all good news

We had another great day today, with a good doctor's report on Sophia (who may actually end up being "Sofia"...Matt's thinking about changing :).  The doctor had some VERY strong opinions about our "lifestyle", which he summarized as "living the life down in the Carribean, drinking, partying and giving yourself some humanitarian pats on the back" and how we have selfishly put these desires over the well-being of Lily and Sophie.

While about 20 minutes of our 30 minute appointment entailed this kind of "medical advice", he finally checked Soph and I and we were thrilled to get all good reports.  Her weight and mine were good, good blood pressure, good blood sugar level, great heartbeat...everything was great.  He thinks maybe she'll be here the end of May instead of the beginning of June...He knows :)

I'm thankful that He, not the doctors or experts or even US, directs and leads and provides and protects our paths.  I know that Sophie could be in no better place in the world than in His hands!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Florida!

We're having a fantastic time with great weather, great food and great family...on the way to my doctor's appointment now.  I immediately came down with a cold the moment we stepped foot in America (air conditioning always kills us when we haven't been in it for so many months), but except for that, all is well.  We'll get you an update after my appointment!

Spring Break!

We had a great English chapel today and a great Friday.  Everyone was a bit giddy with a five-day weekend ahead (Spring Break is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday), and while it was hard keeping everyone focused in class, it's been fun to hear about everyone's plans.

For your prayers, Monday, 17 students and Belony will be hitting an area near the airport with a full day of evangelism, hoping to start working towards a church plant in this zone.

Tomorrow, 3 students (Gesner, Jean-Marc and Devicour) are joining Hannah and Julie for a mobile medical clinic in an area about an hour from here.  They'll be meeting with patients for prayer, encouragement and evangelism.

Lots of others mentioned lots of different ministry projects...having three days off allows for three days they don't normally have to be a part of their church and community ministry.

Tonight, Julie, Hannah and Bill joined us all for a night of burgers, catching up and playing games...man, we miss these two special women.  Having them here for a week makes it seem like they never left...We wish they never did!

(John, with the help of EVERYONE, working on funnel cakes)

And tomorrow (still pinching ourselves) Matt, Lily and I are doing a quick jump out to Miami.  We'll spend the weekend there (just a 2.5 hour flight from here) with my dad, sister and new brother-in-law, and then Monday we have a doctor's appointment scheduled just to check up on Sophie.

Thank you, EJ and Mia, for getting me the appointment! (After several frustrating days of trying to contact doctors through our internet/phone system only to be shut down because I am no one's full-time patient, Mia and EJ got on it, pretended to be me, and called around until they found someone that WOULD take me...as long as we pay up front :)

We are VERY excited about a few days out, a few days of ice cream (that might just be me), the opportunity to see family and for the rare opportunity to see a doctor.  We'll be back first thing Wednesday, getting ready for the students to return Wednesday night and for class on Thursday.

CBS and fulfilling OUR call to Bring Good News

When I was 18 and working in Port-au-Prince, I saw one of the translators our mission (Christian Service International) often employed to help with teams frequently breaking away from the group and speaking fervently to groups of captivated people.  At the time, it was jibberish in a language I didn't understand, coming from a guy my age that I barely knew: Junior.

What I DID know was that whatever he was saying was completely intriguing to them, that he carried and used no Bible, no materials, no handouts, and that all he ever talked about in English was Jesus...so it must have something to do with Jesus.

As Junior and I became better friends, I was quickly captivated, too...not by his stories, but by his story.  Junior was (is) the son of a witchdoctor, one of 20 siblings to 7 or 8 different mothers, and his mother died when he was three.  Raised in Voodoo his whole life, Junior participated and helped in all the ceremonies, knew all the stories and all the songs, and knew the Voodoo answer to every question.  (Where did we come from? Why do we die? Why do we have rain? What is right and wrong?)

At 13, a missionary came to his father and asked permission to do just one thing...come back every week and tell he and his wives and children stories.

"No preaching?" his father asked the missionary.  "No bugging me to convert?  No complaining about what I do and how we live?"

"Nothing," the foreigner told him.  "Just a story each week."

And so it began: Junior's introduction to what is called CBS, or Chronological Bible Storying.

Fast forward 10 years to a few weeks ago when Junior quite deliberately stumbled upon a village of 100 Satan-worshipping, darkness dwelling potential Children of God.

"NO JESUS. No Christianity"  They demanded, "or we'll chase you out."

"OK," Junior told them.  "Just stories."

Go back 16 months to several families in the community visiting our house in the same week, all asking for the same thing: English.

"We want to speak English.  We know you teach at the Seminary.  Why can't you teach us?" they asked me.

After talking with Matt about all of the time and energy and prep and grading, etc., that this would take, we both knew that there was only one way it would be worth it.  They wanted English.  I wanted to preach the Gospel in this dark zone.  CBS, partnered with English, seemed like it would be worth a try (my first.)

Junior quickly sent me to to the evangelism method that brought HIM to Jesus: "Orality Strategies".

What CBS Is:


     "Chronological Bible Storying (CBS) is the process of encountering God by telling the stories of the Bible. In CBS we tell Bible stories without interruption or comment and we tell them in the order that they happened in time. Afterward we discuss each story and its significance for our lives. Each story builds on those that came before; as a result, the overarching message of the Bible becomes clear and we discover our own place in God's story."


