End of January 2024 Update
Even if you’re a scheduling expert on par with Michael Hyatt, sometimes there’s just more on your “To Do” list than hours in the day! As we work here in the DR with Jaime and Jackie, helping them juggle their Haitian feeding programs, Dominican pastors’ teachings, Haitian church-planting pastors’ meetings, Disciples who Make Disciples classes, and Kids’s Club Saturdays…not to mention managing their own family while frantically packing to move to the unfinished Mission House in time for a team from Wisconsin to arrive for its completion…we realize that “over-scheduling” is the norm for these hardworking pastors! As is typical with a packed schedule and no-excuse deadlines, lots of complications have arisen, chief among them the necessity of drilling BELOW the water table at the new Mission House for septic runoff! But this is no surprise to our LORD; the job is nearly done, a million or so boxes have been (frantically) packed and moved, all while carrying out the various missions.
And how does it feel to be back? On some fronts, it’s only taken moments to reacclimatize. The “loco” drivers who blind us with their brights (Jaime says he doesn’t think they know lights CAN be dimmed), the cold showers, the frequent power outages, the motorcyclists who don’t use ANY lights or mirrors, the indecipherable “rules” of merging and roundabouts, the cold showers, the padlocked doors, the blaring horns, the pervasive heat …did I mention the cold showers?… all these were burned into our subconscious minds last time and instantly remembered.
What we HAD forgotten/blocked out/repressed was how closely the Dominican music on Saturday nights resembles Purgatory! This last weekend, after a hectic week of training and an overflowing/exhausting Kid’s Bible Club that day, we were blasted until 3:30 AM with base-amplified music so intense the house shook. None of us slept. At breakfast, bleary-eyed and grim, we compared the creative and retaliatory schemes we’d hatched during the long, sleepless hours. Eventually (and reluctantly), we abandoned the perpetrators to the LORD for Him to wreak vengeance. Hopefully soon.
We have, of course, been visiting newly planted as well as existing Haitian churches, talking with their pastors, and listening to their stories; the picture painted is grim indeed. Most Westerners are aware of the dire poverty in Haiti, the corruption of its government, the death grip the gangs have on the ports, the kidnapping of foreigners for ransom, and the rampant violence everywhere. It is little wonder refugees flee over the border to the Dominican, even though they are unwelcome and exploited here. What is heartbreaking is the plight of the second-generation kids born here; they are stateless, neither Dominican nor Haitian. Fearing that violence will spill over the border, the DR empowers patrols to find and immediately deport Haitians. Corruption is rampant; one of our pastors…who HAS a passport and work visa…was picked up, sent back, and charged $300.00 to return! Teenagers, in particular, are terrified to leave their homes lest they be picked up and sent to Haiti… a country they’ve never even visited and where they know no one! They are virtual prisoners in their isolated villages, stubbornly resistant to learning their language (Creole) yet unable to assimilate as Dominicans.
But, oh, how these people love to worship the LORD! Without the benefit of instruments or song sheets, they shake the rafters of their makeshift chapels (often only a frame with draped sheets), singing for hours. Without Hope of a future in this world, they focus on the Hope that is to come. It is humbling how grateful and appreciative they are for any help, physical or spiritual. Last year, this ministry helped establish five Haitian church plants; we’ve added two more since arriving. Some evenings, when we travel the back country roads into areas where the Haitians are relatively safe, so many gather at the churches there’s no room and they hang over the windowsills and mill around outside to hear the preaching.
The evangelistic ministry to the Haitians here thrills our hearts. Partnering with Handfuls of Hope (the Dominican branch of Feed My Children), we have access to huge stocks of nutritionally dense and vitamin-fortified Manna Packs, which are then transported to Haitian churches. At the location, the pastor spreads the word there will be food and the Good News of the Gospel that night; about 50% who come will be believers, the others hungry people from the village. We follow the sound of their music and use our phone flashlights to light the narrow path leading to the church. To a standing-room-only group, we preach the Gospel, later handing out boxes of food. Each night, some surrender to the LORD for the first time, returning to the church each week to learn more. As you can imagine, it’s a toss-up who comes away more blessed; us or the people! We have the food, the volunteers, the pick-up truck, the Haitian pastors, and hundreds of hungry people desperate for both food and the Gospel; please pray for continued funding for fuel (over $6.00/gallon) for the pick-up to make the nocturnal runs!
This ministry is a counterbalance to the horrible news coming out of M____________. The illegal military there is now imposing conscription on both men and women, ages 18 to 35 because they are desperate for soldiers to fight against the resistance. Imagine being conscripted by a military you don’t support and being forced to fight against friends and neighbors who are resisting it! It is a terrifying situation as cars are being stopped on roads, and people extracted and pressed into service. Our friends who run GED schools for Burmese students are thwarted at every turn, as no one dares travel. We have to trust that what the enemy intends for evil, God will turn into good. (To read more, here’s a recent article. https://www.voanews.com/amp/thailand-braces-for-refugee-influx-after-myanmar-junta-announces-conscription-law/7492689.html)
Our next destination, God willing, is Thailand, beginning with a two-week discipleship training of pastors from M_________ in early March. Please pray the participants can travel safely and that we’ll still be able to hold the conference.
And so, we’ll love you and leave you, incredibly grateful that Peter is healthy, and able to keep up (that’s a relative term!) with the demands of this busy, busy ministry, and training disciples once again. We’re deeply grateful, also, for the tremendous help and support we received from family and friends that got us back on the field; it’s deeply appreciated.