Haiti Update

A few weeks ago we received an offering for some missionaries in Haiti.  We were able to send them $2000 from our church to help with what they are doing.  Here is the latest update for those who are interested:

Dear Friends:
Since the disaster, we have actively been involved in helping the people who
flooded out of Port Au Prince back to the provinces (countryside) from whence
they came. Our efforts have been fruitful not only with the Gospel (7 saved-
many coming to church) and tending many injured people. Gayle has a unique
story which she will share with you later.

With the money that has come in, we have been able to meet many-many needs.
(James 2:18James 2:18
English: World English Bible - WEB
18 Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

WP-Bible plugin) Most people returning to the countryside came just with the
clothes on their backs. We have been able to supply money to them to buy
food. We are now involved with the money helping to repair damaged homes
here and in Port. One Pastor came who had a church in Port and many of
congregation were coming to him for food. He had spent all his money buying
rice,beans, and flour mixing them together and cooking for the people. We
were able to provide funds to him. He refused staying here and immediately
returned to Port and his church to help his people. Another Pastor came
yesterday and he and his family have been sleeping outside in the yard, feeling
the house and church not safe to enter into. He had no money. We were able
to give him some to return to his family in Port.

A single mother came with her two small daughters. Her house was gone and
she had no money. We were able to help. Harrington Rigaud’s car was
parked next to a service station near his house and the station caught fire. He
got out of his house and saved the car…the paint was all blistered. The fire
weakened his tires and they had to be replaced. We were able to help. Since,
he has used his car to go various places buying food for us and his family.

So you see Dear Friends, the money is very important and we hope it continues
to come in. The orphanage is now housing 4 additional adults and 3 children.
More may come.

Finally reality is setting in as the people come to grips with their state and their
loss. Some of them are still in a semi state of shock. How best to help them
at this point. We have been praying for wisdom to help God’s People and those
that are not saved yet. We believe God has given us a plan and that is to enter
back into micro enterprise. We did this once very successfully. It allows the
people to have hope and help themselves. To begin this effort, we need
$10,000.00 U.S. AS A START. The Haitian Christians know full well how
to enter the peoples market and make a profit. It is hard work and sacrifice.
But, they are used to adversity and hardship. They continue to have hope
in their Lord. YOU AND YOUR CHURCH CAN HELP. Please come along
side this vision and be a part. This is a long haul program and the Haitian
Christians know they cannot expect anything from their government. IF 500
PEOPLE SENT $20.00, WE WOULD HAVE THE $10,000.00. Please share
this need with your friends. Many of you have been generous already and God
has seen your love and sacrifice. You will be rewarded.

In the meantime, we continue to meet needs with the funds that are coming in
and pray they will continue. No amount is to small. We have received many
gifts of $10.00 and $20.00 dollars. The address is HOUSE OF BREAD,
P.O. BOX 733..CHILLICOTHE,MO..64601. Every gift is tax deducible.
Love In Christ…Jim and Gayle…Haiti

Haiti

Hey everybody,

I’m sure you’re aware by now of the devastation that has happened in Haiti because of a recent earthquake. Before the earthquake they were the poorest nation in the western hemisphere from what I’ve heard, now the living conditions must be unimaginable!

We recently supported some missionaries who have an orphanage in Haiti. They are friends of Tom and Linda Buckle. As I talked with Linda this week about what we could do as a church, she knew that they were going to need financial resources to help those in need. Recently they dug a well for fresh water. They have the only fresh water in the area and are able to serve people through that tremendous resource. We know that there are going to be many people coming to them for help in the days ahead looking for food, water and shelter.

I believe we should do our part as a church to help in whatever way we can. Most of us can’t go over there right now and physically help, but what we can do is support those who have given their lives to that nation and are in a position on the ground to serve. I want to receive an offering this Sunday for our missionaries in Haiti. Please pray about what God would want you to do and what he would have you to give.

What an opportunity to share the compassion of Jesus! We are a small church but I believe we can make a BIG difference! Thanks in advance for being obedient to God!

Pastor Shawn

Real Men Invest in Purity [part 3]

Time to wrap up this week’s blog series.  So far we’ve talked about ideas to keep yourself pure while on the computer; now how about movies.  I enjoy watching movies but I was tired of being surprised by the content.  They always seem to throw something in there at the last minute that doesn’t need to be there and didn’t add to the movie in any way, shape or form.  So it was either stop being surprised [by not watching the movies] or find a way to control what parts of the movie you see and more importantly, what parts you don’t! 

 

We recently bought a DVD player called clearplay to solve the problem.  This DVD player will edit out everything you don’t want to see in a movie in “real time” as the movie is playing.  You can download the “filters” for most movies and check out more info on their website www.clearplay.com.  They have a monthly subscription option to make sure you stay up to date as new movies come out or you could take my approach and just buy access for a month [you can download all of their current filters at once on the filter stick that comes with the player] and then wait until next year and do it again to get caught up.  You can purchase clearplay at local Christian bookstores.  This is an awesome way to control what you watch and avoid the surprises that often come up in movies.  Hope these ideas help!

Real Men Invest in Purity [part 2]

All month long we are doing a series called “Real Men”.  Last Sunday we talked about a couple different temptations that men face.  1. The temptation to chase wealth [status, success etc.] and 2. The temptation to chase women. 

 

One of the easiest areas for men to stumble would be accessing things on the internet that nobody else would know about.  A great way to put a stop to the opportunity is to have an internet filter.  If you have kids, you need this!  If you want to live with integrity, it is a great tool.  There are many different filters that you can get out there.  Bsecure [formally bsafe online], Covenant Eyes and Safe Eyes are some just to name a few.  These will allow you to predetermine what you have the ability to access online by requiring a password for anything that would be inappropriate. 

 

If you want to do this but don’t have the extra funds right now, a great way is to go to the internet options on your browser and take advantage of the filters they have as well.  For a while, we did this.  A great way to not get into trouble is for you and your wife [or accountability partner] to each make up part of the password that gives access to content beyond your internet filter settings.  This way, one person never has a moment to get off track but you can still get access to something if you know has been filtered out for some other reason.  Hope these ideas help!  More to come.

Real Men Invest in Purity

This past Sunday I talked about “Real Men” being men of integrity.  In the message I shared about some things that I do to protect myself from temptations having an open door in my life.  One of the things I mentioned was a tool called x3watch.  This is awesome because what it does is send an email to an “accountability partner” [of your choice]anytime that a questionable [pornographic] website has been viewed on your computer. It will also send an email if anybody shuts off the program for any reason.  It runs in the background and won’t even affect your computers processing power.  This is an excellent tool that is free to use!  If you are brave enough, you could put me as your accountability partner!  You can download the free software at www.xxxchurch.com.  More to come later in the week.

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