International Prayer Day First Monday each month 10 am

Joel Griffith 3/29/25 Joel Griffith 3/29/25

Five faces of faithfulness.

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10 (ESV)

Please, try to imagine how a child living in Haiti must feel about walking to school for hours in the early morning, having had nothing to eat at home but knowing and expecting that there will be a plate of food for them at school; it is always there…like their Heavenly Father…always there. That is a face of faithfulness. God is always faithful to them and to us.

Faithfulness is not a word that we hear very often in North America these days. Sometimes we hear it at retirement gatherings; “After 40 years of faithful service, we present you with this certificate.” Perhaps you have a dog that has lived with your family for 15 years; what a faithful friend old Buck has been through all these years.

About the only really faithful thing that I ever saw as a child was Old Faithful in Yellowstone; the Park Service had a clock that told visitors when it was going to erupt; I remember that we watched it spew water twice. In North America we love things that are on time, every time, every day…we love things that are faithful.

The five girls sitting at their school desk in Ouanaminthe are basking in the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father. One of His children in North America parted with about two dollars so they would have a lunch on this particular day in October, 2010. It is not easy finding somebody who can be counted on every day, all of the time; somebody who will be faithful to the very end. Not all of the people who are donating funds to feed these five girls in Ouanaminthe may be there next month or next year; our Heavenly Father may have other plans for them.

God has always re-loaded Trinity HOPE with new donors, new groups have stepped up, grants from various sources…always some surprise. God doesn’t want these young heroes of the faith to go hungry, they need to be healthy as they go out and tell about their faithful Heavenly Father who gave His only Son, Who faithfully went to the cross for our sins. The faces in the attached photo know all about faithfulness, they know all about you and they know all about their Heavenly Father.

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

Joel Griffith 3/28/25 Joel Griffith 3/28/25

Why HE came for us.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10 (ESV)

During the season of Lent we focus on the last days of the life of Jesus Christ; His suffering, humiliation, scourging, beating, death and resurrection. We also are reminded about why He came here for us, what His purpose on earth was and why we daily should turn to Him with thanksgiving for our gift of Eternal Life from His death on Calvary’s cross.

The attached photo is of a weekly rural market near Fond Baptiste which is high on a mountain in the Arcahaie District located in the northern claw of Haiti. Here people gather twice a week to hopefully sell a small pan of vegetables or fruit, or a basket, or a dress or something that they have made or trade something for something that they might be needing.

I don’t know how many people were there but suffice to say there was a mass of humanity there and I can’t begin to tell you what the noise of their gathered voices sounded like on that hot morning on the road to Fond Baptiste. The man in the center of the photo, scratching his head with his right hand is Pastor Joseph Romulus, he was looking for ‘zaboka’ or an avocado. Pastor Joseph is like you and me, a sinner. The other people in the photo are also sinners. Close to 65% percent of the people living in Haiti practice vodou, they are sinners who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Our Lord Jesus sent Pastor Joseph, you, me and over 65,000 Haitian children attending Christian schools in Haiti to take the Gospel message to the lost still practicing vodou in Haiti. They either have not heard the truth or have and still believe the lies of the vodou priest that Christ did not rise from the dead and satan won the victory. Seek and save the lost. I heard a Lenten hymn recently at an online service, “Jesus, Your Blood and Righteousness” by Nicolaus L. von Zinzendorf and it is one of my favorites and always reminds me why Christ came and then the Holy Spirit moves me to follow the direction Christ gave us, to seek and save the lost.

“Jesus, your blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress; mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great day, cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay; for by your cross absolved I am, from sin and guilt, from fear and shame. Lord, I believe your precious blood, which at the mercy seat of God; pleads for the captives’ liberty, was also shed in love for me. Lord, I believe, were sinners more than sands upon the ocean shore, You have for all a ransom paid, for all a full atonement made. When from the dust of death I rise to claim my mansion in the skies, this then shall be my only plea: Christ Jesus lived and died for me. Then shall I praise you and adore Your blessed name forevermore, Who once, for me and all you made, an everlasting ransom paid.”

Thank you for blessing the lives of the children in Trinity HOPE programs with your prayers and financial gifts that daily uplift them as they go out into their world and seek and save the lost.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/27/25 Joel Griffith 3/27/25

A God moment.

(Jesus said) "But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

I really do hope that sometime in your life’s journey, you have had an opportunity to show somebody a random act of kindness and heard them utter the words “You will never know how much this means to me”. Perhaps those exact words didn’t leave their lips but you could just see them in their eyes or feel them in the warm hug that they gave you. It is a warm fuzzy moment…it is a God moment.

