December 2004
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Haiti Bible Mission December 2004 |
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Dear Prayer-Partners, "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE ….!!! Here it is again...the Christmas season and time for my annual Christmas challenge. It is the birthday of Jesus we are celebrating, right??? So why is the giving to missions and churches so often lowest in December and January??? Because we are spending so much on ourselves for HIS BIRTHDAY!!! Ok...here is the challenge...how about keeping track of every dollar you spend on Christmas...decorations, presents, everything. Then total that amount and write a check to the work of the Lord for the same amount! It will do two things for you...first, it will make sure you are giving the Lord at least an equal amount as family and friends. Second, this will probably keep your spending down when you know you have to double it! APOLOGY I apologize for not getting the September newsletter to you...too long of a story to tell...just was difficult. Then, the October newsletter was sent...so I thought...and it was never received by the secretary...hence this quick letter as I go off to Haiti again. So here is a combined October and December newsletter. LETTERS OF THANKS I received a couple of very nice letters from Haitian pastors thanking you folks for supporting me to be a missionary there. I translated them into English and typed them in the last e-mail. I don’t have time to do that again as I am leaving for Haiti early tomorrow morning...but I did want to communicate to you that they are extremely thankful. PRAISE THE LORD! There are so many things the Lord has done recently to bless the work of Haiti Bible Mission...there is so much to tell!!!! Let me just say that the number of people getting involved is generating a great amount of help for the folks in Haiti. I am a bit overwhelmed as I watch what the Lord is doing. Pray for me that I will have the wisdom of the Lord in deciding how best to proceed with the work. One such descision that needs much wisdom is buying land in Haiti on which to build a mission house. Please join us in praying for the Lord’s guidance in this matter. BUILDING FUND I have gone into the hole big time on the building fund. I used general fund money until that was gone and then borrowed some from friends. I don't mean to be presumptuous on the Lord providing but I have recently gone places I have not gone before. I have seen preachers struggling to survive such as one preacher with seven children who just had a new baby boy. He is currently living in a house which is 8 feel wide by ten feet long and made out of woven reeds just like a straw mats. Every time it rains everything gets wet and mud runs into their little house. I gave that pastor a plastic storage trunk to keep some things clean and dry. I can't let a servant of our Lord stay in condition like that. I am confident with your help and support I can find a way to helping him. If the Lord puts it on your heart, please help! Send the Christmas gift to Bethel Baptist Church and designate it to Haiti Building Fund. MISSION GROUPS I had the joy of having two mission groups here back to back this fall. One group was from San Jose, CA and they took off an old roof of a church, raised the walls a little over two feet and then put a new roof on. Since this group’s departure, the church has been painted and it looks ever nice. The second group was from Illinois and Tennessee and they put a roof on a pastor's house we just recently finished building. The only thing remaining to do on this house before the pastor can move in is to complete the windows and doors. Both of these projects cost about twice what we had expected. Because of the civil unrest in Port Au Prince lumber and supplies had to be order from suppliers in Eau Cayes where materials are lower quality and cost nearly double. Because of these unforeseen costs in building preachers homes, there is a significant “hole” in the Haiti Bible Mission building and general fund. MEDICAL NEED I am continually helping the poor country preachers with medical needs. One preacher needs an operation so badly he can hardly walk. He can't work in his garden until he gets the operation for what I think may be a hernia. He lives in a rural area of Haiti and needs to go to Port au Prince for his operation. Port Au Prince is very dangerous and you never know if the doctor will be able to get to the hospital. Because he is in such pain, he is willing go if he had the money. Seeing his desperate situation, I gave him over $400 U.S. from my general fund for this operation. This sum of money would take this pastor many, many years to save. Perhaps there are some doctors or nurses who would like to donate to a medical fund for these types of situations. HURRICANE RELIEF We were able to help several people who lost all their garden crops in the hurricane. They are so thankful. Being sure these people could not read or write, I did not ask them to write you a thank you letter. Despite all of our projects and giving, we still have some money left in that fund to help a woman rebuild her house. I went to see this woman who lives in the poorest of slums right by the ocean. I saw her sitting by a pile of rocks which turned out to be her former home. She was sitting in the shade of some cloth hanging over sticks and branches. Before the hurricane she had nothing to start with but that little house. Now even that is gone. Haiti Bible Mission is going to help this woman. PREACHERS SEMINARS The Bible seminars for preachers are being blessed more than ever before. I have done four so far and one more to go next week. The most recently a small group of 25 applauded and cheered at times during the seminar when they heard the most basic Bible doctrines explained to them in simple and straight forward manner. What a joy for me to be called of the Lord to teach them the Word of God. I thank the Lord every day for that and I thank all of you for helping me in that all-important work! FAMILY I will be in Florida for Christmas with my son Mark and his wife Lacey. My other sons Matthew & John will be joining me, too. My son Luke and his fiancée, Anne, will not make it as they are busily preparing for their January 15th wedding! We are praying for God’s blessing on Luke and Anne who desire to serve the Lord and bring honor to His name. Luke’s address is N 3498 Sauer Rd., Fall River, WI 53932. I will miss them very much but are certainly looking forward to all our family being together in Madison, Wisconsin for their wedding! Merry Christmas and may the Lord bless all of you richly as you continue to walk with Him. In Christ our Savior,
Pastor Dave
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