theSliver

Kanaval

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:32:00 +0000

It’s Kanaval Nasyonal time right now in Haiti (Carnival or Mardis Gras for you English speakers.) For the first time ever, the national celebration of this festival is officially being held in a city other than Port au Prince—our town of les Cayes. That means the Haitian President, Prime Minister and all government officials are here, along with a massive amount of police and dignitaries. Our town is hopping (literally-- I can feel the bass and Kompa music blaring a few miles away.)

Carnival is celebrated all over the world leading up to Ash Wednesday, primarily in Catholic or orthodox countries. Each country blends in much of their cultural history in this festival, held over many days. Karnval includes loud music, floats, all-night partying and general revelry. Since Haiti’s cultural history is thick in African roots and voodoo and this is reflected in their Kanaval celebrations.

You can guess we are not attending these all night parties! But, WOW, can we hear it going strong all night long! It was really neat to see the preparations in Cayes the last few weeks leading up to Kanaval. Streets being cleaned, lots and lots of painting going on to make everything look fresh, new asphalt on some streets, and huge grandstands being erected. There are these huge ‘floats’ pulled by massive Mack trucks—some are floats as you know them, some are trailers with huge speakers on the bottom and the band rides on top. I haven’t gotten to see them first hand in action, but here are some pics of the action taken by some people Rob follows on twitter.

Here are some pics we took of the preparations leading up to Kanaval. You can click on any of them to see them larger.

New grandstands lining the main road into Cayes:

There is an area closer to us that they cleared out for vendors and big partying. Here you can see some of the Mack trucks lined up with the trailers ready for huge speakers and bands.

Rob went up in another missionary’s plane yesterday to check it out. Here are a few pics:

Here is an aerial view of the same cleared area. I imagine it’s packed at night.

Here is some pics downtown. Again, much tamer during the day.

And finally, a really cool picture of downtown Cayes:

~Becky

Recent Favorite Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:46:00 +0000

We have bee SO busy lately! We are on week 5 of 5 weeks in a row with teams. Much ministry has been happening, but we’ve had little time to blog. Our whole family just returned from a few days out in Astruc with a team from The Orchard so I thought I’d take a few minutes and post some favorite pics of the trip.

Rob’s getting pretty good at photo editing too! Here are 2 really good pics of the pastor’s daughters:

~Becky

Wahoo! This feels good!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:20:00 +0000

I am dancing a jig. If you could see me now! (Actually, I am glad you can’t see me because I can’t dance! It’s quite a sight!)

We are FULLY SUPPORTED! Due to the generous donations of so many, we can say we are fully supported going into this new year. Thank you to our monthly donors. Thank you to those who have given special gifts.

We can’t express our gratitude. We can’t begin to explain our appreciation. We can’t describe to you how supported/loved we feel.

Thank you.

Astruc Church and School… Dewormed!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Recently, The Orchard EFC paid for and initiated their second annual Deworming Clinic in their partnership community, Astruc, Haiti. RMI Pharmacist Becky Thompson, Nurse Denise Joseph (Benson’s wife), RMI Translator Marie France, and RMI Administrator Benjamin Altema completed this clinic. Every child and adult in the Astruc church and school received deworming meds. The Orchard EFC team will be arriving in Haiti in less than one week to do deworming clinics (among other things), including prevention training, to deworm 2 more communities in their Sister Church Partnership District.

According to Deworm the World, “Over 600 million school-age children are infected with parasitic worms. These infections are chronic and widespread, harming children’s health and development and limiting their participation in school. School-based deworming is universally recognized as a safe, simple and cost-effective solution. The benefits of school-based deworming are both immediate and enduring. Regular treatment can reduce school absenteeism by 25% and increase adult earnings by over 20%, and at a cost of less than 50 US cents per child per year.”

You can see more pictures here.

Mom Brower’s First Visit to Haiti

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Right after Thanksgiving, I flew to NJ to surprise my sister, Amy! I didn’t get to see her much this past summer because her newest son was born prematurely and she was at the hospital with him almost the whole time I was there. My Mom and I showed up her her church that Sunday and pulled off a pretty good surprise! I think she really was shocked! I spent 4 of the 6 days in NJ with her. We had a great time hanging out, shopping, playing games and I enjoyed playing with my nephews (she has 4 boys now!) I was sad to go at the end of the week, but I really enjoyed my time with her.

