An Unhealthy Attachment

February 25, 2012

Lately on this blog I’ve been going through and highlighting thoughts on personal worship from the book Worship On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Exploring Worship as a Spiritual Discipline.  It’s been a very healthy call to really make worship beyond just a Sunday event that I attend, and discover what the pattern of a worshiper should look like beyond the community worship we experience Sunday by Sunday.  Honestly, we expect a lot from the church worship gathering.  We need it to be this refugee of holy peace, and an escape from the noise of everyday life; we expect to commune our hearts together and to hear the intimate voice of God, and it needs to all happens within the confines of a specifically allotted one hour time.  However, a worshiper lives a life of devotion beyond Sunday morning.  And this book thus far has challenged us to make worship a priority, and to schedule a regular routine of it in our lives.

This leads us to another challenge: surrender.  We need to let go of the idols that compete for our time and attention.  Idolatry is often easily dismissed as an antiquated image.  In our minds we imagine some ancient tribal people group dancing ecstatically around a fire, late at night, bowing down to some carved wooden face, or other kind of statue.  In the Bible we think of the golden calf, or of asherah poles, and idols like the baals of the ancient Canaanites.  We don’t participate in any overt ritual action like that and so we think idolatry is not an issue for us.  But idolatry as theologian A.W. Towzer said is simply “worship directed in any direction but God’s, which is the epitome of blasphemy.”

Worship is anything that is more important to you than God.  It can take the form of many things, whether possessions, relationships, a job, a social cause.  It can really be anything.  I actually have this picture in my mind of the character Linus from the cartoon Peanuts.  He’s a very mature, articulate, and well adjusted young kid, but for some reason he’s very attached to his blanket.  It causes him great anxiety to part with it.  It goes everywhere with him.   That’s kind of how we attach ourselves to idols, and it is an unhealthy kind of attachment.  Idols can be the things that set us off emotionally, that give us a sense of peace and security, and cause us great anxiety when they are taken away.

The thing is, as Christians, holding on to an idol is an insult to God.  In the first two of the Ten Commandments God says we are to have nothing above him, nor are we to worship anything else.  Exodus 20:3-5 says: “You shall have no other gods before me.“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.   You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”  (NIV).   God tells us very clearly there is no room in our lives for anything above him.

And neither can anything replace the satisfaction of placing God first in our lives.  Only God can make our future secure and guide us to true lasting satisfaction.  The Psalmist understands this when he says:

You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
   with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
 Psalm 16:9-11 (NIV)

And so worship in our personal lives needs to be expressed in full devotion to God.  We need to be careful to live our lives free of idolatry, and to spend our time enjoying the presence of our God.  If there is anything that hinders us or tempts us away from Christ, we need to examine ourselves, and flee from it.   This will continue to transform us as a congregation when we come together to worship.

Lorn Gieck

Associate Pastor of Music & Arts
lorncornerstone@sasktel.net

The Gift (Christmas Eve 2011)

For those of you who missed the Christmas Eve Candlelight service, or for those who just wanted to see it again, here is the encore of The Gift.  This video presentation was part of our Candlelight service, and involved many artists, and musicians in telling the story of one boys search for the true meaning of Christmas.  There is also an accompanying book available, which was handed out at the end of the Christmas Eve service.  If you would like one please contact the church office and we’ll set one aside for you.

The Gift from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

There is also an audio only version as well, which can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

The Gift (.mp3)

Emmanuel

Post by Lynette Sawatsky:

One of my favourite advent songs is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”   The advent season is a wonderful time to anticipate the birth of our Saviour, whose name “Emmanuel” means “God is with us.”

What an extravagant sacrifice God made in sending His Son into a world that would ignore, mock, and ultimately kill Him.  People today are not so different from those who lived two thousand years ago.    In many ways Jesus continues to be openly ridiculed or rejected or overlooked in favour of an overweight man dressed up in a red suit.  Just open a newspaper or listen to a radio broadcast or eavesdrop on a conversation at the mall.  And yet, even though God knew that Jesus would not be welcomed by the very ones He had created, the Father still sent His Son as a helpless infant, in an effort to draw a lost world to Himself.  What an amazing gift!

God is with us.  For thirty some years as a human being, walking on the face of our planet.  And forever after  through the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He is with us.

Sometimes He whispers an idea into our hearts.  Sometimes He brings a person to mind, prompting us to pray.  Sometimes we hear His voice in a song of praise or in a verse of Scripture or in the pastor’s message.

God is with us.  I am not left to handle the details of my life unassisted.  He is not a magical genie who will answer my every request, but He is faithful to walk beside me through each circumstance of my life.

