Haitian Church's Letter of Thanks for Brethren's Projects

In light of our coverage over some of the projects mentioned below, here is a letter that the Haitian Church sent to our Annual Meeting Conference. I received it today, it may interest some of our readers. 

March 8, 2011

From: The General Conference of the Haitian Church at Ganthier, Haiti

To: Mennonite Church Congregations Elsewhere

Object: Information,Thanks and Encouragement

   Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord.

We greet you in the name of Jesus and we wish the peace and grace of God to be with you.

   We would like to inform you of the developments that have been happening in getting the Haitian Church recognized by the government after the departure of the General Mission Board structure.  The Church of Haiti has chosen a committee to represent Herself in this matter titled the Executive Committee. After the transfer which took place when General Mission left, this committee has been given charge of relating to the government of Haiti. Because of this it has become necessary to gather information on all the activities of the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite in Haiti.  This we are endeavouring to do to keep our government properly informed.

   When we here in Haiti consider the heart felt charity that you all have manifested for the good of the Church and our nation since many years ago until today, we feel a need and an obligation mixed with gratitude to present you with a great thank you and congratulate you for all your good works.  We wish you good courage in the Lord, because not only the Church and the nation have needed this, but we consider these activities to be a great help to the propagation of the Gospel.  We are therefore very happy for the presence of several organizations that are already in our country.  May God in His great love continue to bless you for this.  We are taking advantage of this moment to ask you to please continue to support the following that are already working in our country:

·         The National Committee for Church Schools

·         The Providence of God Orphanage

·         Good News International ( Lastik Irrigation Project)

·         CPS (Construction of housing for victims of Jan. 12, 2010)

·         Hope for Haiti ( Road construction in Southeast and Grandanse)

·         CSI ( Divers health projects terracing gardening etc.)

·         Confidence in God clinic ( Confidence Health Center)

   We invite any other brother or groups that would like to come work in the country.  Once again, thank you and we appreciate your understanding of us.

   In the name of the Haitian Conference.

Bruchko by Bruce Olson

I appreciated this missionary book of experiences-- to read it is to ask yourself-- how far am I willing to share the gospel. Am I willing to reach that threshold that could include death if it is the Lord's will?  At least that is the questions it asked me.

The book is about a nineteen year old fellow from Minnesota/St.Paul who sets out for South America to be a missionary to the primitive Indians in the sixties. His father is a banker of Norwegian and Lutheran background who is rather hard to live with. His family is rather alarmed and displeased when the bookish Bruce has a born again experience and starts to go to another church that acknowledges the New Birth experience. They for sure believe he is throwing his life away when he leaves for the Venezuela jungle. He expected to help the Christian mission already established but receives a cold shoulder because he was not in their program. From there he just allows God to take the initiative and guide him to where he needs to go. According to that direction it doesn't just lead to any Indian tribe but rather leads to the most feared and bloody tribe-- the Molitiones.  I forgot to list how many times he nearly succumbs to disease or nearly gets killed by hostile natives. (Having lived in Belize near the Peten jungles I respect anyone  who is just able to put up with the bugs, diseases, and danger that jungle living entails let alone hostile cornered natives.) Except for a few trips to Bogata and frontier towns he is fairly submerged into the Indian culture and living for the first six years. His natural bent is language study and he with the help of his Indian "pact" brother translate the book of Mark and I believe by now he has probably overseen a good share of the Bible translated. In the end he planted the seed and communicated the gospel to the Indians and showed compassion by helping them with their physical medical needs but  they, the Indians, were the ones that watered and harvested believers in the end. If you read the book it is clear that even if you walk the paths of God, it doesn't mean you are not going to have bear a cross. There are many sad happenings along with the victories in this book. One of the purposes of the book is also to show the dangers of survival that the Indians face as settlers encroach upon the land.
 My particular edition starts out with the author's kidnapping a couple years ago by Colombian Communists.

As far as my opinion of the book it is mainly favorable. I was amazed with how the way was prepared to reach those primitive people and the provisions God chose to reach them. How knowledgeable they were of God despite all their complex belief system. I appreciated the parts of the book that stress the need to show a deep interest and compassion to the people. Study their language and culture to see where God has already touched them with understanding. Then find a way where the Gospel can be theirs personally to share to their own people. These people where a very individualistic tribe that became more caring for one another as the Spirit touched their lives. Read it for yourself---I am getting too long winded.

The things I did not like as well is the glorification of the man and his accomplishments you see in the Bruce Olsen website and the repeated fact that he was a personal friend to so many Colombian presidents and spoke to the UN, etc.. (Not to say at all that is negative in itself) He probably has little to do with it personally--maybe the publisher, etc----I don't know. I would say in the book he down plays his role because it is clear he would be dead ten times over or else he wanted to walk away if God was not there. Finally he wrote the book to raise awareness and money to the plight of the Indians.

