Talking Back

So, I just wrote about our day in Dubout, talking with people about faith in Jesus, and leaving homes with a solar radio tuned to 4VEH that will encourage them, give them news, sports, music, health & farming advice.

But my favorite memory of the day is this one:

Why? Because when this guy (think his name is Georges) heard sounds coming out of the radio, he held it up close. As Storly's voice started speaking the words at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew (the radio has the New Testament as an MP3), Georges started responding, "Wi,...wi,...wi" ("Yes...yes...yes").

Struck me that the whole Bible is basically God talking to us. Telling us through history, through the lives of people like Moses, like David in the Old Testament; like Paul in the New Testament, that He loves us and wants us to redeem us. What's our response?

Hope it's "Wi...wi...wi".

P.S. Before we started working on this radios project, I'm not sure I'd ever listened to the Bible - read it, yes. Studied it, yep. Memorized verses, yep. But listened to someone else reading (other than in church), I thought it was really for people who couldn't read the Bible for themselves. BUT, I've come to appreciate the richness of hearing the Bible read. Max Mclean's audio version, The Listener's Bible, is just gorgeous. Helps that he has a British accent too, of course. Check out this link for a free download of the Gospel of John and see what you think.

First stop for radios: Dubout

Have to tell you that I'm torn about sharing these photos and stories with you beceause I haven't yet written them all up on our Radio 4VEH / Resounding Hope websites/blogs/newsletters etc. So, don't tell anyone you heard about these stories here first :).

One of our main projects, Resounding Hope, is about giving out solar-powered radios tuned to Radio 4VEH, with MP3 player of audio New Testament in Creole (read by Storly) as part of evangelism and outreach, working alongside local churches. The father of this ministry is Medson, now 80 years old, still going strong, building networks with churches all over Haiti (and now among Haitian churches in neighbouring Dominican Republic too).

For the two months we're here in Haiti, we're having several teams come in to help give out the radios, and part of our strategy is to reach out further into new areas, so that we'll eventually be covering the northern five states of Haiti (North, Northeast, Northwest, Artibonite and Plateau Central).

First stop, on 4 June, was a village called Dubout, near Limonade.

Starting point for our day, the local church, led by Pastor Israel Abraham, a graduate of OMS' Emmaus Biblical Seminary. Pray for the people who are part of this church, Eglise Baptiste de la Trinité (Trinity Baptist Church of Dubout, near Limonade) as they live out their faith in this area where many witchdoctors live. 

Our team divided into four or five different groups, each with a local guide from the church, a translator, and two or three visiting missionaries. The first person our group stopped to talk to was this mother-of-four, as she was shelling cashews. 

A fellow believer, she was happy to stop and chat, asked for prayer for her family, and was thrilled to get a radio so she could listen to Radio 4VEH. 

With her grand-children (maybe even great-grand-children) hanging on to her as they ate mangoes (yep, butt-naked), this lady was very happy to get a radio too. Though she answered some questions our team asked her with the 'right' responses, (yes, she knows God; yes, she goes to church) the pastor and church guide with us were pretty convinced she practises Voodoo. 

As we prayed at the end of the day's activities, we thanked God for 11 people who decided to follow Jesus as their Savior; for 17 people who are already believers; and for 25 radios left in people's homes.

Open House at 4VEH

Today's a quieter day at the station, after some pretty adventurous times the last week or so.

We have four guys from the UK leaving tomorrow, 3 from Columbus still here, and 12 more people from Columbus (from our church, Community Church of Columbus, and Free Methodist, a couple of blocks from our house) who are arriving tomorrow. So, while the guys are doing construction at Petite Anse, and Hannah & Esther are playing with Cece, and I'm waiting for a video I've just done to upload, I'm going to update you on the last week or so.

If you follow any of our ministry stuff on Facebook, (Radio 4VEH and Resounding Hope), you'll have had a heads-up.

After the radio's Anniversary service, we had a weeklong Open House, where friends and listeners came to visit, and meet and greet the people they listen to. Was a fantastic week, lots of smiles, handshakes and plenty of hugs.

Storly had a couple of visitors in the studio, plenty of testimonies
from listeners and staff past and present. 

This incredible bunch of people are the self-named Super-Branchés, meaning Super-Connected, basically people who are always listening to 4VEH. I've heard this term before many times, but hadn't met any of them before. Amazing story: they  formed an informal group as they listened to 4VEH, heard others call in with song requests and dedications, and started making connections among themselves. They call each other, pray for each other, and meet together to make contributions to support 4VEH. Great to meet them and hear their stories. Notice they're holding on to the NRB Award (4VEH was named International Radio Ministry 2013 by National Religious Broadcasters association).

Hugs all round! 

Celebrating 63 Years!

So much happening this last week, need to catch you up!

Radio 4VEH's 63rd Anniversary celebrations began last Sunday, 2 June, with the annual Thanksgiving service held at Première Eglise Baptiste du Cap-Haitien, Rue 14K. That's our 'home' church here, where Storly grew up, where we attended for five years, and where Hannah and Esther were both dedicated. Everyone there knows us (of course, everyone knows Storly, and I'm usually the only white face there among a crowd of 3000+ people). We know a lot of people there, so it was great to be back, and to celebrate together!

