Please pray for us to get electricity. We haven't had electricity for a few weeks from the electric company. We thank God we have a generator, batteries and lamps, but it's expensive to run the generator. Richard has gone to an office of the electric company several times, but with no success. They think that someone was stealing electricity by adding wires which was drawing too much electricity and blew the transformer.

A big surprise!

Photo from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_30578.html

He crouched in the back of our pickup truck, like a rattler ready to strike. Silent, stealthy, and totally hidden to us until we were in front of our house and I was unlocking the gate.

Then all of a sudden, Carol called to me and said there was a boy in the back of the truck. I walked around the back and there he was. He looked about 8 years old, dressed in raged, dirty clothes, and told me he was homeless and wanted to come and live with us.

My heart immediately melted, but I knew I had to be careful none-the-less, even though there didn’t seem to be an immediate threat. I asked him to get out of the truck and wait outside the gate until we were settled inside as we had just come home from a shopping trip and had splurged on some special goodies.

Carol was a little shaken up by this intrusion on our “personal space” and urged caution, but all I could think about was his dark, piercing eyes encircled by white, barely glinting in the dark, and his plea to take him in like a stray puppy.

Just to be safe, I alerted Ecdes, the young Haitian man who lives with us of the situation. He said the boy was probably one of the thousands of street boys who are homeless and try to survive by swarming cars at intersections to earn a few cents cleaning windshields and hustling small change, telling stories of woe to play on people’s emotions.

Still, the plight of the boy moved my heart, so I got some food together and grabbed a gospel tract and children’s Bible story book, and went up to talk to the boy between the slats of the closed gate.

It was like talking to a person in prison, but now I wonder which one of us was the prisoner. Was I the prisoner, cocooned under house arrest behind an iron gate, with razor wire crowning the walls and two guard dogs roaming the grounds? Was I a prisoner to my lifestyle that included internet, cell phones and laptops; electricity, running water and plumbing; a car and money for gas? As the saying goes: “Let us live simply, so that others may simply live.”

I asked the boy his name, and he said it was “Jean Noel”. The irony of his name did not escape me. “Noel” means Christmas in French, and here he was asking for an early Christmas present. He said he was 13 years old and that his mother had died in the earthquake. Recently his father had kicked him out of the house and told him he would kill him if he came back.

Whether all this was true or not didn’t really matter to me at that point, for all I could see was a child who had to grow up all too fast in a country where most normal people only get one good meal a day. But he didn’t seem to be lying, and he had in innocence about him that drew me in.

I asked him how long he had hid in the back of the truck, and he said he had climbed in near the school where Carol teaches. Of course I told him that what he did was not good, and that he could have been hurt when he surprised us.

But I understood his actions as a desperate attempt to get what he really wanted: a home with a loving family, a bed to sleep in protected from the rain – all the things a child should have as he is growing up. It pained my heart knowing that I could not give him these things at this time.

As I showed him what was in the bag, I asked him if he could read, and he said yes. His mother had paid for his schooling before she had died, and he had learned to read.

I also asked if he was a Christian and he said his Mom had taken him to church regularly, but now he did not have any clothes to wear to go to church. “What about the pastor at the church”, I said, “Does he know who you are?” “Maybe he can help you.” He said he had asked the pastor already, and he could not help.

If I had been feeling better, I might have talked with him more, but I had been struggling with fever, chills and muscle-aches all week, symptoms of malaria. So I asked Ecdes to take the boy back to where he had sneaked into the back of our truck, and gave him money for the tap tap.

Sometimes we think that the horrors depicted in Dicken’s stories like “Oliver” and “A Christmas Story” are long over, but in most countries, they still exist.

