WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN

A hearty "Thank you" and "God bless you" to folks who have already responded to our need for a healthier support account with both new and increased support!  We are overwhelmed by so much love and care expressed for our family already and so much sacrifice on behalf of our ministry in Haiti.  My goodness, it is humbling. (If you missed it, see my previous post about our need and the easiest way to contribute financially, if you would like.)

And it's certainly encouraging to make progress toward our goal. And even though "we've only just begun", the generosity we've already been shown pushes us to keep on reaching for that goal.

Speaking of "We've only just begun", that was the song playing in the van last night as our friends Bill and Jodee and our whole family came back from a day trip to Lake Okoboji.  The song was fitting for the day because yesterday marked the 15th wedding anniversary for Melissa and me. 

What an incredible day for the whole family, courtesy of Bill and Jodee and Bill's brother, Tim, and his wife, Betty, who have a home and a boat on the lake.

We began with a tour around the United Methodist Camp at Okoboji - a place I had summertime employment YEARS ago.  A lot has changed, but it was so good to be on the grounds again and to share some memories with my family.



We had a picnic lunch down by the camp's swimming beach.



Then we headed to Tim and Betty's house and before long we were scooting around the lake on wave-runners - a brand new experience for our kids.

They LOVED it.

The three oldest kids eventually got a chance to drive the wave-runners for themselves, which was quite exhilarating for them ... and a tad bit terrifying for me.


The brothers together on the boat!



In the evening, we made our way to Arnold's Park, along the western edge of the lake, for dinner and dessert. Bill and Jodee had gotten us a cake for our anniversary.



The ladies on the boardwalk!



And the boys...



We also enjoyed a brief visit with Bill and Jodee's newly married daughter, Jonalee, over dinner but unfortunately I didn't think to get a picture!

The park as we headed for home...



The whole family on the boat.



And what a sunset we had to enjoy on our way back to Tim and Betty's house!



Melissa and I got to ride on the back of the boat and enjoy each other and the sunset together. (Photo courtesy of Caleb. He's very proud of it!)

Later, in the van on the way home, Samuel said of Tim, "In just one day he ended up feeling like a grandpa to me"!



At the end of the day, we needed one more photo - displaying the new t-shirts Tim had bought for the entire family (on the off chance that we might forget our time at Okoboji!). 



This sign is hanging in their house. Certainly true for us!



A great big THANK YOU to Bill and Jodee and Tim and Betty for a marvelous day. Melissa and I will not soon forget this anniversary! 

Time flies, and 15 is a respectable number of years, BUT I definitely feel, especially with our new life in Haiti, that Melissa and I have only just BEGUN. Can't tell you how much I thank the Lord for bringing us together like He did and for all the special people He has brought into our lives along the way - including YOU!

Tomorrow we head east to Grundy Center, Iowa, to meet up with dear friends Phil and Connie.  We'll be speaking at their church on Sunday. God is good all the time!

AN UNCOMFORTABLE URGENCY

Can I be upfront with you?  Melissa and I have had a wonderful/horrible week. I don't mean to be a Negative Nelly, but I have to write about the horrible side because it's crushing my heart at the moment. 

Something we've been fearing for a year (or so) happened yesterday.

We met with some folks at OMS headquarters yesterday and were told that we cannot assume we will be returning to Haiti in August.  Although many people are supporting us financially - some through occasional large gifts and others through regular monthly giving - over the last few months our support account has started to run at a deficit. So with two successful years on the field under our belts now and an urgent need for us to be in place for the start of the new school year in September, HR simply will not sign off on our return to Cowman School (and our house and our Haitian friends) until our account is in a healthier state. 

That leaves us a few weeks to show OMS a marked increase in support.  We certainly feel a great urgency, but not a desperation.  We know God can provide.

We also know God doesn't usually supply for needs like ours by blowing a winning lottery ticket through an open window, but rather through His people, and right now we cannot foresee the details of what His work in this case will look like or what His timetable is.

Yesterday, just before heading to OMS headquarters, Melissa and I walked through the basement storage area of a local grade school.  The teachers there call it "The Dungeon" because it's a dark, damp place. A place where unwanted equipment goes to languish and die.  

It's the excess stuff - items no longer needed or wanted in the dozens of classrooms above The Dungeon: chairs, desks, TVs, DVD players, computers, overhead projectors, bookshelves, carts, and dry erase boards.  

(This is maybe 1/4th of the space and the stuff.)

Some items are destined to be recycled, some auctioned, and many, I suppose, will continue to just sit in the dungeon. Collecting dust. Rusting.

Melissa and I just walked around it all with our jaws hanging.  

I was NOT coveting. I was aching. 

All that abundance. Enough stuff to handsomely supply Cowman School ... and another ten Haitian schools to boot. Physical solutions to hundreds of problems and shortfalls. But as I look around, I am fully aware of the reality: these items do not belong to me and I have no claim to any of it. And even if I could lay my hands on it, neither I nor Cowman have the budget to move ANY of this stuff a thousand miles south of here anyway. 

At one point, Melissa and I explored a small hill of unopened boxes, filled with thousands of three ring binders. Binders I have often wanted in Haiti and can find nowhere. And, honest to goodness, I am looking at this picture right now and tears are welling up in my eyes. 

