Be my guest.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Ephesians 3:14-17  

The Apostle Paul does not pray for Christ to briefly visit us, but he prays that Christ would dwell within our hearts by faith; Christ needs to make His home within us.  What a blessing it is to have Christ, the Savior from sin and the Lord of life, live within us.  He comes as the bearer of many gifts of grace.  When He makes His house within us He endows us with strength to pray to Him, to follow Him and to extend His love and forgiveness to others.  Because of His presence, we have guidance for life and peace for troubled lives.   We are courteous hosts when we tell our guest “please make yourself at home” but would we want our friend to ‘truly’ make themselves at home in our house?  Would we want them to rearrange the furniture, eat of our ‘favorite’ food, take down our family photos, throw out our magazines and disable the Internet and Dish connections?  When Christ dwells within us things need to change as the ‘stuff’ of this world cannot remain.  He comes to renew us.  He wants to change and reshape our lives, our hearts, our thoughts and our homes.  He wants His influence on our lives to be ongoing until we receive our Heavenly Glory.  

I read a report from a Pastor that went to Haiti with a mission team and reading through his journal it seemed that they were imposing their North American ideals, culture and theology upon the local Lutherans; they made themselves at home and seemed to have turned the Haitian culture upside down.  They didn’t understand the Haitian culture; it wasn’t American and it needed to be changed.  

I take pride in the fact that Trinity/HOPE strives to embrace the Haitian culture with the food that they provide and the Christian education that is being taught in a world full of vodou and lives that witness visitors coming to change their culture.  The food that is served is from Haiti, cooked by Haitians and served in a manner consistent with Haitian culture.  Before over 30,000 children eat their bowl of rice of beans they offer thanks and invite their Lord and Savior to join them; “Come Lord Jesus, be our guest.”  I close with the first three verses from the hymn ‘Abide with me’ that was written by Henry Lyte in 1847.

  “Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.  When other helpers fail and comforts flee, help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!  Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; change and decay in all around I see.  O Thou, who changest not, abide with me!  Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, but as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord, familiar, condescending, patient, free.  Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.”  

Dear 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

Only one way.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6  

The children in the attached photo are in their Christian school located somewhere in rural Haiti and are learning about Heaven and the only way to get there.  Dirt floor, three kids to a bench, a blackboard in each corner and to us it doesn’t seem like much of a school…cause we live on the wealthy side of town.  It has a tin roof and these kids are learning to read, write and are being prepared to share the message from our risen Savior about the only way to Heaven.  And, they get a noon lunch.  

That tin roof keeps their heads dry when it rains and the spaces between the slats on the walls allows a nice breeze to beat the heat and also allows for the passing ‘strangers’ to look in and prayerfully hear the Good News that they have never heard.  Hopefully, we too have a few spaces in our exterior where people we meet will be able to hear about the only way to Heaven  

Dear 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

Co workers.

“As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-2  

When I returned to Nebraska in 2004 after living in Haiti for almost 3 years I was blessed to return to my previous employer as an entry level highway designer.  I had never worked with my new co-workers but was familiar with them as they worked on the second floor and I was working on the first floor when I quit and left for Haiti in 2001.  They were curious about what life had been like in Haiti.  Did I bring back any voodoo dolls or drums or see any zombies?  Their questions were prefaced with snickers and chuckles.  All they knew was Hollywood voodoo.  

If you woke up late one night to the sounds of your dog crying in the backyard and found a vodou priest skinning him alive because they believe the blood from a stressed or tortured animal has more favor with evil spirits; that would not be something to snicker about.  If you went to place flowers at the above ground tomb of one of your recently departed relatives and found a vodou priest inside the tomb removing organs from the corpse of your loved one; that would not be a laughing matter.  

Today is ‘Fat Tuesday’ and many will be going to a buffet here and celebrating before Ash Wednesday.  The attached photo is of a TrinityHope feeding director, Jean Phillippe and a bunch of school kids.  They were not in school yesterday, today or tomorrow as this is Carnival and vodou believers are out celebrating and pleasing evil spirits.  Christian schools are closed and Jean Phillippe, these five kids and all those who believe in the Triune God stay home.  They don’t want to be seen associating with anything vodou.  We are co-workers of the risen Christ.  We pray for those trapped in the lies of vodou and for the Holy Spirit to shine a bright light of Truth in their eyes.  

Dear 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

Memory lessons.

“And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'  He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'"  Luke 16:30-31 (ESV)  

There was a message from the Lutheran Hour recently that used the above passage for one of its morning devotions; that I read every single morning.  The message is different from mine, as the passages in Luke struck a different cord in my mind.  The parable Jesus was teaching was about a rich man and Lazarus, and he asked that Lazarus should be brought back from the dead, because then this miracle would make believers of those who were witnesses of this wonderful moment.  

