the Fine Chap who was tortured for me...

As I should have expected, the Lord has been bringing many stretching opportunities for me to practice what He is speaking to me about...I praise the Lord!

Quite randomly we received a book from old college friends, Ricky and Aidan, this week. "Tortured for Christ," it is called, by Richard Wurmbrand, and tells of his experiences as a Romanian pastor during 14 years in Communist prison for his public witness and belief in Jesus Christ.

"Oh, my," I thought, looking at the shackled hands stretched out to the heavens on the cover. "I'd really rather read something happy! Something 'feel-good'! Life is already so hard, and if I have time to read, I'd rather read something restorative! Someone send me a Martha Stewart magazine!"

However, the next day we were scheduled to spend the whole morning driving to town, trying to get driver's licenses, and driving back, so on the way out the door, I grabbed it just in case I got bored.

Did the Lord ever know what He was doing! I've never read anything quite like it in my life, and I am confident that NO comedy, no vacation, no conversation, no novel could have ever restored my heart quite like this book has. I read it in two days, and find my heart to have quite a new perspective on my life...HIS.

There are a hundred stories from its pages that I would like to share, but let me tell you just one...

"An Orthodox priest, a friend of mine, telephoned me and told me that a Russian officer had come to him to confess. My friend did not know Russian. However, knowing that I speak Russian, he had given him my address.

The next day this man came to see me. He longed for God, but he had never seen a Bible. He had no religious education and never attended church (churches in Russia were very scarce then.) He loved God without even the slightest knowledge of Him.

So I read to him the Sermon on the Mount and the parables of Jesus. After hearing them, he danced around the room in rapturous joy proclaiming, "What a wonderful beauty! How could I live without knowing this Christ!" It was the first time that I saw someone so joyful in Christ.

Then I made a mistake. I read to him the passion and crucifixion of Christ, without having prepared him for this. He had not expected it and, when he heard how Christ was beaten, how He was crucified and that in the end He died, he fell out of the chair and began to weep bitterly. He had believed in a Savior and now his Savior was dead!

I looked at him and was ashamed. I had called myself a Christian, a pastor, and a teacher of others, but I had never shared the sufferings of Christ as this Russian officer now shared them. Looking at him was like seeing Mary Magdalene weeping at the foot of the cross, faithfully weeping when Jesus was a corpse in the tomb.

Then I read him the story of the resurrection and watched his expression change. He had not known that his Savior arose from the tomb. When he heard this wonderful news, he beat his knees and swore--using very dirty, but very 'holy' profanity. This was his crude manner of speech. Again he rejoiced, shouting for joy, "He is alive! He is alive!" He danced around the room once more, overwhelmed with happiness!

I said to him, "let us pray!" He did not know how to pray. He did not know our 'holy' phrases. He fell on his knees together with me and his words of prayer were: "Oh God, what a fine chap you are! If I were You and You were me, I would never have forgive You of Your sins. But You really are a very nice chap! I love You with all of my heart!"

I think that all the angels in heaven stopped what they were doing to listen to this sublime prayer from a Russian officer."

Thoughts of my "hard life" melted, burdens of hurt feelings, frustrations and difficulties gone...I had read my "something happy."

Something happy? I KNOW this Christ!

Something feel-good? I put Him on the cross, and yet He loves me, went there for me!

Something restorative? HE IS ALIVE!

Reading of the great persecution and sufferings of our joyful brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe gave me an extra dose of the "Christ-awareness" I was talking about this week. How very safe I have kept my life!

Happy to be a "good Christian" and to enjoy my freedom and to risk very little, dying for Christ quite rarely. How easily I am consumed by pleasing others, pleasing myself, making things comfortable and freely serving in ways that meet my preference, to people that are fun and easy to serve!

If it is true, as this book says it is, that approximately 160,000 Christians were killed for Christ in 1997 (the year before the book was published),

then I wonder if I,

whom am cautious to be bold for Him,

not wanting to be uncomfortable,

make someone uncomfortable,

or offend anyone,

would be one of them if ever the opportunity arose.

