Haiti 2014

 

For the next month we will be using this blog to share about our trip to Haiti this year.  We will make this a community blog, where various members of the team will blog at times. I want to give you an overview of this year's trip.

We again are privileged to serve Pastor Joseph Voltaire and First Baptist Church of Cap Haitian.
We are taking a team of 15 and will work in three different areas.

    Construction Team - We will have a team putting the roof on a new kindergarten.

    Medical Team - We believe this team will be holding medical clinics in a neighborhood, as
    well as perhaps working at the hospital.  One of the members of the team will be training the
    Ambulance drivers of the hospital.

    Water Team - We will be installing Bio Sand Water filters.  Our immediate need it looks like will 
    be to identify a sand source that can be used in the filters. Once we have that done we will begin    
    installation of the filters, at first in schools, then some Widow's homes run by the Church, as
    well as education for those receiving the filters.  We have a project coordinator  on the ground who
    is an engineer.  He and one other person have attended training in Haiti learning the basics of how
    the Bio Sand filters work.  Alain, a local engineer will coordinate this program, along with an
    assistant he has identified.

Lynn Ross and I have just completed Bio Sand Filter training given by Triple Quest who produce the Hydraid filters. I will also have the privilege of bringing the Sunday morning message at First Baptist of Cap Haitian. We are looking to renewing friendships and making new ones.  It is such an awesome opportunity for us to be in relationship with the Church in Cap Haitian, and we are so honored to be able to serve them again this year.

So we hope that you will follow along with us this year, and most importantly we ask for your prayer covering of this team.  Lots of things to get accomplished, and it will not happen but for the hand of God on all we do.

Gary

Ponder the Path

An interesting theme has come out through my devotions this past week.  Even more interesting in light of my blog being named "Random thoughts on the Path"!  I memorized the 23rd Psalm and verse 3 says "He leads me in paths of righteousness". God has been faithful always to lead me. Unfortunately I have on more than a few occasions, taken my eyes off the path he has set for me. What follows is huge for me, "for his name's sake". The results of me leaving "the path" mean I have done something that can hurt His name.  This is a motivating force in my life.  I never want to hurt the name of Jesus Christ to those around me who see me leaving "the path".  So often we hear of Christians whose example hurts the name of Christ to the world around us.  I don't want to focus on what others do, or what I've done.  I want to focus on "staying on the path"! Being critical of other followers is not where I want my focus to be. As a follower of Jesus I believe "the path" is obedience to God, and following His Word.  I believe that path is set out for me via scripture, prayer, and sometimes other followers of Jesus.  Proverbs 6 says "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make strait your paths".  Psalms 119:105 reads "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path".  As I navigate this often dark world, and even my own propensity to be discouraged, I am thankful that I can depend on God's leading. As I've read in Proverbs this week, in a number of places it says to "ponder the path".  Webster's dictionary says the definition of ponder is "to reflect and consider with thoroughness and care, or to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care". I like in scripture where it says in Luke 2 that after the birth of Jesus, and the visit from the Shepherds that "Mary treasured up all these things pondering them in her heart".  So after my heart attack I have had lots of time to ponder "the path".  In a world that has so many mixed messages, so many choices, so much information constantly barraging us, I am thankful for some time to ponder. I also hope that after my recovery when I'm back to "real life", that I continue to build margins into my life, for pondering the path.  That I will build rhythms into my life that I am able to listen, love, and rest all in God's care, as well as to listen to and love those around me. That my "cup overflows" and my outward actions are a result of God's inward working. So how are you doing?  Are you on the right path?  Hope you'll consider spending some time pondering that question this week.

Mercy Now

As I reflect back on the last week of my life I have traveled through a range of emotions. The emotions I'm feeling tonight are probably not the ones I wanted to talk about first, but so be it. For those of you who don't know, I suffered a heart attack last Thursday. I had a heart cath on Friday, but there was to much work to do, so we did it again on Monday! My 4 major arteries into the heart were basically blocked. This past Monday I received 6 stents in the heart to get the blood flowing again! I could say this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me and it might be true physically, and yet I can say perhaps it's the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has caused me to stop, stop running, stop multi-tasking, stop pretending I had it all together. You see God had a plan. Through this suffering He has gained my attention. Since I am ordered to "rest and recuperation" by my Doctor for 3-4 weeks, it has provided me some amazing time to listen. I am so thankful for the mercy God has shown me in sparing my life, and giving me more time, I pray to glorify Him. Three things at this point God has drawn my attention to, which I will try to flesh out more in the next few weeks.

    1. God uses suffering to help mold us more into His image.  As much as I dreaded suffering (especially physical), I can see so much positive about what has happened to me. Romans 5:3-5 is a verse I've used, taught, and spoken on, and yet for the first time I think I may be starting to truly understand suffering as it is used in this text.

    "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us"

So much more to say about this! I'll save it for the next post.

    2.  Prayer.  I just recently completed a two year journey focusing on spiritual transformation, with the Transforming Community led by Ruth Haley Barton. God spoke to me a number of times about intimacy with Him.  For some reason I didn't slow down enough to actually listen, and take in what the Alpha and Omega, the Truth and the Light, the creator of my soul was trying to say.  He loves me, He is chasing after intimacy with me.  He really loves me! I'm listening now, and that constant presence, and conversation with Him, I pray I will develop like never before.

    3.  Cynicism/Shame.  In conversation with God, I have become aware of my falling into the trap of cynicism.  I have been hurt so many times in my life. Hurt by those I most trusted. I don't think I can be hurt anymore.  So I haven't trusted anybody.  I have not trusted the goodwill of individuals or the goodwill of God.  Life has been hard, and I've become detached.  I don't remember the last time I really had true joy in my life.  I've learned not to feel, because when I was in touch with my feelings, I couldn't take the hurt, and I couldn't handle the emotions that came with feeling. So I've not allowed myself to feel anymore.  Somewhere in this whole mix is shame.  I know that shame plays some big role in my personality. I've started reading Brene Brown's book, "Daring Greatly" and I've found it so helpful.  All of this shame, and lack of vulnerability, I believe has so much to do with my past addictions.  Anyways this one may take some time to work through.

I am so glad that God has given me the chance to "come clean" with Him. That He hasn't given up on me.  I'm excited to see where this relationship will take me.  I'm scared to be vulnerable, and writing this blog makes me very vulnerable! I once again have come to the point in my life where I can do nothing but cry out to my Savior.  Abba Father, have mercy on me.

Two secular songs (don't be a hater) have helped me let out some emotions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7NiFpJmvI Mary Gauthier sings of the mercy we all need.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7NiFpJmvI I wish I would have posted this one first.  This is Jeff Buckley's version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" a hauntingly beautiful song, that when in my occasional bouts of depression, speaks deeply to me.  It is a "cold and broken world" but it is the reality of "fallen man".  We struggle in this world, and that's part of the fall, but I am so excited that God is perfecting me and preparing me for eternal joy with Him. If I only listened to one, it would be this one.


  

Understanding Southern Talk

Post by Richard Jones.