Discipling the Nations

A few months back, the young adults at Crossroad studied the habits of a disciple of Christ.  When they begin planning for the trip to Tiburon, Haiti and for the Youth Conference that would take place, they decided on the same theme; Habits (Abitid in Creole). 
 Monday morning before the team could even finish breakfast youth were already lining up outside the church!  Excitement was in the air.  The team put last minute details in place and opened the doors to the waiting youth; and in they flooded!  Upon registering each attendee was presented a bible.  Over the two days, close to 300 bibles were given out! 
Participants came mostly from the area, including youth from the local Church of God.  When given their bible, they were given the choice of a French or Creole Bible and through out the conference, anytime a scripture was read, volunteers were asked to stand and read out loud, reading from both the French and Creole Bibles.  It was all about getting them into the habit of using the word of God as a tool.  The young folks loved the chance to participate and sometimes raced to be first to the mic.

The youth from TIbruon lead the worship and got the crowd motivated everyday and then the team members led the sessions, each leading one; each talking about how to grow as a Christian and the different aspects of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. 
During the two day conference, the youth were taught six ways to grow as a Christian: Hear God, Read the Bible, Fast and Abstain, Meet with Other Believers, Tithe, and Serve One Another.  They were also given some practical applications for each of the six habits. 

As part of the conference, Crossroad Church provided lunch to every participant so that all three hundred (plus) young folks had a good meal to keep them strong and energized.

Before the conference started on Monday, the team spent the weekend hanging out with their Sister Church Family, meeting with the Pastor, visiting some of the kids they sponsor in the area, and visiting a satellite church not far from the church itself.  For Pastor Lance, Crossroad’s Pursue/Go {Missions} Pastor, as well as some of the other team members who had never been to Haiti with RMI, it was a chance to better understand the partnership, to see the ministry in action, and to fall in love with their Haitian brothers and sisters in Tiburon. 

The rest of the pictures from the week can be seen here.

Garden tools and footwear.

Gary took a trip out to Tiburon not too long ago to make a delivery.  He took a plow and a crate of crocs. 

A local ministry received a large donation of crocs so they were handing them out to other ministries in this area to distribute.  Gary took some out to Tiburon when he went to deliver the plow.  Here is Pastor Lundy with the delivery of shoes!

And here he is with the plow.

The plow is a gift from Crossroad Church, Tiburon’s Sister Church from Jacksonville, FL  (Also Amy’s home church!).  Crossroad already donated a team of oxen and now the Tiburon church will be able to more efficiently plow their fields!

Crossroad is coming the end of next week to visit their Sister Church in Tiburon. They will be doing a youth conference.  Last year over 300 youth attended!  Keep them in your prayers as they are making final preparations, as they travel and then as the conference is taking place!

Update on Damage, Pray

The RMI team here in Haiti is working hard to get reports of damage. Reports are hard to get right now. Visiting these areas is impossible right now due to swollen rivers. Here is what we know so far…

Dame-Marie Church: The church members have lost their Gardens and some of people in the community have lost some sheet metal from their homes.

Dame Marie: Ti Riviere: At this satellite church, the area flooded and caused some homes to be damaged.

Dame Marie: Bariadel Church: Town flooding, Houses Damaged.

Les Irois: Three trees fell down on the school last night and a large part of the school has been damaged. The pastor tells us that 15% of the church member’s homes are damaged with parts of their roofs gone.

Les Irois: Mignon and Belais church… both of them lost the roof. The pastor has told us they will now have no place to worship.

Chambellan Church: The River was flooding last night in the town of Chambellan. A large amount of people from the town are now in the school and parsonage. Part of the church is damaged due to the loss of some sheet metal.

Abricot church: The pastor has lost the roof on his home. The community has lost all their gardens.

Tiburon Church: The church and the parsonage are safe but most of the church members have lost their gardens and some of the roofs on their homes.

Port-a-Piment: The pastor just reported that the town is flooding right now due to rain coming from the mountains causing many in the community to be at the church. The church members have lost all of their gardens.

