Another story

Shane and I spend a lot of time in prayer. People come to us asking for things daily. They assume that because we are white and American we have resources that they do not have. The tricky part of that is its true, we do have resources that they don't have. While we are missionaries and do not have an income, if an emergency arrived, we could ask our friends and family for money. We would probably be able to meet our needs. This is a heavy burden to bare; when do you help and when do you say you can do nothing? When do you believe the story that they are telling you and when can you know its a scam? So, I come back to, Shane and I spend A LOT of time in prayer. 

Psalms 119:124-125

"I am your sevant; deal with me in unfailing love, 

and teach me your decrees. 

Give discernment to me, your servant;

then I will understand your laws."

We so desperatly want God to teach us to be more like Jesus, to have the discernment to hear His voice. The amazing thing is that the more time we spend reading the Bible (the way God talks to us) and praying (the way we talk to God) the clearer we can hear God's leading. 

Grace Church

Our church has children's church from 8:30-9:30 and then the children stay for the adult church from 10-12. I don't know if you remember my other blog, but often the children come to church before they eat. They then sit through 3 1/2 hours of church and try to focus. Hunger usually makes the older ones quietly fall asleep and the younger ones cry and fuss or begin picking on the other children. 

We felt a real urging to do something about this issue. I connected with the lead usher and found that we could buy 10 little packages of Haitian type saltines for about $1.10. They aren't anything special as our lead usher told me, "They don't have creme (like a cookie) so the children won't eat them just to eat them." So we began to purchase these little snacks. We end up going through about 300-400 packages a month. 

I don't tell you this for personal affirmation. It is an absolute pleasure for us to have God use us and the resources that he continually supplies for us. There is joy watching our ushers hand out the food to the children that are so obviously hungry. There is joy in watching the children able to learn about Jesus because they aren't distracted by hunger. There is joy in knowing that the children are seeing Haitians helping Haitians. 

Some prayer requests: 

-Pray for unity within the organiztion of Healing Haiti and those of us working together at Grace

-Pray for rain in Titanyen...this is one of the driest seasons they have had and it is beginning to affect their food

-Pray for continued wisdom and discernment for the management staff

Imsland specific prayers:

-Pray for parenting patience

-Pray for my children's continued transition (especially for Austin)

-Pray that our marriage is protected and stays strong

-Pray that we get better at balancing our work/home life (they kind of reside in the same place)

Thank you everyone for supporting us by reading our blogs, praying with and for us, and for your financial support. We are so incredibly grateful.