   Another thing I would be tended to question ----- the fact that you are left to believe that the Christians would bare arms to defend their land and life which seems counter to Christ's teachings of what we call nonresistance. There is not much of that but those were the points I possibly wondered about. Just read the book and let me know what you think. My wife is reading Peace Child by Don Richardson, so maybe when she is done that will be my next read. To me reading is like going to school and learning from the experience of others...So Long......

Thank my Readers for their Interest

I feel like I have neglected to post anything very inspiring the last few months. I have been operating on a full time job besides trying to run a ice cream parlor and raise a small family. This evening I noticed my readership has included views from absolutely around the world and has not rally slacked up with thousands of views. Of course that is nothing if no good has been done, pray rather that some one some way can be led away from the wrath to come by these feeble efforts. Let's all pray that many more can be led to Christ. Send inspiring stories or missionary letters to jonluketws@gmail.com so we may use it here if it seems to fit and edify. Thanks

 I have been touched the last couple of weeks with new inspiration to Trust and Pray more for the furtherance of the Gospel. It is not a after thought of the Gospel to practice the Great Commission, but rather it started with the preaching of Noah and also is part of God's covenant with Abraham that all peoples will be blessed through his seed, Gen 12:1-4.

Once Again Rushed............Till next time.......

Eternity in their Hearts by Don Richardson

I have not even finished the book, but wanted to post on what I have read already. I guess I have always wondered and have been fascinated how all cultures spin off of a common origin. At one time Noah then Babel and then as men spread across the earth the traditions become faint but yet there is certain indicators that point back to God, Creation and the Flood. I have even wondered about all the blood sacrifice in pagan cultures, etc, that recognize a need for atonement that can not be fulfilled by man.
I finally came across this book by the author of Peace Child which is found in our church bookstores. The book Eternity in their Hearts starts out with history of why the Altar to the Unknown God was in Athens in Apostle Paul's day. He shows how Paul used it to advantage to show the people what they had been looking for has been there and neglected. He talks of the Canaan prophet Melchizedek had already known the God of Abram before they met.
Then he brings out the story of King Pachacuti of the Incas that recognized that sun worship was inadequent and that their traditions pointed to a Creator that created all things. He wrote hymns on the matter and informed the nobility about the Truth, but made one mistake --- they did not share it to the common people, because it would upset their rule based on their temples. It also talks about other Indian tribes of the Americas. It also tells of cultures in Asia and Africa, China, India, Burma that also have ancient traditions that point to the Bible. In some cases their cultures been waiting for centuries to be freed from idolatry and be reconciled with their Creator. It is hard for me to bring it all to Words in such a short time period, accurately with all the distractions needing my attention, but read the book if this subject interests you. 

Compassionate Touch by Doug Wead

I really like this book. It is a number of stories from the streets of Calcutta, India. Set in the Seventies following the ministries and humanitarian work of Mark Buntain. I wanted to give a little review of the book but I have already borrowed out my copy and plan to keep it borrowed out. It is a very touching book and I hope it inspires others and myself to like service. It has a story of a crippled boy that crawls the streets around like a spider--ignored by the world. A story about a leper doomed to die a horrible death as one of the living dead. A prostitute who has to decide whether to join Christ or provide her family with a meager living. A ex-soldier who is totally rejected by his own family lays down to die only to wake up cleaned and washed and a new lease on life that leads him to become an accountant. A drug dealer who seeks out the ultimate high. The story of a Russian  circus motor cycle dare devil who lives a life of squalor and becomes accussed of murder. Read the book and see how Christ reaches down into each of these lives and shows hope where other see despair. Of course life has choices that can bring disappointments.

The Face of Persecution: some pictures of the persecution which Christians in Asia face.

Is it real or how real is it? They say persecution is on the rise. Here are a few websites that have shown some images to show how real it is. I will let you be the judge.
Indonesia Persecution
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2006/11/islamic_jihad_i.html

India
http://christianpersecutionindia.blogspot.com/2008/09/photos-of-orissa-violence.html

Persecution Against Christians is on the Rise-- WorldWide

I would like to write more on this subject, but it seems time and commitments have taken priority over posting on my blog. Sites like
http://www.persecution.org/2011/03/19/persecution-of-christians-getting-worse-says-report/

have more information on the latest reports.

An excerpt:

Iraq has seen an exodus of Chris­tians. At the time of the last census, in 1987, there were 1.4 million Christians in the country. By 2003, that figure had fallen to about 800,000. Now, leading Roman Catholics in the country believe, the figure could be as low as 150,000.

