Haiti Mission 2014 - Day 7

In the last Haiti blog (Haiti Mission 2014 - Day 6), I wrote of our visit to the Delmas children's prison in Port au Prince. And how we followed up that soul-wrenching experience with a walk through Minoterie and a visit with Berry-Jeanne...

Good morning, Berry-Jeanne

After our Monday evening devotion, I spent time in prayer and contemplation. The intimacy of our relationships was deepening with each passing day and I fully expected the next day - Tuesday - to be no different. 

Christy and friends in Minoterie

Keith, Ashley and friends at Berdy's house

I suspect most people don't like to visit hospitals. We go because our loved ones are there. Or maybe to accompany a friend as they visit someone. I really don't like going to hospitals so, on the whole, I was anticipating a very mixed reaction to our impending journey on Tuesday morning. I was thinking that we would walk into a ward, spend a few moments here and there with people who were struggling to regain their health, and then head back to Minoterie.

Before anything, we had a long drive ahead of us. Our route to the hospital took us through the heart of Port au Prince. We had to drop Bildad off downtown for a meeting with one of his relatives.

It's always market day in PaP

Marché de la Croix des Bossales

As we drove through the western side of Port au Prince, we passed one of the most amazing sights of our journey: the sprawling commercial complex that is the Marché de la Croix des Bossales. The Cross of Bossales Market covers roughly seventy thousand square meters. That is a little over three-quarters of a million square feet! It is a huge complex into which - if Internet articles are to be believed - over $2 million has been infused since 2010 in an effort to improve conditions and provide basic sanitation services.

Based on what I was told, the Marché de la Croix des Bossales sits in the same location as the original Haitian slave market. Today, it is the largest marketplace in Haiti, where all manner of goods and services can be obtained. Except slaves, that is. Thank the Lord.

Probably would not opt to stay here

Ben 10 has arrived in Haiti

One of the amazing things about Haiti - and indeed, about any country outside the United States - is how American culture finds its way around the world. Personally, I'm not so sure a lot of that is a great idea, but I was stumped as to the identity of the young man on the billboard above. I just thought it was a bit of an oddity, so I took the shot. Only after I returned did I discover that Ben 10 is a popular Cartoon Network hero-character.

Go figure.

I doubt it...

Just down the street from Ben 10 was the Eternal Father lotto store. I'm not going to claim to have the inside track on what God is up to these days, but I think it's a safe bet (pardon the pun) that He is not running a lotto network in Port au Prince. If you spend any time at all in Haiti, one thing you'll notice is that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit - the Trinity - feature prominently on everything from tap-taps to roadside supply depots.

...our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace

It took us about two and one-half hours to wend our way through Port au Prince and complete our journey to the hospital, which lies west of the capital. As the traffic thinned to almost nothing, Bluebird slowed, then stopped, signaling our arrival at - what the sign announced as - the Sanatorium. 

After receiving the requisite permissions, Jean Justin backed Bluebird through the gate and reversed down a long, tree-covered access road. Apparently you just don't drive a bus forward into any driveway in Haiti. On our right as we backed in we saw a school complex, followed by the hospital quad.

A number of pre-fab buildings made up the hospital quad

These two men appeared to be serious friends

On the left-hand side of us, there were about twenty to twenty-five men and women sitting on chairs or standing by, waiting for our arrival. Once parked, our team leader gave us a quick briefing; we were actually visiting what Americans would refer to as a Hospice. To put it bluntly, we were advised that most, if not all, of the patients who were there had conditions that would - sooner or later - be terminal.

The folks who had come out to welcome us were those still healthy enough to get about alright. All of the other patients were in the prefab buildings we noticed when we drove in. Just as it can be a little awkward when you go to visit a friend in the hospital, it was no different here. To start off, we just spoke with them, introducing ourselves and letting them know where we were from. We also sang for them, which they seemed to enjoy (which means they didn't hear me singing).

After the singing, we wanted to offer whatever encouragement we might, so I was asked to read a short Bible passage and lead a prayer for them.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
 - Philippians 1:3-6 (ESV)

I chose the passage above because, to me, it speaks of the hope we all have in Jesus - He who began a good work in each of us. And here, as these good people faced the stark reality of their completion, we prayed that each of them would be received by Jesus on that day.

After praying, one of the Haitian women from Minoterie who traveled with us (I believe her name was Gerdy, but I am not completely sure on the spelling) stepped forward and talked to the patients gathered under the trees. Although she spoke in Creole, one of our translators softly filled us in on what she was saying.

As she spoke, Gerdy shared how she had become very ill some years before and how, when taken to the hospital, she had stopped breathing. Gerdy looked at each of the patients as she told them how the doctors were able to revive her thanks to the healing power of the Holy Spirit.

This really touched me because we spend so much time talking about our beliefs. But Gerdy shared the simple power of her faith in God. It surely didn't matter to these people whether she was a Baptist or Methodist or Catholic or whatever; all they heard - and saw in Gerdy's eyes - was an example of the healing power of God Almighty.

That's not to say that we were telling the patients that God would heal each of them. On the contrary; we all know how mysterious God's ways seem to us. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense at all.

In the book of Job, Zophar the Naamathite responds to Job's suffering with rebukes concerning the obvious state of Job's righteousness. However ultimately wrong Zophar's motivation and wisdom were, one thing he was correct about was the limitless measure of God's wisdom and power...

Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

 - Job 11:7-9 (ESV)

After Gerdy's testimony, we handed out small containers of sanitizer, shampoo and soap, along with toothbrushes and toothpaste for each patient. These seemed like small gifts that we could give, but we heard how many of the patients did not have even such simple things as this, and they let us know how much they appreciated them.

