Not so long ago Prosper, a middle-aged Haitian man, was living up to his name. He had steady employment (a rarity in Haiti), had built a nice home, married and had a family. He was even able to send his children to college. We came to know his daughter, Valerie, when she came to the university here in Santiago. Then high blood pressure and a stroke left Prosper partially paralyzed and dependent on his wife’s care. With difficulty, he learned to walk again with a cane. He still has occasional seizures and suffers from an enlarged heart.
During the January earthquake, Prosper’s home collapsed, trapping him and his wife. She did not survive. He was pulled from the rubble a few hours later, bruised but breathing. Valerie brought him to Santiago. Prosper’s world has now shrunk to an unfurnished, one-bedroom apartment that he shares with Valerie. His possessions are buried in Port-au-Prince. The little that might have been salvaged has been stolen by others in need.
Prosper feels like he is in prison—unable to descend the stairs of their second-floor apartment unaided, unable to visit with lifelong friends, unable to speak the language of this new country, totally dependent on his daughter. Yet, within the confines of his prison, he welcomes us with a wide smile. Although there is sometimes fear in his eyes when a tremor passes, there is no defeat. He is learning to prosper in different ways. He tells us that God saved him from the wreckage of his home, and now, for the first time in his life, he is entrusting himself to God.
The apartment is still small, his heart is still damaged, but he is learning of the hope that is his in Christ. Valerie, who came to know Christ in Santiago, is studying the Bible with her dad. She, too, is learning to persevere through the pain and the difficulties. Together they are experiencing what it means to be a part of God’s family. We connected them with Dominican believers who provided free medical care for Prosper. And because of your help to us, we were able to purchase clothing, food, beds, and medicine for them.
When the earthquake occurred, within a couple of days many Haitians crossed the border and arrived in Santiago. So, instead of going into Haiti, we remained in Santiago to help those in need and to continue our ministries here. We anxiously awaited news of our Haitian friends, university students who had gone home for the Christmas break. As they made it back to Santiago, we rejoiced and worked with them to purchase food and medical supplies to send back into Haiti.
We thank you for enabling us to serve here in Santiago. Our contact with two different Haitian congregations has opened the door for us to minister to many earthquake survivors who were (and still are) suffering the emotional and psychological effects of such a traumatic experience. Prosper’s smile confirms to us God’s promise of hope in the midst of suffering.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:2-5
Friday, April 9, 2010
Snapshots
We love living here in Santiago because we see God at work at every turn, and he lets us be a part of it! Here are some snapshots of our experiences in the past few months:
Robinson is the pastor of the Haitian church that was launched from our Haitian Bible study two years ago. He invited me to preach there last month on “If God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world?” Of the 200-plus there, more than 30 were in Port-au-Prince during the Haiti earthquake. This month I will preach on overcoming post-traumatic stress syndrome. Your support will help us make copies of helpful materials for those struggling with the after effects of trauma. We were also able to equip Robinson with a good Bible dictionary and concordance to use in his sermon preparation.
Erline, a Haitian university student, was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit January 12. She survived it, watching buildings pancake and vehicles get overturned, as she was walking down the street. The next day she walked 5 miles one way to see about relatives. Judy and I called and emailed her and her fiancé for five long days, hearing nothing. We feared the worst. When Erline showed up in Santiago and at our home the next week, we were so grateful that we decided to enable her to finish her last year of university here. Before, she was struggling to make ends meet on $150/month (from us, but we didn’t realize that we were her only sponsors—an uncle lost his job in the US). Now we provide complete support for her from our personal and mission finances. When we told her of our decision, she cried for joy (we almost did too!). She volunteers every two weeks to help Judy do her ironing!
Prosper, a 58-year-old man who survived the quake and came to live in Santiago with his daughter, Valerie, smiles broadly when we visit him. He suffers from an enlarged heart, but he now confesses that Christ died for him—something Valerie said he had not done before. They lost everything in the quake. Your support purchased new single beds for the two of them, as well as medicine for Prosper, who takes 7 different meds which total $200/month. (By the way, we received gifts to help both Erline and Prosper!)
“Mi panaful!!” (My good buddy!!) Our apartment guard Francisco greets me enthusiastically every morning. He is living proof that “The joy of the LORD will be our strength.” We love sharing our food—my pancakes (that’s right, Bob does cook pancakes!), sandwiches, etc.—and praying with this dear friend, our panaful, during his 12-hour shift. He has made living at Las Bromelias apartments a joy with his love for the LORD. He obeys the LORD as well—after we gave him a study on Biblical financial principles, he reduced his $2000 debt to $100 over the last 15 months, on a salary of only $300/month!
Central Bible Church has started a new men’s ministry, declaring as our vision statement, “searching and impacting men from the community for Christ.” Eight men who really love God met last week—I am honored to be a member of this group. But I better get to work fast—we have a camping retreat scheduled for April 30, and I’m supposed to teach on companionship and mentoring.
Al, a youth leader at Central, struggled with his upcoming assignment—to preach on Easter Sunday. He called me for help. I met with him three times to help him develop a sermon on the importance of the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15. He did an excellent job, explaining why our faith is in vain if Christ did not come back from the dead.
Our Monday night small group Bible study from Central trails the other groups in the lesson book that the church gave us. However, now I understand why. A godly lady, Luisa, joined our group right before we studied forgiveness. She confessed that she struggles with forgiving her ex-husband. We gave her a Beta study guide from Neil Anderson. She said that Beta “is like a precious jewel.” Your support enables us to help our brothers and sisters here fight fierce spiritual battles.
