God wants to hear you.

“O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.  In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.  The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.  O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.  For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”  Psalm 95:1-7 (KJV)

For those of you baby-boomers who grew up Lutheran, you probably do recognize these verses from the Liturgy of many decades ago.  There were a few Lutheran churches in Haiti that sang that song in French, and it was a joy that I could sing along in English as they sang in French and it caused me to think about what Heaven will be like; all singing praise to our Creator in one language together.  Hopefully, they thought the same of me.

Worship in Haiti is slightly different than in North America.  We both share in common the Liturgies, Lord’s Prayer, Confession and Absolution, the proclamation of our faith through reciting the Creeds and the Sacrament of Baptism and Holy Communion.  Sermons are longer…much longer, hymns last longer as the congregation repeats their favorite stanza’s, choirs sing more songs…many more songs, Sunday school children and adults recite their Scripture reading at the beginning of the Church service…and did I mention that the sermons were longer?

I listened to a song recently about singing praise to the Lord on Alexa and it caused me to think about Haiti.  It was called “God wants to hear you sing” and was written by Rodney Griffin.

“Their chains were fastened tight down at the jail that night.  Still Paul and Silas would not be dismayed they said, “It’s time to lift our voice, sing praises to the Lord, let’s prove that we will trust Him come what may.”

The attached photo was taken a decade ago near Cap Haitian as people were traveling to Church, getting ready to lift their voices and sing praises to the Lord.  I have yet to see people come to my Church in Illinois, packed into the back of a pickup.  When I would drive my truck to church at Bon Berger in Caredeux, there would usually be six church members in the cab with me and another twelve in the back.  There are many differences between Sunday in Haiti and Sunday in North America.

“God wants to hear you sing, when the waves are crashing ’round you, when the fiery darts surround you, when despair is all you see.  God wants to hear your voice when the wisest man has spoken and says, “Your circumstance is as hopeless as can be.”  That’s when God wants to hear you sing, He loves to hear our praise on our cheerful days when the pleasant times outweigh the bad, by far.  But when suffering comes along and we still sing Him songs; that is when we bless the Father’s heart.”

Singing praise to the Lord, good times and sad, He loves to hear us sing.  God loves to hear the children you are supporting in Haiti sing praises of their creator, redeemer and comforter throughout Haiti to the lost in their neighborhoods.     

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 in a foreign country.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Acts 1:8

Signing up to be on a mission team from North America; following the call of the above scripture to go to ends of the earth to be His witnesses sharing the love of Jesus with the lost souls that have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior have unfortunately at times, not remembered Who they serve and to Whom they belong.  It appears that according to the voices in our media, the pandemic is over.  A new horror story is here…pray for Ukraine.

Back in the day when I was a missionary living in Haiti, my LCMS synodical supervisor for the Caribbean, Pastor Jim Tino, shared with me many truths while living and working there.  I was a guest in Haiti, I was not to push my North American culture upon them and I was a brother in Christ with my fellow Lutheran Haitians and should try to live as they lived.  Some lessons were easy and some were not because of my cultural expectations of having things now!  Food, rooms, nightly LIVE animal sacrifice spunds from the neighborhood vodou priest, lack of electricity, spotty internet, clean water and did I mention patience?

Alexa brought me a song recently called “Lord keep me in your will” and the words brought back memories of my prayers while living in Haiti and my frustrations and humiliation while working with some other North American mission teams visiting Haiti while I lived there in Petionville. 

“Sometimes I think I'm in control and I act so foolishly facing problems on my own.  I don't know what's best for me, my mistakes at times disturb all the plans you have made.  Lord, keep me in your will, so I won't be in your way.”

The attached photo is a plate of food that was served to a Trinity HOPE team that I took to Cap Haitian in October 2012.  I didn’t hear any complaints from any of that team, but I have been with North Americans who would have turned up their noses and demanded something different than the rice, carrots, peppers and roast goat.  I recall one LCMS Pastor with a mission team in Haiti sending back an omelet for breakfast at Hotel Kinam because it didn’t have the green peppers, onions and ham that he liked, expected and he even went into the kitchen to find those ingredients so his meal would be to his liking.  Close to seventy percent of the over 52,000 children being fed rice and beans every day in their school are thrilled and thankful to have a meal.

“And, put me where you want to, not where I want to be.  If I should ask, for things I want just give me what I need.  When I complain from time to time, forgive me Lord I pray.  Lord keep me in your will, so I won't be in your way.”

Many people have commented that they could not understand how I could live ‘there’ and I sometimes wonder how or why I am living ‘here’ in this country.  Mission team members have needed an ample and endless supply of hot water in their shower, ice cold water to drink, flushing toilet and air conditioning.  We ‘need’ these things and ninety percent of Haiti does not have these luxuries.

