Read John Bunyan Week

I am telling you that this week is a good time to dust off that Pilgrim's Progress and compare notes. At least that is what I have been doing for my personal devotions. I have the old English version that has scripture references and it is really amazing how doctrinal sound it is as an allegory.  Nearly every year I end up reading Pilgrim's Progress, Holy War (War of ManSoul) or Abounding Grace. He defiantly did his homework, but then I have to remember he was in jail serving out a twelve year sentence when he wrote some of his works. I thought I would just pen down a few points today of what impressed me. Maybe by doing that it will help it stick with me better.


If you happen to read Pilgrim's Progress, note the urgency of fleeing the wrath to come, the earnestness of the Evangelist and the workings of how the Law helps us define sin and give us the grounds to recognize that we really need a Savior. I was reading last night about Mr. Worldly Man trying to persuade Christian to get his burden removed by Mr. Legality and his son Civility. Christian lost his way and ended up treading the cliffs of Mt. Sinai (the Law). I was impressed by Christian's trembling and his fear of God before the exhortations of Evangelist. Do we have that respect that the Law still stands to condemn our flesh and helps us to recognize our sinfulness and need for a Savior? 


Even the earnestness and concern of people under conviction in the book of Acts has been ringing in my head:



Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:36-38

Eske Ayitien Yon Bet ( Is a Haitian an animal?)

We had 4 teenage Haitian boys working for us today shovelling and
raking, and while they were working I overheard them asking each
other... Are we Haitians really just animals? I thought they were just
joking around, so wanting to join this interesting conversation, I
walked over and laughed at their foolish question and told them “OF
COURSE NOT!  God made you a human! Just like he made us Canadians etc,
just different color skin!”.  I was surprised to find them amazingly
serious about this issue! They asked me... “so you really don’t think
we Haitians are animals?”  Absolutely NOT! I repeated.  They seemed
quiet and satisfied, but their question and soberness troubled me
enough that when I met Fre Sorel, I told him of our little weird
conversation. I asked him if they actually hadn’t known better or
what? His hesitancy to answer and his sober answer brought tears to my
eyes. I think God wanted to give me another insight into their world.
He said, “You know, sometimes when we Haitians see the lives of the
Dominicans next door, and we read and hear about the way that many
other parts of the world enjoy lives free from great stress and
hunger, and then we compare that to our sufferings, our hunger, our
poverty, our sickness and death which we live with constantly, our
poor roads, corrupt government, and our inability to get ahead... in
our weak times we sometimes just really do wonder if we Haitians are
really just another animal that God has left on its own and
forgotten.”  He went on to say that this question “eske Ayitien yon
bet” is a very real one that is often discussed when Haitians work
together, thinking and talking.

This question has troubled me deeply today. To realise that despair
and depression actually make these people feel less than human is
heartwrenching. My heart is heavy and it feels like God has allowed me
(in a tiny measure) to see and enter into their sadness and despair.
My tears are very close this evening while I am torn by the
conflicting feelings of feeling bad for and yet thanking God for our
easy life.

Sometimes a gift of food or even money is in place and is needed, but
throwing money at them generally is not the answer to helping them.  I
guess I feel at rest in my heart if we just continue to do what God
has placed on our hearts to do....teaching them about health issues,
about nutrition, and provide them with a basic health care attention
as they need it, and most of all ....loving them and pointing them to
their Creator who made them after his own image “in the image of God
created he them” Genesis 1 : 26-27.     Also.... showing them by the
Word that God is no respecter of persons, and that neither are we.

Have a good night, and hug your families,

Keith and Candace Toews
Oriani, Haiti

A Sequel on Yesterdays Stat Post

Here are a brothers thoughts on the stat post. I appreciated them so much I wanted to post them right away. Feel free to comment to the posts or email me your material. As you can see this blog is very informal, etc.