Judy is planning the annual Central women’s retreat with the ladies’ leadership team. They are a group of committed women; yet their personality differences sometimes result in conflicts. Judy is planning to invite them all to supper to teach a short seminar on how each personality type can work well within the team (I’m campaigning to cook pancakes for the ladies; I’m not sure if Judy will let me.)
Judy also recently put her nursing skills to work, helping to care for a terminally ill patient. Don Reynaldo passed peacefully in his sleep after a battle with Alzheimer’s. The family gave him around-the-clock care. Judy went every other day to change his dressings.
We meet regularly with Henry and Blanca to plan the monthly Central couples’ meeting. This month we will discuss the permanence of marriage. God created husband and wife to stick together through thick and thin. In fact, the Hebrew word in Genesis 2:24 for “cleave” or “be joined” has the idea of two pieces of wood glued together—if you try to separate them, you will destroy the wood.
“Why is this guy even here?” I asked myself last Saturday when Eddie showed up to play basketball. Eddie is better than the rest of us—a group of guys who like to play together in a local park. Sure enough, Eddie was killing us. But, Jose showed up too. After we quit, Eddie shared the gospel with Jose. The good news penetrated Jose’s heart, and when Eddie invited him to accept Christ, Jose immediately responded with “YES”. Eddie asked me to pray with Jose, enabling him to confess his newfound faith relationship with Christ.
Robinson is the pastor of the Haitian church that was launched from our Haitian Bible study two years ago. He invited me to preach there last month on “If God is all-good and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world?” Of the 200-plus there, more than 30 were in Port-au-Prince during the Haiti earthquake. This month I will preach on overcoming post-traumatic stress syndrome. Your support will help us make copies of helpful materials for those struggling with the after effects of trauma. We were also able to equip Robinson with a good Bible dictionary and concordance to use in his sermon preparation.
Erline, a Haitian university student, was in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit January 12. She survived it, watching buildings pancake and vehicles get overturned, as she was walking down the street. The next day she walked 5 miles one way to see about relatives. Judy and I called and emailed her and her fiancé for five long days, hearing nothing. We feared the worst. When Erline showed up in Santiago and at our home the next week, we were so grateful that we decided to enable her to finish her last year of university here. Before, she was struggling to make ends meet on $150/month (from us, but we didn’t realize that we were her only sponsors—an uncle lost his job in the US). Now we provide complete support for her from our personal and mission finances. When we told her of our decision, she cried for joy (we almost did too!). She volunteers every two weeks to help Judy do her ironing!
Prosper, a 58-year-old man who survived the quake and came to live in Santiago with his daughter, Valerie, smiles broadly when we visit him. He suffers from an enlarged heart, but he now confesses that Christ died for him—something Valerie said he had not done before. They lost everything in the quake. Your support purchased new single beds for the two of them, as well as medicine for Prosper, who takes 7 different meds which total $200/month. (By the way, we received gifts to help both Erline and Prosper!)
“Mi panaful!!” (My good buddy!!) Our apartment guard Francisco greets me enthusiastically every morning. He is living proof that “The joy of the LORD will be our strength.” We love sharing our food—my pancakes (that’s right, Bob does cook pancakes!), sandwiches, etc.—and praying with this dear friend, our panaful, during his 12-hour shift. He has made living at Las Bromelias apartments a joy with his love for the LORD. He obeys the LORD as well—after we gave him a study on Biblical financial principles, he reduced his $2000 debt to $100 over the last 15 months, on a salary of only $300/month!
Central Bible Church has started a new men’s ministry, declaring as our vision statement, “searching and impacting men from the community for Christ.” Eight men who really love God met last week—I am honored to be a member of this group. But I better get to work fast—we have a camping retreat scheduled for April 30, and I’m supposed to teach on companionship and mentoring.
Al, a youth leader at Central, struggled with his upcoming assignment—to preach on Easter Sunday. He called me for help. I met with him three times to help him develop a sermon on the importance of the resurrection from 1 Corinthians 15. He did an excellent job, explaining why our faith is in vain if Christ did not come back from the dead.
Our Monday night small group Bible study from Central trails the other groups in the lesson book that the church gave us. However, now I understand why. A godly lady, Luisa, joined our group right before we studied forgiveness. She confessed that she struggles with forgiving her ex-husband. We gave her a Beta study guide from Neil Anderson. She said that Beta “is like a precious jewel.” Your support enables us to help our brothers and sisters here fight fierce spiritual battles.
Judy is planning the annual Central women’s retreat with the ladies’ leadership team. They are a group of committed women; yet their personality differences sometimes result in conflicts. Judy is planning to invite them all to supper to teach a short seminar on how each personality type can work well within the team (I’m campaigning to cook pancakes for the ladies; I’m not sure if Judy will let me.)
Judy also recently put her nursing skills to work, helping to care for a terminally ill patient. Don Reynaldo passed peacefully in his sleep after a battle with Alzheimer’s. The family gave him around-the-clock care. Judy went every other day to change his dressings.
We meet regularly with Henry and Blanca to plan the monthly Central couples’ meeting. This month we will discuss the permanence of marriage. God created husband and wife to stick together through thick and thin. In fact, the Hebrew word in Genesis 2:24 for “cleave” or “be joined” has the idea of two pieces of wood glued together—if you try to separate them, you will destroy the wood.
“Why is this guy even here?” I asked myself last Saturday when Eddie showed up to play basketball. Eddie is better than the rest of us—a group of guys who like to play together in a local park. Sure enough, Eddie was killing us. But, Jose showed up too. After we quit, Eddie shared the gospel with Jose. The good news penetrated Jose’s heart, and when Eddie invited him to accept Christ, Jose immediately responded with “YES”. Eddie asked me to pray with Jose, enabling him to confess his newfound faith relationship with Christ.
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