Psalm 18

The sky is darkened with the threat of an encroaching thunderstorm.  The wind swirls about with its melodious tune making the grass of the fields dance and sway to the sound of nature.  Thunder cracks and lightning breaks forth to illuminate the scene laid before us.

A man not tall in stature, but noble of heart stands alone amongst this impinging darkness.  His sword welded within his iron grasp is ready to do his masters biding.  Fear does not penetrate his thoughts.  Surrounding our warrior is an evil which cannot be matched within our world.  The enemy is grotesque…perverted in ways man cannot fathom.  But these creatures are not human.  Their eyes glow red from the flame of hate which dances about inside of them.  Their teeth are coated with flesh and filth.  Acidic slime forms at the corners of their mouth.  Grungy, falling-out, black hair favors the fortunate few.  Scars coat these demons from head to toe.  The evidence of fear and torture emits from every fiber of their beings.  What’s left of their mind is riddled with this one thought, “Kill this fleshling before me!”   This army is birthed in Hell. 

Our lone soldier knows the odds.  He is not frightened, yet the thought of disappointing his master with a failure grips his heart.  In his last moments before the enemy’s charge he calls upon his god, “I cannot win this battle without you!  Save me from my enemies!  Lord, I need you!”

The sounds of nature create a mellow sonnet as the hounds of Hell begin their advance.  The king’s warrior grips his sword and makes ready his shield in preparedness for the onrushing evil.  More lightning brightens the sky and more thunder rumbles the earth.  However, after the thunder's solo the earth continues to shake.  The surrounding mountains begin to tremble and quake.  Hailstone and flaming coals fall forth from the heavens.  Trumpets sound, and the dark cloud part to show four magnificent godlike creatures soaring downward to the earth below.  Yet, these creatures with four heads, wings of gold, and armor layered with diamonds are the not the leading focus.  Sitting atop these demigods is the most glorious, the most majestic, the most royal and grandiose figure of all.  Yet in his glory, there is a fear the proceeded him…a fear to anyone that should harm His children.     

Our warrior’s prayer has been answered.  His Lord came down from on high to vanquish his enemy.  The evil horde which had seemed so terrifying was obliterated in the blink of an eye and sent forthwith back to Hell.  The battle is won!!!

Psalm 18:3-13

“I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.  The chords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the chords of Sheol (Hell) entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.  In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.  Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.  Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.  He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.  He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.  He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.  Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.  The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice…”

The scene painted at the beginning was not too hard to create.  All I did (as you may have noticed) was just elaborate on that which David has written here in Psalm 18. 

Psalm 18 has been one of my most favorite chapters ever since I accepted Jesus into my life almost two years ago.  Just recently I decided to memorize it.  Since I have been dwelling upon this chapter God has been revealing some things to me and that is what I want to share.

 The first thing God showed me was the manner in which David prays to Him.  In verse 3 David says, “I call upon the Lord…and He saves me.” David asks for God’s help and God sends it.  The thing though that I caught in this verse was the picture David paints of the simplicity of prayer.  How I see this verse is David just picks up his phone and asks God if He has some time to chat.  So many people today (myself included) think praying is this sacred (to an extent, yes) time of in-depth seeking and asking followed generally with tears and hours of turmoil while we talk with our heavenly father.  Something I realized in this last week and a half of memorizing and studying this passage is something everyone is told as a child…prayer is simply talking with God.  We humans make prayer out to be a complicated thing.  The reason I highlighted the word “talk” is because that’s what prayer is.  My prayer is that for me, and every other believer, that we don’t get so wrapped up in the religiosity of praying that we forget that prayer is a simple matter of conversing with Jesus. 

The second thing that I took from this passage is the fact that God, in all his glory and might, takes that time to come to earth shaking mountains, trembling the earth, and raining fire to fight an enemy which he has been fighting from the beginning of time for one little human being.  The love Christ has for us is immense…but yet, it is still forgotten.  Christ’s love is what I’ve been reminded of in Psalm 18.

