Hope Now - Faces and Prayers

Haiti 2008 Slideshow

An Attitude of Gratitude or 5 Days to Go!

And we're done! It's been quite a run. In the last sixty days we've had a restaurant fundraiser (Thanks Rubio's) a Car Wash (Thanks Mountain Ridge Baptist Church and Chick Fil A) and a fantastic fundraising dinner called "A Taste of Haiti" (Thanks Mountain Ridge, Chick Fil A, Mountain Ridge Youth and many more).

We are now 5 days out. All that stands between us are a Tropical Storm named Hannah, a Hurricane named Gustav and what the weather service calls a "potential disturbance" of high intensity which could be Ike. It's in God's hands though. Nothing is greater than God and His plans will prevail and we will accept whatever it is He lays before us.

I title this post "An Attitude of Gratitude" because that's exactly what I have right now. I wish I could share the excitement of Friday night's event with you. Like many other awesome events in our lives it went all too fast and appears as a blur in my memory. Nonetheless, I do know this. We were able to raise a good portion of money for Haiti. We were able to share the needs of the Haitian people with at least 140 people and best of all we saw people coming together as the hands and feet of Christ right there at the dinner. No - we weren't directly serving the poor and no we didn't run out and clothe the needy that evening but what we saw were people using their finances and giving up their evening to support the team, to fight against poverty and to learn more about what's happening in other parts of the world where there is need. I saw the Mountain Ridge Youth coming together to serve and many adults too. I saw people sacrificing items for the silent auction and I say people bidding and buying to raise funds. I heard from people who were touched by the videos we presented and I heard from others who said "Send Me! - I want to go!" How great is that!?

More to come - Pray for those in the path of Gustav and pray for our team as we make final preparations for the big trip! Be back soon. Thanks for all your patience with my intermittent blogging.

Quick Update

Come see some of the team this Sunday from 12pm to 4pm at the Cabelas at Westgate in Glendale. We're going to work with the "Fire Up Freedom" Fire Engine to attract some folks, create some awareness and possibly raise some funds. Here's the addresses and websites - We'd love to see you there!



Fire Up Freedom - Click Here to Check out their Site



Cabela's at Westgate - We'll be in the lot near the Fire Up Freedom Truck

Stop by and Say "Hello" - We appreciate the support! Talk to you soon!

I'm Still Here!!

I know, I know. I said I'd probably be writing more with school starting and here I am after a two week absence. I'm terribly sorry. It was exactly the opposite of what I expected. Not that I expected school to be easy - by all means no. But I did expect to be on-line more frequently and although true. I have not been on-line blogging. I've been researching and writing and contributing to discussion boards and so on and so on. All in all it's been a blast and I'm still carrying an "A" in both classes as we enter into week three of five. Thank God!

Haiti is now just 5 weeks away and the excitement is building. The team sits at about 7. We have some folks who have expressed recent interest, so who knows, it could grow a little more. I'm thrilled to be part of this group and their excitement is contagious. We are still in need of plenty of prayer on the finance side. I started fund raising a bit late and now we're in the predicament of having great fund raisers planned but all of them occur after the airline ticket purchase deadline as well as the final payment to New Missions deadline. Anyone interested in a short term loan for a team of six or seven to Haiti? We should be able to pay it off by the end of August and the dividends will be tremendous!! Just send me an email...... : )

On that same subject, today's sermon was part of a series titled "What to do When Life Happens" and although I've enjoyed all the messages, today's was especially personalized. Here's the pre-story: As I mentioned above, we're about two weeks out of our flight booking deadline and payment deadline for New Missions. In total, that's about $6500 dollars for the team. We're all actively collecting and we're all actively praying, but the reality is we're getting close. Today's sermon was about Abraham and the offering of his son Isaac. Pastor told us that as Abraham came up one side of the mountain, God had a ram coming up the other side. God had a plan in that ram. A plan to provide an offering for Abraham in place of Isaac. Abraham did not know that though. Abraham fully intended to follow through with God's command of offering his son. Abraham's faith and trust in God was all that was needed and when he heard "Do not lay a hand on the boy", Abraham looked into the thicket and saw a ram caught by the horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Awesome!

I still don't get it you say........Here's my thought and my encouragement. As we trudge up one side of this mountain worried about funds and paying for the trip, I truly believe God's got a ram (a financial ram) coming up the other side to meet us in our faith and trust. I don't know how, but I believe God wants this team in Haiti come September 6th. Trust and pray with us! If it's in your heart, give a little too! Most importantly, trust and pray. That's what this team is going to do. God Bless and Thanks for reading!

Good Read

One month and 23 days are what stands between now and our trip to Haiti. We're also continuing to raise funds so to be more clear - one month, 23 days and a fairly large sum of support are what stands between us and the trip. Not to be deterred, we'll push on and I know that whatever God has planned, He will finish.

I'm enthusiastic as our first team get together is this coming Wednesday and it will be a great opportunity to discuss the current fund raising plans as well as any ideas the team may have. I've been sending weekly update emails, but it will be nice to get everyone together in person and share some fellowship and prayer.

