Funerals are just as important, or maybe even more important than weddings here in Haiti. Families spend a “lot of money” on the funeral… Julia was not only our Haitian daughter; she was dearly loved by everyone at our Birthing Center, where she worked.
We took Julia and her three siblings in when her mother died. We put all the children through school and sent them all to college. Julia had a degree as a “Lab Tech.” She chose to work in our Birthing Center because she loved the mothers and always wanted a baby when she got married. So she is loved by everyone.
A lot goes into funeral preparation, as it does here. Every day, our young teenage girls have been buying things for the funeral, decorations, etc. Everything here will close at noon, except for the Birthing Center. Relatives and friends have already started coming in yesterday (whom we house and feed), and more will be coming today.
Florence (whom many of you know) is one of Julia’s sisters. She has been in Italy on a partial scholarship, studying Radiology, and she will be coming in today to the D.R., where one of our workers will pick her up.
Yesterday, our workers put signs on the front gate honoring Julia and talked on video about how Julia affected their lives… Many spent “all day decorating our Church.”
The “wake” will be this evening when the casket arrives, and [there will be] a long service at our Church. “Special foods” have to be prepared for all who come this evening. Tomorrow is when we have the service and go to the cemetery.
We love and miss you dearly, Julia. Your kindness and sweetness will live on here.
In this week’s episode, your heart will break as you witness a defeated mother explain the agony of not being able to provide for her children. A disabled father laments that despite working hard all day long, it is never enough to combat the pains of hunger his family faces. Children labor all day to help their parents, yet desperation persists. Your generosity makes it possible for us to deliver the love of God to despondent areas all throughout Haiti. Each box of food matters!
We want to invite viewers around the world to tune in on Friday to Daystar Television Network at 6:30 p.m. (ET) and then throughout the week. You can also watch us on DirecTV, DISH Network, Christian Television Network, The Word Network, NRB, and many more local television stations. Check out our full schedule for the best way for you to tune in. You can also watch the program online through our Vimeo and YouTube channels or on our website www.loveachild.com under the “Media” tab.
“Oh, just shut up and stop your whining…” That’s what the people told Bartimaeus, who was blind. Jesus and his disciples had come into Jericho and then, they were leaving. A huge crowd followed them making a lot of noise and when Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” Now, the people started telling Bartimaeus to “shut up!” and “be quiet and stop making all that noise!!!”
The Bible says, “but he cried out the more, a great deal…” He wouldn’t shut up! He had “blind faith!” All he knew was that he had to get Jesus’ attention. “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called.”
You may have been praying about something for a long time. Maybe someone told you, “give it up! God is not going to answer your prayer.” Isn’t it just like people to discourage you, instead of encouraging you? Always remember the story of “Blind Bartimaeus.” If you feel like you have to “yell a little louder,” or do what you have to do, or “keep on knocking,” just do it! Faith isn’t quiet. It takes “action steps” towards Jesus. It’s called, “desperate faith,” or “blind faith!”
In the early 50s, there was a great healing evangelist named Jack Coe. He would break “canes, crutches, etc.” before he prayed for the person. The people said he had “reckless faith,” but it’s all the same. “Faith does something out of the normal.” “Faith doesn’t shut up!” It doesn’t take “no” for an answer! So, if you are really praying for something and have been for a long time, do something… let the Lord know you have that “Bartimaeus faith!” Have a great day! Sherry
You can certainly see the difference in Moses in just four weeks. He has lost weight but very happy to be home. I had sent him with Pastor Souffrance to the mountains of Peyi Pouri. I told Pastor Souffrance he needed a “come to Jesus” experience.
He had been gone a month and Pastor Souffrance kept me informed about him. Pastor let him sleep on a mat on the ground. He put Moses to work in the garden with a heavy hoe called a “wou.” Moses carried buckets of water on his head from the river and did all kinds of work the mountain boys do. He had a 30-day life lesson! He even learned how to make a kay-pay, or mud hut!
When he came home yesterday, he was a happy and a very different young man. He was dressed clean and nice but he was different. He worked hard each day and learned more about the people in the mountains. He was humble and kind… and thankful.
