Grief can come from a lot of places. When we lose a job, a marriage, or a prized possession we can be filled with grief. However, for most of us, we tie the most extreme forms of grief with one word: "Death." When we lose someone that we love, we naturally grieve.
As many of you know, the past 3 years in Haiti has been full of social and political unrest and general upheaval culminating in President Jovenel's assassination on July 7 of this year. This has had huge implications on the education system in Haiti both in the level of education kids have received and the number of days schools have actually been open and All Things New has not been exempt from theses struggles.
Resiliency is one of those words that, while it is a positive descriptive word for a person, it is an adjective gained through difficult circumstances. If you have ever heard someone say, "Don't pray for patience because GOD just might give it to you" then you know what I am talking about. There are some words that we believe to be positive, but we really want them to be used to describe other people.
The truth is that the past few years have been really difficult. They have been difficult on our kids, on our employees, on our organization, and on our family as well. With all of the uncertainty in Haiti, the danger in Haiti, the difficulty of fundraising during Covid, and not being able to be physically present as much as we would like things are hard. The kids needed this and they had a lot of fun.
What people who are grieving need is your presence so that they know someone cares. No matter how uncomfortable or how useless you feel, your presence is needed. When people are hurting and grieving, Jesus is there. He allows them to yell, to cry, to get angry, or any other emotion they want and He never leaves them. He comforts by being there...That is how we should comfort as well.
Here is the potential good news. Henry has stated that he will form a "Unity Government" in the short term that would lead to elections in September for Senators, Deputies, and a new President. New leadership for the nation may be exactly what is needed to bring back some semblance of security and normalcy.
There is a lot to pray for in Haiti, but there is also a lot to praise GOD for at All Things New. Please join in me in doing both. We will update you soon with what we know about the assassination and what it will mean for the country, but for now there are just too many unknowns.
Pray for our kids. Imagine seeing your country in shambles and finding out your President had been killed inside his own home. The uncertainty they were already feeling multiplied by a sense of insecurity and anarchy that they should not have to think about. Pray for our employees as well.
A culture marked by humility does just the opposite. It puts other people above ourselves while still calling out sin. It exalts Jesus as the Name above every name. It loves those who are different and those who are the same. It sees everyone as an image-bearer of GOD, and no matter their beliefs, orientation, or political affiliation it treats them as such.
She did what she had to do, but she should not have had to do that as a 14 and 15 year old girl. She did, however, grow up during that time and she is one of the more mature kids at All Things New. She loves church, is devoted to Bible Study and prayer, and she is fiercely loyal. It may take her a minute to open up and to care about you, but when she does, she is all in.
If you know Jesus and you are not involved in a local congregation then I can say with full confidence that this is one area of your life that you should change.
Grief can come from a lot of places. When we lose a job, a marriage, or a prized possession we can be filled with grief. However, for most of us, we tie the most extreme forms of grief with one word: "Death." When we lose someone that we love, we naturally grieve.
As many of you know, the past 3 years in Haiti has been full of social and political unrest and general upheaval culminating in President Jovenel's assassination on July 7 of this year. This has had huge implications on the education system in Haiti both in the level of education kids have received and the number of days schools have actually been open and All Things New has not been exempt from theses struggles.
Resiliency is one of those words that, while it is a positive descriptive word for a person, it is an adjective gained through difficult circumstances. If you have ever heard someone say, "Don't pray for patience because GOD just might give it to you" then you know what I am talking about. There are some words that we believe to be positive, but we really want them to be used to describe other people.
The truth is that the past few years have been really difficult. They have been difficult on our kids, on our employees, on our organization, and on our family as well. With all of the uncertainty in Haiti, the danger in Haiti, the difficulty of fundraising during Covid, and not being able to be physically present as much as we would like things are hard. The kids needed this and they had a lot of fun.
What people who are grieving need is your presence so that they know someone cares. No matter how uncomfortable or how useless you feel, your presence is needed. When people are hurting and grieving, Jesus is there. He allows them to yell, to cry, to get angry, or any other emotion they want and He never leaves them. He comforts by being there...That is how we should comfort as well.
Here is the potential good news. Henry has stated that he will form a "Unity Government" in the short term that would lead to elections in September for Senators, Deputies, and a new President. New leadership for the nation may be exactly what is needed to bring back some semblance of security and normalcy.
There is a lot to pray for in Haiti, but there is also a lot to praise GOD for at All Things New. Please join in me in doing both. We will update you soon with what we know about the assassination and what it will mean for the country, but for now there are just too many unknowns.
Pray for our kids. Imagine seeing your country in shambles and finding out your President had been killed inside his own home. The uncertainty they were already feeling multiplied by a sense of insecurity and anarchy that they should not have to think about. Pray for our employees as well.
A culture marked by humility does just the opposite. It puts other people above ourselves while still calling out sin. It exalts Jesus as the Name above every name. It loves those who are different and those who are the same. It sees everyone as an image-bearer of GOD, and no matter their beliefs, orientation, or political affiliation it treats them as such.
She did what she had to do, but she should not have had to do that as a 14 and 15 year old girl. She did, however, grow up during that time and she is one of the more mature kids at All Things New. She loves church, is devoted to Bible Study and prayer, and she is fiercely loyal. It may take her a minute to open up and to care about you, but when she does, she is all in.
We are hoping that this idea will help our kids and even be reproducible for other areas and ministries in Haiti.
If you know Jesus and you are not involved in a local congregation then I can say with full confidence that this is one area of your life that you should change.