The whole family went to the library on Saturday. This is a frequent occurence for my wife and the boys, however I usually don't have the option of going with them because I'm at work. This time I wanted to go because I have two classes starting tomorrow (Monday) and I thought that I might be able to locate some of the textbooks as opposed to purchasing them. I was mistaken and couldn't find a single one. I know the library does not usually carry textbooks, however the books for these classes are more regular literature and not your standard college texts. Nonetheless, I found a couple of other good reads. I've actually finished one and I thought I would share a little bit about it. I had been considering reading it for quite a while so when I came across it in the biography section I figured I'd give it a shot. The other books I picked up are on my bookshelf to the right. Be sure to hit "next" to scroll through the entire shelf if your curious. Back to the book......

The author is Edwidge Danticat. You can click on her name for a link to her info page on Wikipedia. The name of the book is "Brother, I'm Dying" and in short it's the story of her life up through 2004/2005 with a focus on her father and uncle. It's the first book in my life that I've ever finished in two days. I found it to be very eye opening. Ms. Danticat, as you can read on the Wikipedia site, is a highly regarded author and this story, being her own is told with an element of transparancy that I could only wish to reflect in my own writing. It flows and feels very real. Her emotions are apparent and I feel as if I had a glimpse into Haitian history as well as this individual's personal experience. I would highly recommend the book to anyone. It's also a great eye opener for those of us who need a reminder of all that we have in America. Growing up in Haiti or just growing up loving someone in Haiti is not easy.

In closing, I apologize that my posts have been far apart. I'm going to be more active this week as I have many things on the horizon. For example - Monday (2nd Summer Session at school starts) , Tuesday (Missions Team Meeting), Wednesday (Haiti Team Meeting) and much more. I see myself having more to say this week and hopefully some good updates. Keep Haiti and it's beautiful people in your prayers. Merci.

Freedom

I would guess that Galatians 5:1 was probably a frequently quoted verse in churches across the country this weekend. It says that "It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery." In Galatians, Paul is writing to the churches in Southern Galatia. In this particular passage he is referring to the freedom we receive from Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Through that sacrifice we are free to live unselfishly and free of the bonds of sin. Check it out.

When I reread that verse, the second sentence reminds of something I've read numerous times by many authors. That is that poverty is a form of slavery. Had I not seen it first hand, I may not have understood the comment. When your level of poverty effects your every day survival then you are enslaved to it. It rules you and keeps you from even the basics. The basics such as shelter, food, clean drinking water and sanitation. I know we've all seen it on Feed the Children infomercials and other TV specials, but it's not as real when your sitting on your living room couch with a cold drink and a bag of chips. It is real when you smell it and see it first hand. It's real when walk into a village and the children swarm around you. It's real when you peek into the simple thatched homes to find only a mat and some basic utensils. Most of all it's real when you look into their eyes and see the need. Poverty steals so much from the children of Haiti. It limits their opportunities and in many cases limits their lives.

Poverty has changed the way Haitian people act and react. For example, they are amazingly creative and talented. While there, you'll see normal everyday items ingeniously re-made into helpful tools, utensils or other necessities. They generally don't discard things (at least not in the country) because they are constantly thinking of another way to use and re-use. Not because they are "green" but because they are poor.

When it comes to poverty controlling how they react, I think of a recent blog I've been reading called the Pye's in Haiti. It appears that the worst has happened for this family recently and they've lost a child. It sounds like Jabez was three years old. The reason I mention this blog and family is because of a recent post on their site. They write about mourning the Haitian way. Their point in the writing is that the Haitian people know suffering and through this they mourn differently. The blog says that oftentimes a Haitian woman will have five or more children and rarely sees them all make it to their third birthday. A woman that I had the privilege to meet on our trip last year had 12 children. Can you imagine? That's with no hospitals, vaccines, prenatal or postnatal care for that matter.

The Haitian people are incredibly strong. They are proud and they are very, very hard working. All this and poverty still enslaves them. It's also important to note that Haiti is the first free black nation. Free in 1804 after a slave rebellion that Hollywood is currently trying to recreate on film. Go get em' Danny Glover. If it draws some focus to the modern day needs in Haiti, I'm all for it. We'll have to wait till next year for that one though.

Poverty is out there and it's ugly. It smells bad, it looks bad and saddens me to think of the children who as the least of these face the most suffering as result. I encourage you to think outside of your comfort zone. It may be uncomfortable and it may be bit of a downer, but you know what, starvation is a downer and it's happening as you read. It's happening in Haiti and many other places in our world. If you take away one thing from today's ramble consider giving. Give to the wonderful folks at New Missions. You can sponsor a child for about $30 a month or you can opt to pay for rice which is so desperately needed. Not to mention it's skyrocketed in cost this year.

Only a two months till our trip! Please be in prayer for our finances as we attempt to pay for the different things that are needed (travel, hotel, vaccines and time at the mission). I'm guessing we're going to need about $1200-1500 per person. It's a small team, but we'll join up with others and I know that we can make a difference. We won't change the world, but we'll be able to make a child who may not have smiled or experienced hope that day do exactly that. In some ways they can expereince a short respite from poverty or at least forget about it for a few moments. That's freedom and that's an accomplishment that pays great dividends.

As always, thanks for reading and check back soon!