A Tale of Four Junes

In June of 2009 we left for Haiti to live as full time missionaries. We believed that we would raise our kids there and serve the Haitian needs for years to come. In June of 2012 we returned to the U.S. to visit but discovered some issues that caused us to see God's plan was for us to move back to the U.S. to care for our family.

I was not happy about God changing plans on me like that. I had given up everything to follow Him to Haiti and wasn't prepared to be back in the U.S. Me and God had many conversations over the next year, many of which involved me whining and complaining in a state of depression because God had not done things the way I wanted them done.

In June of 2013, our family moved to Albany, GA for me to resume work as an optometrist- something I told God I did not have a desire to do again. I was a missionary after all- why would I have to return to working a "secular" job?

After being here just a few months, I was asked by our church to fill in as interim preacher. Then, once again in the month of June, 2016 I was ordained and called to be the Lead Pastor for Byne Memorial Baptist Church of Albany, GA- www.byne.org

I still do optometry- it turns out I was wrong- that is my mission field- and I lead an amazing group of church leaders in an attempt to make God known in southwest Georgia.

We are still involved in Haiti. I am taking a team down in September to preach at a weekend celebration in St. Marc and to kick off our school sponsorship for the year. We are hoping to sponsor 75 kids in the Montrouis area to go to school this year. We love those kiddos.

God is always good. God knows what is best. God's plan for each of us is a beautiful plan full of surprises. I am glad God is not predictable. I am glad He doesn't leave us to our own devices and wisdom. I am glad that He loves me too much to abandon His sovereignty even when I try to convince Him to in my times of confusion and limited vision. I can't wait to see what He has in store for the Junes to come!

Puppy Love

Josie Kate and Justice with Lucky Dog

Bella was a typical Haitian mutt. Those dogs are bred for one thing, to bark. When someone entered your yard they were to bark and serve as an alarm in a land without ADT or Brinks home security.

Bella was hit by a car...twice. She walked with a limp. She was scared of her own shadow, and she was just plain ugly. But in spite of all of that this little dog came into Josie Kate's life at a time when she needed a friend.

We were overwhelmed after the earthquake. The kids were doing great in getting adjusted to living in a third world country during a catastrophe but it was extremely stressful on everyone. Josie Kate found a friend and confidant in Bella. She developed a special bond with the yard mutt and was seldom seen without it. She was 4 years old and carried the dog around like a baby doll that was almost her size. She held the dog's head in a tight squeeze while Bella's body dangled loosely as the duo skipped around the yard. Without resistance or wimper Bella submitted to Josie Kate's whims and became the little missionary kid's source of comfort in a trying time. Josie Kate would dress her up in doll clothes, push her around in a baby stroller, or simply lay on the ground under the table and cuddle the furry member of  our family.

Two and half years later when we had to leave Haiti to return to the U.S. we all had our heart aches about leaving. For Josie Kate it was having to leave her Bella behind. During the stressful and anxious time of having to try to assimilate into another culture once again in a new city, new school, and no family or friends around, Josie Kate longed for her comforter and best friend. Many nights she fell asleep on a pillow wet with tears over missing her Bella.

For a long time Josie Kate wouldn't even talk about getting another dog one day. She didn't want another dog. She wanted her Bella. On every return trip I made to Haiti I had to take Bella a treat and bring Josie Kate back pictures. About a year after being back to the U.S. Josie Kate's love for dogs overpowered her diminished missing of Bella and she began an all out campaign for a new dog.

We lived in a town house in Florida and now a condo in Georgia. They are not the best living arrangements for a yard dog. Joy always said that she couldn't handle another mouth to feed or someone else to clean up after- furry or otherwise. But Josie Kate is persistent and has a special way of looking at her mama. After a couple of years of resistance, we finally started thinking about getting a new dog for Josie Kate. She immediately knew that she wanted to get a rescue dog. She can quote almost all the breeds listed in the 2015 AKC registry. The girl knows her dogs. She found a litter of puppies that had been born in a humane society locally that were of the breed group she was hoping for. With lingering resistance, Joy and I surrendered and Josie Kate finally got to adopt a new dog.

Of course the dog is for the whole family, but the other kids know that Josie Kate is the dog obsessed member of our pack. She is also the one tasked with caring for the dog. A week ago we brought home Lucky Dog. He's a shepherd mix and is doing a good job of making Joy and I question our decision. He is all puppy and is keenly adept at mess making of many sorts. So far he has demonstrated an above average ability to eat, sleep, poop, and destroy anything that is left in his reach. But of all his various talents, his greatest ability is to bring a smile to Josie Kate's face. She fell asleep on the floor cuddling him his first night at home...then I took her to bed and the dog barked and yelped ALL night long. Yay us!

We learned a life lesson when God brought adoption into our lives that helps Joy and I in this situation. There are times when a decision may make your life a bit more complicated or your days a touch more stressful, but often times those things are the very things that make your life fuller. We are not looking for simple easy lives but lives that are full and abundant and bursting at the seams with excitement and adventure as we attempt to be everything God created us to be. It's not usually easy and it's never dull or boring but we wouldn't change it for the world.

Welcome to the crazy family Lucky Dog.

Adoption Ain't Easy

As parents we want to keep our kids from experiencing pain and heart ache.  We do all we can to shelter them from the world for as long as we can.  Sometimes, there are things we can't protect them from.

We were having a family discussion about the prayer requests that our kids share in school.  I asked the probing question to our 9, 10, and 13 year old why would they bother asking the class to pray for something.  I asked if they really believed that God was listening to them and really answered prayer.  It was a loaded question of course but I wanted them to think about it.

They all three at first gave the canned answer of yes.  Then I asked them to give me an example of God actually changing circumstances or doing something that was impossible as an answer to prayer.  You could see their minds racing with conflict.  They couldn't believe that their preacher daddy was really asking them if God was real and really answered prayers.  They were struggling to come up with proof to prove to their dad that God was really listening. 

Judah, our 10 year old was adamant.  He was struggling with coming up with a proof example of answered prayer, but he was sure in his belief that God answers prayers.

Jacy Klaire, our 13 year old, chimed in with confident faith in both who God is and His answering of prayers.  She started naming off specific answers to prayers in our family.  She said she had prayed for God to give her a friend and now she has several close friends.  She prayed for a youth group that she could be a part of and God answered her prayer.  As a family we prayed that God would make it clear how we could minister to people here once we left the mission field and now I am preaching.  She was convinced and there was not swaying her.

