Work Team 2 Update

Haiti Update – Sunday – February 26th, 2012

On Friday, February 17^th, Work Team 1 flew home to the United States, after spending 10 wonderful and packed filled days working at the Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage in Marchand Dessalines, Haiti. On the very next day, Team 2 members from Cedar Rapids, Iowa landed in Port au Prince, Haiti to begin a 10 day stay working at EGO and on the Ecole Mixte of the Peaveys School. The team left PAP at 5:30 pm and headed North for the 4 hour drive. It soon turned dark and most of the trip was spent answering questions about Haiti. We stopped in St. Marc to buy some groceries and arrived at EGO by 8:30. After unloading bags and putting supplies away, everyone dropped into bed. Sunday service was preached by Pastor John, who is the youth pastor for both the orphanage and the school. The afternoon was spent unloading bags and sorting through the many supplies the team brought with them.  Seven guys and two girls, plus me makes 10, who will all work together as a team to accomplish the many projects they have planned. The goal these next 10 days is to finish the structural bond beam on the 2^nd floor of the school wing addition and enclose the now open gable ends on the main building. This will keep the neighbors pigeons out and cut down on the dust that now invades the upper floor of the school. Please pray for us as we work!

It is now later Saturday evening. No breeze, so is very humid. I can hear the kids over at the church practicing their singing for the Sunday service. I am so thankful to God for His foreknowledge and His providence. It is a comfort to know that He loves us and will never abandon us,  His children.

Proverbs 16:9
A person plans his steps, but the Lord directs his course.

AThought For Today:

Many times, people come to the mission field with all the best intentions to help the local missionaries. And too often, within days of arrival, those who come to help end up telling the missionaries what they should or should not be doing. Soon, they are critical of years of work that has been laid out by God, orchestrated by the Creator of the Universe, and the One who planned out our life before time even began. Real Hope for Haiti, which is another mission here, sent out a tweet yesterday that read: If you come to Haiti to help then help. Don’t come to tell those that have been here for years everything they are doing wrong! Amen. Forgive me God if I have been one of those whose eyes are not accustomed to the landscape that You have painted here in Haiti. And help me to forgive those whom I might think are critical. I am sure that they are brothers and sisters in Christ and are only trying to do your will.

With that said, let us look today at the word PROVIDENCE. In Bible schools across the world, there are 2 views of God’s providence: 1) All things happen according to God’s sovereign will 2) God limits His control by granting freedom. These views refer to the way God governs the world. Though Christians disagree as to whether God meticulously controls free decisions, they have always agreed that God is in some sense “in control” of the world. They have always confessed that God created all that is, that all power exercised by agents comes from him, and thus God’s ultimate objectives for the world and for human beings will certainly be achieved. This belief sets them apart from those who hold a variety of non-Christian views about the world and its destiny.

The Christian view is distinct from all other views. It affirms that God created the world, that God is omnipotent, and that he is personally and intimately involved in the world as he steers it toward a final destiny. The debate begins when one says things happen by fate or does our human freedom play a part in the final outcome? If you would like to read more on these two views, please see “Across the Spectrum” by Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy, Chapter 2, the Providence Debate.

In the words of the prophet Daniel: All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does what he wills with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can stay his hand or say to him, “What are you doing?” Daniel 4: 35

As I close this thought for today, let us remember Don & Doris Peavey at EGO, who many years ago, followed God’s will and call for their lives to leave their country and their families to come to Haiti and establish the Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage. Over 40 years of labor, prayer, and heartaches have accompanied this husband/wife team who dedicated their lives to serve Him who directs their steps. They have both sacrificed much for this work and ministry. Is it over? I doubt that it is! Some have said otherwise. Only God knows for sure, that I am sure of. Today, let us remember why God created us – to do good works and to proclaim the Good News! This good news is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When God releases Don & Doris from sharing this news, I am sure that they will both be willing to admit that they have not done one bit more than it was their duty to do. And, as Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones said on his deathbed, ‘do not pray for healing – do not hold me back from glory’. Until we know and understand God’s will for our lives, let us be careful to tell others what God has planned for them. Only then can you say, “I am an unworthy servant, good for nothing; we have only done our duty.” Luke 17: 10 Have a wonderful day in the Lord!