“Remind me Lord, I'm just a glove in which you place your hand.  Not my will, but yours be done, though I don't understand the best laid plans I've made somehow always go astray.  Lord keep me in your will, so I won't be in your way.”

Here is an interesting concept; we are the glove that is going out to share the gospel message with the lost and inside of us is our Triune God, Who is directing us to do His work.  Being a North American is not a prerequisite to be a glove; being His child is what is important.  Thank you for helping support the work of the children attending Christian schools in Haiti to go out into their neighborhoods and country and share the love of Jesus with the lost.

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

The border wall.

“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”  He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!  This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17

In these passages, Jacob was sleeping with a stone for a pillow; dreaming of a ladder connecting earth to Heaven.  He saw heavenly messengers who were descending and ascending; Heaven and earth were connected.  Heaven came down to earth, but earth cannot ascend to Heaven unless God makes it possible by providing a door.  That night, back in ancient times, Jacob learned that God had opened such a door and Jacob called it Bethel.  Now, during Lent, we learn that in John 10:9 Jesus tells us, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”

My reason for sharing this passage is to bring you a similar point to the story of the above photo that I captured from Google Earth street view.  In the photo, you are on the border bridge looking into Ouanaminthe, Haiti while standing in Abanico, Dominican Republic (DR).  In case you were unaware, the DR has begun to construct a border wall between their country and Haiti and are starting at this location.  One striking image from this photo is that there is a long line of Haitians seeking to come into the DR legally and only two going into Haiti.  Things are growing more challenging by the day for people living in Haiti.  If there were a ladder that led up to the gate of Heaven in your city today, how long would the line be?

Too many people do not know that the way into Heaven is through Jesus Christ.  You can’t get in by doing good works, clean living…only through Jesus.  There are over 52,000 kids in Haiti who will be sharing that truth during the 40 days of Lent and every day after.  Thank you for feeding and helping them do that along their and your journey as well. 

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

Feed My sheep.

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”   “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.  Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”  John 21:15-20

A few simple truths from our Savior; ‘seek and save the lost, feed my sheep and follow me!’  If you ever have an opportunity to travel to Haiti with a Trinity HOPE mission team you will see living evidence of these instructions from our Savior.  You will see the vodou flags in the neighborhoods and know that the presence of satan is within your reach.  You can see it, smell it and hear it in their neighborhoods; it has been there since Haiti became a Republic in 1804 and the prince of darkness continues to try to lure His children into the snares set with lies and fear.

When you visit one of the over 247 Christian schools throughout Haiti with a Trinity HOPE feeding program you will sense the need to ‘feed my sheep’ as you see the children who are not eating daily bread and hear their responses to the questions; “did you have anything to eat last night before bed or this morning before school?”  There is no fridge in their home with meat, milk and cheese or cupboards with pop tarts and cookies.  Their families live from day to day not knowing if there will be food on the table tomorrow.

When you witness their class learning about the Apostles Creed, or listen to their meal prayers you will better understand the pressing command to ‘follow me!’  These are the children who will be the next generation of missionaries in Haiti, taking the love of their Savior out into the streets and pathways, sharing the message of salvation with the lost.

The girl in the attached photo is from Ouanaminthe and she is receiving one of the over 52,000 meals that were being served throughout Christian schools on this particular day in March.  Over fifty-two thousand of His lambs were fed on this day and will be fed tomorrow and the next day.  Their strong voices will spread His words, “follow me!” to the ears that have not heard that message and voices silenced by the lies of the vodou priest.  Thank you for sharing in this miracle by supporting their mission to seek and save the lost.

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

Challenges.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34

How do you prepare for challenges?  How do you react to the highest of hurdles that present themselves along your journey?  When the dim glow flashes of upcoming problems, they suddenly become brilliant lightning bolts of tragedy coming into your life; where do you find strength?  Christians living in Haiti today may be apprehensive of the vodou parades in their neighborhoods and the gangs leering around stores.

Life’s challenges that take us from our comfort zones are somewhat different to an adult living in North America than to a child living in Haiti or a family living in Ukraine today.  We can certainly try to prepare ourselves for such times, but we don’t want to because we would rather not experience these stressful times ahead.   While we hope for the best, we also need to prepare ourselves spiritually, physically and emotionally for the worst of times that may catch us off guard.

The children and the old man in the attached photo are in Ouanaminthe, enjoying the shade of the tree in the school yard, enjoying a time of merriment; a game of patty cake that breaks all language barriers and fills that void with endless smiles and contagious flowing steams of laughter.  Enjoying life on this planet under the shade of a tree; together in the shadow of the tree and also together in the shadow of the cross of Christ.