Josie Kate, our 9 year old, was not as positive.  She definitely wanted to believe that God answered prayers and she loved our prayer times but she was struggling with a definite answer to prayer on which to anchor her belief.  I began to share about a family that had received a huge answer to prayer. 

I shared how the mom had prayed for God to open the door for them to be able to adopt a little baby girl that was in foster care.  I shared how the agency didn't think it would be possible for them to adopt her but the mommy kept praying for God to do the impossible.  Tears began to fill Josie's eyes as she realized that I was telling her story.  She couldn't help but come over and bury her head into my leg as I talked about a real God answering real prayers.  It was a sweet time.  But then my heart got broken.

Joy came over and took Josie into her arms.  Josie just cried.  She said that some kids in school had been asking her about her "real parents".  Josie said her response to them was that she didn't care about that.  I could see such deep pain in my little girl's eyes.  It was a pain that parents can't stand to see. 

The pain was not from the kids' questions really.  The pain was just from the depth of her coming to understand her adoption.  We explained that WE are her "real parents".   We were honest and transparent about the fact that her birth parents could not care for her and loved her enough to let us adopt her.  We talked about how God had designed her to be my girl and He designed me to be her dad.  The same with Joy and the rest of the family.  She was not born into our family but she was designed as a member of our family.

For the first time since we adopted those four little rascals I HATED that they were adopted.  I hated that they were going to have to deal with that truth and the related issues.  I was tucking Josie Kate in and she just kept hugging me and thanking God that he made me her daddy as she cried.  She said she could just cry tears of joy all night long.

It wasn't just tears of joy that Joy and I cried as we went to bed.  It was deep pain.  The only consolation was knowing for certain that the original question I asked about God being real and answering prayers is clearly answered in the affirmative.  God is real.  God does answer prayers.  Please pray for the adopted families you know in your life.  They need it.

Why Can't Haitians Grow Enough Rice to Feed Themselves?

Why Can't Haitians Grow Enough Rice to Feed Themselves? I get asked that type of question a lot.  I am going to defer the question to the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton.  In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2010 Bill said:

“Since 1981, the United States has followed a policy, until the last year or so when we started rethinking it, that we rich countries that produce a lot of food should sell it to poor countries and relieve them of the burden of producing their own food, so, thank goodness, they can leap directly into the industrial era. It has not worked. It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked. It was a mistake. . . I have to live every day with the consequences of the lost capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people, because of what I did. Nobody else.”

The deal was that Haiti could not charge a tariff for imported U.S. rice that got the nickname "diri Miami" or Miami rice.  On top of that, the Haitian government could not use U.S. aid money to subsidize Haitian farmers for their rice in order for their price to be competitive with the imported U.S. rice.  In a matter of 4 years the Haitian grown rice market was essentially demolished.  In the deal we were going to help them develop a mango export market so they could join the international trade community.  It hasn't happened.  This was not a new approach.  We did the same thing to the Haitian and Dominican sugar cane crops. We took a team over to the DR to work in the sugar cane fields providing medical care to the Haitians living in the middle of 1,000,000 acres of sugar cane that can't be cut and sold because of subsidy deals with the U.S. and Canada.

Did you know that Hillary and Bill got a trip to Haiti as a wedding present from a friend.  They spent some time in the little country while Baby Doc was the dictator.  Maybe that's why Bill is so distraught over the repercussions of his policies in Haiti.  It's not a political party issue though.  It is standard U.S. domestic policy for the last 40 years.

Anyone that has been to Haiti with us on trips have seen the trucks loaded to the gills with rice coming in from the U.S.  In a funny side note, the rice is vitamin fortified but I have never met a single Haitian that cooked the rice without washing it twice even though the bags say NOT to wash it or you remove all of the vitamins.

American rice buying and selling has become a major part of the Haitian economy.  We try to send money to buy rice there instead of filling the boxes here to send down.  At least the money is going into the economy, unlike the aid money from the earthquake relief.  Did you know that out of the $360 million the U.S. allocated for Haiti after the earthquake that $120 million was reimbursed to the U.S. for military support we sent down?  $151 million went to U.S. based aid organizations.  A piece of the rest maybe somehow actually helped the people that we know.  There was a soccer stadium built and a bunch of hotels for the tourist industry that is supposedly going to start booming.

I say all of that to say that we as Christians can't rely on the government, foreign or domestic, to do the job of the church.  The church's job is to love people and help the oppressed.

Isaiah says the purpose of religion and commitment to God is this:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Are we doing that as the church?  Are we doing all we can to break the bonds of wickedness or do we get too caught up in complaining about government not doing things our way?

Do we share our bread with the hungry or do we complain that we already pay too much in taxes so we don't have to share with the needy because that's welfare's job.

When's the last time that you or I got personally involved in helping a person being set free from oppression or bondage?

If Isaiah says that's the job of religion, what are we doing?  Somebody else's problem?  Send $10 to the Red Cross by
text so I can forget about it?

We share in the responsibility of the oppression.  We also share in the opportunity of the liberation.  We can work together to be the hands and feet of Christ loosening bonds and giving bread to the hungry.  We just have to allow God to use us.  We have to slow down enough to know He is trying to use us.

Don't blame the Haitians for their lack of rice or the homeless man downtown for his homelessness.  Instead consider your opportunity to pour yourself out for someone else.  Don't fall for the fool's trap of being distracted by an argument or apathy.

I just don't think "It was against my party's policy position, Jesus, so I really shouldn't be held accountable" is going to fly when we stand before our God.

One Nation Under God

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and then formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942, we all grew up reciting it in school.  It was about third grade before we realized it didn't say 'invisible'.  It seems that somewhere along the way we have lost the allegiance portion.

There seems to be factions in our culture bent on defying "indivisible".  There seems to be a tide towards division and separation:

Rich vs. Poor

White vs. Black

North vs. South

Gay vs. Straight

Elite vs. Common

Washington vs. States

Politicians vs. Americans

Christian vs. Non-Christian

Socialists vs. Conservatives

Immigrants vs. Natural citizens

These groups have always been a part of our society.  Diversity is truly one of the attributes that makes America so great.  The difference is, for the last 300 years we have been the best in the world at putting our differences aside and rallying together for the good of the nation.  We have not allowed our differences to defy our allegiance.  We have had our struggles to overcome in these areas but part of our identity has always been to strive for the good of the nation.