Part of the plan for flying in to see my sister, was to bring my Mom back to Haiti with me. I was thrilled to finally be able to show her where we live and serve—for her to get a taste of what our life is like! She came for 2 weeks and we had a really good time. We stayed low-key as the kids were still in school, but we did some really fun things as well.

Here is us on the plane ready to fly home to Haiti and the drive from Port au Prince to Cayes where we live:

We took her to Rainbow Beach:

We shared many meals, she tried new foods and she even learned how to make bannan peze:

She and the kids spent lots of time exploring together:

We visited Drew and Tessa at school:

My highlight was the weekend we spent all together at the RMI Retreat Center in Zanglais. What a fun time we had together, playing on the beach and playing games when the kids went to bed. The local fisherman were pulling in their net right on the beach one day and Mom-Mom even boogie-boarded!

That Sunday we went to the church in Zanglais where they had a Brigade from another church sing and perform.

Mom learned to ride a 4-wheeler (which included many laughs!)

Mom was here for Drew’s school Christmas Program, but I’ll save that for another blog post.

We have so many great memories, it was so hard to pick just a few pics! We miss you Mom-Mom and can’t wait for you to come back again!

~Becky

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:17:00 +0000

I am so behind on blogging! Sometimes, life just gets away from me and before you know it, I haven’t written anything in weeks or months! The next few posts will be my attempt to catch up on exciting events in the last month and half. Most of them are personal or family events… hope you don’t mind!

Again this year, we held the annual Missionary Thanksgiving Dinner at our home. The final count was around 110 people. We had lots of really good, traditional Thanksgiving food, a great time of giving thanks all together, and the kids had fun with some crafts and a turkey piñata. (Drew’s smack was the final smack that sent the candy flying!)

Here is a photo of the whole group. We are a pretty good looking bunch, don’t you think?

~Becky

Another New Monthly Supporter…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Praise the Lord! We are getting close to our end of year goal. Can you help us?

Didn’t see our “End of the Year Request for Help”? See it here.

Give Online Now | Pledge Online Now | Give via check in the Mail

Effective Consumption of Social Activity…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Yes, as strongly implied, there is ineffective consumption of your social stream. Facebook if often a never-ending black whole. I am convinced that many jumped head first into the online social world, but now must pull back to a responsible level. There is no end to tweeting and retweeting. Don’t get me started on Google+. Today, we find the consumption of our online social activity is more akin to drinking from a fire hydrant than a water fountain (bubbler for you Wisconsin cheese heads). There is so much helpful, and unhelpful content. It seems to me to be a good steward of our most precious resource (TIME) given by God, we must be wise in our choice of how to consume this massive flow of information.

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ aren’t evil, but they easily can be.

Here are my top 5 suggestions for you…

Use Google Reader, or some other RSS/ATOM web based aggregator for blogs and other online content. Most online resources have a feed associated with them. A “news reader” such as Google Reader allows you to check multiple feeds (example: blogs) in one location. New content (blogs, picasaweb, flickr, facebook, etc) comes to your Google Reader when it's posted, so you don't need to visit individual sites. One page, for all content. One of the most inefficient ways of consuming blog content is to actually visit all the blogs you want to read.
Use Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Seesmic or some other Social Media Dashboard to interact with all your social streams all in one location. For instance, Hootsuite receives and publishes updates simultaneously to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ (sort of), LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress, Flickr, Tumblr, and YouTube…
Set boundaries/limits. Only check your social activity at specified times of the day. Only spend a pre-specified amount of time online. For instance, maybe you want to check in the morning, at lunch, and in the evening before bed. If you are addicted (which is quite possible), make some hard choices to break the addiction. You will be fine without consuming all this data. Go on a diet. Go extreme if necessary. Fast. Have you noticed I have been much more quiet lately?
Speaking of boundaries, keep your work life and your personal life separate. Your employer is not paying you to check your granny’s Facebook (yes, these days, even granny’s are on FB). Your employer is not paying you to write personal blog posts during the work day. (Ask me why I worked on this post a little bit at work.) Be a good steward of the time you have in the place God put you.
Protect your family. Your family deserves your undivided attention. Facebook does not. Set aside time to exclusively spend with your family, as in not your mistress (aka Facebook). Husbands, avoid inappropriate chatter with other women. Ladies, same idea. Children should be supervised.

