Queen Esther

Sunday, July 27, 2024

As a young child, I remember attending a Purim party at the local synagogue my family attended. At the time, I knew nothing of the Bible's book of Esther. I have but two memories from that party:

#1—There were lots of Hamantaschen—triangular-shaped cookies (like Haman's hat?). I did wonder why there were no chocolate or chocolate chip cookies. I wasn't interested in those plain-looking cookies with fruit preserves in their centers. I mean, wasn't chocolate flavor the point of eating anything sweet?

#2 - I had a noise maker (like the ones we used on New Year's Eve), and anytime someone said the name "Haman," I was supposed to make a loud noise to drown out the name. This Haman was a bad man who hated the Jews, so we didn't want to even hear his name mentioned.

It would be many years before I actually read Esther, and I have been extracting lessons from its content for many, MANY years since. If you're not familiar with the story, it's a beautiful one. I highly recommend reading the entire book of Esther in the Bible.

Often, in my reflections, I revert to asking myself, "Could it be that God brought me to this place at this moment for a purpose?" The likely answer is "Yes!" This provides an opportunity to step away from my own plans and desires to consider what the LORD may want to do in a particular situation.

I thought of Esther many times while interacting with the team serving with us this week. Look at all these unique individuals whom God has brought together for a purpose! It's remarkable. And each one is marked by their Maker with specific skills, personalities, callings, and longings that only He can fulfill.

The Blessed Back/Moments of Hope team did a great job of serving the community of La Grúa together to start the week. We held a mobile medical clinic, did various activities with the children, and learned how to lay blocks. As the week went on, mobile clinics were held in Baraguana and Playa Cambiaso. Actual construction began to move right along, kids ministry continued, and a fence around the water building in La Grúa was installed. (This was necessary to keep cows and goats from leaving piles all around the house!)

Home visits allowed the team members to minister to people with pressing needs and leave them with a food gift package.

This team worked hard and played hard. They enjoyed a special outing on Thursday. Leaving early in the morning, they arrived in Punta Rucia long before the crowd. There, they enjoyed a boat ride, swimming on a sandbar in the middle of the ocean, snorkeling, a buffet, and banana boating.

There were so many special moments throughout the week: moments of spontaneous group worship in song, moments of prayer, moments of blossoming relationships and knowing looks, moments of making good choices, moments of surrender, moments of firsts, moments of sparking forever memories, moments of exhaustion, moments of gratitude, moments of joy, moments of bittersweet goodbyes. We have all grown this week. I trust the LORD to continue the good work HE began in us this week! And I'm so grateful for the positive impact on the communities we serve.

---

I would like to share another story of Esther with you today. This one is much harder to enunciate as it is very personal in nature. Our friend, Rev. Esther Plastridge, was called home to Jesus a few days ago. Her pastor lovingly referred to her as "Queen Esther." She was as elegant and bold as Esther from the Bible. I will miss her terribly. Will you join me in supporting her devoted husband, Peter, in prayer as he transitions into this season of missing his other half?

As I looked for a picture of Esther from one of her many trips to Haiti, I was confronted with many significant memories. I would like to share just a few of the truly pivotal ones with you today.

There was the time that Peter and Esther, seeing us facing a lack of ability to communicate with our supporters back in the US, they researched what it would take to get an internet connection in our residence in Haiti. We sat down together and created the plan to open a cyber café in Grand-Goâve. They purchased the equipment and paid for the installation of a satellite dish. We built "telephone booths" and turned half of our home into a cyber café - the first one ever in Grand-Goâve.

Yes, this solved the communication problem for us, but it accomplished so much more! Almost every resident of Grand-Goâve ended up in the "Avantage Cyber Café" at one point or another. The LORD used this opportunity to very quickly introduce us to our new community. It was through this business that Pastor Lex's reputation and, ultimately, his authority were established throughout the community.

Another time, we walked along the ocean to show Peter and Esther a piece of property we had just purchased. On our walk, we came upon another property with two tiny buildings and a gazebo on it. They ended up purchasing the property for the mission. Today, this is MOHI's missionary compound, where we have hosted thousands of people and housed orphans, missionaries, and visitors (over 80 at one time!). We have held many weddings there, united volunteers, missionaries, and even US marines, navy, and government officials. It's where we hold our Leadership Academy (with as many as 600 leaders in attendance). What a Godsend this property has been!

I'll never forget Esther's excitement while talking with us after the purchase was complete. She described her vision for the property as the hub of a bicycle wheel. People would come there to be nourished and refreshed and then go out into different parts of the country to serve. She also talked about Lex's authority within the community. We were still very young in the ministry and really felt like nobodies. I thought she was nuts. But she wasn't. Between the cyber café and the missionary compound, everything changed.

After the horrific earthquake on January 12, 2010, Peter and Esther introduced us to their friend John. They traveled to Haiti with John and a water system they had purchased from him. He installed the system at the missionary compound 14 years ago. Incidents of dysentery among our visitors vanished. We have since introduced the system to several other organizations. We are using that same original system right now in Luperón and just had a new one built to install in La Grúa. Clean water is critical!

Peter and Esther's home in Massachusetts was always open to us, and the same was true when they moved to Jacksonville. A few years ago they hosted us in their home for months at a time as our work at that time often brought us to Jacksonville. No matter the need, Peter and Esther's brains engaged and prayers began going up. They expected the LORD to do something to resolve situations - and HE did.

Esther LOVED ministry!

She made friends everywhere she went, and Haiti was no exception. So many of us will miss her and remember her with great fondness.

A Dieu La Reine Esther.

---

What an impact one family, one couple, one person can make in the world simply by putting one foot in front of the other, following after Jesus.

This past week, several people chose to sponsor a student in Haiti. Another baby was sponsored in the START NOW program. It was so good to hear leaders from Bless Back Worldwide praise Mèt Ben and Nurse Marlouse for doing such a great job with the START NOW program. The impact is obvious: The tiny, underweight babies are now plump, and their listless bodies are now lively and energetic. Hats off to the baby sponsors. Your sacrifice is turning sad stories into happy ones. Thank you!

That's it for today. Lex and I are leaving the Dominican Republic right now to meet up with our children and grandchildren for a few days of family time. I'm so excited!!! I hope you have a great week!