What Is Available:


If you start to check out the Orality Strategies site, you'll quickly see that they seem to have everything available for anyone to do anything involving preaching the Gospel:  (And they don't just tell you want to do...they GIVE you all the materials, instruction manuals, etc. as downloads).

Evangelism Story Sets (click here)

Discipleship and Leadership Training Story Sets (click here)

Church Planting Story Sets (click here)

Topical and Situational Story Sets (click here)

Story Sets for Maturing Believers (click here)

Browse around for lots of other resources and downloads, (even for deaf ministry, illiteracy, etc.) but this one has been the basis of everything we do through SEEP and everything that Junior does:

What I Use:


C2C: Creation to Christ (click here)

Starting BEFORE Creation, this series gives you every story, in order, by giving you the Biblical reference to each one.  It also outlines key themes in each stories, possible props you can use, questions to ask afterwards, etc.

How I Prepare:

 Each week,

-I look up the next story in my Bible and read through it
-type the story out in a more conscience and sometimes more Haitian translation (ie...when we talked about Jesus harvesting the wheat and burning the chafe, we talked about harvesting the sugar cane and burning the "baggas")
-make sure that I know how to translate the entire story into Creole
-copy and paste all of the questions the C2C series gives me and be familiar with them
-make sure I know the story by heart

How I Share:

Each week,
-I start by asking a bunch of questions about the previous story/stories.  I DON'T ask, "What does this mean? What is it trying to teach you?  What do you think you need to do differently due to this story?"  I just ask ABOUT the story.
-I teach a new story, going through each segment in English (to keep everybody happy) and again in Creole (to keep everyone understanding.)
-I ask the questions C2C gave me about each story (i.e. Who was in the beginning? God.  What does this tell us about God? He has always been around. Who was hovering over the water? The Spirit.  Describe the earth in the beginning? It was shapeless and empty.)
-I teach some sort of grammar lesson, again, to keep students coming back.

Junior does the same thing, except that he has every story, every question and the order they go in memorized.  He doesn't go ahead, just promises to keep telling stories every week or twice a week until all the questions are answered.

One issue we both come up with is that there are, of course, often theological type questions that come up when you're sharing stories, especially once I got into the New Testament and the life of Jesus.

"Why did Jesus have such a pathetic beginning and end?  Why didn't He save Himself from the cross?  Why can Jesus die for my sins and no one else?  Why should I be baptized?" etc.

I have worked hard to stick only to the stories, but when questions like these come up, especially this close to the end of the Bible, I have spent whatever time necessary to try to answer these (and have been bringing Matt in for the last 30 minutes of each class for the past several weeks to do just that.)  What I DON'T do is give ANY information that the Bible doesn't.

Check out this link for how others around the world have been doing it and how it's working.

What About Culture?

When it comes to these questions: "Why can't Christian women wear pants? Paint their toe nails?  Why do you have to have a membership card in order to take communion?" etc., I now encourage students to find the answer in the Bible, and if they can't, to chalk it up as cultural, not Biblical, Christianity.  This would be similar in any other context.

The key, however, is to be creative to find ways to share the Bible in YOUR host culture, for YOUR audience.

The way Junior uses this method here it 100 times more effective than the way I am (which has still been incredibly effective) and I believe that this is because he KNOWS Voodoo.  He KNOWS the True story of creation.  And He knows the Voodoo version.  He knows why Voodoo says that people die, and he knows why the Bible says that people die.  He knows where his audience is coming from better than I can.

And he's taken it a step further that I just can't.  Junior has a song (music and singing being HUGELY important in this culture) set to Voodoo chant melodies, for EVERY single story.  He has taken Voodoo chants that it seems everyone in Haiti, Christian and non-Christian, know, and has replaced their lie lyrics with the Truth.

For example, Konpech already knows a hundred chants and songs.  From the old men to the littlest ones, EVERYONE can sing every song about any topic in life.  Junior has taken these and re-written them all with powerful lyrics that coincide with each week's lesson.  After he teaches the lesson, he teaches the words to a song they already know, and Matt was AMAZED this past week at how quickly he and everyone around him had the Bible story memorized.

Junior has encountered many people who disapprove of this method of using something that was Voodoo to teach the Bible, but man, I LOVE knowing that this week, the people of Konpech are singing:


There is no other like God, not in all of heaven, not in all of earth.  
Satan can scream and shout all he wants, but God is more powerful.
Powerful, more powerful!


while pounding out their rice and wringing out their laundry.  I love that in 10 weeks, the people will have replaced 10 of their life-songs with 10 of His, and that while they are singing, the men (who still have yet to listen to Junior) in their lives are hearing, memorizing and thinking about EVERY word.

These truth songs don't "sound" Christian.  And THAT'S why everyone is singing them.  Just like in the other countries, there are a LOT of people who don't want to be Christians in Haiti simply because they know Christians, know churches, who have not modeled to them WHO HE truly Is.  These are songs I need to start learning from Junior.

What About "Non-Oral" Cultures?

