We Did It!!
Men anpil chay pa lou. This has become one of my favorite Haitian proverbs. It means, many hands make it lighter. It's true, there have been many hands involved in this support-raising phase of my ministry. Many hands have been praying for me, many hands helped with the garage sale in August, and many hands have donated $39,503.00!! I have raised 97% of my support and received approval to start working on October 1st.
I am still responsible for raising that last 3% ($48.00 per month). I am trusting that God will provide this last bit. He has provided all the rest, and in such a short amount of time, I know he will do this, too.
Thank you for lending your hand during this phase of my ministry. I am hopeful that you will continue to labor with me as I move into this next phase by praying for me. Take a look at the video below. It's the newest promotional video for GlobalFingerprints in Haiti. It will give you a better picture of where I'll be working and who I'll be working with if you're not already familiar.
Now What?
I don't know. I am asking the same question. What does this ministry look like on a day-to-day basis? Right now, the answer seems to be, help us with some of the administrative details that need to be covered, and make a plan for the December Christmas mailing to those that sponsor a child.
I will be traveling to Haiti the end of this month (October 23-29). During my time there, I will be helping with our Sponsorship Weekend event. I will help facilitate medical exams for each child, a coloring page report and individual photos of all the children (all the information that will be included in the December Christmas mailing). After the Sponsor Weekend, I will have the opportunity to meet with the GlobalFingerprints leaders and start to make plans for the instrumental music program. I am hopeful that after this trip, I will come home with some clear plans and objectives.
Other Updates from September
In September I had the opportunity to participate in two different events. The first part of the month, I had to opportunity to sit in on an international GlobalFingerprints meeting. I met the program directors from Liberia, Congo, India and Malaysia. We, the Haiti Team, had the opportunity to share about the fun new things we're launching (band, sports, outreach). Then, we had the opportunity to hear some updates from some of the other programs around the world. The thing that stuck with me the most, was the need for child sponsorship in Liberia. The program there is being hit in a big way because of the Ebola virus. Thankfully, none of the children in the program have been affected by the virus yet, but, they are being affected by the consequences of the epidemic. Food and gas are in low supply because no one wants to make deliveries to an area that is infected. This is causing prices to go sky high, and businesses to temporarily close. The 15% of Liberians who are employed can no longer work and everyone is facing the high prices of necessities. The leaders of GlobalFingerprints-Liberia are working hard to provide information and cleaning supplies to the people in surrounding villages and have spent the rest of their budget on food to be sure that the kids in the program have food to eat. There is a very tangible way that you can help. There are currently about 70 children in the GF-Liberia program. The program is designed to function at 100 children. This means that the GF-Liberia program is already running in the red. For $35.00 a month, you can sponsor a child in Libera and help the GF program there flourish and continue to serve people there in the middle of this dark and scary time. If you would like to sponsor a child in Liberia, I've included the link below.
Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the Haiti Summit at Constance Free Church in Andover. The main theme of the summit was, "The Hatian Church is Speaking. Is the American Church Listening?" There were 8-10 Haitian leaders/Pastors (and their wives) there that spent time talking about how to disciple new believers in Haiti. The main and reoccurring theme was about how to approach a transforming faith in Jesus in middle of a Voodoo world view. The rest of those in attendance (about 30) were pastors and ministry leaders from all over the US. We all had opportunities to share about our ministries and our heart for Haiti. If you're interested in making an impact in the area of discipleship in Haiti, please check out The Step School. This is a seminary program that is training young Haitian believers in discipling their fellow Haitians. It is an amazing program and I'm looking forward to partnering with them.
My friends Kelsey, Melissa, Astrit and Anne-Marie at the Haiti Summit.
On The Home Front
Things at home are finally starting to feel like home. The basement is still under construction and all four kids are still sharing one room, but I was able to paint upstairs and put up some new curtains. It's amazing what a difference some paint can make!
The school year is going really well. The kids really like their teachers and Michael even admitted last weekend, "I'm starting to like living in Edina, I think it was a good decision." Whew... I'm glad he thinks so... 9 months into it!
Andy is having a great school year as well. He was featured as the Edina teacher of the week last week. You can read more about that here. I sure am proud of him!
Praises and Requests
Praises
- I'm 97% funded (up from 67% a month ago) and started "working" on October 1st!
- For the other 3% because I know God will provide.
- My family. That they are all currently healthy and in good spirits!
Requests
- That God would lead me in what "working" looks like on a daily basis.
- That God would be honored and glorified through my work in Haiti.
- That God would continue to reveal how to speak into the Haitian Voodoo worldview to help truly transform the hearts and minds of the Haitian believers.
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