When national leaders, media, rebel rousers, and academia are spewing and perpetuating anti-America rhetoric bent on exacerbating tensions between all groups, it leads to an overall loss of national moral.  In a time of ISIS, Iran, North Korea, Putin, and cartels is it good for us to lose our sense of nationalism? Many in our nation seem to think so.  I vehemently disagree.

I think it's time to start back saying the pledge and teaching what it means or there will be liberty and justice for none.  In the words of  John Dickinson in his revolutionary war song The Liberty Song first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768:

“Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall!”

From Witch Doctor to Wake Up Call

He wanted to be a witch doctor.  In his remote village of Haiti, the witch doctors were the ones with the influence and power.  They were the ones that seemed to have the answers about the spiritual realm.  As a young boy, he would dress up and play like he was the witch doctor for all of his friends.

Then at age 10 he started having seizures.  Before his 12th birthday, while visiting an aunt, he had a seizure and fell into the cooking fire.  Most of his body was covered in 3rd degree burns.  By the time he was taken to the distant hospital 3 days later, he was severely infected and not expected to live.  In a last ditch effort to save him, the doctor amputated both arms.  He survived.

This is Kesmy's story.  We met him in Haiti but really just got to know him well over the last couple of weeks as he stayed with us in our home.  He is in his second year of getting his masters degree in theology from Wheaton in Chicago.  He is my hero.

I am sorry for complaining about my first world problems.  I am sorry for worrying about things that don't matter.  I am sorry for allowing insignificant issues to get to me.  I am sorry for being distracted from my purpose.  I am sorry.

God is so good to take the time to bring into our lives what we need to reawaken us.  We often get lulled to sleep by the steady beat of the world around us.  The tick of the time clock.  The chime of the church bell.  The hum of humanity around us.  Kesmy was my wake up call this week.

Thank you Kesmy.  Thank you God.

Where is GOD When Evil Runs Amok?

Why doesn't God do anything about evil?

Why would God let this type of Christian persecution happen?

When those 21 Egyptian Christians- yes CHRISTIANS- called out to God on the beach in Libya, why didn't God send in an angel army to help them?

If God is so good then why does He let such bad stuff happen?

Is God too weak to stop evil or does He just not care?

These are the types of questions that come up during these times of blatant evil expression.  When we see evil paraded on the world scene we begin to question our beliefs and often our faith is shaken.  So what should our response be?

First, God is aware of what is going on.- God is omniscient- He knows.
Second, God has the power to do anything...ANYTHING- God is omnipotent and sovereign
Third, God is good.- God is Holy- God does nothing that is flawed, tainted, or incomplete.

The bottom line is that God IS doing something about the evil we see displayed on the world's stage before us.  God has been dealing with evil since He told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He was preemptive then and he is proactive now.

We must see that God's plan for mankind involved giving him a free will to choose God.  Otherwise, God would have been limited in receiving of glory.  By allowing mankind to CHOOSE to follow Him or rebel, God was creating a situation to demonstrate the fullness of His character: loving, forgiving, long suffering, patient, kind etc.

If man had no choice and an alternative to pure goodness never existed- aka. evil- then the God of mankind would not have means to express the depth of Himself to His creation.

But, that choice by God to allow an alternative to pure good, in a way restrained God.  He can do anything.  He is bound by no laws, constraints, or dictates EXCEPT His own character.  Just as God cannot sin because He is Holy, God also cannot violate His own character because He is faithful.

That means, since God chose to give man a choice, He chooses to live with allowing those choices even though it brings pain, death, sickness, dissension, and enmity towards God Himself.  Those things are manifested as man living out evil.

BUT, God does not simply allow those forces to go unchecked.  Ejection from the Garden of Eden, the great flood of Noah, the tower of Babel, Jesus' birth, and ultimately Jesus' return to judge all evil are all parts of God's plan with dealing with evil.

On a more personal scale, God also fights evil in the world everyday.  The book of Romans teaches that as long as God has men and women of faith that are filled with the Holy Spirit, then evil will remain in check and subdued.  To the extent that men and women of faith do NOT walk in that spirit of power, evil has freer reign.

Ergo, God is doing something about the evil in the world.  YOU.  ME.  His church.  Christians.  God's design is that we are His instruments of good in a world that is inherently predisposed to pursue evil on a grander and grander scale.

So the question shouldn't be what is GOD doing about it.  The question should be what am I doing about it.  What am I allowing God to do with ME to fight evil?  What am I allowing God to do through my life to express love to the hurting, sick, afflicted, lost, confused, frustrated, despondent world around me?

Am I standing up against the evil represented by ISIS?  Am I making my voice heard in memory of the martyred and in protection of the endangered?  Am I broken in prayer?  Am I grieved of spirit?

The day has come for God's people to be the force He designed us to be to fight back evil.  It's time for us to be the "boots on the ground" in the spiritual battle.  It's easy to blame God.  It takes more courage to put the blame where it belongs, on ourselves.

Raising Kids Ain't Easy

Raising kids ain't easy.  As parents we constantly battle with decisions and plans as we try to find fulfillment in our own lives without messing our kids up too badly in the process.  There is so much pressure sometimes.  Then when you do make a big decision: do I take the job, do we move, do we have more kids, do we buy that house, etc. we constantly question whether it was best for the kids.

"Get food for (?) people don't got none food"
Working on the grammar but love the heart!

When we decided to sell out and move to Haiti, it did not sit too well with our older kids.  They were high school and college ages and in complex situations themselves.  We felt torn between doing what we felt we should do and doing what seemed "best" for our kids according the world's standards.  Many sleepless nights were spent in prayer and seeking God's direction.

It was tough!  We cried and struggled through many nights in Haiti.  Phone calls and skype often ended in pain.  But we knew we were doing the right thing.  We knew that God's plan is not best for me and bad for them.  We had to believe that by faith, because on the surface it did not appear that way at the beginning.  But God is faithful.  With time, each of our older children came to Haiti and were impacted by it.  All of them came to place to realize that God had worked things out perfectly. 

