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.
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| (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.
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