Interesting stats – I think tho that we need to remember that it is God’s work. When we start doing too much numbering and counting, the account of David counting his army comes to mind. I believe mission work is urgent. After spending time in LA, interacting with various people, I’ve come to realize that there is just as much or more confusion in the land we are living in than there is in a third world country. Are we shining the light where we are? This does not give us an excuse to stay home if God is calling us away, but does give us a job to do while we are here. Our focus should be the souls of men, not boosting church membership. Just some random thoughts.....

How Big is Your World! A Few Stats to Ponder

A brother sent these interesting stats into the mind boggling subject of the Great Commission and population growth......




We know that God is working on a scale that includes the whole world, so any
view we have, needs to include the whole world. We have proof from the Bible
that God reveals Himself to every human on earth in a way sufficient for
them to find salvation and experience the abundant life. Here are some
interesting facts that boggle our poor little minds!

The world population is growing by 144 people every minute. That works out
to 8640 people every hour, 207,360 people every day, and 75,686,400 people
every year.


 According to the 2011 yearbook, our church has 22,869 people in
it, so every 2.6 hours there is another group of NEW people in the world as
large as our entire conference. Our church gained 304 members worldwide in
2010. This is less than 1 per day (.83 per day) This means that for every
member the church increases, the world population increases by approx.
250,000 people. Currently there are approx. 6,973,000,000 people in the
world. 150 years ago when John Holdeman started our church, there were only
a little over 1 billion people in the world. Our minds simply fail to grasp
the increase, as well as the number of people who have died during this
time. Let me hear your  wisdom on how to fit to this the teaching that we
must bring the gospel to all the world, teaching them to observe all things.
Might have to go with the thought of just blooming where I'm planted!!


More Stats
In 2010 CGCM membership rose 1.3% worldwide. US membership rose .9% while Canada rose .6%. Haiti rose 11.9% while “all others” rose 2.4%. Nearly 1/3 of the increase in membership came from Haiti. It would be interesting to see what percent of growth was children of members and what percent was “from the world” as we term it

Jonas Can Walk! Report on Haiti Clinic

Picture of Jesus Healing the Crippled Man


Article written by Keith Toews

In one of my first emails I talked about Jonas, a young man who has walked with his bum on his heels for 16 yrs. Literally, he was about 3 and a half feet tall and never could straighten up. He had had a sickness as a child and his legs and hips were curled up to where he was a cripple. Never could walk upright. He told me personally that he was this way because he had a “bad spirit”.  He lived by handouts and doing a few odd jobs where people gave him food etc.  Jonas has been coming to our places and been walking over an hour to church on Sundays. We have been happy that he seemed to be getting past the idea that he just had a bad spirit etc.  The missionaries, Clinton and Ruth Holdeman, have been helping him out with some food while we were all thinking and praying for a way to get him setup with a job or something that he could do. Clinton found a doctor that made braces for Jonas to help straighten his legs and was getting ready to start therapy with him to see what the possibilities would be. After Jonas’ first therapy session, the therapist came out and said “LOOK! Jonas can walk! I don’t have an explanation. It is a Miracle!” He never even used the braces!  Today Jonas is a changed young man. He walks upright normally. He is happy and is the talk of town.   EVERYBODY is praising God and giving God the glory for the “gwo mirac” (big miracle).  Some days Jonas can hardly walk thru town because of the crowds that press in upon him, talking to him, clucking their tongues, touching him, loving him. I waded into one such crowd and found Jonas sitting on the ground, unable to move because of the press. I pulled him up and together we walked out thru the crowd and away down the street.  People were following and waving their arms, looking up in the sky, shouting “thank you Jesus” etc.  Now some could cynically say that he could have walked all along but in 16 yrs just didn’t ever try. But we rather choose to give God glory and thanks for the fact that ....today, Jonas can WALK!  “Merci Jesu!”

Now even though the clinic had nothing to do with Jonas walking.... the impression is out there that the whites in Oriani can heal all things. We pray for wisdom on how to handle all the people that are coming in. We even have people who have been paralysed for 5 yrs who come expecting solutions. We know Jesus can heal, and we can keep pointing people to the great physician, healer of bodies and souls.

