This morning we made our way onto the airport grounds where many Humanitarian groups from various countries are camping out, unloading and storing goods and supplies for those in need.  We saw flags from Turkey, France, Israel, Great Britain and the USA to name a few. I met soldiers from Uruguay, Portugal, Brazil, as  well as a few others. The nations are ever present and the UN has troops everywhere. The US military has a strong presence as well.

My observation is that the locals tend to have reservations about the UN since they do not have access to news sources and do not know the great effort made by many to assist them. I met people today that have only had a few crackers to eat in the last few days and have begged for them.

The downtown area of Port-Au-Prince was a disaster and looked more like a war zone. Four-story buildings are now just a pile of rubble. The area is quite dusty, the air smells of death and people are digging through the rubble in hopes of finding anything they can use or sell to survive.

Thousands of people lined up around the Presidential palace in hopes of receiving something to eat from the UN troops that are guarding it. We saw one desperate man drink from the dirty and probably contaminated water along the curb. We desperately wanted to give him our own water but to do so would cause a riot. People who are desperate do desperate things.

In front of the main, historic, and now destroyed cathedral we met two (now homeless) ladies that were attending service and ran out when they felt the Quake. One said her niece was in the rubble along with hundreds of others.  She escaped with a few scrapes which our field medic, Craig, treated. They have lost everything. They only own the clothes on their back and have decided to call the sidewalk next to the destroyed church their home for now. Although it is unsafe for us to pull anything out, I found a way to leave her my lunch (an orange and
fruit cup).

A teenager we met shares that he lost his parents and some siblings and now is the only caregiver for his younger brother. He lost a tooth yesterday trying to get a gallon of water and is desperate for food and shelter.  In a few hours our team will head out to get in line at the port and wait for a barge to arrive that has food.

We are in hopes of getting anything to help the pastors and the 10,000 people they represent.  One pastor, now homeless, sleeps in the driveway of the guest home where I am staying with a mere sheet as a bed. Now homeless, other friends of the ministry sleep on the patio, or wherever there is space.

At one mission, our team helped dig a military style latreen in  the “Tent City” as the 2,000 people that are living under sheets and in cardboard boxes have no restrooms.  A few hundred yards away, the medic on our team assisted in the medical clinic helping amputate the tip of someone’s finger as the patient watched.

I am blessed to be a part of something so much bigger than  ourselves. I am with a group of people that love the Lord and are  demonstrating to the Locals that Somebody Cares. Please continue to pray for our health and strength. Pray that we find favor with  those in charge of food and water distribution. Pray for the many teams that are here and those that are on their way.

To have the heart of Jesus,
Lisa Stringer
Somebody Cares America/Int’l

P.S. It is now the evening of January 27th and the team was able to secure the needed food, water and other goods to help the pastors and those they represent.
www.SomebodyCaresHaiti.org <http://www.somebodycareshaiti.org/>
www.somebodycares.org <http://www.somebodycares.org/>

Here are some resources that might be helpful:

1.  Tomorrow, during our first chapel of the semester of the spring semester, we will have a time of focused prayer for Haiti.

2.  One of our own Belhaven folks has a close connection to Haiti.  Tabitha Martin works in our admissions office, and her husband works with The Fleury Foundation, whose mission is “to help the forgotten children of Haiti.”  You can look on their web site for more info or talk to Tabitha. They have an orphanage, health clinic, and school.

3.  Doug Stringer spoke in chapel last year, and has a wonderful ministry called Somebody Cares America.  They are about the best I know in responding QUICKLY to people in need during a time of crisis.

4.  Following any tragedy, especially one of this magnitude, many ask WHY.  This morning I received a very helpful reflection about “why Haiti” from a friend of Belhaven, Dr. Jerry Seale, who is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance of the Caribbean.  (His daughter graduated from Belhaven three years ago.)  He is close to Haiti and his perspective is helpful on many levels.

Haïti: Cursed or Blessed?