God is with me.  I have felt His presence in a new way this fall and winter as I’ve gone with a team of volunteers to sing with core neighbourhood children who do not have access to any music program.  We meet on Tuesdays at noon with an enthusiastic group of kids, singing silly songs as well as songs with meaningful lyrics, eager to communicate hope and value to children whose lives we would not otherwise be able to touch.  Some of these children struggle with learning issues.  Some of them come to school hungry.  Some of them face daunting challenges in their home environments.  All of them need to be touched by the presence of Christ in their lives.   Tuesday noon hours have become an anticipated highlight of my week as I look forward to singing with these small ones who are precious to me and to God.  Please pray for Jessica (who keeps us organized) and for Darrell and Shaelynne (the most amazing accompanists ever!) and for me as we seek to make Christ visible to the choir children.

A couple of weeks ago, when I brought a small treat for the kids, one of the girls suggested that I should bring a “big treat” to our last practice before Christmas.  I asked her what would be a “big treat” and braced myself for her reply.  Imagine my surprise when she asked for a banana.  I have a hard time imagining a life where a banana could be a big treat, and I am humbled to have the weekly opportunity to touch these kids’ lives in ways that will hopefully communicate love and value and hope for their future.  It feels like too much to hope for, but God is faithful and I am so glad He whispered this idea into my heart.

God is with us.  What more could I ask for?  This week I’m pretty sure I saw His pleasure in the eyes of a child who smiled at me as I handed her a banana.

 

 

Spiritual (and Musical) Discipline – Winter 2012 Music Schedule

I think it’s no surprise to anyone at this point that I am a firm believer in practice.  Rehearsal is extremely important and I am of the opinion that there is never enough time for me to sit at an instrument and enjoy the motion and mind space of making music.  The hours can pass quickly as I lose myself playing around with songs, exercises, scales, drills; I really relish every opportunity I get to improve my skills.  Practicing by myself, or practicing with a group, it’s all something I honestly love.

Of course I wasn’t always that way.  I took piano at the insistence of my parents, and as a young boy practicing was not the highest on my list of priorities.  Time used to move painfully slow as I did my best to fill that half hour with productive bits of music.  Often I’d just stare at the clock convinced that it was unmoving.  As I got older things improved, but even then I could procrastinate with the best, and put off important concepts that I really needed to know.

My darkest hour was when I was in Grade 6 Royal Conservatory Piano.  I wasn’t particularly thrilled with scales and so I put off learning my C# minor scale.  Next week always seemed to be the best time to get started learning it.  The problem was that I procrastinated so long that I was a week away from my piano exam and had still not got around to learning it.  So I tried to learn it furiously as the clock started ticking away (Just for future record, you can’t really cram for piano exams.  You either know it or you don’t).  This led me to the next step of rationalization.  They may not ask me to play it.  Of the several scales I’m supposed to learn, they surely wouldn’t ask for that one.

And so at week’s end I am ushered into my exam.  When it came to the technique section of the exam they asked me to play only one scale; one randomly chosen from a list of five or six.  Can you guess which one they asked for?  C# minor.  And yes, it was an atrocious, messy, non-musical assault, on that poor examiners ear.  When the time came, when it really mattered, I wasn’t prepared.

Now of course, this is a partial encouragement to all of us to continue to practice and rehearse, and to do it well.  Music is a daily discipline that needs to be developed carefully through the coordination of our minds with our instruments.  But I also want us to understand that what we do is not just music, its worship leadership.  And that requires another kind of daily discipline.

I’ve been reading a book by Rory Noland entitled Worship on Earth as it is in Heaven and in the second chapter he talks about worship being beyond a Sunday morning experience.  Worship needs to be a daily habit.

We see an amazing example of this in the life of Daniel.  Daniel is an exiled child from Israel who is bold about God when it really matters.  By the providence of God, and strength of character Daniel becomes an important leader in Babylon.  This made a lot of other powerful men jealous and they looked for a way to get rid of him.  So they convinced the King to pass a law against praying to any other man or God other than the king.  Verse 6:10 of the book of Daniel shows us his response:

 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (NIV)

So when it really matters, we find that Daniel is well prepared to face what is coming his way.  He has been already in the daily practice of prayer and worship.  Every day without fail he would get down on his knees.  It wasn’t something he fit in when he could.  He prioritized it three times a day regardless of schedule.  And so when Daniel is arrested and thrown to his death at the mouths of hungry lions, God sustains him, and vindicates him.

Just as much as I want us to have a culture of musical excellence, and a commitment to practice and rehearsal, I hope also we cultivate and grow in our pattern of daily worship.  We can’t neglect worship in our lives all week, and then expect to be relevant in worship on Sunday.  Worship really does matter.  In Daniel’s case it was this witness that led the king to acknowledge Daniel’s God as the one true God.  Out of this came a formal declaration to the world that everyone should honour and reverence God.