I’ve been blessed to see Medical Mission Team doctors and nurses in Haiti receive those words through a translator, teachers receive that hug and a missionary receive that through two sets of eyes and a pair of smiles. It is a moment when our Heavenly Father is smiling at what has taken place. He told us ‘you don’t know how much you mean to me’ when He sent His Son to the cross.

There have been many faces in Haiti captured on film that seem to say ‘thank you, you will never know how much this means to me.’ The attached photo of a school girl at Bon Berger in Caredeux, seems to be telling Lori Wolfe-Beerenstrach that as the lens of her camera opened on a hot Haitian day as school was getting out.

It is too bad that I could not attach a photo from every one of the schools that have Trinity HOPE feeding programs so you could see over 65.000 children saying “you will never know how much this means to me.” We also need to say to God every day, “You will never know how much it means to me that You gave Your only Son to die for my sins.” That random act of our Heavenly Father’s kindness, grace is immeasurable and unthinkable by human standards. Thank you for continuing to ‘make their day’ by supporting Trinity HOPE and preparing those children in Haiti to do His work, spreading the Holy Gospel to the lost in their neighborhoods.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/26/25 Joel Griffith 3/26/25

A better life.

“From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:15

Ask a North American mother what qualities she hopes her child will have when they are grown and many will list attributes like independence, free-thinking, individualism, leadership and somebody who doesn't go along with the crowd. Ask a Haitian mother the same question and you will probably get a different answer. Many Haitian moms will say they would hope that their child would get an education, a job and have a better life than they have had.

If you have ever been to Haiti and have been invited into their humble homes, you would have witnessed them preparing meals or tending to their small gardens and you would understand those differences. If you have visited life in rural Haiti, you can see firsthand what life might have been like here in the mid to late 1800’s as time seems to have stood still. The rest of the industrial world has not visited the small hamlets within Haiti except for the gasoline powered vehicle.

Haitian people are for the most part very patient and orderly as they stand in line waiting for the arrival of a taptap; wait in line hoping for a day of work, waiting to get some water or food. What do you want for your child? A better life than what I have endured. That is what the parent living in Ouanaminthe wants for their son attending the Lutheran school in the attached photo.

Christians want their children to grow up knowing and walking with Jesus. One of the greatest needs of the Haitian parent is to realize how important it is for their child to know Jesus as many of them only rely upon the vodou priest and bring up their children without faith in the Savior. Perhaps ninety percent of the schools in Haiti are Christian schools and the next generation in Haiti will have a Savior. At the present time, there are over 65,000 children attending over 264 Christian schools in Haiti who are learning about their Savior and receiving a meal from Trinity HOPE. Thank you for helping the parents in Haiti to make a better life for their child, and also for answering the call of our Savior to seek and save the lost.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/25/25 Joel Griffith 3/25/25

A God thing.

“In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." Matthew 21:18-22

I read these verses in a Lenten devotion recently; they encouraged and also caused me to look at my life’s journey in ways that I had not really thought about before. This passage grabbed me by the throat, had read it before but like most of Scripture comes into my ancient mind, the more you read it the it more opens up to your life.

I don’t know where your journey has taken you, but mine has certainly had its ups and downs and there have been many occasions when I have stumbled only to find Him there ready to pick me up and set me back upon my feet. That is a God thing; taking the least of this world and setting it back upright to try again at doing His work. What are your thoughts when you read about the fig tree that produced leaves but no fruit? Where has your journey led you? Back in the day, the attached photo was taken in Caredeux as John Hall and I were delivering a load of beans that had been shipped from Morrill, NE and rice and oil to Good Shepherd Lutheran school. On this day my truck groaned from the weight of the load and had power steering and the rear springs seemed to be fully compressed as we drove down the bumpy streets through Port-au-Prince on a hot afternoon.

Many children were fed from this food. I am so thankful that so many of you have followed the call of the Holy Spirit to go into the mission fields of this planet and assist with the harvest. Thank you for sharing of your time, talents and prayers with the children, His children living in Haiti who are being fed Spiritually and nutritionally in over 264 Christian schools in Haiti.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/24/25 Joel Griffith 3/24/25

The children are so beautiful.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from the beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

I am unable to begin to count the number of times the phrase “the children are so beautiful” was spoken following a Trinity HOPE presentation. It was always brought up by somebody and the attached photo taken of a girl in Caredeux, probably brings you to think of that now. Our Heavenly Father has made everything beautiful in it’s time, and as John Hall used to say quite frequently; “ain’t God good?” If you have spent much time in Haiti, seeing the children and where they live gives you a different perspective of the above verse from Ecclesiastes. The home they live in is typically the size of a single stall North American garage. If the parents have money or support from somebody living in the U.S., their house may be the size of a double stall garage.

