babies

We had a great time at church yesterday seeing baby Victoria (and three other little ones) dedicated, and hearing Lucner preach.

In light of Doctor Rodney's (Bethesda Clinic head and pastor of the Vaudreil Church) recent near-death experience (appendectomy), Lucner shared that many people had threatened to leave the faith if Dr. Rodney had died.  

He preached a great sermon on our disappointment when God doesn't seem to do what we wanted Him to do, or when we wanted Him to do it, using John the Baptist's beheading as text.  

 It was a great sermon and a great reminder that we are here for His glory, and a great re-commitment for myself to be seeking, praying for and living for His glory above my own desires.






Baby Victoria, meanwhile, looks so much like Luna (and looked so cute in her huge dress and matching cap and veil)! We also got to sit with Gertha and baby Thalia, and it's always so good to have some time with this gorgeous little one!

Also saw friend and student Devicoeur there.  Having Dodo and Bubba at church with us made the three hour (yeah, that's a full 180 minute church service on a wood bench) SO much easier with the girls...extra help!  Sofie had to cut out half way through, but Lily made it the whole service.  MAN, this girl is going to miss her Dodo and Bubba come Thursday!

We continue to be so thankful for Lucner, for the ways God is using he and Luna, and for this little miracle!

Victory!

Praise the Lord...Lucner's wife, Luna, safely delivered their new baby girl yesterday (Oct 5th) a little after noon!  Baby Victoria is good, Luna is good and Lucner is as chill as ever.  We'll visit tomorrow and have pictures!

Thank you for your prayers!

starting the year in Romans...

...a servant of Jesus, set apart for the gospel of God...

The 2011-2012 school year is officially underway, with more beds being moved into the men's dorm, 75 people eating lunch together and about 55 students (still working on a final number!)  From the buzzing market, the crowded dusty streets, the tops of the mountains and the stretches of Haitian desert, one by one men and women have emerged and come together in one place with one purpose.

...now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God...


It is a beautiful thing to walk down the halls or past the chapel and hear the Word of God already being dug into.  Matt is teaching Romans to third and fourth year students and an Introduction to the Old Testament to first year, Guenson, Biblical Interpretation and Systematic Theology, Vilmer: Biblical Culture and Geography and Methodology, Lucner: Christian Philosophy, Fan Fan: Pentateuch (1st five books of the Bible)...

...who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?...


The year hasn't begun without its peril...one of our first year students became so sick on Tuesday that he was rushed to the clinic, aggressively vomiting blood.  He is still with his family and not doing very well.

One of our night watchmen, Augustine, lost his 5-year-old daughter on Monday morning to "sickness".

Pastor Elizay has been sick as well, and is facing surgery next week, a big deal (especially here).  Belony is STILL not recovered from his stomach pains of last year, and not feeling great at all today...all things for your prayers.

Also, Irene has dumped a lot of rain on us, but thankfully, never really "hurricane'd" us...just rain and some wind.  Even our visitors were able to get out today without problem, and students and staff have had no major issues coming and going.

...be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly.  Be at peace with all men...

Then, some playful new student "induction" traditions got carried away and really hurt some feelings.  A very concerned and somewhat discouraged administration met yesterday and had a meeting with the whole student body this morning.  Matt was dreading it, and just hates the discipline-side of administration in general (who doesn't!?), but then the meeting was fantastic...The problem was well articulated, and the students quickly agreed that they had taken playfulness too far, and left the chapel of the same mind and at peace...Praise the Lord!


...since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly...be devoted to one another in brotherly love...


Uncle Don, Emily and Phil all left this morning.  I cannot begin to count the ways that Don has blessed us these past two weeks...here's just a few of his (and Phil, too) finished projects.  

new plants...

new house for Boone

new house for Lily

new blender for Mama!

new aluminum screens (so rats can't eat through!) THANK YOU Sharptown!!

Lily woke up so sad this morning to find Uncle Don and "my friends" gone, and Matt and I feel the loss as well.  We had such a good time getting to know Phil and Emily better.  The help is fantastic...but the friendship is even better.  Don is one of those rare people who doesn't seem to even think about himself or his own rights, but just pours out what God has given him freely and joyfully.  Can't help but feel a bit lonely in the house this morning!  (hint-hint...our guest room is empty!)


...how will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?  How will they hear without a preacher?  How will they preach unless they are sent?  How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News of good things...


