High Mountains Indeed!
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in HIS name!
The last couple of months have been more than challenging. Those challenges did not come, in most cases, one after another. They came in parallel. Sometimes two, three or more to deal with.
They are like the endless rolling mountains that we have. They come in different heights, width and size. And, their terrains are not the easiest to climb. Some of them were obvious spiritual attacks trying to get us to explode. Who knows what that would bring at the end?
A short list would look like this:
- Deception on the part of people
- government institution trying to rip us off
- many deaths in close families and church members
- failures in young promising people at the church
- vehicles breaking down in the worst possible time (Not my personal one, thank God)
- vast majority of good laborers leaving Haiti for Chile, Brazil and elsewhere
We need to find people to fill their spots in some cases. There cannot be a wait to fill those spots. In the meantime we are dealing with:
- slacking leaders
- financial challenges
- people opposing our work in Highland (Jealousy???)
- various unpredictable turns in the process of putting the radio station in the air
- meetings and more meetings to get things in line
- fatigue
- family challenges like getting things in line for my son Marc to enter College at Central this semester
- and …
Many times to complete the day, I have to take a short nap, otherwise it feels like I am going crazy. I have to say that I am more than ever grateful to those who pray for Living Water in general and for me in particular. May God hear all your prayers and may He visit you yourselves daily.
However, in spite of those high mountains, we continue to move forward. People are surrendering their lives to Jesus in baptism. In fact, we had to decide to have special Sunday School Class for those who just joined the Church fearing that they might get lost in the crowd. We have doubled our small groups/Cells groups in June. Out of 26 Cells, only three had difficulty to take off. In those three only one have not had any home meetings in the last four weeks. Most of the other ones are thriving.
The high mountains before us in launching the school and church at Highland look scary. But we know with God’s help we will start in two months. We need over 50,000 dollars USD to finish the school building. The yard and playground needs a lot of work. We have difficulty to complete the staff for the school. Going to Highland is a missionary work and some people don’t feel like they are ready for the challenges. Transporting the employees daily will be a big issue to deal with. Feeding the kids a hot meal there is a must. The financial mountain is high and real. Yet we know the Mountain Mover will show up with HIS big muscles and the mountains will become a flat plain.
While we are dealing with those high mountains, the kids of Highland cannot wait. They have already chosen which classroom they would hope is theirs and the parents are so proud of themselves to have this school in their village. They have stood 10 feet taller since the project started. It is amazing what God has led me to overhear in his way to encourage me. It is amazing to see the different ways He has used to tell me, the mountains will be flattened, of course by HIM. Yet we need your prayers, your continuous partnership in transforming lives there.
Allow me to share another high mountain we are facing: the well at the farm. This year we are still hoping we will get a well at the farm. The first company, after lying to us for a year, has decided to come in to drill the well, but with no serious effort to find water really. They came because they felt like they had to do something at least. This way we would not be able to say they did not try.
In all they have drilled in three spots. The second spot looked really hopeful, then they quit working to the bewilderment of some of the workers there. In the third spot they have not done much and gave up.
The invasion of goats and other cattle make it impossible for us to harvest anything. The fence builders did not beat the beginning of the rainy season. It is much more difficult to build fences when it is raining. We have been waiting on another company to come to survey the land and find the best spots to drill. They were supposed to be here this week, but we have no explanation why they have not come yet. And the land is so ready to produce a number of great harvests. We know that this mountain too will be flattened by God.
The text is already quite long. Enjoy the photos. The rice and beans distribution was made possible by a group of friends from OH under the leadership of brother John Hendrix, Scott and Nancy Mays and friends. The Earth Science Observation Day was done back in May. The students went to observe rock formations and other related observations and they were mesmerized by one particular site which made what they learned alive and true.
Thanks to all of you who pray for us. Thanks to all of you who give to make it possible for us to do what we do for the Lord. Thanks to all of you who come to visit us, like recently Dr. Tom Hobbs and his wife Kelly, Regina and Tom and his daughter Chastity, followed by brother Paul Parrish, Mark Engler and Kortney. I still think Mark-Lee and Jim Parrish should have been there too, but they could not.
The mountains are high indeed, but the promise of the Lord is “they shall become a plain,” (Zechariah 4:7, NKVJ). We are ready to enjoy the days when the present ones become a plain.
Yours in Christ,
Salonique Adolphe and team