Almost Time To Go Back To Haiti

Today I pack for our road trip to Chicago.  I wish I could say I'm looking forward to packing, NOT.  There are some things that don't work well with me and packing is one of them.  The challenge will be thinking of clothes that we'll need at the end of July when we return for Family Harvest Connect 2010, conference.

We've had a wonderful time these three weeks.  We probably squeezed in more visiting and churches than we would have had we been here for a longer stay. It's difficult to process it all though.  I wish there were a way to make a video of it all and replay so that I don't forget any wonderful moments.  Trusting memory isn't a real good reliable all the time.

Thinking about Psalm 103...Bless the Lord oh my soul and forget not all His benefits.  He forgives all my sin and heals all  my diseases.  I'm reading John G. Lake Sermons edited by Gordon Lindsay.  Pretty powerful, thought provoking and changing my thinking.  For those of us who've hung around the faith movement and believe for healing, or fail to believe, this book jerks the slack out from under the faith feet.  Today with so much disease, we'd better get a hold of God on this subject.  I'll spare you my words, this is what John G. Lake said:  A lot of folks pray but do not get in touch with God. They operate the machinery of prayer at one end, but never get a response from the other end.  Real prayer is communion with God,not just praying words, but getting an answer from heaven.  
I don't know about you, but that sure did convict me.  I'm not sick.  I simply want more of God and would love to walk in a divine area so that I never reach for an aspirin or any other medication, but that I reach for Him. 

It's raining in Haiti.  That means two things.  1.)Havoc for the tent dwellers. 2.) It'll be cool for sleeping.
Almost an oxymoron, isn't it?  When it rains, we sleep in comfort but the tent dwellers are having sleeping havoc.  That's why when the temps soar due to humidity, we feel a burden of guilt if we ask the Lord for rain.
Pray that Haitians cry out to the Lord in their distress and forget not all His benefits.  He forgives sin and He heals all disease.  As the rain falls, disease is imminent for those living in camps.  Many are coming to the Lord, many more are  hanging in the balance.  With elections coming up, pray for Godly leaders that will have solutions to this problem.
I better get to packing.  Aaron and Faith will be here shortly so we can enjoy the activity of youth and perhaps I'll sound like my grandmother:  Stop slamming the screen door!  Ever hear that as a kid? And, I'm longing to hear the sounds of Olivie and Junior skating down the hallway....

Fleeting Time

Psa 90:12  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.  I must keep reminding myself of this otherwise, I'll allow my thoughts to race way ahead of where we are and miss today.


It's nice being home.  The pace is different and it's good.  I'm enjoying times with the Lord and good fellowship with friends. 
The church services we've been in have been wonderful, meaningful. We haven't been speaking, simply participating as part of the Body and enjoying the Lord.  Picture of ice cream shop in St Marc

 
Our guys in Haiti, Kevin and Marko have patched the hole that was knocked through the block in the window on the first floor by whomever.  We thought it was a boy but Kevin isn't sure it could have been and the hole was large enough for him to get through (although  he didn't go in).  So, we still don't know what was taken.  I'm very thankful we'd planned our summer they way did.  We need to get back and solve this mystery.

Interesting note.  We live (in WV) near a railroad track.  Last night as the train went by (even though I heard the whistle and knew it was there) the bed began to vibrate a little.  My thoughts immediately went to the quake (after shocks were usually at night).  I laid there fully aware of what was causing the vibration and wanted it to stop.  It was a bit strange but as Gary said, "The impact of what happened made a deeper mark than we realized." 

We will attend a church in Quaker City, Ohio, tomorrow.  It will be nice to see friends there.  Tonight we are going to see Ezra and Audrey, play and sing at a praise and worship festival, at the church where they were married.  That should be a treat for this mom, anyway. 

If you can, get a copy of The Meal that Heals, by Perry Stone.  It is the most informative book on communion I've ever read and taking daily communion is  powerful.

Blessings to you today!

I'm a truly blessed woman. God has been so good to me!

Nicholas Beaty

We just had the best visit with the Beaty family of St Mary's WV.  Nicolas, their 13 year old son, was moved by seeing all the devastation in Haiti after the earthquake and decided to do something.  He started putting jars in different business locations, and as he worked people got involved. A Tshirt company donated T's to sell at a benefit, the school got involved, the bank helped by giving him an account.  It was a fantastic effort all generated by a teenage boy who was moved by compassion to do something.  Thank you Nicolas!  I took pictures of the album in which they collected all the ads, articles, letters to him thanking him for doing this.

