Sorry all...the internet has been down and continues to be awful!  Here's the most recent EBS newsletter...If you're not signed up already, get me your address and we'll get you on the e-mailing list!

Your Road to Emmaus Emmaus Biblical Seminary of Haiti Newsletter Winter 2012 Dear Committed Emmaus Family ~ When we consider the seemingly slow rate at which things are changing in Haiti, we can be tempted to ask "When is God going to redeem Haiti?" But wait!  God has been redeeming Haiti all along.   We must believe in the power of Jesus to wash away the sins of the world! We started a small group program this semester in our EBS community (read about other new changes here).   I have the privilege of leading one of the small groups and sharing in the personal lives of students.   After listening to the testimonies of the members of my small group, I'm more convinced than ever that the Holy Spirit is hard at work convicting the world of sin and bringing his people into the kingdom of Light. The simple fact that the EBS community can exist in a place like Haiti and provide a vibrant, Spirit-filled community in which ecclesial leaders can undergo academic and spiritual transformation means that God is redeeming Haiti now...and always has been. More than this, God is redeeming me through Haiti.  God has used his people and Kingdom work in Haiti to redeem my life and re-create my heart.  I know Jesus with a heightened level of intimacy because of Haiti.  I know the faithfulness of the cross of Christ because of Haiti.  I know that hope will prevail because of Haiti.  God has used Haiti in an eternal way to shape the lives of his people (both Haitian and foreign alike).  This means that God is redeeming Haiti now! Let us not forget that at the center of God's redemption is something much better than riches and comfort.   At the center of redemption is knowing and walking with Jesus - divine communion. God is using Haiti for his redemptive purposes and bringing about righteousness in the lives of his people because Christ was poured out on a cross for the sin of the world.   Being a part of the EBS community means being a part of the redemption of Haiti and the sanctification of our own hearts and it's a privilege.   Thank you for joining us. Standing in the risen-ness of Christ, Matt Ayars EBS Vice-Rector (Provost) New Year Needs Student Support With eighteen new students this school year, there are now almost 30 students in need of support!  EBS counts on student scholarships to help pay for food, electricity, teaching staff and supplies. Two thousand dollars is needed  in addition to the $250 each student is resposible for.   If you're interested in partnering with a student, please contact us. Wesley Graduation Lucner and Vilmer will both graduate from Wesley Biblical Seminary this April!      Attending graduation in Jackson, Mississippi is both a required and momentous part of the program, but we need help getting them there.  Interested? contact us! Lab Printer The "Basic Computer Skills" course is well underway with 30 computers in the lab!  However, a laser printer (around $100 USD) is greatly needed for lab assignments and for student ministry printing.  If you're interested in purchasing a printer for the computer lab, please contact us!

school

On Thursday, Sharon, Lily, Maxi and I headed went to Pillatre to visit their Christian school (Cathy, not a Starfish school, just one nearby!).  Occasionally we attend church here, and I've heard great things about the school, and a lot of the little ones from Saccanville attend.  We pulled in right at the end of recess (chaos!) but the moment a bell rang, everyone disappeared, and we started our tour.

 The school, like many, is used for Kindergarden through fifth grade from 8 am until noon, and then from 1 until 5 pm for sixth grade through high school.  Lunch is served at three different times every day, feeding one THOUSAND people.  500 in the morning, 500 in the afternoon.  About 10 cooks and all of these big pots made it possible.  REALLY impressive.  (I break a sweat when I cook for more than 6!)

I could not get over how organized everything was!  Organized classrooms, guys on one side and girls on the other, disciplined classes, organized prayers, hand washing, lessons, etc.

 We were also really impressed by all the stuff the kids were learning, with tons of educational posters on the walls, lots of good textbooks in Creole and French, and teachers who were taking their jobs of educating so many of His precious children very seriously.

 Math, Bible, Creole, French, Writing, Science, Computer and History are taught to all the grades, with school-wide devotions every morning and afternoon.

 Lily was mesmerized, and spent the rest of the day asking for a  uniform, talking about what the kids had been doing, and asking why there wasn't a plate of rice for her.