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

Dengue Fever

Please pray for Richard, he's been sick all week. Since the test for Malaria is not that reliable, he was already taking the treatment for it even though there wasn't a definitive diagnoses. Now that he finished that and was still in a lot of pain all through the night, it points to Dengue Fever. There is no real treatment for Dengue Fever unless there are complications. So now he just needs to do everything he can to let his body fight this. And he's already tired of hanging around the house. Those of you who know him well, know that "li remen bouge" (he likes to move).
We appreciate your prayers and are so thankful for all of you, our prayer partners!
Carol

"White Magic" compared to Christ

It was supposed to be a simple transaction: picking up two barrels in Jacmel that I had shipped in a container. But it turned into a lesson about the darkness that keeps some from seeing the light of Christ in Haiti.

It turned out the person who had the key for the house where the barrels were stored was at a funeral. So we went to the “Temple” where the funeral was being held to wait for him.

As I talked to Bruno (not his real name), the man who was helping me get the barrels, he started telling me about the “Temple” and the religion it represented. He said Voodoo priests practice “black magic”, but the people of the “temple” religion practiced “white magic”.

As we waited we saw signs of their religion: Their major insignia was a skull and cross bones, and some of them wore “skull caps”.

In the final procession, the “temple” faithful marched two by two with vests covered with the skull and crossbones insignia in front of the casket in an un-earthly silence only broken by the wail of a distraught woman. Their “high priest” came last in a long robe of blue with a blood-red sash.

As we waited I asked Bruno if he was “converted” (Born again). (This is a socially acceptable question in Haiti). When he said he was not, I told him the story of how I was shot. Since we were sitting in my truck, I showed him the bullet holes in the seat and door as well. I told him how God had helped me remember the Bible verse 1 John 5:13 which gave me the assurance that if I had died that day, I would be in heaven with Christ. I asked him if he had that same assurance and he said he did. However, when I asked him why, he said it was because he does good things, like going to church and helping people. So I showed him in the Bible where it says that doing good things does not get us into heaven. He seemed to understand this and we talked about the subject later that night before I dropped him off.

In all, the whole episode took 3 hours from start to finish, but seeing that funeral made me think about what lengths people will go to trying to reach God through religion (Rituals not found in the Bible). We can thank God for “Emmanuel”, God with us, that God came down to us in human form because we could never go to him through religion or good works.

conflict, awkward moments, grace & forgiveness

I’m really proud of my husband tonight and I’m so glad for how the Spirit works to make things so much better. We had a conflict with some of our Haitian friends and we invited them over tonight to talk it out. It’s hard to explain it without going into long stories and we don’t want to make things public that shouldn’t be. But, I just want to say that I think God, the Spirit, was at work.
We started with reading scripture (Titus 2), praying and then talked things out. Everyone was able to be polite, understanding, apologetic and even threw in a few jokes here and there. I thought Richard did a great job leading the discussion. There were uncomfortable, awkward moments, but there was grace, forgiveness and love, too.
There was a 13 year old there because he was involved in what’s been going on. At the end Richard asked him what he learned and he said “Don’t take what’s not yours.” I thought that was the sort of thing Richard was hoping to get for an answer. Richard said that was a good thing to learn, but he also said, “do you see what happened here? We were able to resolve a conflict without yelling, cursing, or even worse.” That doesn’t always happen. Because we have received grace from God, we can forgive each other. Although there are consequences for our sin, grace makes all the difference.

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 2:11-14

"So at the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase." Acts 9:31

May the comfort of the Holy Spirit increase.

Making friends and a new creation through soccer!

Making friends and a new creation through soccer!

Thank you for praying for our trip to Gonaives and Gros Morne to train leaders and meet with some of our Regional Committee leaders. In general the trip went very well with no breakdowns, flat tires or accidents, even over some of the roughest roads in Haiti.

On Saturday after the meetings I was tired of talking so I put on my shorts so I could play soccer in the cement school yard.
We played 3 a side with small goals, and just as we were trying to put teams of 3 players together, two 11 year old boys showed up so we asked them if they wanted to play.

Of course they said yes, so we had our teams. We had a good game and our team played well together, giving each other high-fives whenever we scored a goal. I think we scored 3-4 goals and the other team only scored one goal on us.
That evening the boy who was on our team was hanging around so one of our leaders offered him some food.