Maybe this is why we lack influence in our society.  Cornerstone’s vision is to change our world.  I read from scripture that worship is an important part of this.  However, we need to worship like Daniel.  It has to be a daily pattern of our lives, not just a tacked on religious duty at the end of the week.  Let us follow the model of Daniel, and others like him in scripture.  When we make worship a daily priority, we won’t be caught off guard when it really matters.

Just for the record, I can play C# minor now without a problem, and I practice it regularly.  You can test me sometime if you want.

 Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

click here for the Winter 2012 Music Schedule (.pdf)

 

 

Worship on Earth as it is In Heaven

I do my best to keep up with current ideas and struggles on the significance and meaning of worship.  There are a lot of great worship theologians and worship leaders doing great things to approach the worship of the church both intentionally and thoughtfully.  I’ve read several books by an experienced church musician named Rory Noland, but his recent book takes a unique approach, and presents to the church a unique challenge.  The book is entitled Worship on Earth as it is in Heaven and in it he approaches the subject in a very personal way, exploring worship as a personal discipline.

As such it’s not a method book about how to make a better worship program.  Rather, it speaks to how should I, or any individual believer, take seriously the spiritual practice of worship in our lives, and what are some ways in which we should put this into practice?  So I’m going to use this and the next few upcoming blog posts to share some observations from his book about the formation of worship in an individual’s life.

The book is divided into two sections, and the first half treats personal or private worship, while the second tackles group, or congregational worship (such as the Sunday morning church gathering).  He encourages us to look to King David as our model for private worship.  And his first observation about the private life of David’s worship is that he made time with God a priority.

David understood that worship was important, and he made it a priority in how he ordered his life and the life of Israel.  He appointed singers and instrumentalists and organized worship.  He brought the Ark to Jerusalem, and made plans to build the temple.  Never was there a king that not only in word, but also in practice, made the praise and glory of God a priority.

Psalms gives some examples of David’s call to worship the one true living God:  “You who fear the Lord, praise him!  All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel” (Psalm 22:23);  “Praise the Lord!  Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord”  (Psalm 135:1); “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”  (Psalm 150:6).

We see this focused energy in David’s life and a strong identification of himself with the worship of God.  It motivated him, and gave direction to his life, and influenced all he did.  As Rory Noland observes: “You can always discern your priorities, for better or for worse, by what angers you or stirs you, what frustrates you and what excites you.  Honouring God was the utmost priority for David.”

David’s priority in His life was God, and so worshiping, bringing praise, honour and glory to God, were at the top of his list.  I think it’s good for us to take a look at our priorities, and examine what is important to us.  We are destined to join all the saints in worshiping God for eternity.  Its significant to think about the connection of that eternal reality to our present life and witness.

Next time we’ll talk about making worship a habit.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

 

Christmas focus

As we get into Christmas season I start to see (on facebook, twitter,blogs) and hear what people are busy doing,  what they’re buying,  or when they’re decorating etc.   I can’t help but wonder where Christ fits into the picture.  I have also heard stories of people trying to make Christ an important part of what they are doing, especially with their kids.  Some people put up their nativity sets first and talk to their kids about why we celebrate Christmas.  Whatever you currently do to bring the true meaning of Christmas to the forefront is great!  However, why do we get frustrated when our kids act so selfish?  Why, after we tell them the meaning of Christmas and the importance of what Christ did, do our kids continue to focus on what they want.  Well, we are selfish beings.  Kids are just openly vocal about it.  Think about the amount of time you focus on the true meaning of Christmas and then how much time you spend decorating, shopping, visiting Santa, shopping online, more shopping…. it far outweighs the focus on Christ right?  Also, how much money do we spend on our kids at Christmas?  Are they getting what they want?  Are they getting the coolest newest toy?  That also sends a message.

I have heard two stories in the last week that encouraged me greatly.

The first one was of a friend of mine who was driving with her six year old.  Her daughter was talking about how badly she wanted a barbie for Christmas and how sad it would be if she didn’t get a barbie.  So her mom said to her ‘but what should we really be thinking about this Christmas?’ Her daughter got quiet… and said ‘ya mom, but I REALLY want a barbie.’  Her mom didn’t let up and the conversation went back and forth this way for awhile.  Eventually her daughter flat out admitted ‘I know that we celebrate Jesus’ birthday at Christmas and we should think about that but I don’t want to think about that right now, I just want a barbie!’  You have to give her credit for her honesty.

