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.”  John 21:15-17

I came across this photo last night, it is what I call the “LWML kitchen” at the Messif School in Ouanaminthe.  I can tell you that there are at least 250 other kitchens at schools throughout Haiti that closely resemble this cooking station.  Nothing fancy, a big pot of rice and beans setting on top of some burning embers just waiting for a horde of hungry children to come running and excited for their lunch.

Reading the exchange between Jesus and Peter draws me back to that photo, back to that pot at that school.  Jesus basically tells Peter again and again “if you love me, take care of my sheep.”  Not a lot of direction, pretty simple, take care of my children, feed them…take care of them if you love me.

There is one element about Trinity HOPE that I have always admired, they are focused on feeding His sheep, all of the over 60,000 of them at the present time.  Trinity HOPE doesn’t build schools, dig latrines or wells, purchase school supplies or buy land with any funds from the support that is donated from people like you…they use your donations to feed children.

Back in the day, while living in Haiti, I witnessed too many well-meaning organizations try to do too much, go in too many directions, trying to please everybody in Haiti and in North America and they ended up being similar to the Platte River in Nebraska with their accomplishments…a mile wide and six inches deep.  Getting so spread out in too many different directions, doing so much but not doing it very well…using God’s resources in ways that were not the best use of the support that had been donated.  Christ told Peter quite simply to feed and take care of His sheep. 
Trinity HOPE has continued to do one thing very, very well…feeding children attending Christian schools in Haiti.  Thank you for continuing to keep the kettles at our schools in Haiti full of beans and rice every day.  Thank you for answering the call of our Savior in the 21st chapter of John.

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, 8not 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

HOPE is real.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  John 10:10

While driving around McLean County a few weeks ago, I saw a message on a sign along the county road next to a Church that read “Hope is real.”  I’ve been thinking about that message off and on as I have been going through these photos of Haitian school children.  For way too many people in this sin filled world, hope is not real.

Things of the world in Haiti the past few years would cause an unbeliever to doubt about ‘hope’.  Earthquake, floods, cholera, vodou, the president was assassinated, no elections, gangs overtaking much of the country, the return of militia leader Guy Phillippe and recently, Lutheran Pastor Marquis Kessa from Jacmel placed into a jail in Port-au-Prince.  Is Hope real?

Hopelessness, someone who is hopeless is usually alone and cannot help themselves out of their dire situations.  They have a great sense of loss and helplessness.  Christians must come alongside and bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost and hopeless, and share all that our Savior has to offer them.

The young girl from Cap Haitian has hope.  She is baptized, attends the Lutheran school, and eats a Trinity HOPE lunch every day.  She wears a bracelet on her wrist that tells the story of our Triune God.  She is and will always be a messenger for our risen Savior in a land where hopelessness abounds.

Please keep our children in your prayers, along with their parents, teachers, pastors and Trinity HOPE supporters like yourself who continue to prepare His children to accomplish the Great Commission.

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, 8not 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

Legendary service.

“In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.”  Acts 9:36

The seaport of Joppa will long be remembered because 2,000 years ago a faithful church worker lived there, her name was Dorcas.  She may well have been the founder of the ancient LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League).  She is legendary because of her work for charity.  She was rich in both giving and in personal service; honoring God and helping her neighbor for Jesus’ sake.

During the midpoint of her lifetime, she became ill and died.  The grieving was hard by her fellow believers and we read on in Acts, “Peter went with them, and when he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room.  All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes, and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.  Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.  He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive.  This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.”

Along my journey, there have been many who are like Dorcas in their service to their Lord.  There are many children like the two girls from this Lutheran school in Gonaives in the attached photograph who may have never met their “Dorcas” face to face, but will when they receive their glory in their heavenly home.  
There are many in the ranks of the Trinity HOPE volunteers and supporters who could wear a “Dorcas” nametag when they get up and begin the next day of their journey; serving Him.  On behalf of these two children from Gonaives in the Artibonite District, and the over 60,000 other children in over 260 Christian schools with Trinity HOPE feeding programs in Haiti, we say “Beni Soit L’Eternal!” (pronounced ‘Benny-swa-lay-terr-nell’ and translated ‘Praise the Lord!’) for your continued 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, 8not 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 baseball glove.