Looking back, we see how God used all of that to make ALL of us better and stronger.  All three of those kids in college make us so proud we don't know what to do.  Not because they are in college.  Not because they have it all together- none of us do.  We are so proud because they have a heart to give back and impact the lives of others.  They all get that life is not a race to the most toys.  Life is a difficult adventure where you navigate complicated relationships in order to impact as many people as you can for their good.  It's about helping people fulfill their destiny for which God created them.  It's a reciprocal process.  The more you pour yourself into others, the more you find who you are and what you were created to do.  Our move to Haiti helped our older kids see that.  But what about the  younger kids that we took to Haiti with us.  Many argued that they already had issues from being adopted.  We were told that they needed a stable environment that Haiti couldn't provide.  But we knew we were supposed to go.

So we went.  We spent 3 years serving God by ministering to the Haitian people.  It was hard on everyone.  Our kids reached school age and we realized that there were issues from the prenatal drug abuse.  We tried many different arrangements for educating them.  Nothing seemed to be working.  Finally we knew God was moving us back to the U.S. to meet their needs.  We didn't feel like it was a mistake to have gone.  It changed all of our lives, even if our impact there was not as far reaching as we had hoped.  But in our minds, we still sometimes question if our time there really impacted our kids possitively or not.  Then we get a glimpse into their hearts from something like the picture Jaxon drew for MLK day.

Jaxon is our 6 year old kindergartner.   He is  a special little guy that has already overcome some pretty big odds in his six years.  Looking at the picture he drew makes me very proud.  Not because of impeccable spelling or mastery of writing skills- although mine is not much better.  I am proud because it shows he gets it already.  The looks on the faces of the people with no food is eerily reminiscent of the looks on faces of the hungry in Haiti.  The desperate souls that came to us constantly in need of food and care.  You wonder if the kids even really got it.  By the looks of Jaxon's "I have a dream..." picture, Yeah, he got it...

Physician Heal Yourself

Sunday morning before the message at church I had a young lady come up to me and ask about Luke chapter 4.  Specifically she wanted to know about verses 23-24:

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

She asked what was meant by "physician heal yourself." I explained that the people were having trouble accepting Jesus for the messiah since they knew him already as Joseph the carpenter's son in his home town.  The people wanted him to do miracles like he had done in Capernaum.  They did not feel he was authorized to correct them.  As one commentator put it "deal with your own defects before telling someone else to deal with their defects".  Some say it was a foreshadow of Jesus being called to come down off of the cross.

Sunday night I played Satan in a drama at church and so I had bought some white contact lenses to wear to add to my effect.  As soon as I took the contacts out on Sunday night I knew there was a problem.  My vision was very blurry in my right eye.  All day Monday things kept getting worse so I had a colleague look at it and started medication.

On Monday night, the epithelium of my cornea completely peeled away.  In other words my eye got messed up!  Extreme pain.  I spent the whole night hurting and thinking about all of the worse cases I had ever seen in my 15 years of practicing optometry.  It hurt too badly to sleep at all.All the worse case scenarios were playing out in my late night imagination.  In the middle of the night, this verse came to mind; "Physician heal thyself".  Easier said than done!

Early this morning I got Dr. Berg to check things out and we started some new medications and put in a type of bandage contact lens.  My eye is red, swollen, and ugly.  I have a booked schedule and it is not contagious so I am suffering through seeing patients.  I've tried to keep the lights low so the patients can't see exactly how ugly my eye is.  I can just hear them all thinking "Physician heal thyself" before you come trying to take care of me.

The experience has been good for me though.  I had forgotten how badly those drops burn when your eye is so inflamed.  Patients tell me all the time, but now I have more compassion.  I forget what it is like to spend the night in extreme pain just waiting for morning to get to the office for relief.  Patients come in that way all the time.  But now I can better relate.

It helped me see that verse in a different light too.  Jesus was the physician and he did heal himself. He had just left the desert being tempted by Satan- the real one not the one with the fake white contacts.  He had decided to leave the applause and the approval of Capernaum to take his ministry to the people that needed it instead of enjoying the fame and letting the people come to him.  He had broken away from family and loved ones to fulfill his destiny for the Father's kingdom.

So when I am tempted, He's been there.  When I struggle with decisions about ministry or family or where to go, He's been there.  He's made the tough decisions.  He's sacrificed to experience the Kingdom first hand.  He's been the physician and know's what I need.

I have decided that I would much rather spend my days imitating Jesus than running around acting like satan.

Three Rocks

Twa Men- Three Hands Monument in Port-Au-Prince

For those of you that have been to Haiti, the odds are you have seen the monument of three hands in the circle leaving the airport.  The monument was built during the Aristide regime.  The meaning of the monument depends on who you are talking to.

If you ask a guide that frequently brings in Christian tourists- I mean mission groups- they will tell you that the hands represent the Father, Son, and Holy spirit holding up the world and even Haiti.

If you are talking to an activist Haitian living in PAP they will tell you that it represents two hands from a Haitian and one from government, the other hand of the government is in your pocket.

The average Haitian though will tell you it has three hands because you can't do it alone.  We all need someone else to help us.  The saying in Haiti is "ou paka kwit diri sou de wo'ch"- You can't cook rice on two rocks.  It takes three rocks together to hold up the pot.  That is the way life is viewed in most societies besides ours.

In America, we believe we can do it all on our own.  We are so proud that we do not want to ask others for help or ever admit that we need it.  We base our success and achievements on our abilities and hard work. It's the "I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps" mentality.  Now I am a committed advocate of hard work and independence.  I hate entitlement and hand outs.  I am talking about something more basic yet essential than that.  I am talking about realizing that we were made by God to interconnect and help each other reach our full created potential.  When we arrogantly feel like we don't need others to reach our full potential, then any attempt by us to reach out to others to help them reach their potential will be condescending and superficial.

To be rich, I don't need you.  To be powerful, "I got this".  To achieve the American dream, "I am my own man".  To be successful I can rely on my intelligence, education, heritage, networking skills, communication ability, and inner drive.  To be what society says I should be, I don't need you.

But to reach my created potential as a Kingdom child, I need you.  I need people to speak truth to me in love.  I need people to help me be stronger in my faith.  I need people to keep me accountable as a father and husband.  I need people to encourage me on my down days.  I need people to celebrate my victories with me.  I need people to go into battle with me.  I need people to sit around and talk about nothing sometimes.  I need you.

By recognizing MY need for people, I am equipped to BE that person for others.  That is the key to humility being the basic foundation on which God builds us up.  Let's throw off the pride and self sufficiency that this society tries to encumber us with.  Let's commit to acknowledging our need of others so that we can help others reach their full created potential as Kingdom children.  It really does take three hands- and I only have two.