We also handed out hand-made greeting cards that the children in both Huntsville and White House had made before our trip. Each card had a picture of the child along with some encouraging words handwritten in Creole.

Children's greetings

Kelma sharing with one of the patients

Before we left for the ride back to Minoterie, we walked around the quad. We were asked not to go into the patient rooms but we could stand outside and talk with patients, as well as pray for them as we visited each small building.

A peaceful garden...

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.

 - Jesus (John 14:1-4 [ESV])

Our drive back to Minoterie was shorter than the outbound journey by an hour or so. This time, we did not pass through town, but along the outskirts of Port au Prince. We parked in front of Berdy's home and made sandwiches for lunch. Our midday meal was quiet; for my part, thinking about the all-too-fleeting moments we had shared with the hospital patients that morning.

After a short break, we moved the bus to a different spot in the village and several off us walked to a place nearby where we picked up trees that members of the team had purchased. We gathered back at the bus with our trees, then walked through Minoterie planting them in a yard here, a garden plot there. 

We chose places for the trees where there was some fence or other natural barrier, otherwise the goats will eat them before they can grow sufficiently to protect themselves. In all, we planted five mango, three lemon and two native shade trees. In each case the families who received the trees were very happy, eager to have us pray over each new addition, asking God's blessing on the fruit it would come to bear, as well as on their home.

Dye mon, gen mon; beyond the mountains, more mountains...

We returned late to the hotel, arriving after eight in the evening. We barely had time to wash up and grab dinner. After everyone had eaten, we met together for our final evening devotional. Tonight was the team's last night in Haiti and needless to say there were some emotional moments. Two things happened which surprised us all:

First, Nathanael, Berdy, Bildad, Israele and Frantzdy presented all of us with certificates of appreciation for the work that we had done this week on behalf of Prosperity of God ministries. Obviously, we did not (and do not) expect any recognition for the things we do on mission. However, we were humbled and honored to receive the thanks of these men who are on the Board of PoG yet worked and sweated right alongside us all week. If anyone should be given recognition, it is these hard working young men who live to support the community of Minoterie. They strive to educate themselves and the children, providing them an opportunity to become the future of Haiti.

True men of Haiti

Second, and eternally most important, Jean Justin, the man who had driven us all week joined us. This man is probably the best bus driver I have ever seen. He was able to carry us safely along the adventuresome roads of Haiti and maneuver big ol' Bluebird in and out of places I would hesitate to drive my little Saturn. After we gave Jean Justin a huge hand and many thanks for his awesome service throughout the week, he told us - through a translator - that he had something to say.

He spoke of sitting on the bus and quietly observing our activities. He spoke of how his heart was full of respect - and surprise - as he watched us with the children of Minoterie, the children in the prison, and the sick whom we had visited earlier that day. Although he knew the name of Jesus, he told us that this week was the first week he believed that he had seen Jesus at work - through us. We were all a little stunned. Finally, he told us that because of his experiences this week, he had felt the Holy Spirit move within his heart, and Jean Justin accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. 

God without borders...

Talk about amazing! We gathered around him and gave God thanks for Jean Justin's decision. We hugged, we laughed, we cried, and we prayed. We also urged the men from PoG to take up the responsibility - and the challenge - to teach Jean Justin and to guide him in the ways of the Lord.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

 - Matthew 28:19

After all the incredible emotions of the day, we adjourned and headed to our rooms. Each of us had to pack and prepare so that we could leave early in the morning and spend our last hours in Minoterie. 

Sleep claimed us gently, with thoughts of angels rejoicing in heaven...

Luke 15:10

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Haiti Mission 2014 - Day 5

Our fifth day in Haiti provide us a bit of down time; by that I mean that we were not active in ministry work in the same way we were the rest of the week. As always, I started the day with prayer and Bible reading so I could hear God in the quiet of the dawn, and see His light begin to illuminate Creation. There is something amazing about watching the sun come up over the mountains of Haiti. I was - mostly - up early enough all week to see the stars still bright in the sky. Then, ever so slowly, the starlight would begin to dim as the Earth turned our little patch toward the sun. At the same time, the waves were rolling gently to the shore, as inexorable as the sunrise.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
 - Psalm 19:1-2

You alone are the LORD. 
You have made the heavens, 
The heaven of heavens with all their host, 
The earth and all that is on it, 
The seas and all that is in them. 
You give life to all of them 
And the heavenly host bows down before You.
 - Nehemiah 9:6

Sunrise and the ever-present fishermen

After breakfast, we boarded Bluebird and rode to Minoterie for church. One thing about church in Haiti, when you're visiting, there is no sneaking in the back and sitting down unnoticed. As guests, we are invited up front, people are moving to make room for us...it's all a little disconcerting. The term back-row Baptists wasn't coined for nothing.

Another thing about church in Haiti, they don't do it halfway. Because of our schedule of activities for the rest of the day, we could not stay for the entire service. Because of our travel time, we did not make the beginning of the service. In Haiti, church starts early and lets out late...when the body comes together to worship God on Sunday morning in Haiti, they WORSHIP God!

We were able to hear some excellent singing and one of our sponsor moms - Kimberly - addressed the congregation in Creole. This seemed to cause great delight amongst the Haitians. Especially when Kimberly would reference God, which in Creole, is Bondye. It is pronounced similarly to the French bon Dieu, which literally translated means good God. Think about that. In Creole, there is no need to put another adjective before the name of God because His name already means, good God!

