Ahh… Much Better

Things have gotten much better since we established a team in my church to move the project forward. We have similar schedules, so it is much easier for us to meet together and even talk on the regular without planning (I see many of them every day). It’s also much better because they already know and respect me. One man, a doctor, was unable to make an important planning meeting on Saturday. Any minute now he will be coming to my house to find out what he missed. I would have never asked him to do that, especially after working with other busy people in Port-au-Prince. I half-way expected to have to chase him down, but the pre-established relationship changes things completely.

We have the resources available to create a great internship program through professionals in the church alone, but in order to tap all of those resources, there is some preliminary work that would be required by the church’s association of professionals, which is still being developed. We have chosen, rather, to keep our focus on organizing a conference to get the issues out in the open, and developing and providing resources to students to help them find alternative routes toward their career goals. We hope to provide internships through our more obvious resources, but it will not be highly publicized. You could call it a pilot for the original pilot program that I was developing. That means that my original plan has become a long term goal.

The team-members came-up with a fantastic line-up of potential speakers for our conference. They know some pretty amazing people (one team member is a journalist for a major radio station, so between he and my dad, we probably had all of the contacts that we needed). On the list we have people with unbelievable success stories, people who are great motivators, and people with a lot of vision who are all capable of giving our teens new focus. By the end of the week, I should have completed an English version of our project proposal for the conference (for grants). A member of the team will help me with the French version next week. We have several places to submit our proposal that will get back to us within a week, so within that week of waiting, we hope to begin contacting our list of superstars.

I think that one of the most important things that I am learning to do this summer is how to “degaje’m” in Haiti. That is Creole for “make due with what you’ve got.” In the U.S. I’m used to regular schedules, timeliness, courtesy calls for canceled meetings. It’s not the same here. Degaje is the most important verb for any Haitian entrepreneur to learn. I’ve always been resourceful and flexible, but “degaje” is on a whole new level. In the U.S. people say to make lemonade out of the lemons that life throws at you. Well, let me tell ya, I’ve got a whole lot of lemonade to sell. At least now, I finally found some sugar.

Never Letting my Dad Go out on His Own Again!

I miss EVERYTHING! Things that happen to, through, and around this man are so unpredictable. This makes twice in one week!

On Christmas day, while I was preparing for a Christmas concert, he was out chasing down a voodoo priest who was holding a prominent member of our church hostage (this is actually a very long, complex story so I won’t get into how he ended up there). Basically Dad busts in to the temple with a police officer (who is from our church) and demands they release him. They tried to make him afraid, throwing out threats, but ended up being afraid of him instead. If you’ve met my dad, that isn’t hard to believe. He’s got a boldness on him that demands attention and respect. He got the guy out with a lot of fuss, but without a problem.

This evening he went out without me again because I’ve been sick. After performing a wedding ceremony then staying for the prayer service at church, he steps out the door and heads to the car. As he steps outside the church he hears a woman crying out “He stole my things! Stop him! Thief!” My dad looks around, and sure enough there is a man sprinting in his direction. Without a thought, he punches him and knocks him flat on the ground. After a bit of a struggle, they got ahold of the man and returned the lady’s things. Everyone was surprised to find that the pastor knows how to fight. Just living up to the last name…

I don’t care if my temperature is 112F (last night it felt pretty close), he’s not going out without me again. I don’t care if I have dinner with the President, if my dad is not invited, I’ll have to skip out. Life with this man is rediculous. Rob, G, Rose, Jude, Fegs, Wegs…. u really don’t know what you’ve been missin. I don’t feel like I can leave Haiti for another full semester… just can’t happen. If you’d like to donate to Junior’s Commute to and From Haiti Fund, let me know.

A Little more than “Church as Usual”

When I wrote the blog about desperation, I failed to adequately explain what I meant by being discouraged by “church as usual.” I think that some people may have misunderstood the fact that I was describing a looong stretch of time since I’ve had this feeling (since at least February) and that it mostly occurred in the U.S. Many of you may have thought that I was describing the current revival at our church in Haiti. I do sometimes get the same “church as usual” feeling here because God said he can surpass my imagination. To this day, my imagination surpasses what I have seen, so I cannot yet be satisfied, because I know that his promise is true. But here in Haiti, the standards of “church as usual” are being raised every day.

Last night was more than ridiculous. Something big really broke through last night. As usual, it got really intense at the end of the service when the call for prayer was being made. As Dad led the congregation in a prayer for healing and deliverance there were shouts all around in the crowd. People started jumping up and down, dancing, singing, every expression of joy that you could imagine were happening all at once. God was clearly working in lots of lives in the congregation at that moment. The “lighting” even changed to match the mood. It was getting dark then out of nowhere the sun “came back” and lit up the church with a golden-orange glow as if to visibly show the fire that was filling the building. This glow only lasted during prayer. When we were finished, God flicked the switch and darkness came back. After the service no one wanted to leave, though it was dark and the streets aren’t always safe to walk on at night.