Every time a disaster happens anywhere in the world some within the Christian community tell us it’s the judgment of God being poured out on sinful people. It has become increasingly difficult for me to think in those terms.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the equation the entire creation was impacted. All creation fell and “groans and labours with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22). Since fallen humans live in a fallen creation we can expect disasters like the Haïti earthquake to happen from time to time. Hence the term “natural disasters” as they can be expected to occur quite naturally in a fallen world. If one subscribes to a pre-millennial interpretation of end-time prophecy, then an increase in such tragedies would be expected based on Matthew 24:7-8.

There are specific instances in the Old Testament where God used natural disasters to express His judgment on a nation or people. However, this was not the norm in ancient history. They too had their share of disasters occurring naturally in the context of a fallen world.

In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus clearly teaches that tragedy is not necessarily the consequence of greater sin for then none of us would escape. “To begin with, He made it clear that human tragedies are not always divine punishments and that it is wrong for us to ‘play God’ and pass judgment. Job’s friends made this same mistake when they said that Job’s afflictions were evidence that he was a sinner. If we take that approach to tragedy, then we will have a hard time explaining the sufferings of the Prophets and Apostles, and even of our Lord Himself.”1

So the earthquake in Haïti does not need to be placed in the context of a judgment from God.

But what of this supposed covenant with the devil made by the Haïtians to gain victory over the French in their war for freedom and independence? That all depends on how the historical facts are interpreted. I used to believe just such a covenant had been made but have come to understand that there are valid interpretations of the historical events that do not include demonic covenants.

There was undoubtedly a time of prayer led by the Jamaican, Boukman, in Bois-Caiman but it is difficult for me to take the available evidence and turn it into a demonic contract. Indeed, the oral traditions that preserved the prayer indicate that the prayer was addressed to God.2

The available evidence could be interpreted to have been a gathering of uneducated Roman Catholic – or even animist – slaves who sought, in the best way they knew, the help of God in obtaining their freedom and defeating the French, the British and then the Spanish.

In fact, “Practising Voodoo” was “strictly forbidden by Toussaint [L’Ouverture]. ”3 This satanic covenant idea is perhaps one of those statements that have taken on the aura of an urban legend.4

So why has Haïti seemed to languish in underdevelopment? Perhaps the reasons are less dramatic than satanic covenants. Here are three things that have had a strong negative impact on Haïti’s ability to develop alongside its Caribbean neighbours.

Firstly, when Haïti defeated the colonial powers of the time and succeeded in declaring freedom and independence, it posed a serious threat to the system of chattel slavery practiced throughout the colonies and depended on for the enrichment of the colonisers. “It is no exaggeration to say that Haïti’s revolution was the first major blow to colonialism by [blacks], and the first assertion of black rights in the Americas.”5

Many in the Caribbean believe that the Haïtian revolution’s success in 1804 had a direct impact on the British Parliament’s decision to abolish the slave trade in 1807.

Consequently, “Haïti was isolated at birth – ostracised and denied access to world trade, finance, and institutional development. It was the most vicious example of national strangulation recorded in modern history.”6

Secondly, France demanded and received reparations from the Haïtians – initially set at 150 million francs but later reduced – for all French property lost in the war of independence, including the value of the hundreds of thousands of slaves who were freed. It took until well into the twentieth century for Haïti to pay off this reparations debt, sometimes paying as much as 70% of the foreign exchange earned in any given year towards this debt.7

The value in today’s world of these reparations has been estimated to be billions of Euros. This national “debt” severely retarded Haïti’s ability to develop economically.

Thirdly, lack of adequate leadership has also been an ongoing difficulty facing Haïti. Leader after leader seems to have concentrated on acquiring a personal fortune rather than building the nation. Governmental corruption in Haïti has become legendary. Without proper leadership no country can
be built for “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”8

Given all of this, outlined here so briefly, there is no question in my mind that the heart of God aches over the devastation that has befallen Haïti as a result of the earthquake on January 12, 2010. It has been such an encouragement to hear persons in Haïti testifying in the news media to their confidence that it was God alone who saved them amidst the carnage. Surely God is “walking” the streets of Port-au-Prince.