In any case, Kimberly speaks Creole about a million times better than me, which is to say I can't speak it at all. And here she was addressing the church in their native language. But as she spoke, she would pause after the first syllable of God's name, "Bon...," and about half the congregation would finish in a loud falsetto, "Dye!"

Apparently, Kimberly's voice box goes up a couple of registers on the end of that word - she can't help it - and the Haitians find it...interesting. But come to think of it, if I wanted to be known for some weird thing I did, having people know me for saying God's name would be pretty cool. So, kudos to Kimberly!

The rest of the service - at least the parts we were able to stay for - included the wife of one of the church leaders preaching from Ezekiel chapter thirty-nine. I was able to catch this because, although I don't speak Creole, I do manage a little French, so I recognized the chapter and verse numbers and I peeked over at my neighbor's Creole Bible and saw that she was in the book of Ezekiel.

Note: The link for Ezekiel chapter thirty-nine above will take you to the English NASB translation. The link for Creole Bible will take you to the Creole translation of Ezekiel 39.

By late morning, we were making our way out of the church, bidding our adieus. The next part of the day was about to commence: a beach party for the recent graduates and their families at Kaliko Beach Club! We boarded the bus and made our rounds in the village, picking up our guests and hitting the road west. It took awhile to get everyone checked in but once that was completed, we had an awesome day with our Haitian friends and their families.

You might be asking yourself, what does a beach resort have to do with mission work? One of the things that touched my heart during our stay in Haiti this year was how deeply involved we were with the lives of Minoterie's people. We have team members who sponsor Haitian young men going to college in the States. We have team members who sponsor young men and women still attending school in Haiti. We have team members who provide whatever they can afford for special needs kids in the village - remember Berry Jean?

In short, the folks from Minoterie who we sponsored for a Sunday afternoon at the beach/pool weren't just being rewarded for completing their schooling - this ministry thrives on love and our team wanted to show them love through an awesome day of fun, food and fellowship. And since it's all about family in Haiti, we packed the bus!

While we waited for lunch to be prepared, most everyone hit the pool...

Tropical pool time!

In fact, if it weren't for lunch, I'm not sure some of the kids wold have gotten out of the pool all day.

Buffet lunch!

Kaliko put on a great buffet lunch for everyone. And we weren't the only people there so it took awhile to get everyone sat for their meal. Bildad, one of our Haitian college students and a leader in PoG, put his own hunger aside and started helping the Kaliko staff bus tables, seat guests, serve drinks...Bildad was everywhere and his help did not go unnoticed - or unappreciated - by the Kaliko team.

Kimberly has game!

Remember soccer? There was more than one soccer game played on the beach Sunday - heck, I even played. But, as you can see from the action shot above, Bildad's American mom, appears to know her way around a game of beach football!

You can't keep American moms down!

As the afternoon wore on, it was time to party American-style, with presents for the grads, snacks with poor nutritional value...you know...the good stuff! Frankly, I still don't know how we came by chocolate brownies but I know that several of the ladies brought nuts, trail mix, M & M's, and other goodies with them on the plane. 

Let the snacking begin!

Once all the presents had been given out and the snack table decimated, I think we spent about an hour on hugs and goodbyes. It had been an awesome day of fun and relaxation for everyone and we were so happy to be able to provide our Haitian family and friends this mini-vacation.

 Exhausted but happy crew

 

The sun sets on a great day in Haiti...

God gave us an awesome day Sunday. We were able to spend time with Him and His Haitian children. Each one of us established or deepened one or more relationships with someone from Minoterie. And those relationships would do nothing but help us as we continued to minister in the village.

We closed out the day with a team devotional, sharing things from our day that shined a light on God moments we had all experienced. We needed to hang on to those because the next day (Monday), we were bound for the children's prison in Port au Prince.

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I like big "buts", and I cannot lie...

No, I'm not talking about the 1992 Sir Mix-a-Lot song, "Baby Got Back". Frankly, that's a little out there for me. I'm more in tune with a more recent riff on that rhyme...



But since I'm a (musical) child of the 80's and 90's, I still have all these tunes stuck in my head; more and more they come to mind as I am reading the Bible. I know, that sounds a little weird, but I can't help thinking about a key line in an old song and wondering how it can be re-imagined as a way to promote Jesus. Kind of like the video above.

This past Saturday I had a veritable avalanche of musical imaginings. First, I heard the old ZZ Top song, "I Thank You". The key lyric is:

You didn't have to love me like you did
But you did, but you did
And I thank you

Anyone who is a Christ-follower can't help but see the connection between those lyrics and what God has done for humanity through Jesus.

Later, I was finishing up my devotional; the Apostle Paul was recounting in 2 Corinthians 12:9 how Jesus spoke these words to him: "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

And Paul goes on to say, when talking to the Corinthians of boasting, "But I would rather boast about my weakness, so the power of Christ will dwell in me."

For some strange reason that old Sir Mix-a-Lot song popped into my head and I kind of turned Paul's words around and asked, "How big are your "buts" today?"

I've heard people say, "Yes, it's so important to have the love of Christ in you - BUT - don't be a doormat," or, "I'm a Christian - BUT - if that person does that to me one more time...," or, "I try to love my neighbor as myself - BUT - that guy is just unloveable."

We all have big "buts". We all have lines that we don't want others to cross. We're ready to follow Christ - BUT - ... and that's when others look at us and say, "See? That's why I don't go to church or believe in that stuff."

