Candlelights in Deep Darkness
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in the name of Our might God and Savior: Jesus! I pray this newsletter finds each one of you doing very well both physically and spiritually.
The answer to your burning question, “Have things gotten better in Haiti?”, is unfortunately no! The testimonies of people who have been kidnapped or who have come in contact with kidnappers and gang members, for one reason or another, seem to indicate that things are even worse than they appear. Gangs have not shown yet everything that they are capable of doing. One thing they do for sure is generate helplessness, which creates a depressive darkness in Haiti. Yet, in the midst of this depressive darkness, God, using several supporting churches like Kenai Christian Church, IAMM and partners of Living Water, have lit a number of candlelights to bring hope and joy to people of all ages.
One of the candlelights that God has used to bless the people in our community is food distribution. We have done so far four food distributions during this Summer. They targeted members of our different churches, people in our communities where we are serving, and taxi drivers. Those of you who have been in Haiti in the past probably remember that our cities are full of people making a living driving to places using their mopeds (motorcycle). We use the food distribution as an opportunity to show that we care for them. They have been very grateful to that.
In a time when parents have a hard time feeding their kids, those food distributions light up the darkness and the hopelessness of my people. We have given away over 1000 kits, each has about 70 to 75 meals. The kits contain rice, beans, cooking oil, cans of sardines, and spaghetti. I have kept some at the church for anyone who might be in need to give them. That is different from the mass distribution. I have to confess it is not an easy process, but we have done it almost safely.
Another candlelight that God has used to bless our community this Summer is a month-long Summer camp for children of all ages. It was an incredible moment. Of course, this is not the first time First Christian Church of Mountain Grove sponsored that camp. However this year was more significant because parents needed a safe place for their kids to go and the kids needed to have some fun. The month of camp provided that. They had a worship time (singing time, praying time, and a short message), which lasted roughly one hour. Then they had games, classes, and crafts. At the end some learned to cook specific stuff, crochet, among other things. Between the campers, the monitors, the cooks, and others, over 500 people benefited directly from it. The kids and their parents did not want to see it come to an end. One mother said to Gine and me, not only do I have a break from my kids for about 5 hours, but also they come home with a full stomach. She added, “ooh manje te enpòtan,” meaning “Ooh the food was important!”
Other candlelights that God continues to use to light the deep darkness of many are the radio station, the university, the churches, and the community health clinic. We praise God for each one of them.
Last week, we had five baptisms. We rejoice for these new sisters and brothers in Christ. Please continue to pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. And, I want you to know that I will be in the USA from the last week of October thru the first week of December and from the convention through the remainder of the trip, I will be mostly in KY, IN, and OH.
Your brother in Christ,
Salonique Adolphe and Team