Get your free copy of Tortured for Christ here.

dwelling in Christ-awareness

"I am hungry" he said repeatedly, motioning to his stomach in case I didn't understand his broken English.

We hear this so frequently, almost every time we step off our mission compound. I never doubt it to be true. But tonight, as this filthy barefoot boy in a ripped t-shirt tugged at my elbow, I slipped him a few bills while thinking, "ME TOO."

I am hungry. So hungry that I feel sick. I am feeling starved for more of Christ, and way less of me, in my life.

A few mornings ago I read this from Oswald Chambers.

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ,

Turn to Him at once,

asking Him to re-establish your rest.

Never allow anything to remain in your life

that is causing the unrest.

Think of every detail of your life that is causing the disintegration between you and Christ

as something you should fight against,

not as something you should allow to remain.

Ask the Lord to put awareness of Himself in you,

and your self-awareness will disappear.

Then He will be your ALL in ALL.

Beware of allowing your self-awareness to continue,

because slowly but surely it will awaken self-pity,

and self-pity is satanic.

Simply ask the Lord to give you Christ-awareness,

and He will steady you until

your completeness in Him is absolute.

If we try to overcome our self=-awareness thorough our own commonsense methods,

we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness.

Jesus says, "come unto Me, and I will give you rest."

That is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness.

Wherever Christ comes He establishes rest--

the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself."

What a crazy and beautiful concept: a life unaware of itself.

Me, unaware of me, and only aware of Him.

Him, my steady place, and nowhere, no one, nothing else.

Completeness in Him, not in ministry, in motherhood, in friendships, in marriage, in Haiti, in OMS, in family, in work, in comforts, in money, in peace, or in myself.

Fighting against everything, even things I enjoy, even things that are habit, even things that are comfortable, even things that are popular, even things that are easier, that come between me and Him.

I have such a terribly long way to go. Please pray with us for wisdom, love, and Christ abounding.

rats are out to get me

UG. For all the things I take well in Haiti, rats, tarantulas, frogs and spiders...I do not. And I SWEAR the rats are out to get me. Three weeks ago, we had rats running through our ceilings at night while I laid in bed, sure one was going to fall on me. Two weeks ago, we had rats in the ceiling and little nibbles taken out of food left on the counter. Ten days ago, I had bites taken out of my Tupperwear, out of my fruit, chewed through sippy cups, baby spoons, sealed packages, EVERYTHING. One afternoon, I came from the store, laid 10 blocks of butter on the counter, left the kitchen and returned not 10 minutes later to find rats had chewed through four of them!

That same evening, I was making dinner when a rat ran across the counter top, just skimming my hands, and hid behind our mixer! Bex and I called Don, who came and after chasing the thing around the kitchen, gave up when it disappeared under the cabinets. (Meanwhile, I was shrieking a top a chair in a different room... I promise I cannot help it...rats MAKE me scream) Bex brought rat poison with her, and each night entire BLOCKS of poison would completely disappear.

At this point, with two dozen things ruined, countless food items eaten, and the thought of dirty rats meandering across my counters and through my cabinets and drawers, I WAS TICKED. I was SO MAD at them that I wanted all the rats to die, and then come back to life just so they could die again.

Suddenly, day 5 of the poison, rat-soccer in the ceiling stopped, food stopped disappearing, and I could finally stop storing everything in the fridge, freezer and microwave...they had died. And yet, (you see where this is going, don't you) on Sunday, Matt and I started to smell something in the kitchen. If you remember my "do you want to keep the rat in the drawer, or should I throw it away?" story, you know that I KNOW what dead rat smells like.

So Monday, Matt literally tears the kitchen apart, even several floor panels, to find the stinking rat, and cannot find it anywhere. The one place we can't get to, boarded up under our cabinets, are the dead rats. EVEN IN THEIR DEATH they are torturing me! I am completely confident that these sinister rats planned this, and now the kitchen smells SO overwhelmingly foul that we can't hardly go in there.

I hope know one was looking for a devotional thought from our blog this evening!

Tonight began annual church conference, and we have two couples from the States leading these four days. Next week begin staff meetings for Emmaus Biblical Seminary and our annual Field Council Meetings! We have lots of hours of training and meetings ahead of us...please be praying for our hearts to be teachable and for lots of creativity, wisdom and patience.

