September: Hannah was baptized
Watching Hannah and several other kids get baptized was priceless!
October: Kate teaching communications
Our friend Steve Gross posted this photo of me, saying: "Multi-tasking: Kate Michel holds a baby while leading a seminar at Radio 4VEH this afternoon for the leaders of various OMS ministries here in Haiti." (I didn't hold the baby for the whole time, by the way, just while they were doing a practice exercise with their teams).
So, in October, I was in Haiti to teach a communications seminar for leaders of the medical clinic, seminary, international school, church planting ministry, radio TV station, fellowship of churches, retreat center and nursing school - all part of what OMS is doing in Haiti. And our focus: how to find, tell and share stories of lives being transformed through their ministries.
It was fantastic to share some of the things I've learned over 20 years in nonprofit/ministry communications (am I that old?!). The first day's topic was stories of transformed lives, (the second day: photos) and after teaching, it was exciting to hear each ministry share stories of real people whose lives have changed as God has worked through the ministries of OMS. I think we were all really encouraged!
November: Ministry among Haitian community in New York and Connecticut
We spent Thanksgiving week with our extended Haitian family in New York. Storly preached at Eglise Horeb de l’Alliance Chrétienne et Missionnaire (with Senior Pastor Rev. Jean Saintilma Seide, and Pastors Raymond and Jeanine Dorcin) on Sunday morning, and at Eglise
Baptiste d’Expression Française in Bridgeport, Connecticut (with Rev. Dr. Frantz Saint-Pierre).
A few take-aways for me during the morning service: this is a church with long connections to 4VEH. Pastor Seide's father served with the ministry that began 4VEH in the late 1940s. Long connections, faithful partnerships of serving the Lord together.
Haitians are generally surprised that I can understand and speak Creole. As the service at Horeb church progressed in a French and Creole format I'm familiar with, I was thinking of those verses in Revelation, chapter 7, that speak of people from every nation, tribe, people and language worshiping God together. When we sing songs and hear Scripture referring to that future time, I often think of the global church at this present time. Being able to, and having the joy to, worship God among people who look different to me, who speak a different language, who 'do church' in different ways, is an amazing reminder of the present day global church, and a foretaste of eternity.
Here are Hannah and Esther in one of our favorite places in NYC, Central Park.
December: Recording church services for new 4VEH TV
During Storly's time in Haiti in December, he worked with the new 4VEH TV production team at their first recording of a local church service (Bethany church in Fort St Michel), which they'll edit for broadcasting on 4VEH Channel 11. Recording and broadcasting church services is a well-practiced and executed task for our audio technicians. But television is a whole other ballgame. We're starting small, taking baby steps, but are excited to see the potential for this new way of reaching and ministering to people.
December/January: We moved house
We moved home, office, Storly's studio. Not far, same city, just a different neighbourhood. We've painted a lot of walls and ceilings recently. It's been exhausting. A big thank you to everyone who helped - packing, loading, unloading, cleaning, fixing, bringing us food. We couldn't have done it without your help!
Still Running
Since I started running two years ago, I have run 716 miles - or so my fitness app tells me. Who'd have thought it!
I've been running through the cold winter again, and am building up mileage for this year's IndyMini - half marathon on May 7. When I did my first half-marathon last year to raise funds for Resounding Hope radios, I dreamed that this year I'd have a team with me. So, I'm excited to have a few friends joining me in a Run for Resounding Hope team this year - in Indy and in Haiti! If you'd like to help us get started towards our goal of $12,000 to sponsor 200 radio for Haitian families, click on this link to donate online. Run for Resounding Hope - May 2016
Deep & Wide - Collection of listener stories published
A big
highlight for me over the last year has been planning, writing and designing a
publication called Deep
& Wide, a 64-page collection of real-life testimonies, celebrating the
Lord’s work in the lives of people touched by the ministry of Radio 4VEH. It’s
been a ton of work, but even as I read through the stories (for the 100th time), I’m amazed about what God is doing through the ministry,
and we hope this book will inspire those who read it.
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We're at the end of the ministry's financial year - so some analyzing, reporting and planning to do for the year ahead; and travel schedules to work out for the coming months. But for today, this day of anticipation that straddles Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we wish you and yours a Happy Easter!