I don’t claim to have all the above figured out perfectly, but I thought I would share with you what I know in case it helps. Any suggestions you have?

Use it well. In our day in age, I actually think it is a requirement and responsibility to have some level of social activity awareness. Clearly it has it’s limits and pitfalls, but it also has it’s very helpful benefits, but personally and professionally. There is so much to learn. There is a great way to use the unlimited resources of the web. There is also a sinful way. Be wise about it.

By the way, find me on Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | PicasaWeb

Rob

We Need Your Help to Finish Strong.

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:30:00 +0000

We just sent out an email to our list of friends, family and supporters. If you didn’t see it, you can subscribe to our list here. You may also see this email online here.

Black Friday vs. Bleak Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:57:00 +0000

Frenzied pursuit of stuff with the reality of extreme poverty. Black Friday vs. Bleak Poverty The shopping is in my face online, the extreme poverty is in view from my back yard. I can’t quite figure it out. I don’t want to simply throw America (other nations for sure too) under the bus, but it just doesn’t seem right.

My only prayer is that you/I will seek God’s direction to live biblically in your/my context. Pursue him and his values. How does he want you/me to live? Are we being good stewards of our blessings/resources?

Rob

Tarzan and Jane…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:42:00 +0000

Our thatched-roof gazebo has been in need of a re-thatching for a long time. Lots of holes. They usually need to be replaced every two years. On Monday, a worker came to take the old thatch down. Tomorrow, he is is redoing it. Here is what our gazebo looks like right now:

Well, today Drew and Tessa found where he put all the old thatch. Right off the side of our cliff, under a huge tree, that has huge vines that the kids like to swing on. They’ve never swung off the cliff on these vines before, mind you, but put the old thatch roof in a pile right under these vines… well, it didn’t take them long to start cliff jumping and vine swinging.

Here is a good picture of the tree and the cliff with a nice bed of straw underneath:

Here are some action shots of Tarzan (aka:Drew) and Jane (aka:Tessa) and friends.

First, ‘Jane’, who I couldn’t believe was jumping and swinging with no fear. Not her typical personality to let go!

And ‘Tarzan’, who is often looking for adventure, as long as he thinks he is in control. This is the same kid who really hates amusement park rides (I think because he’s not in control of what happens) but loves seeing how high he can climb a tree.

Some friends got in on the action, including the dog.

3-year-old thatch isn’t exactly clean. The kids were coated in dirt when they were finished. But, they sure had fun!

Tomorrow is a Haitian holiday, so the kids have no school. Let’s see how many times I need to put them in the shower. Oh, and please Braden, don’t get any ideas that you are big enough to try this!

~Becky

5 Years…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:06:00 +0000

It’s hard for me to believe it’s been 5 years since I lost my Dad. I’m really missing him today.

I’m so thankful he got to know Drew a little. He even got to spend time with Tessa right after she was born, about 6 weeks before he died. I am forever grateful to the Lord for giving us that extra time with him.

I miss you so much, Dad!

~Becky

Why am I so impatient?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Today, I was “liberating” someone’s iPhone so they could use it here in Haiti. The process stalled on a screen that said, “please be patient”.

So, what do you think I did?

I googled the “problem” because it was taking too long. Guess what answer I found? “There is no fix for this. All you have to do is just wait…”

Seriously? Sometimes, I just frustrate myself.

I think God must feel this way with me sometimes.

“Patience is the companion to wisdom.”
---St. Augustine

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
---God

Rob

No, No, The Road is Not Easy…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:23:00 +0000

The other day, we sang a song in our daily staff devotions. It seems to me to be a perfect expression of the Haitian Christian mindset/culture. The song was “Chemen an pa Fasil” – “The Road is not Easy”. In fact, there is a distinct acceptance and resignation to this reality. Haitians even have a saying for operating in this context, “degaje” (make due with what you have). It’s a necessary reality.

