January 7-14, 2013: Psalm 46:11

A team from LCF will be going to Haiti this coming week.  They will be teaming with Moise and Francoise and helping in any way possible with Source de la Grace.

Team members:  Tami Davison, Janese Brown, Kelsey Heuer, Erica Carr, John Skillman, Rick Woods, Ashley Kohles, and Micah Kohles

Prayer needs:  pray for the health and safety of the team members, that they will have translators during the week, pray for necessary supplies and needs to be met, and most importantly, pray for the Holy Spirit to intercede minute by minute for the team to know the direction God wants them to take each day

Prayer times:
A prayer vigil will be held on Monday (7th), Wednesday (9th), and Saturday (12th) at my house (Amy Newberry) at 7pm each of those evenings.  Please call 415-8508 for directions.  We live near LCF.

Verse for the trip: 
Psalm 46: 11:   The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.


Blessings, 
Amy

Worthy is the Lamb to be Praised!

Sorry to have not written the blog Thurs night as planned.  Then we wrote this blog last night (Friday) but couldn’t get internet at DFW, so here it is today . . .

When we got home from the SDLG Children’s Home (Thursday) after eating supper at the church and saying our goodbyes, the Vaval family surprised us with a delightful time of fellowship and delicious Haitian pastries, cakes and ice cream!  We thanked them for making us feel like family this week, for welcoming us and all the LCF teams with open arms and hearts!

Thursday was another full day, hitting the 95+ degree mark most of the day with 100% humidity!  We ladies met with Francoise to ask her about needs of the Children’s Home.  She is the “one in charge” as Moise puts it, and it is obvious that she is loved and respected by the caregivers, the cook/laundry helpers, and the kids themselves.  We (through your giving) were able to help with school books for the 14 boys, with necessary cooking utensils & pots, and left the funds to have their carpenter build shelves for the kids to each have a cubby hole for their belongings. 

By the way, KeKe (the little girl, whose mother is paralyzed, and was dropped off by her half-brother early in the week with a small purse filled with her belongings) is adjusting to her new life.  She is healthy, and is satisfied with her new friends.  But her sadness still seems to be just below the surface.

Heidi found out in conversation with James (15 year old who speaks a small amount of English) that his family all died in the earthquake 2+ years ago, and to his knowledge he is the only one left.  He previously played on a soccer team and, after his home was destroyed, actually lived in the soccer club for a while, until IBESR (Haiti Family Services) placed him in a home, then let him come to SDLG 3 weeks ago when they opened their Children’s Home.  He is happy to be there but misses his family and soccer.  He appears to be a very talented soccer player, but the thing that really stands out about James is his tender serving heart.  He quietly serves the other kids before he eats, and provides a calming touch or word when little arguments break out among the boys.  His eyes are a touching combination of kindness and sadness.  Please pray for him.

Mark & Matt completed the pulling of electrical wire in the school (at least as much as we purchased), under the enjoyable and excellent direction of Opelco, who we’ve worked with before and look forward to working with again.  Joe constructed, set up (in the home’s concrete front yard) and joined the boys in using the wood soccer goals made from available scraps on the property.  They were definitely a hit!  These boys went through 2 soccer balls in one week!  Not kidding!  Joe, Matt & Samuel went down the street, at James’ advice, and bought the home 2 street soccer balls (which should last until January!). 

With one of our Bible stories/skits yesterday, Drew played Jesus as He welcomed the children and blessed them.  They loved being the aim and focus of the story and then eagerly let us lay hands on them and pray for them “Haitian-style” (out loud and simultaneous), then Samuel interpreted as Jesus (Drew) prayed for their precious young lives and hearts.  

 
















The Holy Spirit was very present there on the tile floor of the front porch, in the 97 degree heat, as the rice cooked over a fire, and the goat bleated loudly nearby.  It all felt very right!  Bondye se bon!  
















Giraud (pronounced by us as “Geo”, principal of the school and right-hand man to Moise) told me last night that Creole is the only language with a word for God that actually means “Good God” rather than just God.  So “Bondye se bon” literally says “Good God is so good!”  We can learn much from our Haitian family in Christ about true thankfulness.  It was a blessed week! 

With much gratitude,

Bev

Behold the Lamb and Live in Response

The gospel is awesome!  No matter what country you set foot in, it is the most important truth that can be shared and received. As Mark exclaimed in his prayer tonight at church service, "Thank you, Jesus, that you are the one true hope of the world!"