In 22 out of 34 countries that the charity has under review, persecu­tion has worsened in the past two years. The report says: “The propor­tion of countries with a worsening track-record of anti-Christian vio­lence and intimidation would be higher were it not for the fact that in many cases the situation could scarce­ly have been worse in the first place.”

Witchdoctor Converts to Christ-- Oriani , Haiti--- Clinic Update

832 patients seen in the last month. Alot of them were sick children with anything from mumps to colds, ear infections and corn and beads suck up their noses.  One very cute 8 yr old girl named Meleena met me out on the road and told me she would like to come in and get help for her ear but that she didn’t have money. I looked at her ear and she had yellow puss running out of it and streaks going down her neck where it had been running for quite some time and never washed off.  I told her to come in and we’d help her anyways and that she NEEDED to get that looked after. She said very emphatically “NO! I cant come in or I will get a spanking for coming in without my moms permission.” Hmmm... ok let me get some antibiotics and come to you on the street with nurse Kim.  And again she had a look of horror on her face and said that her mom would whip her for stealing if she brought home medication without her moms knowledge. Hmmm... ok well tell your mom to come in WITH you then. “No, we live a long ways away and we have no money and mom cant come.”   And so it went. Well we convinced her to tell her mom that we would treat the whole family for free, but they just needed to come asap and that ear infections this bad can be serious. So lo and behold... the next day the mom and kids all come traipsing into the clinic and the kids all were having various troubles that we gave them help for. Sure is rewarding to see them getting help when they would otherwise have just let nature take its course.

Life is always busy and interesting here in Oriani. We have alot of things to finish getting set up in the clinic yet but the clinic is very serviceable and things are progressing step by step. We see that we will be running out of space and will need to look at adding on another couple rooms sometime. So the big question comes.. how much money shall we put into this rented place? There is hardly room for the medicines we really need to stock, and where can we someday set up the lab area for testing for TB, Typhoid, Malaria, etc? If anybody knows of a serviceable  lab quality microscope that is being retired or not being used, please let me know.

We got a teacher!!! Lacey Toews from Pincher Creek was working here in Haiti at an orphanage and she decided to stay and teach till the end of June. We are rejoicing that the children can get back to school now.  She is now living with us and Kim and Charlene are living with Clinton Holdemans in the mission house. Feels like we are finally getting things settled in.  We have an awesome crew and are totally enthused about everyone who we have to work with here.  We thank you for your prayers and support here.

We had the privilege to be at a church service recently where a local witchdoctor supplier converted to Christ.  It was so impressive! After the service all (50 people?) walked to his house and sang and prayed with him and he gave his testimony of how God had led him this way. These Haitian men don’t show their emotion and tears much but this man just let the tears flow. He told us of how he was the richest man in the area but how he realised he has NOTHING. He said he knows all about voodoo and magic and potions etc, but he realises he knows nothing. He said he owns 5 trucks, has houses all over Haiti and paid cash for a house in Miami, but realises now that he is a poor man that needs eternal riches instead. (The verse in Matt 5 came to me that says... Blessed are the poor in spirit. )He also asked some of the church men to help him get rid of his devil worship paraphernalia. So they scrounged around under his bed, in his closets and rooted out all his ash piles, the bowls, his potions, his symbols and statues, his candles and etc and we all together walked to the edge of the village and there poured gas on it all and had a public burning of it all. What a huge witness to the community he was. I hear now that the other witchdoctors in the area say that if this gran neg (big guy) converts to Christianity then they will not be able to stay in the area. Wow. Thank you God. Our Haiti church is having their conference this week and we attended for a couple days. What a blessing to see their sincerity and faith.

We took the family and our two girls Charlene Johnson and Lacey Toews to Dominican with us now. We need to get some supplies and meds. Right now I am sitting under a tiki hut at the hotel. I can hear the waves crashing on the rocks below the 100 ft cliffs just below me. The air is warm and abit sticky, but it looks like a nice day ahead. So we will start driving and see where the road takes us and what we can find. Just when I am starting to learn Haitian Creole I come to Dominican and realise how utterly strange Spanish is to me. I cant understand a word they are saying or how to order food in the restaurant or anything! Lacey tried to order and enchilada last night and just got a plate of cheese slices instead. Ha

Keep praying that

- we can learn Creole faster

- we can have wisdom for the decisions to be made for the future of this work

- we can provide the best care for these poor people that we possibly can

- that there will be a nurse that can come replace Kim in a few months

- for our health and safety

Keith and Candace Toews and family

www.confidencehealthcenter.com  (check the website to read about Mr Konshon Shveen, a PaP hog)

Tel 1-809-816-4899

picture was of the Orson Welles collection