Haiti Mission Trip 2004

Darryl has an exciting opportunity coming up that we wanted to mention here. I will copy the letter we sent to some friends and family so you can get an understanding of what he is doing. Our church sent a team last year, and you can see some information about that here.

If you would like to sponsor Darryl on his trip to Haiti from October 11-18th, feel free to read the info below. We also accept paypal, so email us if you would like to donate. Even 5 bucks can help!

Whether or not you can sponsor Darryl, please pray for him, the whole Haiti 2004 team and the nation of Haiti.

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Dear family and friends:

Greetings!

Darryl and I are writing to let you know about an exciting opportunity that Darryl has coming up from October 11-18th. He is going to Haiti as part of a week-long mission trip with our church. He did his first missions trip in 1992 when he went to Barcelona, and he is very excited to have another chance to travel to another country and help their people while spreading God's word.

Darryl and a team of 13 other people will be traveling to Haiti by plane from Miami, Florida and will be working with a group called Mountain Top Ministries. They have a website at http://www.mountaintopministries-haiti.org if you want to learn more. Our church sent a team down to Haiti last October, and we are hoping to make this an annual mission trip. My goal is to attend next year as well!

Many of our family members have expressed concerns about the recent hurricanes that affected the nation of Haiti, but the mountain where the chapel, school and house of the ministry director has not been touched, and the area that the team will be flying into is safe and secure. Once in Haiti, the team is under the watch of the ministry director, Willem, who is a very powerful and well-known man in that country. It is a very organized and safe trip for all involved.

While there, Darryl will also have the opportunity to meet the child that we sponsor through this organization. Her name is Francelene and we are excited to also be able to take gifts over for her and her family. You would be amazed what 20 dollars can do in a country like that!

Another reason for this letter is to ask if you would pray for Darryl and the Haiti 2004 team while they are on their trip. They will be doing a variety of things while there including some construction work, teaching the children at the school to play basketball, working in a medical clinic and leading worship services at the chapel on the mountain. Darryl will also be playing the guitar and leading music while they are there!

Additionally, we are working hard to raise money for Darryl to go on this trip. The cost per person for travel, food and lodging is around 900 dollars. We have been participating in several fund-raisers including collecting old cell phones, having bake sales, hosting a Jonah fish fry, planning a Haiti music night at the church, and having a church-wide garage sale. If you would like to help sponsor Darryl on this trip, that would be appreciated. Even if you can not, your prayers are still needed very much.

For those wanting to sponsor Darryl, you are welcome to send checks or money orders directly to us or the church. The church address is First Baptist Church of North Terre Haute, 2944 E. Hall Avenue, Terre Haute Indiana, 47805. If you send them to the church, please be sure to indicate that the donation is to benefit Darryl for Haiti.

If you would like to hear more about what we are doing or planning in preparation for this trip, feel free to give us a call! We are getting very excited! Feel free to pass this letter on to anyone who you think might be interested in praying for or sponsoring Darryl!


Thanks!
Charity and Darryl

Back to the Basics

Do you know what it is that you believe? And do you know why you believe that? Is it because you were raised that way by your family? Did you hear it from someone or read about it in a book or magazine? Is what you believe the TRUTH? Have you read it in the Bible? How do you KNOW?

These are tough questions for some of us, but we NEED to know the answer not only to make sure we are on the right track with our faith, but also so that we are leading non-believers down the right path as well. Yesterday in Church we were talking about Unity, and as a part of the sermon, the Pastor discussed basic doctrine. Many people don't really know what it is they believe, and if they do, sometimes they don't know why they believe it.

My husband and I were talking about a Bible Study he is a part of, and we were discussing that sometimes it is necessary to get "back to the basics" with our faith. We need to go back to the gospel and make sure we have a solid foundation of what it is that we believe, because Satan and those who believe differently will try their best to change our beliefs.

Getting back to the basics isn't always easy. It takes a desire to study, and learn and ask questions. It means prayer, reading the Bible, talking with your Pastor and church members, and making a personal investment in knowing and understanding God's plan for your life.

What do you do to get back to the basics of your faith? Feel free to write about it on your own site and post in the comments section, or if you do not have a site, feel free to post directly to the comments section.

Monday Musing: The Stones Cry Out

Once again, I would like to turn to an Our Daily Bread reading for inspiration. Last night we read from Luke 19:29-40 and the little story in the devotional told of a woman who was saved, and her way of spreading the Gospel was to paint bible verses on small stones from the beach and sell them to raise money for missionaries. I often wonder what other unique ways people minister to others.

This website is the same to me as her stones were to her. I wanted to find a way to use a skill that I have to be able to reach people that I normally would not have been able to reach. Sometimes it is easy to get discouraged when no one comments or responds to the things that we write, but I KNOW that we are reaching someone, because the site counter keeps on rising, and here and there we DO get a response, which is a great feeling! And, even if I only reach ONE person, then I feel I have been successful.

What kinds of things do you do to spread the Good Word? Does it matter to you whether your efforts are acknowledged? How does it feel to know you are reaching people with your personal ministry? Feel free to write about it on your own site, and post in the comments section. If you do not have your own site, feel free to post directly to the comments.

Monday Musing: Summer Camp and ministry opportunities for youth

Here I am! I made it this week!!

I wanted to talk a little about Youth Ministries and opportunities like Summer Camp. I think Summer Camp is a great way for Christian youth to meet and get to share experiences with other people their age who are believers. I know that when I was considered a "youth" (was it THAT long ago?), I often felt like I was the only one like me. My other friends at school didn't necessarily believe in God, or if they did, they did not go to church. Summer Camp was a great way for me to connect with other youth who believed what I did...and what a great feeling that is! There are many Christian summer camps and teen programs across the country, and I think that no matter which one youth have the opportunity to attend, it can be a life changing experience. I know it was for me! I was saved as a summer camp called Super Summer in 1989, and still fondly recall the experiences that I had there and the wonder I felt when I truly understood God's love for me.

Did you ever have Summer Camp experiences as a youth member of your church? If so, feel free to write about them on your site and post in the comments section. If you do not have your own site, feel free to post directly to the comments section.

Struggles

So you might have noticed if you have visited here the past two Mondays that the Monday Musing did not go up as it should have. I have been struggling with this part of the blog, and I am not sure why. Even though I am posting this today later than I thought I would, I wanted to address my missing blog entries by asking those of you out there to reflect on things that you also find yourself struggling with.

For me, it is my weekly blog entry as well as my daily bible reading. In church two Sundays ago, the Pastor was talking about sin and how we choose to sin. No one makes us do it, but we alone can allow ourselves to. When I started thinking about it, I realized that I also choose to struggle with these areas of my walk with God. I don't HAVE to struggle each week with this entry, or each day with my reading, but I do because I allow myself to experience that struggle.

Do you have anything like this? Something that you want to do, or you need to do, but you find yourself unnecessarily struggling with it? What do you do to overcome it? How do you ease the struggle? Feel free to post on your own site your thoughts and then post in the comments section, or if you do not have a site, you can post directly to the comments section.

And I am going to work harder on making sure my Monday Musing gets done!