Let’s Celebrate!!!
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in His name!
One of my professors in Bible College used to call the exams a “Celebration of Learning.” It was a nice way to see the fifty minute period, which was preceded by several hours of stressful studies and in some cases a sleepless night. Yes, after the test some did celebrate, but others were already thinking about what they should do in the next “celebration of learning” so that at the end of the semester they could pass the class.
Well, when we say let’s celebrate, we mean celebrate. We mean exuberant manifestation of our joy for the fact that many new students have arrived on our campuses since the beginning of the school year almost a month ago. They are the fifty plus preschoolers who have joined the 28 others that we had last year. Yes they are cute. They are the one hundred plus students who have set foot on our campus for the first time, either in elementary or high school, on top of the ones we had last year. They are the adults who have resumed their schooling because Living Water comes along side of them to encourage and challenge them to continue with their studies, so the doors of colleges might be open to them. Certainly it is a time to celebrate the return of our old students as we continue to invest our hearts, minds and souls in them.
We thank each and every one of our supporters who makes the education of those students possible. Come alongside of us and celebrate the fact that we are engaging in training the next generation of Haitian leaders.
In many corners of the world people are not allowed to legally own a copy of the Bible. But this is not so in Haiti. We celebrate because we can own a copy of the Bible and have access to it in our language.
Our friends, Dr. David and his wife Debbie, seized the opportunity in the past and gave a copy of the Bible to at least some of our students. It did not happen the way they had planned. When the Bibles were purchased there were two evangelistic campaigns going on at the same time. My teammates thought the Bibles were for the [new] believers and they shared them where they went. We kept that in mind and this year. We have honored the dream of Dr. Dave and his wife and have distributed Bibles to several grades in our school. We chose the upper grades. This time I put the Bibles in the Principal’s office. He and his team distributed them to the students while I was outside the country a couple of weeks ago. When Dr. Thomas Sharp was teaching the thirteenth grade a week ago, I was glad to see all those red Bibles coming out as they were searching the Scriptures. I find this a reason to celebrate because our students can openly study the Word of God!
I always enjoy the presentations of Dr. G. Thomas Sharp. As a Creationist he knows all the ins and outs of this field. It is so much fun to listen, to translate, and to work alongside of him at Living Water as he presents all the facets of the debate about Creation Vs Evolution. His passion for God and the Word of God profusely and visibly exudes in his face as he shares his thoughts and his heart with us. This time we had between 50 women and men who came to hear his five-day presentation on Islam and Christianity. There were so many reasons to celebrate as the eyes of those students were being opened. Thanks be to God for a herald like Dr. Sharp.
We have so many more reasons to celebrate. Earlier this month we had 16 people who accepted Christ in the water of baptism. The addition of those new princesses and princes is a good reason to celebrate. People who were former witch doctors, and practiced voodoo, are now giving praises to the Lord Jesus Christ. This gives us reasons to celebrate.
Professor Rosemond’s class also decided to do a celebration of learning last Sunday during the Sunday School hour. Oh, we need to be reminded to celebrate the fact that we have all the papers to legally launch our radio station on 89.9 FM. Brothers and sisters, Let’s celebrate the wonderful works of God in Haiti, at Living Water and around the world.
Please remember to pray for the new school year. Pray for every one of our students. We have 671 students in Gonaives, 360 (plus) in Marmelade, and over 100 in the high school adult program.
- Pray for new sponsors to sponsor the children of our schools.
- Pray for the funding of the radio station.
- Pray for the realization of a language lab that we have for the students and people of Living Water, with emphasis on English at the present time.
- Pray for the new Church plants: Marotte and Highland.
- Pray for our leadership.
- Pray for the upcoming elections in Haiti and in the USA.
- Pray for protection over Haiti and the rest of the Caribbean as Hurricane Matthew continues its course.
We serve a big God, we have reasons to celebrate every day. So Let’s Celebrate!
In Christ,
Salonique Adolphe and team