Special Meetings

     

 

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

This verse is encouraging to remember as we consider the work that's being done here. There are SO MANY people in Haiti, and God wants all of them to be saved! Every one of the 11 million people packed onto this little island has a soul that God cares for.  

Interestingly, the small town of Williamson is one of the harshest places in Haiti. All sorts of crimes, including murders, robberies, and rape, are at an all time high. Its not somewhere you want to be walking around outside after dark. Despite its small size and the astounding wickedness lurking on every corner, it has 27 churches!   This fact gave the church brothers the idea that Williamson is in great need of a powerful, life-changing Gospel. They've now added the Williamson street market as a place to evangelize. Even Ramou, who, three years ago hid under the truck when some brothers from home started street preaching, this time put on the microphone and proclaimed the Gospel.

In addition to witnessing on the streets, Barry and Pastor Bazalet still have frequent meetings and Bible studies with several area churches.  There was a small church across the river, about a mile away in Barbancourt, that had a series of meetings the other week. Their speakers were so loud that we could hear the music and shouting from our house. Barry was asked to preach at these meetings. The party was among the wildest he's seen. It was such an "exciting" and lively music scene that even a young man who says he hates God couldn't help but stop to listen, start bobbing his head, and eventually go into all out dancing, jumping, and shouting with the rest of the church. The song leader really put on a show, gasping for breath as he flung himself all over the stage, sweating profusely. After the message, in which Barry pointed out the worldliness of tight, form-fitting clothes, this young man groaned into the microphone, "I have no problem with skinny pants, but I do have a problem with big clothes and bad hearts." So that's the mentality people run with. In order to avoid any possibility of hypocrisy, dress terribly, then you can act however you want.  There was no consideration that perhaps fixing the bad heart and keeping the modest clothes is a better option.

Closer to home, our own church had a week of special evening services. We skipped the party. There were no drums or guitars to draw the crowds. We were thankful for the help of a deacon from a nearby church lending his powerful voice to lead the singing, but without the wild dancing and music, we didn't draw the large crowds that are at other crusades.  There were visitors every night, and the preaching was a tremendous blessing! Brother John Lengacher from Ohio flew down on short noticed and preached half of the week's messages.  On the final evening, Barry felt led to give an invitation. There were a few young ladies in particular whom God was evidently pressing on their hearts. One of them, Roselyn, is a daughter of Rezanet, a recently baptized sister in the church. Roselyn is also the mother of little Dutchess, the little girl who has been in the care of Antonia.  For well over a year she refused to come near the church, choosing rather stay in her discontented life of sin. We were blessed to see her put on some modest clothes, cover her head, and listen intently to the sermons. God has been patiently pressing and urging her to repent. After that evening message, I asked her why she didn't choose to do so tonight. She shamefully hung her head and said, "next week." Unfortunately, after that night, she hasn't been attending services as regularly as she had begun to do.  I have faith that the Lord will still reach this young lady who seems to have a tender heart, but has never yielded it to his control.

This week Barry was in Ohio being fed at the ministers' meetings!  We were sad to part ways with him, but are glad he had the opportunity to go.  We're very thankful that Katie was able to fly down to be here while he's gone, and all the church ladies were very glad to see her as well. We are thankful for God's protection over our family here and that Barry arrived safely to the meetings.  He was encouraged to keep leading this little flock that's been started here!

Roselyn, Dutchess' mother

Sadly, the usual chaos of rioting and roadblocks is commencing again.  It seems as though the country is in worse shape than we've ever seen.  After a series of unavoidable circumstances caused Barry to miss his flight into Port-au-Prince on Monday, we soon heard that a man leaving the airport around the same time Barry would have been was shot and killed. He had hardly been off the plane. The other day, a group of gangsters stopped Barry on his way home from church while he had our three oldest children along and told him he'd better leave, or they'll kill him.  Two days ago we received a call from friends at CAM saying they were receiving threats that the entire compound would soon be burned to the ground.  The staff all decided to stay put and pray, asking for strength to handle the situation as Christ would have them to. The next morning, when the attacks were suspected to happen, a group of acquaintances from nearby Titanyen showed up to "protect" the compound, wielding bats and clubs. Whether from the presence of a group of people or the presence of angels encamped round about them, not a thing has happened at the CAM base.

Today, during a break in the rioting, Port-au-Prince was overflowing with people running about to do their business before things get bad again on Monday. It seems as though people are scared, fearing the worst this time.  Pray for grace to handle every situation as it comes!