Kevin Bronson reports on Haiti Lasstic Water Project

Its not often you hear the words "ahead of schedule" associated with Haiti, but so far at lease we are not behind schedule. Work for the 2012 season started on Jan 10 with the arrival of Neil & Susie, and has been helped along by Mike & Maxine, Eric & Nicole, Jerome, Ray Dean, & David.

I'm writing this from the SF airport as most of my family and I are ready to board on our way to join the team. We'll meet Eldon on the way, Denver & Noreen & the rest of my family will join us soon, and that makes up our team, at least for now. With the work progressing well, enough of us came on one way tickets to finish the project.

We left last year without finishing, and some of our temporary erosion control methods failed, so we had some damage to repair before we could start building. The locals also left two clean outs open last year which were filled with silt by the rains, and they need to be re-opened.

At this time most of the damage is repaired, and new construction has begun. We completed the first of two water taps in villages along the way. When the second one is finished, we will seal the clean outs so that the possibility of future plugging is eliminated.

The new construction this year will include the two fountains, a foot and animal bridge across the canal, completion of an air vent on the pipeline, and installation of our infamous gates. We are also working with the village "notables" and farmers in Fond Parisien to start a "water committee" to manage the water, which we hope to have flowing in the next two or three weeks. The entire system will need some flushing and checking as we get the water flowing.

As time permits, we also hope to do a more formal review of the distribution system, parts of which date to the 60s. We know repairs are needed in several areas, and we are bombarded with requests for expansion of the system to serve additional farming areas. We feel we cannot expand the system without a pretty good idea of the layout, capacity, current demand, and condition.

After a year of unsuccessful attempts to sell our rock drill in Haiti or the neighboring Caribbean countries, we have decided to bring it back to the US. We have a Customs broker arranged, and expect to have it delivered to the port in St Mark in early February.

We have set up housekeeping in the same place we have been the last two years. Our Dmax truck and Kubota generator are serving us very well, and we have a fairly comfortable existence.

And finally, an update on Raymonds. You may have wondered at the absence of his and Vera's name. RW was doing some doctoring late last year, and he ended up having a quadruple bypass surgery in Texas in Mid January. He is home recuperating, and both our crew in Haiti and R&V in TX would like to see him on the project. We keep in close contact; news goes one way and advice the other!

Don't Sleep Through Bible Study

Sometimes we rely too much on group study aids when we need to bring the electricity to the wire and make it personal. Wednesday Evenings can always be a blessing whether many or few. However as a Church family we do well to spend some personal time together and really get to know one another's struggles, etc.
Here are some scattered ideas about what to do Wednesday Evening and other Bible study sessions.


1. Have everyone bring their own question or topic on a Bible verse. So in a class you can go down the line once a topic has been discussed.


2. Study a Bible character or a certain Bible story and how it relates with us today in our setting. Just announce it in Church and leave it up to the people to read the story and bring their questions or thoughts.


3.Have a flannel graph story for the younger children classes. It is a flannel board set up that you can arrange Bible stories and characters on. Children really enjoy this!


4. Have a Prayer Meeting. In a extended revival? Have special needs in your congregation? Be open to having a prayer meeting. The meeting is open for anyone to have a prayer request or testimony. It is a open meeting. Brethren randomly get up and share a testimony and then a prayer request. They then lead the congregation in a prayer as everyone kneels. It is a spontaneous meeting. Brings everyone together as people share concerns about their own needs, needs in the community, the congregation, health issues. Often  15-20 prayers are offered.


5. Some thoughts on Bible Study Outreach at Rehabs, Detention Centers, etc
In California (drug rehab and homeless shelter) and now Alabama (youth detention center) were I have attended services--- we have devotional settings that foster way more participation than our regular organized Bible study (with Bible Doctrine Study Booklets).  

For starters you do not start putting people through doctrine class. That said --I am not trying to water down Bible doctrine. Not everybody is ready to jump from elementary school to college. Bible illiteracy is fairly high despite all of the surface religious debates that people and politics like to throw around. 

Rather read a Bible story and ask questions---keep it simple. Make it a devotional.

