Our time with Otterbein United Brethen Church in Greencastle, Pennsylvania a few weekends ago was lovely!
But the drive there was not.
Before that though, Storly's mom was here for a few days from New York, and spoiled us all by cooking bouillon (soup) with donmbwey (not sure that spelling's right, but that's all I can find, it's pronounced dumboy, dumplings - and is Hannah and Esther's favourite - and mais moulen (cornmeal mush, my favourite, though Haitians are not usually too happy to serve it as it's considered poor man's food) with sos pwa (black bean sauce).
Then it was time to take Tazoue back to the airport - via OMS headquarters for me to present an update at chapel on Radio 4VEH and Resounding Hope radios project - and then focus on getting our presentations for speaking engagements at Otterbein church finished, bags packed and ready.
Scary Storm
The 9-hour drive on Friday after the girls came home from school was long. At times, it was also scary as we drove through a heavy rain storm, with crazy nutters driving in front of us with no lights on when we could barely see the road. Seriously??? ....hmmmph.
I generally don't get scared easily. I've had an AK-47 pointed at me by an angry, slightly drugged-up member of the local militia in Sierra Leone (should I tell you that whole story? Not now, though the reason I was in that place was to cover a great story of forgiveness and reconciliation, a Prodigal Son story).
I've jumped out of a plane in England (and landed, not intentionally I might add, in the side of a barn....don't think I'll jump again).
And I've survived a nasty car accident in Port-au-Prince, where the driver veered over to the other side of the road, hit a woman on the roadside, flipped the car and he then pulled me out of an upside-down smashed up mess of a Toyota.
But on that highway around Cincinnati, I...was...scared.
The God of angel armies is always by my side
A powerful song was playing on the radio, on K-Love ('positive, encouraging K-Love' playing contemporary Christian music). It didn't magically stop me worrying or from being scared. But I starting singing along, it's a familiar song. And it helped get my mind away from the fear and back toward the Lord. I love this about good Christian music, especially when you hear it on the radio - it almost unexpectedly gets us singing great truths.
I know Who goes before me
I know Who stands behind
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a Friend of mine
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side
Glad to Arrive
We arrived at our destination in the early hours of the morning, and were very grateful that there were no activities planned until 5pm Saturday, so we rested and recovered a little bit from the journey, and enjoyed watching Home Alone together (the girls love it).
Saturday evening at Otterbein was a great time of fellowship (with potluck dinner, lots of yummy comfort foods) for us to share about our ministry and about ourselves. We enjoyed sharing music from the Wa Wo CD by Haitian youth choir Flamme Spirituelle; talked about the history, impact, and specifics about Radio 4VEH and Resounding Hope solar radios, and answered the questions people love to ask us: where are you from? how on earth did you two meet? and what in the world are you doing in Indiana?
A surprise visitor that evening was Aldean Saufley, who served at Radio 4VEH in Haiti with his wife Ellen for more than 40 years - Storly learned a lot from Aldean (who incidentally can play a mean tune on a handsaw)! And the folks at Otterbein were supporters of the Saufleys, and already had a connection to Radio 4VEH. They were excited to know that Storly was one of the 'Haitian nationals' at Radio 4VEH who had learned from Aldean, through their faithful support. Great to learn about these connections, and meet the people of Otterbein who had been indirectly part of Storly's early years of ministry at 4VEH.
From Aldean & Ellen Saufley's OMS missionary profile:
Aldean filled the roles of English program director, announcer, newscaster, musician, program producer, recording technician and control room operator at Radio 4VEH. He also helped train Haitian nationals so Radio 4VEH was able to provide the Christian community with Bible studies, evangelism programs and other tools for the building and nurturing of the Haitian Church, as well as music, news, cultural and educational programs to reach those who had no relationship with Jesus Christ. Aldean also had the responsibility each week of playing his accordion (and later a keyboard) for Sunday morning services in various churches. http://www.onemissionsociety.org/give/thesaufleys
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| With Barry & Charlotte, who'd organized the missions gathering. We enjoyed a good sandwich & ice-cream, and chat with them after church before starting the drive back to Indiana. |
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| While we were setting up a display table for the Saturday evening gathering, the girls were getting rid of some extra energy. |
After speaking Saturday night, we had a 10 minute slot with Pastor David during the two morning services, where he interviewed us about Resounding Hope solar radios. And then we led the combined adult Sunday school class in between. Pastor David challenged the congregation to sponsor 25 radios and their Missions fund will match that with another 25 radios. God willing, that'll mean 50 radios, for 50 households in Haiti, reaching about 300 people on a daily basis through the radios. That's about the size of their congregation. Great stuff!
So, grateful for:
- having the opportunity to connect with the people at Otterbein who are passionate about getting involved in God's work around the world. And then learning they've been connected to the ministry of Radio 4VEH for a long time!
- the huge encouragement they were to us personally, to our family. And so grateful for the commitment they've made to partner with us longer-term - an unexpected blessing!
- safe travel, and for time with nothing planned
- the challenge the Missions committee set for their congregation, to provide solar radios to ultimately reach the same number of people in Haiti every day as the number of people in their own congregation. Lord, bless them in this effort!
Thanks for praying for us as we go to different places to share with people and challenge them to join us in this great adventure of serving God and the people of Haiti.
Storly is in Florida right now, will fly into Cap-Haitien on Monday for a week's work at the radio station. We'd appreciate your prayers for him, and for me and the girls :) Thank you!
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