The clinic has seen a thousand people this last month. The rainy season has been upon us. Yup, it has rained about every day the last month! So, that has brought in more respiratory issues, pneumonia  etc.  than usual.  So very many sick kids! 

Last week we packed up the family including Ashley and Lacey and went to the DR. We sought out medical supply outlets etc, and also bought groceries. We buy the long life, non refrigeration carton milk here sometimes and yet in the DR it is 1/3 the price of Haiti, so we bought 288 litres. (75 gallons).  Some medicines are the same price as Port-au-Prince but others are half the price. The highlight of the trip was on Sunday when we got to see the whole DR church all assembled for their annual meeting in the congregation where Benjie and Faith Schmidt are. Seems like a nice bunch of young people in the churches there. The DR is a different place than Haiti alright! There are smooth roads and nice stores everywhere, but something felt really good about getting back to the chaos of Haiti. We immediately again enjoyed the big quick grins, and despite (or some people say ``because of``) Haiti`s problems, these people have a quick sense of humour. I could spend half a page telling you about the arguing , the gesturing, the running around to different desks sitting under flapping blue tarps, the corruption, the road that is under 30 inches of water, the complete mess called the Dominican / Haiti border.  But I will spare myself the agony of remembering all that. We had 75 gallons of milk, 46 gallons of diesel, 9 people with luggage, 5 solar panels, groceries, and 6 boxes of medicines in the Ford Excursion. Coming home, our tail was really dragging all the way up the mountain! We put the lift kit in but now we need heavier springs it seems.

As I write this at 10 pm... I hear a LOUD band of about 30 men yelling, singing, beating on drums, walking by our house. I just ran out and tried to find out what it was all about, but couldn’t get a clear answer. I think some were drunk. I think it was all about somebody who had died. They traditionally hold an all-night party with wailing, playing dominoes and drinking etc.

Our family is doing well and the kids are done school. They finished with good marks thanks to Lacey`s good teaching skills.  The 3 younger children all talk enough Creole that they can play and converse with the neighbour kids quite well. The older boys have been working at fixing up a couple of motorbikes. We have a garden with sweet corn, green beans, peas, okra, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. This is our first garden, but maybe next round we can do a bigger one. Candace is also enjoying walking to the market area, buying supplies at the many little tables and tarps of everything from fruits, vegetables, fertilizer and used clothing. We just love these muddy, filthy markets and all the fun people and friends you see there. 

Please pray for....

1.       A suitable nurse to come in fall to replace Kim when she goes home. (1+ yr commitment would be nice.)

2.       Wisdom for the future of this clinic, and our family here.

3.       For Kim and Ozias and their daily flood of patients. ( a Dr in an office in America generally sees 10-20 people a day, Here they each see 20-40 a day, which makes it hard to spend the time with each that they would like)

4.       For me that I can correctly decipher how to help needy situations like when and where to take people as they need to go to a hospital.  Also how and when to help such a one when they are simply too poor to go. (much could be written about all that)  In these times I often go aside and pray... “God, I need help deciding this again. Please send me a feeling from the Holy Spirit on what to do”. Sometimes it clears up and I go ahead in faith, other times its hard to know what course to take.

I thank you all for your support and may God bless each one of you our friends. Time is short , eternity is long.

Love Keith and Candace

Tev, Zack, Cam, Chase, Christina

Telephone, 1-809-816-4899

Haitian View Points: Interviewing Three Brethren from Oriani

  The Setting:   I was just returning from a full day visiting the congregation of Savann Mouton, a new fast growing congregation in the Pine Forest not far from Oriani. Since Janurary 20, 2011 there is now 29 members and it is now time to start organizing a school for their children. (By the way they need a US sponsor to help pay the teachers.) Missionary Russ Toews from Chadek was going home and Wes Koehns were taking over for a short term before another couple takes their place. So the visiting that day centered around saying good bye and introducing the new missionaries and I happened to be fortunate to ride along.