 Keep that part down to a third of the time at most. 

Open it up to if anybody has a testimony or questions on the Bible or more questions on the story just read. Make it family time. Show the people love by be willing to listen to them. Then apply Bible trues and personal experiences. Once everybody gets warmed up--people will start asking questions on the Bible and what does it say about this and this.

 "Will you pray for my family?" " My Church is full of hyprocites that's why I don't go to church any more" Be careful to follow the spirit in these meetings. Many times they take an evangelical note and you get down on choices, destinations ---heaven or hell.

We are sometimes so focused on an over structured Bible study agenda---that we squeeze out the life. Just be broken and be honest. We went one time and admitted that we felt we had nothing to bring and would have to rely on the Lord for inspiration----in that end of that meeting we seen people crying , requesting prayer, sharing reoccurring dreams that pointed to warnings, etc, and nobody was over 19. At the start of the meeting there was  some snickering and it looked like problems, but by the end we were all on the line. No question that it was not us but God was speaking to all of us.

Just please don't start those people and rely totally on Bible study books. Again I am not promoting entertainment or emotional based study--rather just making Bible study personal to day to day life. The Bible is the Living Word.

 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:12

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not asthe word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe 1 Thess. 2:13

Christ Confronts Legalism

Legalism has been defined as seeking to achieve forgiveness, justi­fication, or acceptance of God by the things we do. It is self-centered because it takes the glory of our salvation and attempts to give it to man instead of God.Without a proper concept of the source of our jus­tification, our efforts for righteousness can actually become an insidi­ous attempt to gain recognition and acceptance with God. Our pride leads us to believe that God is morally obligated to forgive and accept us because of our good works. Any attempt to achieve salvation by our works is in direct contradiction to the nature of our conversion experi­ence, which was wholly by faith. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him" (Col. 2:6).

Do you want God? Is He the object or purpose of your worship? Do you desire to be in Him and have Him in you?

Do you want to be humble and godly? Righteous and holy? These seem like very noble goals. But do you desire God? Is the path to Him through these desirable traits? The narrow path that leads to God is Jesus Christ, who alone was worthy to turn the wrath of a holy God away from our sinfulness. If we can accept this simple path, Jesus becomes the Rock upon which our flesh falls and is broken. He alone is our defense against evil and our hope for good. When we accept the narrow gate (Christ), we enter the path of being led by the Holy Spirit.

When we try, by human effort, to produce the fruit the Holy Spirit would work in us, it becomes the work of pride and humanism. The true essence of holiness eludes us because the author is not God but rather man and man's effort. It is very difficult to be willing to receive only and not generate. We have a vacuum in our heart that can only be filled by God Himself. We cannot fill it by doing good things and trying not to sin.

Self-denial, cross bearing, obedience to God, and good works are clearly taught by Jesus and the apostles. They, together with faith, are identifying characteristics of a Christian. They should, however, proceed from the grace of the Holy Spirit and not from self-effort. Following Christ does not always come easily, and one must make an effort to bring his flesh into subjection to the will of God. If these efforts are not linked in the believer's mind with the righteousness only God can give, they can become a very deceptive tool of the evil one. True self-denial begins with the realization that there is nothing we can do to save our­selves from God's wrath against sin. It is casting all confidence of our own strength down at the feet of Jesus and trusting Him to save us. Our part is to behold God and live in Him through Jesus Christ.

Christ Confronts Legalism

Lesson 8

Adult and Youth Sunday School Lessons

December 2011 - February 2012

Wiebe's Quote

For Business Use Only

It's okay---as long as it makes money? Is gain godliness that it dictates change in Church policy?  Turn a profit and receive praise and allowances. Sell what you have and give to the poor or get too mission oriented and you find yourself in a censured zone---something has to be wrong---not balanced. Maybe too much zeal or piety ----to be real.


Think. 
How about "For Christ sake only"?


 Think. 
What did Jesus stand for. If God is love and he dwells within us ----what fruits will we bare.