 (all the kids lined up for handwashing before lunch)

 Meanwhile, back at the "Semerary" as Lily calls it, the Basic Computer Skills course just began with Jonathan teaching, and everyone is just loving it!  The guys have been really happy this semester, abut  new professors, new courses, about the new small group program, about language Fridays (today my classes got Sharon instead and they were thrilled!), and about the symposiums on Thursdays.  

 There might be a lot problems in Haiti, but good education sure does make a difference!

Thankful to see lots of it happening, and to see His Word going out as children learn to read and memorize it, and young men and women learn to share it!

and again I say Rejoice

I'll tell you what--the realities of life in Haiti might be pretty heavy and the workload might be pretty intense, and people might bear unimaginable heartache, but we all sure do have a lot of fun.  

We have a fun staff, fun students and fun girls, and each day brings it's share of laughs and joy.  Take today for example... 

I asked Matt to take a few pictures in chapel.  Everyone gets kind of giddy when there's a camera around, and before I knew it he was taking pictures of anything anyone told him to take a picture of....like the bread.

 Or the freezer.  Do you want to know?

 Rolls of frozen skin, and a bowl full of brains.  Oh, wait, you said you DIDN'T want to know?  Sorry.

Laughing with the students...

 and laughing with Lucner and Fanfan at Jezula, who refuses to be photographed smiling.

 The kitchen ladies wanted an official group shot, then cooking group shots, then individual group shots, then various shots of the kitchen in groups of two.

...and Sofie has no idea what they're doing, but she is playing with Poppy and Lily, so SHE is having fun!  Miss Sharon taught Lily, "See you later, Alligator" and how to use M&Ms as pills when playing doctor, which had Micheline and Gertha cracking up.  

Things are by no means going great in lives of the staff and students right now.  There are many heavy burdens, but as we continue to be told, "Such is life, but God knows!"

Joy is a choice, and we're so grateful to live in such amongst such a joyful people! 

abundant living

Miss Sharon, whom Lily continues to call "her", arrived safely from Port-au-Prince on Saturday, Uncle Don left today (ah, in heaven Uncle Don and Aunt Brenda will live next door!) while Lily was outside playing on his swing (at 7:15 in the morning?  yes.), and Crazy Monday is well underway.  We had a really nice and relaxing weekend, complete with doing as little school work as possible, as promised!  ...baseball, finger painting, movies, baking, visiting, Skype with family, etc....

Last minute students have registered and are off to class, and the classrooms are quite full, actually.  A team is coming in March to finally finish off the men's dorm once and for all, and it seems that we'll be needing that second story before too much longer!

I've been thinking a lot these past few days about who God made me--intended for me--to be, versus who I am...about what in my life is bringing me closer to Him and about what in my life is just wasted space in our relationship.  

There are so many "harmless" things, small compromises and little allowances that due to laziness or selfishness, lack of discipline or just convenience are allowed in my life, shrinking God and I out of the kind of relationship we could have...settling me further from the abundant life He has in store for me with Himself!

If I only have one chance at this life, only one shot at this walk with Him, surely our relationship merits my very best...ah, tomorrow is a new day!

pray day

Upon dropping his briefcase on the floor yesterday evening, Matt sighed, "Man, have I earned my paycheck this week!"  :)

It has been just an incredibly busy week with tons of tasks, lots of illnesses and an exceptional number of hours in the classroom!  Please be praying for and with us!

Praise the Lord that Uncle Don is here, helping out with SO many things and making sure that maintenance issues are NOT ones Matt's been checking off his list.  He goes Monday :(

Praise the Lord for Sharon (and later, Martin!), who is on her way to help us for the next several weeks!  His timing couldn't be better as that our business office is feeling swamped and so is....well...life!  Sabetha is always ready to help in a BIG way, and we're SO glad.

Praise the Lord for the girls, who have had a GREAT first week back with Noel, Micheline and Gertha.  They've done so well, are having a really good time being back home and with their friends, and we both just continue to thank the Lord for providing such trustworthy, fun and faithful child-care so that we can minister at Emmaus.

Praise the Lord for a great start to the new year, for several new students and fifty fantastic returning students, and for lots of great new things taking place, like Language Tutorial Fridays (three hours of English, Greek, Hebrew and French), Symposium Thursdays (yesterday was a conference on Jehovah's Witnesses), and Small Group Tuesdays.

