Hardships.

“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5  

Enduring hardship; we have all most assuredly at one time or another asked how much weight we will be able to withstand before we crumble under the suffering that this world had dumped on us.  We all have different hardships as satan creates something special for each of us, knowing our weaknesses and finding ways to gnaw away at our patience.  

While living in Haiti one hardship that continually gnawed away at me was walking with my artificial knees.  There were many times when I asked my Heavenly Father “Why me, why here?” as my being there on a rocky steep slope seemed like such a cruel task.  The attached photo is one of those rocky paths.  This is the Haitian sidewalk that children take on their way to school at Chincheron which is high on top of the mountain North of Arcahaie.  It is a rural school and most of the children attending there walk for miles on paths such as this day after day, getting their education, Spiritual growth and a noon meal of beans and rice from Trinity/HOPE.   I made the trip to Chincheron several times while in Haiti and always wondered how many children have walked this path over the years and where there feet have taken them while sharing the love of Christ with others in their families and neighborhoods.  How many feet tramping in the sand and rock did it take to make this defined pathway?  I also thought about the poem titled “Footprints in the sand” as I had that poster on the wall in my office in Petionville.  Identifying with the verses of that poem was easy to do as I questioned my hardships from time to time…daily!  Here is the 1936 version from Mary Stevenson.   

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.  Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.  In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.  Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was only one.  This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, “You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.  But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.  Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”  The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”  

May the hardships along your journey be manageable and may you always be reminded of Who is with us, every day, and every step of the way.  Trust always in Him, just as the children walking ahead of you, beside you and behind in Haiti do every step of the way.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Leaning on Him.

“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,” Nahum 1:7  

I listened to a song on satellite radio recently that the men’s choir use to sing, “Leaning on the everlasting arms” and memories of Christian friends in Haiti came flooding back into vacant spaces that were not filled with the minutia that this world poured in today.  The words that caught my attention were; “What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms; what a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the everlasting arms.”  Seeing a Haitian child in a school the size of a single car garage in North America, sitting on a board tucked between two other students in a room that is 90 humid degrees, learning about geography, French or Jesus and beaming with an ear to ear smile is unimaginable to our way of thinking.  How can they possibly be happy?  They have the promise of a Savior and they daily lean on his everlasting arms.  They do not understand health insurance, retirement plans, savings accounts, three meals every day, a closet full of clothes, a cupboard full of processed food, an air conditioner, indoor plumbing, lights, television, a computer…they have Jesus.  

“What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms?  I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms.”  Too often, we drift away on our own taking on tasks that ‘we’ can handle and don’t lean or even think about leaning; after all we can do it ourselves.  Too often we only lean when the mess we have gotten in to is over our heads.  

What a beautiful picture it is to see children leaning on His everlasting arms.  The children in the attached photo go to school in Cap Haitian and they stopped after school to have their picture taken.  They are happy, they know Jesus, it was His love through somebody like you that brought lunch to this whole group for two dollars and fifty cents.  Look closely at the young girl with one yellow sandal on her right foot and a white shoe on her left; she is just happy to have something on her feet, something in her stomach and a Savior that she can lean on and feel His love every day.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Being hungry.

“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.  They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.  Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”  Psalm 107:4-6  

Have you ever been wandering in the wastelands, hungry and thirsty?  When deer hunting in the Pine Ridge of Nebraska there were times that I was wandering endlessly for hours through the trees and deep gullies and canyons of Sheridan County but never do I recall being hungry or thirsty.  On one visit to a Lutheran school in the Jeremie District we walked for several hours up a very long steep and did I mention long hill in intense heat and humidity and I did get really thirsty but I had a water bottle and drank to replenish what I had lost on the ‘Haitian stairmaster’.  

There are many children attending school in Haiti who are hungry and thirsty when they arrive for class.  Sometimes they saunter into class in the morning crying because their stomachs are empty and their comment is “Mwen gran goo” I am very hungry.  I can only imagine that the only time I cried because I was hungry was 69 years ago when I was a baby and announced through tears that I was hungry.  In North American homes solving the problem of hunger is generally only a few feet away to the nearest cupboard or fridge and you will find food.  Such is not the case in almost every home in Haiti.  

The attached photo is of a girl at the Lutheran school in Ouanaminthe in March of 2010, before the Trinity/HOPE feeding program; not a lot of energy, no bright smile to greet me.  It is easy to walk into a school in Haiti and know if there is a feeding program, just look at the children, shake their hands, pat their heads, look into their eyes, listen to their voice…tired, weak, clammy, listless and faint.  Hungry and thirsty; “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”  Matthew 5:6.  

Since last month, Trinity/HOPE is now bringing a lunch program to over 30,000 children in Christian schools throughout Haiti.  Their hunger pains have subsided and their bodies continue to grow physically and their minds grow Spiritually with the Bread of Life.  Thank you for bringing them this life giving food.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Courage.

