Dear Supporters, Readers, Curious Snoops, Etc:
I am writing this very dignified, polite letter to let you know several things.
First, I am back in my parent's living room in Nebraska. Sitting on the carpeted floor with my dog because the couch is too comfortable. To my knowledge, I have not contracted dengue fever, malaria, insomnia, or schizophrenia. Although it was rather hard to go so long on so little chocolate.
Second, I would like to give you an un-in-depth and not very business-like reckoning of the donations that you so kindly sent with me to Haiti. God saw fit to make money a complete non-issue this summer. I didn't need anything. It was sort of like being back in infancy. Everything was provided. A plane ticket, a roof over my head, delicious meals (when I wasn't cooking), clean water, dish soap, toilet paper. God knew this. I knew this. You knew this.
But you donated anyway. And because you did . . . A child without a caretaker will get to go to school in Gressier this year (See Megan's blog at http://blessedwithaburden.wordpress.com/ for more information). We were able to bless some of our favorite translators for working overtime with us on personal ministries outside of the AIM teams. This included a two-day Bible study we held in a tent city where several children came to faith in Christ. A young married woman was supplied with beads to add to her souvenir-making business. A family in the tent city was blessed with money for rice and beans or clothes or shoes or whatever they need. A boy who dreams of being a musician is beginning four months of guitar lessons under a very talented music teacher (who also happens to be one of our translators). The only reason we didn't also buy him a guitar is because someone donated one.
Because of your generosity, I was able to be generous. We were able to go as a staff on a day trip up into the gorgeous Haitian mountains . . . and then spent another day across the bay at a beach resort. So, we had the chance to enjoy ministry together and relaxation together. And in both, through and through, we saw the beauty of God in the people and creation, and the goodness of God in providing for us everything we needed - and much more!
So, thank you. This summer would have looked different - not only for me, but for everyone else - if not for you. "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else (2 Corinthians 9:12-13)."
We saw a lot of Jesus in Haiti. We saw Him in the shining eyes of the kids in the tent city, the mother in a one-room house who prayed every morning for her family's daily food, the pastor whose church meets in the streets, the little boy who flawlessly quoted Psalm 100 with his hands folded and his eyes closed. But that's not the only place I have seen Him. I also see Jesus in you.
Praise the Lord.
Yours most sincerely,
Rebecca
