Thursday, October 07, 2010

5 Week Report Card

Remember the dread you had in school when it came time for report cards? It has been 5 weeks since our Staff Strategic Planning Meetings at the end of August and the start of the fall team schedule. We can honestly say that we don’t have to face this “report card” with dread, but with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord and with excitement. Here’s why, in the last 5 weeks…

2 Sister Churches visited their Haitian brothers and sisters.

  • NewChurch Georgetown (Austin, TX) / Abricot Sister Church Visit
    • Satellite church visit
    • Youth meeting
    • Open air service (three people accepted Christ)
    • Installation of fans in the church
    • Hope for Kidz meeting
    • Deacons Meeting
    • Ladies Tea
    • Town Carnival Day (The church met at the town square and had the whole town involved. Kids and parents from all around came and participated in games, activities and face painting.)
  • Schuylkill Valley Bible Chapel (Mohrsville, PA) / Camp Perrin Sister Church Visit
    • Visited three satellite churches
    • Distributed 75 bags of beans and rice at each location
    • Ladies Tea
    • Deacons Meeting

2 Homes for Haiti teams came to build homes & do additional projects

  • Grace Lutheran Church (Seattle, WA) Homes for Haiti work team
    • Built home panels
    • Took an inventory of the entire HFH material supply
    • Visited their Sister Church for a Sunday morning service
    • Installed a house at Grand Goave for Pastor Bien-Aime, his wife and their 3 children.
  • 2nd Cape May Baptist Church (Marmora, NJ) Homes for Haiti work team
    • Installed two houses, 1 at Croix de Bouquet and 1 at Delmas 33
    • Visited their Sister Church for a special Tuesday night service
    • Worked around the mission center:
      • Installed and tiled new kitchen counter at the RMI Guesthouse
      • Built and installed a new folding buffet table at the Guesthouse
      • Installed ceiling fans in 2 RMI Offices**
      • Did electrical work at the Guesthouse and the Thompson's house
      • Prepared and poured the foundation for the HFH model in the RMI Depot yard
      • Networked the office computers
      • Created the building plans for the new Haiti RMI Office**

39 people have come on these teams.

And this is the “short” list! It means that many lives were touched, much ministry happened, and projects were accomplished. This is an exciting “report card”, don’t you think?! One that we know our Father would be proud of.

It does need to be mentioned that this kind of intense activity (4 teams in 5 weeks!) means an immense amount of work, coordination, long hours, a lot of travel, blood, sweat and tears for our missionary and national staff. And this in tough, hot, unpredictable Haiti conditions. They have labored through rain, broken vehicles, stress and time away from families. Pray for them as they continue to do God’s work with a smile on their faces.

Rejoice with us about this excellent report card!

**RMI’s Haiti office on the mission center has been officially condemned due to damage by the Jan. 12 earthquake. We have temporarily moved the offices to several rooms at the Guesthouse until a new office building can be built on the 2nd story of the RMI storage depot. More details will be forthcoming in a few weeks so stay tuned!

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Having been to Haiti 3 times this year, I can not express how true the above paragraph about the intense activity that the RMI staff has. They have treated the teams I was on with the utmost care, never showing or complaining about the hours/weather/conditions, etc. The entire staff is awesome. Prayers out to staff and especially Amy right now for a speedy recovery. Get well soon, you are a vital part of the team.
God blessings to you all.