What Village?

So one of the things about our mission trips is that students…and adults say things that everyone tends to find funny. Yesterday was no exception. And every night of our trip we have a debrief time where we get together and share about what God has done throughout the day. I ask questions like, “what was your highlight?” “What was the hardest part?” “How did you see God work?” “How was your faith tested?” “What did God teach you?” “Who did you appreciate today?” and the final one, “Did anyone say anything quote-worthy today?”

I tend to use the “quote of the day” as blog titles. It is an inside joke that I can share with our family and friends. I have already heard some myself today. Well today’s quote comes from one of our students named Amy. Last night, as we were beginning our time together, I asked how their day in the village was. Amy turned to some of the other students and asked, “What village?” Now we were only in one today…and Amy was with us. It did make the top “quote of the day.”

So this morning we awoke, spent time with God, and then headed to New Vision Ministry. This is the mission/orphanage that Stephen and Autumn serve. We arrived shortly after 9AM. We were able to intro all of the kids in the orphanage to our team and Autumn shared a little of their stories of how they arrived at the orphanage. When Christa and I came in November, we were able to spend a lot of time with these kids. They are precious and many of their stories will break your heart. In some cases these kids were left at the mission because their parents did not want them or could not take care of them. Some kids had parents who died and others were just neglected or abandoned. 2+ years ago God gripped my heart towards my response to orphans. I knew that I had been adopted into His family as a result of Him saving me. But I never really thought that I could love a child the way I love Tyler and Taylor. But at a conference in Atlanta in October of 2009, God spoke directly to my heart and told me that I was to bring a child (or children) into my family by way of adoption. He told me that He has created a child just for our family. This was something that He revealed to Christa several years ago, but I wanted nothing to do with it then. Last November, God revealed to us that we would be adopting from Haiti. And perhaps it will be from the orphanage in which we have served in today.

One thing that is difficult is not knowing which child has been created for our family. Christa and I have felt a connection with a few kids in the orphanage and we have been praying hard for God to move. Our US home study is nearly complete and once we have approval it will move to the Haitian side of things. That is where things will be more difficult and we have no idea how long the process will take.  Christa and I will be creating another blog soon to keep you up-to-date on the process.

So back to our work there today. The mission houses 12 children. The youngest is almost 3 and the oldest is 18. All of these kids had so much attention today. Being that there is 35 of us, we were able to pour so much into these precious kids. They are full of energy and play hard. The girls love to be pampered. Painting nails and doing hair was fun to watch…even some of our guys left with braids. The boys in the orphanage play, and play, and play. They wore us out. We were able to share Jesus and pour so much love into these children that God created.

We arrived back at the hotel a few moments ago. All of our VBS teams (Teaching, Music, Crafts, and Rec) are all working with their translators preparing for Monday. We want to be sure that the translators understand what we are planning to do and be confident to communicate God’s Word. Once they are all finished we will have some down time. They will be able to hang out and get ready for dinner.

Tomorrow we get to go to 2 different church services. The early service is the Haitian Church and the second on is the American missionary church. I am so excited to worship with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Please continue to pray! We need it. Today was incredibly hot. We have had a few students and adults become light headed. I thank God that we have 3 nurses on our team. God truly has blessed us. Everyone is seems to be feeling better now. Just pray that we are able to push through and that God would protect each one of us. Also pray for our time tomorrow as we do church a little differently than we are used too. And begin to pray for Monday-Thursday…those are the day we go back into the village to do VBS, train teens in God’s standard of purity, and have 2 worship gatherings for the entire village. I have the great opportunity to preach at both of those gatherings. May the Name of Jesus be lifted high and that He would draw people to Himself!

We love you all!

Pressing On,

Dale

Sak Pase’ (What’s up?)

Wow! What a day. God is absolutely amazing…but many of you reading this already know that. First off, we were all able to get a really good night’s rest leading up to today. We were all moving around by about 7AM. We were able to eat a little and get ready for our day.

I want to share this with you as we begin this blog. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. And the village we are in is an incredibly poor village. Those who fish are looked down upon in this society. It is a trade/skill that is not respected. That being said, we are working with “the least of these.”

At 8AM, we prayed over our day, loaded the bus, and headed to the fishing village. We spent the first part of our time there praying. We prayed over the Fish House (a house where Stephen and Autumn lead Bible studies and base much of their ministry out of). We prayed that it would be a lighthouse…a place of hope. We prayed for our translators Wesner, Franz, Colas, Naygo, Jonas, Baz, Simeon, Paul, and Kevins. We ask that as you pray for us, you pray for them. Pray that the message that we have been given to share would translate to the children, teens and adults in a mighty way.

We walked to the school and prayed over it and the Headmaster, Carrenard. We broke up into VBS teams and spent time praying over the space that each would use this next week. We then sent the students, adults and translators out to talk with people in the village, share the Gospel, and pray over their needs, both physical and spiritual.

Once we walked through the village, we had some lunch and played with kids in the village. There were a ton of kids! It was exciting to see such joy. I was reminded of the passage in Luke 18 when Jesus scolded the disciples and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” The children were coming from everywhere and were soaking in the love and attention of our team. It was awesome to watch!

After about 6 hours of praying, sharing, and playing we walked back to the Fish House. We were able to spend time with many of the ladies that Stephen and Autumn pour into. These women are relatively new believers. They have incredible struggles and are learning what it means to follow Jesus. I met most of these women when Christa and I came to Haiti in November of 2011. There is a change taking place in them. They are growing. It is awesome to see Matthew 28:19-20 being acted out. Stephen and Autumn are making disciples. Not just leaving these women to figure out this life on their own. We celebrated with them today. Many of our team members shared their story of how Christ has changed them and how He is working in their lives. And then many of them told stories of how God saved them and how they are learning to live like He desires. In November, these women would not share with Christa or I because of nerves. Today they professed Jesus boldly with nearly 50 people in their presence. Great things are happening!

We arrived back at the hotel around 3:15PM. As I am writing and working on some other things, our 4 VBS teams are continuing to prepare for what will take place Monday through Thursday. Seeing many of the faces they will see on Monday has given them a fire to be sure to be ready. They do not want to miss opportunities to share Christ the best they can.

In a little while we will get ready for dinner and then have our team share time. I’m sure that many stories will be told and that Jesus will be honored and glorified. I will be sure to update after hearing testimonies tonight.

Tomorrow we spend the day at the orphanage. It is the mission that Stephen and Autumn serve. It is the orphanage where Christa and I are praying about adopting through.

We love being in Haiti. We are excited for this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We covet your prayers and ask that you continue to lift us up so that Jesus may be praised!



Pressing On,

Dale