As we all begin to enjoy the fall colors, the smells of pumpkins and apples, and the cool chill that hits us each morning...we cannot help but recognize that the seasons have shifted. As children prepare to go Trick-or-Treating tonight and collect their loot of candy, I too am making preperations for this change in seasons.
As with the changes that come with different seasons, there are also changes that naturally occur with seasons of life. I have found myself in such a state fo change, and entering in to a new season of life. As most of you already know, I have moved from Atlanta to Minneapolis! These two places could not be more differentin regards to weather and landscaping. However, they do have one thing in common that seems to stand out. . . God has called me to each of them for a season of life.
My time spent in Georgia has been incredible! I have been so blessed and fortunate to have worked with Adventures in Missions and grow in my faith the way I have. My time there has taught me so much about myself and about humanity. I was blessed to be a part of some amazing ministries that took place in Haiti, Georgia, Alabama, Louisianna, and Pennsylvania. This doesn't include the ministries I have been able to partner with from a dozen different states by working with various youth groups and adult teams that have come to help do the work that God has called me to. God has used me to impact lives in a very tangible way this past year. He has allowed me to be witness to lives changing, to hearts being restored, and love being accepted and given! The memories I have from this experience as a missionary will stay with me for a life time. They have sculpted me into the man I am today. God has made it clear to me that He has been delighted in my obedience to move to Georgia and pursue mission work. Just as I began to get comfortable with that, He decided it was time to stretch me even further. God began to close that chapter of my life, and reveal to me a new chapter to pursue.
As my financial support has gotten smaller and smaller, God provided a new opportunity and path for me to follow. I have accepted a full time job with University of Minnesota Physicians medical group. With this position comes great benefits and salary, but it also comes with the opportunity to work with an urban based patient population. The clinic I will be working in services people off the street as well as normal every day working class people. I see this outreach opportunity as a continuance of the mission work I have been doing. The experience and the lessons learned this past year have prepared me for this new season.
An added benefit to this position and to moving to Minnesota is that Courtney's family is from here. I will have the opportunity to invest into them while Courtney finishes her commitment in Kenya, and share in her life in ways I have not been able to so far.
I will continue to be associated with Adventures in Missions, and serve part time for the next few weeks as things transition and change. This is an incredible organization that is making a global impact for the body of Christ. I count myself blessed to be a part of it!
As for each of you... my donors and supporters... THANK YOU so much for your faithfulness and commitment to this ministry. It truly is because of you and your obedience that I was able to do the things I have. We have done this together and you should be proud of the work that has been done, and the lives that have been forever changed! I have hundreds of stories and I never get tired of telling them! Feel free to ask sometime about how YOU helped make a difference.
Silence is deadly. It is silence that is causing these children to be abused, sold, and killed. I realize that is a serious and bold statement...and the sad thing is that it is also absolutely TRUE!
Here is another story of a child going missing. In this case, she is feared dead due to her medical condition prior to today.
Read the updated blog from my CEO by clicking HERE.
Friends ... there comes a time when we as humanity must take action to fight the injustice of the world. There comes a time when we can no longer sit idle as kids are abused, molested, raped, and sold into human trafficking. It is easy to rationalize with ourselves and convince ourselves that there is nothing we can do. Many of us think the problem is too big, or too far away, or too .......
The reality is that this is a REAL problem involving REAL kids. Over the past year I have visited an orphange in Haiti that has been involved with abusing children. It has been involved with selling children into sexual slavery and human slavery. This is not some distant problem, or urban legend that might or might not have occured. This is a REAL story involving children I have personally held and loved on. The abuse has been documented and reported to authorites on numerous occasions.
For a long time, the organizations involved have tried to quietly handle the problem and address it in a way that we thought was best. We have exhausted ALL resources and gone up against a very corrupt and evil government. Our only option now is to bring international media attention to what is happening, in hopes that it will help pursuade the Haitian government to take action!
YOU CAN HELP!!! As a friend... and a human being with a heart.... please take 10 seconds to sign this petition to CNN. Don't do it for me, do it for the kids in this orphanage who are truly counting on us to be thier voice!!!
This is not some chain mail being forwarded. This is not a hoax or scam. This is a genuine situation that we as an organization are passionate about fighting and bringing to the light. We are desperate to save the children that are left.
I am begging you... please help. Click HERE to sign the petition to CNN.