This service was broadcast on the Radio and the web. My Dad led people at home listening in the same prayer of healing and deliverance. Then he told people to call with their testimonies. By 9pm he received 51 calls and 15 messages (not including those who couldn’t get through while the phone was in use). Most of the calls were of people testifying of healing, but a couple of calls came from radio stations in Miami who also want a chance to broadcast what is going on in this church. Today we found out that hundreds of people have been calling the Miami station with testimonies that have not yet reached us and prayer requests of people who want to touch the same fire that has started here. I’m telling you, its not quite church as usual. Something big is happening here every day. Every day its looking more and more like what I described in the blog on desperation. A church filled with the presence and the power of God.

Still, when the excitement starts to fade and I lay down to sleep all I can imagine is our army of a few thousand filled up with the power of God to the measure described in the Acts of the Apostles. As we walk we’ll wake the dead, heal the sick with the touch of a shadow, rise up with the faith of Elijah to challenge the darkness of voodoo with the power of God, and have nightly face-to-face meetings with God himself–like Moses. With that kind of power on God’s people, Haiti could be transformed by us taking a walk across it. I’m satisfied by the presence of God that is filling this place, but I am always hungry for the greater things that he promised with his own lips. I am waiting for the things that surpass my imagination, for I know that His Word is true. God has given me a vision for it and every day I’m learning more about the level of desperation that is required to receive it.

I’m scheduled to preach the message that God gave me on Friday, August 10. It will be broadcast on Radio Lumiere (www.radiolumiere.org) around 5:30 Eastern (I think). It will be good for those of you who want to hear what’s going on but cannot speak or understand creole because I preach in English and my Dad translates. Unless God changes my message I’m delivering what he gave me weeks ago. God has only just begun His work here. We need to enjoy his presence and rejoice in our deliverance, yet stay hungry for and keep praying for more, because there is much more to come.

On another note, God is still moving strong with the children. Every day 6-12 come to know Him personally. Last year probably 80% of the new Christians were under 25. This year, they are mostly under 14. Those of you who know about the dream that God gave me before I came here know what that means. As usual, I didn’t start a thing… God did. I just walked in and got chosen to participate. Pray with me that God will accomplish it just like He showed me. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about. I’ll post the dream for you someday when I have another update about the kids.

Building the Tablernacle de Gloire

I believe it all went down in 2003. People started coming out of nowhere, hungry to hear the word of God. For several months the congregation had to endure extreme heat as the church built for a few hundred fought to pack in a thousand. You couldn’t go in for 15 seconds without leaving a pool of sweat. It was obvious that it was time to move… but where? A few years earlier the church had bought a plot of land to begin building a new home, but at that time, it was no more than a foundation. No roof, barely any walls, definitely no electrical systems… Finishing the project would take a lot of time and money, which most of the congregation did not have, but there was no other option. They had to move, believing by faith that God would provide.

Well, a few years later, its amazing to see what God has done. Although the people had to (and still have to) fight to avoid the morning sun and evening rain in a structure wide open to the sky, the church grew exponentially after the move. As for the building of the “Tabernacle de Gloire,” thats a story of miracle after miracle.

One woman recently donated 600 sacks of cement. She is not yet a member of the church and the way she stumbled into the church is another wonderful testimony filled with dreams and angels. When Dad and I finally met her, we were surprised to find out that she was far from wealthy. She was just faithful to God’s call to give.

A certain man, an expert in construction, felt God call him to donate his services. The man is not even a Christian, but he knew in his heart that the work of the church was what our area and all of Haiti needs. After agreeing to work unpaid, he worked more diligently than the paid workers. He clearly knew what he was doing, so we promoted him to the “boss” (foreman) position, and gave us one of the most well-crafted, time-efficient jobs yet. This man is also poor. The church didn’t want him to leave empty handed, so something was arranged for him.

There are tons of other stories, but perhaps the greatest of them all is the story of the collective effort. To this day, every brick, every stone, every bar of iron, every sack of cement, mixed with buckets and buckets of water has been bought, prepared and laid by Haitian hands and Haitian finances. Most of the congregation does not even have stable work. People are litterally giving out of their poverty to see this work completed. Tonight after the service, I joined with about a hundred other volunteers to make a chain from outside to the the third floor to lay blocks for an upcoming job. My dad wasn’t going to ask for their help, especially since some were wearing their nice church clothes, but when they saw that the work needed to be done they insisted. There was nothing like it… standing on the roof, passing blocks, singing and dancing to “Apiye’w sou Jezu!” dancing the whole time. It’s truly an amazing experience. To God be the Glory!

When the Tabernacle is finished it will comfortably seat 6,000-8,000 depending on the seating arrangement chosen. People already estimate that it will be too small.

The following is a view from the back of the third floor looking forward.

This next picture is a mass of people some leaving church, others gathering blocks (before it was organized into a chain).

I can think of one other place I’ve seen something like this:

“From what you have, take an offering for the LORD. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the LORD an offering of gold, silver and bronze; blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ram skins dyed red and hides of sea cows acacia wood, olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense… [The craftsmen] received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.” EXODUS 35:5-8; 36:3-7

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