Praise report: We believe we have found someone for Lily! We met with her for an hour on Monday, and she seems to be Godly, patient, interactive, joyful and reliable. I'll work with her a few times before school starts, and hopefully whenever I begin teaching September 9th, Lily will have a wonderful new friend! Thank you for your prayers...as I told the woman, I KNOW I am being too picky and nervous about this, but she's our first baby, and leaving her will be such a difficult thing! Thank you...

building His kingdom

Another good friend left Haiti this week :( Don has been here with us over 9 weeks throughout the last 3 or 4 months, working on the new campus of Emmaus Biblical Seminary. Whenever several missionaries left the field last Spring, we weren't sure how the seminary was ever going to be completed! Almost immediately, Don and his wife emailed, asking if he could be of service.

While we knew Don a little from Matt's home church of Sharptown UMC in New Jersey, we never would have dreamed that he'd leave his wife, kids and grandkids to come to Haiti and work in the middle of the heat of summer to see this project finished! His sacrifice was such a testimony to Matt and I, not only of the Lord's faithfulness to provide help for EBS, but also of a life beautifully poured out to the Lord.

Don, THANK YOU for your obedience, your sacrifice, your friendship, and for your servant heart. We NEVER heard a complaint from you and have learned something precious about self-less love from you.

Matt, Don, his daughter Sammi and friend Cathy, who joined him for his last week!
While there are some final details to see to, the majority of Emmaus's new campus is complete! pictured here (left to right): the library, men's dorm, chapel and cafeteria.

For more pictures, including work done by Don and by Cornerstone Church of Delaware, check out "building project" on www.ebshaiti.org !

Faithful and True

We sadly watched our dear friend Bex go today, leaving us missing her friendship, encouragement, good conversations, stories, memories and Godly character, and Lily missing her very exciting Aunt Bex :)

The last of our fellow OMS missionaries returned yesterday and today, and with church conference next week, field council meetings the next, and school beginning the next, we are transitioning into a new year at Emmaus Biblical Seminary!

This past month has been such a precious gift, full of opportunities to do more "front line" ministry than "support" ministry. While this has confirmed in many ways His call on our lives to be training, teaching, and living a redeemed life alongside of the men and women at Emmaus, it has been joyfully stretching to be able to wake up most days and say, "Lord, what do you have for us today? I'll go! Send me!"

It's also been a wonderful time to get to know some of our fellow missionaries (with OMS and other organizations), Haiti visitors, and Haitian brothers and sisters better, with some sweet times of fellowship, prayer, meals, conversations, home visits, encouragement and worship. Last night we even got to have a fun "movie night" with lots of snacks from the States!

Whatever the season, we are beyond grateful to find Him the same as He has always been:

"I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse came, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True..."

Rev.19:11

climb every mountain!

What a weekend! Bex arrived safely and we have five visitors here right now, so with all in tow, we hit the beach yesterday and Coup-a-David today! Coup-a-David is the location of a small mountain church pastored by one of our graduated students, Enik. We always LOVE going there and worshiping with our brothers and sisters "of the mountain", and the church today mentioned what a "great encouragement it is to worship with God's people of many nations."
It is a bit of a hike, especially in the middle of August heat, but everyone did great, including Lily. This church is the only one for many villages and town, and suffers a great deal with spiritual warfare. It was our great blessing to worship with them!

We weren't sure when Lily would ever meet Bex, and are so so happy to have her SO very far from the mission-field God has called her to to have a week with us!

good-bye Sabetha...welcome Bex!

On Wednesday our wonderful group from NorthRidge Church in Sabetha, Kansas, left...They had worked in the clinic and on Seminary construction, and really touched our hearts by their amazing attitudes, joyful spirits and servant hearts! Even 9-year-old Issac served in a variety of ways, helping to entertain Lily and to paint the men's dorm! It was hard to see them go...