In my preparation for unforeseen problems in North America, and this child prepares for her future challenges in Haiti; together we stand at the foot of the cross, in the shade thinking about why God has placed us here and praying that no matter what happens to us, we are always under His care and watchful eye.  And, when the days are over and our journeys have been completed, we have the promise of a heavenly home which was prepared for us since the beginning of time.

Until then we labor and continue to do His work, seeking and saving the lost by whatever means He has empowered us.  Thank you for being there for them, under that tree, in that shadow, responding to His call by blessing their life with your prayers, your blessings of a feeding program and your encouragement.  We all have different callings and sweet spots in our own journey; thank you for being such an integral part of these children in Ouanaminthe. 

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

Ash Wednesday.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:1-2

Ash Wednesday is upon us and it reminds me that Easter is only forty days away; it causes me and all Christians to think more reverently about the death and resurrection of Jesus.  The real purpose of His life was to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, for the sins of mankind; who came here as dust.  Jesus became sin for us so that we could be forgiven and found sparkling clean in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.  Jesus knew His purpose on this earth and he predicted it when and how it would happen in Matthew 26:2.

Do you know your purpose as your journey continues?  Luther would probably say our purpose is to love and joyfully serve the Triune God.  If you have read Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’ book you may have a more laid out course that you feel matches your God given talents; your sweet spot.  If you have read the ‘Cure for the Common Life; finding your sweet spot’ book by Max Lucado, you probably have a good idea of how God packed you for joyfully serving Him.  The verses in Hebrew 12 direct us to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the perfecter of our faith; Jesus looked beyond the cross and focused on the joy that would be for us.

The attached photo is pure joy.  This girl in Cap Haitian is holding tightly on to a plate of happiness, you can tell that in her smile and the look of her eyes.  The Bible teaches that there is great joy in heaven whenever a sinner repents and my human mind thinks that there is also a great shout of joy when they over 52,000 children in Haiti with a plate of food that will bring energy to their life as they go out into their neighborhoods sharing the Gospel message of their Savior who died and rose on Easter Sunday.

What is your purpose; what is her purpose?  Our awesome Triune God gives us many opportunities to share the news of His only Son, our Savior with the lost in this world.  We have been given an opportunity to share of our abundance with a generation of believers in Haiti who will in turn bring the Cross to the lost.  Your purpose and her purpose can be one in the same; that is a God thing.  Thank you for your continued support of these Trinity HOPE 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

Shrove Tuesday.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:23-25

As I wrote yesterday, my knowledge or appreciation of Haitian vodou holidays, festivals or carnival was limited when I first moved to Haiti in March of 2001.  On one occasion, probably a month after arriving in Haiti, I was driving about a mile through Petionville to visit Pastor Thomas Bernard in Caredeux, on a vodou holiday; unbeknownst to me.  I turned on Delmas 75 and found my truck in the middle of several hundred Haitians wearing white robes, marching from curb-to-curb.  They slowly allowed me to pass through their assembly.  I related this incident to Pastor Thomas and he couldn’t believe what I had done.  Didn’t I know that Christians don’t go out on vodou holidays?

On Shrove Tuesday, the residents of Port-au-Prince again take to the streets and do not return home until ‘Shrove Tuesday’ has ended.  For this date there are food stands offering snacks, grills and rum, which is indispensable for this celebration, where vodou people enjoy a few days of uninhibited rambling.

Local bands have a space in this festival playing into the late hours in outdoor parks, and they carry out competitions among them, where genres such as zouk, rap kreyòl rap, konpa and mizik rasin are played.  There was a park near to my apartment and I’m not a fan of any genre of rap music, and my verbal prayers weren’t able to silence the Shrove Tuesday rap concert.

Although this is the traditional carnival of Haiti, there are other celebrations that take place throughout the year, such as Rara, which takes place during Lent and consists of processions that take place during the day and sometimes at night, where musicians play drums, trumpets and other instruments.  Such a group is in the attached photo taken from the roof of my apartment.

Rara parades have religious overtones, as the dancers follow male voodoo leaders, who make stops at crossroads, cemeteries and the homes of community leaders.  The Carnaval des Fleurs and the Koudyay are other celebrations that were promoted by former presidents of Haiti, in order to distract the people and make them forget the economic and political problems they were going through at the time. Once again, please keep all Christians living in Haiti in your prayers during Lent.

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

Carnival history.

“My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters   or things too wonderful for me.  But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.” Psalm 131:1-2

Back in the day, while living in Haiti, the word ‘carnival’ really didn’t mean much to me.  The word caused me to reflect on the Seward County Fair with the carnival rides.  I spent quite a bit of time reading about the Haiti Carnival and learned more about the cultural importance and also, it’s strong ties to voodoo.  Just a quick note, I typically write ‘vodou’ which is from French and the locals write ‘voodoo’. 