“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31  

When you hear the word ‘courage’ what picture comes into your mind?  Often we may think about soldiers, policemen and fireman; people who risk their lives to defend or protect us.  Is real courage restricted so such acts of heroism that they perform?  One definition of the word Courage reads “the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.  Courage is acting in spite of fear.  "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the ability to act rightly.”  

What about a wife and mother who doesn’t give up following their husband’s sudden death or a person with terminal illness or the suicide on-line counselor?  Real courage comes from trusting in God.  The Creole word for courage is “Kouray” and these children who attend the Lutheran school in Dondon have ‘kouray’; much like the rest of the over 30,000 children in Trinity/HOPE feeding programs exhibit daily.  

Every day their witness is seen by their parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents and neighbors who still may be following the lies of the vodou priest; their Christian witness of the Triune God is seen daily as they confront the lies that have been woven for the past 200 years in Haiti.  Thank you for helping to strengthen their courage, their resolve…their witness.   

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Holy Communion.

“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way after supper, he took the cup saying, “This is the new covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  Now may this true body and blood of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and keep you in the true faith until life everlasting.  Amen.”  1 Corinthians 11:23-25  

The above passage from 1 Corinthians is very familiar to each of us; in Haiti you will hear the Pastor speak these verses usually in French and sometimes in Haitian Creole.  Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion in a foreign country really puts the work of the Holy Spirit into a more profound setting; reminds us of our commissioning to “go and make disciples of all nations…”  

There is a song written by Carolyn Arends called “They’ll know we are Christians” that has some wonderful lyrics and here are just a few of them; “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.  And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.  And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  They will know we are Christians by our love.  We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand.  And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land.  And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love.”  

“Hand in hand”; the hands in the attached photo belong to a Haitian woman waiting to receive Holy Communion at Bon Berger Eglise Evengelique Lutherienne in Caredeux which is a suburb of Port-au-Prince.  Where do you suppose her hands have been during her lifetime?  They certainly appear to be filled with much personality, probably have seen their load of trials, the earthquake, political problems, troubles and prayerfully there were also times of rejoicing.  Look at your hands for a moment, where have they been during your journey on earth?  Have they toiled in the hot sun, done laundry outdoors on a washboard, labored in the garden, changed diapers, mended clothing, repaired equipment and seen moments of rejoicing at the direction of your journey?  

I magine if the photo would have shown the hands of Jesus; where have they been?  His worked with wood, changed water to wine, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, raised the dead and were nailed to the cross for you, me, the Haitian woman in the photo, your family and over  30,000 Trinity/HOPE kids.  Christ did it all for us.  

When you next prepare to receive Holy Communion and are standing at the foot of the cross with the Body and Blood of our Savior take a long hard look at your hands, think about the hands in the photo and then think about how much His hands accomplished for you and how much you have accomplished for Him…we have so much yet to accomplish to further the Holy Gospel throughout this world.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Going back in time.

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.”  Isaiah 55:1-2  

When returning to our Hotel in Cap Haitian in October of 2010, one of the team members shared with me that at times, it seems like life here is much like it must have been shortly after the slave revolution in 1804; frozen in time.  If there were no gas-powered trucks, cars and busses or motorcycles it might seem like you had gone through a time warp.  I remarked that we were seeing the more ‘urban’ part of Haiti.  If you spend more time up in the mountains away from populated areas the daily activities would even more resemble the early 19th century way of life.  

The children in the attached photo are drawing water from the shallow well near the school at Torbeck which is located about seven miles west of Les Cayes.  At the time of this photo, the school and church were also home of Pastor Lafayette and since this time a Church has been built and the Pastor has him home back.  

Not many schools with Trinity/HOPE feeding programs have water wells on their property; too expensive.  This well is not potable for drinking for you or me, but serves as their source for drinking, washing and bathing needs.  Hate to beat a dead chicken over a stump over and over again, but we sure take our comfy lives for granted…don’t we?  These students are at the top of their peers, a school, a feeding program, a water well with a good rope and a risen Savior.  ‘They are truly delighting in the richest of fare.’  Some of these children may teach school here in ten years and perhaps one will be a Pastor and prayerfully each of them will bring another in their neighborhood into the Kingdom and away from the lies of the vodou priest.  Beni soit L’Eternal!  

If you are interested in feeding children attending Christian schools in Haiti please check out www.trinityhope.org and click on ‘How can I help’ tab and pray that your life may be used to impact a life or lives in Haiti.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Lunch time.

“Come Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed.”  Martin Luther, 16th Century.  

