Why did you come?

It was the end of a great week for the small team of 10 from Osakis, MN.  The week was spent serving at a school not far from my house.  They worked with the kids, painted, and held a kids' club every afternoon.  They were well loved here and I knew the community would miss them.  The week was good--great even.  Each individual on the team, I'm sure, was changed by the passion, joy, and love they saw here.  I also know that they left their mark here.  God worked on them, through them, in them, and in spite of them.  It was beautiful.

The end of the week had come and it was time for the team to say "goodbye" to Pastor Junior and Brother Denis.  Pastor Junior stood and started his thank you speech in Creole and then decided to speak directly to the group in English.  What he said touched my heart.  He told the team that he had been thinking about why they came to Haiti.  Was it to build a big building? No.  Was it to do a big thing? No.  Was it to see a new place? No.  He told them that God had planned for them to be here for this time.  Why did God send them?  Because they came, God told Pastor Junior, "I know you are here."  Because they came, God told Brother Denis, "I know you are here."  Because they came, God reminded the two of them, "I know your school is here."

Tears came to my eyes as I heard him say these things.  This is exactly why they came.  Pastor Junior and Brother Denis know that God knows they are here, but this teams presence shouted to them, "I haven't forgotten you."

Many people ask me why they should go on short term missions.  To me, because of what I do as one who works to encourage local pastors here in Haiti in their ministry, this is a very good reason why.  It's more than just sending money.  The presence of brothers and sisters from somewhere else--maybe even from the same country--is a whole different level of encouragement.  It is a beautiful thing.

Pastor Junior and Brother Denis will not easily forget the team from a small town in Minnesota that God used to encourage them and remind them "I know you are here."  I know I won't forget how God used them or how Pastor Junior put it.  Why did you come?  To be the voice of God saying, "Pastor Junior, I know you are here."

The Ministry Continues!

After our great summer kick off with over 600 people seen during a eye clinic, Almando headed directly to Jacmel with a team of 16 ready to work hard to encourage a local pastor there.  If you want to read all about their week of ministry, click HERE.  It was Monday of that week, when I started feeling a little stiff and sore.  I knew what was coming and asked some friends and family to pray.  There is a virus going around here in Haiti that causes a fever, rash, and joint pain.  We all have had it at this point and are all doing better.  And the good news is, once you have it you can't get it again--kind of like chicken pox.  I called Al at 6 am on Tuesday morning and he decided to come home for a day to help with the house and Bityah so I could just rest and recover.  He left a couple of our staff guys in charge with the team.

The ministry continued without any hiccups even with Al not there.  This tells me a couple of wonderful things:  1. We are not needed for effective ministry to occur.  God takes care of that!  It is HIS work after all--He just chooses to use us.  2.  Our staff guys are more than capable of leading teams on their own.  We have been working toward this for a long time and we are so excited that we have so many solid staff members that when something like this happens, our wonderful Pelican staff can handle it!

This week, there is a team in the country, being led by another one of our Praying Pelican Missions staff from the states and the ministry is continuing to go well!  We have so many full weeks still ahead of us as more and more teams are coming into the country, so we are definitely busy preparing.  Praise God for all He is doing and all He will do here this summer.

Friends, be praying for all of our teams, local pastors and churches, and our staff as we continue on an incredible adventure all over Haiti.  Pray that our pastors will be encouraged, lives would be changed, and that we and our staff would continue to be shining examples of Christ-centered, servant-hearted leadership!

The Great Summer Kick Off

It's the middle of May.  The time for confirmations, graduations, Mother's Day--love you, Mom--and the beginning of trip season for us here in Haiti.  We have been preparing for this for months in meeting with pastors,training our staff, and praying that God would do a big thing in Haiti this year.  So, here we are:  May 13th, in Les Cayes, Haiti, and already two days into the first trip of the summer.

I have been getting very regular reports from Almando and the other staff members about how the trip is going--Bityah and I nearby as she is recovering from a bout with fever.  There are 32 optometry students here this week trying to share the love of Jesus by checking people's vision and distributing glasses.  Yesterday, they saw a great crowd of people and even had to turn some away--a daunting task for our assistant trip leaders.  There simply wasn't enough time.  Later in the afternoon, they invited the kids in the area for a short program.  They didn't know over 250 children would show up!  They are doing the same thing at a different church in the area today and, from what I have heard, there are many people again.

Talk about a big day for our team and for our staff.  We know that many have already been touched by the love of God this week and are praying for many more lives to be touched and won for the Kingdom!  It's going to be a great summer of ministry.  I believe that God will do mighty things!

Please be praying for us and our staff as we begin to minister with and to our short term mission teams.  Pray for those of us who are feeling under the weather with a fever including Bityah and Almando.  Pray that this great summer kick off would continue into a great summer of ministry and encouragement.  Pray for rest when we can find it.  We will have groups in the country from now until mid-august.  We will not be leading all of them, but we will be making sure they all go well.  We look forward to all God has in store for this summer!

Squares and Circles

Last week, I held a training session in my home for some of our Haitian staff and we talked about getting into the minds of the short-term missionaries that come here.  How do we help them transition from their culture to ours?  How do we help them process what they are seeing and learning while they are here?  How do we help them transition back from our culture to theirs?  I shared with them a diagram from one of the many books I have acquired on this process.