“So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.  It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”  Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself.  All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:12-16

My dad was killed when an eastbound Allied Moving Van got in the wrong lane on a dense foggy morning near York, NE and crashed head on into his 1956 Plymouth when I was 7 years old on 17 December 1957.  A few years later after mom moved my sister and me from the farm into Seward, I was going through some boxes with some of my dad’s hobbies.  Wooden duck decoys, a wood crate with shotgun shells, a pencil collection and two baseball gloves; one a fielder glove and the other a catcher’s mitt.  We never got to play catch. 

When I was probably 11 or 12, my mom took me to buy my own new and first baseball glove.  I still remember how wonderful that new glove smelled.  The leather was stiff and shiny.  The clerk at the store said that I should use some saddle soap to help soften the glove.  It helped but what helped even more was playing catch.  My dad never did get to play catch with me.  Our neighbors didn’t have any children, so the husband George, gladly went out onto 7th Street and played catch with me.  We both had a great time that first time.  Decades later, I have wondered if those times playing catch in the unpaved street meant as much to him as they did to me; I’m thinking they did.

I heard a devotion recently that compared our lives to a baseball glove.  When we are born, we are clean, shiny and we have an aroma that is something you can’t forget.  We get wiped down with baby lotion to protect our skin.  We go outside and play in the grass and dirt and become more pliable.  As we get older and have been through many extra innings, we become more able to do things better with more experience.

And now, some of us are in the 9th inning with a couple of outs.  Our glove is worn out but we are still able to play the game.  Heavenly Father, give me strength to continue to accomplish what You have set up for me to do.  The stitching on my glove is getting loose but I can still play catch.  Lord, give me the ability to provide a daily meal for these two young boys from Haiti who probably don’t own a glove or eat a meal at home every day.  May our lives still do accomplish what our Lord created us to do for Him.  If He woke you up this morning, there are still a couple of outs left; you still have time.  There are still a few hungry school children in Haiti, waiting for you to come into their lives.  Our Father still has work for you to do in the harvest.

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, 8not 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 unseen enemy.

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.  “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?  You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.  But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”  The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”  Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” Job 1:9–12

There was a song on a television program called Hee Haw several decades ago, and the chorus went, “If I had no bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.  Gloom, despair and agony on me”.  After going through the Bible study of Job, it doesn’t seem to me that Job deserved any of the sleet that satan poured on his parade.  He had walked faithfully with God, and now he’s the best of the best, perhaps a GOAT in his country; "greatest of all the men of the east."  Job was a humble servant of God.  Satan wanted none of that.  Are their areas of your life that satan, the enemy of anything that pleases God, would like to put to an end?

Take a good look at the Haitian girl in the attached photo.  Satan is her enemy.  He doesn’t want her to have that plate of rice and beans in her hands.  He doesn’t want her to be in that Christian school learning about how her Savior loves her.  And he certainly doesn’t want her offering a prayer to God, giving thanks for people like you who support her school’s Trinity HOPE feeding program.

The enemy that brings vodou priests and violent gangs into her country, and different painful challenges into our lives and brought seemingly endless problems from hell to Job, has been around since the Garden of Eden.

Satan is the enemy that each of us encounter; we cannot physically see him, but he is real.  We encounter him or one of his fallen imposters regularly.  He wants to ruin our lives and separate us from our Savior. 

Like Job, there are and will be trials we endure that we don't deserve, but they are permitted.  Life includes trials that we do not deserve, but they must, nevertheless, be endured.  As a bucket load of gloom flushes out your energy, it may seem that satan has won the day.  Endure the trial that has been permitted by God.  Nothing touches your life that has not first passed through the hands of God.  He is in full control, and because He is, He has the sovereign right to permit trials that we don't deserve.  The unseen enemy has tried daily to prevent this child, and over 60,000 more like her, from having food for lunch and learning about Jesus.  Satan has failed; game over.  The victory belongs to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

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, 8not 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

With you always.

