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Preparations for flight. I always wish that we had the technology that would allow us to 'beam' to another place. No travel time, no suffering on the way. Instant arrival. THAT would be nice.
Then I think backwards about the days when missionaries would spend weeks on a boat moving toward their mission field. Weeks en route. How nice that I can be onsite in my mission field in about 24 or 30 hours. The days leading up to flight are busy. That's why this is short. :) This weekend I will, Lord willing, be back into ministry in the town of Passe-bois-d'orme. Check out my activities log to see what I do each day. In Nehemiah, they rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem. Each family built the part of the wall close to their own house. They each did THEIR part. Are you building your part of the wall?
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Last Friday I spent the morning at Lancaster Bible College with Professor Dick Cleary and his philosophy students. I hadn't been in a real college environment since Mansfield in the 1980's. It was foreign and fun at the same time.
Then I spent 24 hours with the youth of CLC. A famine program...Weekend in Haiti. The kids are impressive young people. It was great to spend time with them. I sometimes feel I couldn't work with folks here in the USA very much. It is so different from working with Haitians. BUT, in the end it is all about working with people. And people are the same where ever you go. (I think Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder sang that.) Now I'm purchasing and packing for my flight next Thursday. Transitions are always a mix of good and bad. You want to get to where you are going, but you don't want to leave. I can't help but think that in Heaven we'll be rid of the pain of leaving. Amen! It'll be 'arriving' all day every day...no leaving...no sorrow, no chagrin. :) The longer I stay in the USA, the more I find myself thinking about Haiti.
I've been working on a music curriculum (just some organized materials really) for my music students. I think I've got some things that'll really help people progress. It's so easy to find materials here in the USA. I've also been making worksheets for our church kids. They are studying in a great book...Leading Little Ones to God. I found out that I met one of the gentlemen who translated the book. The book introduces kids in small portions to God and His saving grace through Jesus Christ. I think that it has given many kids in our church program a good base on which to grow. The worksheets that I make for every lesson help us drill in the lesson's message and also communicate it with the parents...for those who read. :) I'm looking forward now to loading up with supplies and going back to work. The buildings are set up and ready. I'll get some furniture when I'm back in the country (chairs for students) and be able to start doing some real teaching at my location plus all of the churches and schools where I already have contact. It feels real good, my situation right now. I am thankful to God for the opportunity to do what I do. It's always good to be here in the USA. It's a great country...the best. BUT, the moral slide here is remarkable! The campaign to push our thinking in certain directions is unmistakeable. It is as important as ever to be rooted in the unchanging Truth of God as written in His word. I can't imagine negotiating this world without it.
It is amazing to me how people willingly contribute to ASAPH Teaching Ministry. People who I don't regularly communicate with and now people who I don't even know have contributed to the ministry. It is humbling. It motivates me to be even better at what I do in the community of PBO...to the glory of God. I am preparing Bible lesson worksheets for kids while I am at home. They are from a book originally in English and now in Haitian Creole. I spend a couple of hours preparing each lesson so that the worksheet reinforces the lesson from the book and pushes kids to a closer relationship with Christ. The delight of all of that work will be when we use the worksheets on Sunday mornings in our church. We've been using lessons from the book for a couple of years already. Great lessons leading kids to the True Creator God who redeemed us through Jesus Christ. And I get to see kids grow from following the lessons. Good stuff. |
Andy StumpMissionary in Haiti. Archives
February 2023
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