This is Michaelson. He is a boy I have written about before in previous blogs. He is also one of the boys at risk of being sold, raped, and abused even more than he already has been.
Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousands words! This is one of my favorite pictures of my time in Haiti. This is my friend, Gaston. He is 12. He is an orphan. Looking at him, you would never know he is 12 because he has a developmental disorder that causes him to appear much younger. Gaston doesn't speak aside from a handful of words. Thankfully, this photo speaks for him. It speaks of hope in his eyes. It speaks of the love that he feels each time I visit him and embrace him.
Despite not being able to speak, despite being small for his age, despite being 1 of only 3 boys at an all girls orphanage . . . this little boy knows who Jesus is, and he knows the power of prayer! This is Gaston praying with me. He may not be able to speak to me other than saying my name, but he knows how to speak to the one who will always hear him and love him.
This young man is Guyver. In a nutshell, Guyver is the heart of Haiti! It is young men like him who will turn Haiti into the country they are so desperately wanting to be! Guyver is 15 and lives in a displacement camp with his mom, 2 brothers, sister, and young cousin. Guyver accepted Christ following the earthquake and now serves as a missionary in his own country, traveling to the countryside and mountainside to preach the Gospel to those who are in bondage with voodoo and sin. At 15 years old, he is providing hope and faith to those living in the displacement camp with him. He is an inspiration not just to the peope of Haiti, but to me as well.
This is Guyver with his family. The 6 of them live in a tent that is no bigger than 10 feet by 10 feet. They own land, but thier house fell down in the earthquake killing Guyver's aunt. It will cost $2,000 to rebuild a 25 foot by 25 foot concrete structure for them.
This beautiful woman is Madame Gustav. Her and her husband founded an orphanage together and took in about 20 girls and 3 litttle boys. Earlier this year, we were saddened to heat that Papa Gustav passed away due to poor health. Madame is now left to run the orphanage by herself, along with help from her daughter.
Madame Gustav has touched my heart and forever left an inspiration in me to reach out to the widows and orphans of the world. Madame has a heart for these kids, and a love for them that is like nothing I have seen before. I am almost certain that when I see God face to face, it will look something like this:
Please pray for my friends. Pray that God continues to give them courage and strength to go against the grain of thier culture, against the grain of thier society in order to advance the Kingdom of heaven in Haiti!
Do you know God's plan for you? Do you know your destiny in life? Who are you as a child of God? Take four minutes and watch this video... then ask yourself these questions again.
As most of you already know, I spent 10 weeks living in Haiti this summer serving as the ministry coordinator for all of the short term mission teams that came down. To say that it was an incredible summer would be an understatement. It was challenging, amazing, frustrating, enlightening, incredible, and difficult all at the same time! God worked in amazing ways, and revealed His glory to myself and my staff on numerous occasions! I'd like to share a few of those ways with you.
Before I do, I want to tell you how the summer started. During our flight from Miami to Port-Au-Prince, God began speaking to me about the summer and putting me at ease about what was to come. I went into it rather nervous and anxious about the responsibility of ensuring the success of our ministry in Haiti. I felt a lot of pressure to say the least. As I was praying about this on the flight, I began to see an image in my mind. It was a square of sorts, and the perimeter of the square was actually words. The words were the fruits of the spirit. I wresteld with what this meant. As I sat there on the plane, I began to hear God speak to me. God said to me "you have been annointed to unleash a fury of passionate fire to the people of Haiti, and to each other. You are going to see miracles if you stay out of the way." I immediately grabbed a napkin and wrote down the vision I was having. God continued to tell me that everything would be alright, as long as we operated within the fruit of the spirit all summer. If we stayed within the boundaries shown to me in my vision, we would indeed see miracles happen. At the time, I had no idea how true this statement would be!
I kept this napkin in my Bible all summer, only pulling it out once during our first week there and sharing it with my staff. This became the guiding direction for me as a leader, and I tried my best to apply it to each day. I wasn't always successful, but I tried hard.
As a result of our obedience as a staff to stay within the boundaries that God asked of us, He was faithful to show up and allow us to witness miracles within our ministry and the relationships we formed in Haiti! Here are a few of those miracles:
- Prayed healing over a woman experiencing pain in her breast as a result of tumors and cysts that were related to her cancer. During our prayer, (which lasted well over an hour), the woman began feeling a cooling sensation followed by a warm sensation. Immediately after that the pain was gone. She was pain free for the first time in months! The next week, her doctor could find no trace of cancer, her tumors, or a single cyst!