While Haiti is obviously a culture that might be more accustomed to story telling in this day in age, I am CONFIDENT that this could be a powerful form of Evangelism ANYWHERE, for one reason.

The model of the Trinity makes it clear: it's is all about Relationship.  Personal relationship is foundational for life.  The Bible makes it clear: Can't follow Jesus without Relationship, with Him AND with others.  Forget "Telling Stories."  TALKING is how relationships are built.  Taking time.  Personal engagement. Patience.  SHARING what we know to be the Truth with someone over and over and over leads to a RELATIONSHIP with that person, and it is only through relationship that people of ANY culture are coming into relationship with Him.

Wherever you are today, I am confident that there are people VERY nearby who have NEVER heard the Message.  Who, while they might know a childhood version of Noah's Ark, have never heard the whole truth.  This isn't about converting people.  It's just about sitting down with someone over and over and over and telling them the stories that brought YOU to Christ, that give YOU direction, that caused YOU to put down your nets and follow Him...

...allowing people to discover ON their OWN their place in His Story because you took the time to build a RELATIONSHIP.

Here's some help and practical ideas: Storying the Bible in North America

How It's Changed ME

I promise you, in all my time in church, in Christian college and in missionary training, I have NEVER taken a class in Evangelism.  I don't know lots of methods or strategies or have any advantages that you don't.  A LOT of the Bible stories that I have taught this past year were ones that I barely knew or remembered, and man, just going through these pre-selected, laid out stories this past year has changed MY walk with the Lord.  

I've been forced to let go of so many of MY "Christian" culture-isms..."Because that's what Christians do.  Because that's what it IS to be Christian..." and instead look at just what the Bible says...Just what it means to be a Christ follower.

Why I Think This IS One of the Best Ways to Tell People About Jesus

What I love best about CBS is this: The Bible and the Holy Spirit do it.  I just read His Script, and tell it to someone.  Any conversions that have come because of this method haven't come because of fancy techniques or from smooth-talking, convincing, bargaining or begging.  

They have come because the person has HEARD truth over and over, realizes due to what they've seen and experienced that it IS TRUE, been broken to find themselves in the sins of our fathers, been baffled over how to get out of this terrible mess our sin has put us in, deserving death, and found joy, hope, healing and salvation in the death...AND IN THE LIFE....of God's Son.

On Saturday, March 5th, our 14 month SEEP class is finished.  This past week, Jesus died, and next week, He will rise again.  Then the Holy Spirit is given to us.  Once I've taught what the Bible says about these things, every person in the class has heard and studied the WHOLE Gospel.  Already, I have seen the Bible changing them in ways that I NEVER could have by 'preaching' to them, never could have convinced them of.  Already, several have crossed over that line of living for themselves and living for the Lord.

But on the 5th, I get to, for the first time in 14 months, ask them a question I've been dying to:

You know now.  You know the whole truth, who you are, what the problem is, what you need, what He offers, what it MEANS to be a Christ-follower.  What to expect.  What it REALLY looks like.


Is today the day?  He wants YOU deeply, just as He wanted and sought after EVERY single person we have talked about throughout all of time.  Do you want to lay down your life and pick up His?  


Let's do it.


Ah, I can't wait.


Please email or comment if you have any questions, ideas or comments about this method of evangelism or if I can help in ANY way.  You can also check out Orality Strategies "Questions and Answers" page for some common questions.

lots of changes & a shocking new reality

Morning, friends!

The sun keeps rising here in beautiful Haiti, and it just seems that everything... from Lily's hilarious morning antics to the soft breeze, waking up to Matt making coffee to the brilliant blossoms...points to Him.  I'm so grateful this morning for this one life He's given us each and the chance each day to celebrate new mercies and to BE more like Him.

Lots of things are going on...

Last week after many years of working here in Haiti, Mary Lou left the Haiti field.  Matt and I worked with Mary Lou on a daily basis for our first several years here, and it just never gets any easier to live life alongside of each other and then have someone leave for good.

Joetta, the field treasurer, also left the field last week, meaning we're missing her humor and friendship and everyone's missing having a field treasurer!

Dave and Marilyn also exited, though not permanently, on Saturday for a few months away of work, travel and rest.  It seems we are always transitioning!

As I shared last month, both Julie and Hannah finished their one year terms and left in January, but the happy news is that they are BACK this week for a visit, to introduce us all to Julie's now-fiance Bill, and to get to say good-bye a little better.  (due to some family needs, Julie had to leave in quite a rush!)  Can't WAIT to catch up with these dear friends and to drill Bill.

Please keep praying for all of these missionaries as they transition: for His enduring and un-matched peace and for His continued clear calling on their lives.

Matt joined Junior this past Sunday in Konpech for a few hours, an afternoon that really opened his eyes and both broke and excited our hearts.  There are around 100 people living in this community, and they shared with Matt that they have all come from 4 people who started the community a LONG time ago, committed to Satan.  The poverty of the village was shocking to Matt, most people showing orange hair (vitamin deficiency) and children aged four or five still breast-feeding to curb starvation.

