Our journey to the Field

We want to send out an update to our wonderful journey as we prepare for our ministry. To those who may not have heard Jackie and I have been working on the application process to become missionaries with the Evangelical Free Church of America, ReachGlobal. Where we will be working with Crisis Response. This last week we where invited to the Readiness Event which is part of the training and interviewing process. This was a very long week which was held at the main offices in Bloomington MN. It was very informational and we learned so much about ourselves, each other and the organization. We are encouraged as they focus mainly on team health and personal health.
This is the kind of organization we want to be involved with.
Well we have learned that since we are going to be working with many, many volunteers which means many, many personalities, they would like to prepare us for that. As we will be the face of ReachGlobal, we would like them to have the best experience of their life. To do that we need to be able to communicate to all those different personalities. So we will be doing some training on the Strengths Finder, DISC and the Myers Briggs which are personality assessments. Along with those we will be attending the Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills (SYIS) Workshop in Phenix AZ in May. We are very excited as we continue our growth in the Lord, to see the work He has been doing in us as He is preparing us for great things in His plan to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Thank you for all your prayers and continue praying for us as we go through the process to our acceptance in to ReachGlobal.

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Last day In Haiti

Haiti Update

Sunday In Haiti

Work progressing nicely in Haiti!

It seems that everything just takes longer in Haiti because materials are difficult to get and everything is done by hand.  The days get long but we are accomplishing so much in our short time here.  But we sure are glad that tomorrow is Sunday and we can take the day off from the work.

We set some water lines in a bathroom into concrete walls which involved sawing and jack hammering. Now we are filling the walls and putting a smooth coat on. We will have that done tonight, Saturday.

Then we need to install the tub and the tile floor and the tile inside tub and shower also.

We also took down the corner out by the road.  The block wall got hit by a vehicle and laid the blocks up. Now we have to pour a corner post with concrete.

Of course all the concrete needs to be mixed by hand. So everything take longer and is harder.

Please pray for a restful Sunday and a productive week next week.  Pray that the time our time here is glorifying to God and that we can be of service in whatever way we are needed.

God calls, we listen

Just a short note for tonight.  Rob and Paul Lundquist are leaving for Haiti on Tuesday, Dec 6 for 11 days to help with some construction and plumbing projects at the mission house, build desks for Maxo's school and spend time at at least one orphanage that we have grown to love.  We will be posting pictures and prayer requests over the next couple weeks.

Please be in prayer for Rob and Paul as they travel to Port au Prince, Haiti.  For physical, emotional and spiritual safety.  For solidified partnerships and for productive work.  Pray for conversations with people while they travel, while they are in Haiti and as they sit around the dinner table at night and talk about how they saw God work that day.

Thank you to everyone for joining us in prayer!

The Passer's

Where have all the people gone....

Well I just spent the day tearing out plaster on plaster board,  I don’t think anything could be worse. The devastation is a lot worse then I thought it was going to be. 11,000 people out of their home and 4,000 houses affected. There are very, very few with flood insurance as the corp. of engineers, the mayor, all said it could never happen because there were so many emergency routes for the river. Insurance companies said they didn’t need flood insurance, mortgage companies said they didn’t need it. Guess what? They needed it. 

No windows, doors, drywall, siding, furnace, AC or duct work.  Everything has been removed.

As I was coming into town I was driving up the river and could see how deep and how far out of the banks it was. I was thinking how nice it was going to be to work with all the parts of the body of Christ. To see Jesus work in situations like this, can fill the community with such hope. Then I arrived at Trinity E Free Church and no one was here. Trinity has opened their doors to all volunteers. They have set up bunk beds in four class rooms. They have a game room they have built into a shower house, and no one here. 

There are 17 families from this church affected by this flood including two elders and the pastor. Because of all the work from the oil wells there is a shortage of housing anyway so now most of the people with flooded homes have moved in with friends or family. So this makes more people affected by the flood. The water has been gone three weeks and the work is ongoing, but they need help. They are so tired and their friends and families are the only ones to help them.  They all have jobs so it is a long, slow process. The construction companies are not here because there is no insurance so they are stuck doing it themselves. We need to get the word out that these people need help. They had a 36 hr. notice to get out of their homes. Imagine if this was your house, your town with winter coming and FEMA planned on bringing you a trailer to live in over the winter when they have temperatures at -30 for at least 4 weeks every winter. Sounds lovely doesn’t it. 

Notice the water lines up to the bottom of the roof line

We need to pass the word. The news doesn’t even mention it. FEMA said this is the largest disaster since Katrina. These people need help and they need it now. They need to hear the Good News of Jesus in this time where they feel like everyone has forgotten them. There is work to be done.  Not just gutting homes and helping to rebuild but prayer walking the streets, praying with a neighbor or inviting a homeowner to church for some encouragement.  It is 7.5 hrs. from the cities and you could come for a weekend or a week, it doesn’t matter. There are no teams at all for during the week next week and many other opportunities are available in the weeks/months to come before the snow flies. Please Pray and please come.

Thank you

Rob

Please contact Touch Global Crisis Response for further information about volunteering at:
http://www.efca.org/reachglobal/reachglobal-ministries/efca-touchglobal/crisis-response/minot-flooding