Joyfully, the Lord knew it would be, and sent Bex in today! Bex is one of my dearest friends and college room-mate for all four years of college. She is on a 4 month furlough following her first two year term overseas, and is spending a whole week of her precious break here with us! Lily was thrilled to finally meet Aunt Bex, who came bearing many gifts, from toy blocks to oreos to some BADLY needed rat poison (they are taking over our home!)

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be on the alert. Your adversary prowls around, seeking to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world." 1 Peter 5:9

Family like NorthRidge and Bex remind us of the many many others who are experiences some of the same stretching situations and 'fighting the good fight.' Just knowing that is such an encouragement...

a joy to Him

My Oswald Chambers reading for the day stuck me with something I have missed. I think about serving Him, think about loving Him. I think about how much I fail Him, how frequently I miss the mark, how commonly I break His heart. I think about following Him, listening to Him, obeying Him, pleasing Him, needing Him, wanting Him. But I can honestly say it has been a long time since I thought about the fact that I am a JOY to Him.

My Utmost for His Highest:

"...O you of little faith!"

What a stinging pain must have shot through the disciples [when they heard Jesus say this to them] as they surely thought to themselves, "Ah. We missed the mark again!"

And what a sharp pain will go through us when we suddenly realize [when we fear] that we could have produced complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, in spite of what we were facing."

Me! I can produce 'complete and utter joy in the heart of Jesus.' What a thought!

O. Chambers finishes with this thought: We talk quite a lot about sanctification (to be set apart or declared Holy), but what will the result be in our lives?

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God"! says 1 John 3:1.

His love, and His joy over me me, over His children, is something I need some time to think about...

The new seminary site, almost complete!


Matt helping a woman carry her heavy load, Haitian style!

eyewitness

Yesterday morning, while Matt and Lily were out on their "prayer walk" so that Mom could spend some time in the Word, I came across 2 Peter 1:16-18. Peter is giving support for the things he was preaching, saying:

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales

when we made known to you

the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

When God uttered, 'This is my beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased'

we ourselves were there and heard and were with Him.

It reminded me of the passage in Luke 24 when Mary comes running back to the apostles to tell them that Jesus' body was NOT in the tomb, and that He had raised again, as promised, and it says, "but these words appeared to them an idle tale, and they would not believe."

Friday, Matt had the opportunity to accompany a visiting team in evangelizing a neighborhood about a 45 minute walk from here. He returned hopeful, but with the darkness of the area nagging him.

"We talked to so many people, Stace" he told me, "But most, even those that knew the Word, just didn't want it. Either they liked the immoral freedom they are currently practicing too much, or they just thought the Truth to be false."

An idle tale, a cleverly devised plot.

But it ISN'T, Peter insisted. I know. I WAS THERE.

I read 2nd Peter again...We were eyewitnesses of His majesty!

I felt a fire burning in my heart as I chewed on this passage, evangelism, Haiti, Christ...

Friends, WE ARE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY. WE are! I am! We are eyewitnesses of His majesty EVERY day that we seek Him. And THAT is my job, our job! To be an eyewitness, telling others of what we have seen, what we have experienced, what we have heard.

It doesn't matter if people think they want it or not. I am an eyewitness. It's my job to tell. It doesn't matter if they believe me, or think the Bible, Jesus, to be an idle tale. I am WITH Him. I have seen Him with my own eyes. I have felt His hands on my heart, heard His voice in the quiet, I have experienced His grace, His forgiveness, His redemption.

Something about knowing that I am an eyewitness of His majesty suddenly changed how I've been looking at my life...made my priorities change.

The passage continues...

Pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place,

until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

How short I continue to fall, how patient He continues to be, how much I have to grow!

I praise Him today that He has allowed me, little, selfish, self-centered, dense, distracted ME to be an EYEWITNESS of His majesty.

Please be praying with us about a few things, family...

-We are seeking a Godly, interactive, loving and trustworthy woman to watch Lily Monday-Friday's while I teach from 8-9. School begins in less than a month, and we're trusting the Lord to bring someone into our lives to watch over, train and be in relationship with the precious gift God's given us. Please pray that He would bring this woman to us and make it abundantly clear!