Please pray with us for Maxi, struggling with low blood pressure, Giselaine, dealing with the death of her sister, Belony, who despite meds and help is still not feeling well, and Shayla, struggling with high fever.

Please pray with us for the work.  This semester, Matt and I are both teaching more hours than we ever have before.  We're teaching new classes we haven't taught before.  One of our main teachers, Guenson, is still in Port-au-Prince, and with a staff that is all still relatively new in their positions, there is a lot of learning taking place for all of us!  In addition, we're working to find funds for students, working to find funds for the budget (newsletters, correspondence, photos, translating), working to manage all the finances (receipts, expense reports, reporting, QuickBooks).  Add in trying to prioritize relationships with God, the girls and each other, then relationships with the people around us each day, then survival stuff like laundry, cooking, cleaning...  Yes.  Please pray with us for the work.

Please pray with us for wisdom in disciplining those around us to DO the work...teaching, assisting, watching, and leaving it.  We want to empower those around us to do the work God has called them to, not over-babysit them nor abandon them.  Finding that balance and finding the time to help disciple well is a challenge!

Please pray with us for Haiti.  The lives of our friends and family here are so difficult...living in the midst of so much need will never cease to be a challenge.  I was reminded yesterday when a little bird was stuck in the house of His promise to intimately care for each of His children, and we continue to daily try to be pro-active in His watch-care AND deliberate in trusting Him to provide, according to His leading.

Please pray with us for our perspective.  While we cannot control stressful circumstances coming into our daily lives, we can "take every thought captive to Christ."  We are working hard to be deliberate in running all our responses through His perspective, His priority and His glory.  THIS is the mission-field, isn't it...to live, speak, act, emotion and react as one fully devoted to Christ.

The Lord has never released from us a burden for you: people supporting, following, praying for us.  We therefore continue to carry you in our hearts and prayers.  Thank you for carrying the burden of us!  We love knowing that you are talking to Him about us.

evaluation

"And you shall be my witnesses...even to the remotest part of the earth." Acts 1:8


That means lives of pure, uncompromising, and unrestrained devotion to the Lord, which will be satisfying to Him wherever He may send us.  


Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ.


The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him.  It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him.


The goal of the call of God is HIS satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him.


We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used BY God in HIS battles.


Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?


O. Chambers


...giving me something to mull over today!...

for His joy and glory

Man, it was just one of those days!

Abel talking to us through our bedroom window at 4:15 AM started it off.  Then we overslept, because let's face it, I can't remember the last time we WEREN'T tired, or the last time Sofie didn't wake us at 5:30.

As we rushed around, I pulled a bowl out of the cabinet to make pancakes and another under it shattered into 7 million pieces.  Breakfast, therefore, was late...we, therefore, were late, and rushed to our offices.

I had 7 students waiting for me trying to make payments before class...so late for class...we both taught for three hours, Matt ran straight to his new small group (1 staff for each 7 students for an accountability/discipleship/prayer group), a group of blog-friends from Illinois came by at 12:30...tour, lunch, staff meeting.

Then, Matt had a meeting with a bawling secretary while someone accidently caught the lawnmower on the chain of Lily's brand new swingset, snapping the overhead post in two.  Lily, needless to say, bawled and bawled.  Sofie's top tooth broke through today (so lots of bawling there, too :)

My plans for cherry cheesecake disintegrated when the precious bar of cream cheese was fermented (poor refrigeration while we were gone), and then again for cherry pudding pie when the unopened, "doesn't expire until 2014", boxes of pudding mix were molded through.  Man, this climate is just not great for food!

Two of our staff drove all the way to Port-au-Prince this morning for a promised meeting at 10 that never happened, and Giselaine's dear sister lost her long, completely untreated battle with cancer today.

It has just been a hard day!

However, as always, there were beautiful things, too....

A student who has always given me a very hard time because "a woman has nothing to teach me" came and told me today how glad he is to be back from break and in my class again.   A bunch of students who thought they could never pay shared stories of His faithfulness in providing, we both had great first classes, the discipleship program had a great kick-off.

