Milot, de Haiti
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Milot, de Haiti |
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come”
“Arise, shine; for thy Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy Light, and Kings to the brightness of thy rising ” – Isaiah 60:1-3
In these verses, the prophet Isaiah announces
to us the great event that we would simply call “Christmas”. He describes the
coming of the Messiah and the effect He would have upon the world. A terrible
spiritual darkness enslaved the people of the earth, and the Light of His coming
would bring hope, freedom, salvation, and joy to the people. Today there is
no darker land nor greater need than
“The Work of the Gospel”
And now here is a brief report on what is being accomplished …
The Medical Team in November was a great blessing. We ministered to nearly 600 children and adults. There were 19 first time professions of faith. The names of these children were given to the pastor and principal in Milot. They will follow-up on these decisions. It was very encouraging when the principal of the school in Milot came to us asking for the names of these children even before we had the chance to give them to him. Read a personal testimony from the medical team elsewhere in this newsletter.
The Christmas Team is en route to
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We have about 8 buildings that need new roofs. One of our goals in 2008 is for roofing teams to come in and help us get these roofs installed. Perhaps you could recruit a team out of your church. If not you could help by joining with individuals from other churches. Let us know.
A
Again, our Christian schools remain the core of what we are doing. Everything else flows out of this work and the great host of relationships and activities this involves. Pray for our teachers and principals. We are thankful for their faithfulness. We want them to grow in their ownership of the missionary vision of GSM. One of Bill’s greatest desires is that we could pay them more. Pray for Bill & Sandy as they continue the daily work of maintaining and improving our 3 Christian schools: changing hearts - changing children - changing a nation – one child at a time.
“The Fruit of the Gospel”
We want to continue introducing you to some of your Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ. So here is our biographical sketch for this month. Meet …
Guy Etienne
One of the first things you need to know about
Guy (pronounced Gee) is that he is our fine and dedicated principal at
the school in Milot. But now you need to know the rest of the story … . Guy
was born in the fall of 1970. He was growing up as a happy little boy, but when
he was 5 he suffered a great tragedy. He went with his father into the garden
to gather food for the family. He waited below as his father climbed to the
top of a tree to gather breadfruit. First, breadfruit began to fall, then came
his father. He fell to the ground and died instantly. His mother could not support
all the children, so Guy was brought to the orphanage GSM was providing at the
time. Guy attended school with GSM for 11 years and then completed his education
in
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A Medical Team Testimony
I am Lamar Lyon. You may have come to know me as the
new “Director of Operations” for GSM. Or, it may seem easier to just say “administrator”.
And it is out of this capacity that I needed to familiarize myself first hand
with how a medical team carries out their work. So, I had the great opportunity
to go as a “gopher” or lay person with the November team. GSM has around
2000 children enrolled in our schools. And since the average Haitian has virtually
no access to medical care, GSM strives to meet the medical needs of these children.
It is as if we have our own practice. Our goal is to send 3 teams during the
school year. We keep a medical record, and do our best to keep our children
both spiritually and physically healthy.
This trip turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
And it all has to do with how God flowed through the lives of these medical
missionaries to touch the people’s lives with the love of God. The most beautiful
thing to me was watching these missionaries spend time with each child. The
goal of this team was not to see how many people we could run through the clinic
and then boast in great numbers. The goal was to touch people with the love
of God, and to spend as much time as each child needed in order to do that.
Our doctor and nurses each had an interpreter. Each took time with the children
to talk about their physical needs. But then they would go on to minister to
their spiritual needs as well. “Quality, not quantity” became our theme.
Lay people manned the “registration table” and the “vitals station”, and were
the first to relate to the children, offering warm smiles, greetings, gestures,
and even a bubble machine for the little ones. Then after the nurses and doctors,
people would finish up with final instructions and warm farewells at the “pharmacy”.
And then there were the “house calls”. There were some elderly people that could not get to the clinic, so we went to them. Again, to see the love of God come from so far away to reach into these homes and touch these people was a grand moment.
continued …
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And then there was the evangelistic ministry of Ron Smith.
He is on the GSM Board of Directors and is known in
In all we ministered individually to 571 children during the week. I know they have experienced the love of God, for they were touched by His love, through this wonderful team.
In the hope of God’s love and salvation,
Lamar Lyon
So until next time, from all the folks at GSM, Merry Christmas, and thank you for your continued prayer and support …
In Christ’s service,
&
Bill &
missionaries administrator
correspondence and gifts to …
Good Shepherd Ministries, Inc.
321-752-0072 334-365-5219 334-301-0184
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