In a much different way, this song is also a great explanation of my maturing mindset (I have a LONG way to go). We are living in a context where everything is constantly in a state of disrepair, with not much expertise to fix it. Every day our internet comes and goes, and no one can explain why, and no one can fix it. Our plumbing leaks, electrical systems seam possessed, appliances are always acting up, people are constantly in need, vehicles are always broken down, equipment is constantly spent, etc etc etc. I feel like a say every day, there is just no way I can write “home” and explain this context to you. You have to live in our shoes to believe it.

So here is the song…

Chemen an pa fasil – The road is not easy
Jouk nou rive Genyen nan siel la – Until we arrive in Heaven
Li genyen pikan e piej anpil, – It has prickly problems and many obstacles
Chemin an pa fasil – The road is not easy
Men Jezi mache ak nou – But Jesus walks with us
Li rann ke nou tout a fe trankil – He makes our hearts full of peace

Ke: – Chorus
Non, non, chemen an pa fasil (bis) – No, No, the road is not easy (2x)
Men Jezi mache ak nou – But Jesus walks with us
Li pote fado nou – He carries our burdens
Gras Li fe ke nou rejuoi anpil – His Grace makes our hearts rejoice

Right after we sang this song, we reflected upon Isaiah 41:10.
I translated this from the Creole Bible because I think it captures the Haitian spirit…

“You all don’t need to fear. I am there with you!
You don’t need to let anything give you a jumping heart.
It’s me myself who is your God.
I am holding you with the strength of my wrists that will never lose a battle.”

Rob

Tessa Started Kindergarten!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Tessa started her second (and final) year at Kindergarten Lumiere last week. Last year when she started, she knew very little Creole and everything was new. There were lots and lots and lots and lots of tears that first week. This year was quite the opposite! She was very excited to go and see her friends again! When she got home that first day , she told me all the girls are her friends. :)

Here are a few pics of her first day:

They usually start each day with an assembly outside in the school’s courtyard by singing the Haitian National Anthem and some other songs. For some reason they did not do this the first day, so I stuck around again the second day to get some pics. As soon as we arrived, two girls took Tessa by the hand and led her right to her class to put her bag away then they walked hand in hand all over the playground before assembly started. It was so sweet to watch!

Tessa calls Medline her best school friend. It took no time for them to find something to climb together!

Here are some pics from the assembly and marching up to her classroom.

She knows so much Creole this year, knows what to expect at her school and was thrilled to see her friends again. She is loving school! What a difference a year makes!

~Becky

Cultural Acquisition and Emancipation…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Recently, I have found myself fascinated by my own cultural acquisition and emancipation. Whether I realize it or not, I am becoming a different person. I am under construction.

Culture. I have been watching it. Loving it. Confused by it. Angered by it. Influenced by it. Walking it. Rejecting it. Embracing it. I want to understand. There are parts of the Haitian culture, that differ from American culture, that I love, love, love. Other parts? Not so much! There are parts of the American culture that are different from the Haitian culture that I love, love, love. Other parts? Not so much!

The other day someone said, in jest of course, that I am a Haitian. Do I dream of the day that I will fully “be a Haitian”? No. It will never happen. It just isn’t who I am. Do I long for and plan to return to my insulated American mindset? No. Well ok, some days, but I’m not interested. The reality is that I am developing my own third culture. I am developing my own culture, an amalgamation of both Haitian and American culture. I would like to think it is more complete world view.

I am afraid. What will I leave behind? What will I embrace? What will I reject? What will rub off on me? Who am I becoming?

Right now, I feel the urge to list the things I love about Haitians and the things I love about American’s. Right now, I was to scream from the mountain tops the list of things I will never embrace in Haitian culture, and all the things that completely annoy me about my own American culture. Yet, I am still too new, too fresh, too idealistic, too myopic to confidently know all the answers.

Many have walked this road before me and I hope and pray that as I watch and learn from them, as I ask questions, as I seek the counsel of God, that I will continue to become who God’s wants me to be. “It” really isn’t about being Haitian, or walking their walk . “It” isn’t about being American, or the American dream. It is about becoming who God wants me to be, with His values, His standards, His dreams, His sufferings.