Let me squeeze a quick pitch in here!  We have SO MANY men and women at Emmaus right now that are in great need of being under-written.  While it costs $2500 each year to feed, educate, house, and care for every student, each is only charged $500.  This is already a very difficult amount of money to obtain for the large majority of our student body, so part of what I do here is seek out the other $2000 to back each man and woman.

I have shared and will continue to share SO many stories of what God is doing in Haiti through the lives and ministries of the students at Emmaus, and we need help keeping these same students in training, fed and cared for.  If you or your family or your Sunday School class or business or church or small group is interested in aligning life and ministry with His kingdom-building here, PLEASE contact me for a student name, photo, testimony and giving info.

Your "little bit" can go a long way in providing for beautiful-footed-preachers of the Word to learn It well and to take it out to those who have not believed.


...being fully assured that what God has promised, He is able also to perform...


At staff retreat on Saturday, we talked a lot about different visions everyone has for the Seminary and for Haiti.  As I've pondered these, I've been going back to the basics in my heart: what has God promised?  What's He promising for this year?  There are a lot of unknowns, but here's just a few of the things He's PROMISING, just in Romans alone...


He will render to each person according to His deeds (2:6).
There will be glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good (2:10).
The doers of the Law will be justified (2:13).
The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus is for all those who believe (3:21).
The one who believes in Him, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (4:6).
We have peace with God through Jesus (5:1). 
Tribulation brings about perseverance, perseverance, character, character, hope (5:3).
The love of God is poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit (5:5).
Christ died for the ungodly, while we were still sinners (5:6).
We shall be saved from the wrath of God through Christ (5:9).
We can be united with Him in His death and in His life (6:5).
Sin does not have to master over you, for you are under grace (6:14).
Though we deserve death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ (6:23).
We can serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the the oldness of the letter (7:6).
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus (8:1).
The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (8:6).
He who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit (8:11).
We are not under obligation to the flesh (8:12).
We have received a spirit of adoption as sons (8:15). 
The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (8:18).
The Spirit helps our weakness (8:26).
God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him (8:28).
Nothing, nothing, nothing will separate us from the love of Christ (8:35).
In all things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him (8:37).
He loves us (8:37).
It all doesn't depend upon us, bot on God who has mercy (9:16).
Those who were not His people shall be called Sons of the Living God (9:26).
The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (11:29).
We are one body in Christ (12:5).
God will repay (12:19).
The authorities which exist are established by God (13:1).
Through perseverance and the encouragement of the Word we might have hope (15:4).
Christ accepted us to the glory of God (15:7).
There is power in the Spirit (15:19).
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (16:20).
He is able (16:25).

I am SO fully assured that what He has promised, He is able to perform...which makes this new year just drip with hope!

an added crisis, English aches and proper placement

The Easley's made it back to the States safely, and our visiting professor who planned to come tomorrow cancelled yesterday.  This is the second visiting professor who has had to cancel for April, totaling 60 hours of teaching that suddenly needs covered!  Lucner and Matt "flipped for it" this morning and are each rather anxiously attacking 30 hours of classroom time...a HUGE amount of preparation!

Matt will be teaching Inductive Bible Study and Lucner, Civil Rights.  I'm very thankful for these guys and everyone's continual willingness to sacrificially help out when needed.  They are both also feeling the weight of their master's studies, administrative tasks, and the other courses that they are both teaching...please be praying for us!

Sofie is officially 30 weeks along (see the girls' blog here) , Lily and Dodo and I are all feeling better, Matt is on his way to town now to preach at an English chapel service that a friend is having, the heat keeps ramping up and life continues to be a busy joy.

Today's English class was especially fun.  We just began Unit 12, which talks about emotional, spiritual and physical health and problems.  It begins with learning the parts of the body, which had me bent over with laughter.

No one ever mastered the pronunciation of "thumb", which has lots of non-Creole sounds in it, and there were lots of good questions, like "Teacher, are mouth and belly synonyms?", "Can I add -ache to any body part if it hurts, like back-ache, elbow-ache and buttocks-ache?" followed by "What is a buttocks?" and "Why is your small finger called a pinkie?" and "What do you call a sixth finger if you have a sixth finger?"

It is also April's Fools Day in Haitian culture, as well, and I always get particularly nailed being rather gullible.  The favorite joke every year seems to be to tell someone that someone else was looking for them, and then laughing hysterically whenever the two people find each other and didn't need each other at all.  I fell for this at least 4 times this morning.  Junior got me particularly well, but then his dear conscious bothered him too much during prayer time in chapel and he left the service to find me and to apologize :)

This morning's "Utmost" reading nailed my days struggle again...