The first commandment is Love God and the second is love your neighbor.  If you bake the gospel down it’s all about love.  Sometimes we have a tendency to forget what God has done for us.  This passage in Psalms has reminded me of the love that Christ has specifically for me as an individual.  Jesus doesn’t love us as a group, He loves each one of us as a separate and distinct person.

So my challenge from God, and I encourage you to join me, is this: remember daily what Christ has done because of love and don’t complicate that which is not meant to be complicated. Prayer: just talking with Jesus. 

 

Home is were the heart is at...or is it?

Some say home is where the heart is at.  Well if that is true then where exactly is my home?  My heart is in several places such as: Wisconsin, Haiti, with my friends spread across the world, with my family, with my cat, with my guitar…you get the point.  My heart is pretty widely spread across this world.  So how can I really say where my home is? Well in the song This World Is Not My Home it says, “This world is not home, I’m just passing through…” That comes from the scripture in 1Peter that refers to us as being sojourners of this land.  So, going along those same lines, when I think of where my home really is in terms of my heart, I come to the conclusion that my home is not where my heart is but where God’s heart is.

This thought was sparked within me as I just returned (to Haiti) from a visit with my family and friends in Wisconsin…where one of my homes is. :)  While there (I cannot lie) I had thoughts of, “I kind of want to stay home.  I miss my family and friends.  I miss understanding everyone all the time.  I miss the comforts that America has.  Living in Haiti is hard.  I’m going back to a lot of responsibilities... “The list goes on.  However, shortly after landing in Haiti I knew that this is where my earthly home is (for now).

 I know this because God’s heart is with the orphaned and widowed as referred to in James 1…and consequently my heart is with them too.  God has birthed within me the desire to give my life to serve these little parentless kids.  Psalm37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  Well I’m here to declare that God’s promise here in Psalms is so true.  However, when we delight ourselves continually in the Lord, our desires don’t always stay the same.  So the desire of being  a millionaire so we can buy all kinds of things to satisfy our flesh may change into wanting money not to fulfill our lusts but to bless others.  Or the desire to be somebody because you enjoy being the center of attention may change into wanting attention so that you can make Jesus the front of all and the center of everything.   Whatever it is that you think you want, I’m here to testify that once you make Jesus your joy and delight in Him that the things you want change.  The thing I want right now (because God download this within my heart) is to serve the fatherless.  I’ve been doing that ever since I got to Haiti however I just started (when I returned on August 12^th) a new role as being a fulltime caretaker to a little boy and a little girl.   When I say fulltime caretaker I mean that they live with me and I feed, bathe, clothe, play with, teach, correct, and the rest of the things that go along with the whole parenting gig.  Yep that’s right, Shane has become a father :)  These children have been part of our crèche for a couple years now and recently our leadership decided to put them in more of a one-on-one (or in my case one-on-two) care.   Now if you had asked me six months ago when I was coming to Haiti if I thought I would have been a foster dad, I would have said nope.  But God’s plan and desires have a way of directing us (me) to do that which He wants and that which His heart is yearning for.  His heart longs for the fatherless to have a father and while these children are in the adoption process I get the honor of being a father to them.

So my parting thoughts are this: be open to letting God download His heart within you.  Until you do that, you may not know where you want to go or what your purpose in life is.  God always has a plan and always knows what He is doing.  Let his heart become your heart and you won’t be lost for a home, for a purpose, or for that matter, anything in life. 

Craziness!!!

Oh man!!! These last few weeks have been crazy.  I’ve done everything from making a ten hour car ride in one day with half of that being with throwing up kids, to multiple trips to Port-Au-Prince for airport runs or shopping trips, to playing chauffer (a lot), to running into someone (more like I nudged him a tad), to eating eggrolls, to finally moving into my new room, to going to buy mattresses, to playing with kids, to going to Port-Au-Prince with the Montrouis soccer team, to getting called beautiful by a male Haitian police officer, to celebrating the Fourth of July, to my birthday, to blah blah blah.  You get the picture. I’ve been busy with a lot of things.  However, these last two weeks have been amazing to see God at work. 