No electricity, no indoor plumbing, no kitchen cupboards, appliances, toilet, sink, screen or glass in the windows; their living conditions are primitive. The homes that I visited outside of Port-au-Prince typically had one dresser in the family bedroom and that held every family member’s earthly possessions. The girl in the attached photo doesn’t know what it is like to live on your street or what you come home to at the end of your day. She just doesn’t understand and neither can we living in North America comprehend what their living conditions are like.

Our Heavenly Father is in control, from the beginning to the end and many of us living in North America just don’t and can’t understand why that girl is smiling. Several decades ago Ray Stevens introduced a song out called ‘Everything is beautiful’ and that song has made it into my memory time on many occasions while living in Haiti and here are the lyrics today.

“Jesus loves the little children, all the little children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. Everything is beautiful in its' own way. Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day. Everybody's beautiful In their own way under God's heaven the world's gonna find a way. There is none so blind that is he who will not see. We must not close our minds, we must let our thought be free. For every hour that passes by you know the world gets a little bit older. It's time to realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. We shouldn't care about the length of his hair or the color of his skin. Don't worry about what shows from without but the love that lives within. We're gonna get it all together now everything gonna work out fine. Just take a little time to look on the good side my friend and straighten it out in your mind.”

What a wonderful song; hope that you are familiar with it and have heard it and you will be humming it tomorrow. It seems that too many North American folks can’t understand why people living in poverty in other countries can possibly be happy and we then try to make North Americans out of them, giving them money, money, money and making their lives miserable. Their smile comes from knowing Jesus.

Thank you for supporting Trinity HOPE. We are really quite simple; we feed children attending Christian schools, one bowl of rice and beans at a time. We are sensitive to how much they need to keep them healthy as they go about doing His work. We feed His children a bowl of rice and beans every day. Sure, that is nothing fancy, just preparing them to do as we do, take the Gospel message to the lost.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/22/25 Joel Griffith 3/22/25

Tet di.

“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,” Psalm 81:11-13

When you were a child, were there times when you were receiving directions on how to do things correctly or at least better that you listened and then when left alone you returned to doing them ‘your’ way? Perhaps I am the only one to have done that, but reading through scripture it seems that I am in good company.

Stubborn; there are five definitions to this word in the online dictionary: “Unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving: a stubborn child. Fixed or set in purpose or opinion; resolute: a stubborn opponent of foreign aid. Obstinately maintained, as a course of action: a stubborn resistance. Difficult to manage or suppress: a stubborn horse; a stubborn pain. Hard, tough, or stiff, as stone or wood; difficult to shape or work.” The Haitian word for stubborn is “tet di.”

When you drive into villages in Haiti the houses with the tall flagpole that is adorned with their multi-colored banners are owned by a stubborn person whose eyes, ears, mind, heart and body are owned by the devil. Their stubbornness continues to separate them from the love of Christ. They continue to reject the Holy Spirit. Our Triune God continues to reach out to them through the lives of young Haitian missionaries who you are helping to support. The Holy Spirit continues to nudge those lives trapped in the lies of the vodou priest to turn into the Light and accept the Savior of this world. I close today with the words to the hymn ‘Just as I am’ which was written by Charlotte Elliott in 1836.

“Just as I am, without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, to Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind; sight, riches, healing of the mind, yea, all I need, in Thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; because Thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am; Thy love unknown has broken every barrier down. now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/21/25 Joel Griffith 3/21/25

This pair of hands.

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT)

My sins, your sins and the sins of these children from Ouanaminthe in the attached photo were nailed to cross of Christ some two thousand years ago. Nailed to the cross, His hands and our hands; what a sacrifice He gave for us. Back in the day, while living in Haiti and worshipping at Pastor Thomas Bernard’s Church in Caredeux, there were many occasions when he asked me to share a message with the congregation. He said it was good to hear God’s word from a North American from time to time as my life’s journey had been down different roads than his, and theirs and it was good for them to see God’s world from a different perspective from time to time. One Sunday I shared with them about the hands of Christ being nailed to the Cross and invited the members to stop for a moment and look at their hands, where they had been, what ‘they’ had done with them and how God used them.

Have you ever looked at your hands, I mean really looked at your hands? You are probably sitting at the keyboard in a climate controlled house, but please look at your hands, palms up, palms down clenched and open. Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, how they have served you well throughout your years. My hands, though wrinkled, shriveled, and scarred have been the tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life. They have held a surveyors Philadelphia rod for thirteen years, held a hammer while inspecting a bridge while immersed under 30’ of ‘black’ water, plunked on a computer keyboard and held my daughters when they were only a few seconds old…and they have been together in prayer.

They tied my shoelaces and also pulled on my cowboy boots. They’ve been lava soap dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They have scooped manure in the barn and changed diapers. They once carried a wedding band and trembled when I was with my mother when she left this world and held on tightly as I walked my daughters down the aisle at their wedding’s.