Jesus told them that their ancestors had Moses and the Prophets and the people did not listen and if He raised Lazarus from the dead, they would still not change their evil ways.  Do you ever wonder what you would have done if you had been wandering in the desert, following the pillar of smoke and eating manna; what would you have done?  Did you ever think that if you had been there when Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb what you would have done?  Surely, we would have believed and not turned away or fell asleep in the garden as Jesus prayed before he was arrested.  

The children in the attached photo attend Ecole Lutherienne in Osse and they like you, have heard the story of the Son of God and the miracles He did on earth.  Before they learned of Jesus they had heard about Erzule Dante and all the other evil spirits that are called upon by the local vodou priest.  Those are the memory lessons planted in their minds by their parents, who learned them from their parents from the beginning of their lives.  

We are blessed with an opportunity to share what we have been taught and know with the children in Osse so that they can go out and share it with the rest of Haiti that relies upon satan and the vodou priest each day.  They live in doubt, fear and hopeless.  In John 20:29 Jesus tells us “Blessed are those who have not seen but believe.”  Thank you for helping to bring that message of hope in a risen Savior to the lost of Haiti.  

Dear 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

Bon lapli.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:44-45  

Next month is when the rainy season typically begins in Haiti; “bon lapli” is what the locals will tell you with a broad smile on their face.  Lapli, or rainfall, is very good as it refills their cisterns and replenishes their ground moisture.  I never saw a center pivot while living in Haiti and the closest anything reminded me of irrigation were the small laterals used to bring water to the rice paddy’s in the Artibonite and Les Cayes districts.  The majority of family gardens receive water from a 5 gallon plastic bucket.  This same bucket is used to bring water from the stream or neighborhood well to their homes and provides water for cooking, bathing and washing.  We take so much for granted.  

The rainy season also brings extra work for mom.  Children walk to school on the roads or through fields and their feet get wet and muddy and when they get to school and go through the door there is a 10’ arc of mud inside where two hundred wet feet touched the dirt floor.  Dirty shoes, socks and possibly pants and dresses too.  For the two girls in the attached photo, this is their sole school uniform and shoes and socks.  Mom has to do laundry that same day so their sons and daughters will look their best the next day.  

Mom doesn’t have a laundry room in their house with a washing machine that she can dial in the water temperature, load size, spin cycle and push the start button and then go and start another task.  She will get the plastic bucket with water, a scrub board, a cake of soap and a knife and begin to clean the grim off her child’s clothes and hang them up in the house to dry during the night.  We take so much for granted.  When you pray for Haiti today, give thanks for the rain and ask our Lord to give Haitian moms an extra measure of patience as they do extra chores during the rainy season.  

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

Wash your hands.

“The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.  (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)  Mark 7:1-4  

When were you taught to wash your hands before you ate and say a prayer before you eat?  As a child, I remember getting my fingernails checked by my mom’s hands and eyes after I had ‘washed’ my hands.  My dad came in from the farm chores and scrubbed his hands with Lava soap and I still recall how white his hands looked and how clean they smelled.  

In the attached photo the children attending the Lutheran school in Cap Haitian are washing their hands before they enjoy their Trinity/HOPE lunch.  This is one of the ‘lessons’ that is done at every Trinity/HOPE lunch program, along with prayers.  Washing of their hands is so important now especially with the cholera epidemic of recent times. Trinity/HOPE is not just about feeding body and soul in Haiti, they also teach hygiene and reinforce the importance of turning our thought of giving thanks for all that we receive every day from our Heavenly Father.  Thank you for continuing to be a blessing to each of the over 30,000 souls who are so thankful for your daily touch in their lives.  

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

Rara band.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’  “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  Matthew 25:40-45  

From time to time someone will ask me about the times when my life in Haiti was brushed by vodou and how that impacted me.  Vodou is estimated to be practiced by over 65% of Haitians and when we ask people to pray for children in Christian schools, we North Americans probably don’t fully imagine or fully comprehend what they are up against in their daily lives.  

The attached photo is of a Vodou Rara band that was marching down the street outside of my apartment building in Petionville on an Easter afternoon.  Rara bands are often led by a priest and this particular group probably numbered 400 – 500 followers who were chanting and honking on long bamboo horns and some were pounding on drums.  These people are following the liar and are lost.  These are the people that ‘assure’ children in Christian schools that satan defeated Christ on Good Friday.  They will stress that Jesus died on the cross, was buried and is still in the grave.  In vodou temples there are crosses buried up to the cross bar to signify that Christ is still in the tomb.   These bands are really active during Lent as that is when they will do whatever they can to bring doubt into the lives of Christians in Haiti.  On the weekends they generally march through the streets on Saturday night and don’t stop until noon on Sunday morning; hopeful that their evil spirits will keep people from attending Christian worship service.   

On the first Monday of each month we ask that you dedicate a prayer time at 10 AM for children in Trinity/HOPE feeding programs.  May their lives be protected by a company of angels as they are spirit driven to proclaim the Gospel of our Risen Lord and Savior to the lost, such as these, in their families, neighborhoods and to strangers on their streets 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

Praying for you.

