Prayer for the Haiti Crisis Response Team

Hello loyal supporters!
We are preparing for our trip to Haiti on Feb 4-Feb 13. Our team of 5 has been meeting for a couple months now and we are 6 weeks out from our trip. We are getting to know each other and learning more about the Lord and His calling for us in Haiti as we go. It is so clear to all of us that He wants us in Haiti. Let me tell you a little about each of the team members:
Scott- Scott is a 43 year old that has worked with Jr. High Boys in our church for years. He was our son, Brad's, team leader and Brad respects him a lot. His calling to this team came from a request I made to Scott and his wife, Sue to look into the opportunities that MGEFC had for 2011 for missions trips. They went to all of the meetings that outline the trips and decided that Scott would not only go to Haiti but he would join his wife this summer in Poland also! Scott is a researcher and is out to find us the best deals on our gear we need to take into Haiti. He is so far the quiet one of the team...but you know what they say about the quiet ones...they are always thinking and I have a feeling that in the field he will be anything but quiet.
Andrea-Andrea is 37 years old and works in the nursery at church. She is also a teacher so when she heard about a trip to Haiti, it didn't take long for the Lord's tugging to become a reality for her. She is excited to get into Haiti and pour God's love out upon the children of Haiti. The orphans is the first thing she talked about when she inquired about the trip. Andrea is NOT quiet and she is a workhorse! She asks for tasks before they are given to her and she is the first to volunteer her time and talents for the team.
Paul-Paul is the oldest member of our team at age 60 but with his age comes wisdom. He is a historian and has become somewhat of a scribe for our team. He takes notes and saves everything he comes across to share with the group. He is a former construction business owner and his skills in this area will be invaluable to the team and the field. Paul actually has felt the calling to go to Haiti since the earthquake happened in January of 2010. He has followed God's calling. His knowledge of the word is a blessing to us all.
Rob-Rob is also a former construction business owner. He turns 54 a few days before we leave. As stated previously in this blog, Rob was in Haiti 3 weeks after the quake hit in January and is already aware of what is going on down there and has kept up on the recent happenings in Haiti also. Rob is our fearless leader and is helping us all to trust God to get us into and out of Haiti safely.
Jackie-Jackie will turn 51 the day we get back from Haiti. She is the "talker" of the group. Her motto is "there are not strangers on earth, just people she hasn't met yet". She has also kept up with what is happening in Haiti through contacts at EFCA missions and the news. Jackie loves to spend time with people and has a heart for lost people of all nations.

Now for our HUGE prayer request! There has been much civil unrest in Haiti due to a presidential election that many Haitian's feel was unfair. Another election is to take place the first part of January. Due to this the EFCA has canceled or rerouted all trips to Haiti for the month of January. They have not canceled February trips because they feel that the unrest should be done by the end of January and we should be able to go down and continue with God's work in Haiti. Our request is that the unrest in Haiti subside so that we can get in there and continue with our trip as planned. If we don't go to Haiti, we will most likely be rerouted to another field as directed by the EFCA. We all want to do God's will and all feel called to Haiti. Please pray that God calms the hearts of the Haitians so they can begin to rebuild their country. Pray like warriors!!!!!

God calling to Haiti again

Last March when Rob came home from Haiti he said..."I'll be back there". There is so much work to do that he knew he'd be back. Well, the time has come for Rob to go back to Haiti but this time I will join him along with 3 other people from our church, Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church. We will be doing a variety of things such as helping with shelter homes, doing a VBS at an orphanage or 2...or 3, loving on children, doing a Sunday school class at a church, helping out around the house and whatever else God calls us to do.

We do have a few prayer requests right now. One is that the civil unrest in Haiti come to an end so that we can go down and do the work that God has requested. A few trips to the EFCA Touch Global base have been canceled due to unrest. We will not go to Haiti if the staff on the ground feel that it is not safe for us to go...we would however then go to where ever Touch Global sends us. A couple options would be the Dominican Republic or New Orleans. Pray for us to have open hearts and open minds as to where God ends up sending us. Another prayer request is that everyone can get their funds raised. Most support letters have gone out and we have had a fundraiser already. Pray for unity on our team and for the health of our team both now and as we go on our trip. Lastly pray that God would prepare the hearts of our team members and the people we will be ministering too and with.

The journey is not over...far from it! God has us walking in His wisdom not ours. And we will obey.