I do not see any more problems with him at all. We talked about the Lord, and his education, etc. I’m glad my “Moses” is back again. Let’s see what the Lord will do with “this young man.” Now, he understands clearly about the “rock in the sun.” Sometimes, it takes “tough love!” We are all glad to have our Moses back.
Jackson, Philemond, and Phanise, Jackson’s nurse, are now on the road to Santo Domingo to meet with Jesse Ostrander. This evening Jackson will have a blood test then tomorrow four more doctor appointments.
Jackson is doing very well. He told us this morning he feels great and has plenty of strength. Thank you for your prayers, and thank you, Jesus!
Have you ever felt that way? Being unable to pay your bills is bad enough, but what happens when you get “bad news” on top of that? Maybe you just found out that your loved one was only given 6 months to live, needs an operation and you have no insurance! That’s what I call “outnumbered.”
In Judges 7, the Amalekites and the Midianites, had come against Gideon and his people. the Bible says, “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the Valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitudes.” I would say he was “outnumbered!”
However, when we feel we are “outnumbered,” we really are not! There’s more there that we cannot see than we can see. The Bible says, “For we are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.” – Heb. 12:22 That means that “they,” our adversaries, are outnumbered! We are still on the winning side, no matter what happens! So, let’s praise God for the victory!!! Have a great day!
Life Lesson Part One:
Many of you know the story of Moses and how his pregnant mother decided she did not want another child. So when she began to give birth, she went to a Haitian outhouse. She dropped her baby down into the filthy hole and left. A poor Haitian man heard the faint cry, got a rope and lowered himself down into the stinking filth with a bucket. He scooped up the baby and sent him to a hospital. They called us and we took him in and called him “Moses.”
Moses did really well in school, obeyed the workers at our orphanage and his teachers, until he began hanging out with boys in our neighborhood who were bad and disrespectful. Some came to our school. He became arrogant, lazy and disrespectful and tried to dress like the other boys. He had a chain around his neck, and his pants were hanging down.
I told him the Haitian Creole Proverb that said, “The Rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun!” I said, “Moses, you are the rock in the water. So, I’m going to give you a lesson about the rock in the sun! I’m going to call Pastor Souffrance to come and get you and take you to the mountains of Peyi Pouri… Pack only your backpack!”
Jackson will be traveling tomorrow with his nurse Phanise and his driver Philimond to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. On Thursday Jackson has 4 doctor appointments and one appointment on Friday. He will be meeting with the kidney dialysis specialist among others. When they leave tomorrow for our Children’s Home they will be taking his dialysis machine with him. Little Jackson is on the dialysis machine all night… every night. Jesse Ostrander is there now waiting on Jackson and his nurse. Thank you Jesse…
Recently we were contacted by a group operating an agriculture and gardening training project many miles north of us in the area around Hinche. The group, HaitiLEVE (Stand Up Haiti), asked us to participate with them in their agricultural training because of what they were seeing on the internet about our Agricultural Training Center (ATC) and Sustainable Gardening in Haiti training courses. Unfortunately, we had to tell them we could not do much at this time due to the extreme violence and instability on the streets that is preventing normal life in Haiti. However, as the Haiti Seed Bank for the organization Hope Seeds, I told them we could try to get them some high-quality seeds for their community gardening projects and their training programs.
Wilner, Director of our ATC, was able to take them a large box of Hope Seeds vegetable seed packets (including a Bible message of hope in every packet) last weekend, and they were very happy with the seeds and the message of hope and Christian love from Hope Seeds. We are always glad for any opportunity to distribute the Hope Seeds to qualified groups with responsible agricultural programs in Haiti. The Hope Seeds do bring hope, and they Glorify God.
Thank you for your donations to our Sustainability outreaches that help us teach Haitians how to help themselves, provide “food for life,” alleviate hunger, and restore hope around the world.
“Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.” Matthew 25:23
Until we learn to be faithful in a few things, the Lord cannot exalt us to be a ruler over many things. Everyone wants to start big. Yet the Bible says, “For who hath despised the day of small things, for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand.” Zechariah 4:10
Mother Teresa had a famous quote: “God has not called us to success but to faithfulness.” If we are faithful, the Lord will bring success!!