True Godliness  = unspotted by the world + visit the widows + care for the fatherless = true religion = will suffer persecution and be tried by fire= takes up the cross of Christ ---that is committed to where ever Christ leads=Living sacrifice motivated by the love of the Father, Son and for his fellow men


Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:7


FAIL:   social acceptance= health & wealth gospel = Leagalism (justified by one's own standards)= Covetousness= Self Living= Revivals centered on self preservation


THINK
 What did Jesus stand for?
 What would a real relationship with him do to me and my lifestyle?
 Who would he associate with? 
In our setting what would he strive for?


For Business Use Only?


(Authors Note: I am not trying to focus on particular business only issues, but rather on what is omitted in doing for "Christ's Only".)


J.T.

Wiebe Quotes: Compassion of Christ

 ...Christ satisfied the physical hunger of the crowd of five thousand men with two fishes and five loaves. His teach­ings fed their spiritual hunger...

...Does the compassion of Christ move us to alleviate the suffering around us? Are we too ready to let our words suffice as an attempt to comfort someone? We are willing to pray, but are we willing to be moved with compassion to go and help? Will we be His hands, His feet, and His heart? Do we worry that the needs  will become too involving and we will not know how to unhook from them? Do we ask, "What will it cost me?" An understanding of all that Jesus has done for us will lovingly draw us to the side of the road where our brother or fellowman lies wounded and left to die by the evil one...

Christ Shows Compassion

Lesson 7 - Adult and Youth Sunday School Lessons

December 2011 - Feb 2012

Gospel Hunger in Africa

I have just heard a report from Cameroon by a local family from our church congregation that went to visit our tract workers in that central African country. It was a A-1 report. This was the first time for this family to travel outside the US and Canada. They are very hands on and they had a very active trip.
     I haven't heard much of Cameroon before our congregation hosted a mission board meeting a year ago. The country seems full of variety from jungles in the south to mountains in the middle and savanna in the north. The people there are reported to be really friendly and hospitable. There was a lot of emphasis that the main roads there are 10 times worse than any fish pond levee in our community.  Their SUV's front end was shot after the 1,000 mile journey undertaken during their stay. Much could be said, but time does not permit details here. The only reason I do not have any names in this article is to provide protection to anyone mentioned here that is presently in another country.
   As far as the gospel hunger stated----The goal of the tract worker there was to pass out one million tracts in one three year term. They have already went through four million in two. Many of these are delivered in boxes as requested by church groups and individuals that are passing them out personally. 
    I am waiting on a report from the small West African country of Togo, where someone told me that there was quite a number of converts. I have been getting e-mails from there and it has been sometime since hearing from them so I haven't been able to verify.
   Also read a report from Ethiopia which shows that there is sometimes tension passing out Gospel literature in Muslim influenced areas.
   It just has been encouraging to hear of the interest in the Gospel and the fact that we just can't get enough Gospel literature and personnel to meet up with the demand. Haiti in North America is also a place that has shown rapid growth in our Church.
   Get involved in Gospel tract and pass out literature. Start your day out with a prayer--- that hopefully you can be a positive influence and a witness for Christ in someone's life. It is an exciting work where ever you are at. If we would just be more prepared to lay up our treasures in heaven rather than just think only about this life.
For those not acquainted with Gospel Tract these tracts are plain Gospel tracts. They tell the "Old Gospel Story".
Check out ---Ye Must Be Born Again tract :http://churchofgodinchristmennonite.net/node/28


