My son Daniel wrote the following note for me to take and read on my trip to Haiti. Well….I guess it got lost in my bag because I just discovered it. I thought it was worth sharing…nothing profound, just awfully cute.
Written:
“wons apon atime ther was a dad and a mom. That day the mom hade a booy his name wos Daniel. Latr win Daniel wos omost 2 mom had carolne thin thae adopted Abigail. Ladron mom had Lily and thae livd haap evr aft.”
Translated:
Once upon a time there was a dad and a mom. That day the mom had a boy, his name was Daniel. Later when Daniel was almost 2 mom had Caroline and then they adopted Abigail. Later on mom had Lilly and they lived happily ever after.
Our little Abigail turned four years old this past Sunday. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing up…it seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home from China – just 16 months old at the time. It’s amazing to see how she has blossomed into the most amazing little girl. Abigail has a great personality – she’s funny, outgoing & loves red dresses, pink cereal bowls & Tinkerbell.
So….seeing that I’m late in posting this up I’ve decided to go into media overload by including some audio, some video & some pictures!
I asked her some questions on her birthday. I’ll let you listen to our conversation:
Here is the happy birthday video.
Here four pictures from Abigail’s last four birthdays:
Abigail's 1st Birthday
Abigail's 2nd Birthday
Abigail's 3rd Birthday
Abigail's 4th Birthday
And here are some pictures of our big four year old girl – both on her birthday morning & at her party the next day.
One of the great things about living in Texas is that, more often than not, the warm weather will start rolling in during the month of February. While much of the country has snow on the ground & temperatures at or below freezing we’ve been hitting the 60’s. Nothing like some warm sunshine to get you out of the house with the kiddos. We’ve kicked off spring soccer – Daniel & Caroline are playing this season. Daniel’s first game was last week & Caroline’s first game was today.
I just started reading Richard Stearns’ book entitled The Hole in our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World. Stearns is the President of World Vision. I’ve heard a lot of people reference this book lately so I figured it might be good to check it out. Here’s a paragraph in the first chapter that seems to lay out where he’s headed.
Proclaiming the whole gospel…means much more than evangelism in the hopes that people will hear and respond to the good news of salvation by faith in Christ. It also encompasses tangible compassion for the sick and the poor, as well as biblical justice, efforts to right the wrongs that are so prevalent in our world. God is concerned about the spiritual, physical, and social dimensions of our being. This whole gospel is truly good news for the poor, and it is the foundation for a social revolution that has the power to change the world. And if this was Jesus’ mission, it is also the mission of all who claim to follow Him. It is my mission, it is your mission, and it is the mission of the Church. (p. 22)
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)
We can’t imitate someone we don’t know & haven’t studied. A good imitator can mimic behavior, the tone, the facial expressions, & the ticks of the person being imitated. So here is a short list of what I know about God:
He is love
He is patient
He is pure
He looks out for the weak
He is a father to the fatherless
He is just – always doing what is right
He is tender-hearted
He is a servant
He judges wickedness
He is creative
He is giving
He is focused on the good of others
He protects His people
He disciplines in love
But lest we think that we are called merely to imitate God from an external perspective Paul reminds us that our motivation should stem from Christ’s love - demonstrated as He gave Himself up for us as an offering & a sacrifice. God is not looking for millions of “mini-me’s” who simply dress up & play the part. Motivation matters & I need to be reminded constantly (as in daily) that God does not want me to dress up & play the role of a Christian….He wants me to be a Christ-follower – not just in my external activities but in the core of my being. In addition to Ephesians 5 this morning…this whole concept was unpacked yesterday at Watermark Community Church when Jonathan Pokluda preached on “Life’s Too Short to Miss the Party” from Luke 15.
The Father’s desire is that we imitate Him because we have been overwhelmed & transformed by the grace poured out to us through the pouring out of His Son’s very life. We are dearly loved children so we are to be loving children. To live as God desires is to live as Christ. To love as God desires is to love as Christ. To serve as God desires is to serve as Christ. We need not look beyond Christ to find what pleases the Father.
From Port Au Prince to Miami to Dallas. I made it back to Dallas tonight. As I came down the elevator I was reminded what my favorite part of any trip is.
We had two more aftershocks last night around 2 am. I’m learning that my belief in God’s sovereignty has been much more of an academic exercise then a heart felt understanding.
My empathy for the Haitian people has skyrocketed. They’ve been living with this uncertainty every day since the quake. Every aftershock brings new terror. I know understand why they are afraid to sleep inside.
Today we visited an orphanage that Pastor Bataille (our host) started. There were about 24 boys at this orphanage. When I got out of the vehicle I was immediately drawn to one little boy with a dusty button down shirt that was missing the middle button. I went over and knelt down to get eye to eye with him. In the best French I could muster I told him my name was David.
My heart broke when he finally looked me directly in the eye. There was nothing there – no spark….no light. Just a hollow stare that communicated he was emotionally lost. I’ve been around lots of young kids but this little fellow was unlike any I’d ever met. I found out that he was about to turn four years old & was a double orphan (i.e. lost both parents) & had been brought to the orphanage a couple of months before the quake.