- Ministered to a broken and suicidal teenager, and ultimately watched as she experienced true unconditional love from God for the first time in her life!
- Baptized over 30 people (Haitian and American) into the family of God!
- Watched dozens of people, to include an entire Haitian family at once, commit their lives to God and accept Him into their hearts!
- Ministered to an angry and bitter woman who was mad at God. By the end of the week she was surrendering to His grace and mercy...got baptized...and then moved to Haiti full time to serve Him!
- Saw countless people learn to accept the love that God has for them as a result of encountering Him in Haiti!
- I watched as emotional healing swept over the masses of people who came to Haiti this summer!
- I saw God reveal Himself in numerous ways when I least expected it!
- I watched as a human trafficking ring involving young children was shut down and justice delivered!
- I watched sick people become well through prayer!
- I saw injuries healed before my eyes as we prayed!
- I saw God in an elderly woman who cares for 25 kids on her own, and the love that she pours out on them each day!
- I witnessed money for food distribution miraculously show up when we had none left to give!
- I saw lives changed forever as a result of God using a 14 year old boy to speak life and truth into grown men about who they were as Christians, fathers, and husbands!
When people ask me how the summer was, I simply smile because I do not know how to articulate what God did this summer. I cannot describe the hundreds of people who will never be the same because they came face to face with God this summer! To say that my summer was incredible...well, that's just an understatement. I was BLESSED to be used by God this summer to do His work! I was BLESSED to be witness to the power of His miracles! I was BLESSED to be surrounded by a devoted and amazing team of leaders to serve with!
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to go with 2 teams of participants to the beach to spend their final afternoon in Haiti. It has become a tradition here to end the week at the beach worshipping our God and celebrating the new ways we have encountered Him. This particular week was also the last week that our staff would all be together here in Haiti. We said our goodbyes to Mark, who has been a valuable part of our team here. Mark has led teams this summer with integrity and humility. His example of leadership has been a blessing to each of us here, and we will miss him dearly during the remainder of our time in Haiti.
Before we ended our day at the beach, and said our goodbyes to Mark, the male staff took advantage of an opportunity to go for a “man swim”. We hired a local gondola to take us out to the outer edge of the reef where we could snorkel and explore the life that awaits just under the surface of the water. It was during this time that God began to speak to me about the abundant life that He has for me. Just like my adventures on the reef, there is a life that is deeper and more meaningful that what shows on the surface. I was reminded that our lives here on earth are temporary, they will come to an end at some point. As important as these lives are, there is life that is truly more meaningful and more significant than we often realize. Our eternal lives, the life that is waiting for us, is so much richer and full of life than the surface lives we live.
Each time I would dive below the surface of the water, I found myself surrounded by vibrant colors. Bright oranges, blues, greens, reds, and the various shades of white from the sand and coral. It was beautiful and tranquil. In a country like Haiti where life is bleak and often lacking hope, I found myself in a secret world that seemed untouched by man. Here I was surrounded by an amazing beauty, hidden from the poverty and hopelessness that awaited me on the shore. I did not want to leave this place. I felt like this was my secret place where I found God waiting for me. I simply floated face down in the water for a while and soaked in the presence of what was around me. I soaked in the presence of His voice speaking to me about life, about family, about love, about community.
As I realized it was time to end our “man swim” and head back to the teams that were swimming on the beach, I lifted my head from the water and was in awe that here I was…floating in the warm Caribbean waters and snorkeling along one of the most beautiful reefs I have seen. As I climbed back in to the old wooden gondola, I looked out at the clear blue waters that met the base of a green and luscious mountain, and heard God telling me that He had an abundant life for me. I was one of His children and He loved me despite what the world around me has to offer. I believe God knew that I needed that reminder…I needed to know that life was not what it always appears to be. There is abundance in store, there is true life in store for those who choose to believe.
I realize it has been a few weeks since I have updated my blog, giving all of you the details of how things are going here in Haiti. Please accept my apologies and realize it has not been due to a lack of God moving here…but rather a lack of motivation on my part to carve out the time to tell each of you about it.
To date, we have baptized 26 people into the family of God! Upon arriving here back in May, God revealed to me that I would be involved with baptizing people into His family, but I never would have guessed that it would have been 26 people! That in itself is pretty amazing and the highlight of my summer. Each of those 26 people have a story and a testimony of how God radically transformed their life here in Haiti! To be witness to that has been such an encouragement to why I do the work that I do.