The Day That Ruined Me

Part of it was finding myself in what appeared to be a war zone.  Smoke, smoldering fires, destroyed buildings, and dead bodies.  The bodies.  Lines of dead, uncovered, mangled bodies.  Nameless.  Lifeless.  Futureless.  

Part of it was the eyes.  I look into people's eyes for a living but I will never forget the look in the eyes of the people in Port Au Prince that morning.  Fear.  Hopelessness.  Confusion.  They had spent the night hoping not to die.  Most had stood huddled in the streets away from any buildings as the aftershocks continued.  For hours they stood.  Eyes wide.  Nerves on end.  Even as we arrived after sunrise to search for friends, the people still stood.  The ones not digging through the rubble or holding dying loved ones stood with eyes that will both haunt me and drive me for the rest of my life. 

Part was the realization that had I remained in the comfort and security of my job, and home, and family, and future, and church, and ministry in the U.S. I would not be the one God would use to help a people heal from the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual wounds of losing over 250,000 lives in 43 seconds.  

Part of it was the word.  As we put up makeshift clinics in the streets- far enough away from any buildings to keep people at ease- we tried to clean wounds, stitch people up, dig out shards of metal and concrete.  We carried the mortally wounded on doors through the streets to clinics.  We comforted the dying and their loved ones.  And in the midst of the desperation and overwhelming chaos I kept telling God I was an optometrist.  I kept reminding God that this was not what I signed up for.  Then I got a word.  Not an audible word.  But a clear word in my spirit.  As I said I am just an optometrist, God said "no you are a Christian.  And THIS is what Christians do." 

I was ruined.  I can never go back.  I can never go back to being ok with what's happening around us while we play church and act like we are doing what Christians do.  I can never go back to being content with chasing the American dream and giving God a token nod as I pursue wealth, comfort, security, and honor.  I am ruined.  I don't necessarily like it.  At times I wish I didn't weep over the condition of the church.  I wish it didn't break my heart knowing that there are enough Christians to care for every orphan in orphanages around the world but we don't.  At times I hate being angry about the prejudice and racism that is allowed to fester in the hearts of friends.  I wish I could just be content.  Good job.  Nice house.  Pickup truck and fishing poles.  Retirement account and people that like me.  

But I can't.  I am ruined.  Ruined to mediocrity and temporal thinking.  All I can see is me standing before God and wanting to have something to give back to him.  Some gold. A little silver.  A few precious stones.  I dread the thought of standing on a pile of wood, hay, and stubble and trying to explain to my Jesus that I went to church every Sunday.  I gave my tithe- of my gross even. I was good.  Better than some anyway.  "It was just so busy Jesus."  Work.  Church.  Ball games.  Civic clubs.  I did the best I could.  Come on Jesus, you know how it is.  

Ruined...

@Drkerryreeves

Haiti is Still Haiti

A Humbling Gift

Many of you that have been to Haiti have met Pastor Remy. He lives in the distant mountains and pastors a small church there. He is the father of 7 children and lives in the two room house that I stayed in with Tracy Robinson, Tracy White, and Mark Ikerd the one trip we managed to make that far into the mountains. He fell and broke his shoulder recently and at about the same time their donkey died. They have a 3 hour trip to get water and without the donkey it was very tough for them. So we were able to buy them a new horse to replace the donkey. He wanted to come down and thank us and bring us a gift.

When they arrived they very formally told us they had a gift to give Joy and I as a thank you from their family. They first took out of their bag a large papaya. Next she pulled out a beat up canister with ground coffee in it. Finally she opened a container that she had carried the four hours to meet us and began to pull out eggs that her chickens had laid. She gave us 10 eggs. I came up with the excuse that I would go and get a box. I actually had to go because I could not help but cry. To think that these humble people would bring us their best. They wanted to bless us so badly. I immediately was reminded how selfish and proud I am. God used this encounter to remind me what true love and humility looks like. Thank you pastor Remy. I know you will never read this because you lives miles from electricity and have never used a computer. But Thank you for being used to humble me and remind me why we left all the entanglements of the life of prosperity to come here to be loved by people that give us eggs.  (Originally Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2010)

Update:  When cholera hit Haiti in 2010 it was a compounding difficulty on top of the devastating earthquake in January.  Just months after Pastor Remy and his wife came to deliver us this gift she succumbed to the disease. She was out working in the field in the morning and started feeling sick.  Before she could get down the mountain she died.  She left pastor Remy with 7 children to care for alone on top of that desolate mountain.

I was praying for the pastors in Haiti this morning as Pastor Remy came to mind.  I called to check on him through pastor Cesar and found out his father is deathly ill.  What a tough life to live.  Pastor Cesar reminded in his tone of wisdom "Haiti is still Haiti".  Pastor Remy is also the pastor of a small church that has a small school.  The school had to close 2 years ago due to lack of support.  The kids that can afford to pay now travel down the mountain to a school in a distant village each day.  We need to help him restart the school. So many needs. "Haiti is still Haiti."

WHO ARE YOU?

Do you really know the answer to the question "Who are you?" Do you REALLY know the answer?

I think we all have a little bit of confusion at times in our lives and it can have a huge impact on where we go in life.

This is a picture of Jacy Klaire in her Lee County Middle School cheer uniform after a competition.  Do you have a better grip on your identity than when you were a middle schooler?

What if we put emphasis on the different words?  If we say:

"WHO are you?"-  As opposed to WHAT are you.  'What' is much easier to define.
  "I am a teacher"
  "I am a mother"
  "I am a runner"
  "I am a husband"
  "I am a coach"
  "I am a middle child"
  "I am a ..."

But you are not defined by WHAT you are- You are defined by WHO you are.

"Who ARE you?" - As opposed to who WERE you or who WILL you be.
  "I was all-state in three sports"
  "I was valedictorian of my class"
  "I was beautiful"
  "I was such a sinful person"
  "I was a drug addict"

  "I will be better once I finish school"
  "I will quit soon"
  "I will be retired"
  "I will be alone"

Our past helps to mold who we become but it does NOT define us.  The hope of our future motivates us to be the best we can be, but it can't dictate who we are in the present.

"Who are YOU?" - As opposed to who you appear to be.
Facebook and social media are great tools to connect with people that are not in your everyday circle of encounters.  Distant relatives, past friends, and others we like to communicate with can seem closer.  But, it can also be a huge confusing element in our true identity.