I sat with this little fella in my lap for 45 minutes. I tried every way I knew to coax a smile out of him – including handing over my iPhone so he could play with the doodle app (which he seemed to enjoy). But he just sat in my lap – no energy in his body, no light in his eyes & no smile on his face. He looked lost, detached & mostly sad. I hated to have to put him down…I would have loved to have spent the rest of the day with him.
Highlights from the rest of the day included:
Visiting with Pastor Fritz at his church to try & determine if they would be a good match for our church to church partnerships. You may remember that Pastor Fritz also oversees the HCRM orphanage – see post from a couple of days ago. We stopped by and saw his house which had been destroyed by the quake.
We visited the pile of rubble that had been Rood’s house. Rood was the young boy I mentioned the other day that lost his family & his arm.
While at Rood’s house I spoke to a woman who had lost her niece in the quake. We stood on the rubble & she showed me, just feet away, where her house used to be (which happen to be on the second floor – right above Rood’s house). She managed to escape, as did her two children, but her niece was killed.
Our car broke down for the second & third time. First was a flat tire. Today’s two incidents included a battery issue & an overheated radiator. I think we’ll be getting a new vehicle.
This morning Paul Myhill (President of World Orphans) & I had the opportunity to speak before 100 Haitian pastors at a Campus Crusade for Christ training conference in Port Au Prince. The training was being led by Esperandieu Pierre – who I mentioned in my last post.
Esperandieu asked us to cast vision & encourage these pastors in their love & service for the orphans in their community. We didn’t have much time & because Esperandieu had to translate for us the time we had was cut in half.
When I woke up this morning I began asking the Lord what He wanted me to communicate to these men. It had to be short, easy to remember & useful. As I worked through my thoughts & reflected on a couple of passages I realize the best place to start & finish was at the very cornerstone of all we believe. I distilled it down into two main points:
The gospel is the basis for WHY we care for orphans
The gospel frees us to love others – we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
The gospel frees us to look outside ourselves towards the needs of others – we look at Christ who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped (Philippians 2:5ff).
The gospel provides the power by which we can love sacrificially when it doesn’t make sense for us to (Romans 6:11ff).
The gospel is the model for HOW we care for orphans.
The gospel is offered free of charge – we are to care for orphans without expectation of receiving anything from them (John 3:16).
The gospel is not dependant upon our abilities – we are to care for orphans irrespective of their physical, mental or emotional capacity (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The gospel addresses the whole person – we are to care for the spiritual, physical & emotional needs of vulnerable children. This is more than just basic food, clothing & shelter (James 1:27, 2 Corinthians 4:16ff).
The gospel cost Christ his life – we are to spend ourselves for the cause of the orphan, the vulnerable & the defenseless (Romans 8:32, Romans 5:8)
At the end of the day orphan care should tie back to the grace of God made fully known in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
Here are a couple of pictures from the conference:
We had the opportunity to visit Haiti Children’s Rescue Mission yesterday. HCRM is filled with some kiddos that Hope for Orphans (my employer) has been advocating for. I’ve seen the faces of many of these children on computer in Dallas so it was especially sweet to see them face to face.
HCRM was designed to care for about 50 kids and right now they’ve got well over 100. As is the case in nearly every orphanage functioning over capacity the conditions there are really bad & basic necessities are lacking. I am grateful that there were two nurses from an NGO that had been there for several weeks helping to care for the kiddos.
While we were there we talked to one boy named Rood. Rood, who is 12 years old & has an incredibly infectious smile, has experienced heartache & loss unlike anything I have ever seen. Rood lost his family in the earthquake – parents, siblings & a visiting cousin. When he was finally discovered by neighbors three days after the quake they had to amputate his arm to get him out. Rood had been laying head to head with his mother under the rubble. As he told his story my heart split & all I could do was weep. I simply do not have a category that I can reach for to put this in. And yet, in the midst of unspeakable pain & loss this boy expressed hope. A hope that he had been spared death & a desire to make the most of his time on earth. We (Hope for Orphans) is working to help get Rood medical parole to come to the states to receive proper medical treatment for his arm. Would you please pray that the Lord would allow this to happen?
We also saw a woman who had given birth to a beautiful baby twelve days ago. This newborn was sleeping peacefully outside in the plastic blue tote which served as her crib. As I snapped a picture of this perfect little baby her mother looked at me & gave a small, proud smile. It’s a look that my wife has given after wrestling in labor to deliver our son & two daughters.
Later in the day some of the team connected with Esperandieu Pierre who is the Director of Campus Crusade for Christ in Haiti. He is helping oversee the distribution of relief through Global Aid Network (GAiN) – which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Campus Crusade for Christ. Experandieu is a Haitian man with a big heart for Christ & for his people. He is assisting HORT in connecting with pastors in his network. Campus Crusade for Christ has played a pivotal role in my life & so I was grateful for the chance to meet with this man. Also, since Hope for Orphans is a ministry of FamilyLife (which is a ministry of Crusade) we fall on the big Campus Crusade for Christ org chart.
Here are some pictures from yesterday’s activities:
I just started reading Richard Stearns’ book entitled The Hole in our Gospel: The Answer that Changed My Life and Might Just Change the World. Stearns is the President of World Vision. I’ve heard a lot of people reference this book lately so I figured it might be good to check it out. Here’s a paragraph in the first chapter that seems to lay out where he’s headed.