Maybe the world would see Jesus differently if our "buts" weren't so big.

Many in the world today keep asking for proof; proof that God exists. Proof that Jesus is who He says He is. Maybe, if our "buts" weren't so big, they would have their proof?

What do you think.

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Evangelical Hara-Kiri

Hara-kiri is the ritual suicide by disembowelment practiced by the Japanese samurai or formerly decreed by a court in lieu of the death penalty [Merriam-Webster online]

The term has found its way into popular culture as a reference to when someone commits social or organizational suicide. Lately, Evangelical Christians are being led to believe that holding to strict beliefs - biblical inerrancy, the biblical definition of marriage, the wrongness of abortion, to name a few - will kill off any chance we have of connecting with those seeking a higher purpose in life. Frankly, that seems to put faith into the same sphere as fast food or soft drinks or sports apparel.

Things go better with Jesus

Evangelical Christianity has become just one of dozens of religions to go that you can choose from to step up to a more spiritual plane in life. I was reading another interesting blog yesterday that discussed an article published on the CNN Belief Blog. The root of the discussion was Rachel Held Evans' piece on why millennials are leaving the church. This isn't the first time I've come across Mrs. Evans. I read an article discussing Evans' newest book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and have perused some of her blogs. Evans is an engaging and witty writer, but I'll admit I don't agree with her on everything, philosophically or theologically speaking.

In her CNN article, after establishing her millennial cred (aged 32, raised analog but living digital, fan of Nirvana and Pearl Jam), Evans made a number of statements which brought me up short. I don't have time to address them all but I'll note a few...

1. In her bio, Evans makes the statement, "I'm often asked to speak to my fellow evangelical leaders about why millennials are leaving the church." This would lead readers who did not know Mrs. Evans to infer that she is, in fact, an evangelical leader. I will leave it up to each individual to research and decide if, in fact, that is a true statement. Merriam-Webster online defines the term evangelical variously as:

- Of, relating to, or being in agreement with the Christian gospel especially as it is presented in the four Gospels.

- Protestant (What? There are no Catholic evangelicals?)

- Emphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual.

In the first real meat of the piece, Evans states, "Armed with the latest surveys, along with personal testimonies from friends and readers, I explain how young adults perceive evangelical Christianity to be too political, too exclusive, old-fashioned, unconcerned with social justice and hostile to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I point to research that shows young evangelicals often feel they have to choose between their intellectual integrity and their faith, between science and Christianity, between compassion and holiness."

- A number of Bible verses spring to mind in which Jesus is shown as political and concerned with social justice i.e. turning over the tables of the money changers in the Temple [Matthew 21:12]. That was an incredibly political act, even if He did not undertake it for political reasons. Jesus was inclusive. He famously tells the ever-present Pharisees, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick." when they confronted him about hanging out with prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners [Matthew 9:12]. But what was the outcome of Jesus' relationship with these people? Did Matthew remain a Tax Collector? Did the adulteress remain an adulteress [John 8:11]?

As I sought to highlight the article's salient points, I struggled not to copy, paste, and comment on everything. Perhaps that speaks to Mrs. Evans' facility as a writer, if not her status as someone I would always agree with regarding all that is good in/for the church. About midway through she continues, "In fact, I would argue that church-as-performance is just one more thing driving us away from the church, and evangelicalism in particular. Many of us, myself included, are finding ourselves increasingly drawn to high church traditions – Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, the Episcopal Church, etc. – precisely because the ancient forms of liturgy seem so unpretentious, so unconcerned with being “cool,” and we find that refreshingly authentic."

- Unpretentious? I mean, I understand what she is saying but one of the very things that Jesus was most militant about was the pretentiousness of the Pharisees in their behavior, prayer, etc. Jesus taught early and often about believers needing to move away from the established orthodoxy of the day and instead establish a church founded on Immanuel. This new church is described in detail in Acts 2 - which details not only how to join with the new church but also what the church model needed to look like when believers were truly serving God and His people.

Acts 2 doesn't say, "Devote yourselves to the apostle's teaching in a church that makes you feel really good, where the music is just your style and everything is just right." 

I had to laugh when Mrs. Evans relates how, during one of her evangelical presentations, one Pastor will always invariably respond with, "So what you're saying is we need hipper worship bands..."

That's funny, but highlights a key division in evangelical thought lines when it comes to understanding why millennials and others are leaving the church: Do we need a different message or a different way to present the message?

If you go back to the Merriam-Webster definitions of evangelical, there are some consistent messages there that define who evangelicals are and what they believe in. In one of Mrs. Evans' first statements about herself, she says, "Armed with the latest surveys, along with personal testimonies from friends and readers..."

What she doesn't say is, "Looking in the Bible we can see that..."

If you take away the Bible, you take away the foundation of the Gospel message and God's guidebook for what the church should look like. 

Toward the end of her article, Evans uncovers a nugget of truth that was lacking in her previous statements: Like every generation before ours and every generation after, deep down, we long for Jesus.

What can fill the God-sized hole in our hearts?

Evans urges us at the end of her piece that in order to win millennials back to the church, we need to sit down and really talk with them about what they're looking for and what they would like to contribute to a faith community.

I would add that for any faith community to be authentic, it needs to revolve around Jesus - just like the Acts 2 church. But that's a sometimes unpopular sentiment today. If everyone's faith has to revolve around Jesus that's not inclusive. People get mad about it when you infer that their brand of Christianity isn't a fair representation of the church that Jesus built. But who is different? Who has changed?

Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

So all you Evangelicals out there - and anyone else who might be searching for something to fill the God-sized hole in your heart - the message hasn't changed in 2,000 years. If we change our worship style or open a coffee shop in the basement, it's not because we're trying to be cool. It's because we're searching for ways to reach a generation who have been told from birth that they can have everything their way.

The only One who gets to have it all His way is Jesus. Remember John 14:6 the next time you want to massage the message.

What do you think?

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Obedience: The Ultimate Gordian Knot

What is obedience? Obedience is defined by the Oxford English dictionaries as, "compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority."

Just underneath the Oxford online dictionary's definition of obedience are a few usages:

• children were taught to show their parents obedience
• obedience to moral standards 
• observance of a monastic rule: vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience

As a parent I know first-hand that teaching obedience to children can be maddening at times. From current events we can derive that obedience to moral standards can be widely interpreted. In fact, I would hazard a guess that the majority of people on Earth would deem the observance of monastic rule to be peculiar, if not downright pointless.

The Rule of Law which typically is held up as our beacon for an orderly society, by definition, demands obedience from all citizens. Throughout history - especially recent - we have engaged in a tug of war over laws by and for the majority vs. laws by and for the minority. I could write for years on these subjects alone but that is not my purpose today.

Representation of a Gordian Knot

The legend, myth, fable, history (call it what you will) of the Gordian Knot comes to fruition in the 4th century BC when Alexander the Great arrives in Phyrgia and, in a bit of a slippery timeline, learns of a prophecy wherein the solver of the so-called Gordian Knot shall rule Asia. Encompassing eagles, ox-carts, various empires and oracles, the Gordian Knot has come to represent that which is unsolvable. In fact, the Gordian Knot has become so ingrained in our society that even those who may not know the original legend might certainly know it in a more modern guise:

Was Captain Kirk a cheater, or just creative?

I suspect college students from the late 1960's onward have tried to employ the Kobayashi Maru defense, when confronted with their own cheating, to little avail. It's doubtful that University ethics committees are Star Trek devotees.

If humanity will ever live together in harmony - and freedom - as a global society, there must be some set of laws that govern us. By definition, we - all of us - must be obedient to a common set of instructions (Pirates will think of them more as guidelines). According to the Roman statesman Cicero, "We are all servants of the laws in order that we may be free."

In the Gospel of John, Jesus seeks to illustrate the ultimate freedom to His followers:

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” [John 8:31-32 (NASB)]

And further along, "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." [John 8:36 (NASB)]

Critics of Christianity will point out that having to follow a bunch of meaningless rules and customs that (they believe) are arbitrary and capricious is an impingement on their freedom, not to mention their free will. Heck all of us believe that about the speed limits, don't we? If we all had our way, the speed limit wouldn't be...

To infinity and beyond...

One of the most powerful examples of obedience in the Bible smacked me in the mouth this morning during my morning study. David had been anointed King in place of Saul (who had his own ideas about obedience) and after a time, had the opportunity to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. 

Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday School?

Apparently, the script writers for Raiders of the Lost Ark didn't go to Sunday School. Either that or they took some serious poetic license. The message from the movie was that basically the Ark could act as an army's own little portable Death Star - which is why Hitler wanted it. The facts are a little different - okay, A LOT different. In 2 Samuel 6, David takes thirty thousand of his chosen men and heads off to pick up the Ark of the Covenant and bring it back home to Jerusalem. They put the Ark on a new cart and during the ride the oxen threaten to tip the Ark over. A man named Uzzah reaches out to steady the Ark, places his hand on it, and BAM, he dies.

David gets his crank on about it and decides to leave the Ark right there, at the house of Obed-edom the Gittite (surely one of the happiest men in the Bible after this incident).

After a while, David cools his head and takes stock of what happened. In 1 Chronicles 15, we see that David finally does what he should've done in the first place and goes to get the Ark with the Priests and the Levites as God had originally instructed.

• Exodus 25:14-15 - “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it."
• Deuteronomy 10:8 - At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.

And this brings us back to Obedience. David, Uzzah and everyone else either forgot or ignored God's instructions concerning transportation of the Ark of the Covenant. Whether we want to believe it or not, there is only one Holy being in the Universe, and that is God. He told Moses, and Moses told everyone else, "Don't touch the Ark or you will die."

No complicated rules or rituals there; if this, then that. Cause and effect. 

Obeying God is something we have to work at every single day. Even David, a man after God's own heart, had to be continually reminded of who God is and how He wants us to live. There are no shortcuts, no Alexandrian Solutions, no Kobayashi Maru, when it comes to seeking God's will and being obedient to His instructions.

Uzzah forgot that, and in a moment of perhaps unconscious reflex, he was disobedient. To our modern sensibilities that is horrible. But go back to the time of your childhood. Think about a rule that your parents gave you that, maybe, you didn't always adhere to. How about, "Don't cross the street without looking both ways."?

What were the possible consequences of (even unconsciously) breaking that rule? One would be a small child getting hit by a car and dying.

None of us wish for a child to die. David didn't wish for Uzzah to die. But both of these illustrations speak to the need for obedience. Remember Oxford's second usage that I noted above:

Obedience to moral standards...

I have heard people outraged by the cruelty of God - a God who would kill Uzzah just because he was trying to steady the Ark. When we try to wrap our modern moral interpretations around an immutable law, oftentimes it just doesn't compute. In fact, we don't even like the idea of immutable laws. Humans always look for the loophole; we try to find a reason why a particular rule should not apply to us. 

When questioned about his solution to the Kobayashi Maru test, (soon to be) Captain Kirk said, "I don't believe in no-win situations."