Ever since this craziness started I’ve had multiple days in a row where I’ve had to awake at 4:30 and haven’t gone to bed until late.  God has been supplying an extra measure of alertness when on the road and an extra portion of strength for each day…also he’s provided a little bit of time each day for a power nap ;)  He’s given an extra amount of patients as having to deal with seven kids throwing up all over a van is not fun to deal with.  Fortunately I was one that remained without being thrown up upon...Sorry to Emily and Love who had to suffer that. God’s given wisdom when it’s been needed…both to myself and to the rest of the Giving Hope staff and God’s given protection to me as I have been on the road a ton.  

SO!!! Why has life been so crazy here?  Let me tell you.  When God’s children stand for purity in a world that is so caked by impurity the light that shines forth from that little bit of holiness is hated and despised.  The Devil doesn’t like when God’s light is shining forth in “his” world.  So the reason life has been busy is because Heather Elyse and Giving Hope Rescue Mission stands for purity.  We as a ministry have been under major attack from Satan because he hates what Heather has started here in Haiti.  We’re a bright light shining in such a dark place…and that’s why we’ve been so busy, because we’re in a war.

However even in the trials, even in the attacks, even in the times of seeming defeat, even in all of the crazy of things to do, like always, God remains faithful by keeping us sustained in Him and by continuing to fulfill His promise of never leaving or forsaking us and for fighting our battles when we cannot fight.  God is always with us, He always with me, and I just want to make a public declaration to Him and say,

“Thank you Jesus for being the one and only, most amazing God.   Thank you for keeping me constant in you and thank you for offering to me everything you have: love, joy, peace, patients, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and temperance.  Thank you Lord for fighting for your children.”    

Please continue to pray for strength and wisdom for myself but for all of the GHRM staff. 

In His forever service,

Shane

Things I've Realized While Living in Haiti

1.       Unless you know your stomach can handle the squash, pig, gooey stuff, than stay away from it.

2.       If you do not replenish yourself with Jesus you will easily be burnt out

3.       Cockroaches are harmless…but REALLY nasty.

4.       Centipedes are just REALLY gross and REALLY harmful.

5.       It’s hot

6.       If a bug falls into your water (or other beverage) don’t dump the whole cup out…just take the bug out and keep drinking.  Otherwise, you’ll just end up going through all of your water.  Bugs in your drink are a common occurrence.

7.        Mopping is a necessity and is done multiple times a day, but rarely is our floor ever clean due to the dozens of dirty feet that walk through our house.  But I guess it’s better than those who sweep their dirt floor :p

8.       One gallon of kerosene can power five lanterns for a long time.

9.       Ice is a rare and beloved thing.

10.   Sometimes deodorant seems like a pointless battle, but let me tell you that if you don’t wear it, the battle is already lost…dramatically.

11.    Ants SUCK!!!

12.   If you leave out a coffee cup with a little bit of coffee and sugar it works good as an ant attractant/killer.

13.   Cockroaches like hiding in piles of avocadoes.

14.   It is possible to go more than a day without showering ;) …I wouldn’t advise it though living in an all-the-time-sunny-and-hot place.

15.   Apparently without mosquitos there wouldn’t be any chocolate because along with sucking my blood they also pollinate flowers…and somehow (I was told, I just don’t remember the specifics) they’re the ones responsible for all of our chocolate.

16.   Skype is a beautiful things =)

17.   If you want privacy while showering at the public showers then don’t go there.  There’s a reason why they call them public…come to think of it, if you want privacy at all than don’t move here to Haiti :p  Luckily I’m a single guy who doesn’t need much privacy…just a little every once in a while.

18.   People will try and steal your money if it’s visible.

19.   I like motorcycles and tap taps.

20.   I can’t dance and it seems that a lot of Haitians can…I wish I could.

21.   Kids have a lot of energy.

22.   Turns out that if your hair is any longer than a buzz cut (which most Haitian guys have) the kids think you’re a girl (not literally).

23.   I have started to enjoy vegetables…quite a lot actually J

24.   Cats are messy little creatures.

25.   The most random things that I would never eat at home are desired a tremendous amount here in Haiti…just because of the fact that we can’t get them here.  E.I.  Fruit rollups. 