-My best friend and room-mate from college is currently on furlough in the States. She is a missionary in Northern Africa, and having completed her first 2 year term of learning Arabic, is "home" for a short time...but Thursday, she's coming to meet Lily (and to see us!) Please pray with us that this would be an encouraging and renewing time for Bex, the only person we know who will actually be accustomed to our 'hot season.'

-August is not only 'hot season', but also 'hard season' here in Haiti. School begins in September, and everyone is in a bit of a panic to find the money to pay inscription due these weeks in August. We also have several children of friends who are suffering from high fevers and/or malaria. Between 3 and 10 people have come to our door every single day the past week, desperate for help. Please pray that we would know how, who, when, how much, and where to help, and that we would trust the Lord and freely obey.

-Finally, we want to just praise the Lord again for the precious new nephew we have in Nicolas...Thank you for ALL of your prayers for Casey, Laura and this beautiful baby!

Introducing NICOLAS MOSE AYARS, our big, strong and beautiful, healthy new nephew/cousin! He is a few weeks early, but still 8 pounds, 6 ounces and he and Laura are doing well! He is truly a gift from God and we are giving Him all the praise for this precious addition!

CONGRATULATIONS Casey and Laura!

lily's first cousin!

Sounds like Matt's brother Casey and his wife, Laura, will be having Lily's cousin, __________ Mose Ayars, any moment! Please be praying for them during the operation, and that their little son would be good and strong...We'll keep you posted!

by His grace, unashamed.

"Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity,

but of power and of love and of discipline.

Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,

but join with me [Paul] in the suffering for the gospel

according to the power of God,

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling

not according to our works,

but according to His own purpose and grace

which was granted to us in Christ for all time.

This is why I am not ashamed,

because I know whom I have believed in,

and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him.

If we DIE with Him, we will LIVE with Him

If we ENDURE, we will REIGN

if we DENY Him, He will DENY us

If we are faithless, He remains faithful.

Remind them of these things,

and charge them in the presence of God

not to wrangle over words,

which leads to the ruin of the hearers.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God

as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,

accurately handling the word of truth.

Avoid worldly and empty chatter,

for it will lead to further ungodliness,

and their talk will spread like gangrene.

The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal:

"The Lord knows those who are His" and

"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."

The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome,

but be kind to all

able to teach

patient when wronged

with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition,

so that perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth

and that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil,

having been held captive by him to do his will.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come."

2nd Timothy 1-2

I have read this passage a hundred times, but the Lord lit it up to a new dimension for me today.

But these last two weeks have been different kinds of weeks. We haven't been in the classroom. We haven't been teaching, haven't been sending. These last two weeks, we've had the precious opportunity to be going, to be doing more than normal, and wow, is He stretching me!

If you're like me, you may be thinking: "I have never really been the Power-and-Discipline kind of person. Never really had to face being ashamed of the gospel, or suffering in His name, or dying with Him."

Matt usually has no problem with this. When he hears a lie, he speaks the truth. Boldly, inconveniently, without favoritism, usually with Biblical reference and regardless of possible criticism or sufferance.

Frankly, I am usually quite glad to have Matt do that. Now, the truth has been represented, I can stand gladly behind my husband, and possibly affirm the truth with a nod, suffering minor persecution gladly because of his stands.

The Lord has known for a long time, then, I suppose, that I am a chicken. And that I HATE confrontation, usually becoming completely silent whenever there is any upheaval or heated discussion, silently wishing we could all just eat cake and tell funny stories about first dates or the best Christmases or go to our rooms and think for a while or something...even if the discussion was godly.

But today I realized how much growth, surrender, trust and confidence in the Lord I have been missing out on by hiding behind Matt or staring at the floor.

I won't go into detail, but today the Lord gave me a special opportunity to DO what 2nd Timothy is saying..."Power, love, discipline, do not be ashamed, entrust to Him, retain the sound words in faith, remind them of these things, be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman, correct with gentleness."

He wouldn't let me out of it. I was one of 12 learning about the New Testament model for church reproduction. (Not American model, not Haitian model, not a method: the Biblical model...truly good stuff!)