Sorry Jim; sometimes you just have to play by the rules.

What do you think?

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Haiti 2013 - Day 6

This time last week, I was finishing up breakfast and saying final goodbyes to fellow mission teams and staff at Mission of Hope in Titanyen, Haiti. All this week, I've been doing my level best to compress as many blessings, struggles, grace-filled moments, examples of God's mercy, thoughts, and anecdotes into blog-form as possible. Today's post recounts some of these things from Day 6: July 11th.

Thursday morning stole upon us quietly, just as each one before it had done. As I rolled out of bed, deftly negotiating the white netting which protected me from the midnight blood suckers, I thought to myself, "Three days of construction work hasn't taken the toll on me that I expected."

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. [Isaiah 40:29]

Still, I felt the need to stretch and exercise in preparation for the day which loomed mysteriously, our fate entwined with the path of Tropical Storm Chantal. Were we going to bunker down? Were we going to be called upon for disaster relief? I listened to the morning as I slipped a Bible and toothbrush into my backpack. There was a slight breeze blowing through the mosquito netting which covered the doorway, and I could still hear the distant drone of the big diesel generator. Everything sounded normal...

Where was Chantal?

I made my way up to the roof and found all the wooden benches turned upside down and placed neatly in rows, side by side. Those wonderful interns had taken care of some storm preparations after we had dozed off last night. Bless them.

However, absent a strong morning breeze, I could detect no threatening signs of impending doom in the morning sky. It seemed overcast, but the glowering thunderheads of yesterday afternoon did not bulge menacingly from the pre-dawn darkness as I would have expected.

I picked up a bench and carried it over to my favorite spot - the one that allowed me to lean against one of the stone supports and lift my eyes to the east in anticipation of another beautiful sunrise. As day broke, the scattered clouds fled and Chantal was - apparently - no more. I marveled at how God had spared Haiti from what would've been a pretty serious tropical event. Others will have different opinions of why the storm drifted off to the south and died somewhere in the Caribbean, but as the cool breeze came down off the mountain, I knew.

A day like any other day...

At breakfast, we spoke to Derek (our intern) and we had a choice to either go and help with Bible school - which had been running all week - or help out down at the Depot, which also serves as the Motor Pool/Garage. Having been in Haiti twice before to teach Bible school (among other things), I was pulled in that direction, but I knew that one of the key benefits of Bible school would be missing: relationships.

There had been a team of people working Bible schools all week, both at the main MoH campus and up at Bercy. I didn't want to "do" Bible school this morning just to check a box. I wanted to serve where God called me to serve. Amazingly, this ended up being helping Kirk and Jonathan in the Motor Pool. My friends will know that I am NOT a mechanic.

Not...

From my earliest attempts at being handy with my older brother's Erector Set to working on my bicycles and even today, if I take something apart and put it back together, I'll have parts left over. Maybe that's why God wanted me to work with Kirk and Jonathan - they were handy men who can sit there and figure out how something works and take a bucket of parts that the Depot supervisor gave us and put them back together.

"Can you guys get this starter working for that Polaris ATV over there?"

Jonathan replies, "We'll give it our best shot."

The Depot Supervisor hands us a pile of metal and wires and walks off.

Kirk takes the pile and, while Jonathan and I are working on a 4-wheeler with a sticky throttle and high idle, works out how they go back together to create an actual Polaris starter. It was pretty exciting when we hooked a 12-volt battery charger up to that sucker and the rotor started spinning. I was among men!

After lunch I had another decision to make: head back to the Motor Pool or join up with the team from North Carolina (Derek's other charges for the week) and ride out to Cabaret for some more Village Time. I had a productive morning in the Motor Pool but felt God calling me to get on the bus and go to Cabaret.

There is still work to be done...

We parked in front of an empty school and disembarked. We had enough folks to divide into two teams and as people began to congregate in their comfortable peer groups, something felt wrong. We had worked with Debbie, Deborah, Vince and the rest of the North Carolina team when we had visited Guitton; they were great people and I felt like we needed to mix things up a little bit as we prepared to walk the city of Cabaret. With our translator Emmanuel, a new intern (Deon), Debbie, Vince, Sheila (from NC), and myself and Keith from WHBC, we set off.

Emmanuel was more knowledgeable of the local area and was our guide as well as translator. We stopped at an open gate down the street a ways and he asked someone inside if we could come in and talk to them. After receiving an affirmative, we all entered the small courtyard of what seemed like a two-story apartment building. There were several ladies present and a couple of young children. The ladies insisted on gathering chairs for us on a tiny porch, so we all squeezed in. Introductions were made all around and after some small talk one of the ladies - whose name sounded like Sheila - asked us the big question: Why are you in Haiti?

What a huge question! I will say right here for anyone who feels the call to missions - regardless of where that call leads - having an answer to the why are you here question is something that needs to be clear before you set foot on the plane.

There are two categories into which I put the answers to that question - and we discussed them both with Sheila and the other ladies who were present.

1. Spiritual: The easy answer is that God calls us to be there. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus clearly instructs all believers to take the Gospel and share it. The where is between you and God.
2. Practical: The practical answer can get lengthy but Isaiah 58 is a great place to start. In fact there are so many places in the Bible where God instructs us to care for our brothers and sisters, you will be hard pressed not to stumble over one if you spend any time at all in God's Word.