I am so frustrated.  All this abundance and it's serving no grand purpose. 

It's collecting dust. Rusting. Passing time.

Fortunately, we've got a friend on the inside who is going to ask on our behalf if we might be able to have a few things from the dungeon. (We'll cross the transportation bridge when/if we come to it!) She's asking on our behalf like we're asking on behalf of Haitian friends. 

And I'm asking Jesus to put my family's burden on the hearts of some people - friends, family members, strangers - who aren't already supporting us.  And I'm not asking on our behalf - I'm really asking on behalf of some dear Haitian friends.  

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If the Lord is moving you to give, any funds given through HERE on our page at the One Mission Society website will show up pretty immediately on the screens at Headquarters.

HOUSE UPDATE

Thank you to all who have been praying (for months!) over our house situation. I write today to say, "Please keep praying!" 



For those who don't know, Melissa and I bought this house in Columbus, Indiana about ten years ago, thinking we were going to be staying put there a good long time.  That was just before the American housing market bottomed out and a few years before the Lord called us to serve in Haiti!

So when we got serious about going to Haiti, we moved out of the house and started renting it out while we lived at my mother-in-law's place.  We would have liked to sell the thing then and there, but by that time the market was terrible and we were upside down.  Still, hoping for a miracle, we had an open house at the time and had ZERO visitors. So renting became the only viable option. (Arson is illegal, you know.) 

Four years and five sets of renters later, our experience as landlords has been largely composed of frustrations, headaches and financial hits. Squatters, mysterious carpet stains, cigarette burns and smoke smells, and general property damage. We've had to lean on friends and family members way too often - especially Melissa's mom. And even with the help of a good property manager over the course of this last year, landlording has involved too much long-distance communication to keep everything functioning.



So this time we're hoping to sell it and be done.  We think the market MIGHT allow for a tiny profit even. We had an open house yesterday and had five or six more couples come through than four years ago.  Some lingered for quite a while and gave the place a good inspection. And that certainly made us hopeful.

We appreciate continued prayers! There's another open house on the calendar for next Sunday, even though we'll be out of town. 

Beyond praying for it to sell quickly (and at a good price), when the Lord brings us to mind, would you mind praying also for some other aspects of this house situation?



First, I've had a lot of thinking time while painting and weeding in this place (and there's more yet to do). This yard and house have the ability to move me - sometimes moment by moment - from bad mood to nostalgia and back again.  (Mostly bad mood, though.) Working here has been an emotional roller coaster. The memories associated with each room can be a blessing AND a bit of a curse. I want to have a good attitude - one that springs from a firm confidence in God's timing and provision, with no regrets concerning the life we left behind.

Also, with all the time Melissa and I (and sometimes the kids) have spent at the house since we returned to Indiana, it often feels like a two-story distraction from what we really need to be focused on: catching up with friends and family, of course, but ALSO shoring up our funding so that we can continue to serve in Haiti! I am not good at multi-tasking and the house is very demanding - every time we finish a repair, we look up to see two more we hadn't yet noticed. The garage doors are still out of whack, the hardwood floors need attention and there's still a big hole in the back yard where the pool used to be. (Ideally, we would find a buyer who wants a yard with a circular weedbed!)

Thus, looming ominously in the background behind each wall and bush and garage door is the specter of being underfunded - and with it, the real possibility of a cut in "salary" (which would be a stretch even in a time when we are not supporting a mortgage at home) or even a delay in getting back to Haiti.  

More than ever, we are sold on the value of the work God has set our hands to in Cap Haitien. We've had so much support along the way and many folks are giving regularly and sacrificially.  And, honestly, that reality is never far from our consciousness. 

I joke that I realize now that I should have made my fortune BEFORE becoming a missionary, but honestly, if we could be independent and self-sufficient (like good Americans SHOULD be!), then an untold number of great relationships, blessings, and prayers would be missing from our lives. AND the plight of Haiti would be a little more invisible here in the U.S. (it's thin enough as is). AND an avenue for our brothers and sisters in the States to actively care for the "least of these" would be closed. (I know it's one of many such avenues, but it is one that touches the lives of real people, people who have grown very dear to us - and even to many of you who read these words.)

So back to prayer: Could you please pray that we would follow God's leading day by day and contact by contact? That we would be bold in our witness to God's work in Haiti? That hearts would be moved and more folks would join our support team?

We still have several weeks left in the States - mostly in Indiana, but also a trip to Iowa and a short jaunt into Michigan - so if in the course of your prayers, God brings to your mind the names of individuals or groups who might be open to sitting down with us to discuss the ministry in Haiti, please let us know!

To ALL who have supported us in all sorts of material and spiritual ways, we say, "We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

If you would consider joining our support team, please drop me a note at sgross@onemissionsociety.org.  Or simply go to our page at the Official OMS Website and follow the prompts there.

Mèsi anpil!

Painting the deck is a big job, but it's finally done.

Melissa's aunt and uncle helped us replace the stained carpet just inside the front door - that old carpet made a terrible first impression!

Reading break.

Lunch break.