God himself has given us a great example in Christ. He came down, from His culture of Heaven, to a foreign earthly culture. He remained God, and became fully human. He contextualized, yet remained who he was in essence. I like that.

Lord, help me. I am scared, but I boldly move forward to the adventure that awaits. This transformation isn’t easy. It hurts. God make me who you want me to be. Give me your mind and your heart. Give me wisdom to rightly divide influence (internal and external), confidence to embrace, humility to give up, strength to embrace.

Rob

People Pics…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Here are a few people I caught on camera out in Chambellan.

All the other pics of the trip are here.

A Week in the Outback…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:09:00 +0000

I just got back from another week out in the Haitian Outback. Only 74.9 miles (42.4 miles as the crow flies), but it took us 10 hours to get there, and 7 hours to get home. Long trip over the mountains, but well worth it!

We went out to Chambellan, Haiti (GPS Waypoint and GPS Trip Track), in the Grand Anse Department of Haiti with Crossroads Bible Church. Crossroads has had this partnership with the Chambellan Baptist Church for the last 21 years through RMI. Much has been accomplished in those 21 years!

This trip was all about coming together to put a roof on the church. Crossroads Bible provided all the funds, and Chambellan Baptist provided most of the

sweat! Crossroads thought they were putting a new roof on the old church. But, the pastor at Chambellan pulled a fast one and built an entire new church just before the team’s arrival. So, the new roof went on a new church! It was exciting to see it come to completion. Both US team members and Haitian church members worked very hard. It always thrills my soul when the multicultural body of Christ works together to accomplish a singular purpose.

Highlights? Great celebration and welcoming parade upon our arrival after dark, someone accepted Christ in the Sunday morning service, finishing the church roof, teaching young Haitian kids how to hammer and take part in the process, ladies tea, taking part in the very first church service in their new building!

Here are a few more pics of the team work. More pictures can be seen here.

Drew’s New School

noreply@blogger.com (Rob and Becky) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:19:00 +0000

August 29th was the start of a new school year and a new school for Drew! He started first grade at Cite Lumiere Christian School (which offers grades 1-12). The school is less than a mile away from our house and this (or my four-wheeler) is his mode of transportation:

He has been anticipating the start of first grade for a while for many reasons: the biggest being an English-speaking/American-style school. While he enjoyed things about his Haitian Kindergarten, there were things he didn’t enjoy that much. He really liked his teacher there, liked learning to write in cursive and learning to read French. He had an excellent opportunity to learn Creole and he speaks so well! On the down side, he found it hard to make friends there: he didn’t like that the kids always wanted to drink out of his water bottle and that they were always touching him. Haitian school is a lot more monotonous; much more about memorization and recitation. Drew would tell you it was not as “fun.” Overall, it was a great experience for him, but he was always looking forward to the day he could start first grade at CLCS.

Here is Drew ready for school! Braden and Tessa had to get in on the photo-taking action.

There are 6 kids in Drew’s class: four first-graders and two second-graders. It is an international mix! There are two kids from the US and English is their first language. Another girl is from Germany, but has been learning English for a few years now. Two siblings just arrived here from Germany and they speak only a handful of English words. And one boy is Haitian, his Mom is South African (I think, don’t quote me on that!) and both Creole and English are spoken in their home. Quite a mix! Drew’s teacher tells me she’s already had Drew translate into Creole for his Haitian classmate to help clarify some things!

The first day of school started with a chapel service for the entire school where the students were challenged with “as for me and my class we will serve the Lord.” At the end, the incoming first graders were presented with a gift, which is a German tradition.

Drew’s teacher is Miss Renee. She has a neat story how God led her to Haiti. Last fall, she came for 6 weeks to teach ESL to adults at another ministry here called SEED (an agronomy school.) She loved Haiti so much, she ended up staying thru December helping teach at CLCS. She had graduated with a teaching degree from Illinois State but wasn’t feeling led into public school teaching. Last fall, God showed her why. He wanted her here in Haiti!

Here is Drew in front of his school and with his teacher:

Would you pray for Drew and his class, Miss Renee, and CLCS this year?