Look at our current circumstances.  Do crises which affect us or others in our home, business, country or elsewhere, seem to be crushing in on us?  Are we being pushed out of the presence of God and left with no time for worship?


If so, we must put a stop to such distractions and get into such a living relationship with God that our relationship with others is maintained through the work of intercession, where God works his miracles.  


Beware of getting ahead of God by your very desire to do His will.  We run ahead of Him in 1001 activities, becoming so burdened with people and problems that we don't worship God, and we fail to intercede.  If a burden and its resulting pressure come upon us while we are not in an attitude of worship, it will only produce a hardness towards God and despair in our own souls.    


God continually introduces us to people in whom we have no interest, and unless we are worshiping God the natural tendency is to be heartless towards them...giving them a quick verse of Scripture or leaving them with a hurried, uncaring word of counsel before we go.  A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to our Lord.


Are our lives in the proper place?

full speed ahead

STILL such poor internet that I can't do photos, or post 23 of the 24 hours out of the day!  Hopefully, we'll get things worked out before too long.

Gesner is still really not doing well, and is still at home, trying to rest.  Please keep praying for him and his severe breathing issues.  This is one of those times that having SO few medical options/opportunities is truly frightening.  The inhaler we gave him seems to be helping, but obviously no one prescribed this inhaler for Gesner.  It seems to be better than nothing...Thankful that the Great Physician knows exactly what is wrong with Gesner and knows best how to care for him.  Thank you for your continued prayers.

We have a busy weekend ahead, with the students watching Davy Crockett tonight (thanks to Craig's new mailing of culturally inoffensive EBS films! Thanks, Craig!!) and our missionary body watching "Waking Ned Divine" (one of Matt's favorites) with the visiting professors before they head off tomorrow morning  (pictures to come).

Tomorrow morning at 5:30 am Matt and John are going kayaking in the bay for John's birthday, getting back by 7:30 so that Bubba can take the VP's to the airport and Matt can watch Lily so I can teach the miracles of Jesus from 8-10.  Tomorrow afternoon I'll be interviewing Junior for a church awareness video, and then tomorrow evening a few of our good friends from Vaudreil are coming for supper and the evening...Lucner and Luna and Dr. Rodney, his wife Vidan and their three little ones.  (pictures, again, to come.)

Sunday morning we'll be at Maxi's church, then assisting Junior Sunday afternoon as he begins a "Front Gate" Bible study  for community members that are interested in what he has to say about Jesus, but NOT in church or in Christians.  (yeah, a lot of people feel that way here, too!) Junior has a way of preaching the Gospel without strings attached and with abandonment, and everywhere he preaches, people that are not interested in "Christianity" seem to become hooked by the Truth and want to hear more.

We're really excited about this new ministry venture, and are looking forward to this first Sunday.  Please be praying...

Happily ever after Luke!

I had hoped to make it through the whole day, but left the house at 8 am, and Matt brought me home after the service, before the reception, at 1:30 pm.  Lily, baby and I were beat!  It was a fun day, though, most to watch Lucner and Luna really enjoying their moment, their friends and family and each other!

 They tell me there are ones bigger, but the church we were in today was the biggest I've ever been in in Haiti, and just BEAUTIFUL.  We found out through the program that Matt was doing the opening prayer, and it was also fun to see so many EBS family members involved.  Pastor Elizay was the MC, Paul read, Guenson translated and prayed, Matt prayed and over 20 of the students were in attendance.  We had quite the tap-tap going :)

The little flower girl and ringbearer sat on their chairs in front the whole service...very impressive!

 We saw this twisted tipped truck accident on our way from the wedding to the reception...just to show you a bit of what the roads (this is the MAIN road through down-town) are like right now.

Lucner's family (on the left) are all shorter than him, then Luna's family (on the right, minus several towering brothers and sisters) are all taller...Luke never seems to mind!

 Bride and groom with Guenson and Claudia

Two different choirs and four different singing groups blessed the ceremony with some great performances,  and ultimately the senior pastor where Lucner is an associate pastor married the couple.  With public displays of affection being VERY rare in this culture, "the kiss" had everyone on their feet, pushing down the aisle with camera phones ready.  The pastor was so unsatisfied with their first attempt that he made them kiss three times for good measure :)

We're thankful to be in ministry and living life alongside of this special young couple!  Thank you to the many of you who sent gifts and cards along for their big day.

Luke's taking the week off for his honeymoon, and we head for the Dominican on Wednesday morning for our annual OMS Haiti retreat (through Saturday).