I received the following email forwarded from a fellow-pastor. His friend’s daughter is with a medical mission team from Missouri serving in Haiti. It is an unfiltered first-person account of the human misery and suffering going on following the devastating earthquake. Pray for her and the other medical personnel who are absolutely overwhelmed yet serving heroically in the name of Christ. If you feel compelled to give, please visit the “Helping Haiti” icon on our home page.



You just would not believe the things i have seen.  people everywhere with missing limbs. 2 babies died today.  one man died with a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) bc they ran out of heparin.  our team brought heparin.  they are sick and lying on stretchers and bleeding. one nurse broke down today and said that last tuesday they were just cutting people limbs off that were crushed and they had nowhere to dispose...

Last Wednesday night I got a wakeup call. I was asleep in my bed without a care in the world. Then out of nowhere there was a loud crash and my burglar alarm went off. Talk about a rude awakening! For a brief moment I was scared still. I didn’t know what to do. I had to decide to go face the intruder or lock my bedroom door and wait for back up. I don’t know why, but I decided to go fight off the intruder. I grabbed a walking stick from beside the door and went out looking for a battle. I found none. After running around the house like a crazy lady looking to throw down, I found what had caused the loud crash. My dearly beloved cat, Pumpkin, had decided to knock over a vase right under the glass shatter sensor. I learned my lesson, no more vases on that table.

As a husband and father of three boys I try to do my portion of the tasks that fall under the heading of  “housework.” It has taken years of training, but I have to admit it is nice to have a clean house. Problem is that when you have three boys (four if you count me) who live under the same roof, the house simply will not stay clean for very long. I’ve concluded that the only way to keep a clean house is to get all the cleaning done, then immediately take the whole family on vacation and leave town! A clean house is good, but obsessive orderliness sucks all the life and joy out of a home.



There is little-known Hebrew proverb that says: “An empty stable stays clean, but no income comes from an empty stable” (Proverbs 14:4 TLB). Another translation puts it this way: “Where there are no oxen, there is no grain; abundant crops come by the...

This week I have been thinking a lot about some of my former mentors from college and divinity school. My college mentor Dr. Meacham was the first person I really met who helped me see that being a female minister was okay. I had grown up in the mountains of Western North Carolina in a Southern Baptist Church. I was told over and over again that the best I could do as a woman was marry a minister or lead church music. After four years of college and the help of Dr. Meacham, I was able to embrace my calling to ministry. She believed in me when I didn’t.

The massive devastation and loss of life in the already desperate nation of Haiti is mindboggling. At this early point in the catastrophe, damage assessment and loss of life are still unknown, but we know it will be incredibly high and beyond our ability to grasp. My 10 year old came home from church last night moved with compassion wanting to do something to help. I suggested that we find out what groups are already on the ground in Haiti and then send a donation. He said, "No, I want to take it there myself."

We settled for making an online donation for immediate disaster relief to World Vision and praying for Haiti before bedtime.

In time, after the assessments are completed and order restored, there will be numerous opportunities to give and to go. Right now, we must do what we can. We will try to provide updated information on this website of the ways you can best give, help, and...

Last night in children’s’ missions we talked about the earthquake in Haiti. I told our children about my sponsor children in Haiti. I showed the children some pictures of the piles of rubble that used to be buildings. As we looked at the pictures the compassion of our children was obvious. I then asked the children to make something to send to the children of Haiti to encourage them. I gave each of the children paper and crayons.

 

At the beginning of December I got an early Christmas present from my best friend. I had asked for the book, UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. I guess that just proves that I’m really a dork. I’m sure not many people asked for books for Christmas. I started reading the book yesterday and have all ready seen myself.