pains”.  It seemed the buildings changed on a daily basis.  We just never knew what to expect each day we arrived.  Last Thursday two of us were given an “unofficial” tour of our new building and were able to see the plans.  Supposedly by the end of this month we should be able to see a major GOOD change.  I’m not a real negative person, but we live in Haiti.  I told him, “I believe you, but…. We live in Haiti.”  So, I am praying they will prove my doubts wrong and that it will be great, very soon.  Keep praying for MFI, as they too, are experiencing “growing pains”.  With some staff leaving and others coming in, we need to keep them in prayer.  Yet, they continue to have faithful service for us, so we are praising the Lord for that!!

I will close with two scriptures that are holding us together right now….

Colossians 4: 2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

I Thess. 5: 16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Amen and blessing beyond measure!!!!