Pray At All Times

October 23, 2022

Conflict, wars, hunger, and famine may be words we aren't all that familiar with in our Western civilization, but they are nothing new. The Old Testament is chock full of stories of people who couldn't (or maybe I should say WOULDN'T?) get along. Proverbs is a great place to glean understanding and wisdom about how to navigate these situations. Psalms is where I go to find the right "head space" in the midst of difficulties. "Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!" THIS is perhaps the most anticipated part of our Sunday morning services at the MOHI churches.

We don't want to live on just an hour or two of spirituality for the entire week, though. Right? I love, love, LOVE the prayer services at our churches. They are never dull and sleepy, but rather full of energy and passion for God. Most are on their feet and moving about. There is united prayer and also times of individual prayer where we speak freely to the LORD, without concern if someone else is listening. It is a time of humility - laying one's self bare before the Master. These pictures are from one of our early morning prayer services this past week.

We all pray for Haiti. We pray for people to find potable water and food. We pray for the sick to find the medical care they need. We pray for the children to be protected from what's going on around them. We pray for lives to be preserved. We pray for people to open their hearts to the Lord and choose to follow Him. And we express our gratitude to Him. Among many things, we are thankful for those the LORD has enabled to provide medical care to our students and neighbors at MOHI.

We have been seeing so many babies in the clinic. LORD please continue to show mercy to these little ones!

Clinics in Haiti are beginning to see weight loss in their patients. People are walking more (transportation is super expensive due to the lack of fuel throughout the country) and eating less (food prices have more than doubled) and thus losing weight - often needed weight.

Back in 2004, when then-president Bertrand Aristide was removed from office, Lex sent the kids and I back to the States because of the insecurity. That time of insecurity was an open door for people to settle scores with one another and often times people were killed, not because of political stands, but because someone took the opportunity to literally "get away with murder." We have been seeing quite a bit of this now, as well - making things even more dangerous, even for people who don't voice their political opinions.

Some fuel was brought into the country this week from the Dominican Republic for use by hospitals. In Grand-Goâve we discovered that one of the local gas station owners had held onto his last two deliveries of fuel (we're talking months ago) and decided just yesterday to sell some fuel to the public. He's selling it at quite a large profit and yet still well below the prices available on the black market. This is what it looked like at the pumps yesterday.

Grand-Goave is surrounded by mountains full of people who work the mountainsides. They plant, care for, and harvest many different vegetables. There is an abundance of fruit trees in the mountains, as well as throughout the flat lands. During these difficult times, local fruits and vegetables are available - if one can afford them. Pictured below are just some of the produce we can find: bananas/plantains, mangos, chayotte (Mirliton in Kreyol - a type of squash? Sort of?), Chadeque (grapefruit), breadfruit, scallions, pumpkin (squash), avocados (green and brown, too), corn... Can you identify them?

We are grateful for the opportunity to purchase fresh produce for the baby feeding programs! Check out our banana eaters!

We add fresh carrots and leafy greens to cornmeal.

Local eggs are a great source of protein for these little ones.

We are getting low on peanut butter, but look forward to having plenty when the container you helped fill arrives. We are expecting it to arrive in Haiti this week. We would appreciate your prayer support for it to reach its final destination safely. It may take a little while still before it is cleared through customs, but please keep praying. Thank you!

Lex will be traveling to Togo, West Africa this week with our dear friends, Rex & Sherry Holt from Le Pont - A Bridge to Africa. Would you pray for his time there to be a blessing to his fellow travelers, and the Togelise people? We are trusting the LORD opened this door for HIS purposes and are excited to see what that looks like. Below are some specific ways the team is asking people to pray. Thank you!