Who Do We Serve

In Joshua 24:15, Joshua asks his people to make a bold decision:  "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living."  Each of us must answer;  who will we serve?

Now I'm pretty sure I've never served the gods of the Amorites but I tell you what I have served all too often:  man.  Throughout my life I have all too often worried about what others thought of me.  I have struggled with self-esteem issues all my life (I'm pouring my heart out here....I feel like I should be laying on a couch in therapy) and get bogged down in worries over what others think of me.  This is BAD!! God continues to teach me and remind me that many of my anxieties are built around pleasing others.  Jesus said "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."  A few verses later He says "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in Heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."  

We want people to like us.  We want people to be happy with us.  We want people to accept us.  We want people to be pleased by what we do.  Of course we do . . . but are we doing that at the expense of our relationship with Jesus Christ?  Oh to be like Paul.  In Galatians 1 Paul writes, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."  After Paul surrendered to Christ his life became about nothing else but serving Christ, and pleasing Christ.  In his walk with Christ, he upset a lot of people.  He disappointed a lot of people, and he paid a physical price for that.  However, his desire was to serve Christ, and not to please man.

Pray today for the strength and willingness to serve Christ only.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would overwhelm you to the point where you are not concerned with what others think, but only with pleasing Jesus Christ.  Joshua asked the Israelites who they would serve, and then proclaimed "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord".  

Serve the Lord today, not man. 

Haiti - Days 6 & 7

Well, our time in Haiti is coming to a close.  Although I will be glad to step foot back into the United States I will also miss Haiti.  I have found brothers and sisters in Christ here, fallen in love with beautiful children, and seen poverty on a whole new level. 

On Day 6, we spent our time "sight-seeing".  We went to downtown Port-au-Prince, and made a quick stop by the Presidential Palace which still lies in ruins from the Earthquake.  It was an impressive structure and the destruction serves as a reminder of how powerful the earthquake was.  As we left downtown we drove into the mountains to the American Baptist Mission and to Fort Jacques. As you drive into the mountains you find some places that have a little more money, but not many.  Furthermore, you are clearly reminded of the Tropical Paradise that this nation could and should be.  Beautiful mountain sides, lush green forests, tall trees, colorful flowers, and a temperature in the 70s.  It is absolutely beautiful there.  Fort Jacques was yet another reminder of the poor state of this nation.  This is where the French made their final stand against the slaves in 1804/1805 before the slaves defeated them and ran them out of the country, thus ensuring Haiti's independence.  It sits high above Port-Au-Prince with a great view of the entire country.  Unfortunately it has not been kept up and is yet another sight for the homeless to converge upon and for trash to be dumped on.  It is one of the most impressive historic forts I have ever seen, and should be a symbol of pride for this nation, yet instead serves as another reminder of the lack of government and economy in this nation.

Today, Day 7, we are just packing up, resting and preparing for our trip home.  Everyone will have stories to tell.  Everyone will have memories to cherish.  Everyone will have a renewed heart for God's people. (I hope and pray) 

Pray for our safety with the flight and our long drive home.

Haiti - Day 5

Day 5 - No doubt the most difficult day so far.  Simply because of the emotions of the day.  As I mentioned before, today was our last day at the orphanage, and we all knew that it would be difficult.  Just how difficult, I don't know if any of us fully understood.  Even those who have come before; how can one pretend to know "exactly" how it is going to feel?  To wrap your arms around one of God's precious little children as they are crying because you are leaving them,  knowing that you may never see this child which you have fallen in love with again is truly heartbreaking.  The face of children like Nelsize will be burned into my brain forever, and the desire to speed up our own adoption of Sophia is even more urgent.  To know that my daughter is somewhere in a place like this, hoping for someone to take her home, hoping for someone to finally say "YES - you can come home with us" .... that thought is chilling.