More shocking then the poverty, however, was this reality:  In 2011, there is a village 20 minutes from the main road where NOT ONE PERSON has EVER heard even an OUNCE of the Gospel.  In Haiti.  Where Christianity and missions, etc., have been around for decades.  Not ONE person in the crowd that gathered Sunday to hear Junior teach how sin came into the world had EVER heard ANYTHING about it.  No Idea.

When Junior told them how the world was created, where Satan came from, who made the trees, how sin came into the world...no one had EVER heard it.  There is an entirely UNREACHED people group living in complete darkness a 20 minute walk from me.

Belony says they've never heard the news because Christians largely avoid areas noted as being 'evil zones' such as Konpech, choosing instead to continually evangelize "safe" areas.

The reality continues...if this is true, that there are 100 people who have never heard one word of the Truth 20 minutes from here, then there are places EVERYWHERE in Haiti, most deemed 'demonic areas', that have ALSO never been reached.  Other people, JUST like you and I, who because of fear of Satan, have NEVER been given Hope.  Who continue to live under complete fear and bondage of Satan...perhaps because they NEVER knew there WAS another option.

(Is it possible, too, then, that in America/Canada/Europe, etc. that there are LOTS of people who have perhaps truly NEVER heard the Gospel?  Completely unreached people?  20 minutes from the church?  Perhaps people Christians largely avoid because they are known as being 'difficult'?  Just a thought...)

I can honestly tell you that until this past month, I would have told you that by now, everyone in Haiti had at least heard the Gospel.  This new reality is keeping us awake at night, and we're pumped to see the students as worked up about this as we are.  IF we believe that God has all power, and that Satan is nothing before our God, than what have we to fear? (as Junior has so boldly shown.)

Suddenly, there is a LOT TO DO!

February 28th (our spring break), a group of 21 students will be working to evangelize a zone not that far from the airport, hoping to eventually plant a church there.  Please be praying now for this upcoming major day of ministry, and please CONTINUE to be in prayer for those HE created in Konpech.

Many of you have been asking for more information about this "Bible story telling method" that I've used in SEEP and that Junior solely uses for evangelism.  I've been working on this blog and will have it up this week: complete with what that method is, how it works, where you can find the materials (for free), what Junior has added to it (which is just crazy, and insanely effective) and more about Konpech.

Thanks for all your continued prayers as we live life, with all it's changes and potential for what God means it to be, with you.

dirty feet love

I don't even know the guy's name.  


He's been in my SEEP class on Saturday's for a few months now.  He's very short, works hard, and has a huge grin that shows several missing teeth, something most people try hard to hide with small, closed smiles.  He's always a few minutes early, and so when I picked my way up the mud-slick hill to the church yesterday morning at 7:55, he and several other students were waiting for me. 


After six days of rain, the dirt road is a muddy mess, and walking to class had my feet covered in thick black mud, and several passing trucks splashed muck up my legs.  I had barely noticed and didn't mind one bit, but the students were all very concerned when I walked up about their teacher being 'degraded' by mud.  

I assured them it was no big deal and headed in the church, setting up for class and then sitting for a moment with pastor Janiel's wife who has been helping me all year.  


As I was sitting there talking to her, this same young man came around the bench and knelt down in the dirt in front of me with a clean rag he must of had in his pocket.  Before I even knew what was happening, he had removed my mud-caked flip flop and had started rubbing the mud off my feet.  


Almost appalled at the humility and the disgusting nature of what was happening, I stopped my conversation and tried to take the rag from him, assuring him that I could do it.  


"No, no Teacher," he said grinning, "I've got this.  Don't get your hands dirty.  We'll all be much happier when you are clean."


For several more minutes he worked hard on my feet while Penina and I talked and I fought back all the emotions and instincts that begged him to stop.  


Frankly, I'd never thought much about all the time that Jesus insisted on washing His disciples feet not long before His death.  I'm sure their toes were as filthy as mine, with roads just as unpaved as ours.   Never really thought about WHY Simon Peter so insistent that the Lord not lower himself to such a task.  Never thought about how hard this must have been for the disciples.  Never thought about how humbling and even awkward to have someone serve you in this way.  Never thought about why it was SO important to Jesus that it be done.  


When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  John 13


What my student did for me yesterday was painfully beautiful.  Why?  Because he was showing everyone and telling me that he regarded me as higher than himself, while I don't even KNOW his NAME.  He set an uncomfortable example for me as to what I should be doing to others.  

I have brought this group of men and women the Gospel for over a year now.  But have I "washed their feet"?  I have been a part of the EBS family for almost 4 years now, but have I "washed the feet" of the staff? Of the students?  We've been in full-time ministry for almost 5 years now...I've been a Christian most of my life...how many times have I loved someone SO sacrificially as "short happy guy" did yesterday?  


With total humility, complete and joyful abasement, truly showing them that I consider them better than myself?  Uncomfortable love? DIRTY love?  Embarrassing love?  Un-socially-acceptable love?  HIS kind?


"Do you understand what I have done for you?" asked Jesus, not wanting anyone to miss out on the weight of His lesson, His example, His life and His death.


Do we UNDERSTAND what He has done for us?   


Do we understand it if we are not washing the feet of, suffering persecution and humiliation for, DYING FOR, others?   "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  You should do as I have done for you" Jesus says.