We tried to articulate both of these as best we could to Sheila and the others who were present. One of the great things about Mission of Hope is their commitment to the communities around their campus and beyond. We heard a true story on the first day we were in Haiti. The story illustrated a time right after the Earthquake in 2010; hundreds of thousands of people were affected as individuals, families, businesses and even the government struggled to function in the aftermath. But there were businesses that survived and were attempting to meet their community's needs. One such was a man who sold fresh water. He had been in business for years and his livelihood centered around his water business - that was how he fed his family.

Yet, after the earthquake, pallets and pallets of bottled water were shipped to Haiti by people all over the world who only desired to offer some help to all the many who were thirsty. Well-meaning organizations began giving this water away for free to everyone, even those who could still afford to buy water. With a seemingly endless supply of fresh, clean, free water, no one wanted to buy the water the local businessman was selling. Why would they when they could get as much as they needed for free?

Eventually, the man's water business was out of business, and another need was created where before had been a self-sufficient man providing for his family.

"Why are you in Haiti?" Sheila asked.

I was there because God has called me to lay down my vacation time, my knowledge and abilities, my money, my self, and go to Haiti to serve Him and to serve the people who need to re-establish their independence. I don't know where I will go next year, if I will serve with MoH again or partner with another organization. In His good time I expect God will let me know. Until then, I pray for Sheila, for Mr. Evans and for all the Haitian people.

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Haiti 2013 - Day 5

By now, my legion of followers knows that I have put aside my normal falling-down-the-rabbit-hole blogging in favor of writing a blog a day about our just-concluded mission trip to Haiti. We were in-country from July 6th until July 13th working with Mission of Hope. I am doing my level best to compress a week's worth of blessings, struggles, grace, mercy, thought, and anecdote into blog-form. One thing I've noticed is that each post is longer than the last - maybe I have something in common with J.K. Rowling after all! If you read the Harry Potter series, you'll remember that each book was longer than its predecessor...

I began Wednesday morning following the comfortable pattern of slipping out of our room before dawn and heading to the guest house roof for exercise, Bible study and prayer. On this particular morning, I was still buzzing from the two hours we had spent in praise and worship the night before. The scene in front of the dais at the end may have resembled a Mosh Pit to others, but as I gazed up at the last morning stars, 2 Samuel 6:14 came to mind:

And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might...

When I come to Haiti, I am initially reserved in my worship - a product of our more conservative church environments in North America. But by day four, I couldn't help being a little more demonstrative in my praise to and of God. There is a point at which worship becomes truly freeing, and I definitely had reached that point last night as I surrendered completely to the Holy Spirit, feeling it move powerfully throughout the night. At that moment, I could totally get David's joy as he returned to Jerusalem bearing the Ark of the Covenant.

There was a brisk breeze blowing across the land on Wednesday morning and we were bracing for the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Chantal later that evening.

Job 38 says it all...

We finished breakfast, cleaned up, donned the ever-present sunscreen and bug spray, mounted our truck, and headed back to Bercy in order to finish what we could before the storm broke.

Threatening skies

We worked like mad men, women and children to double-check our footer trenches and make sure they were ready to receive concrete. There were two Haitian cement crews running mixers and they were quickly catching up to us. Various team members scurried around, seeking last-minute guidance, tying re-bar, leveling trenches, setting the mesh - you name it, we were a well-oiled machine.

I know storm clouds when I see them...

I've lived a large portion of my life along the Gulf Coast - Florida, Alabama, Mississippi - and I've lived through my fair share of tropical storms and hurricanes. During a break, I walked over to the sea wall and took the shot above, aiming the camera off to the southeast; the direction that Chantal was approaching from. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to get a soaking. Weather reports that had filtered through to us indicated up to ten inches of rain was expected, and in Haiti, that means major flooding. We weren't worried so much about ourselves, but more so for the good people of Guitton, Leveque, Titanyen, Bercy, Cabaret, and other communities nearby where there was little shelter from a significant tropical weather event.

Le chien

Of course, there were four-legged creatures to think about as well. The handsome fellow above was our canine companion at the Bercy work site and, I suspect, being well cared for by the interns and staff who lived there. I was missing our German Shepherd Abby by this time and, succumbing to temptation (and a soft heart), rustled up a suitable container and gave le chien a nice big bowl of cool, fresh water. He lapped it up and decided right then was as good a time as any for a rest.

We finished up what we could at the work site and then broke camp for the ride back to MoH. The rest of the evening was spent in anticipation of Chantal but with the exception of a strong breeze and the occasional shower, we had no weather of consequence up until bed time. Our roommates - from a church in Arkansas - had cleverly figured out a way to leave our door open and secure a mosquito net across the entire doorway. This allowed greater air flow through the room and with Chantal's cooling breath upon us, we drifted off to sleep amid silent prayers that God would spare this island nation from yet another trial.

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Haiti 2013 - Day 4

This week I am putting aside my normal blogging and writing about our just-concluded mission trip to Haiti. Three great servants of the Lord drove our team to Atlanta in the wee hours of Saturday morning, July 6th - and then drove back to Huntsville after dropping us off. Two different (very kind) folks did the same thing upon our return, and we arrived in the WHBC parking lot close to midnight on Saturday, July 13th. Compressing a week's worth of blessings, struggles, grace, mercy, thought, and anecdote into blog-form is proving to be more difficult that I expected but I'll keep at it...

Tuesday morning found me less sore than I expected to be after a full day of manual labor on Monday. I'm not as young as I used to be, and I sit at a desk in my workplace for long periods of time with little activity. Transitioning from a relatively sedentary life to one of heavy labor, I expected to wake up paralyzed. However, our God is great and He strengthened me.