So as I was saying I was returning from a full day encouraged with what I had witnessed that day and ready to rest. As I entered back at Keith Toews house that evening I noticed Keith talking to three brethren in the entry. Fre Jwa, Fre Tinom, and Fre Julian. They were all young married men around the same age--I would say in their thirties. They were waiting to talk to me. I had expressed my interest to visit with the local brethren in Oriani and here was my chance. I ran inside to get my notebook. It was dark and we sat cramped together in a circle there in the tight entry, gesturing as the shadows flickered from our oil lamp. I caught my second wind as I was ready to see what these our brethren had to say.

As they had been waiting they had been talking about getting more doctrine books and literature in Creole about the Church of God. I had no time to make a nice sequence of questions so we just asked as the questions would come and scribbled down the answers as they came.

To introduce the brethren, I will have to give my first impressions as time was passing and it was already dark we did not have enough time for small talk.

Jwa: (Joy) Was the main spokesman, very expressive and vocal. His eyes are opened wide and seems quite excitable, nearly jumping out of his chair to make his point.

Tinom: (Little Name) Seemed quite cool and relaxed, would raise his hand when he had something to say and motion to one of the others when he sensed they had something to say. 

Julian: Had a ball cap nearly down over his eyes slouched down on his seat.. Kept reminding me as "One of the boyz in the hood" back in the States. However when he spoke he was brief to the point and I sensed a certain gravity in what he had to say. 

Whether I am right or wrong in my first impressions I think they will help you get a little more of a picture as they told me their view point on the matter.

QUESTION #1

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE CLINIC AND ITS FUNCTION IN ORIANI?

Fre Jwa: It was hard for me to develop as a child. There was a Catholic clinic but it would only treat, "the good Catholics". It was also nearly impossible for transportation to Port for the serious cases---many died. We people would constantly ask God for improvements. In 2005-06 the Catholic Clinic loosened up. Fre Ozias' clinic also helped the poor receive treatment. 2009-10 the Church was established in Oriani. The Church and clinic work well together to reach out to people in the surrounding area. My wife would have died if it were not for the clinic. I do not know the future, but by the grace of God people are not dying like they use to.

Fre Tinom: People are not coming because it is such a great building, but they are coming simply for good service. 24 people would have died since January this year if not for the clinic. Not just this Oriani benefits, but people come from other areas to come to the clinic.

Fre Julian: It even started to get better when the missionaries came, they started to take the worst cases down to Port-au-Prince.

QUESTION #2

WHY HAS THERE BEEN SO MUCH RESPONSE IN THE GOSPEL IN THE ORIANI AREA?

Fre Tinom: It is so big it can not be explained. It has been revealed before coming by revelations from God. We knew it was going to come. The people here are extremely thirsty and it is really like coming for water.

Fre Jwa: The reason it is different is because it has been a special touch by God. The area has not had as many other missionaries to spoil it. The other Pastors in the area have not the same valor and values. (Like identifying sin,  etc.).  Alot of Pastors are "Sunday Pastors". There are actually lots of other Churches but they only help their own people. That is a difference.

Fre Julian: We are thirsty for spiritual water. When the missionaries came right at first the people were not to sure. The words spoken matched the works. People started asking, "How can I come to the Faith."  Before this we started to hear the Word from other churches but did not have spiritual life. The thirst would not be quenched.

QUESTION #3

THINGS ARE GOOD NOW....BUT HOW IS IT GOING TO BE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH?

Fre Jwa: We always have the weak, but there will also be the strong to carry the weak. The Lord gives tools to combat the devil. Satan has already caused damage, but together we'll put up a barrier.

QUESTION#4

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT A "BLANC" BRINGING THE GOSPEL, WOULDN'T IT BE BETTER FOR A HAITIAN THAT KNOWS HIS PEOPLE TO BRING THE "GOOD NEWS"?

Fre Jwa: It is the same thing. The Lord would have blessed either or; yet there are pluses and minuses to both.