Ah, I have so far to come.  But Jesus, who is JUST beginning to make a mark in "short happy man's" life, shone through him brilliantly yesterday to bring me yet closer to Himself.


Praise the Lord.

You know we've been in Haiti too long when...

1)...our daughter's butt is more tan than my arm.

2)...I've finally started referring to MYSELF as gwo vant like everyone else, the Creole term for "pregnant"...literally translatted: BIG BELLY.

Yep, I am 25 weeks Big Belly with a baby whose gender, when joyfully announced in front of a congregation Sunday, was literally and loudly "BOOOOO-d."

3)...you start to think it's NORMAL to hold presidential elections in mid-November and still not have a president by mid-February.

4)...a visiting professor has to point out to you that having students named "Brave", "Excellent", "Divided Heart", "Good Man", and "Napoleon" in your class is unique.

5)...a visiting team brings us a small tub of sour cream, which we just stare at and dream about for 48 hours until we can think of a recipe worthy of being dolloped by such bliss.  This entire meal was created for this tiny bowl of sour cream.  Then I licked the bowl.  And the spoon.  And the foil lid.

They say when you're iron deficient, you actually crave eating dirt.  Well, living in a country that by and large has NO consistent electricity...so no refrigeration...so no demand for refrigerated products...so NO true dairy available...we crave dairy year round.  

We drink powdered milk and order in a 5 lb bag of shredded cheddar cheese each year.  That. Is. It.

And this glorious tub of sour cream.

6)...I manage all the finances for a Biblical seminary, and don't find it weird that every month I'm entering line items such as : Cow.  Bleach for Cholera.  Extra rice for lockdown due to political rioting.  Belo to clinic for soccer injury.  Machete.  

7)...Lily has to use the restroom during a church service, and neither she nor I even blink to join several other congregants of both genders in the "pee corner" of the yard.  Lily has actually started waving to those around her while she goes, overjoyed to be taking part in a community activity.

8)...A group of visitors from Pennsylvania come to tour the Seminary last week, and my first reaction upon meeting these strangers was to routinely kiss them...which they didn't appreciate.

9)...thanks to number 6 ("cow"), a group of friends, at 6:30 am, bring us a steaming bowl of garlic cow liver and boiled plantain.  (Matt and I just can't do it.  Gertha and Lily lick it clean.)

10)...my second and third year students ask why our English book has an exercise on "How to Resolve Issues with Your Neighbors, even if You Don't Know Their Names", and I realize how CRAZY that is.

I lived in the same house my entire life, and I embarrassingly had to tell the guys, who not only know their neighbor's names, but also their eating habits, hear every conversation, see everything, know what they believe, etc...that I don't even know WHO lives in the house to the left of mine in the States.  Or across the street.

I blamed it on all kinds of things...garages making it possible not to ever actually be OUTSIDE of your house, a culture based on not trusting strangers and on privacy, isolation, houses being more spread out, having closed windows on houses due to the weather, meaning that neighbors can't hear every word...but after all these years of living with a night-watchman who talks to us through our bedroom window when he's bored, hanging our laundry out in the center of the compound and unintentionally overhearing everyone else's Skype conversations..."our" culture is starting to seem weird.

11)...someone yells "BLANC!", and I stop everything to look around and see who the "foreigner" is.

12)...my 3rd level students beg, "Teacher, PLEASE, speak in ENGLISH!"...and I thought I WAS

13)...we go on a long-awaited date to town, anxious for some alone time, and end up with a car full of people all the way there and back.  It used to be wild to recognize anyone along the road waiting for a tap-tap (public transportation.) Now, we seem to know someone at every stop :)

14)...your daughter thinks it's normal to speak one language with some people and an entirely different language with other people.  

We really think Lily believes that life comes in two languages, and that learning to speak means learning to speak 2 ways.  She just follows our lead, speaking Creole with those we speak Creole with and speaking English with those we speak English with.  

15)...NOT being completely comfortable, able and welcomed to talk about Jesus at the grocery store, in school, on the corner, in people's yards, to strangers in your car, to other people's children, to people of other religions, to leaders of other religions... just seems crazy!

big buzz

Word on the street (coming from all the way in town):  An insane man living near Konpech yesterday burnt to the ground their most sacred tree.  In the rain.

While many people throughout these northern zones are almost in mourning to have lost this long-time famous home for demonic activity and dwelling...you should see the students faces this morning!

Junior is, of course, beside himself.  "I told them that He who was in me was greater than he who dwelt in their trees," he reminded me with a grin this morning.  "I rely so fully on His power...and I guess now they've seen it!"

I know that a lot of this spiritual warfare stuff is hard for our western minds to understand, but ponder this:  until two weeks ago, the Gospel hadn't been taken to Konpech in years.  Persecution of Christians trying to evangelize had kept the zone in the dark.  Two weeks ago, Junior leans on their deadly trees, crumbles their town's demonic symbol, and tells them about God and Satan, and then last week, tells them about the Creator of their trees, of their children, of themselves.  Last week, they asked him to please come again this Sunday to explain to them how sin, like jealousy and murder, came into the world.  He's prepared the story of Cain and Abel.

And unlike Konpech promised, Junior isn't dead.  But the tree is.

take that.  