John the Baptist told his followers when he first saw Jesus: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus, we want to behold you every day and serve you in response. We hope that you were honored today . . .

Today, we beheld the Lamb and experienced the gospel in all the details. It's only by God's grace that we can live and move and act as his children and serve Him. The gospel binds us together as family in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the sons and daughters of the King, and that means we are brothers and sisters with members of SDLG. (By the way, we are officially family now that Matt drives on Haiti roads and Sara has a Haitian hairdo!)

Sharon and the crew experienced sisterhood on a whole new level today as she taught a group of Haitian women how to sew. (In case you hadn't heard already, we brought quilts made by LCF women for the kids at SDLG. The LCF ladies displayed the quilts during women's ministry on Monday, and the SDLG ladies asked if they could learn how to make them!) Ten women from SDLG showed up to learn! They were so overjoyed to learn a new skill, and they already plan to serve a family that is in need by making a quilt for them! In Sharon's own words, "It couldn't have gone any better!"

Mark, Matt and Opelco finished the electrical wiring for 4 of the 5 rooms on the lower level of the school. Tomorrow they should finish as much as we can do with the wire that we have! It truly is a joy to hear all over campus the echo's of Matt's Creole accent put on English words ("water" is "wat-air"), Opelco's instructions in Creole, and Mark's endearing laughter! They are working really hard and enjoying one another's company!

(Davidson, Matt, Opelco, Mark, Joe)

Bev and I got four quality hours with Moise today to talk about some important matters. We are continuing to form a deeper bond and partnership with our dear brother and with SDLG. What a privilege to spend such quality face-to-face time! God continues to be sovereign over all the details of our trip (why would we expect anything else?).

The other six enjoyed acting out the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) for the children. Mark relished his role as the man going down to Jericho, especially when James and Emerson (two of the boys) got to beat him up, acting as the robbers in the story. Joe got to be the test dummy as we taught the kids about hygiene (brushing teeth, washing hands, and using the toilet). I think Joe himself learned some lessons that he can take back home. Football and parachute were also a hit!

At church tonight, I had the privilege to preach again. We walked through Romans and talked about the common identity and common mission we have with SDLG through the gospel. I focused on Romans 12:1-2 and urged all of us to offer our lives in view of God's great mercies in the gospel. If you haven't read Romans for a while (or even if you have!), go read it with a heart of gratitude and it will basically be the same as you being there tonight, for the preaching at least . . . for the other elements, you just had to be there, but I'll try to explain . . .

The body of SDLG sang a song of blessing over us at the end of the service. As Moise continued to sing, Joe Knittig from Global Orphan Project (what a joy to see him today and worship together . . . he is sleeping here with us tonight) prayed over us and LCF. Also, the rest of the Haitian believers in the sanctuary prayed simultaneously, a beautiful chorus of Creole cries to our King. We were very humbled.  Mark offered a powerful closing prayer for the service, and Matt offered a beautiful benediction (they really were powerful and beautiful . . . I had goosebumps!). What an honor to worship cross-culturally with partners in the gospel.

Man, so many other details the Lord worked out today: Another girl, Nadine, came to live at the children's home. Sara got to sit down with Dr. Archer to go over our health assessments with the kids. It was Samuel's birthday and we sang to him. Matt, Mark, Joe and Opelco made another trip to get wire (on Monday it took 4 hours and today it took less than an hour, and the store was cheaper!). God is so good!


Drew & the Team

Prayer time cancelled for Thursday

The blog reports have been amazing to follow.  The team has done such a wonderful job of explaining what God is doing there through their hands and feet.  God is definitely alive and active!  Praise Him!

Unfortunately, I will need to cancel the Thursday night prayer time at 7pm.  Please continue to lift the team up in prayer as they journey back to Liberty on Friday.

Blessings,
Amy

Loving like the Lamb

Another HOT and humid day in Haiti! We are slowly getting used to nonstop sweating. We experienced the Colonel as our driver for the day, Matt did a great job adapting to the special Haitian way and the back row only hit our heads on the ceiling once. We had lots of projects in progress today.  Our very own Mark and Matt electrical crew partnered with Opelco to put up 5 new solar powered lights on the property and finished pulling wire. 

We had our second sweet little girl join the orphan center in the morning. Neika is also 5 years old like KeKe. They loved coloring and eating snacks along with a huge plate full of beans and rice. They soon were holding hands and had become friends before too long.

