Networking in Haiti

8 Apr

Absolon is a pastor in Port-au-Prince. During the three day fast declared by the Haitian president in February Absolon saw many come to Christ and his church doubled in members. He now focuses on training these new believers as well as leaders in his church. They meet in a courtyard area outside their church building where people will not enter due to ongoing fear of collapse. According to Absolon the power and draw of Voodoo has dropped significantly. He told us that the people have seen that Voodoo cannot save them, cannot help them, so they are now crying out to God.
The field is still ripe for harvest in Haiti.

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Reachglobal Lead Team in California

7 Apr


Reachglobal is an organization that takes healthy missionaries, healthy teams, and healthy partnerships seriously. We are thankful to be privileged to work with some amazing leaders from the around the globe, and could not do so without your support and prayers. This year, our Lead Team conference was held near San Jose, California nestled below some enormous redwoods. One afternoon we were able to get in some mountain biking and spent some time exploring Henry Cowell State Park. Earlier in the week, the ladies welcomed Dora Amalia Ruiz by hiking this same park, savoring a picnic lunch, and capping off the day with a ride on the Roaring Camp Railroad also in Felton, California.

Mouse chase in the team house

7 Apr

No TV is not a problem when there are so many forms of entertainment here in Haiti. This evening we teamed up to dislodge a mouse from the stove. That part worked, but the mouse bounded for the stairs and is now on the second floor safe and secure. So everyone had lots of fun and is happy, including the mouse.

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What’s on sale…?

6 Apr

A few weeks ago our plumbing was running sluggishly, so Melissa, our newest Reachglobal missionary and I popped into EPA ( think home improvement store like the two we know and love in the U.S. suburbs) to pick up some maintenance items. We had noticed the parking lot was a bit full, but wondered what was up when we approached the checkout lines….

Not a end of season sale, but a new law was about to be enacted that would require drivers to have children up to age 12 in booster or carseats and everyone to have specified items in their cars or face steep fines! Fortunately, we had purchased those items when the first law was proposed, and these kits cost more and had fewer
items in them. Among them, a fire extinguisher, jumper cables, reflective vests and triangles, flashlight and first aid kit, with several items that were proposed months ago removed from the newly ratified law. Melissa kindly took a photo of the required items listed on a tag of the estuche de emergencia(emergency kit) and we found that our kit had everything it needed with a few extras! I wonder if rental cars are equipped with these now?

Good Friday procession near Cartago Costa Rica

6 Apr

Good Friday during Semana Santa

2 Apr

Semana Santa is the week before Easter that is celebrated throughout Latin America as a time for vacation and family get-togethers. Stores close, and in Costa Rica, thousands go to the beach. It’s a perfect time to relax in San Jose where the traffic is minimal and everyone is pretty relaxed. There are various “processions” or parades with themes taken from Passion Week. Today we attended a procession where a statue of Christ carrying the cross was pulled along by “Roman” soldiers. Every 500 yards or so it would stop and there would be a small live drama acted out. Some of these can get out of hand though. One friend told me about a procession where the Jesus figure was a live actor who was being hit by the crowds and soldiers as part of the drama. Apparently he eventually got tired of the role and jumped up and started beating the beaters. Not exactly historically accurate, but it was a point of great hilarity for the onlookers.

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Unforeseen faithfulness

30 Mar

By all accounts, the earthquake in Haiti was and continues to be devastating.  Hundreds of thousands perished, families lost loved-ones, housing, income and hope, and the fear instilled in survivors will last for lifetimes.  Yet in the midst of this tragedy, God showed his incredible grace and mercy.  What was reported around the world as a day of memory one month after the earthquake was in truth a declaration from the Haitian president that Carnival/Mardi Gras would be cancelled and three days of fasting and prayer to the King of Kings would be observed.  Thousands came to Christ during this time, and the revival continues in Haiti.  But the impact of what God is doing is not limited to Haiti.  Many who witnessed the tragedy from afar turned to Christ.  Allow me to share one small story.

In the days following the earthquake I stayed up late each evening in Port-au-Prince writing about the amazing events of the day, how God was opening doors for us to care for the hurting and hungry and the privilege we felt in being part of this response.  It was stream-of- conciseness writing, poorly worded and grammatically incorrect.  It was a struggle to write when I knew sleep was going to be limited due to long hours each day and interruptions from multiple aftershocks that sent people running and shouting several times each night.  Yet we knew it had to be done to keep our supporters praying accurately and spreading the word about what God was doing.  The result was that many began following us on Twitter, our blog and Facebook.  We were surprised by new followers we’d never met or even heard of and were helped by the many notes of encouragement sent to us.  However, the bigger blessing was in the stories we heard when we returned.  One such story came from a friend, we’ll call Susan,  who pulled me aside one day to tell me about how a non-believing acquaintance, Deb, embittered by hurtful experiences with the church in her past began reading the blog.  On previous occasions Deb had told Susan that church may be fine for her, but that it would never be an option since Deb had been hurt by people so painfully in the past.  But God had a plan for Deb, and he broke her heart through reading our blog.  She came back to Susan and told her that she’d never seen Christ exemplified in that way and that maybe God was real.  This story hasn’t ended for Deb.  She’s started on a journey to experience the true heart of our Lord.  And God prompted that journey through the poor writing of a very tired man in Haiti who never knew how God would use his ramblings thousands of miles away.

When we think of God’s faithfulness it’s often in reference to ourselves.  But God is also faithful to himself, and uses the simplest of efforts on our parts to accomplish incredible results far beyond our imagination.  May God continue to multiply his work through the simple obedience of his people, the Church.

Our two plus 9 others for Wheaton Spring Break in Costa Rica

18 Mar
Wheaton Spring Break 2010

Newest missionary arrives

2 Mar

Melissa Putney arrives in Costa Rica to serve as the Latin America communications coordinator.

Pro-Meta Summit in Costa Rica

2 Mar

We are holding a conference on how our Internet-based Spanish graduate seminary is providing accessible master’s level training to church and organization leaders around the Spanish-speaking world.

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