I explained to them that cultures can be represented by shapes.  For example, United States culture can be a square and Haiti culture can be a circle.  When an individual leaves the square culture and enters the circle culture, everything will seem strange and different.  The individual may feel overwhelmed or afraid or out of place.  As time goes on, the individual will start to make sense of the circle culture and appreciate different values within it.

Since our teams only come for a week, it is our job--as leaders--to help them through this process quickly.  To help them see the benefits and value in our circle culture.  We have to ask the right questions at the right times throughout the week to help them see the value in the circle while--at the same time--be preparing them for the transition back into the square.  This is a challenge.  The balance of preparing to come, coming and serving and growing, and then leaving changed.

I tried to help our staff see the responsibility each of them has to help our teams through this process so they can go back into "normal" life changed.  If they have been changed, they will go back into the square culture looking like a rounded square.  They may see things differently.  They may be shocked by the square culture.  They may be wondering how they can continue to live as a rounded square in this square culture.  The transition isn't easy--from personal experience, I know this well--but, I know that it is possible to remain changed.

Something that teams don't necessarily realize is that while they are leaving Haiti as a rounded square, those they have had an impact on--our Haitian staff in particular--are staying in Haiti as a squarish circle and have the same questions to deal with.  How do I continue to live as a squarish circle in this circle culture?  It's another tough transition and reality our staff have to recognize.

As I talked through this with our staff, they reminded me of something very important.  The transitions are important, but you can't do them without prayer.  This is so true.  I am glad they recognize this.  Whether we are in the square culture or the circle culture, whether we end up as rounded squares or squarish circles--we must remember the one thing we can always cling to is Christ.  The One who brings us together.  The One we have in common, no matter where we are from.  Beautiful.

6 Months and Counting

It's been 6 months since we have been blessed with this little bundle of joy!  People are telling us all the time what a relaxed, peaceful, and calm baby we have--even on the 17 flights she has been on so far! They are always surprised when I tell them "Yes, she sleeps through the night."  And always comment on how she looks like her daddy (or like her mom depending on who is talking).

As I was laying her down for one of her three naps of the day today, I thought to myself, "I love being a mom."  On Sunday, Al was watching her jump in her Johnny-Jump-Up and he looked over at me, smiled, and said, "I still can't believe she is mine."

We are both in awe of how being parents is such a blessing.  We are learning about how God loves us as His children--no matter what.  We are learning how we should be as His children--completely trusting and depending on Him.  How beautiful this is!

There are so many more lessons that we have learned and we have yet to learn.  So, we have only been parents for 6 months (and counting), but we are enjoying the ride.  I hope you enjoy the pictures of our little family and remember to pray for us as we continue to serve the Lord!

Be Blessed, Friends!

A suitcase?

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from Al who was in Jacmel with a team. He was in the hospital. "Why? What happened? Are you okay? Can you drive?" My string of questions went on and on. I was really concerned and wanted to make sure he was okay. After I heard what happened and what the plan was going forward, I decided I would tell his parents what happened with his brother there to help me if I stumbled through my creole.

I proceeded to tell them the following: Al was in a little accident at the worksite. They were working and a suitcase fell on his head. He went to the hospital and has stitches now. He is okay. 

They looked at me-stunned. And asked me what they were doing with a suitcase at the work site and if it was big. 

I looked at Daniel, who looked at me and smiled. He asked me in English: didn't you tell me a hammer fell on his head? 

I looked at them-stunned. I had mixed up the word for hammer and suitcase--both start with a "ma" sound. I blushed. I laughed. I corrected myself. I left. Embarrassed.

Guess I still have lots to learn. Guess I needed humor in that situation too. 

Al came home the next day. Head shaved and a bandage right on top. He is doing great now. He also finds my language blooper a little funny. 

The stories...

This week the stories I am hearing amaze me. Al is leading a team from Madison, MS that partners with our home church here in Haiti. It's a wonderful thing to see this church partnering in such intentional ways. Our church here doesn't need a building-they have one, so what did the team do if they were not building a building for their partner church? Many other things. 

1. They are among the many teams that have contributed to an have served at a daughter church, Mariani. This week, they smoothed out the insides of the church walls--meaning the church is getting done! Through this they built relationships with the Haitian workers and the kids who wanted to help.

2. Door to door evangelism. This got people out of their comfort zones for sure as they told people about Jesus. So many stories poured out of this ministries of people being blessed by the community as community members prayed over the team and team members led people to The Lord!

3. While part of the team was out Mariani, at Cote Plage there was aesical clinic going on. Nurses from the states and doctors from Haiti saw many patients and made an impact on the community there.

4. On the side, the two worship teams from the two churches met together and talked about what true worship is and why it's important to lead well. On Sunday, they led the worship service together. How beautiful to invest so intimately in the church here.

5. On Sunday, the men met with therm of the church and on Monday, the women met with the women. Sharing life together. Really loving each other as brothers in Christ and sisters in Christ. 

This team invested in the partnership they have. They truly are partners in the Gospel. For them, it's more than just building a building--although that is definitely sometimes the need that is to be met--it's investing in and building relationships with the people. Sharing life. Sharing stories. Sharing Christ.

I am thanking God for them tonight because, although I wasn't able to go out with them, the stories I heard about each ministry and how God was moving blessed me and I can't imagine how they blessed the people who lived them--both Americans and Haitians.