Rob (for the team)

Hurricane Tomas Update

Hurricane Tomas is on its way through the Windward passage today. RMI missionaries report that they experienced high winds from 2 – 4 a.m. Rains have been heavy as well. They expect more wind and rain during the day today. Locally they have seen a lot of branches and crop damage. So far the at least one of the rivers is still inside its banks. They felt that areas to the west of Cayes will have much more damage since the hurricane was closer to that area. They are contacting as many Sister Churches as possible. Port-a-Piment and Tiburon report that they are ok, but the crops are destroyed. Here are a few pictures from the Cayes area:

Flooded garden in the valley below the mission center

We are thankful that God answered everyone’s prayers and kept the eye off the coast. Continue to pray as Tomas is not yet gone! We’ll post more updates when we receive more information.

Thank you for the encouragement!

"Thank you for helping our congregation at CrossRoad understand that we are called not just to give to the people of Haiti, but to be in relationship with them. Casual giving to soothe our consciences is being replaced by vital action, where our lives are intertwined with our sister church in Tiburon & we now see we have lessons to learn that only they can teach us."

Dennis Owen of CrossRoad UMC, Jacksonville, FL sent us this great word of encouragement. It is affirming to see the essence of RMI’s ministry being grasped and lived out. This is what RMI is all about! Thank you, Dennis.

Haiti Update

Today has been another busy day as we have fielded calls from many different corners of the US. Here are some things that we are working on:

* A Orthopedic and Trauma team from a Ft. Myers hospital is ready to leave for Cayes on Monday. We are joining our efforts with a local church, the local hospital and a couple of other ministries to make this happen. They sent a plane and Doctor team to Port last week and another one left today. This is yet another one, but it will be going to Cayes.

* US Sister Church, CrossRoads United Methodist of Jacksonville, FL is putting a team of doctors together as well as gathering medical supplies to send in.

* A longtime friend of RMI and her father drove a huge U-Haul truck to Ft. Lauderdale packed with medical supplies. Herb and Shirley Shoemaker met them there where they had to unload it, weigh everything, repack it onto pallets and prepare it for shipping to Cayes. 9,000 lbs. of supplies will be flown in via Methodist Habitat of Bahamas, the same planes that Dan went into Cayes with on Wednesday.

* A company in Pennsylvania who manufactures trauma equipment has already flown into Port with doctors and supplies and is now working on putting together supplies for Cayes.

* A number of churches have taken up special offerings for Haiti relief and those monies are starting to come in.

Wow! The list could go on and on. We are excited to see God supplying Haiti’s needs through so many different avenues.

Dan has been busy in Haiti as well. Through the relief funds, RMI has :

* given food to a AIDS patient feeding program

* sent food to the MEBSH churches in Port-au-Prince

* given food to local Cayes MEBSH churches who are feeding refugees who are now living in their buildings.

* given food to the local Rotary Club who are feeding patients at the local government hospital (2 meals a day!)

* given food to 30 local families who have taken in extended family & friends who are refugees.

Here are some pictures from this morning:

Dan with the hospital director and some of the hospital staff at the government hospital in Cayes.

At the general hospital. The lady in the foreground grimaces as her incision is cleaned. She lost a leg as a result of the earthquake.

Gary McLaughlin takes time to comfort another lady who lost a leg in the earthquake.

A makeshift stretcher – talk about uncomfortable!!

Dan helps a Rotarian unload a bag of rice. Beans and oil were also a part of the food aid.

Oil, rice, beans and sugar was also delivered to an MEBSH old folks home.

Keep praying – the need has only begun. We appreciate all of you!

Incredible Video Testimony That Explains Why We Do What We Do.

This video is long, but totally worth the investment! This paints a great picture as to why we do what we do. It will be worth it to watch the whole thing, but I would especially encourage you to watch Alison @06:35, Dana @14:41, Scott @21:00, and Dan @32:02.

This is a video of a church service on Nov 3, 2009 at one of RMI's churches, CrossRoad Church UMC in Jacksonville, FL. They tell their story of the broad impact of the partnership they have with their Sister Church in Tiburon, Haiti, through RMI.

For your convenience, here are some timestamps…

• 00:00 – Pastor Scott Crawford (Community Life Pastor) gives an introduction to their Sister Church Partnership.
• 06:35 - Alison (Recent Team Member) shares her story, specifically related to RMI’s Hope for Kidz child sponsorship program.
• 14:41 - Dana (recent team member) shares her dramatic story of Kingdom impact, salvation, being a God Parent.
• 21:00 - Scott shares more Kingdom impact.
• 26:15 - Scott shares message from Haitian Pastor Lundy to the congregation at CrossRoad Church UMC.
• 32:02 - RMI President Dan Shoemaker thanks the congregation for their compassionate partnership and impact.
• 37:38 - Sr. Pastor Gee challenges his congregation to live below their means to make a difference.