And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Mat.24:14

A Father's Mandate

Written by a young father with a concern for himself directly
Many years ago, in the late 19 century, there was a godly man who saw a need and left the
th
church of his youth.  This must have been a traumatic time in his life, as leaving behind what you are
accustomed to is no small thing.  This breaking away and following a Spirit-led revival must have taken
vision and faith... faith of Abraham or Moses or Noah.  
One of the major reasons for this man’s switchback on his spiritual journey was the lack of child
nurture and training in his old church.  The lack of ‘fathers’ in the Old Way became very apparent and
this man, being led by the Spirit of God, separated himself and his family, as Noah of old must have, and
began his journey. 
Where is the faith of our forefathers today? How important is the guidance and nurturing of young
hearts and minds in our generation?  Where are the Spirit-led visionaries that made up the Early Church,
the Church Through the Ages, and the True Church of God today?  I think the answer to that question is
another question: Where are our children today?
I would like to take a moment and thank my own father for the time he gave his children and for
his willingness to lead and to be there for me, even today.  I appreciate my caring and supportive
Christian peers who are braving the cold and facing the wind and cutting a path through the drifts and the
blowing snow.  It takes men to do this.
It is due to my own weakness and failing in being a father that I have come to believe that child
training is an issue that every generation needs to take to prayer.  The vision I have is that there is a
tendency for the parents of this generation’s children to stand passively to the side as the children forge
their own way.  Where are the fathers who will lead the children?  Who will teach and show the way
through the maze of technology and through the Forest of the Wavering and the Weak?  Who will
provide an example, not just a rule book?  Who will demonstrate in faith, not just warn in fear?  Who will
lead the children Home?
I believe leading our children means showing them the way.  It does not mean to punish them into
the knowledge of the Truth.  It does not mean to harshly scold, to constantly reprimand, or to throw
around empty threats.  It means to get involved, not to sit back and ponder.  Leading usually takes more
effort than quick words.  The only ‘brains’ it needs is the quiet touch of the Holy Spirit.  And the Spirit
might speak to you as you sit back and ponder and pray.  With all the warning on the dangers of
cellphone and internet misuse, will we take our children by the hand and show them how to use this
technology in a simple and guarded way?  Or will we refuse them that opportunity by telling them to stay
away from it and it won’t harm you?  It seems to me that if we recommend that our children do not touch
technology, than technology will reach out and touch them.  If they have a grasp of the Truth, a love for
Jesus, an open communication with their parents, and an understanding of how the devices of technology
work and where the danger lies, than they will be prepared to tell Satan to “get thee hence, I don’t want
that fruit!”  They will become visionaries!
It seems, from my own experience, that the parents of our time seem to be very intent on a few
points: socializing, health, and acquisition.  We spend so much time visiting with friends and family that
evenings at home have all but become extinct.  We spend so much time socializing online with whatever
association we want to google from our ever handy cellphone that we miss our children’s slaps and
screams and homework assignments and little love notes.  We spend so much time on the treadmill, in the
health spas, and researching all the special waters, pills, and other health products that we just are not
available when our child needs some advice on how she should socialize or how she should pray.  And
we as today’s parents are so busy acquiring more money, more goods, newer vehicles, bigger houses, and
nicer clothes that we miss the opportunity to teach our dear children to work and learn responsibility.  

"Not Called!' did you say?" : William Booth Quotes

"Not Called!' did you say? Not heard the call, I think you should say. Put your ear to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world."

“In answer to your inquiry, I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

“While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while children go hungry, as they do now I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight, I'll fight to the very end!”

William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army

Oriani Clinic, Haiti: Foster Girl Moves In

A week ago a baby named Ketli came to the clinic. She was limp and seemed barely alive. 26 inches long, 12 lbs and 14 months old. She had pneumonia, and Kwashiorkor, with edema on hands and feet so bad that her skin was tight as a drum, her mouth was so full of sores she had it clamped tight shut. Now after the inflammation is down, her wrists are the thickness of my thumb and almost all her skin has or is peeling off. When she came into the clinic, I asked the grandmother the story and this is what she said.

"My son lives in Port au Prince, and had this baby with a girl that I don’t even know. Baby Ketli got sick 3 months ago and now he sends her up to me to look after." I asked her if she is able to look after the baby and she shook her head, no. I then took baby Ketli to Candace and asked her if we should offer to take the baby in, at least until she is well again. We knew unless this babe was looked after, she would likely die soon. Candace said yes immediately. Ashley took her for the first day because we were leaving for the day, but then a day later we called and made arrangements with the father in Port and upon his agreement we went and visited the grandmothers house. She lives in a little banana leaf house that is about 5 feet tall, with several other grandchildren. She was very happy with our offer, and so... tiny Ketli came to live with us. We adore her. She has a weak but ready and very charming smile.  She eats and sleeps lots, and basks in the love and attention of the family. She calls Candace "mama" and reaches for her whenever she sees her. We will see how this all pans out yet. We know she has a ways to go till full recovery, but we feel confident that with good care, and Gods help, she can make it. Pray for her (and us).