While the kids were in school Sharon the expert quilter had Bev, Heidi and Sara at work cutting fabric and patterns in preparation for the women's sewing fellowship tomorrow at 9am. The women have never quilted and really look forward to learning. We are still praying that the Lord will provide all our supplies for the morning such as making sure we have needles, pins, and thread. We'd appreciate your prayers but trust the Lord has a special time planned. 

We were so excited when the bell rang at 1 and the kids got out of school. We had a sweet time of teaching them 2 songs, acting out the prodigal son, and making pin wheels to celebrate the younger sons return. Somehow our poor acting skill kept the kids' attention. We were amazed to see how intently they were listening!! Our prayer is for the story to sink in and for them to know they have a Father who loves them so much. We are looking forward to sharing again tomorrow. We are sensing the Spirit at work in their hearts. Moise told us that most of the kids are street kids and we are surprised to see how quickly they are opening up to us. Pray for us as we hope to have more individual conversations with each child over the next 2 days.

We had a great team meeting tonight hearing reflections from multiple people on how our hearts are being broken in Haiti and challenged that we have a role to play in spreading the good news.  From atop the school house we physically can see a picture of Psalm 8:3-4 "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

We look out in the distance from the school and see what God has made, a beautiful country with gorgeous mountains and oceans but then we look straight down and get take a closer look we see poverty, trash, a crowded mess that man has made and then we become extremely grateful that the Lord cares for us, mankind. He pursues a personal relationship with us and shows us his love in order that we may Glorify His Great Name!


Sara on behalf of Team Haiti

Working Hard for the Lamb

A new day with lots of expectations . . .

Mark and Matt fixed doors and knobs at Moise's house. Later,  Mark, Matt, Moise, and Opelco (on-site electrician) went shopping for electrical supplies. Mark, Matt, and Joe were able to start cleaning out the plaster in the electrical boxes.

The ladies spent the morning with Giraud (school principal) delivering school supplies. His reply was, "Dis' is very gooood".

Sara, aided by Heidi and Drew, did medical assessments on the boys at the SDLG Children's home. She found them in relatively good health, which is amazing since most of them had been living on the street.

The ladies shared with the SDLG women's ministry about the quilts. The women were excited and wanted to know if we could teach them how to make them. So, we are all meeting on Wednesday at 9 o'clock for quilting lessons! Please pray for our time together that we would be able to complete a 4 square piece that they can use as a trivet or potholder.

A little girl named Keke (kay-kay) was dropped off at SDLG by her brother. She will be the first girl at the home. Her mother had suffered from a stroke. Please pray for her as she is very scared.

We are all doing well and trying to stay hydrated. Thank you so much for your prayers!

For His Glory,

Sharon & her scribe (Joe)

Worship of the Lamb- Haiti Style

What if we had church for 8 hours on Sundays at LCF?  What if it was 97 degrees with no A/C and all the men wore slacks and dress shirts? What if we blasted the neighbors' roofs off with our music?  What if we danced in the aisles, not caring about our image as we worship the King?

I pondered each of these questions throughout the day today.  I'm not putting forth SDLG as the world's best church or the Hatians as "better" Christians than those in Liberty, MO, but I am willing to let myself be challenged by these thoughts.


We woke up to our alarms at 4:30 AM this morning, 7 out of the 8 of us not really knowing what to expect.  After maneuvering the dark streets of PAP, we pulled up to Source de la Grace to the sound of loud intercessory prayer.  Much music followed, some planned and some spontaneously scheduled into the service by the Holy Spirit.  Walking up to the stage to preach, I felt unworthy.  Especially tonight as I preached on Job, I felt unqualified to teach about God's wisdom and justice to those who have truly experienced intense suffering.



But God's Word is inspired and penetrates hearts in every century and within every continent, country, and culture.  Praise Him for his inerrant, powerful, God-breathed words of life.




We met the 14 boys living at the SDLG "Center" (the name for now until Moise and Francoise give an official one) this afternoon.  Delightful young men!  What a joy to hug them and see them smile. Joe was their favorite (surprise, surprise).  We enjoyed dancing, soccer, writing names, bubbles, licking granola bar wrappers, and black jack gum (ask Mark - it was fun while it lasted!)







Also, last night, we gave the Vavals some birthday gifts that we had brought for them.  They were very appreciative!


 (Pictured: Sara and Kristie Vaval)



Tomorrow we plan to do some health assessments with the kids, organize school supplies with Giraud (school principal), and continue our electrical analysis of the property.  The ladies will meet with the women of the church for women's ministry at 3:30 PM.  Please pray for these things.

More to come tomorrow . . .