Fre Tinom: Race does not make the difference it is the Holy Spirit.

QUESTION #5

KEITH'S QUESTION: ARE THERE TOO MANY WHITES (BLANCS) WORKING IN THE ORIANI AREA?

Fre Tinom: Everybody wonders for all the stuff happening in Oriani that there is not more workers than there is. The more the better, the people receive strength from visitors.

Fre Jwa: We don't have the authority as Oriani to ask for more "blancs".  The blancs don't have the authority. It was God's will. If it was our authority we would like to see more.

Fre Timon: The first year I worked with CSI, ( after the hurricanes) we worked, travelled and learned about the Faith.

Fre Jwa: Still so many thirsty souls even the blancs can not keep up. [named different towns that are extremely thirsty for the gospel] Oriani zone is huge with 13,000 people. Way more, no. In Oriani we could easily have 5 congregations. The sheep in Savon Mouton (the other congregational area) are still thirsty. Gwo Chevelle want to come, but too far away. Another zone is asking when we are going to come. It is not for material gain. We need to reach out to these zones. That is why we need more workers. We walked in Savon Mouton forest and the missionaries could not see anybody. The missionaries were scared about this work, but God knew. There are more unconverted yet but are waiting. Thank God it is in His hands.

QUESTION #6

WHAT OF THE JOBS AND MONEY POTENTIAL'S EFFECT ON THE AREA---WILL IT NOT BE A PROBLEM THAT PEOPLE WILL COME TO THE CHURCH FOR THOSE BENEFITS MORE THAN THE GOSPEL?

Fre Tinom: Absolutely not. The first converts were here before the influence of the clinic.

Fre Jwa: Absurd question! We used to go to Santo Domingo leaving our families to earn more money than here. We are staying here now because we learned about the Church. The doctrines of the Church weed those out that come for other reasons. The Church is not giving out money. I can go on and on. We have truck drivers that quit their jobs (to not drive on Sunday and other temptations) --now they live in poverty. A brother used to make a good living selling alcohol--now he lives in poverty when he gave it up. A brother used to limp and beg-- now lives in poverty.  

Fre Tinom( or fre Jwa?): For example working for CSI we worked for money helping rebuild for Siklon victims. Our conviction made us reduce our wages. For our brethren we charged nothing.

Fre Jwa: The young people  are helping out our singing.

Fre Julian: Here in Haiti we invite blanc workers here, but in Heaven we will be the same.

Fre Jwa: We can make alright without them, but would like more young people here.

Fre Julian: Local people also support the workers and visitors that come

QUESTION #7

IF WE HAVE ANY NEEDS AS FOREIGN WORKERS WILL YOU LET US KNOW?

Fre Tinom: We will let you know we are of the same flesh.

Fre Jwa: (most likely still answering question 6) Even non Church members cry when the blancs leave and wonder why people only come for only a week.

Fre Julian: We are one in the faith. We are of the same flesh. We are members of one body. I was impressed that we were all one at the Ganthier Conference (March 2011?)

Closing Thoughts

Fre Jwa: Salute the brethren when you go home. My name is Joy. When I came to the Church after two or three days I seen evidence that God was working with me. I was a bad person. God would show me these areas. I started to pray for these lacks in my life. I did not do enough for my family. Since I have chosen God God has solved those problems. Now he has filled those needs.

Fre Tinom: Alot of us here have the same problems. We grew up together and now we are in this church together. We used to go to that other church together. We went to the world together. Now we come to this church together. We were bad guys together in the DR., but now we do not leave our families anymore. The people in our area gave up on us and said that our lives were finished. We had a bad reputation. Our traditional ways were to leave for Santo Domingo. Pray for us not to leave when the going gets tough.

Fre Julian: When we were in the other church there was no limit, but since becoming converted I now have a limit.

Fre Tinom: This group did not have limitswhen we used to try to make money. We used to throw rocks at political rallies. This Sunday at church I seen our brethren singing instead of going to elections. It gave me pure joy being with our families in church (Instead of doing what we used to)

Fre Julian: Absolutely. We used to leave for town. We may live in poverty to stay here and go to church, but there is more joy being with the family.