In addition, one of my own staff has felt the desire to recommit her life to God as well. Jen will be rededicating her life in the week to come, not because she has never been baptized, but because she wants to confirm publicly her identity in Christ and rebuke the lies and insecurity that the enemy uses to try and keep her from the life God has made for her.
Ministry is going great! We have walked several people through the prayer of salvation and watched as they accepted Christ for the first time! Yesterday, a family of four followed one of our teams in the street and stopped them. Upon talking with them, we found out that they wanted to give their lives to God and asked us to help them do that. We walked them back to their house and all at once, the entire family accepted God into their hearts and lives!!
Healings have continued to happen right before our eyes. Sickness and injury have been removed as we prayed! Cysts have disappeared. Pain has fled the body. Heart complications have remedied themselves all in the name of Jesus.
Students have gone home on fire about the God they encountered here in Haiti, and wanting to share with anyone who will listen about how they heard God's voice and the things He said to them! Lives have been forever changed for the Kingdom of Heaven. Lives have been wrecked in a great way!
To all of my supporters who have made it possible for me to do the work God has called me to, THANK YOU! This summer would not have been possible had it not been for each of you believing in me and in the calling that God has given me! You have played a direct role in these lives being forever changed!
In closing I would like to tell all of you about a little boy named Guyver. He is 14 and lives in a displacement camp with his 2 siblings and his mother. Guyver and his family were forced into this camp after the earthquake as a result of losing their home, and everything in it. For the past year and half, they have lived in a tent that is 8' x 8'. The four of them have been crammed in this tent and made the best of it. I have gotten to know Guyver over the past year and this young man has moved me to tears on more than one occasion. What is unique about Guyver is that he has already made a decision to sacrifice his life in service of glorifying God. At 14, he has started vacation bible schools in the tent city in order to bring hope to the younger kids. Nobody asked him to, he just did it because he saw a need. Guyver spends his free time traveling around Haiti with his pastor telling the people in the remote hillside about Jesus and the love that awaits them. There is a holy presence about Guyver that I simply cannot put into words. God has anointed this young man to do great and amazing things! When Guyver preaches, people listen. When he prays, I get goose bumps. I hear the voice of God in this boy. I see God's face in Guyver's. I want to do something to help Guyver and his family. Sure, there are hundreds of stories just like Guyver, and there are hundreds of families needing help. The thing is, God has asked me to do something to help this boy, and I want to be obedient to that. I am trying to raise $1,000 to put Guyver into a house for one year. That is all it costs to rent a modest home here in Haiti for an entire year! This boy has sacrificed everything in order to spread the gospel and restore hope to his country. How great would it be to be the hands and feet of Jesus for this family? Would you consider donating to help get this family into a home? We already have $200 raised, and need another $800 to make a difference in the lives of this family! Pray about it, and if you feel led, you may donate to my support account. I will ensure the money gets used for Guyver. Our goal is to have them move into our staff house when we move out in 3 weeks. (fully furnished 2 bedroom / 1 bath)
Thanks to all of you for your prayers, and your continued support!
What an amazing week it has been here in Haiti. This past week has been the very reason why I love doing what I do, and serving in full time missions. I encountered God this past week in ways that blow my mind, and cause me to reflect on how big He truly is and how deep His love truly goes.
I had a team of 6 people from Canton, Ohio. I was initially hesitant about such a small group and was debating whether or not I should combine this small team with another team that was also here for the same week. I decided to keep them separate and I am so grateful that I did because God showed up intimately for each of these participants, and through that, showed up for me as well. My team consisted of 3 high school girls, the youth pastor, a father of one of the girls, and a female chaperone. Each of these people was struggling with something deep, and had wounds that needed healing. Over the course of the week I watched as God brought healing to the wounds, confidence to the insecure, and boldness to the timid. Watching these 6 people transform right before my eyes was a miracle in itself! I was able to connect personally with each team member and help to reveal their identity in Christ. The quiet shy girl suddenly had a voice to speak and lead others. The wounded and starving for affection girl was given love and hope in ways she had never experienced. The angry and disappointed girl was given freedom and restoration from her anger, and became overwhelmed with joy! The father who struggled to accept grace and forgiveness for himself, heard God's voice telling him it is okay and that His love is greater than he could imagine. The youth pastor became confident and encouraged in his role as a leader and shepherd. Lastly, the quiet and intimidated female chaperone found a boldness in leadership and confidence to step out and lead others. Watching all of this unfold was truly a blessing to me, and something I will not forget. I am so proud of this team and captivated by their pure passion to live for Him! This is why I do what I do. This is why I am pursuing work in missions. I saw the kingdom of God revealed this week!
