Work Team 2014 Final Update

OUR LAST FEW DAYS IN HAITI:

On the Tuesday before we left, Dave Soper, Beth McCormick & Steve Scheib helped Don & Doris Peavey load up 2 Vehicles with a small table & chairs, a dresser of drawers, a small gas refrigerator, and supplies for a trip up to the mountain cabin that is used as a retreat, get-a-way for missionaries. It is about 3 hours north of Dessalines and on the same road one takes to the former Northern capital city of Cap Haitien. The elevation is approximately 7500 feet above sea level, so the temps are much cooler. Plus, the wind always blows way up in the mountains, so that is refreshing in itself. Don & Doris have spent the better part of their lives serving in Haiti, arriving in the late 60’s, so in the twilight years of their lives, God wants them to be re-energized, refreshed, and to draw even closer to Him!

Madame Suze’, Doris (Mom to all), & Beth. This cabin was recently broken into by bandits looking for anything they might use or sell. Not much was taken, so thankful to the man named Swea, who lives adjacent to this property. Over the years, another neighbor, a witch doctor has always shook his fist at the blans (whites), and just recently, Swea encountered this man and asked him if he knew who Don & Doris were? Swea told him they were servants of the God most High and have helped orphans and widows all their lives, while serving in Haiti for over 40 years. He told them while at this retreat house, they commune with God by prayer and singing, while praising Him for His faithfulness and protection all these years. The witch doctor said he would no longer shake his fist at them, but would wave out of gratitude for what they have done to serve his fellow countryman. He was grateful that they would take 40 years of their lives to help Haitians, while many who live in Haiti do nothing to help! Please pray for this man as he is exposed to the God of the Heavens and Earth!!!!!!

Elizabeth McCormick, also known to us as Beth, but to the Haitians, she is ‘Elizabet’, is now a certified Yucca plant pinwheel builder and operator extraordinaire.  I never saw so many giggles radiating from anyone! Beth spent 5 months serving at EGO and is now back in school continuing her education to become a Nurse Practioneer, so that one day, she can return to Haiti to finish her calling by God!  Please pray for Beth that God will give the best to her for she gives her all and best to God every day. She is an inspiration to everyone who knows her. She is like a daughter to Dave & me. We love her!

The desks that Ken & Steve started on last week are finished, awaiting sealer!                                  

Finished! The lids are installed. The grading is done. The water is back on.

OUR TRIP HOME:

Well, another week has come and gone. By the time you get this update letter, we will have returned home to Iowa. Our trip was productive and much was accomplished. We drove into Port au Prince very early Thursday morning, leaving the orphanage at 4:00 am and arrived near the airport at 6:30, so we all went to the new REBO Coffee House for some hot café’ and croissants. Offering to pay was Steve, but when the bill came,  he had to borrow money from ‘moneybags’  Dave, who was bringing back small bills in Haitian currency to give to relatives and friends. Steve only asked for the ‘dirty money’ and not the new, clean bills, but to no avail as everyone laughed and joked about Steve’s promise to pay but had no money!

Our flights were on time, but when we boarded our plane in Ft. Lauderdale, an email message appeared on our phone travel apps telling us our flight from Chicago to Cedar Rapids, our home destination, had been canceled. We couldn’t figure out why, as the weather in Florida was a balmy 90 degrees. After landing in Chicago, we heard about the high winds that were forecast for that evening, so we rented a car at the Hertz depot. While waiting in line, Beth struck up a conversation with a young woman standing next to her. She had just returned from Romania and was trying to get home to Moline, Illinois. Beth told her we were going that way and offered her a seat in our car. Tears flowed and she graciously accepted. When she phoned her husband, he warned her about the crazies out there, and she assured them only the guys seemed a little weird (just kidding of course – anyone who knows Dave Soper or Steve Scheib knows they are perfectly normal -  right?). Anyways, we left in a driving torrent of rain and darkness, but soon found our way to I88 westbound. The roads were good and soon the rain ceased. Beth & CB were talking about many things, and from the sound of it, they were becoming fast friends, not only in person but on Facebook as well. Please pray for CB and her husband. They are both searching for truth and as CB related, they feel like there is something and someplace that God might want them to plug into for their lives. Sound familiar?

