Again n Again
Dear brothers and sisters,
Allow me to greet YOU in the name of Jesus!
Many of YOU have expressed thoughtful and loving concerns about me because you have not heard from me for over a month. You have always found a great way to make me feel loved and appreciated. Thank you so much.
God loves Haiti. Many people would question that statement when they see the abject poverty of my beloved country. Of course it is not new for people to consider material blessings as proof of the love of God. It could be. There is no question about that. However, it is not the only way that God can show HIS love for people or nations. There are other blessings frankly which are more important than material blessings.
God has shown his love for Haiti over and over again. If it were not for God, Haiti would not be anymore. The thousands of people He causes to fall in love with Haiti and who consistently go to Haiti to help is one example.
The most recent examples I want to consider to illustrate God’s love for Haiti are the paths taken by the Hurricane Irma and Maria. Many of you had your eyes glued on the small screen watching the progression of these hurricanes as they headed toward Haiti. Many of you prayed as you were thinking about what could that mean if another Hurricane hit Haiti. God heard your prayers. Our friend Paul Beauchamp was praying without ceasing when she noticed that “God blew away the Hurricane North of Haiti” as it was approaching our land. After passing over Haiti, it went slightly South and West to hit Cuba and do untold damaged in Florida. If those better equipped countries suffered so much from Irma, what would Haiti’s situation be?
No need to imagine. God repeated the scenario even more drastically in the case of Maria. When she arrived at the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, God caused that Hurricane to make an almost 90 degree turn north and spared my land. Oh how grateful I am to God for doing these wonders for us!
How thankful I am to each and every one of you who knocked hard at heaven’s door so the Mighty One could change the path of those hurricanes! I am in awe of HIM and His power. I am humbled to call you friends and brothers and sisters who love us so much to pray so hard on our behalf. Thank you. Again and again God has used you to tell us that He loves us. On top of that He uses His power to show us how He certainly loves us.
While dealing with the hurricanes I was also dealing with the drilling company who agreed drill a few wells for us:
- At Highland for the benefit of the students of John and Helen Meyer School, the people of the community and surround villages.
- At Guimbi on the farm property; so that we can have water to produce agricultural goods for food and funds.
- At the site of the future Colleges that we will start.
Several of us have made 11 trips to two different borders and yet we have very little to show for all the energy put toward that, and all the miles driven, and all the hours that look wasted. We won’t quit. We will persist all the way to the end.
Over the years we have seen again and again the most valuable projects that we have present the greatest challenges. Many people have sometimes tried to persuade us to quit, and not out of ill motive. But we know “victory” does not rhime with “quitting”. Please pray that we find a happy ending to this dilemma, and preferably next week as early as possible.
When God sends us (Living Water) to plant churches and start schools, He has yet to send us to an easy place. We thought White Mountain was going to be an easy one. Well we found out very early this was not going to be the case, and it is still not the case.
However Highland seems to top them all. As I am writing this, there are still no Christians that we really know of who want to work with us. There have been many events and happenings which could have discouraged us, but God also sent a huge number of people as cheerleaders, encouragers, workers, dreamers to keep us in the ring and to help us to keep moving forward. God continues to show us He has not left us alone again and again.
It is amazing that in less than a year, a very good bridge is in place, thus connecting the communities. It leads people to have plans and projects they could not have dreamt of before. He has also sent workers and much needed funds to build the school and set aside specific areas for multi-purpose functions where we can actually start the church. In this span of time, in the building alone, God has poured over 100,000 USD. It is amazing. But what is even more amazing is that right now over 200 students from pre-school to 8th grade are receiving a quality Christian based education at the place where voodoo ceremonies were taking place last year. Our God is just amazing and he has not ceased to amaze those who trust in Him!
The attached photos will show you a newborn in Christ and different people who have been working together to make the school of Highland a reality. They are helpers, parents, students, teachers and staff whom God will use in different ways to destroy the work of the enemy and to actually bring people to the Light of the world. Today the John and Helen Meyer Christian School is drawing children from more than seven villages. Contrary to the past, they are learning about Christ. They are learning to pray to Jesus. We also know, like in the past, many will come to know and serve Jesus.
We do have concerns and challenges:
- Pray for the completion of the school building and for additional classrooms. Next year we may have three times more students than we now have.
- Pray for the monthly staff salaries to be met. That is a big challenge. God always shows up. But frankly it is a big concern for me (Salonique). I like it when our workers get paid on time. Salaries may not be big, but it helps to receive it on time.
- Pray for the safety of teachers and staff as they are commuting from Gonaives to Highland every day. We use one of the buses for transportation. The daily expense tend to add up. We need roughly 50 dollars every day to assure the transportation of the teacher and staff. We need an additional 3,750.00 USD per month to pay salaries. It is nothing when you know that this is the salary for about 30 people. We actually have 27 people to pay now. We will need to add more like a watchman, a gatekeeper when we have the wall and another person to be involved in the water distribution for the village as soon as the well is in place.
- Pray for a bountiful harvest of souls.
- Pray for victory over Satan, his demons and his human agents.
- Pray for the leadership of Highland and the mission at large
- Our God always keeps His promises. Pray that we remain in His will and do His will.
Our God is all powerful. He has always won, and He will win again n again. So let us be ready to celebrate.
Yours in Him,
Salonique Adolphe and team
P.S.
My son Marc got his student visa and will be at Central this coming semester. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for him. Thanks to all of you who have, and will, support his education.
My adoptive son Samuel and his wife Roodine have welcomed Samuel Jr. this week. He is a handsome boy. Praise God for grandsons. Sam Jr. arrived one year and one day after Elie’s son was born. One was October 2nd last year (Elie’s) and Sam’s was October 3rd this week.