When helping hurts

This summer I have been reading a lot of books to prepare for Haiti.  One in particular I thought I would share my thoughts on with you. I have heard a lot of great things about When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert and have been told many times I should read it. So I found a copy and want to share with you today what I have learned.

I found the theme of this book to be poverty alleviation. I really like the definitios they give . First, looking as poverty being more than material poor they say, poverty alleviation is the ministery of reconciliation: moving people closer to glorifying God by living in right relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation. 

They also give a definition of material poor alleviation as working to reconcile the four foundational relationships so that people can fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their familes with the fruit of that work.

There are three steps to this process: relief, rehabilitation, and development.  No one can do all three. The point is to find out what you do best and what the people you are trying to help need. I wanted to be a part of the relief effort in Haiti, but it is too late for that now. They need to be moving into the rehabilitation and development stages. In these stages they don't necessarily need my money to build up their community. It is now about working on building that third relationship, with others, working together and helping each other.
After reading this book I have formed some goals for my time in Haiti:

• To build realationships with the kids I will be living with
• To teach the youth at the church about God
• To build relationships with the women I interact with on a daily basis 
• To be seen positively in the community

P.S. I am 52% funded, if you would like to give you can here

P.P.S. I have a friend who is planning on going to Egypt for nine months to minister to the Muslim community but with everything going on there right now he doesn't know if that trip will still be able to happen. Please pray that God will lead him to where He wants work done.

Pre-Field Orientation

Last week I went to the NMSI office and campus in Florida. Twenty interns came as well for pre-field training. They are spending June and July in several different countries around the world. Everyone is going with a team except for me.

When I arrived in the airport Derek and Ashley were there to pick me up. I joined the group of girls going to Cambodia for our first task. We were driven to different parks and asked to complete different tasks. Like communicating with a woman speaking a different language, finding our way to a skate  park, speaking at a church, and eating an international meal. Afterward we talked about our experiences and the part that impacted me the most was being asked to speak at the church and having no time to prepare. We were each asked to share our favorite verse and sing some songs. Then the ladies and gentlemen in the audience asked us questions like, "What is that book you are reading out of?" "What is sin?" and "Why are you singing about blood?" It was good practice to be put on the spot to think about how to explain something so common to us but never heard of to them.

After dinner we were shown our rooms and I shared mine with girls from the Kenya team. Every night we had different worship leaders from area churches lead the praise and a staff member give the teaching.

During the week we had sessions over different subjects to prepare us for the field. Different staff members shared about expectations, partnership with the people we are going to serve with, what it looks like to surrender to God and His plans, how dependency should turn into sustainability, how a true follower lifts up their leader, how to deal with conflict within the team and with the locals, what is looks like to make the gospel relatable to the people we are trying to share it with, and writing our purpose statement for why we want to go and what we want to do. Usually after a session we would break off and talk about what we learned. For these times I was with the Myanmar team.

In between sessions we would play games or do team building activities. One day each team sat at their own tables (I was with Cambodia) and was handed an envelope. In each envelope were several shapes that would make a square. We were told we could not talk or gesture. We could only pass our pieces to someone else. The hardest part was not gesturing. Each of us could see what we thought needed to be done next but until the person who the piece was in front of realized how it would work there was nothing we could do. It was a really good exercise, there was one point when I thought I knew what pieces needed to be moved but it ended up different ones needed to be moved. If I was allowed to talk or move the pieces myself the squares would not have been made.

While the teams split up and learned more specifically what they would be doing this summer I met with Jim the Regional Director. He showed me some pictures of the school I will be working at. It is an elementary school. He shared some of his goals for me; that I would build relationships with the people because the Haitian culture is very relational and that I would share at youth group at the church. Seeing pictures and hearing more plans I am so much more excited for all the work God is going to do. Jim would like me to leave the first week of August.

Near the end of the week we learned how to write our purpose statement for this trip. The teams broke up and brainstormed what their purpose statement would be. This time I was by myself thinking about why God wants me in Haiti now. My purpose in going to Haiti is to learn the language and culture. To show love and share what it means to be a follower of Christ. So that the men will love their families, the women will know they are worthy, and the youth will rise up and proclaim the name of Jesus to other Haitians.

I am 18% funded for this trip. I have two months to raise the rest of my support. If you would like to give online you can go to my page on the NMSI website. 

If you would like to receive emails or newsletters from me when I am on the field please leave that address in the comment section or email me.

If you would like to talk about my plans or have me come and speak to your church or small group please let me know and I would be happy to.