I know what everyone else is saying...this morning I want to know what KONPECH is saying.

We'll find out Sunday!

no value to this life...but for one

Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people?  

For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers.  We "sit together in the heavenly places..."(Ephesians 2:6). "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it..."(1 Corinthians 12:26). 

If we allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity or spiritual weakness in our lives, everyone in contact with us will suffer.

How many of us are willing?

Willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ?

THAT is what God means when He uses the word witness.  "You shall be witnesses to Me..." (Acts 1:8).

Why has God left us here on earth?  Is it simply to be saved and sanctified?  

NO.  It is to be at work in service to Him.  Am I willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him?  

Am I willing to be of no value to this age or to this life except for one purpose and one alone--to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ?

When I read this from Oswalt Chambers this morning, these pictures immediately came back to my mind from Sunday evening.  

When I saw how the guys of EBS hiked, saw how they lived for the weekend, saw how they ate, and saw who they ministered to--a completely remote, widespread, poor group of people who could do or offer NOTHING to them--this concept that O. Chambers is talking about took flesh.

A willingness to be of NO value to this present age or life, except for being used for the purpose of discipling others in Christ.  

Being willing to spend all that we are and have for Jesus Christ.  Acknowledging that we are responsible spiritually to God for others.  

Not giving ourselves permission to be selfish, to be spiritually weak, to be careless or to be morally insensitive.  EVER.  So that others do not suffer. 

It took Belo, Daniel, Brave, Jodenel, Augustin, Salnave and Noel so long to get to the indicated "drop-off" point that Belony said their "ribs were shaking."  Three motorcycles finally dropped the 7 of them, and their gear, box of Bibles, sound system and projector, and it was nearing nightfall.  A man met them there, and they began to hike "up and down, up and down, through 7 rivers!" Belony said.  "We had NO idea it was so remote, or that there would actually be ANY people living so far off a tiny road."

When they finally arrived around 6:30 pm (following, of course, a full day of classes), they got settled in and had their first service.  Gathering people just from the nearby homes, they discussed what the weekend would hold, who they came to talk about, and invited any Christians to join them in evangelism for the next day.  They also spent time with all the families living around the little house where they stayed, making sure that everyone in their home area had heard the Gospel before they set out the next day.

Saturday proved to hold even more hiking than Friday did.  With several other believers guiding them, these seven guys split up and hiked from house to house, sometimes covering over a mile between homes.  They talked to hundreds of people about Jesus, prayed with many and preached when larger groups were gathered.

"TONS of witchdoctors" Belony told me.  "The areas were SO remote and so largely untouched by modernity and the outside world that almost everyone we met practiced ancient forms of Voodoo, just like generations before them."

"Terrible physical work," Daniel shared last night.  "Terrible physically!  It was rough!  But man, spiritually, we were working in a gold mine all weekend.  GREAT spiritual work.  SO many people had never heard about Jesus out there."

One of the most interesting conversations they shared with me was with one particular witchdoctor.  They talked to him about the truth, and they talked to him about Heaven.  

"Yeah, but I don't WANT that," he told Belony angrily.  "I don't WANT to be in Heaven, and I sure don't want to be with God.  I can't wait to go to hell...I've been living for it my whole life.  Satan is my master, and I WANT to spend eternity with him.  Don't act like being with God is something everyone wants.  I know who Satan is, and he's who I want."

Belony said he just gently invited the furious man to their movie that night, and moved on.  "That was one of those times," he said, "where I felt peace to wipe the dust off my feet.  There are always going to be people, I guess, who deliberately and willingly choose hell.  Once that decision has been made, all I can do is love them and pray on."

Everywhere these groups went, they invited everyone to come together that night to see "The Jesus Film", the story of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.  

They finally came back together exhausted around 2, ate some lunch and prepared for a big evening service.  Despite the fact that only 12 people lived nearby, Belony joyfully shared that around 300 people came for the movie and service, many hiking the same miles that the guys had hiked that morning.  

Can you imagine what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it would be for people living out in complete wilderness like this with NO power, NO roads, NO water, NO politics, NO news...to gather for an outdoor movie??

The guys, of course, took full advantage of the huge crowds.  From 5-7 they held a service, preaching the whole gospel, sharing salvation, singing praises, answering questions, etc.  At 7 they started the film, and when it ended around 9, the crowds stayed until past 11 pm asking question after question about what they had seen.  (I wish I had pictures of this!  Belo said they were way too busy to be taking pictures, which I'm sure was true :)

The next morning, they led a Sunday morning church service in the school, geared towards young or new converts to try to direct them in the "what now".  Daniel (4th year) preached the message, sharing practical places in the Bible and advice to start growing in the Lord.  

Around noon they headed back, all anxious and urgent by the time they hit Emmaus for the many surrounding zones that they were unable, as only 7 in only 2 days, to speak to.  When I think of ALL the zones just like this one throughout Haiti and all of the people living in them...living and dying without knowing Christ...then think of how many zones like this in the world...

mh.

So thankful for what He did through these seven this weekend, and what He is doing in the hearts of many today that we will NEVER know about, because of seeds that were planted this weekend in previously untouched soil .