Then I confused the Creole word for kiss (Bizhou) with the Creole word for jewelry (Bisou) and talked about the difference between kisses and treasure for 3 minutes before we all had a good laugh.  I got gooey kisses from Sofie and sticky ones from Lily and scruffy ones from Matt...all beautiful.

Most, the twenty sweet minutes I got with the Lord in the middle of naps and being peed on made my day.  When you're tired and stink and frazzled and cut your finger and are stepping on toys--remembering that we are loved, precious, and in a relationship with the Mighty God, and that He is in control and that we are alive for His joy and glory--changes everything!

Might of been a rough day, but it was His...and so are we! Hang in there, friends...we are dearly loved!

back in the swing

First day of the new semester

four new classes

2 new teachers (and one is Dr. Rodney!)

new schedule (more concentrated classes)

four new students

Sofie pulled herself up from the floor for the first time

(and fell off the bed for the first time)

Gertha is back with the girls

and Lily is thrilled.

But best of all,

"my good friend Uncle Don"

gave Lily her swing-set.

greenhouse

What a great weekend!  We spent lots of time getting ready and working on little projects around the house and for the classroom.

Don replaced our sink and made LEFT hot and RIGHT cold again after Matt fixed (ahem) our sink a few weeks ago :)  He fixed a ton of leaky gutters, is building Lily a bamboo swing set (SO cool) and did a lot of high trimming.  

Matt prepped for a seminar taking place on Tuesday and two courses he is teaching, I'm ready for class tomorrow (one day at a time :) and the girls had a blast playing with their Christmas presents, cooking with Mommy, visiting friends and Sofie, mastering getting into everything.

Church this morning was also great, and today is Abel (51) and Kerline's (35) birthday, so this afternoon we took them birthday cupcakes and caught up!  Junior got back last night, so he and a new student who just moved in came to lunch, and Lily was SO glad to see Junior again.  ("Mom!  He is just my very best friend!  I missed him!")

Lots of students arrived this evening, and everyone is just so happy to be back.  Their excitement is contagious!  

While the end of last semester had everyone tired, after a month off, the thing everyone is telling us tonight is what a peaceful, joyful, positive and godly environment this is...and I feel SO blessed to be able to have that for them!...to be a part of that!

So many of you have helped with that with your construction skills and time and gifts and prayers and teaching and help, and I just am so thankful that in the middle of this spiritually and economically and morally desert-place that Emmaus is a greenhouse for men and women to come, grow in Christ, be cared for, and learn how to give Living Water to everyone they meet.

What a great reminder tonight with enthusiastic hugs from returning staff and students what a blessing Emmaus is...to them and to us and I pray, to Him!

Bring on the new semester!

waving prayers

We're home safely!  Matt was in a staff meeting by 10 am this morning, Don, Lily, Sofie and I got home by 10:30, and we were all at Abel's for lunch at noon!

Lily was thrilled to be back to rice and beans, we've gotten to catch up with various friends, staff members and students throughout the day.  Micheline came and helped me out, the dirt is washed out of the house, we're mostly unpacked, Don built a Barbie house with Lily and gave Boone a bath...it's good to be home!

As our flight was taking off this morning at 6 am, I looked over my shoulder in the darkness and saw an older woman silently waving her hands in the air--a Haitian prayer style--asking the Lord for a safe flight.  I turned around a little further and realized that half the plane was silently praying with her.  It was a beautiful moment, with the dawn just beginning to break, hands waving all around me like tree branches in the breeze, silent prayers being lifted.

It's how we often feel.  Though we rarely hear the prayers being lifted for Emmaus, for our little family, for Haiti, we often feel them around us and see the movement of a God at work.  We're so thankful to be surrounded by a praying family and a faithful Father.  We love you!

almost home

We are safely in Fort-Lauderdale, where it is much warmer though still too cold too swim, as Lily soon discovered.  

Our flight to Haiti is tomorrow morning at 6 AM.  Uncle Don just got here, and he and Matt and Lily are at dinner while I get the baby down.  Once again, the girls travelled unbelievably well today, and we actually had a really fun day together as a family with our abundance of luggage :)

The last few days has been full of so many business calls from Haiti that we're anxious to get back to help the staff prepare for the new semester--and anxious to be home... rats, roaches, arachnids and all...the REAL reason Uncle Don and his killer flip-flop are traveling with us!