As we were wrapping up the week, we took all the teams that were here to the beach for the afternoon to worship and spend some time relaxing and processing the week. While there, I was blessed to baptize a Haitian woman that we had befriended a couple weeks ago. She came to the beach with us and asked me to baptize her. As I finished up with her baptism, the 3 high school students from my team came forward and also asked to be baptized!! I fought back tears as I welcomed them into the family of God. As soon as I finished those 3 baptisms, another 7 people came forward one by one wanting to be baptized in the ocean! In all, I baptized 11 people that afternoon. What a perfect ending to a perfect week!
My life was touched this week by the presence of God. I encountered Him in a way that seemed so new and revealing…but at the same time there was something so familiar about it. I saw God appear this week for these 3 girls just as He did for me this time last year when I too found myself being baptized in the waters of Haiti. I end this week simply in awe of His love for us. I am in awe of the lengths He will go to in order to seek a relationship with us!
As we conclude our first week here in Haiti, we are realizing how genuinely blessed we are to be here in the presence of God…called by Him to do His works in this country. Most of us have been here before, so in a sense it was a bit of a homecoming for those who longed to reconnect with friends, pastors, and of course the children of Haiti. For those who have never been here before, the transition has been smooth and eye opening.
This past week has been a time of getting acquainted with one another, and learning to trust each other with our vulnerabilities. Prior to even arriving in Haiti, our team decided to be very intentional about building community with one another. We have made the choice to build strong and meaningful relationships with one another. This is not always easy, and sometimes requires us to work through conflict together. Despite this, we have made that decision, and good or bad we are choosing to stick to it. This has been a great time of growth for each of us. We are learning to break through some of the walls that we have put up, and learning how to invest into each other's strengths.
In addition to the personal growth that is taking place, God has blessed me abundantly. I have been able to go and visit with pastors that I have worked with on previous trips. Specifically, I visited Pastor Amos and his family. This is the pastor who hosted me and my college team last year during our trip to Haiti. He and his family welcomed me into their home with open arms and called me by name. Not only did they remember me, but they were excited that I remembered them! After a brief visit, I took my staff to the orphanage close to Pastor Amos's home where we had worked last year. The man who ran the orphanage, (Papa Gustav), passed away recently and I wanted to check in on his wife. She also remembered me and was so grateful to have us there. We spent a few minutes visiting with her and the children of the orphanage. I showed them pictures of our visit before and the kids got excited to find themselves in the photo. It was a time of joy and happiness, for them and for me! I missed these children, and was blessed to see how well they were doing.
A couple days ago, my team and I went on a prayer walk here in the community where we are living. We came across a family sitting outside and stopped to talk with them. After some conversation about who we were and why we were there, they told us about a woman who was inside and needing prayer. She had been lying in bed with severe pain in her breast for the past 2 months. She had been to the doctor with no solution. My team offered to pray for her and she agreed. After about an hour of praying for this woman, she began to tell us how she could feel a warm sensation where the pain was. As we prayed, she told us that the warm sensation was beginning to shift into a cool feeling. After a few moments the cooling sensation also left her breast and the pain was gone. She began to squeeze the spot where the pain was, poke at it, rub it… I imagine anything to try and stimulate the pain. However, she was unsuccessful at finding the pain. She began to cry and shared with us that this was the first time in 2 months that she had been pain free! We continued to pray and give thanks for this healing. After some small talk and getting to know her, we left with the understanding that we would be back in a few days to check on her. Yesterday, we went back to check on her and found her doing quite well. She was so excited about her healing that she had been going around the neighborhood sharing with people what had happened to her. A neighbor of hers asked us to come and pray for her as well! The excitement about what happened was spreading and it was great to see. The woman who had been healed invited us to church with her today so that she could testify to the healing that occurred and introduce us as her friends. It was a great moment.
God has been so good to us. We are excited about what He has in store for us in the remaining 9 weeks. We are also excited about the arrival of our first team next week! We continue to covet your prayers, and appreciate them greatly!