“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:32  

In this passage, Jesus is praying for Simon Peter, what a wonderful reassurance; when we pray in the name of Jesus; He intercedes for us.  This was a time when satan was seeking to separate Peter from Christ; it happens to us too.  When we see something more exciting in this world than holding our eyes upon His cross, we need to be reminded that He is still in our presence; it is us that are turning away.  

Too often we don’t fully realize how much we have been blessed, rescued, gifted, healed or been comforted by our Savior’s prayers.  When we are brought into our Heavenly home we will hopefully be able to realize all of the times He has touched our lives and we will have endless times to praise Him.  These children attending the Lutheran School in St. Marc pray for you daily.  They ask their Savior to bless your journey, they give thanks for you and rejoice for the blessings that you have provided for them; a meal at their school every day.  That day when you stand at the feet of your Savior, look around you and see their joy filled faces next to you as they join in praising our Savior.  I would like to close this devotion with the words from the first verse of the hymn ‘While yet the Morn is Breaking’ which was written by Johannes Muehlmann in 1613.   “While yet the morn is breaking, I thank my God once more, beneath whose care awaking, I find the night is o'er, I thank Him that He calls me to life and health anew; I know, whate'er befalls me, His care will still be true.”  

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

At peace.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:4-6  

When I lived in Haiti, my home congregation was Bon Berger Eglise Evangelique Lutheriene in Caredeux which is a suburb located off of Delmas 75 in Port-au-Prince.  Bon Berger is Haitian Creole for “Good Shepherd” and the mother and child in the attached photo live nearby and worship there too.  

The photo was taken by Lori Wolfe-Beerenstrauch probably in 2000 while there with a mission team.  It has always been one of my favorites as the smile on the mother’s face exemplifies the above verses from the fourth chapter of Philippians.  Her expression speaks volumes of gentleness...the Lord is near and don’t be anxious about anything.  If you knew where she lived, saw her small dwelling, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, no ample supply of food or clean water…well you just have to ask how can she be so calm, at peace and happy.  

When you see a group of school children walking to school down a dirty path in their clean school uniforms, coming from similar living conditions, with broad smiles on their faces…how can this be?  The mother has her child in her arms and is confident that God is taking care of her today and will again tomorrow.  The children walking to school are also delighted that they are heading to school where there is a promise of food, every day, and they too know that God took care of them yesterday, will take care of them today and will again be there tomorrow.  

How often are we like that mother, at peace and comforted in the knowledge that our Triune God is taking care of us?  We are so self-dependent; we get our food, buy more clothes than we care to look at, buy our cars, home, health insurance and pay no attention to our electricity, indoor plumbing, clean water and heat in the winter and AC in the summer.   

When was the last time you were in a crisis?  When was the last time you were on your knees praying for deliverance from the hole that you dug yourself into?  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Every situation should be brought to our Heavenly Father in prayer.  Thank you for supporting Christian education in Haiti and for being His servants for His children in Haiti, providing food for them every day and continuing to rejoice in the fact that we are saved because of His Son.  

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

Washing.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

When I was a boy, one of my chores was to help my mom with laundry.  She had a small ‘antique’ Maytag washing machine in the basement and my job was to fill it with about six buckets of water, three hot and three cold and then fill the rinse tub that sat next to the washing machine.  I was told that when I was a baby I was bathed in this same tub.  That was in 1959 and I joyfully recall when years later my mom bought a washing machine that had hoses connected to the waterline and that put me out of the water hauling business.   For the two young girls in the attached photo it is laundry day.  They are on the east edge of Gonaives and walking to a drainage canal to probably help their mom with laundry.  No machine there, just a board or stones to rub at the soiled clothing.  No clothes dryer or line, there they spread out the clean clothes on the large rocks, bushes or gravel lined banks and let the sun bake them dry.  

When I first moved to Haiti in 2001 it became quite clear after just a few days that my North American “B-O” would soon become a problem for me as there didn’t appear to be a Laundromat in all of Port-au-Prince and my perspiration would soon become legendary if my clothes did not get washed.  I was told by Pastor Thomas Bernard that I could take my clothes to the dry cleaner and after a couple of visits there that became cost prohibitive.  I decided that the best option for me was to return to my childhood lessons and did my laundry in the bathroom sink with Woolite, ringing out my clothes by hand and then hung them up to dry on a piece of rope on the flat roof of my Petionville apartment.  My needs were met; my mom would have been proud of the lessons that I learned hauling water for her.  

Just as the Apostle Paul wrote, “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”  The needs of the two children from Gonaives are being met; clothes to wear, shoes on their feet and a couple chunks of sugar cane.  Our daily needs are always met, maybe not in the way we expect them to be met, but they are met by our loving Heavenly Father who gave each of us His only Son to meet our ultimate need, forgiveness of our sins.  His children attending Christian schools are saved, and are prayerfully making disciples of the lost in their neighborhood, bringing the saving message to them as well.  Thank you for supporting Christian education in Haiti through Trinity/HOPE school feeding programs.  

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