Matt, who normally would have been there with me and Lily, had been needed down at the new seminary site all morning to help Don, Abel, Maxi and Magwa pour sidewalks. If I hadn't gone until the afternoon with him, I would have missed a huge part of the training. So I went, NOT to speak, just to silently attend and learn.

There were several discussions that I silently contributed to, challenging some of the points in my mind, wishing Matt was there to say them. But then it happened.

One man began to speak, and quickly crossed from opinion to a highly unbiblical theory, spoken in front of the group as truth. This important man made it heatedly clear: what was sufficient in Jesus's day is NOT sufficient anymore. Jesus rode on a donkey then. Today, he would drive around Cap-Haitien in a beautiful car. Two thousand years ago, Jesus was hungry, poor and homeless. Today, he would live in Haiti like a king. We, therefore, can follow this time-evolution model of Christ and expect riches and honor as well.

I waited for someone to give correction.

Please, someone speak up.

Whew, someone did. But wait...He not only agreed, but elaborated. Christ came to give us abundant life: sure, spiritually, but also abundant financially and physically. We cannot offer Christ spiritually if we don't offer abundant food, money, prestige...

I was growing VERY uncomfortable. Where in the world was Matt to gently correct and speak the truth! Didn't Lily need to eat now? Wasn't it time for a break?

Looking directly at me (I have NO idea why...I had said NOTHING up to this point), speaking directly to me, he said it again, "We cannot just give Jesus. People don't just need Jesus. Maybe back then they did, but not now. An empty bag cannot stand. Without food, clothes, some money, medical care, education, opportunity, Jesus has no value. Do you understand, MISS???" he said, finishing the argument with a contented grunt from a large portion of the group, smiling at me with nothing but challenge in his voice.

My mouth was dry. He was speaking to me. And he was speaking a LIE. My mind flickered for a moment on the "Dave and the Giant Pickle" VeggieTales video Lily and I had watched this morning, telling the story of David and Goliath...Goliath, taunting David's God and God's people...David, appalled and absolutely unwilling (to the point of insanely taking the giant on) to allow the lie to hang in the air.

Lily began to fuss...my perfect opportunity to mutter something and disappear.

But then I knew God took me to 2nd Timothy this morning. "Be Strong" was for chicken ME. "I know in whom I believe, and am convinced that He is able" was for lets-eat-cake-please ME.

And so I did it.

"I understand what you are saying, Pastor" I said, praying for courage and truth and the words. "I understand what you are saying. What you are saying is that CHRIST IS NOT ENOUGH. You are saying that what He did on the cross is NOT ENOUGH without rice!"

And I talked about Paul. And I talked about the disciples, and about Jesus and talked about all the people who had NO earthly "blessing" to show for their abandonment to Christ, who enjoyed no pleasures, no power, no riches, no happy families,no beautiful homes and no beautiful churches...only broken bones, homeless nights, empty bellies, taunted days, beatings, floggings, persecution, suffering, starvation, and the FULLNESS OF CHRIST.

"There is NOTHING ELSE needed," I finally said, boldly, quite surprising myself.

"So if you had NOTHING," he quizzed, the group silent, "Only Christ spiritually, no food, no home, no family, no baby, no friends, no NOTHING, only Christ, that would be enough?"

Oh Lord, help me.

"I hope it to be true," I said honestly, staring into his taunting eyes with all sincerity and His love.

"With all my heart."

"Oh" he said, finally quietly. His eyes flickered and he looked at the ground, and I knew that he saw my heart of hearts and knew I sincerely believed His Word to be TRUE, believed Christ to be ALL.

Thankfully, a much more brave and well-spoken believer jumped in here and shared some Biblical truth and Godly wisdom that covered the opposition better than I. But as I sat down, quite despised, powerful men glowering angrily at me, I was entirely, completely, joyfully unashamed, unafraid and unshaken.

Despite this beautiful opportunity for growth and to listen to His voice over my own, it has been a rather heart-breaking day, even hearing such things and knowing power, success and wealth to be an ever-rampant goal and motivation in the hearts of men.

Perhaps we have not had to suffer much, not had to die, not had to be imprisoned, not had to speak up. Or perhaps we have not gotten to do so.

