Another Haiti Email and some random thoughts

Today marked the 54th day in a row we have had 4 inches of snow or more on the ground and it looks like it will be here another 54 days! The groundhog is not even coming out tomorrow!

Pitchers and Catchers report in just over 2 weeks!

The Sermon Series at church the last few weeks is on conflicts. Its been a great series of messages. I missed one of the messages because of a conflict. (I am here all week!)

I have been getting emails from a contact in Dominican Republic about taking water over to Haiti.

Here is the email:

Hola Amigos,


As the subject of this email says, we just delivered more water to our brothers and sisters of Haiti.  It looks like that thanks to your generosity, we will able to accomplish our goal  of taking 100,000 bottler of  much needed water over there.
This last trip was much more touching/emotional than the last trips as we went again right into one of the areas that was hit the hardest. It’s incredible/absurd/inconceivable  that after so many days bodies are still  laying on the side of the road in this area.  Flies attack you when you just open the window of your car and the smell goes through even the nose masks.  But you may know this by now through the news agencies because they like to report on this kind of things, (by the way everybody here seems to agree that  there are too many of them in Haiti doing nothing more than disrespecting the dignity of the Haitian people) so I will not go much into that in this update.


After my appearance on  national television this week, other news agencies ( 2 of them) wanted me to talk on camera about what is happening in Haiti. So  I told them what I really wanted people to know about the Haitian people . They appeared bored, so I don’t think these interviews are going to be aired ( at less for now ) anywhere and will be like unpublished note that I’m sharing with you bellow .


I would like to tell you about what I learned myself about the Haitian people in these last couple of days, something that the press does not report on:


 Haitians are unselfish, loving, caring, helpful and grateful people that, for example, have cut down the prices on transportation of goods getting less personal  benefit so their own fellow citizens can get more of what they need. Haitians take a truck full of water to a location where it will be distributed evenly, even though they themselves don’t have any water and will have to wait until the distribution starts to get their share.  I have seen that for every foreign relief worker there are 8-10 Haitians that have been working everyday on the rescue effort without any protective gear on their hands and in most case just drinking one water for a whole day. One day, like the pastors that we are working with say, this will be a great nation and Haitians will feel proud of what they did  to be a part of it .


I can tell you that this Haitians pastors that I’m mentioning are confident that God has reunited Haitian people as one through this tragedy.  They are looking forward to the birth of a new Haiti where people know God as their source for everything.


I’m bless of  having the opportunity of share Jeremiah 11:29 with Haitians on this tough  moments, and thank God and you for choosing  me to be the one here.


 Love you all,


Cristian

I love the part about the Haitians helping themselves.

God Bless!

Haiti and Urban Plunge

In a few weeks (less than 4 to be exact) I will be going to the Domincan Republic(DR) for a mission trip.I planned on going on this trip back in November to help build a house for a family. In the last 2 weeks the neighboring country to DR, Haiti, was rocked by an earthquake. We questioned whether this would effect our trip to DR. The organization that we are partnering with has a water purifier and is sending over as much bottled was as they can. I was also forwarded an excerpt from a Blog of a person that is a short term missionary at an orphanage in Haiti. Read some of her comunique in her blog http://norainhaiti.spaces.live.com/

Some of the stories and first hand account about rip your heart out. Its a good to get some unbiased (news based) information from Haiti.

An excerpt from her blog:

Little seven year old Levalencia especially stole my heart. She told me that she was going to get me something to eat. When I told her that I was not hungry, she said, “Mommy Nora, I have never seen you eat anything!” Imagine such a little one being so concerned about MY wellbeing! I asked her about the last couple of days. She told me that her papa had died in their crushed house and that she had cried! She told me that her school had been destroyed and that her mama has four children, but that she had come to LesCayes only with her mama and her 3 year old little sister, Dariana. She told me I was her mama too! Later in the day, she brought her mother and little sister to meet me. Levalencia always wants to be right next to me or sitting on my lap. Many times she will gently shove the other children aside so that she can have her “rightful” place by my side. I am sure that bright and early tomorrow morning she will be calling out my name at the door of my tent! What a little sweetheart! When Sunday did arrive, Levalencia said she wanted to go to church with me. She entered the church with the only dress that I have seen her wear and a pair of shoes that are at least three sizes too large for her. She looked around and noticed that her dress was not as beautiful as the other little girls’ dresses. She politely excused herself and returned with a dress fitting for Sunday worship, according to the Haitian tradition of dressing in your most beautiful clothes to honor God. I’m not sure where she got the dress. My hunch is that she borrowed it from someone else.