Finally, here is the video…

You can’t go around hugging missionaries!

Dan and I are at our daughter’s college (Trinity College of Florida) missionary conference.  We set up our booth yesterday a.m. and were prepared when classes were dismissed.  Dawn walked by our booth with a group of her friends.  When she got to the end of the table, I was standing there and she gave me a big hug.  One of her classmates gave a gasp, her hand flew to her mouth and she said, “Dawn you can’t go around hugging the missionaries!”  Dawn turned around and “She’s my mom!”.  Her friend’s eyes flew open wide and the look of chagrin on her face was priceless.  Everyone around had a great laugh about it.  She knew Dawn was an MK, missionary kid, so she figured that due to that Dawn felt a real affinity toward missionaries and was going around hugging the missionaries.  She didn’t know we were her parents.  It really was hilarious!

As the students were milling around, perusing the booths, the school’s 4 Haitians found our booth.  One of them picked up the Creole hymnal that we have out and found her favorite hymn.  She started singing and the others joined in.  They stood there and sang all the verses.  A crowd formed and listened to the impromptu concert in a foreign language.  It was cool.  Each one of them have made an effort to find us from time to time during the day to say hi and talk about Haiti.

Yesterday, the first day of the conference, also found me having an interesting conversation with the Child Evangelism Fellowship missionary at his booth.  He is what I call a ripple effect.  He quit the military to become a missionary because of the ministry and influence of my dad who was a CEF missionary to the US military in Germany.  When he got to the US for CEF’s training institute, my dad was one of his teachers.  One can never tell how far out your ministry will ripple!  It brought tears to my eyes.  I wish my dad knew how far his ripples have reached!  (My dad died of ALS in 2002.)

Today has been a good day of interaction with the students at our booth, at meals and in chapel.  It’s been fun to meet Dawn’s friends, too, and to see her going through “the college experience”.  Tonight Dan will have 7 minutes to share with the student body.

Tomorrow we will have a 45 minute workshop (one of several offered).  The conference ends at lunch time.

Rob is in Haiti

One more update:  Rob is in Haiti this week, Sept. 21 – 25, 2009.  He is working on RMI’s finances there and taking care of other administrative details.  Pray that the electricity stays on and the internet is stable so that he and the missionary staff will be able to accomplish all that needs to be done during this time.  Pray for Becky as she is home alone with the kids.

We have power and other updates!

The RMI office finally has power!  It was turned on at 6 p.m. Friday.  We started the work with in the 20th century….there was power, but no internet and no phones.  Dan had to work all day on that.  After a frustrating day, he was finally able to resolve it and bring us into the 21st century.  Wow.  We are very thankful that we can get down to business now.

Debbie sent out 4 orders of orientation materials today!  Teams are preparing for their upcoming visit to their Sister Churches.  We are really excited about the updated Orientation Training that we now have available.  Our goal is to make sure that a team member is well prepared when they arrive and ready to minister and be ministered to.

Dan and Debbie had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale.  The team there did a fantastic job of sharing their how their visit with their Sister Church impacted their lives.  They had a great video and photo collection, shared a Creole song and testimonies.  The pastor worked his message around the team, challenging the church to get out of their comfort zone (as each person on the team had done) and minister locally and globally.  We were there for all 3 services and had 2 meals with the team.  Dan had gone to Haiti with this team, so it was good to re-connect with them and see how their trip had impacted their lives.

RMI Impacts Lives Forever!

Moses News!

From the Moses' blog:

Yes, we have closed! Hooray! Yipee! Yes! and any other words that you can think of to describe our joy.

After 8 long weeks we finally closed last Wednesday August 26th. We were in Texas during the first part of June and put together a contract to close on June 28th. The Moses family returned to Haiti and packed all of our things and headed to Port-au-Prince. In Port we boarded a DC-3 to Ft. Pierce, FL with our 3 dogs and 2 cats. We spent the night in Ft. Pierce and woke up the next morning to life in America. We loaded up all of our belongs and animals with the help of Rob Thompson and Dan Shoemaker into a 16 foot Penske Truck and headed to Texas. This was on a Friday morning. By Saturday evening we were in Texas. Welcome home to the Lone Star State! We were tired, but very excited to be with family and to be moving into our new home on the following Tuesday.