Did your school have a hot lunch program?  What are your memories of that noon meal?  I remember sitting down at the table and reciting the “Come” prayer together.  Our Lutheran school had smiling cooks who placed our food onto our partitioned plastic trays and then we picked up our glass milk bottles at the end of the line.  There were several children in my school that didn’t like their food to ‘touch’ one another, the green beans should not ‘touch’ the mashed potatoes; I was a ‘mixer’ and enjoyed the blending of the flavors.  

We had five different items each day, always something different.  I don’t have any fond memories of the food that I liked, only the stuff that didn’t hit my taste buds with a pleasant note; canned spinach or peas always struck a sour note in the back of my throat.  They were always a magnet for my gag reflex because of their texture, not their flavor.  

I don’t recall ever noticing kids in my school ever going to lunch “hungry” but rather it was just another activity of our day.  The majority of us had breakfast and would eat dinner when we got home and probably another something before we went to bed.  Giving thanks for my lunch didn’t really seem that important, it was always there, just like all the other meals.  

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  Psalm 118:1  

There are 24 plates of rice and beans on the serving table at Bois Marchand which is on the northwestern edge of Gonaives on the east edge of Hwy No 1.  These plates are ready to be served to one class of children who didn’t have breakfast and when they get home, there won’t be dinner waiting for them and nothing before they go to bed.  When these kids say their prayer before receiving this blessing, you can tell that this is something that really is important to them.  They will eat every grain of rice and every single bean on their plate this day, tomorrow, next week and next month.  

Is there anything in your North American life that brings you to your knees to give thanks for these days?  Six dollars will feed the twenty-four children who received this blessing at their Lutheran school in Bois Marchand in March of last year.  Six dollars won’t even get you into the door of a china buffet to eat food that you probably don’t need, but will provide each of these precious lives with the sustenance that they have been waiting for this day and every day.  The board of directors for Trinity/HOPE and the children of Bois Marchand thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Prayer Guide for February 2020.

We begin our prayer time in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. + Amen.

‘Adoration’

Exodus 15:1-2; “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.  Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.  “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”  

As you sit reading this, the cold of winter is upon us and we brace ourselves for what the weather will be like tomorrow.  There will always be a tomorrow, as that is how He planned it.  Tomorrow here on this earthly side or tomorrow at our permanent home in Heaven; He is always daily providing for our well-being here and has prepared a place for us in His home on the ‘other side’ of here.     

A time of ‘Adoration’ to our Heavenly Father.    

Please take time to sit and consider how our Triune God comes to us through His ‘WORD’ every day and how He has impacted your life.

Think about the provisions, protection and love that surrounds you because of His unfailing love for you.

Give thanks for where God has placed you and the gifts that you were given to use for Him along your journey.

 ‘Confession’

Psalm 32:5; “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”  And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” We were born, sinful and unclean, through no fault of our own, but because of the sins of our parents, grandparents…Adam and Eve. 

God sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus did everything right while he was here on this earth. He loves you with a love that cannot be measured.  He gave to the world when no thanks were returned to Him.  He healed when there was no hope, and He died without complaint.  Jesus did nothing wrong and everything right; all this for you.  He lived for you and died for you.  Our sins nailed Him to the cross on Calvary and kept Him there until His life on earth had ended. A time of personal confession. J

ohn 3:16-17, 36; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”

Our sins are placed at the base of the cross...His cross, and we give thanks that the times we have fallen short in the eyes of our Heavenly Father have been washed clean and we have been forgiven through the Blood of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ.

 ‘Thanksgiving’

Psalm 107:1-3; “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story; those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

Using just your mind and fingers, please just take a moment to do a mental inventory of your kitchen and pantry and count them one by one on your fingers.  Is there an empty shelf to be found?  While being given a ‘tour’ of many rural homes in Haiti that question would have been; are there any shelves in the cupboards with food?  We ‘overlook’ God’s providence in our lives each and every day.  Take just moment to give thanks for what we have today, what was left from yesterday and what will be coming tomorrow.  

Ephesians 5:1-3; “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”   

Heavenly Father, we come to You now with hearts, minds and words filled with ‘Thanksgiving’.”

We give thanks for our Creator, Redeemer and Holy Spirit.

We give thanks for having a Savior.

We give thanks our providence; monetary, food, clothing and shelter. 

As we give of our first fruits may we also give a portion of our best to His children who need the assistance we can provide.

We give You thanks for the Haitian children who are not only the prime purpose of Trinity/HOPE but also Your missionaries for the present and future generations in Haiti who will bring the true message of Salvation to lives who have never known.

We give You thanks for the birth of a son to Kimberly and Brian Beihl.  May Tate bring a lifetime of happiness to his family and Faithfully serve You.

We give You thanks for making it possible for us to bringing additional funds into our programs so we can now be feeding over 30,000 children in Christian schools throughout Haiti.

 ‘Supplications’

Our Triune God created everything for us to use for His Glory and we continue to daily receive from His Hand; meeting our needs and sharing with others who are living in challenging times; taking His Light into the darkness of their neighborhoods.   