Hearing the singing of hymns relayed by the television news channels night after night in the parks and on the streets of Port-au-Prince since the earthquake has reminded me that about one-third of the population of Haïti is said to be Evangelical Christians. Some of the largest Evangelical churches in the Caribbean are in Haïti, with single congregations numbering in the thousands of members.

Could it be that the earthquake in Haïti is nothing more than an egregious natural disaster? Is God willing to step into this calamity and give Haïti another chance to build a righteous nation? Does Haïti have a new opportunity to develop a transformed nation?

With the help of the world pouring into Haïti surely we can build new and effective governmental structures, better schools and hospitals, efficient electrical and telephone systems, proper roads, habitable housing for all, delivery systems for potable water and a system of roads that will facilitate economic development.

As I intercede for Haïti I have a sense of the Holy Spirit hovering over that troubled nation “as a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Luke 13:34). I urge Christians everywhere to intercede for Haïti in the months and years ahead that God would enable her to rise to take her place among the nations as an equal.

Let us pray that Haïti will move very quickly from disaster relief to national construction and that those who make the decisions will be endued with divine wisdom to make those decisions that will lead to a successful Caribbean nation replacing the almost failed state that Haïti had become. Pray also that the system of corruption that has seemed inherent in Haïti would have perished in the earthquake.

May God fill Haïti with His glory. May His anointing flow down the streets of every city, town and hamlet of that country. May His people there find the courage and strength to step out by faith and build a new nation to the honour and glory of God Almighty.

© January 2010 at Bridgetown, Barbados by Bishop Gerald “Gerry” Seale, DD, General Secretary and CEO, Evangelical Association of the Caribbean
Permission is granted to publish this article as long as proper attribution is given to the author.

1    Warren W. Wiersbe. 2001. The Bible Exposition Commentary, New Testament, Volume I. Colorado Springs, Victor, p.224

2    R. D. Heinl, Jr, and N. G. Heinl. 1978. Written in Blood – the story of the Haitian people, 1492-1971. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, p.43

3    C. L. R. James. 1989. The Black Jacobins. New York, Vintage Books, p.309

4    Michael Ireland. 2010. Urban Legend Expert Debunks Haitian ‘Pact with the Devil.‘ Assist News,
<http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2010/s10010104.htm> accessed January 18, 2010

5    John Marquis. 2007. Papa Doc: Portrait of a Haïtian Tyrant 1907-1971. Kingston, LMH Publishing Ltd, p.60

6    Professor Sir Hilary Beckles. 2010. “The Hate and the Quake.” Sunday Sun, January 17, 2010. Bridgetown, The
Nation Publishing Company Limited, p.9A

7    Ibid, p.24A 8    John C. Maxwell. 1993. Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers

Looking back a century, it is important to remember what an important year 1910 was for the Church.  That was the year barriers between denominations started to be lowered, and cooperative efforts began for global evangelism across denominational lines.

It was 100 years ago the historic 1910 Edinburgh Conference brought together 1,400 participants from around the world (although only 17 from the global south).  This historic meeting was the accelerator for the student missions movement, while also laying the groundwork for the establishment of the World Council of Churches

What has happened in the past century?

Rick Warren helps us look forward at the Church summarizing these shifts of the past century:

In 1900, 71% of all, ‘Christians’ lived in Europe; by ’00 it had declined to just 28% who claimed to be Christian. Far fewer go to church.

Conversely, in 1900, only 10% of all people in Africa (10 million) were Christians vs. over 50% (360 million) today. That is a complete turnaround on a continent that’s never, ever been seen or done in history.

I may surprise some when I say that there are by far more Christians in China than in America.

There are more Presbyterians in Ghana than in Scotland, where they were founded by John Knox.