How AWESOME to know that all of the people who heard the Gospel this weekend actually SAW it first: men pouring themselves out as broken bread, as drink offerings for the sake of Love, and for NOTHING in return.  Those who had never once heard of what Jesus has done for us SAW their first example this weekend.

And as if you could price on it: $71.75.  

Why has God left us here on earth?  Is it simply to be saved and sanctified?  

NO.  It is to be at work in service to Him.  Am I willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him?  

Am I willing to be of no value to this age or to this life except for one purpose and one alone--to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lily got twin love monkeys from Aunt Lisa, which were quickly named "Mippy" and "Jelly", and now she is stoked that today is "Happy Birthday, Valentines".  If there are presents, it is Birthday.  Now she wants a cake and candles.  Thanks to Jenn, Lydia and Erika, hopefully a Valentine's cake will be in the works for tonight!

We had torrential downpours of rain all night and morning, so she was the ONLY thrilled person in Haiti this morning... stomping through the rivers of rain in the yard.  Everyone else is rather grouchy, wet and muddy :)

February's EBS "Missions Trip of the Month" was a great success, and everyone is safely home.  I have an awesome report to give you and the guys took along my camera, making the report all the better.  I'll share it all with you tomorrow, but for now...

This is just one of seven rivers the guys had to ford during their 2 hour hike (following a 4 hour motorcycle ride) to the zone where they would be working...  WITH all their things, 12 Bibles, a projector, a screen, speakers, fuel for a small generator and food.

 This is the house where all seven guys, along with the family already living there, stayed for the weekend.

Several new Christians and five new converts received precious cargo from these VERY rare visitors: Bibles.

We also had a good ministry weekend with Matt preaching at a Gesner's church (2nd year student) on Sunday in Grisongaurd.  This church proved to be QUITE far away and was an early morning for all of us (the service STARTED at 6:30 am).  We left the house at 6:30 and it took over 90 minutes on terrible roads to arrive.  

However, we had a great time and were blessed to see where Gesner works, were able to share the day with Maxi, Kerline and several of the students, and were blessed to worship with yet another group of people excited about Christ in their lives.  

Gesner (2nd year), bottom left, is the associate pastor of this church, with the children's choir, Matt and Lily, and Jean Marie (2nd year, tall guy in the blue shirt) and other members of the church leadership.

prayer reminder & hope for the drummers

Please be praying this weekend for Belony, Brave, Salnave, Jodenel, Noel and Daniel who will be heading to "Au Bois" (Oh Boy) for a weekend of ministry there.  They will leave today around 1:00 and plan to participate in door-to-door evangelism in this community today and tomorrow, show the Jesus film to the entire village Saturday night and then finish with a large outdoor service Sunday morning.

We need to thank any of you who have been here recently or recently sent some "extra cash" for "whatever God leads."  You're sending these six men today into this un-evangelized part of Au Bois this weekend. (three motorcycle taxi's there and back, a box of Bibles and food for the six of them for the weekend)  I am REALLY excited about what they have planned, and most, am just excited about CHRIST in these six and the impact I know that will have.  I wish we were going...

***

Two nights ago when Matt and I were laying in bed unable to sleep because the Voodoo drums at Noah's were pounding SO LOUDLY, the Lord gave me a different perspective.  (The Noah story is KILLER good, if you have a few minutes).  Normally, the erratic and deafening drumming is irritating, or discouraging, or frustrating (because it wakes Lily up!).  But Wednesday night, the Lord gave me a spirit of excitement.

This is why:  Belony, the evangelist/staff/past student that you have heard so much about, has his own Paul story.  A gifted musician, ten years ago it was Belony who was pounding for different witchdoctors, Belony who as a youth spent all of his time practicing and playing the drums and leading various satanic services.

As I lay there, thinking about Belony today, Belony AFTER meeting Christ on the road to Damascus, as I thought about ALL the people who have come to know Him because of Belony...of Pehpay, who was led to the Lord and brought back from the near dead because of Christ in Belony....Belony, leading dozens to the Lord after the earthquake just by boldly proclaiming the whole Gospel...

I felt NOTHING that night but excitement for the young men whose hands were slapping the cow skins right then and banging on 5-gallon buckets.  If God could take Saul and then bring about ALL that He did with Paul, if God could take the old Belony and then bring about ALL That He IS doing in Belony today, then I have nothing but excitement for those that are participating in Voodoo today.

One sunny day, Belony just put down his sticks, left the fire and followed Christ and became a fisher of men.

The POTENTIAL of Christ-died-and-rose-again-for-them is ELECTRIFYING.  Until He comes, there is hope for the drummers of Saccanville, hope for Konpesh, for Au Bois, for Haiti, for the world.

Thank you for your prayers this weekend!

steadfast of mind

"I ask you, Jesus, that you give us your Spirit of stability," one of my first year students prayed yesterday morning before class in broken English.  It was as if the prayer escaped his lips, whipped around the room and hit me in the chest.

Strong desire took my breath away while he finished...YES.  Your Spirit.  Stability.  I want that.


To be honest, I didn't even realize till that moment that I was feeling unstable, or that His steady presence was something I was missing.