Pray Blessing on this Union

Mr and Mrs Ezra John Hamilton.  Ezra and Audrey had a lovely wedding, Gary did an excellent job with the ceremony.  Everyone rejoiced over this union.  They are on their honeymoon in Canaan Valley, WV.  
Since the wedding, we've had a chance to sleep a little later (not actually, the internal clock gets me up), but it's nice to have the wedding over with. I can't imagine how the Yakopin family feels. They certainly did a lot of work.  Planning and carrying out the plans for an event like a wedding is tremendous.  God is planning a wedding as well and he's been working on it and us for a long time.

We are waiting a visit from a boy who raised money for Haiti by putting jars in stores.  He lives out of town and will be here shortly.  It's so encouraging to hear that children want to help world situations.  It was his idea and he followed through on it. We are blessed to be here to receive the gift!

We got a message from Haiti saying our house had been broken in to.  After many messages, it turns out to be a young boy.  He got in the yard somehow, can't figure that out because no one else has been able to get in the yard...over the wall....and if he came across the roof, getting down from the roof would be a feat.  But, Marko managed to get into the yard, six foot tall, strong, agile.  He saw that the louvered blocks in a window close to the ground in the back was knocked out, a small hole but big enough for a skinny kid to get through.  Once the child got in, he was not able to get out through any door as they are absolutely secured.  So, he had to go back through the little hole he made in the window.  A laptop computer could not fit through it.  Marko could see that he tried to get it through.  He probably got some little things and we doubt he went through the whole house.  But, we'll find out when we return.  The mother has been visited by someone.  She's frightened that her son may go to jail.  We pray and ask you to pray that this boy will completely turn around and become what the Lord has planned for his life.  

I was going to put videos on here (easier to do in the States) but there is no icon for such.  So, if you are on FB you can see them there.  Have a blessed day.

The Big Day is Here.....Ezra and Audrey's Wedding Day

Reading a new book, Her Mother's Hope by  Francine Rivers.  Anytime a new book comes out, I grab it because her stories grab me!

Had wedding rehearsal yesterday, all went well, but now I can't find the camera thing you use to unload the pictures.  Always something to prevent smooth sailing when you have the time to do what you aim to do.

We are looking forward to this afternoon as Ezra and Audrey wed.  He is sure one happy boy!  (man).   And, he's going to cry, I know it.  He almost cried at the rehearsal.  I told Gary, Ezra doesn't just shed a tear he sobs.  Oh, Lord help him to not sob.  It's an emotional release, of course, and it shows his heart.  We had a wedding in Haiti some time ago, and the groom cried.  Very unusual in Haiti.

Our grandson is going to Haiti with us end of June.  This is going to be an experience, not only for him, but us. First family member to join us on the field.  Aaron is 13, so the first thing he'll miss is MacDonalds, and after that, it'll be everything else.  He will have Olivie and Junior to play with...oh no! another one skating down the hall!  It'll be good.  We believe this will impact his life and steer him in a positive direction to want to do his school work and most of all, choose to serve the Lord.

Better get my wedding dress ironed.  

Christy

We are back in the States.  Yay!!!!  Both flights were good.  The lay over in Ft Lauderdale was long but now I have a Ft Lauderdale sweatshirt---we froze during the seven hour wait.  Steph, Emily and Sarah, greeted us at the airport, and I have to say, the ride home was more than a grandmother could ask.  In the back seat with both girls, simply wanting to be close.  How wonderful is that?  Conversation and laughter until about midnight made the long wait for our Chicago flight worth it.

While flying and sitting, I dug in to finish the book Christy.  If you've never read it, please do.  I was fascinated at how the lives of mountain people in TN, parrot the lives of those we minister in Haiti.  The superstitions, lack of medical care, lack of education, the way funerals are conducted, revenge battles, struggle to bring truth--all of it reminded me of Haiti. 

One time I took a picture of a little child with a necklace around his neck.  Beads around, center a small bone from a hogs head.  Voudou.  I hung it on the bulletin board at our church in WV.  The young woman who cleaned our church had a background much like those in the Christy book.  One day she approached me saying, "I know that bone!"  I didn't know what she was talking about until she took me to the picture and pointed to the necklace on the little child.  She went on to say she had a necklace just like that one pictured.  Of course, I asked her to bring it to me which she did. She told  me her grandmother made them for all the children in the family.   It was the same necklace.  The mystery remains as to how a family in the hills of WV could have the same type necklace as those in the villages of Haiti.  There is a thread that runs among the poor of the world that fascinates me and reading Christy made it even more so.  I took that necklace to Haiti and all the Haitians were awestruck when I told them I'd gotten it in the US from a white American who's grandmother made them for the children. 