The other day we had our first rain in 2 months. The cistern level came up 12 inches! Woooo hooooo!

A baby girl was born in the clinic yesterday. Born to a 19yr old single mom. All went well and Ashley is turning into a good midwife.

Yesterday a man came running up to our yard, telling me that his sister had delivered twins and they were TINY TINY! Can you please take my sister and the twins down to the hospital? I asked a few questions about age and size and started prepping the vehicle to leave for the 4 hr drive to Port. Before we even got our flat tire pumped up, he got a call that told him we were no longer needed... the babies had both died. It`s hard for me to not always compare things to back in Canada, because that doesn’t really help my frustration level, but in Canada those babies would have gotten 100`s of thousands of dollars worth of intensive care. Here in our clinic we try to provide health care to 10,000 people in a year for fraction of that. I know we can`t save every person, but it still churns my guts when someone dies here when I can see how in N. America they could have been restored to health.

Our neighbour girl Nadia of 14 yrs old was great with child, and after determining that she would need a C section, we helped her get down to a hospital that could do it. Dallas`s took her down, and that evening a baby boy was born via C-section. Why do young girls delivering babies happen with such alarming frequency here? She has a very supportive family so I think she will be ok. God loves these young people, and would have a better way for them. A Gospel way that includes keeping themselves pure for marriage and that children can be born into secure homes with dads and moms. Should we keep birth control only for families, or should we give birth control to every 15+ yr old that comes to the clinic? Should we give it freely with no questions asked? Should we give it with a mini sermon?

A neighbour of ours broke her elbow 2 weeks ago. She went to the local charlatan bone guy who made some paste and tied it tight with sticks. It wasn`t straight, it was grossly inflamed from being tied too tight, but she wouldn’t let us help her get to a hospital and get it Xrayed and casted. She said the bone guy knows his work and she trusts him that when he says it will be good in 29 days that it will be. I cringe whenever I see it, because I feel it won`t heal properly that way. I know it`s not their fault, but sometimes you can`t win against ignorance.

Overall... life is full of enjoyment and surprises here in Haiti. We had some old friends, Galen Giesbrechts (from Ballico Calif), visit us for the Christmas season. They brought their family, so there was lots of activity. Thanks for coming Galen`s!  We and Galens went and took in the awesome singing Gwop De Homme service in Fond Parisian on Christmas morn. A good service, and inspiring how well they can sing. I hear they served 480 people there for lunch.

We enjoy visitors from home, but we also thoroughly enjoy these wonderful warm Haitian people. On New Years day we decided to have a ``fet`` (celebration). The local tradition is to go visiting on New Years day and feed each other, so we decided that we were going to start making Canadian style New Years cookies and invite friends and neighbours. We served over 200 people around our dining table that afternoon. Plus lots of children outside. We served the deep fried raisin cookies, pop and milk. It kept us hopping, but it was so awesome to see how excited they were to eat Canadian food at the white`s house. Finished it off with some singing with one of the last groups that came in.

I`ll sign off this now and finish it later... they are calling me to run to the clinic, a PG mom is in some kind of trouble...

2 hour later: I ran to the clinic and the mom will be fine. But before the PG mom left, a little 8 yr old girl comes in with a broken arm. Thankfully she CAME!!! Ashley and I are checking its placement and it seems good, so, she got a cast. Before the cast is started, a little 4 yr old boy comes in with knife cut that went way down between his fingers, requiring stitches in the top and bottom of his hand. Poor kid. L  But, Ashley`s getting lots of good experience. J

The church here is still growing. Growing both in spiritual stature and in numbers. It is so awesome to see the illumination of the Gospel dawning on people. A young man named Jeano has been especially inspiring to me to watch. Even his face seems to light up with the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit. There is a nice sized group getting ready to start doctrine classes with Dallas. What I like about Haiti is how alive the Gospel message is here. It is always alive everywhere, but here it seems more obvious, or something. We feel blessed to get to be here and be reminded of how alive and real God is.

Love Keiths