Most people are NOT who they seem to be on Facebook.  People put on Facebook what they want people AND themselves to believe that they are.  We see how other people are on their pages and we want to be like that.  If we can't actually be like that, at least we can look we are.

The greatest influence in my spiritual life other than my father has been Pastor Ruffin Snow.  Pastor Ruffin taught me more about life and about myself than anyone else in my life.  He teaches that pride is wanting people to see us as ANYTHING other than what we really are.  Humility is allowing EVERYONE to see us as we truly are.

Facebook and social media make it hard for us to stick to that standard of humility.  I don't mean you should "air your dirty laundry" on social media.  That is not being transparent and humble.  I mean you should recognize Facebook and Twitter etc. for what it really is.  A place of communication and "social"-izing.  Hence the name "social" media.

Don't base your identity on who you are and who you want people to believe you are on Facebook.  Don't modify your identity based on how many "likes" you get from a post.  Base your identity on what the ONE WHO MADE YOU says you are.  God made you.  God made YOU to be YOU for a reason.  God has a perfect plan for the REAL YOU in His Kingdom to make an impact.  His plan is not for the Facebook you, or the High School Year Book you, or the Sunday morning you, or the water cooler you, or the past you, or the future you.  God says "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11.

Don't miss that plan because you don't know you.  Take time to find the YOU that God has the plan for.  Study His word.  Talk to Him about it.  Make it enough of a priority that it has an impact on your life.  Your kids need that you.  Your spouse needs that you.  Your friends- fake Facebook friends and real life friends- need that you.  And if you don't start living in that you- YOU will miss the very purposes for which YOU were made.

Get Engaged

Jaxon, Josie Kate, Judah, Justice, Jacy Klaire, Paige with Logan

There are words that get tossed around ministry circles at times that represent a ministry intention or purpose and then the phrase often becomes cliche'.  I hope "engaged" doesn't become cliche'.
I like it.
I like using it.
I have come up with several ministerial scenarios where it fits well and makes me feel "relevant" (one of the aforementioned cliche'd phrases) to say it. But most of all, I think it appropriately describes the proper interaction I want to foster in the relationships in my life.


I want to be engaged.
I want to be involved...but more than involved.
I want to be committed...but more than committed.
I want to be passionate...but more than passionate.
I can be involved, committed, and even passionate about ministry, or relationships, or church, or family but still just cruise.  I can be all of those things but still allow myself to be distanced and non-impacting.

But if I am "engaged", then I am all of those things.  I am involved in fostering the engagement.  I am committed to the relationship to the point that I want to see it blossom.  I am passionate enough about it to make it a priority in my life daily.  Engaged.  If I was a tattoo guy, I would definitely get Engaged tattooed somewhere cool.

If we engage the people around us with the intention of expressing to them the love that we have for them because of the love of Jesus flowing from us, then we will have the opportunity to impact that person's life.  

As a preacher, I want other people engaged too.  I want them engaged when I preach.  You can tell when people are engaged versus when people are enduring.  Often times I preach to enduring crowds.  They are willing to endure me as long as I don't engage them too long. But when the congregation engages...man it all changes.  You can tell when they are internalizing what you say.  You can see emotions and deeper than "what's for lunch" thoughts plowing into their minds.  They are exploring the possibility that what I am saying might actually be true, and then seeing the enduring ramifications of that truth.  I love engaged people!

Engaged people change.  
Engaged people put forth the energy and diligence to cause change in the conditions around them.  Engaged people don't quit.  
Engaged people fight for what's worth fighting for.  
Engaged people recklessly pursue the goal set before them of being like Christ.

Disengaged people don't.  
Disengaged people don't have impact.  
Disengaged people are content with mediocrity.  
Disengaged people just cruise. 
Disengaged cruisers drink the Kool-Aid of the propagandists in our culture and surrender their right and opportunity to fulfill the destiny for which God created them.  

Engage.  Engage the relationships you are in.  Engage the people you are around.  Engage the circumstances in which you find yourself.  And in the end you will see that you have engaged the essence of what it means to be Christian.

Evil is Evil

In light of 9/11 tomorrow and our President's speech tonight, I can't help but think of how diverse our nation is and how it fills its role in the world.  In my worldview, God established the United States of America as the first nation in history to be founded as a Christian nation from the start.  A nation whose initial purpose was to be a light to the world and a major player in the historical role of evangelizing the nations.

So what is the big deal about that?  Evil.  Plain and simple.  There are evil forces in the world that work to oppose ALL things established by God.  His initial creation, His chosen people, His church, and even America and other nations since our founding that have been instrumental in furthering God's plans.  

In comes ISIS.  Just the next player in the role of opposition to all things Jehovah.  Based in the demonic religion of Islam.  Does that offend you?  It shouldn't if you understand that Muhammad was so engulfed in demonic activity as he devised the religion of worshiping Allah.  Satan is the father of all lies according to the apostle Paul.  Any religious force that is based in lies and opposes Jehovah and Jesus Christ is powered by evil.  Jesus said if you are not for me, you are against me.  The prince of the world is Satan and he directly opposes the things of God.

That's the problem.  Our leaders and the progressives of the world don't ever like to admit that evil exists.  Evil exists only if God exists and has influence in the world.  If we can take Sec. Kerry's stance that all these groups just get misunderstood and peace is possible if we can just come to terms, we don't have to acknowledge evil and thereby God.  No God, no judge.  No judge, no absolute truth.  No absolute truth, I can do what's right in my own eyes.  

Don't be afraid to stand up and call evil- evil.  It's not unloving or narrow minded.  It's not ignorant or radical right wing fanaticism.  It's right.  Let's do what's right.

Hate, Hope, and Home

Riots in MO, open borders, amnesty, beheadings, ISIS or ISIL - what's up with 2 names-, Golf outings, Hamas, Gaza, "bless you", and ebola.  Anybody else ever feel like things are a little out of control?    

   

Throw in personal tragedies, terminal illnesses, strained relationships, financial hardships, workplace pressures, and gnats...and it's almost too much to handle!  

   

That makes you wonder what really pushed Robin Williams over the edge. Money, fame, comedy, success and yet he chose the most painful way out for his family and friends.    

   

Good thing there's Jesus.  He has never crossed a border and yet keeps no one out.  He never grants amnesty yet forgives all who ask.  He hates terrorism but understands Holy war.  He loves all people but declares none come to God but through him.  He never leaves his leadership post- even for a golf game.  He has rightly battled Palestinians for over 4000 years.  He is the healer.  