URBAN PLUNGE DES MOINES!

We had our first group for Urban Plunge Des Moines this weekend.  God cleared the weather for a great weekend. We had ice storms last week and a blizzard today. The guys from First Federated did an awesome job this weekend on the Plunge. They all were willing to help out and do whatever is needed. The thing that stuck out the most for me was the statement of just being there for someone esle is a ministry unto its own. To show others that you truly care for them and what they are doing in their life whether it was a senior citizen with Alzheimers or a possible homeless kid playing video games. They showed true compassion! What a great group of guys!

Looking forward to more Urban Plunges in Des Moines this year! What a great kickstart to a great year!

Haiti

In a few short weeks I will be in the Dominican Republic....February 19th to be exact. I will be part of a mission team that will help to build simple homes in the Dominican. The Dominican Republic is on the same island as Haiti. All of the news coverage of the Earthquake is unbelievable. Many people have lost their live and many others have lost their homes. Already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere Haiti could ill afford the earthquake they suffered just over a week ago. Water and Food have become more valualble than money. The organization that I am going to stay with in the DR, Unto International, has a water purification system and they are bottling water to truck over to Haiti. Getting the water to those who need it is no easy task. Guards need to be hired and escort the trucks. After the first trip into Haiti it was decided that it was better to move the entire load of water to a Haitian registered truck than to drive a DR truck into Haiti. Available Haitian trucks wanted $3000 to take the water but after some negotiating settled on a few hundred dollars.

I imagine this scene is much more that TV can portray or one can describe. It will be interesting to go to the DR and see what is going on to help Haiti. I feel moved to go to Haiti in a few months to help with the rebuilding process. Until then thoughts and prayers go out to Haiti and their people.

I saw this on the national news the other night. Unbelievable. It is easy to have faith when times are good but when times are tough we seem to question our faith.



Once she is removed from the rubble she sings after 6 days of no food or water.

God Bless Haiti!

Some Fresh Air

Well today seems to be the first day over 30 degrees in a long time! I stepped outside on the deck to see how warm it was outside. The snow is melting and I could hear the water from the melted snow running down the roof and the downspouts of the house. I decided to grab the shovel and uncover the grill. I am feeling the need for some grilled meat! Nothing is better than grilled meat in the middle of winter! It felt good to get some fresh air and a little activity outside while shoveling the snow.

Last Sunday I watched Facing the Giants by the same people who did Fireproof. It was a great movie...message wise....acting wise its not going to win any Oscars. This movie was not meant to win Oscars it was meant to tell a message. To me the message of we wonder why things happen to us or why the things we ask for don't happen to us. We pray about it but nothing happens. We need to prepare for the things we ask for and seek. The diffining clip of the movie for me is the Parable of the 2 farmers that need rain but only one farmer prepares for the rain. Which farmer will God send the rain?

Check out this clip



Which farmer are you? It convicted me. I want to be the farmer that prepares for the rain but I feel I fall short.

Prepare for Rain. Come Spring there will be rain....will there be rain this winter?

Well its off to South Dakota today for a talk for Project 52 Inc. We were supposed to fly in a small plane today but the weather is not going to cooperate. Dustin and I will have plenty of time in the car to talk about tonight and pray that we make it on time.

I just finished putting together a little video slide show for the 2009 tree plantings. Its seems like just yesterday that we planted the first tree for Justin Volzke. I read this week that Justin's friends presented the family with a cross to mark the spot where Justin was killed. As I watch the slide show I can think of each story and what happened to each of the people that we planted trees for this year. What an honor to be able to plant these trees! We have several requests for trees next year and we are looking forward to planting each and every one of them.

As we prepared for the talk tonight we went back and looked through some video of the events surrounding Treye in 2006 and it seems very surreal. Almost as if it is someone else. It put a new focus on our talk for tonight and we hope that the message touches the audience tonight. I am looking forward to the talk and I am also a bit nervous because I want it to go well. I just have to remember God will put the words on my lips and I need to trust him to portray the message that He wants me to tell.