After all, it was November and December that had been so wobbly.  I was SO sick, causing lots of schedule changes, ministry changes, emotions, frustrations.  The political situation in Haiti was almost chaotic, with some days being quiet and full of students and other days being on "campus arrest" and hearing reports of fires, riots, bottles and violence.  Cholera fears, scares and deaths were keeping me on constant edge with Lily licking the dirt off her shoes every time it looked like it could be brown sugar.

Then, we headed to the States, which while enjoyable, is ALWAYS a very volatile time for us...tons of time in planes, in the van, traveling everywhere, trying to see everyone, Christmas shopping, doctor's appointments, the fluctuation of pregnancy reports, Lily, staying in lots of different places and living mostly out of our suitcase.

But that was all months ago, right?  Upon returning to Haiti the beginning of January, He gifted us with a sustained time of deep peace and joy.  The country was calmer, cholera is diminishing, my morning sickness was over, Lily was SO happy to be home, and Matt and I breathed deeply in the light of His salvation, great love, the joyful call on our lives and the great peace we have in Him.

Yet somehow these past two weeks, I have gone from being deeply rooted, contented and satisfied in HIM to feeling downright DESPERATE for two minutes of unwavering, strong, nourishing and still time of Him.

I realized yesterday that I have somehow again let "life": what it tells me, what it brings me, what it shows me, what it demands from me... trump Christ: what HE tells me, what HE brings me to, what HE shows me, what HE asks.

The steadfast of mind
You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You


says Isaiah 26:3.  How are these 'steadfast of mind' so steadfast!!!???  I WANT to be steadfast of mind!  I want that to be mirrored in how I speak...not just to the students, but to my co-workers, to our mission family, to MY family, to Matt and Lily.  I want "steadfast of mind" to be obvious in the secret places of my heart.  I want to be steadfast of nerves.  Steadfast of speech.  Steadfast of emotion.

And I want to be kept in perfect peace!  Despite whatever situations, confrontations, to-do lists, mood or daily encounter...steadfast of mind and in perfect peace, not tossed about by every wave.

I mean, doesn't that sound NICE?  Better than any beach?  Hot cup of coffee?  Good book?  Quiet Saturday? Hot shower?

Today, it doesn't just sound NICE to me.  It sounds NECESSARY.  I can't live like this! Up and down, back and forth, completely in the hands of each passing whim or emotion, blessing or burden.

I have experienced steadfast of mind.  It is possible, as Isaiah says.  It is possible IF we TRUST in Him.

"Trust", when trying to be translated into Creole, comes out as "confidence" or "putting your confidence in" and "believe."

The steadfast of mind

You will keep in perfect peace,

Because he 'puts all his confidence' in You

If HE is always the same, never changing...if HE is stable...if HE is the Truth...Light...Clarity...Solid Rock...Unending...Unconditional...and if I put all my confidence and trust upon Him...then how could I NOT also be in peace...steadfast?

How could you literally mold yourself into ONE with a granite boulder and then be easily tossed about by a gust of WIND?  Not possible.

Once again, it all comes down to trust.  Do I trust Him, or don't I?  Is this about Him, or isn't it?  Is He everything that I say He is, or isn't He?

I do.  It is.  HE IS.

THANKFUL this morning that He doesn't even ask us to trust Him on our own strength, but offers His perfect help even in this.  

Praying 'perfect peace' for you each and that we each might be 'the steadfast of mind'...not because we're trying to, performing for it, or working to earn or find or achieve it...but just because we trust in Him.

catch up...

1) Internet is 100 times better, ever since I screamed at it!  Thank you for your help praying for this situation!

2) Check out the EBS blog for some pictures of the past week...

3) Praise.  Gesner was able to return to class yesterday and is feeling a hundred times better.  Thank you for your prayers!

4) For your prayers...This Friday, Saturday and Sunday 7 of our students will be participating in EBS's "Missions Trip of the Month".  

The student body selected and suggested several areas and ministries that are in great need of some kind of help, either teaching, evangelism, encouragement for Christians, children's ministry, etc.  Belony, the Assistant Director for Student Ministry, is co-leading each trip with students volunteering and going out each month.

Friday they head to an area past Promago, about 2 hours from here, and will be working in a zone where Brave's (1st year) family lives.  There is no church in the area and very few Christians, so they are planning to do a lot of door-to-door evangelism, show The Life of Christ film Saturday night, and hold an outdoor church service Sunday morning.  

Please be praying for this group as they go...for their provision, safety, work and for many to hear about Jesus.  We're praying the Spirit will be working in hearts even now preparing for this trip!  I'll have a full report next week.

5) A few photos from the last days...

 Lily and "Baby Shesha" (Alisha), Dr. Rodney's youngest.  We had a great supper with their family and Luke's Saturday night, with lots of laughter about cultural comparisons :)

Sunday, we attended a little church down the road, a split several years ago from the Saccanville church. It was great to worship with this body of believers, and to be there for the "presentation" of one of our baby friends, pronounced "Abby-guy-ee."  

 These are all from class last week.  Above, Paul Vilmer, Discipleship with 3rd year...

 VP John Jording, 1st and 2nd Samuel with 2nd year...

 VP Pam Simpson with fourth year, teaching General Epistles...

and VP Jerry Caskey teaching 1st year the Synoptic Gospels.