   

Whenever those personal trials abound, He says - Rejoice!  Take joy!  This trial can help you know me more.  This pain leads to perfection.  This sadness leads to sanctification.  He says "I don't like it either but I am with you all the way!"  

   

Don't despair or get too caught up in the world and it's problems.  The end of The Book says its just going to get worse anyway.  Stand firm for what's right.  Fight only for what's important.  And most of all, be the ONE person in the lives around you that everyone in your circle knows will never leave them or forsake them.  Be the person that keeps others from crossing that line.  Be Jesus and a source of hope and it will ALL be worth it.

Christians Need to Quit Hating

In a country as liberated from the shackles of dark aged religious rhetoric and senseless prohibitions, we Christians need to reconsider our stance and be more inclusive.  Isn't that basically the message to the church today from our society.  All we have to do is to accept the modern version of marriage, a woman's right to choose, and quit being so exclusive of people just because they don't believe the same thing about God as we do and then we will be not be haters.  Those shifts in our positions would allow us to come along side the leaders in our communities and implement "change" and continue the peaceful advancement of moral and cultural unity.

So...let's see what steps we as churches and church leaders could take to reach such noble goals.

The problem we have with "a woman's right to choose" is the whole Ten Commandments "thou shalt not Kill" thing.  We definitely have to get rid of the Ten Commandments all together.  They are far to restrictive and absolute.  Who is God to tell us we can't murder, steal, cheat, lie, and blaspheme?  Step One- Throw out all restrictions of God and especially any references to the Ten Commandments.

The main obstacle to redefining marriage is the Bible.  We are going to have to change how we view the Bible.  Either we can just toss it out all together or we can just agree that it is basically a book of fables with moral recommendations but not absolutes.  We could even work together with those that are wanting to make a more inclusive religious book by taking pieces of all "historical religious writings" and make a book that does not teach right from wrong.  Then we could all be right.  Okay, step two- Throw out our Bible.

To include all people as just as right as us about God, Heaven, Eternity, the after life, and how we should live our lives here, we are going to have to stop talking so much about Jesus.  Jesus after all is the one that taught these things.  We as Christians can't keep teaching what Jesus taught if we are going to live at peace with all other beliefs.  Jesus himself did make the extremely radical and exclusive statement that HE alone was the ONLY way to God the Father and Heaven.  How could we possibly be all inclusive if the very foundation of our belief system is based on the teachings of someone so fanatically exclusive.  So it's settled, necessary step number three- Eliminate all references and teachings referring to Jesus.

Now... let's recap.  All we have to do in order to not be seen as haters and non-inclusive is follow these three simple steps:

1. Get Rid of the Ten Commandments
2. Get Rid of the Bible
3. Get Rid of all teachings of Jesus

One other thing.  In order to not be seen as haters, we have to quit loving so much.  Loving someone so much that you want to see them find their destiny for which they were created and bring glory to God with their life instead of ruining it with sin and self indulgence is gonna have to stop.  We can't love people so much that we are willing to look foolish in order to tell them about salvation and the way to God the Father and Heaven.  That kind of love is standing in the way of unity.  That kind of love is too radical and sets a bad example for the future generation of atheistic secularists.  I know it will be hard, but if we just stop loving God, then we can stop loving his creation.  If we stop serving God, then we can stop serving others.  

So if we totally disregard EVERYTHING we believe, then and only then can we be embraced by society. So let's get to it.  We have lots of unloving to do so we won't be seen as hating.  And since Christian is a reference to Christ which reminds people of Jesus, we need to get us a new name too.  Any ideas?

***note- anyone not familiar with sarcasm and allegory may miss the point here today!

Faith Sometimes Equals Incomprehensible

When I first met Joy's grandmother, Mimi, she was in her mid 90's.  We sat and talked and she told me her life verse was Proverbs 3:5-6.  Many of you know that passage.  The part that gets me is "lean not on your own understanding".  In 95 years, Mimi had learned the meaning of that.  She understood that not understanding is understandingly difficult to understand- but, it is a necessary and integral part of faith.

All too often we want to understand where, why, and how about our situation when we should just settle for what.  God will show us what to do in most situations but the other things require faith.

Going to Haiti as full time missionaries was easier than us coming home.  God graciously made it clear what we were supposed to do.
What = Stay in the U.S. to handle family needs. Not what we wanted but at least we knew it was God's plan.
Where = "I'll show you".
Why = "I'll show you".
How = "I'll show you".

Come on God.  Can't I get just a little more than that?  Why make it so difficult?

We ended up having to live in south Florida... no family... no friends... no ministry partners... no optometry license... no church...no job... no network... no connections...

"God, why not let us move back to NC?  I can do optometry there.  Our home church is there.  All of our family and friends are there.  The people that helped us go to Haiti are there.  Our kids have friends there. God, can't I just "lean on my own understanding" this one time?"

I tried to get a job in a church as missions pastor or something...dead end - Why?
We sent our kids to what we thought was the right choice for Christian school...had to move them - Why?
We had some retirement savings we took out to live on...it ran out- Why?
Joy had no friends there, no support network, no one to talk to about our feelings about leaving Haiti...depression- Why?

How...Do we pay our bills?
          Do we get the kids the help they needed?
          Minister since we are no longer in Haiti?
          Deal with depression?

Where do we go to church, to school, to work, to fellowship, to minister, to heal, to cry, to grow?

God I just don't UNDERSTAND!...
"Good...now I can do what I had planned all along..."- God

Jacy and I spent hours together getting her caught up on school she had missed by being in Haiti- our relationship grew in ways I know will be impacting to her for her entire life...

I eventually took a job as a tech in a doctors office since I could not practice optometry- It humbled me and helped me see things about myself that I had overlooked- I will always be a better doctor now...

All of our kids spent time with just us as a family getting to know America and the cool things it offers without outside influence- we share a special bond because of it...

I learned more about being for Joy what she needs when no one else is there.- I did a pretty crumby job most of the time but it drew us closer together...

I was offered a job in GA that I never would have been offered if we were in NC- It led us to a church with a pastor that let me preach a few times and then when he moved they called me to be the interim- God is moving in the church and we are getting to be a part of it...

Joy is ministering to a community of believers in a way that she never has before.- She is going to Haiti next week to visit with a healed heart...