26.   If you are putting your faith in a generator to give you your daily power, than you may be disappointed at times…or like us, seemingly every week.

27.   I wouldn’t be surviving here without the prayer of all of y’all (So southern sounding) back at home.

The Journey To Cap-Haitien

The journey began one bright Thursday morning in a little town called Montrouis, located on the west side of the small island of Haiti.

Four brave souls set off early on an adventure to deliver gifts from the King to his children in Cap-Haitien…which is a (normally) five hour car ride. 

                Paul, Jami, Love, and Shane traveled to the crossroads where they would not sell their souls to the Devil to be masters of the Blues, but to find a northern bound tap-tap to hop aboard to travel to the great northern city.  The small band did not have to wait long before their first craft approached.  It came to a halt at which time our group boarded…the journey had started. 

                The ride in the open air vehicle was a relief from the approaching heat that is so familiar to Haiti.  The truck went to and fro on the winding road and stopped here and there to drop off or to pick up new passengers.  After about a forty-five minute ride we arrived at our first station, St. Marc.  This was the first great city on our way north.  We had to switch vehicles as our current transport was turning around to head the way we had just come.  Our interpreter did a marvelous job at securing  us some new, two wheeled, vehicles to bring us around the wrecked vehicles that were preventing bigger four-wheeled (or more) vehicles from passing.  In and out we zoomed through traffic with our three packages fastened (not so securely) between our moto driver’s arms as he brought us to the next tap-tap station. 

                Again, we boarded another tap-tap.  However, this one wasn’t a little pickup truck with a cover, this one was a van.  We once again headed north passing the gigantic twenty-five foot tall garbage pile that was obviously overflowing out of the landfill.  Not too much farther and another road block stood in our way.  This time it was a broken down bus.  We paid our driver and headed north on foot…around the bus we went and to another open air tap-tap we embarked upon to the next city which we were told would have a nice air conditioned  bus to take us to the great northern city of Cap-Haitien.  We arrived in Gonaives about an hour later where our grandiose transport was supposed to be waiting…it wasn’t there.  All that was available to bring us the remaining four(ish) hours to Cap-Haitien was another very cramped, very hot and sweaty tap-tap.  But, being on the King’s business we had no choice but to accept the cramped quarters and head up the mountains on a tap-tap.     

                The four of us began our decent up the mountains tucked in the back like Sardines in a can.  The truck zoomed its way through the city and wound its way around the switchback road that lead to our destination.  Stomachs churned and sweat poured as our ride continued. We rounded a curve and then another and another and another…around the mountain we kept on going until we ran into our third and definitely the worst road block yet.  A semi-truck had fallen half off the mountains side where it conveniently blocked another semi from getting around it.  Traffic had backed up on either side of the one lane, curvy, mountain road.   School buses and semi-trucks were at head to head standoffs.  Cars were tucked neatly behind these beasts making it almost impossible for any vehicles to back up and get out of the way to make a clear path for one lane of traffic to get through.  But after a couple hours of Haitian planning, some yelling, moving cars by hand, and other non-traditional ways of unblocking a road we made it through.

                Our tap-tap driver wasted no time on zipping through the traffic and bringing us safely (we weren’t too sure at times) to our destination in Cap-Haitien.  Once we arrived, another short moto ride brought us to our final destination where the King’s children were awaiting eagerly. 

                We delivered the packages which contained toy cars, dolls, basketballs, soccer balls, bubbles, shoes, clothes, household decorations, peanut butter, and other wonderful treats.  Paul, our craftsman, was able to build three tables for the kids and their caretakers while we were there. 

                Not even two days after arriving in Cap-Haitien we had to leave.  However, this time we traveled home on an air conditioned bus knowing that we had accomplished our mission of delivering the supplies.  We left with happy and satisfied hearts knowing we had created some happy hearts.    

                So the moral of this story and my latest adventure is: the king’s business is always worth it in the end…no matter what kind of rough adventures the road takes you on, the end product of serving the King is a joyful heart and (in this case) some happy children.  So serve the King well fellow soldiers.