Well today, I want to share some more history on Haiti Carnival from personal experience and also some gathered from the internet. During Haitian Carnival, the participants, seen in the attached photo, parade through the streets of Port-au-Prince until they reach the National Palace, where the most important celebration of their Caribbean Island comes to an end.

After Port-au-Prince, Jacmel is the favorite city to experience the carnival, as it is also celebrated with great joy and the costumes made by local artists with colorful papier-mâché are striking.  The Haitian Carnival is influenced by local cultures and highlights elements such as religious rituals that include voodoo and Haitian music, which has crossed borders and is very peculiar, because you can feel the mixture of ethnic groups. 

I learned yesterday, that the Haiti National Committee has cancelled Carnival.  The articles on the Internet cited concerns over COVID-19 and also funding were the main reasons why it was cancelled this year.  Please, keep the Christians living in Haiti surrounded in your prayers during Lent.

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

Haitian carnival.

“No one can serve two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24

This year, the Haiti National Committee has reserved on their calendar February 27, 28 and March 1 as Carnival.  I was curious about the Carnival celebration this year given the challenges the country is enduring today, and have learned the following from the internet along with some of the history of this celebration in case you don’t know.

Haitian Carnival is a pre-Lenten carnival celebration that takes place in the lead up to Mardi Gras, also known as Shrove Tuesday.  Mardi Gras is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which officially marks the start of Lenten season, a period of fasting that precedes Easter for many Christians.

The official public celebration of carnival in Haiti started in 1804 after its independence from France that was led by a voodoo priest named Boukman, in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince; so it has many years of history, changes, anecdotes and memories.  Haitian Christians view this celebration as sinful, as they observed that the members of the celebration performed sexually suggestive dances, had plays full of blasphemy and songs where they mocked the authorities, which is still done to this day.

The Haitian carnival is mainly financed by the government and wealthy Haitian families, as the social-economic conditions of the country do not allow most of the Haitian population to contribute financially to the event.

So far, it is not known whether the carnival of Haiti 2022 will actually be held, as the island is in a significant economic instability caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, which left many informal employees without a livelihood, which abound in Haiti.  There are also many shortages of fuel and food which have been caused by a large group of many gangs that have taken over parts of the country with the inability of the government to stop them at the present time.  In the coming weeks of Lent, please continue to keep the Christians living in Haiti in your daily prayers.

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

A glimpse of Heaven.

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.”  Matthew 13:47

With the years that I lived in Haiti and the days with mission teams there since leaving, there is one question that still arises after looking at all of the photos I took; “what will it be like in Heaven?”  Will it be more like living in my home state of Nebraska, or now living in Normal, IL or possibly in Haiti?  Will I even care when I’m on the other side?  When that time does come, I will probably not care and probably will not recall all the worldly questions that were asked throughout my lifetime.

The attached photo was taken on Sunday, October 3, 2010 in Bon Berger Lutheran Church in Caredeux, Haiti.  There were close to 300 souls in the sanctuary on that hot morning and at about one hour and fifty-five minutes into the service the distribution of Holy Communion was taking place.  This is a normal occurrence in Haiti; if a service would always last this long in North America the pews would probably be empty.

I listened to a song recently from Alexa, an old Gospel song titled ‘Never grow old.”  The words brought me to think about what Heaven will be like for the souls in Haiti and in North America who will come together in Heaven. 

Verse one; “I have heard of a land on a faraway strand, tis a beautiful home of the soul; build by Jesus on high where we never shall die.  Tis a land where we shall never grow old.”

Verse two; “In that beautiful home where we’ll never more roam, we shall be in the sweet by and by; happy praise to the King through eternity sings.  Tis a land where we shall never die.”

Considering what Heaven might be like through these words, it sounds like it will be an improvement to everyone on this planet, no matter where we are now living or in whatever our present situation in this fallen world may be; rich, poor, healthy, sick, hungry or starving.

Verse three; “When our work here is done and the life-crown is won, and troubles and trials are o’er; all our sorrows will and our voices will blend with the loved ones who’ve gone on before.”

All of God’s children will be in Heaven, yellow, black, white or brown, doesn’t matter they will all be there.  American, Canadian, Sudanese, Haitian, Ukraine, Indian; doesn’t matter they will all be there.  What a shame if the lost didn’t hear the message of salvation.  Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."  That is the call to the people in Caredeux and to you and to me…”seek and save the lost.”  Thank you for supporting the children in Caredeux and all the other 247 schools throughout Haiti with Trinity HOPE 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