That is all. It felt we were just warming up. I was looking forward to hearing more about how they had personally found the Lord, but it was already past the time they would usually be all at home possibly sleeping. Jwa was back early the next day to catch a ride with us down to Fond Parisian to see his sister who was possibly dying of Cholera. Let's pray for these brethren and their families; As we all know for every Christian there are challenges that lie ahead............

Haiti Trip: Interviewing Keith Toews on the Confidence Clinic and Independent Programs

I had a few questions to ask Keith as we sipped on some warm glass bottled cokes in their house in Haiti. With all this talk about independent programs, etc here was my chance to ask a few questions. What is the story behind this clinic? Is it something we can support on a congregational level? Conference level? What about CSI? Not like I felt authority or weight to ask on those levels, but to be honest--- they are real questions ---when you see the need and want to help in any way you can. We can as individuals can theorize all sort of solutions about what to do in Haiti in the US, but what is being said in Haiti.  Thankfully we can work together under the direction of the Church. That said it has a amazed me the misinformation or opinions we spawn as a result of  negligence of  genuinely showing interest  and checking out the facts on what is really going on. 
  Between sipps I would ask questions and see what Keith would say. Later there was opportunity to ask the local Haitian brethren, ministers, CSI members and other observers of their direction on the matter. And so here is the first interview.  

Question #1
Are You Independent of the Mission Program of the Church?

Yes and no. We are not independent of the Church. The whole clinic is under the invitation and guidance of the Haitian Mission Board, and my family are members of the local Oriani congregation here in Haiti.


Question#2


How do you recieve Financial Aid? (They use $4-5,000 of meds/mo.)

Through private individual donations. Sometimes they are passed on by a deacon, but not officially sponsered by the congregations. However some of our workers are sponsered by their congregations: Bonners Ferry ID,  United Center KS, and Pincher Creek, AB for example.


Question #3


Do you think Financing such Programs detract from the overall giving to General Mission, CSI, etc. ?

We are involved in the same work. This here does not detract from the Great Commission that Jesus left us. Our Church financial booklet shows that donations have increased in these areas.


Question #4


What motivates you?

The love for the people here, the feeling of home here, and the fact the fact that with so little you can do so much good here. Take a person in the States that is dying from a disease spending $50,000 or more. Here that bill could fund the medication needs of 10,000 people.


Question # 5


Is there a Danger of having a Clinic and Work Projects too close in conjunction with the Church Outreach? Will too many come for the "Loaves and Fishes"?

The local church members and nonmembers both express appreciation that our church came first with the Gospel and after that was established they followed up with the humanitarian needs of the community as continuation versus starting a big project and then leaving as so many other projects done in the past. This is not saying at all that what was done here is the perfect plan elsewhere.


Question #6


Would you object to be under the administration of CSI? What is your relationship with CSI?

No objection. There is a respect towards CSI as a larger branch of the church and we want to work in harmony with them. The CSI director over Haiti was consulted and they gave their support prior to starting this work.


Question #7


Is there any problem with too much interaction between our various workers and missionaries in the area?

Yes, I suppose it could be a problem if we forget what we came here for. That is if our social detracts from the outreach of the Gospel.


Question #8


This is kind of a repeat of Question # 5. But I would like to hear more on : As soon as the "Blanc" missionaries come-- Everything gets better-- Is that a Problem?

No. When you are starring at no job or very little local commerce --when things improve it is not a detriment in their eyes. As their standard of living and education in this area increases, darkness and voodou recedes. We are very careful not to use money or food as any incentive or reward for coming to church. We know that that could be disastrous down the road.

Question #9


I notice Keith's family of seven are very much part of what is going around them. People coming and going down the main path can see what is going on in their yard. All day children are coming and going through their gate. So I wanted to ask a few questions down these regards.


How dangerous is Oriani for you and your family?