If you would like to have Project 52 do a presentation at your school, youth group or church please contact us at our website.    Thanks!

Its more than whats between your ears!

We as humans and ultra intelligent being seem that we first want to understand everything about a subject before we believe it. In the media things are reported and we doubt them until they are proven. I have read the Bible from cover to cover 2 times in fact and I still don't completely understand even 5% of what God says to me in these words. I know reading the Bible is important and I try to read it everyday but it doesn't happen as it should but I feel more guilty about not have the feeling of Jesus in my heart and soul than understanding why Peter wrote what books and where he was when he wrote them and why he wrote them. I want to have that feeling that Jesus had when he lived on this earth. It is said that Jesus came to serve not to be served. Now I am not saying serving others is the only thing that we should do but when I serve I get that feeling that I cannot describe. When I serve others without purpose or thinking about it I get a feeling that I cannot describe but I think Jesus had it every single minute of every single day he walked this earth.

I recently got the new David Crowder CD Church Music and it has some great songs on it, but by far my favorite song is How He Loves



The line in the song "Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss
                               And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
                               I don't have time to maintain these regrets

That says it all I can hold all the regrets I want to hold but if I believe and have the true feeling of His grace inside of my chest then we will sink in his love and grace. What a beautiful song.

In the past few weeks I have been able to meet up with a person that I consider has that feeling and I highly respect and have a sense about this man. He has a vision of what God is calling him to do and he is helping me with my vision and challenging me to look deep into my chest for the feeling of Gods love. He mentors others just as he was mentored at one time and asks that it be passed along. It is easy to get sucked in for the wrong reasons but I feel that God has called us together to do some things that I am not even aware of or have any idea of what they are.

So the next chapter of life goes.....Next week I will be speaking at a church about Project 52 and how I came to be involved in it and how God has used me to this point. This journey is going to be awesome but I must have the patience to let it happen in Gods time not my time.

This week I lost another high school classmate to cancer. I pray for him and his family.

God Bless

Another Month has gone by....Wow!

This is about 9 minutes long but what a great message!



Everyday we think about what we don't get done and day after day week after week we tell ourselves that tomorrow or next week I will get more done. I am a master at email. I can let them consume my day and the next thing you know your day or week is gone. Then this week I see that one of my classmates is going to hospice with cancer, he has no treatment options left. 40 years old and nothing that a doctor knows can help him. Many people have posted prayers and kind thoughts to him. I also saw another post that asked why do we only do say nice things about folks when they are about to leave or have left this life. Think about it, how many times do folks give a eulogy at a funeral and say that person was pretty average or not a nice person at all. Makes you wonder what people think about you, not the people that know you really well but people that know who you are and have maybe spoken to you once or twice but really have no idea what they true you is. I think we all strive to be the person that others say "Hes a good person." but in reality we mess up and make bad impressions or say things that make people think "What is his deal/problem?" I know that I still do things that I would like to take back. I am a work in progress and so are you!

In the message it says we are a masterpiece in Gods eyes but in our own we feel more like the trash on the curb. I have asked myself as we go out and plant trees for those who have lost children "Why am I doing this?" and "Am I good enough to do this?" I feel sometimes that I need to get my own life in order before I can go out and do things for others. My life is pretty good but I don't feel I have reached my potential, my calling. I feel that I really need to take a step to do something that will get some of these bad ideas that are holding me back out of my way, but in God's eyes I don't need to think that way. I am a masterpiece and He has plans for me. I struggle with this just as the video suggests and I know others do also. My prayer is that each and every one of us feels as though we are a masterpiece that God created!

Tangent Here--> Now that almost all news is online I often find myself looking at different websites to get my news but the comments that people post really bother me. Recently a 13 year old boy was hit and killed by a drunk hit and run driver and someone was questioning why the boy was out at 11:45 at night. Would that person say that to the mothers face? What if the Mother read that article and the comments? It seems anytime there is an article where someone has broken the law or has had a bad thing happen people like to hide behind their screenname and post some of the meanest things. Can people just take a step back and think about putting themselves in someone else’s shoes before they post a comment? Don't get me started on text messaging. Oh how the rumors fly and the gossip goes around on those things.



So today when you see someone who may need some help, offer them a hand. Give out smiles to those who look like they are having a bad day. Peace and God Bless!!