Q & A

Some questions you might be interested in learning the answers to…

When will you be in Haiti?

Since I will be helping mostly at the school they would like me there before the school year starts, so the end of August sometime. I am looking at a 3 -6 month apprenticeship. It is stated that way, in case I decide to stop at 3 months or want to continue it as long as six months.

What language do they speak in Haiti?

The two official languages are French and Creole. The pastor I will be working with knows English and the woman I will be living with knows some English. A couple hours each week I will hopefully be taught Creole. The youth at the church are excited to learn English from me as well.

Will you have electricity/running water/internet?

I will have electricity and running water. I won’t have internet in the house I will be living in but I will have access to it during my stay. So I will be able to send updates and talk with people back home! Please don’t try to mail anything. Going through the Haiti mail system your package will probably not reach me.

Who is New Mission Systems International?

A Christian mission sending agency http://www.nmsi.org/who_we_are/about_nmsi/

Are you scared/nervous/excited?

Yes. All of the above and more. I am scared because of the uncertainty but I am at peace with the direction I am headed because I have hope. Timothy Keller defines biblical hope as life-shaping joyous certainty that your future is the eternal love and glory of God in a new heaven and a new earth.  

How much money do you need to raise and what will it be spent on?

Apartment $100/mo

Food $300/mo

Drinking water $25/mo

Transpotation $30/mo

Laundry $30/mo

Spending money (whatever you'd like here, $200 USD of you can)

Medical Insurance (already covered with the provider I have now!)

Internet $30/mo

NMSI Pre Field Orientation $220 (at the end of May in Fort Myers, FL)

NMSI team share (NMSI collects 10% of your total budget for NMSI administrative frees.)

Airfare

That comes to around $6,000 for six months

What my parents are thinking...

          I asked my parents to share some of their thoughts about me going to Haiti. I thought it would be good for you to read about how they are feeling. The first one is from by dad and the second is from my mom.

           How do I feel about my oldest daughter going to Haiti? How would any parent feel about one of their children serving and helping other people? I.E. a teacher, military, nurse, counselor; so many people help others. I am very proud.
           Could I have ever guessed she was going to go to Haiti when she was 5 years old? No. But I am thankful my daughters have bigger dreams than I did. My wife and I have told our girls; whatever you do in life for a vocation you better enjoy it. You will be doing it for a long time.
            Am I afraid of her safety going out of the states? Sure I am. But if God created the earth and everything in it, which I believe He did, then He is more capable of taking care of her than I am. Some people would be afraid to minister in Kansas City let alone another country. 
           Am I worried? A little. Not knowing is always kind of scary. Like what will happen when we get married or change jobs or have children or have surgery?
            God has prepared my wife and me by taking baby steps. Megan went away to college – scary. She went to be a camp counselor in Chicago – scary. She went to Europe – scary. She went to Haiti, then to Mexico, Haiti, Philadelphia, Haiti, Haiti, and Amsterdam. She always came back home safe. I thank God He has taken us through by using baby steps. I am very proud of Megan and respect her for her decisions.

-Dale

             How do I say Goodbye to a piece of my heart? By releasing my child into God’s hands. When Megan goes into the Word of God on a daily basis, it isn’t because she has to but because she wants to. She wants to know God’s heart. I know that if Megan says that Haiti is where God wants her to go then that is where she should go. God has given Megan a heart for the Haitian people. I admire Megan so much for stepping out of her comfort zone and going where God wants her to go.

“For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing.” Isaiah 55:12

Along with that verse God gave me the knowledge and assurance that after the initial pain of releasing my child there comes joy and peace, for both of us. Because we know that no matter what stages of life our children are in, when we release them to God they are in good hands.

-Debbie
 

Email from Regional Director

This is part of an email I recieved from Jim, the NMSI Americas and Caribbean Regioanl Director, giving me more specifics about my upcoming apprenticeship to Haiti.

"Your aprenticeship is set to be 3-6 months in the capital of Haiti, Port of Prince, (PAP), working with our NMSI affiliate couple Martin and Jacquemise Etienne who have a church, school and orphanage. They have several children of their own. You would be living with the Director of their school (Carline) and have your own room. She lives nearby the church building and you would be going to the school each day and returning with her. At school each day you would be an assistant to the teachers and interact with children and help even if you don't speak their language, you will be a big help!

On the church youth nights and events you will be interacting with them and if you are willing you could help them learn basic English phrases. They will probably want to teach you phrases and words too in Creole. I understand from Martin, the pastor, most all Haitian youth desire to speak more or better English, so it should be a fun time.