Two special choirs performed: the church's Grande Chorale (Big Choir) and
our friends Flamme Spirituelle (Spiritual Flame) whose first CD we've just helped to produce

Can you spot our girls, Hannah at least?

Great worship time led by TiLido, with my two favorite Creole worship songs. I got some great video of that, BUT forgot to turn mic on, so no audio....yikes! Thankfully, 4VEH recorded the whole service (which was broadcast live) so I'll get the audio after all! 

The men and women who serve in collecting tithes and offerings bring the baskets of gifts. Thank God for every gift given to 4VEH.  

Storly's speech included three highlights: sharing the joy of receiving the NRB International Radio Ministry 2013 award with the congregation (the words 'World Cup' were mentioned); announcing the new CD release from Flamme Spirituelle (this is their church); and announcing a new book, the Creole translation (translated by Storly) of Valetta Steel Crumley's  incredible testimony Another Valley, Another Victory, Another Love. 

After Valetta heard about the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, she felt God's urging to get her book translated into Creole, to offer comfort and hope to others experiencing such tragedy. What an honour to have Valetta with us for the Anniversary. Valetta began sharing her life story - how she lost her first-born, her son. How she lost her husband. When she got to the part where the policeman told her there'd been a car accident and her two remaining children had been killed, you could hear the whole congregation gasping in horror. But Valetta's message is one of hope, "Hold tight to Jesus!"

Reunited...with Cece

  Very happy to be reunited with Céline (Cece), who used to live with us. 

No Refuge

It doesn't take long to be reminded that for many people in Haiti, and in many other places around the world, there's just no escape from the rain. No watertight home to live in. No car with closed windows to jump into.  No workplace or school that'll protect you from the downpour.

As I drove the girls to the station to pick up Storly, the downpour began. By the time we got back on the road, the road had become more like a river, and we had two extra passengers (co-workers) in the front passenger seat. We gave them a woulib, a free ride, to a bus stop where they could get a tap-tap (bus) ride into town.

Though they've done some major improvements to the roads in Cap-Haitien, with water drainage canals along the main road, the heavy rain still brought torrents of water rushing downhill.

For some kids especially, it's a chance to enjoy getting wet - and taking a shower.

Wa Wo - woohoo!

One of our first day's biggest joys for Storly and me was hand delivering this fresh-off-the-press CD to Witny Telfort - our good friend, inspired Christian artist, maestro (choir leader) of the Flamme Spirituelle (Spiritual Flame) Choir, and Operations Director at Radio 4VEH. 

Witny Telfort holding first copy of his choir's new CD release Wa Wo.

Joy's really the word for this whole project. 

Back in 2007, Storly and I worked with Witny on the first album produced by 4VEH, called Louwe Bondje (Worship the Lord) with Witny as the musical talent, pulling together recordings from many local Christian groups that he has directed who offered their music as a gift to 4VEH for this album (he wrote most of the songs on that CD). Storly directed the whole project, and I did design and promotional materials (including making it available for online purchase - buy your copy of Louwe Bondje on Amazon.)

This new release has been a few years in the making, but it's now here! On Thursday, members of the Flamme Spirituelle choir were at the station, and asked Storly and I to step in to their meeting. Their prayer committee, finance committee, administrative committee and one of the sponsors for the CD had gathered to pray over their new CDs, asking that God be glorified, that He use their music to reach others, to change lives, to draw people to Himself. It's an absolute joy and a great honor for us - for me - to work together with this group of God-honoring, on-fire young men and women. 

This choir of young people comes out of Première Eglise Baptiste
du Cap-Haitien, our 'home' church in Haiti. 

They'd asked us to join them so they could thank us for getting this CD released, and it brought tears to my eyes. We just wanted to thank them for allowing us to be a part, and to congratulate and woo-hoo with them over their achievements in this fantastic CD. (Yeh, I know I'm biased. I first heard the title track Wa Wo when the choir performed for 4VEH's 60th Anniversary celebrations during a service in the city square in Cap. It was awesome. Encouragement since that time has helped them complete the CD, to the glory of God.)

If you're still reading, you might be wondering what Wa Wo means. It's an expression used when a child shares food with a grown-up, meaning 'you're going to grow up well'. The song's about putting your faith in Jesus and following Him, and He will make you 'grow up well'. 

The CD is on sale at $10 US. Profits support the choir and 4VEH ministry. If you'd like to buy one, let me know. Or watch this space for info on buying it online. (I still need to set that up!). 

Jumping Right In

Arrived in Cap-Haitien without any problems. We even enjoyed the flight from Fort Lauderdale to Cap in an upgraded plane - not a relic from Soviet days, but what looks like a brand new plane, with a bathroom and all!

Snippets from our first few hours: 

After visiting Radio 4VEH and our co-workers there, Hannah and Esther got to enjoy Field Day at Cowman International School - the school they would have gone to if we were still living here.

Here Hannah's attached to Alanna Bundy, with Brianna and Jake behind.

Great to see how the school is growing from around 25 students a few years ago to about 60 this year, with more coming in September. This school serves many Haitian business families as well as foreign (to Haiti) missionary families.

It's also where our good friends Steve & Melissa Gross will be teaching - and their kids will be attending - when they get down here in August.

Hannah and her new best friend

Esther's learning a vital skill for Haiti - how to drink water from a bag. Not as easy as you think!