Oh but wait! The mortgage company and the US department of agriculture got involved. We had worked out our loan through the USDA because they were offering a $0 down program aimed at developing rural areas. This is a great deal except for one thing. Everybody in America it seems, that is purchasing a home is doing it through USDA. As a result, every day we would ask…today? And every day we would get the response, “no, maybe tomorrow”.

Finally everything was approved and we were able to close last Wednesday. We were so excited, we started moving in that night and slept there. By 10am the next morning, our storage room was empty and most of our stuff was at least in the garage.

We are very grateful to God and are enjoying setting up our new home. The animals are beginning to settle down and feel like they are home too.

Now if we can only figure out where to put everything!!!!

Read about Rob and Becky's adventures in Haiti

Rob and Becky had a great time in Haiti.  They were able to accomplish quite a bit, experience a lot and came back glowing with excitement about their impending move there.

Here is the beginning of their blog entry when they got back:

"It was truly phenomenal.  We are excited, and want to go tomorrow.  But, funds must be raised first and cross cultural training must be acquired.  Our plan is to go in March.  Help us get there!

For those who are interested, here is an overview of what we did… "

You'll find the rest of the entry, a day by day account of their adventure, at Rob and Becky's blog.  We share their joy and excitement!

Tropical Storm Ana moves north

Rob and Becky Thompson go to Haiti tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18 for 6 days.  They are praying that Tropical Storm Ana will not be an issue.  It will be in the vicinity but so far, will looks like it will be north of Port-au-Prince and the Cayes area, thus enabling them to reach the mission center.  A good site to use to follow hurricanes and other tropical systems is, http://www.stormpulse.com/.  It provides good graphics, projected paths, timelines, etc. 

Pray for Rob and Becky.   Their time there is limited and they have a lot to accomplish during their stay.  Pray that the 3 kids do well with their host families. 

A personal letter from Jules!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning dear brothers and sisters.  I greet you with Philippians 1:2-4  "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ (with the daily guidance of the Holy Spirit).  I thank God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy."  It is good to have brothers and sisters in the faith to support each other with prayers.

I know you have heard from Dan Shoemaker - I am very sick and I am here in the United States for treatment since the spring.  I want to thank you so much for your prayers for me, my wife Martha who is with me, and my two sons:  Jeremy and his wife Kizzy, and Joshua, during this difficult time.  The young men live in the Atlanta area.  We have sensed people are praying for us.  It says in II Corinthians 1: 3 and 4, "...God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  Yes, I am going through some great and painful difficulties at the moment but I have sensed His comfort and strength, and comfort from you, my brothers and sisters.

I want to thank each of you who have sent monies to RMI for my support during these difficult days.  Martha and I do appreciate the financial support so much as neither of us are able to work at this time.  I also want to thank those who have sent cards to encourage me and the family.  There are not enough words to say thank you for these encouragements of financial gifts, cards and prayers.

We do not know how long we will be here in the United States but we are relying on God and the doctor's council.  We are following the treatments they recommend and trusting God.

If anyone wished the address of my niece-in-law's apartment where we are staying while going for medical treatments and doctors appointments:

150 Sammett St., Malden, MA  02148

The cell phone where you can reach me or Martha is 321-217-4165.

In closing, it says in Galations 6:9 and 10, "and let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."  We (Martha and I) remember you and give thanks to God for each of you and pray for you always.

Your brother,

Jules Gedna

Dan is in Haiti

Dan is in Haiti for 2 weeks.  He landed yesterday and is joining the Florida Bible Church as they visit their Sister Church and establish forever relationships for the first time.  It should be a fun time!  Can you imagine finding brothers and sisters in Haiti that you never knew you had?!  What a thought!

 

After they leave on Friday,  he will have administrative meetings with RMI missionaries, Gary and Marilyn McLaughlin and Amy Long, and the RMI Haitian staff.  He'll also be meeting with all the Haitian Sister Church pastors and School Directors to share with them the recent updates in the Hope for Kidz Program. 

