This Partnership-in-Missions Thing

A few weeks ago, we headed to northern Ohio to visit our dear friends, Dave & Marilyn Shaferly. It was, as always, a joy. And it gave us the opportunity to visit with our ministry partners at Findlay E-Free church.

At the end of the worship service, a woman came over to us, eager to thank us for the work we're doing. Her passion bubbling over, she said "We can't do what you do. Thank you so much for doing what you're doing in Haiti."

My response? A big hug, and an equally eager and passionate "No, thank you! We can't do what we're doing without you!"

It reminded me of another similar conversation recently. When unexpected, urgent and expensive repairs were needed on our house, some friends (who partner with us in ministry) helped us pay the bill, saying "We can't do what you do. But we can help you with this." That had me in tears, because we really needed the help, and our friends responded with such a solid understanding of what the Bible says about community, about the church.

These connections are critical for us. We can't do what we do without people gathering around us to prayerfully, financially and encouragingly support us.

Paul hit the nail on the head in Philippians, chapter 1, when he was writing to the young church at Philippi, to people he loved, and he said:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1 v 3-5)

This partnership in missions thing...it's real, it's essential, it's beautiful.

It's encouraging to see our family featured on the Global Missions board at Findlay E-Free. If you have our photo on your wall, would you send us a picture and let us know that you're remembering us? 

If you have this kind of board in your church/youth group room/kitchen/office/wherever, with missionaries that you support - send them a note letting them know you're remembering them, you're with them, you're praying and giving and helping and encouraging and cheering them on....

We know we're not alone in loving the Shaferly family! Eating lunch here with Marilyn, Dave, Samuel and Michael.

P.S. We're at 87% funded in raising our support. We can’t take full salaries until we are at 100% of what OMS has calculated as our missionary support, covering salaries, travel costs, insurance etc. We still need some new support, with people committing to support us on a monthly basis - 30 people/families/churches/small groups giving $50/month or 15 people/families/churches/small groups giving $100/month would get us to 100%. 

If you'd like to start or increase your support for our ministry, you can do that securely on the OMS website Give to the Michels here in the USA, or in the UK, click the donate button here (and include a note in the donation details "for Storly & Kate Michel"). Thank you! 

Only God: Reaching the Capital City

There are moments in this ministry/life that are, without a doubt, God. God in action, God's fingerprints all over  - and nothing that we could have done ourselves. Beginning to broadcast in Port-au-Prince is one of those moments. All GOD. ALL God.

Here's how it all came together:

God worked in the lives of these four men - Pastor Ronel Mésidor (Haiti Baptist Convention/West department director), lawyer Osney Fevry, founder/owner of Radio Sentinelle 93.9 FM, Rev. Emmanuel Pierre, General Secretary of the Haiti Baptist Convention, and Storly (Michel, Director of Radio-Télé 4VEH, in case you're visiting this blog for the first time and don't know who Storly is :). The Lord gave each of these leaders a personal testimony, a public ministry and a desire to minister to people through media across the capital city and beyond. He also placed Pastor Bade, who served at 4VEH until he moved to Port-au-Prince to pastor a church a few years ago, as a key connection for this new partnership.

God also gave these men a desire to work together. And so this three-way partnership was born, with the Haiti Baptist Convention providing the location for studios, Radio Sentinelle providing the frequency and antenna to broadcast, and 4VEH providing most of the daily programming. As we celebrated at the service of inauguration at First Baptist Church of Port-au-Prince, the tone was one of giving glory to God, praise for all He has done, and dedicating this new partnership to the Lord.

The Baptist Convention presented Storly (4VEH) with a Plaque of Honour for
the inauguration of this new partnership FM station. In other words, it's a big deal.
(I think Lawyer Fevry received a medal for the same reason). 

Incidentally, these partners are not just leaders of other ministries, they are listeners, they have been and continue to be blessed by 4VEH. How do I know that? Because they've told us. Not just in private, but publicly, on the air. And one particular testimony [that I'm writing up for the 65th Anniversary publication (collection of stories of impact) that I'm working on] is very powerful, as God comforts one man walking through a 'valley of the shadow of death'.

Here's his story:

Rev. Emmanuel Pierre, General Secretary of the Haiti Baptist Convention, was kidnapped from his home in Cap-Haïtien a few years ago. He was later released, unharmed, and shared a powerful testimony of how God met him at a moment of great need—through Radio 4VEH.

Emmanuel was struggling to breathe. The kidnappers covered his head, and forced him to wear headphones, with the radio playing loud to distract and confuse him. 

Little did they know that God was there, and the radio was playing 4VEH. God spoke to Emmanuel in a powerful, personal way, bringing him peace in the midst of this great trial. He shared this testimony on the air, giving glory to God for watching over him.

After lunch, next stop was the studio space provided by the Baptist Convention (within their school/children's home complex in Delmas). Another partner will be helping to complete work here, and then, the studios will be able to receive guests, and broadcast local programs from here. The team did a great job, with balloons, ribbons, and celebratory juice, to welcome the 4VEH team, and officially declare this FM station open.  

The ribbon-cutting.

Here's to a great partnership to reach the capital city!

 

Hannah enjoyed the balloons. 

Dedicating the station to the Lord. 

Then we left the studio site to drive up the mountain to the antenna site, which is a tourist spot in Port-au-Prince called Boutilliers, where you get a great view of the city from the lookout. Great place for antennas too. Unfortunately whoever was navigating decided it would be fun to drive straight through the busy Petion-Ville market. Having lived not too far from here for six months, I'd been stuck in that craziness before. It still is not fun :)

All the TV, radio, cellphone towers in the capital city are basically in this same spot. 

And at the base of the tower are small rooms from which to operate whatever equipment goes with the towers, 

We spent several hours after (three hours in) church (and lunch) in that small room. It was dark by the time we left. Had I known we'd be there so long, I'd have grabbed snacks, drinks, to keep us (especially the girls) going. But I didn't know :(

So what do the non-techies do while the techies are connecting, fixing, tuning and who knows whatever else they have to do to get sound to travel through the air (from 4VEH in Cap to this antenna site in Port)?

We looked out the window at the hazy view of the city, and the white-like-crunched-up-paper mountains on the other side. 

And we sat and inwardly groaned....how...much...longer?

There was dancing, of course (though it looks more like fighting...)

When the chatting and joking paused, more sitting and inward groaning...

And a few big smiles.

And by the time the job was done, 4VEH was on the air in Port on 93.9 FM, and we were all excited! Even more so when listeners from Port started to call in to the live shows - now we know people are listening in the capital. Incidentally, the set-up needed to be finished the next morning before we drove 7+ hours back to Cap-Haitien, a journey which ended in the dark, 13 miles from destination, with a broken clutch, doing the final 13 miles in 2nd gear. Completely exhausting, but mission accomplished - and just a few hours to rest before our church team from Columbus arrived for a week!