There are more Baptists in the India state of Nagaland than in the American South.

There are more Anglicans in Kenya or Uganda or Rwanda or Nigeria than in England. There are 2 million Anglicans in England compared to 17 million in Nigeria.

Last Sunday, more Christians went to church in China than all of Europe combined. That is a fundamental shift.

As you turn the calendar to 2010, stop to celebrate God’s working in so many parts our world that seemed unreachable 100 years ago.  And pray the Lord will bring a reevangelization to those countries who once were the pace setters for Christians.

What will the Church look like 100 years from now?

But with the encouragement of our Board of Trustees (they even put it in my annual evaluation to make this a priority) this three year project is now in print and was released last week.  One of my great joys about the book is the opportunity to share the stories of how God has worked so marvelously at Belhaven through these years.

David C. Cook is the publisher.  They are working with B&B Media to help get out the word about the book, and I discovered last week that the daughter of the VP for B&B, Diane Morrow, is studying dance here at Belhaven – Amy Morrow.

With their guidance I started a round of radio interviews last week, and there are more on the schedule – Detroit, Charlotte, Des Moines, Cleveland, etc. – I’ll be sharing on the American Family Radio broadcast to several hundred stations tomorrow with Matt Friedman.

On Wednesday the 28^th at 4:30 central time, I’ll have the honor to talk about the ideas of the book on the national broadcast of Prime Time America, on Moody Radio .

I put in the campus mail today a signed copy of the book to each faculty and staff member because they make leadership easy for me at Belhaven. Thanks!!

But if you’re not on the team here at Belhaven and would like a copy, it is on all the major book websites now, and will be featured in Family Christian Stores and in LifeWay Christian Stores during the month of November.

Here is the quick link to Amazon where you can order, or share your reviews if you like (of course, if you don’t like it, just tell me instead of the whole world on Amazon!!)

Had some nice endorsements for the book including Ken Blanchard, Joni Erickson-Tada, Michael Lindsay, Ed Young, Steve Douglass, Duane Litfin, and Doug Birdsall.

There is a website for the book as well:  www.thelongview.info

Since you know me, you won’t be surprised that some concepts run against the norm of traditional leadership thinking, such as the chapter:  Planning Will Drain the Life from Your Ministry. This has been one of the hallmarks of distinction for Belhaven, and while our long-term faculty and staff lived through this dramatic shift, those who are newer may be interested to know the philosophy behind our not having a traditional long-range plan.

The core focus of the book is on pages 11 and 12, calling us to break free from the immediate results driven culture that has taken over business – and permeated the church as well.

Our theology and our ministry passion draw us to talk about longview outcomes as our heart’s desire, but we have been duped into fostering a generation of leaders, board members, employees, and constituencies who value short-term gain over longview significance. Ministry leaders believe it and act accordingly—hiring and rewarding people who can promote Band-Aid fixes as monumental solutions, creating plans that promise the moon and always come up short, raising funds from unrealistically compressed donor relationships, and touting to boards and constituencies those results that can most easily be measured and applauded.

Because this short-view corporate culture has so permeated the church today, we in ministry have loosened our grip on the biblical model for leadership. . . . The time is right for rising leaders to break free from the short-term leadership patterns of the past and set their sites on the horizon to ensure a life of leadership that will be honoring to God and bring us back to principles that will allow the church to make a transformational difference in the world.

We need to be leading for significance rather than giving into the pressure for short-term results.  This book not only calls us to this priority, but deals with the practical implications of leading for the longview.

I’d welcome your feedback and insights.  You can leave them here, or on www.thelongview.info blog.

.

A friend I’ve worked with in India sent me this email yesterday.  If you have a heart to help with the India flood and don’t know how to make a gift that can be used well, Sam is someone in whom you can give confidently.

Sam’s report of the flood is overwhelming – read below.