 

During the last part of his visit, Rob and Becky Thompson will arrive and spend several days.  When they move there, they will be living in the Moses' house (which had been ours before that).  They will be able to see the house first hand, Becky can take measurements of the rooms and windows and they can make realistic plans on what they need to bring to set up house.  They'll tour the area where they'll be living and meet some of the other missionaries on the mission center.  There are several families with young children.  Rob will participate in some of the meetings with Dan.  He is also going to speak at the missionary prayer meeting.  In other words, they are establishing some forever relationships for the first time for themselves AND their kids.  What an exciting time for them!  Over the years we made many forever relationships with our fellow missionaries.  Some are still there and some are scattered around the world.  Our kids regard the kids they grew up with as siblings, not just childhood buddies. 

 

We are really excited about having the Thompsons on the field.  Pray that God will bring in their support quickly so they can get to Haiti by their March target date. 

 

Pray for Dan as he shares his heart and does  vision casting for the future of RMI  in Haiti.  He has a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time and all in the hottest time of the year.  Pray that God will have His Hand on all the various meetings, formal and informal.  Pray for the Thompsons that they'll have a good, positive and encouraging time in Haiti.

The Moses' are in Texas

Saturday Debbie Moses sent this update:  "left Ft Pierce, FL yesterday at 1:30pm. Arrived in Sanger,Texas at 5:00pm today. Whew! Fast trip with 5 animals, 2 kids and almost 4000 lbs of cargo.  GOD is so good!"

They are currently staying with Debbie's dad.  What a great dad to take them, the 2 cats, 3 dogs and all that cargo in!  Pray for them as they look for a place to live and get settled into their new life.  It's hard to make an international move and start all over again from scratch.  Pray that all the pieces will fall into place as they rebuild their household, the girls get into school and they all adjust to living with full time electricity, running water and Walmart again.  :)

On the road to Texas

Dan and Rob met the Moses family in Ft. Pierce, FL yesterday, Friday, and helped them load their stuff into their rental van and truck.  Leaving Haiti was hard and bittersweet, but they were in good spirits and excited about starting a new chapter of their lives and continued ministry with RMI.  They hope to arrive in Texas Sunday evening. 

The Moses family is on the plane

And so are all of their belongings, their animals, and their suitcases.  Today they fly out of Haiti on MFI's DC 3 (Missionary Flights International).  A tropical wave has been going through the area, which has resulted in their last 2-3 days being very rainy. 

Their long, steep driveway partially washed away and they had to rebuild it so the truck loaded with their stuff could get out and on the road to meet them at the plane.  Even so, the truck almost tipped over and it took 2 tries for it to get up the rebuilt, muddy, slick driveway.  Their stuff got wet, but we're not sure to what extent.

A DC 3 trip is quite an experience.  Cargo of all sizes and shapes as well as the animal crates are strapped securely down.  Only enough seats are added for the exact number of passengers that are on the plane.  It is not known for its amenities!  There's a port-a-potty in the back tail area.  It's loud and the trip is over 5 hours long.  But God uses MFI and these DC 3s in such a vital way!  They provide mail, purchasing, cargo, shipping and transporting services for over 300 missionaries. 

[We personally used MFI's services for over 20 years.  We received mail, packages, cargo and even Thanksgiving turkeys via MFI.  We flew into Haiti with them numerous times and were evacuated from Haiti twice on MFI.  Our final flight out of Haiti was when we moved 3 years ago...all our belongings, animals and suitcases!  We appreciate them and their ministry so much!!]

Once they land at MFI's base in Ft. Pierce, Florida, they will spend the night there.  Tomorrow their belongings will have to clear customs before they can claim it, load it up and hit to road to Texas.  RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, and RMI's VP of US Operations, Rob Thompson, will be meeting them there in Ft. Pierce to help them load their stuff and touch base with them before they leave.  They hope to arrive in Texas Sunday.

Pray for them.  They will be bone-tired!  Pray for them also as they start down this new path that God has laid out for them.  Billy will still be doing his US Sister Church Partnership Coordinator job with RMI.  They will still need your support!!

RMI in Haiti Interactive Map

I have been working on this map for a little while.  This is a map that contains the approximate location of RMI’s Sister Churches in Haiti as well as some other points of interest.

This map needs the collaboration of others for locations and pictures. Some locations are quite accurate, others are not.  Some pictures have been added, but many more can be added.

You will want to click here to truly view the map and make edits.  Have at it…

Rob

View RMI in Haiti in a larger map