Today was spent playing more games, doing more crafts, singing more songs, and giving more hugs out to the children.  Our construction team finished sealing up the main wall of the orphanage to prevent water from leaking into the yard.  They have worked on this for a couple of days primarily for sanitation.  Understand that where the orphanage is located, water frequently floods into the courtyard, bringing sewage, garbage, and diseases into the orphan yard.  With the job done by our men this will hopefully no longer be a problem. 

You may have noticed that my blog from Haiti has primarily been a reporting of facts and not much reflection or Biblical inspiration.  There is a reason for that.  The problems here are overwhelming and require much reflection on my behalf.  The sadness, destruction, and poverty here are truly unimaginable.  No commercial or news broadcast can fully capture what is taking place here, and for me to come here for just a few days and blog about all the answers would be ludicrous and arrogant on my part.  Despite all the sorrow here, Christ is at work in this nation as well, and He has spoken to me a lot over the last few days about my calling, and about my mission.  Again, for me to just jump right out and speak of that would be uncalled for because there is much more prayer and thought that must be placed.  I will say this to those who may worry, I am not moving down here as a missionary, and I am coming back to the States.  However, for me and my church to neglect this nation would be a sin. 

As long as there are precious children like Nelsize in orphanages crying out for someone to call Mama and Papa, our mission is incomplete.  As long as there are children digging through garbage cans for food and things to collect, our mission is incomplete.  As long as children are longing to be loved our mission is incomplete.  "Father break my heart for what breaks yours" must be our cry, not just a song.

Haiti - Day 4

Day 4 has probably been my favorite day so far.  We spent all day at the orphanage doing a variety of activities. 

The day started off with singing with the kids.  Dax Smith played the guitar and our translators helped lead them in songs such as "Here I am to Worship", "Amazing Grace", Father Abraham, and more.  It was a beautiful sight and sound.  (videos will be available at some point)  It never ceases to move me to hear people singing to God in different languages at the same time.  If you ever doubted that we are ALL God's children, just take a trip to somewhere that speaks a different language. 

My personal favorite moment of the day was spent with 4 little boys playing with stickers.  We all know that kids love stickers, but you cannot imagine the fun these boys and I were having.  We sat down in the dirt with a half sheet of paper and a few stickers and had a blast.  I gave one boy a sticker of a cow, and you would have thought that I gave him the funniest toy ever.  He laughed like it was going out of style.  And I wish I knew what these boys were talking about, but these stickers became serious business as they began comparing their sheets.  We had some serious artwork going on.  It was there I was again reminded how these are God's children, made in God's image, and that His love for them is incomprehensible. 

Tomorrow will be our last day in the orphanage and it will be tough for all of us as we say goodbye.  Pray for us and pray for the kids as we say our goodbyes.

This evening was perhaps one of my most pleasant memories in the ministry.  Me and Eric were invited to preach at a church "30 minutes" away, which when translated always means and hour and a half away.  Obviously this was my first time to preach with a translator.  EXTREMELY COOL!  To share the gospel with people in another country rocks my world.  I am so unworthy of such an opportunity and eternally grateful.  At the end of the service we witnessed one of the most exciting times of praise I have ever seen.  There was some praising that would have literally raised the roof (if there had been one).  This church was devastated by the earthquake and had only a floor and walls.  As the pastor told us later, this was in a community that at one time had 51 voodoo temples, but by the influence and power of the Gospel, there are now only 3 temples remaining.  This was a community that at one point had no children because the voodoo priests were killing all the children, yet at our service there were more than 20 children.  Praise God for the power of the Gospel and for the saving power of Jesus Christ.  No wonder they could raise the roof with their praises.  He has literally transformed a village. 

I will never get over the fact of how happy and grateful and humble the believers in this country are.  Surrounded by complete, and I do mean complete devastation, they still praise God.  Surrounded by the most extreme poverty imaginable, they still honor, praise, and serve Christ.  I know people like that in America, and they are all such an inspiration.  People such as this in America and Haiti and around the globe truly believe that Jesus Christ gives life abundantly, and truly believe that He is true peace.