~Becky

Frederickson Has no Future… or Does He?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 13:44:00 +0000

Recently I had the opportunity to visit a family right here in the Cayes area who were tragically/deeply affected by the earthquake. The husband/father was killed, leaving behind mom and kids. The family has moved here to Cayes. They are currently living in a rented home (in the background of this pic), but are being evicted with no place to go. Frederickson’s (sitting on my lap) mom can’t find any work. Therefore, there is limited food, no school for the kids, painting a very hazy picture for their future. What are their dreams? What hope to the have?

I’m glad we are here in Haiti.

Thanks to David Uttley for taking these pictures during the visit…

Here is a picture of me handing out “Life of Christ” picture books to the children.

Rob

Home #50 is Complete. Much More to be Done.

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

RMI vigorously launched our campaign to provide housing to earthquake displaced families after the EQ of Jan 2010. Just the other day, we completed our 50th home! Praise the Lord! On the Haiti side, RMI Missionary Gary McLaughlin has done a great job in facilitating this program, and Wilfred Fanfan, RMI Construction Boss, has done a great job leading our Haitian build team to make it all happen.

I have had the privilege of handing over the keys to just a couple of these families. They had tears in their eyes and joy in their hearts. It’s been a pleasure for me to see it all happen.

Sadly, I constantly meet families, living even here in Cayes, who are still in a desperate situation due to a lack of stable housing. The tent cities in PAP remain.

Last week, right here in Cayes, I visited the home of a family of 7 who are living in a rented 64 sqft room, with only half a roof made of metal, the remainder a tarp. No beds. They all sleep together on a blanket on the ground. They lost their home in PAP in the EQ. No relief in sight. Typical story.

I met another family of 4 who lost their husband and father in the earthquake. They are living in a rented home. They have no income, and the Mom clearly can’t afford to send their 3 beautiful children to school. I was told the Homeowner is evicting them soon and they don’t know where they will go.

Story after story. They are hard to hear. May God listen to the cries of the masses here in Haiti. I am glad I get the honor of being on the front line of God’s response.

50 Homes for 50 families. Praise the Lord.

Rob

Another 270,864 Fortified Meals Unloaded!

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0000

We just unloaded another container of 19 tons of food! Some of this food will be used for our Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch Program, and some used for general relief purposes. We are ready in case a Hurricane comes through this season to help those in deepest need!

It is exciting to get out to our churches and see some of the 1500+ students who are getting their daily Hot Lunch through Hope for Kidz. For many of these children, it is likely their only meal for the day.

19 tons of food. 1254 boxes of food x 36 bags in a box x 6 meals per bag = 270,864 fortified meals for the hungry.

Rob

Grinch meets Santa Claus…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

To be generous, or stingy?

Recently a bunch of children were calling me a name I had never heard. “Chiche!” they kept saying. I had to go ask one of the RMI staff members what it meant. It is a French word meaning “stingy”. Wow, that hurt. It struck me deeply. If I had known what they were saying, I would have tried to turn the conversation on them and share the free gift of the Gospel.

People come to our house constantly asking for help. They are deep in “need”. Need must be defined as well, but that is for another post. They are indeed in need. Some have honest stories of hardship. No food. No ability to send their kids to school. Can’t afford medicine. Can’t afford to see the doctor. No work. No roof over their head. Some will make you cry. Some lie, manipulate, or exaggerate in order to try and squeeze something out of us. Yet, they are in need too. Many times we give. Sometimes we don’t. I hate that we can’t help everyone. These are the hardest moments. To be generous, or stingy (to be fair to us, stingy isn’t simply not giving. Stingy would be not giving when we should). Only the internal promptings of the Spirit guides us on each of these decisions.

Meanings of each of these concepts (generosity, stingy, need) are much harder to define here in a 3rd world context. But one thing is certain… handouts often confuse our message. Am I bringing stuff, or the Gospel? Am I coming to give stuff, or love people. If handouts are my mode of operations, even based in a true desire to be generous with all that God has blessed me with, than the recipients of the message get confused. My audience may often become opportunistic because as Scripture tells us, “the Love of money is the root of all evil”. They are wired, just like me with my sin nature, to want stuff. This giving and wanting/needing clouds the Gospel message. In fact, it blocks the message. At times I have been disgusted by the opportunism here in Haiti. At times I have been disgusted at the constant hand out asking for something. I can only give so much. Every person, if presented with opportunity, will tell me a sad story and ask for something. They aren’t asking for the truth of the Gospel. They are asking for a handout.