He gets more ministry out of very little money than about anyone I know (he is on such a tight budget he doesn’t even have a web site) so I’m sure he’ll be thankful for whatever you’d like to share.  His contact information is at the bottom of his email.

Dear Doctor Parrott:

Greetings to you in the name of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The worst flooding in 100 years has hit the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in India. Over 300 people have died and over 10 million others are homeless. Transportation and electric power was cut off. People are suffering without food, drinking water, clothes and shelter. These floods effected over 30,000 Christian families and also many of Gospel Outreach Ministries church buildings/ shelters for the orphans and elderly widows.

Hindus have cried out to their gods for help as they saw the flood waters rush by and wondered why their gods and goddesses did not help them. Some lost their small children while trying to cross to safer places. Unable to fight against the rushing waters, elderly people died. Loosing everything in the floods, some have committed suicide and died. Dead bodies of people and animals are submerged in contaminated waters.

Many of the people who have survived the floods are suffering from fever, swelling and other waterborne sicknesses. Most of the crops were destroyed so there is no income for the poor that work the fields for a living. Cobra snakes are swimming in the waters to seek refuge in the palm tree roofs and biting people. Prices of food have escalated as crops were destroyed under water.

Currently over 100 non-believers are receiving help and shelter at Gospel Outreach Ministries campus at Repalle, Andhra Pradesh.

Our evangelists and Bible ladies are reaching out to them and ministering to them. They are showing “The Life of Jesus” movie in Telugu language with generators.

At this critical time we earnestly request your prayers and financial help. We need extra funds to help the flood survivors with food, clean water, medicines, clothes, hygiene kits, blankets and a Bible.

Please pray for Gospel Outreach Ministries Evangelists and Bible Women who are risking their lives taking this opportunity to reach out and touch the flood survivors with the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ.

With Jesus’

Love,

Sam Paul Gokanakonda

Gospel Outreach Ministries International

8476 Old State Route 21

Hillsboro, MO 63050

Tel: 636 948 9836

gomint@aol.com

Some of his clever “rules for writers” included:

1. If any word is improper at the end of sentence, a linking verb is.
2. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
3. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. Proof read carefully to see if you words out.
5. Remember to never split an infinitive.
6. Do not put statements in the negative form.
7. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
8. The passive voice should never be used.
9. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
10. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
11. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
12. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

With a widespread pandemic possible, the experts agree that the best things you can do are simple:

1. Wash your hands and/or use sanitizer often

2. Cover your mouth when you cough.

3. Isolate those who catch this flu until at least 24 hours after the fever breaks.

They strongly recommend a flu shot when the vaccine is available. We have already ordered them for the college.

The local CBS news featured a seminar hosted by our biology department Friday night dealing with the virus. The seminar was: “H1N1 Influenza virus (swine flu): Present state, Prevention, Prognosis” presented by Dr. Paul Byers, Medical Director, Mississippi State Board of Health

The link to that video clip can be found here.

.

It is always interesting and sobering to read this list – and makes lots of us feel older than we wish we were.  Here is their introduction, and a portion of this year’s list:

If the entering college class of 2013 had been more alert back in 1991 when most of them were born, they would now be experiencing a severe case of déjà vu. The headlines that year railed about government interventions, bailouts, bad loans, unemployment and greater regulation of the finance industry. The Tonight Show changed hosts for the first time in decades, and the nation asked “was Iraq worth a war?”

• They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
• Dan Rostenkowski and Mike Tyson have always been felons.
• The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
• Salsa has always outsold ketchup.
• Rap music has always been mainstream.
• Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.
• The KGB has never officially existed.
• Babies have always had a Social Security Number.
• Bungee jumping has always been socially acceptable.
• The European Union has always existed.
• There has always been a Cartoon Network.
• They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
• Women have always outnumbered men in college.
• There have always been flat screen televisions.
• Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations.
• Someone has always been asking: “Was Iraq worth a war?”
• Most communities have always had a mega-church.
• There has always been a computer in the Oval Office.
• Avon has always been “calling” in a catalog.
• Official racial classifications in South Africa have always been outlawed.