There are still lots of things about our circumstances that I don't understand...How long will we be in GA?....How long will we be in the US?... What does our ministry future hold?...How will our kids continue to progress?...Will I ever figure out how to be what Joy needs?...

But I have learned that the first of that verse in Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord" and that is becoming a sweeter and sweeter ride as I learn to do it!  Help me "lean not on my own understanding"!

Loving Gnatville

Charleston, Savannah, Wilmington, possibly even Myrtle Beach or St. Simons Island.  That was our shortlist of places we would move to where I had a license to practice optometry and we could find what God had in store for us as we transitioned out of Haiti and back to the U.S. for as long as God has planned.  Somewhere near the coast with schools to meet our special needs and optometry jobs enough to provide for our family as we found where we could serve ministry wise.

Southwest GA- aka Gnatville- was not on our list of choices.  If you are unfamiliar with gnats, they are the third plague God sent on Egypt and their descendants found their way to SW Georgia.  You know if God used them as a plague AFTER turning a river to blood and a frog infestation, they can't be enjoyable.  They are little bitty demonic flies that get in your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and anywhere else by the hundreds from June until God sends cold enough weather to mercifully murder them all in the fall.  When we received the call about a clinic wanting me to come and talk to them about a job in Albany, GA I told Joy there was NO WAY!

Sound familiar?
"Do you think they will let us adopt this little foster baby?"....No Way
"Can you take this child with issues and raise him as your own?"...No Way
"Can you become full time missionaries and get rid of your every possession to live in Haiti?" ...No Way
"Can you take a one day old baby addicted to cocaine right before you move to Haiti?"... No Way
"You have to raise them somewhere they can get the help they need or they will never be able to function in a normal classroom."  ...No Way

You would think I would learn my lesson and never say No Way.  But, not yet so here we are...in Gnatville.
It is great.  We have our kids in a great school system and they are doing better than we would have ever imagined.  Jacy is completely caught up and excelling.  Josie is doing great as is Judah, Jaxon, and little Justice.  Luke is still at Hillsong Austrailia school of Ministry and will probably finish there in December.  Logan and Megan are in NC and doing well.

For a long time I could not figure out why we had to move to here though.  I did not feel it was just for work. It turns out I was right.  God has opened a door for me to get to preach each Sunday in a church while they search for their new pastor.  It is a huge blessing for me and Joy as we get to minister to a congregation with our family.  If you get really bored you can listen to a sermon or if you just want to see me in a bowtie and boots click here: Byne Memorial Baptist, Albany, GA.

We have learned so much from circumstances in the months that have passed.  From the fear of an autism diagnosis.  From the frustration of a learning disorder.  From letting Luke go to pursue the ministry.  From the joy of an unexpected pregnancy to the pain of losing the baby.  From unemployment and disappointment in searching for a position, to the joy of getting to use our gifts in a church.  The thing we have been reminded of is the theme of one of our favorite songs to sing loudly around the house..."MY God's not dead, He's surely alive and He's living on the inside roaring like a lion"...Praise God for restoration!

Dago Visits America

It has taken years of applying but Dago finally got a visitation visa to come to the U.S. I picked him up at the airport in Atlanta on Saturday as he flew in by himself. It has been a bit overwhelming as you can imagine, but it is great. He preached at our church Sunday night and we have a few other opportunities for him to share. We are going to Birmingham, AL for a men's conference this weekend and then to Florida to meet with some of the young men he has discipled through the years that now are in FL.

Dago helped in clinics for me and Dr. Dennis for years but I did an exam on him yesterday and found he has an aggressive form of Glaucoma that was previously undetected.  Pray for him that we can get him the medicine that he will need to control it or a surgery in the future.

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Having Dago here has really helped Joy and I too.  Things have really changed in New Vision Ministries.  Dr. Dennis and Dr. Tom both came to New Vision with the plan to work with me and Joy and support us in what we were doing.  When we felt God was keeping us from going back it changed everything. Dennis and Tom were thrown into positions they had not prepared for.  I spent the year dealing with my own sense of failure and didn't know exactly how I was supposed to be a part of the ministry.  Going back on trips would have made it hard for the other missionaries to be seen as the ones making the decisions instead of me.

Now all that has changed.  Dr. Tom and Dr. Dennis have both moved on to other areas of ministry and New Vision does not have a full time missionary on the ground in Haiti.  We do still have work being done there though.  The kids from the orphanage have been taken in by Stephen and Autumn Byxbe at Agape House, http://togetherwecaninc.org/twc-haiti-the-agape-house/ .  They worked with us before we left and are taking care of the 15 kids from Celebration Children's Home.  Dago is the director of the orphanage.

We also continue to support pastor Cesar and the other pastors we have worked with in the past and their schools.  There is still much work to be done in that area of finishing pastor Lucien's church and helping pastor Remy rebuild on the top of the mountain.

Many of you have continued to take trips. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!  Some have already connected with the Byxbe's and others have continued to work with pastor Cesar.  That is awesome!  Thank you for picking up the slack and continuing the work during our down time.  Tracy Robinson, NVM board member from NC, is headed down next week to work with Pastor Cesar and just visit to see what can be done.

Now that there are no NVM missionaries there, I plan to resume taking trips as well.  I have a group from the church where I am preaching that wants to go in the fall to see what needs there are and how we can help.  I know others have trips planned as well.

Julie, Sandy, Pastor Jonathan, Dr. Thomas, Brad, Stan, Pastor Bill, and others are still integrally plugged in and working to reach the Haitian people.  Dago, Pastor Cesar, Simeon, Wesner, Carrenard, Roger, and others are still in Haiti ready to continue working as we support them.  Stephen and Autumn are diligently striving to provide for the kids in the orphanage on a daily basis.  

Current opportunities:  

Monthly help for Agape House expenses

Resume support for Pastor Cesar's Pastors and churches

Teacher support for the schools

Support for Dago and his family as he serves as a local missionary to his people

Donations to pay for Dago's travel expenses on this trip

There are so many ways for us to impact the people.  If you want to give just let me know or send a check to:

New Vision Ministries

PO Box 2009
Hickory, NC 28603

If you want to be on a team to go let me know and we will let you know what is planned.  

Thank you for your patience during these huge changes as God directs.  The board of New Vision has been working diligently with all the changes to try to know God's will even when I was sulking on the sidelines.  Thank you guys for never giving up.  

Thanks for your support,

Kerry and Joy Reeves

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