We feel very safe here. After we helped save a life, a well respected man in the community raised my arm in the town and warned that if any man would touch this missionary or his family would be surely cursed.

Question #10


Is it not dangerous to have Teenagers  on the field?

There are dangers, but there are also blessings that counteract that. Too many times we focus on the negative. Benefits of helping and in being a part of the Great Commission out weighs the negative. (We discussed a number of things, but some of the highlights was that his sixteen year old son was baptised in the Oriani congregation and his nineteen year old son was doing alot better spiritually. Alot of these things also have to do with the fact that life becomes more family oriented. etc.)

Question #11


How comes a congregation like Oriani grows so fast and seems so stable -- then say if it was in Mexico or Dominican Republic established in the same time period? (In 4 yrs. there is around 50 members, packed church attendance, and 106 students in school)

It seems God has opened the door for His own reasons for a Haiti-wide ingathering.Especially thinking about our missions in Jacmel, Savanne Mouton, Oriani, and other places. Haiti and Nigeria also have their own mission programs to reach there own people.

Question #12


Is there a danger of focusing too much on Humanitarian work and not enough on the Gospel? The otherside of the question: Can you spread the Gospel in a place like Haiti without humanitarian outreach?

As this question for Haiti, Yes it can get lopsided, but it is really inseparable. Jesus did not separate the two Matt.11:1-6


By this time our Cokes are done and the numerous distractions and interruptions have come and go.  It is clear to me that for now the questions are over; we can get up because there is plenty more work that can be done.

The Knowledge of the Holy: Quoting Tozer

A brother e-mailed me these passages. I have already been pondering the subject so it increased my interest. Brother Enel Henry in Haiti had been sharing with me some of the reasons revival seem to be taking off in Haiti's mountain valleys. One point he shared was the quietness caused by the lack of loud music and loud distractions to stir the emotions that you would see in other Caribbean cultures in comparison. When the going gets tough you turn and hear God not just turn the dial to something YOU want to hear or feel. Secular or emotional laden music and other seemingly harmless addictions in our technology driven lifestyles help us to prop up our emotions. Even in times of real need this  robs us of that quiet time that could be rather spent with God. Think following media, phones, computers,--- not that these are wrong, but do they ever replace that quiet personal worship time that could be spent with God. I sense a need lately of more quiet time with God and so pray for me.

Here is the Tozer Quote:

  The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us.  A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our religious thinking.

With our loss of the sense of majesty has come the further loss of religious awe and consciousness of the divine Presence.  We have lost our spirit of worship and our ability to withdraw inwardly to meet God in adoring silence.  Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the Spirit.  The words, ”Be still, and know that I am God,” mean next to nothing to the self-confident, bustling worshipper in this middle period of the twentieth century.

 

A.W. Tozer

The Knowledge of the Holy

 

Want to Write a Book on the Haiti Mission

There has been a book on Mexico, Nigeria, Phillipines, but none that I have noticed have been written on our largest mission program which has been Haiti.  I would like to collect letters, stories, history and other antidotes in relation to the Church in Haiti.
 How many have found the Histories of the Congregations a very interesting if not  an inspiring booklet? I believe it is time to write a book about our different mission fields so the next generation can become inspired to continue the work of the Great Commission.

I already have a number of on site illustrations  (our congregational church buildings,etc) , notes, and other material, so there would already be a small start. I just need personal experiences from missionaries, CSI men, CPS unit boys etc. to really get it rolling. Perhaps you know of somebody that already has started. There is truly a large number of our people that would have connection with the Haiti mission.

If interested in this project or have suggestions please contact me at

jonluketws@gmail.com

 Thank-You.

Bible School in Progress

I am not done with the material I gathered in Haiti, but my wife and I are on the Bible School Committee here in Faunsdale AL. Our attendance has been 73 children and so far it has been quite enjoyable and a stable enviroment. The teachers are doing a great job. So after next week I should have found some time to post more on the Haiti projects and mission, etc. Thank-you for your interest.