After morning ablutions, I once again made my way up to the roof. This Tuesday morning, I preceded my Bible study and prayer with some stretching and isometrics in an effort to prepare my body for another day of construction work. Working through a series of exercises I typically use to warm up for soccer left me refreshed and feeling strong. After prayer, I read John 10.

As I mentioned in Haiti 2013 - Day 2, our team was reading Bruschko as our devotional material during this mission.

Now THIS is a missionary...

A couple of the verses from John chapter 10 resonated with me on this morning (all Scriptural references are from the NASB translation):

John 10:16 - "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd."

John 10:32 - Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?"

Jesus was speaking to the Jews regarding His role as shepherd. In verse 16, it was clear that Jesus was widening His loop and letting the people know that they weren't the only ones that God wanted to bring into His presence in the fullness of time. Many of the Jews were not happy about that and this was very similar to the reaction that Bruce Olsen encountered when he went to Colombia to share Jesus with the Motilone peoples.

In fact, the Jews got so angry that they began to pick up stones and threaten Jesus. His reasoned response in verse 32 pulled them up short. In Bruschko, Bruce Olson endures unimaginable suffering in order to make contact, establish relationships - and eventually share Jesus - with the Motilones. As I raised my eyes to the faint light behind the mountains, it occurred to me again that Jesus did not promise us an easy path. The minor discomfort I was encountering by my physical labor was nothing compared to what Bruce Olson faced in South America - or indeed - what Jesus faced in the hours leading up to His death on the cross.

What did I have to give up? Or, as the song says, "Lay down,"?

Air conditioning; television; some personal comforts?

What was that in comparison? Frankly, I had it easy. It was time for a quick cup of Haitian coffee and a PB&J sandwich - then off to Bercy!

Time to lay down some re-bar!

I ended up only working a half-day at Bercy on Tuesday; each team that comes into MoH spends time during the week on what they refer to as Village Time. Village time can be anywhere in the communities that MoH serves. On Tuesday, we went to a small village called Guitton. Tucked off in a corner of a larger town called Cabaret, Guitton is a very poor community.

Our interns, Derek and Sarah, introduce us to the people of Guitton

The first thing I did was connect with our translator (Johnny) and ask if we could play some soccer with the kids. Johnny said, "Of course!" and led the way to their local 'pitch'. We had an old, half-inflated ball; none of the local boys had shoes, and our pitch was a patch of dirt near the south end of the village. There were no goals. To score in village soccer, you had to kick the ball against a cinder block that was stood up on its end. Each team had a cinder block as its goal.

We got smoked.

The Haitian boys were organized, moved up and down the pitch in concert, passed well and had phenomenal ball control. Our team was (mostly) old, out of shape - both physical and tactical - and despite having two or three guys who could play, we could never find a rhythm against the local's high pressure defense.

After about 45 minutes, Johnny called me over to talk with a man from Guitton. Mr. Evans was a serious looking fellow who spoke no English. My French is sketchy and my Creole is non-existent, so we carried on our conversation through Johnny.

Mr. Evans wanted to know why he could not get a job as a driver with Mission of Hope. He explained that he only wanted to support his family and that he had a driver's license. This was a struggle for me because I had only been at MoH for a few days and really did not understand their hiring practices. However, I do know that one of the core foundations of the MoH vision is to provide meaningful roles throughout the organization for Haitians. For example, the hospital on the MoH campus is fully Haitian-staffed; doctors, nurses, everyone.

I did my best to explain this to Mr. Evans. Earlier in the day, we had been held up at the entrance to Bercy by a group of men who were upset that we (white men) were working and they were not. We did our best to explain the reasons we were in Haiti and, that as much as MoH wanted to hire as many Haitian workers as possible, their budget does not allow unlimited local staffing.

This issue was one that I struggled with quite a bit on Tuesday. I spoke with our interns about it and later in the week had a chance to speak to the MoH COO, Bob King, about it as well. It's a constant battle. The unemployment rate in Haiti is around 75%. So there are A LOT of people looking for work. MoH is committed to putting Haitians to work - they are not a "give and forget" organization. Their goal is to bring life-change to every man, woman and child in Haiti. This means that wherever and whenever they can, they are plugging in a Haitian to work where needed. As I explained to Mr. Evans and some other men in Guitton, it's an exponential equation. As more and more mission teams come to Haiti and work with MoH, they are able to fund more and more projects and, the more projects they can fund, the more Haitians they can hire to work - both contract/construction jobs and permanent staff. Everywhere I looked on the MoH campus, there were Haitians working - security, transportation, medical, education, warehouse, motor pool, kitchen, maintenance, grounds, agriculture...and this was just on the main campus. As MoH continues to expand their campus at Bercy, more and more jobs will be created for local Haitians like Mr, Evans and his family.

This is NOT a rave!

Any blog about Tuesday in Haiti would be incomplete without mention of the worship service we experienced Tuesday evening. I shot the picture above at the end of the service - a two hour worship-palooza; that's two solid hours of singing and praising God. The worship leader took the mic during the last song and exhorted the people. Frankly, I'm not quite sure what he said but between his encouragement and the outstanding praise band that we enjoyed all week, the floor in front of the dais - and many of the aisles - filled with people worshiping God. Young, old, black, white...it made no difference. We were all one, praising God in English and Creole and French - and probably some other languages too. 

Afterward, we walked back to our porch up the hill and had our daily time of discussing what we had read in Bruschko. It had been a long, full and fruitful day. I couldn't wait to see what God had in store for us tomorrow!

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