"Difficult times are coming." May we begin to speak, may we be able to unashamedly suffer for the beautiful cause of Christ...not because He needs tiny-us to defend Him...only He can change the hearts of men...but because He allows us to!

May He be above all. May He be enough...with all our hearts.

like a drink offering

Our friends from Cornerstone Church have made it safely back to Bear, DE following an awesome week here in Haiti! We were blessed to have them and were touched by their observations and the ways the Lord and the people of Haiti worked in their hearts. Rick, Ed, Sam, Zach, Vicki, Richard, Randy, Diane, Bob and Kim, THANKS FOR COMING!

One of the things that the whole team cited as having an impact was church on Sunday. And it wasn't just them! Matt and I were still talking about some of the things shared during the service last weekend whenever the pastor of this church stopped by our house Friday morning.

I've told you before of this church independently developing a feeding/clothing/provision program for the orphans and widows that go to his church or that live in the area. A portion of the tithe collected each Sunday goes towards this weekly ministry. In such a poor country, and in such a poor area, I am always surprised how they are able to support their orphans and widows on top of paying for their land and building.

And yet the pastor had announced on Sunday that the program is expanding. Inscription at the church's school begins next week. After announcing the prices, he challenged the entire church to collect the orphans they have living with or near them, and bring them to inscription (enrollment) as well...but for only $10 Haitian ($1.25 US), offering many orphans in this area their first ever chance of education.

"We have many orphans in the church," he explained to me, "who are 10, 12 years old, and have never been in one day of school."

"How are you guys paying for this?" I asked, never having heard of such a thing.

"When we first started our building project," he told me, "I wasn't sure how we would pay for it. I knew we couldn't afford the labor, and every single step of the way, the people in the church have stepped up and done the labor. For free. I tell them, 'We are a family. Helping each other is the only way.' And I set up the project as a 6 month project, asking everyone to give all that they could, every Sunday, from January until June. Every week, we bought all the materials we could, building, building, so that every Sunday, everyone could SEE that what they were giving was going towards what they were giving it to, not being pocketed...integrity. Once people saw the improvements they were making, they began to give.

"We," he told me, almost still surprised himself, "We have between $900 and $1000 H given to the project every single Sunday ($115-125 US...this is huge, by the way), about $30,000 H ($3750) this year so far. Now people are used to giving, and have begun giving to this!"

"The church is in such a very poor area. Many, many people going to church there live on the coast in terrible, terrible conditions. We have to help them" he said.

Thinking just about what I have seen of the shanties built on the water, I shuddered just imagining what life must be like living in one.

"The families there, the water is in their homes twice a day with the tide. They live in the water and the garbage. They buy a few cement blocks, and sleep right on top of them, so that they are not sleeping in the ocean water, garbage and sewage. Their conditions are very, very awful," he shared, clearly shaken as he outlined the size of a cement block bed on my seemingly gigantic tiled dry floor.

I felt stupid, but had to ask.

"Why in the world would someone choose to live there? I mean, there have to be other places."

He then explained to me something I did not know: that there are 2 free places in Haiti to live. In the mountains, or on the sea-line. Most of the families living in these sea shacks once lived in the mountains, only moving into town when their crops, the only source of food or income in the mountains, failed due to drought or hurricanes, their families starving.

Land costs money, apartments cost money, building houses cost money...So these families have constructed lean-to structures for free out of everyone else's garbage and survive one day at a time, selling knick-knacks or begging. It welled up in me again: that strong desire to give everything surrounding me away, or to drive to the sea-front, pile as many people as possible in the truck and move them into my dry, clean and abundant home.

It is true that we believe Christ, not money, to be the hope of Haiti and the answer for all men. But is is so difficult to live among the homeless, the starving, the sick and be able to do so very little about it.

And yet later, after several nightmares and a brimming handful of dreams were shared, I watched this dear friend leave (with a huge box of school supplies from the team for the program!), knowing that the Lord is working miracles in Haiti because of his obedience. He is pouring himself out, doing everything he can, to be Christ in a dry and weary land...

We are blessed by his example.