Silence

I’ve been pretty silent here over the past few months since we returned from the States.  I guess I’ve been in a weird place… a place where I don’t feel like I have much to say.  A place of busyness.  A place of much change.  A place of increased responsibilities (which glaringly show me my inadequacies.)  I haven’t had much motivation to sit down and write up a blog post.  And even though there have been plenty of times I should have written (I am a missionary after all and communication is expected) I just couldn’t get myself to actually do it. 

This place of silence has not necessarily been a bad thing.  I think we all go through times where we don’t feel like talking or don’t have much to say.  Times where the Lord is asking us to be silent.  Times where words just don’t cut it so it’s better not to say anything.

I don’t want to be silent any more. 

The Pastor at church today preached from Ecclesiastes 11-12.  Although I feel my Creole has really improved in the past year, I won’t pretend that I understood all that he had to say from this portion of God’s Word.  I still have a long way to go!  That being said, I read much of the context while he was preaching and came across a verse I hadn’t noticed before and it spoke to my soul.

“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”  Ecclesiastes 11:5 

I just love this!  How does God place a person’s soul in their body while she is in her mother’s womb?  I can’t even fathom it.  Yet that is the way God works in everything, in every circumstance.  I sat there in awe thinking about it.

I love the book of Ecclesiastes.  It’s one of those books that I have enjoyed reading from beginning to end at one sitting from time to time in my adult life. It’s such a poetic book, yet laid out so matter of fact and rationally.  Those of you who know me well… well, let’s say that’s just how God made me.  And if you’ve never read it from beginning to end in one sitting, I challenge you to do it. 

For what purpose is there to this life?  It is to just be busy, to work hard, to enjoy life or to suffer? 

“The end of the matter; all has been heard.  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”  Ecclesiastes 12:13

It’s all meaningless without a Savior.

Over 2000 years ago, Father God placed the soul of his Son, Jesus  in his mother Mary’s womb and fulfilled the long-awaited promise of a Savior.  Fully God, fully man, this tiny baby was the hope of the world.  So many didn’t understand how God was working, yet he was fulfilling his perfect plan.

Salvation had come. 

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  Luke 2:11

Jesus makes this life worth living.  Jesus gives it purpose. And I can no longer be silent.  For just as the writer of Ecclesiastes can’t know just how God brings the soul to the body, I can’t even begin to understand all the ways God is working in my life, in my family, in this ministry, in this country, in my passport country, and in the world to fulfill his perfect plan.

~Becky

3rd Annual Hope for Kidz Deworming

Don’t be fooled: we may not have any teams in Haiti this December, but we have been very busy moving ahead with other programs and preparing for the busiest time of the team calendar that starts in January.

On December 2nd, we held our 3rd Annual Hope for Kidz (HFK) Deworming seminar.  This is the 3rd year we’ve included deworming in all of our HFKz schools.  We called all the school administrators in for a meeting to review the program protocols and distribute the meds for clinics at their schools.  We actually had a few administrators calling us earlier in the school year asking us to do the program again this year!

The last two years we’ve taught these school leaders how to administer and keep good records of deworming meds distributed at their schools as well as gave them educational materials and training on how to teach worm prevention to each of their classes.  RMI has provided the follow-up to keep them accountable to following through. 

This year, in addition to reviewing these things, I asked them for testimonies of how these treatments have had a positive impact on their students.  I received  overwhelming responses of gratitude!  I also heard quite a few stories that are a little too graphic to write here!  I can say that it was obvious to these school directors the impact this treatment has had on their students.

At the meeting, we distributed to 51 schools  deworming medication and cups for 12576 students and 508 teachers.  That’s right, we handed out over 13,000 doses of deworming meds. 

If you sponsor a child’s education through Hope for Kidz, don’t miss the impact you are making in this small area of the program!  A portion of your sponsorship goes toward deworming as a whole and has a big impact on not only your sponsored child, but that child’s school and community!  Remember, it’s not only your sponsored child receiving the medication and education, but every child in that school. The more people in one school and/or community who receive deworming treatment each year, the  less worm infections in that school and in the community.  Add to that the prevention teaching they receive at school through the deworming program (which includes important education on hygiene and cleaning of food)  and that leads to healthier kids all around.  It’s a win-win! 

Thanks for making it possible!

~Becky

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