Carline and Pastor Martin are also going to work out a plan for you to learn Creole a few hours a week. This should help to be a good, authentic way to learn about the language and speak some. If you decide to become a full time missionary to Haiti in the future you can go to formal school to go further.

On Sundays after the main Port auPrince church services, pastor Martin and his family travel to a small village where they have a second smaller church and a new orphanage with about 25 children of different ages. I believe they stay the night there and return to PAP on Monday. You will be able to see this village and how it differs from PAP life and interact with church members and the children at the orphanage." -Jim

Please be praying as I Skype with him this Wednesday as we go over things and ask questions.

To help fund my travels you can donate online at www.nmsi.org/donate and click on the D for David, Megan. I will be getting more specifics on the amount I need to raise this week.

Or you can send in donations to:

New Mission Systems International

2701 CLEVELAND AVE SUITE 200,

FORT MYERS, FL 33901

Please remember to put my name in the memo.

NMSI honors preference of gifts solicited and, in accordance with IRS regulations, retains discretion and control over their use.

What now?

               Last semester during vision week you may remember me mentioning that we went through Storyline by Donald Miller. The first step in understanding your story is knowing your theme. To figure out your theme you look at the major events in your life and the one thing that they have in common. My theme is, to have faith in the next step because God knows I am not yet prepared for the step after that.  

                The next step for me is to take an apprenticeship with New Mission Systems International (NMSI). I will be living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti for 3-6 months. Apprenticeship means that I will have the opportunity to do many things to see what I like, what I’m good at, and where they need me.

                I’ve been asking many questions to help myself process through the next step. Usually someone in my stage of life would be asking questions like: When do I get to find the right guy and get married? How many kids will we have? What good paying job can I get to always have a steady income so my family and I are always happy? What is God’s plan for my life? Those aren’t bad questions but I’ve started asking a different set of questions: How do I advance the kingdom of God? Where do I need to share God’s love? And more specifically, why am I leaving? And why Haiti?

Two quotes, both by Mike Yaconelli, that have been helpful as I thought over these questions have been:

“Once we understand how unnecessary we are, only then might we find the right reasons to say yes.”

“We don’t need to know the will of God; we only need to know God, which is, strangely enough, His will.”

                Some answers I have come to are; because I love Haitians and I love the creation of Haiti, I want to learn where I best fit in serving in another country, I want to have to trust God, I want to show them someone is listening, and eventually I want to be a part of bringing housing to those in need.  

                As an apprentice I need to raise the money for my time abroad. I do not have exact numbers yet but the estimate is less than $1,000 a month. If I am there for the maximum of six months then I need to raise $6,000. This will be a little different than my internship now. I will need to be fully funded before I can go to Haiti. This amount pays for my travel to and around Haiti, food, and lodging. I will be staying with a missionary and his family across the street from the church they run. I will primarily be working at their church alongside them. A question I would ask you to consider is, do you believe in what I am doing?

You can donate online at www.nmsi.org/donate and click on the D for David, Megan.

Or you can send in donations to:

New Mission Systems International

2701 CLEVELAND AVE SUITE 200,

FORT MYERS, FL 33901

Please remember to put my name in the memo.

 NMSI honors preference of gifts solicited and, in accordance with IRS regulations, retains discretion and control over their use.

"Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love."

            

This year for Spring Break we went back to the Smoky Mountains. It was a great time for the students who had gone before as well as the many more that came for the first time. It was a little chillier this year but we still hiked and a group still went white water rafting. I went with a group who started to hike the Appalachian Trail but about a half mile in there was too much ice in the path to keep going. We ended up finding another trail that led to a river we sat and enjoyed our lunch next to.

              On Sunday we went to Crossing in Knoxville for church. One of the pastors there, Caleb, came to teach us every night. The main theme was “Along the way”.  The main quote for the series was from St. John of the Cross "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love." It was a really good reminder of wherever you are you should be making disciples and through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to live this way.  It is God who builds God’s kingdom. It needs to be God working through us, not us doing it for Him.
                Caleb taught us some history that we can apply to our lives today. In the 7^th century monks in Europe started a movement to spread God’s Word. First the monk would spend time in a cell; a small, circular hut with a thatched roof.

They would meditate on God. Then they would build a coracle; a round, rudderless two-man wicker boat. The monks would walk down to the river and ask God to send them wherever He desired. Wherever they landed, the monks spread the Word. We need a place of rest and a place of mission. The cell comes first and then the coracle. I learned that I have to spend time first with God before doing things.