“Jesus said "... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:20b
From the mouths of children come some of the greatest inspirations and insights that you can ever fathom.  Priceless pearls of wisdom or darts of brilliant light that help you to understand them and this world through their minds, words and actions.

I don’t recall the name of the boy in the photo, he wore the same shirt on the three days I happened to see him during one week in October of 2010.  He was one of the children that I chose for our Trinity HOPE interview that is something we do as we try to get an idea of how many of these children were eating at home.

This young boy was happy to be in Ouanaminthe, in school and being fed.  He hadn’t eaten before he went to bed the night before school and his parents had given him a cup of coffee for his morning nourishment…no food in the cupboards at home.  When I asked what his favorite food was, he said Trinity HOPE rice and beans.  What a great advertisement, “next time your mom goes to the store, tell her to pick up a box of the Trinity HOPE rice & beans”.

This boy was captured in another photo during the week when I visited this school, he was shown with two other children with a bracelet on his wrist.  He goes to school, perspiration popping up on his forehead, learning about geography, math…and Jesus.  His life will touch others in the coming years and decades with the message of hope for those who have not heard of Jesus.  Jesus tells us, “and surely I am with you always…”

You will meet many people in your life and do His work in many different ways along your journey.  You will make a difference in the lives of many through your words, encouragement and love.  It is really important to concentrate on those times where we can truly make a difference in another life.  Thank you for making that difference in over 60,000 lives, preparing His children to go share His message of salvation with the lost in Haiti.  You may have noticed that I am using a small number of children being fed than before.  The gangs are causing some schools to close and the number of schools for the time being is being lowered from 277 to around 260.  That number may change from day to day as gangs are taking over streets in areas of Port-au-Prince and preventing school children to walk home.  The situation in Haiti is in need of your daily prayers for peace, an end to the evil gangs and restored comfort to families who are now living in fear.
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, 8not 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

Bringing HOPE.

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.  Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”  Philippians 4:10-12

Back in the day, while living in Haiti, the above words of the Apostle Paul brought me comfort, understanding, peace and patience.  If you know me, that last word may not be a word that you would count as one of my strong attributes or high points; patience.

Try for a moment, to imagine what Paul must have endured on his mission trips.  Imagine the people that he met and the lives that he shared the message of salvation with along his many travels; probably saw faces similar to these four children.

Some comments from people who have seen this photo are ‘how can these kids look so happy, so clean and friendly’.  Look closer at these children who attend a school in Ouanaminthe that is called Messif.  Their school was very, very dark and the flash from the camera poured volumes of light into their dark classroom; no electricity or windows, just a solid door.  The temperature in their classroom at 11 AM was probably in the high 90’s in October and there was no breeze.

The photo shows two really important facets; the children are in school and very happy to be in school because they just finished eating.  Also notice the bracelet of the girl on the right side.  She has the message of salvation wrapped around her wrist that may provide a lifeline to another lost child in Haiti on her walk home this day, or tomorrow. 

Trinity HOPE is so very simple; we feed children attending Christian schools in Haiti and they in turn share the Gospel message with Haiti.  It cost one dollar to feed these four children on this hot day in Ouanaminthe.  The Apostle Paul would be so very happy to have these young missionaries joining in his call, the same call that you and I have from our Lord Jesus; go and 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, 8not 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 missionary.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.  I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong; that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.”  Romans 1:8-13  

A couple of days ago, I wrote about those unexpected witnesses who came along side you while on your journey.  Who might they have been?  A spouse, a friend or perhaps a stranger?  Today, I want to ask if you have ever met a missionary?  The apostle Paul was a missionary.  The online dictionary shares that a ‘missionary’ is someone who leaves their home and goes to live, work and witness in another location.  It doesn’t mention anything about them sharing the Holy Gospel or healing a disease, helping them build a school or putting a meal on their table at lunch time.
I hope that you have had an opportunity to meet a missionary and that they have been a blessing to you and your earthly journey.  The three Haitian children in the attached photo are missionaries from the Lutheran School in Ouanaminthe, Haiti.  They are young but with your help, they will be very wonderful missionaries to their neighbors who have not yet heard the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Their colorful wrist bands tell the story of creation, baptism, death, resurrection and salvation; the saving message is easy to understand in ways that can only be told by a child to another child or their parents or grandparents.  These three would probably have been favorites of the Apostle Paul; they are favorites of mine because they will be spreading the Gospel message to the lost throughout Haiti in the coming decades.