Today it seems that they are wearing out at a fast pace. My strength is being sapped with every coming year, but I still remember when I could do so many different tasks with these hands. Today, these hands are doing God’s work, reaching out to you to share the message of Trinity HOPE and scrolling through Scripture to embrace my human thoughts, words and memories.

One day our Triune God will reach out and take your hands, my hands and the hands of children living in Haiti and take each of us home. One day, our hands will touch the face of Jesus Christ as our Heavenly Father will tell us “well done good and faithful servant.” Guard your hands, may they continue to do His work in this world.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/20/25 Joel Griffith 3/20/25

Abandoned.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18

Not sure if you have ever visited an orphanage in Haiti. Pastor Revenel Benoit in Gonaives had the first Lutheran orphanage that I had heard of when I arrived and began living there in March of 2001. The orphanage in Gonaives had boys, perhaps fifteen or twenty at that time and they were in ages from five to eighteen. The local Lutheran Church there took care of them, fed them, educated them, provided them with a trade and brought them up knowing Jesus Christ.

The longer that I lived in Haiti the more the stories of young children came into conversations as Pastors would tell of parents or single parents leaving their children on the steps of the Church or even at the pastor’s house as they could not care for them. Left alone in the neighborhood they were a prime target for the vodou priest and they would ultimately become the living resource for his evil vocation.

The attached photo is of a young boy at the gate of Pastor Bruce Narcles in St. Marc. His guardian had left him there, in what clothes he had on outside the gate of the pastor’s house on a hot afternoon in Haiti. Abandoned, forgotten; a young life left to the world. This abandoned child was fortunate; he was rescued and given support. There are times in our lives when we may feel abandoned by people that loved us or provided for us and we are in a sense orphaned too. During Lent, we read that Jesus knew His disciples would also feel as they had been abandoned and would be in need of help and support during the trying days ahead.

They were about to see their Lord and Master betrayed, arrested and crucified. Would they feel abandoned, alone? Absolutely, you have probably known this feeling at some point in your life’s journey. But there is good news for you and for the young boy in St. Marc, the truth of Easter brings a promise to your life. Jesus tells us that He will return to us and take us to see the mansion that He has prepared for you!”

His disciples needed to hear the promise from the Savior and so does country of Haiti who are still living in a country dedicated to satan through vodou. Children, like this young orphan boy who attend Christian schools are the future missionaries of Haiti and they will share that they, like you are Easter people! We live in the promise of the One who came to rescue us from the lies of this sinful world.

May God be with you,

Jay

Joel Griffith 3/19/25 Joel Griffith 3/19/25

My view in 2001.

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:38-43

These passages from the Gospel of John telling of the raising of Lazarus from the dead remind me of the urgency of seeking and saving the lost souls in Haiti. The attached photo was taken from the roof of my apartment in Petionville and whenever I would go up there and hang out my laundry on the line; this was my view to the West. Back in the day, 2001, as far as I knew, close to eighty percent of the people living on the side of that hill practiced vodou at that time and had not heard the truth about Jesus Christ, the Son of God who brought Lazarus from the tomb and later would himself conquer death and the devil. Many of the people living in that neighborhood had either not heard about the Savior of the world or had heard and rejected the story and still believed the lies of the vodou priest.

The above account of the raising of Lazarus was true as this event took place in front of grieving Jews who came to the tomb to mourn with the family; they reported this event to the Pharisees. This event was an important factor leading up the death of Jesus because it was upon hearing of this miracle that the chief of priests and Pharisees determined to bring about the death of Jesus.

Rescuing the people on the hillside in Petionville seems to be an impossible feat in the eyes of the world; too often we put God into a box and only think about what we can do and don’t look at what God is capable of doing. My music friend Alexa played a Southern Gospel song recently called “My name is Lazarus” and the final verse is as follows;

“He said, “My name is Lazarus, could I testify? My name is Lazarus, it feels good to be alive. When I in chains of death was bound, this man named Jesus called me out. If you think your little problem is too big for Him to solve take it from the one who’s heard the mighty voice of God. A living testimony of His death-defying touch, my name is Lazarus”

There are several thousand children attending Christian schools in Port-au-Prince and are living in fear of gangs and vodou, but miraculously are still being blessed through Trinity HOPE feeding programs when their schools are able to stay open. These young missionaries will bring the message of the raising of Lazarus by our Risen Savior to the people living on the hillside. It certainly is a God thing that you are blessed to take part in these children’s preparation; but their sharing the Gospel message is certainly a God thing. Thank you for answering the call to seek and save the lost by sharing of your financial gifts and prayers with the children who will take the saving message to the lost souls throughout Haiti.

May God be with you,

Jay