I was eating at the same time, so I sat down and started to talk with him. His name is Pouchon and he is 11 years old. He said he attended the church where we held the meetings, but when I asked him if he was “converted” he said no. In Haitian culture, it is not impolite to ask someone if they are “converted” or “saved”. Most, even children, know if they have made a decision to trust in Christ. In Pouchon’s case, he said he was not. So as he ate, I shared a little evangelistic booklet written for children in Creole that explains how a child can know that his sins are forgiven through trusting in Christ and his payment for our sins when He died on the cross.
We talked for at least 30 minutes and when we were finished, I asked him if he would like to trust in Christ for his salvation. To my delight, he said yes. I asked him if his Mother attended the church as well, and he said yes. So I suggested that he tell his mother about his decision and ask her to help him grow spiritually.
Later, I asked several of my leaders to talk with him and they said that Pouchon understood the decision he had made, and was excited about his new relationship with Christ.

I wonder if Pouchon would have listened to me if I hadn’t played soccer first and encouraged him as we played together. It was a natural way to build a relationship with him and probably made him more open to talking with me that night.

In any event, decisions like Pouchon made are one of the main reasons we are in Haiti. We praise God for using us and our Haitian leaders in this way!

Training in Gonaives

Just so those affected by hurricane Sandy in the US can relate, today we did a training of leaders in Gonaives. Gonaives is the city that was under 4 feet of water in Sept of 2008 after hurricane Jeane.

There are still high watermarks on many of the buildings, and 2500 people perished in the flood, but in the hearts of our leaders who survived there is an urgency to share the Gospel with their neighbors through soccer ministry.

During the training I was very honest with them about the challenges we face in Haiti - and I asked them to pray for God's provision of money and equipment to keep the ministry going. I admitted we probably had grown too fast compared to our current resources, but we serve a great God who is able to do more than we ask or think.

Some of the stories I heard today made me realize that our work is worth all the hassles we face: One leader was one of 12 children, but got a scholarship to become a teacher. He never knew his father, but now he is a father himself and a father-figure to hundred of children as a teacher and soccer coach. He said he visited the family's of some of our players a few weeks ago and many of them appreciate the difference they see in the behavior of their children who are involved in our program. They are more respectful of their parents and their siblings, and they notice they are growing spiritually as well.

Tomorrow we are meeting with the leaders of our regional committees to talk about how plans for 2013 and pray together for God's provision.

Day one of Trip to train leaders in Haiti

Many Challenges, but blessings too!

This morning started out with several "good deeds" for the day! I gave four young men a ride to school, and then on the way back to my house to pack, I gave a ride to a Mom and her 3 year old daughter. In Haiti, it is not impolite to ask someone if they are "saved", so I asked the Mom. She said yes, and then stated that she attends a local church. When she got out of the car holding her daughter's hand, I put a "25 stories from the Bible" picture book in her other hand and suggested that she read it to her daughter.

Then plans started to get off track: After packing the car and getting all ready to go, I couldn't reach one of my leaders who I thought was supposed to come to my house. So I had to go over to his house to find him. At this point we were about an hour behind schedule. Then my favorite short-cut to get out of Port-au-Prince was closed.due to violent demonstrations and burning tires. We had to take a detour and ended up in a huge traffic jam for 1 1/2 hours. When we finally did get out of town, we found out that hurricane Sandy had damaged an important bridge and we had to take a 20 minute detour.

But that's the nice thing about Haiti: People expect you to be late and don't really get angry if you are. So thanks to the miracle of cell phones, we were able to postpone our meetings by about 2 hours. Most of the people we hoped to see came to the meetings, and they were productive.

However, just as our second meeting was coming to a close, a huge rain storm hit the town we were in, and we were stranded for about a hour before it let up. When I drove some of the leaders home, I was amazed to find out that no rain fell in a town only 2 miles away from the town we were in!

So as they say, better late than never!

We would appreciate your prayers tomorrow as we do a training of 16 teams in Gonaives.