Thank you for supporting missionary preparation through Trinity HOPE; it only takes a quarter to provide a hot lunch for one of these Kingdom builders.  Consider for a moment that one small quarter could be all that it takes to keep one precious life out of satan’s grips.  One small coin in the right place could win a soul for Christ; that is a God thing and we just can’t begin to fully understand or appreciate the slogan, “ain’t God good?”
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, 8not 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

Difficult times.

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.  He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.  He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” Job 1:1-3

More thoughts from the online Bible study on the Book of Job.  If you think your life is not fair and very depressing; read about Job.  Back your car out of the garage and get on the entrance ramp and head to the land of Uz.  These kids in the attached photo live in rural Haiti up in the mountains.  In their simple homes, they most likely sleep on a grass mat on a dirt floor, bathe with a bar of soap and cup of water and may get one meal a day.  They don’t live like Job in Uz.

At times, these kid’s lives, your life and my life are difficult.  That is the way we exist on this on this side of Paradise.  The book of Job may cause you to say, "Life is unfair."  Hardship, heartaches, and headaches.   Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult.  But unfair?  Sometimes, life is not just difficult, it's downright unfair.  Welcome to Job's life in Uz.

Job was a man who had it all.  He was a godly man, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father.  In a quick and brutal sweep, he was left standing in Uz, bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless.  He's left with the ten fresh graves of his children in a windswept valley and his wife is crying and asks Job to just “curse God and die".

Try to imagine for a moment what life is like for these Haitian children.  They have a vodou priest telling them they are following a fable and the group of gang members beat them and their parents and take whatever is of use to them.  Life is unfair.  The only meal these kids get is at school.  Life can be so unfair.  There will be difficult times on this side of Paradise.  Whether in Haiti or in your town; you are well aware that nothing much comes to you by way of comfort.  Life can seem so unfair; you've done nothing to deserve such anguish.  Take heart, God is with you…and these kids.  God promises that you have a mansion in Paradise.  He asks that you don’t come alone, tell another neighbor about Jesus so they can find their mansion too.  It’s important that you take a close look at these five girls and three boys in the photo.  Not all are wearing school uniforms.  It could be laundry day or it more likely is poverty or vodou in their home.  All eight of God’s children are looking at the camera.  Followers of vodou believe that looking at the camera will lift your evil spirit and cause you to be weak and unprotected without it.  Eight sets of bright eyes are looking at the camera.  God’s children are smiling and thanking you for their daily meal from Trinity HOPE amid their difficult times.

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, 8not 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 unexpected witmesses.

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:15-20

Have there been instances along your journey when you have been visited by unexpected witnesses?  Shepherds.  Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus were visited by shepherds.  They probably smelled like sheep and their robes were wrinkled and soiled.  They were a vital part of God’s plan for Advent.  When God sent an unexpected person into your journey to the store, or in church or at the senior center, it was an intentional part of His plan for you.  When God has your journey in His plans, the people He uses are often unexpected.

God quite often does things with our journey that we don’t understand.  But, you see, God does surprising things.  In the attached photo, I counted 14 boys and 4 girls who attend a Lutheran school Northwest of Hinche.  These young Haitian kids will be unexpected witnesses in their neighborhoods and perhaps throughout their country one day.  We don’t know how God will use them but we know that He will.  I don’t know their names…but He does.  God delights in lifting up nobodies and using them as somebodies.  God will use them to share the Good News of that baby Jesus with the lost souls in their neighborhood and He may use you to help feed them along their journey on this side of Paradise. 

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, 8not 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