Golf is HUGE in Korea.  I had the opportunity to play there this summer with my host, Dr. Billy Kim, president of Far East Broadcasting.  The course was demanding in the magnificent mountains about two hours outside of Seoul, the players were strong, and even the caddies were intimidating

I have never seen anything like these caddies. They managed five golfers and take care of everything for you – even bring green tea ice cream as in the picture below.  The carts run on a guidance system so they can move them forward remotely, and have communication systems to the group in front to assure you don’t need to wait to play the next hole.  It was quite a production.

 Seoul, with it’s 10 million people, doesn’t have much room for golf, so they build driving ranges throughout the city – often over parking lots.  A couple pictures from my trip are below:

Dear friends,

In a dramatic session before the revolutionary court yesterday (Sunday August 9) in Tehran, Maryam Rustampoor (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh (30) were told to recant their faith in Christ. Though great pressure was put on them, both women declared that they would not deny their faith. Maryam and Marzieh were originally arrested on March 5, 2009 and have suffered greatly while in prison, suffering ill health, solitary confinement and interrogations for many hours while blindfolded.

On Saturday August 8, Maryam and Marzieh were summoned to appear in court on Sunday August 9 in order to hear a verdict on their case.  The chief interrogator had recommended a verdict of ‘apostasy.’  However, when they arrived, no verdict was actually given.  Instead, the court session focussed on the deputy prosecutor, Mr Haddad, questioning Maryam and Marzieh about their faith and telling them that they had to recant in both verbal and written form. This made it clear that in the eyes of the court, Maryam and Marzieh’s only crime is that they have converted to Christianity.

Mr. Haddad, asked the two women if they were Christians. “We love Jesus,” they replied.  He repeated his question and they said, “Yes, we are Christians.”

Mr. Haddad then said, “You were Muslims and now you have become Christians.”

“We were born in Muslim families, but we were not Muslims,” was their reply.

Mr. Haddad’s questioning continued and he asked them if they regretted becoming Christians, to which they replied, “We have no regrets.”

Then he stated emphatically, “You should renounce your faith verbally and in written form.”  They stood firm and replied, “We will not deny our faith.”

During one tense moment in the questioning, Maryam and Marzieh made reference to their belief that God had convicted them through the Holy Spirit.  Mr. Haddad told them, “It is impossible for God to speak with humans.”

Marzieh asked him in return, “Are you questioning whether God is Almighty?”

Mr. Haddad then replied, “You are not worthy for God to speak to you.”

Marzieh said, “It is God, and not you, who determines if I am worthy.”

Mr. Haddad told the women to return to prison and think about the options they were given and come back to him when they are ready (to comply). Maryam and Marzieh said, “We have already done our thinking.”

At the end of the session, Mr. Haddad told them that a judge will give them his verdict, though it is not clear who will be the judge in their case now.  He also allowed Maryam and Marzieh to have a lawyer represent them in the case for the first time since their arrest.

Both women are back in Evin prison tonight.  During their five-month ordeal, both have been unwell and have lost much weight. Marzieh is in pain due to an on-going problem with her spine, as well as an infected tooth and intense headaches. She desperately needs medical attention. Two months ago the prison officials told her the prison had proper medical equipment and that they will attend to her, but so far no proper treatment has been given.

Despite the concentrated effort of officials to pressure them into recanting their faith, Maryam and Marzieh love Jesus and they are determined to stand firm to the very end no matter whatever happens.  They have demonstrated their love for Jesus and would offer their lives for Him if they were called to do so.  After today’s court session they said, “If we come out of prison we want to do so with honor.”

Maryam and Marzieh’s case is a clear and harsh violation of human rights and religious liberty by Iran’s authorities. They deserve the support of all those who respect human rights and to be released without charges so they can pursue a life of freedom.

Thank you for praying.
The Elam team