Out with my friend Peggy today, tomorrow heading east, wedding date is about here.  My youngest son getting married.  I wonder if what I'm feeling was felt by my mother-in-law when Gary married me?  I'm looking forward to a new daughter-in-law and sharing in their joys and sorrows for as long as the Lord allows me to remain on the earth, but of course, I'm praying against sorrows.  We were at a Haitian wedding last week as we witnessed Daniel''s marriage.  It sure  was  hot, doubt we experience that kind of heat next Sat.

More about the comparisons of the two weddings next week.  

Touch Ministries Haiti

Touch Ministries Haiti: "Photos by carolyn, Sep 21, 2008"

Bible School Graduation 2010

Despite the earthquake, our third year Bible school class graduated.  It was a great day, Saturday, May 29th. On Sunday, the first year students at Pastor Cesar's IAM Bible school got their certificates.

Hearts in Action Ministry from Guatemala

When Mario Babrascy contacted us, we had no idea as to what they were about.  But after two wonderful meetings and many Haitians' eyes opened to the value and the way to teach children we now know.  With a team of 13, our people learned from others who were  not from the United States. It was very exciting.

Jose cutting James hair

Left to right:  Mike Paledino, Dave VanAooza, Jason Thompson, Jose Breton, Charlie Young, Pastor John

Church dedication for Pastor Cesar

Hungry for the Word of God

Busy Days Are Here Again

I must write all this before it becomes a fleeting memory. We have had the most incredible days in May. I told you about the team from Virginia and from Pennsylvania each team made an awesome impact on the lives of the people they touched. Medical and work teams mean more than you can imagine to our mission and to our beautiful, struggling Haitian people. Work teams help us tremendously because they do work that we aren't able to accomplish as we minister to people. Medical teams help those who never get to see a doctor. We finished this season with an evangelistic team that was anointed bringing salvation, physical healing and deliverance to Haitian people. All work done for the Lord will be rewarded whether it's good or bad. The work we've seen over the last month has been extremely good!

Evangelistically, we are seeing a different Haiti. People are responding to the Gospel in a way that we've not seen before. Pastor John Palideno, had not been to St Marc, in over ten years. He immediately saw a difference, because there is a difference. We've been seeing it since the earthquake. People want God, not in a religious way, but in a desire to know Him.

Pastor John Palideno, from Family Harvest Tampa, brought five of his men and together, we saw captives set free. His team consisted of Charlie Young, who is a farmer. Charlie taught people how to plant in little soil and how to keep the plants watered. They are all very excited about this. He used the orphanage area as the example so we will have a garden very soon. Dave Van Aooza put in plumbing at the orphanage as well. Jose Breton, a barber in Tampa, cut hair and taught how to cut. Mike Palideno, Pastor John, and Jason Thompson were on the street for two days, preaching, reaching out to the lost, inviting people to the church service in a village area of Pont Sonde.

On Thursday and Friday evening, the whole team and I drove to this little church where people packed in with great expectation. At least seven people came to Christ, several healed, several deliverances. When people come out of voudou, demons fight them to keep them from Jesus. The outworking of that is thrashing around on the ground. But, at the name of Jesus, they must loose their captive. One young girl came back the second night smiling and very happy, completely free!

On Saturday, Pastor John preached at our Bible school graduation and preached Saturday night in Pont Sonde. Sunday morning we drove to Port for Pastor Cesar's church dedication. We left there for St Marc and Pastor Chery's church that night, Monday night and Tuesday night. The people cannot get over the power of the Word of God. They responded in faith.

Salvations: 31

Deliverances: 8 to 10 that we know about

Healings: 10

Awesome time. But that's not all. On Sunday, Gary picked up a team from Guatemala. Mario and Suzanne Babarczy, of Heart's in Action Ministry. They did a meeting at Pastor Cesar's in the afternoon then came here for a meeting in St Marc. Their team of 13, spent two nights and we made more new friends. God is really something when it comes to connecting people and we've been on the receiving end of this blessing since January 12^th!

I'm going to try to get pictures on this blog. I have to work fast because internet has been going out everyday as clouds move in. We are in the rainy season, no doubt about it.