CLOSING THOUGHTS: We will never make progress in holiness if we are waiting for the world to throw us a party for our piety. To be sure cultural values will sometimes overlap with biblical values. In the West, explicit racism is not tolerated. In Muslim countries, homosexuality is frowned upon. In the Bible belt, church attendance is encouraged. But the “world” is not another way of saying “the people around us.” The world stands for everything that opposes the will of God. In its simplest form, this means “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions” (1 John 2:16). Or to put it another way, worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange.

Worldliness is a serious problem. The Bible says that “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Christians used to talk about worldliness and fear its creeping influence. Today, however, if you talk about dressing in a worldly way or spending your money in a worldly way or seeking worldly entertainment you’re bound to hear barely a muffled laughter. Worldliness is what our grandparents were uptight about. We have a planet to save and no time to concern ourselves with such trivialities. We simply don’t believe that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4)

Many Christians have the mistaken notion that if only we were better Christians, everyone would appreciate us. They don’t realize that holiness comes with a cost. Sure, you can focus on the virtues the world likes. But if you pursue true religion that cares for orphans and promotes purity (James 1:27), you’ll lose some of the friends you were so desperate to make. Becoming a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, requires you to resist the world which wants to press you into its mold (Rom 12:1-2). Saving yourself for marriage, staying sober on Friday night, turning down a promotion to stay at your church, refusing to say the f-word, turning off the television – these are the kind of things the world doesn’t understand. Don’t expect them to. The world provides no cheerleaders on the pathway to godliness!

Point 2 is the solution to godliness and holiness in your life. This young girl who rode with us will find that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Here goes on point two.

We see in Jesus the best, most practical, most human example of what it means to be holy. He is our model for love (John 13:34), our model for humility (Phil.2:5-8), our model for facing temptation (Heb.4:15), our model for steadfastness in the middle of suffering (1 Peter 4:1-2), and our model for obedience to the Father (John 6:38 & 14:31). We see all the virtues of holiness perfectly aligned in Christ. He was always gentle, but never soft. He was bold, but never brash. He was pure, but never prudish. He was full of mercy but not at the expense of justice. He was full of truth but not at the expense of grace. In everything he was submissive to his heavenly Father, and he gave everything for his sheep. He obeyed his parents, kept the law of God, and forgave his enemies. He never lusted, never coveted, and never lied. In all that Jesus Christ did, during his whole life and especially as his life came to an end, he loved God with his whole life and loved his neighbor as himself.

If somewhere down the road you forget the Ten Commandments or can’t recall the fruit of the Spirit or don’t seem to remember any particular attributes of God, you can still remember what holiness is by simply remembering his name.

In closing, let me say this. Most of the above thoughts are from Kevin DeYoung’s book “The Hole in Our Holiness.” His book is heavy on exhortation and light on comfort. He says ‘it’s intentional.’ In his chapter 8, Saints and Sexual Immorality, he says that we are far too comfortable with sensuality and sexual sin. Kevin say we need a wake-up call!

Finally, no matter how entrenched you are in the patterns of sin, I tell you on the authority of God’s Word: your situation is not hopeless. With the gospel there is hope of cleansing. With the Spirit there is hope of power. With Christ there is hope of transformation. With the Word of God there is hope of holiness. If you have died with Christ, will you not also be raised with Christ (Romans 6:4-8)? If you have been crucified with Christ, is it not the person of Christ – with all his purifying power – who lives in you (Galatians 2:20)? And if God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you, how will he not also with him graciously give you all things (Romans 8:32)? God can forgive (again). God can empower (more). And God can change you, even if it’s slowly, haltingly, and painfully from one itty-bitty degree of glory to the next. Your thought for today.