"Blessed are ye..."

For anyone familiar with the account of Lazarus in the book of Luke, it may be brought to rememberance at the sight of dear Madamn Toujou as she was found this past week. She hasn't been able to come to church for quite some time, but this past Sunday Fre Toujou was not there either. He was also at home sick, lying miserably on the floor of their tumbledown shack. For the first time any of us have seen, he was upset at his situation. He has nothing. No clothes, no food, and what he does get, gets stolen. While he was inside the house, his sick and crippled wife was lying behind the shack on a little pile of thin, dirty blankets. Her emaciated body was swarmed with flies, particulary drawn to the gaping, open sore that had been worn into her bottom by compression, as she spends her days sitting on her bare bottom on the dirt. Now with the painful sore, she could only lie on her side, outside probably in order to feel more of a breeze than whats available inside the windowless shack.

A members meeting was called immediately after the evening service, realizing that the help that we've been trying to offer isn't sufficient. They need to be out of the place they're in. They need immediate and frequent help. Reports say that their son, who lives in a much nicer house in the same yard, is the main instigator of their misery. The next day, they were cleaned up and taken to a mission, about an hour drive into the mountain, that was said to work with people with special needs. Upon arrival, Barry learned that they actually only work with children, and an elderly couple was outside of their realm. The next day was another try. This time Barry and three chuch members took them to a hospital in Arcahaie, where Madamn Toujou's sore was cleaned and treated. The doctor said he could see clear down to her bone as he was cleaning it. The other doctor, who was suppoed to look at Fre Toujou and see what could be done with his poorly controlled bladder, was unable to make it to the hospital due to a traffic problem. They are to be taken back in for treatment every two days.

Thankfully, a quick solution was also found for their housing problem. There are plans in the making to buy a small piece of land and put up simple housing for them and some other church members who are in need. For now, though, a young man that's been attending membership classes is allowing the use of his small, one room house. It needs a roof and a door, which are being finished this week. Two sisters from church have agreed to give their time to help with cooking and laundry. The day can hardly come soon enough to get this dear old couple out of their current environment and into a clean, dry house with some loving care.

"And He lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh."   Luke 6:20-21

Cleaned up and dressed to go to the hospital. We had to give Fre Toujou new clothes that same morning so he had something clean to wear.

* * * * * *

The request was typical at first. " I need some money. My baby is hungry. My girlfriend doesn't have enough milk and we need to buy formula." We could identify with the hungry baby problem. Our skinny little guy has really been in need of some extra nourishment, too, so it was an easy decision to offer financial help.

It wasn't many days later when the same young man came back, this time with more of a bold request. "Take my baby. We just can't take care of her. We heard you're starting an orphanage, and we need you to take our baby. She's hungry."

"I want you to bring the baby here. I'd like to see her," Barry requested.

It came as a surprise (should it have?) that the "hungry" baby was a chubby, well-fed roley poley, that could have easily been twice the weight of our own baby.

How quickly they would have handed their baby over to our care! Sadly, this is all too common. The objective in mind is to hand a child over to an orphanage or other place where they'll hopefully have a better education, be well cared for and out of the parents' hair, then grow up to make plenty of money to care for the very parents that handed them over in childhood

* * * * * * *
One of the topics of discussion in the last brothers' meetings was the need for evangelism. There, and in Bible studies, they've been urged to see the need for missionaries. Haitian missionaries to their own country.

They're catching that burden.

Last weekend, they went out on a limb and had their first street preaching experience. Barry drove Pastor Bazalet, Herode, Ramou, Renaldson, Belizer, and Jeraldson to their destination: right here in to town to the large Arcahaie open air market on a busy Saturday morning. This was big for them. This is where people would be who know them. After they had finished and were enjoying a meal together, one of them said, "Now is when the persecution begins."

"Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven..." Matthew 5:11-12

Some of the same young men, Herode, Renaldson, and Ramou, have also lined up preaching engagements in various mountain churches. What an encouragement to see some who are by nature quiet and reserved step up and declare the Gospel in front of a crowd!

Barry is still preaching at other churches also. Because of the time of day and trying to maintian a family schedule, I haven't been along for a while. However, he was asked recently to preach a series of evening meetings held outdoors at a church nearby, so we all went along. I had almost forgotten how other churches do it. I was shocked all over again my the miniskirts, the dancing, and the party atmostphere. When we were first pulling up, the music was blaring loudly enough to be heard clearly in the street. There was a young lady standing on the corner, as if waiting for a ride, dressed so attrociously and so heavily painted in make-up that it seemed evident she was going out to start a night of "work." While she waited, she was shaking her hips and singing along with the songs coming from the church's speakers.

The scene induced a fiery message about real verses false Christianity, and the fruits of such. As usual, there was an amen chorus from some, and eyerolling and laughter from others. It was such an encouragement when a whole group of our church brothers went along, and walked in erect and sober, a wonderul example amongst the environment that was not far removed from a night club.

Renaldson preaching at the market 

Jeraldson and Belizer witnessing one on one at the market

* * * * * *

We are pleased to also report that, after a prolonged period of pain and discomfort, Barry's abdomen is finally feeling almost normal, following his unexpected appendix surgery in the US.

In May, we scheduled a short, between-furloughs trip to Indiana in order to have some meetings with the board, and take care of a few things. We had wanted to fly out of Haiti on a Friday, but the tickets were just too expensive. We moved the tickets up to a broken-up Wednesday to Thursday overnight trip. We typically land in Detroit around midnight, then have a two-hour drive to the home we're staying in. With the broken up flight, we were able to land in Fort Wayne, very close to home, around three in the afternoon on Thursday. The flight and travel went very well, but when we got off the plane and were waiting for our luggage at the baggage claim, Barry started to feel sharp pain in his abdomen. It grew continually worse as evening came, and by 7:00 it was becoming unbarable. After poking around and finding where the pain was localized, we determined it was pretty likely appendicitis. We lifted him up in prayer, but God saw fit to show His hand in another way.

We took him to the emergency room of the nearest hospital, where they confirmed appendicitis with more poking and tests, including a CT scan. When the surgeron came in to discuss the operation with him, he said, "Wait, you just came from Haiti? Today? Wow, you sure are lucky to have came here when you did.

Was it luck?... "I'll give that some divine credit." He corrected.

After hours of preparation and waiting, Barry's appendix was removed, and he was released from the hospital around 6:30 that morning.

Later we heard stories of terrible failed appendectomy attempts in Haiti. We recalled the recent death of a young acquaintance from a burst appendix. It was easy to see God's hand in flying us all to the States when he did. Would men believe it if we had prayed and God healed his appendicitis right there on the couch? Maybe, maybe not.

When we're given a clear diagnosis, and we know he had appendicitis, what gives God more glory? The timing of the unexpected trip home was clearly and obviously steps that were ordered by the Lord. In this day, that's something people can believe!

After many phone calls and help from the Plain Church Group, the astounding bill of nearly $60,000 was reduced by over 90%, and our generous church back home took up a collection to cover the costs. It's very humbling to consider the outpouring of love behind such an experience.

* * *  

We can't say enough thanks for the prayers and support!

With love,

Barry and Julia in Haiti