Friday, February 18, 2011

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ' Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send me.' " Isaiah 6:8


Matthew 28:19 says:  "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."
It is said in the book "Reality: 7 Truths From Experiencing God" - "Our Master commands us to go.  We need permission to stay."  The gospel shares with us the account of Jesus being obedient to His Father by leaving His right hand to come to Earth to give His life on the cross at Calvary.  Jesus told the ones who wanted to be His followers what they had to do to be His follower.  He said they would have to leave their homes and their comforts behind.  There were excuses made - "Lord, let me go and bury my father."  Luke 9:59.  "Lord, I will follow You, but first let me go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  Luke 9:61. 
It is easier to come up with excuses not to go than to just "GO".  We can put off "going" until it is a more convenient time.  Is there really a "more convenient time"?  Are we guaranteed tomorrow?  Will our next breath be our last?  Will we wait until we can "afford" to go?  Will we leave the comforts that we are so consumed with to go and tell a lost and dying world about Jesus?
Ron and I are in our home in Tennessee now.  We have been here since January 31st.  Since before we returned home we were sure we would go back to Haiti.  Why? (you might ask)
When we gave our lives to the Lord He gave us new life.  He cleansed us from our past sins and created new creatures.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new."  2 Corinthians 5:17
He put a desire in our hearts to serve Him,. to obey His commands, to share His love with others.  We prayed for Him to show us what He wanted us to do with our lives for Him.
He sent us on two mission trips.  The first was to Romania.  Ron kicked and screamed until the Lord told him, "Yes, you are going."  We did not go on another trip for several years.  Then we had the opportunity to go to Kenya.  Ron and I both knew from the beginning that the Lord wanted us to go.  We fell in love with the people and the country.  The Lord put a great desire in our hearts to serve.  We thought it was to be in Africa.  When we came back from the trip we started praying and preparing to go back to serve there.  The door closed... we didn't go back.  Our hearts were broken.  Why would God put such a deep desire in our hearts to go there and then shut the door?  It took a few years to get over the hurt and stop asking why.
I know why now.  The desire to go back to Kenya was our desire.  God put the desire in our hearts to serve but as with His disciples, He sets the direction and we are to follow.  His plan wasn't for us to serve in Kenya at this time in our lives.  Now that I think about it, I just want to serve Him.  It doesn't matter where.
I certainly didn't think we would be sent to Haiti.  I never even thought of Haiti until the day of the earthquake in January 2010.  I was sitting in our first home,  (which was an answer to prayer), watching the devastation on t.v.  It was heartbreaking.  I prayed, Lord, I don't know what I could do because I'm not a doctor or nurse, but if you can use me please send me to help in some way.
He sent me to Haiti,  (but not Port-au-Prince) the last of March and into April for 6 weeks.  I was there for three weeks before Ron joined the three of us who went.  Those were the hardest days of my life.  They were also the turning point of our lives.
Now I know why God shut the door to Africa.  He had a much better plan for us.  His plans are always far greater than we could ever imagine.
There are 36 boys in Haiti who need to be loved and cared for.  They need to be nurtured and disciplined and taught to love God and fear Him and trust Him.  That is why we are going back.  Ron and I both feel that the Lord has called us to be "parents" or maybe even "grandparents" to the boys.  They need and want someone in their lives who will provide consistency, structure and stability.  They have had many people in their lives who have come and gone.  They get use to someone and then they leave.  That is just the way it is.  We want to change that.  We want to give them some sense of security in knowing that we are there for them and that even if we have to leave it will be for a short time and we will be back.  Over the past 5 months we have grown to love each of the boys and we have built relationships with the boys, the staff and the pastor and his family.
We are very excited to see what the Lord has for us to do when we return.  We have many ideas for projects and things we can do to improve the living conditions in the home.  The boys would love to have doors and locks on their shelves to keep their things safe.  We are praying that the Lord will supply the wood, hasps and locks.  Another project we would like to see completed is tables and chairs in their rooms to do homework, craft projects or just to be able to sit and read or play games. The only seating in the home is in the dining hall.  A huge project is replacing broken glass in the windows with lexan.  Glass does not last with 36 boys! and the storms that rage through.  These are a few of the material things we see in the future.  The spiritual needs are so much greater!
I will close this in the hopes that you better understand why and where our hearts are where they are. 
Jesus said, "Come, follow Me."
So we go....

Thank you for your prayers.  They are a very important part of our ministry.  We are on the front lines of a great battle and only through prayer and the grace of God can we endure and run the race that has been set before us.
We greatly appreciate the support that we have received.  We can't do what we do without the help of our supporters.  We are now a part of Kingdom Builders Missionaries, so any donations can be made through them and are tax-deductible.          
                                                     
                                                               The address is:

             Kingdom Builders Missionaries
                  610 Falling Water Rd.
                  Cookeville, Tn.  38506
                  Ph.  931.544.0134
                           e-mail:
                kbm2010@frontier.com
                        Thank you
                    from the bottom
                      of our  hearts. 
                                                              We love you.

"My Word that comes from My mouth;  will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]."  Isaiah 55:11

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