For years here in Haiti, and all over the world for that matter, American missionaries have acted more like the contemporary gift giving Santa Claus than like Jesus. Jesus brought the free gift of eternal life. American’s have brought the chains and slavery of the pursuit of money/comfort/prosperity, or simply put, the love of stuff. American’s have been generous, but also ignorant in their gift giving.

There is a delicate balance between meeting social needs, and presenting the work of the cross. Missionaries for all time have debated this balance. The Luasanne Conference popularized the debate years ago. Stearn’s highlighted it in his recent poplular must read, “The Hole in our Gospel”. The recent book by Corbett and Fikkert out of the Chalmer center “When Helping Hurts” hit the nail on the head. Some denominational missions want to emphasize the story of the cross, salvation itself. Some want to emphasize how social action is at the core of the Gospel message. We will continue to debate this. I am first hand experiencing the heart of this debate.

I pray I am not chiche.

RMI’s Sister Church Partnerships are Changing Lives…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:05:00 +0000

Much of our focus is on ministering to the Haitian people. Yet, it may be most exciting to me when I sense God is up to something big in the lives, hearts and minds of the American team members that visit Haiti. Something special and unique happens when 2 cultures come together in relationship. Dan Shoemaker, RMI President, labeled it correctly: the “Ministry of Presence”. What happens during the “ministry of presence” is extraordinary. Something dynamic, almost magical, happens when a Haitian brother and/or sister and an American brother and/or sister are simply present with one another. Worshipping together, working together, serving together, eating together, praying together…

Viola Irons, Principal within the Miami-Dade Public School System, member of Florida Bible Church, in Miramar, FL, and member of the recent team who visited their Sister Church in Maniche, Haiti, said, “I have grown more in this week than I ever have in my entire life”. [She gave me permission to share this]. This isn’t the first time I have heard this. I am sure it won’t be the last. I love what we do both for the Haitian Church, and also for the American Church.

Rob

Pa Gen Lè…

noreply@blogger.com (Rob) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Time. It is a value I hold dear, yet a value that is fairly non-existent in other parts of the world. Haiti is much more event/people/relationship oriented, rather than time oriented. In conversation here in Haiti, we typical add “ish” to our time frames. For example, a US Team Member asks, “What time will the church service start?” My answer… 6:30ish. The reality is it will start when people show up. Critical mass is required.

This morning, Janel. a young man maybe 18 years old, was coming to our house to work. We are helping him. He has nothing, no support structure, no family, no means… and so for a few days this week we are offering him some small jobs around our house for a little money. He doesn’t come asking for handouts like so many others do. He comes asking for work. I appreciate his desire to work.

He asked yesterday what time he should come today. I told him 9:30. He showed up at 8:35. Upon his arrival, I stated in a somewhat annoyed tone, you are too early! He responded, “Pa gen le”. He doesn’t have a watch. He doesn’t have a clock. The reality is, he has no concept of what time it was. I wonder why he asked me yesterday what time to come?

There is a part of me that respects this time devaluation. Yet, there is a part of my that can’t stand it. When it comes to production and development, time as well as so many other “order values” are required (priority, lists, time, organization, efficiency, systems, etc). The American value system is built upon production values. It’s the bedrock of our society that has allowed us to excel economically (at least historically!) The Haitian value system is built upon people and relationships. Which is better? What are we trying to accomplish? Economic development and production, or relationships? What does Scripture have to say about this? Clearly as followers of Christ, our endgame is bringing all people into right relationship with God. But I believe the love of money/comfort/prosperity has derailed us. It has derailed me. I am a chief sinner. There must be a better balance between the values of production and people, that neither America nor Haiti has yet found.

Seriously, do you spend more time chasing after money/comfort/prosperity, or more time chasing after souls? I for one am convicted…

Rob