Genesis 1:29-31; “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.  They will be yours for food.  And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground; everything that has the breath of life in it, I give every green plant for food.”  And it was so.  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.  And there was evening, and there was morning; the sixth day.”  

Heavenly Father, we bring our supplications before You;   Heavenly Father, please continue to lead and bless Trinity/HOPE with Your loving hand; may we always strive to accomplish Your will.Bless the workers here in the U.S. and in Haiti and give them courage as they face challenges from the evil foe.  Provide them with courage, endurance and love.Heavenly Father, please use your children to bring peace and stability to the Haitian government and wherever there is unrest in our world.Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bring comfort to the family of Barbara Meier, who you took to her Heavenly home on January 27th.  Please surround Paul, their children and family with Your love.

Lord God, bless Your Word wherever it is proclaimed.  Make it a Word of power and peace to convert those not yet Your own and to confirm those who have come to saving faith.  May Your Word pass from the ear to the heart, from the heart to the lip and from the lip to the life that, as You have promised, Your Word may achieve the purpose for which You sent it; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

2 Corinthians 13:11-14; “Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.  Greet one another with a holy kiss.  All the saints send their greetings.  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”  

May God go before you to guide you; may His arms be beneath you to support you, around you to protect you and above you to bless you.  And may the blessings of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you always dear sister and brother in Christ,   I

n His love, Jay Brinkmeyer 

Bright smiles.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:6-7  

I can’t begin to count the number of times people have commented on the bright smiles on the faces of the children in the Trinity/HOPE photos.  The smiles are real and too bad you cannot hear their giggling, feel their hugs and fully embrace their appreciation for your gift that provides a pot of food outside their school.  

Perhaps their hope is what we really can’t comprehend.  They have a new found hope in Jesus Christ that has conquered the neighborhood vodou priest on the cross and they know that they are saved.  They come to school hungry as they typically have little or nothing to eat for dinner or breakfast and when we take their photo sitting at their desk they can smell the food and the smiles tell you that there is a special blessing waiting for them. We have known Jesus for some time, some of us were baptized as infants and have walked with him all our lives and probably take way too much for granted.  We have food, in our cupboards, in our fridge, freezer, pantry, desk, nightstand, automobile and probably even something stashed in a coat pocket.  The wild birds and pesky squirrels in my immediate neighborhood eat better every day than the children in the attached photo attending school in Les Cayes.  

It is hard to imagine how something so small from us can mean so much to them.  Four dollars will feed these sixteen children in the Southwest corner of Haiti a meal of beans and rice for a day.  There are 464 children in their school that receives funding from an LWML Grant to Trinity/HOPE.  Our Triune God feeds His sheep through people like you in His world.  Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.  

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay

Use me.

“Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 4:10-11  

I heard an arrangement by Vickie Winans on the Gospel Internet that was called ‘Spirit of the Living God’ and the words continue to encourage me.  They initially brought me to consider how God has been working in my life for almost seven decades and then it began to impress upon me how our Triune God is working through the lives of the children attending Christian schools in Haiti.  

The words to this song are “Spirit of the living God fall fresh on me, Spirit of the living God fall fresh on me.  Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me; Spirit of the living God fall fresh on me.”  Consider how these words describe the work of our Triune God is impacting these two young lives walking along the road to Les Cayes.  

“Melt me.”  There is a point in their lives and in our life when we need to be melted down.  There comes a time in our lives when we are like an unused candle that has accumulated the dirt of this sinful world, and we need to be melted down and once again be purified; Christ accomplished this for us on the cross of Calvary.  These young lives have been under the weight of lies from the vodou priest; lies that are being retold to them by members of their family and playmates.  

“Mold me.”  When our being was being shaped in our mother’s womb, we were given specific qualities and abilities by our Creator.  Some of us sing, some of us write, some of us are encouragers, some of us are builders; and the list of abilities is endless as He gave each of us special things to accomplish in this world.  These two young lives are being molded through Christian education at their School.  They are being molded to use their special gifts to accomplish His will for their lives while bringing more into the Kingdom.  

“Fill me.”  I could interpret this as meaning their bodies were being filled daily with a meal of rice and beans from Trinity/HOPE but that would not be correct; even though they are daily receiving such a blessing.  These two young lives and our lives too need to daily be fed the Word; we need to immerse ourselves in His Word daily to accomplish His will.  Our tanks need to be connected to our Heavenly Father each and every day to stay focused along our journey.  

“Use me.”  May our work be His work and not ours.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will descend upon us and use us to do His work in this sinful world.  Our work should be all about Him and not about us, because without Him we cannot accomplish the work that He created for us to do.  Thank you for continuing to support these children attending Christian schools in Haiti.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.  

May God be with you…Jay