The other story was my own 4 year old nephew.  He was told as they were cleaning up toys before bed that he will have to give some toys away because he will probably get new ones for Christmas.  However, he didn’t really like this idea.  He said very firmly that he was not giving away any of his toys because he wanted to keep them all!  He liked all his toys!  He was then told that this was really not his decision, that he is very blessed to be given toys and so he can give toys to other children to make them happy too.  It still wasn’t a popular idea but there was ‘no further discussion’ about it.

Teaching kids not to be self-centered is near impossible depending on where they’re at developmentally.  However, if children this age are just given what they want and if parents cave to their selfish whims, this will affect them greatly as adults.  If they are never challenged to think of others before themselves they will create habits of selfishness that last a lifetime.  Naturally thinking about the least of these is tough.  Absolutely.  Our sinful nature says “but I want…”  But I get excited when I hear stories like these because as frustrating as it is for the parents, they are teaching extremely valuable lessons.  They are teaching that it isn’t about what I want, it’s about loving and caring for others.  It is about taking the focus off of ourselves.

Sure there are things that we want.  And we are blessed to be able to give gifts to our children.  But teach them to look beyond themselves. To give back.  To do something for others.  To actually give as God has given to us.

So here are a few ideas to help you guide your children’s thinking beyond themselves:

1. Talk about it.  If it’s not on your mind, it won’t be on theirs.  As much as we want our kids to be better than we are… they are following in your footsteps.

2. Encourage your kids to make gifts for others.  To really think about what someone would like and why.

3. Write letters to your sponsor children.  Make them a card.  Pray for them.  Discuss what their Christmas might be like.  If you packed a shoebox pray regularly for the child(ren) that will receive them.

4. Do an advent wreath or calendar.  (I’m not talking about the Disney chocolate ones… but something Christ focused)

5.  Limit the number of gifts, cut or limit your spending and/or buy gifts through the World Vision Catalogue (or Food for the Hungry etc)

6. Subscribe your kids to magazines such as Compassion Explorer (it’s free!) that get your kids thinking about other children around the world.  Compassion also has a great website for kids called Quest for Compassion.

7. Take some of the Christmas cookies you make with your kids to Hands On Ministries.

8. Attend the candlelight service, and the Sunday morning service on the 25th as a family.

9.  Encourage your kids to pick toys they have to give away.  Not just the run down broken ones, but quality toys.  Maybe even a favorite toy!

I have given you 9 ideas and I know it triggered more ideas in your own head!  Try it.  Depending on the age of your kids your new idea may not be overly popular.  However, think about the life lessons you are teaching your kids by doing these things.

First look at your own heart.  Where is your focus this Christmas?

Missions in the “Earlier” Church Video Series

Missions in the 1980′s – Devoted to Being Taught

Missions in the 1970′s – Devoted to Helping

Missions in the 1960′s - Devoted to the Mission

Not Enough Bread

I was talking with one of our keys leaders in the Music & Arts Department the other day.  We were putting our heads together as to how to make things better in our ministry area.  What we want to know is: how do we improve the music that is produced by the creative people in our church?  I have to say that this doesn’t come out of anything being broken.  Things are very positive, and we look at what God has given us in our church in terms of talent and creative energy with eyes to a bright future.  There is a lot of possibility.  And so with this in mind our leader stepped up and made this observation: that the way to improve music in our church, is to make it not about music.

Sounds very counter-intuitive right?  Shouldn’t we put more effort into music?  Then I thought about Mark chapter 8, and what Jesus thought about bread.

Let me explain.  Jesus feeds 4000 people at the beginning of Mark chapter 8.  He demonstrates compassion for this crowd of people that had gathered around him, yet the disciples seem a little stuck on what to do.  This is a little bizarre because just a few chapters back (ch 6) Jesus just miraculously fed 5000.  The disciples seem to have completely forgotten that, or for some reason thought it was a onetime bit of luck.  Undeterred Jesus performs a miracle with the few loaves they had with them and everyone gets to go home fed.

After this miracle Jesus and his disciples get into a boat, to cross to the other side of the lake, and the disciples get into a panic once again about bread.  They had only brought one loaf with them.  So Jesus finding another opportunity to teach says to them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod” (vs 15).  This really confuses them, and they think Jesus is upset with them for not planning ahead and bringing enough bread.  You can almost hear Jesus sigh.  They really don’t understand.  So Jesus responds in the next few verses:

 “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ¹⁸ ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? ¹⁹ When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”

   “Twelve,” they said.

 ²⁰ “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

   “Seven,” they said.

 ²¹ “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
(Mark 8 17-21 NLT)

 What Jesus is trying to explain to them is that, for him, bread is easy.  He just feed 5000 people, and then another 4000.  Bread is no big deal to Jesus.  He can pull it literally out of nowhere.  And so the disciples should understand that bread is the least of their worries.  What they need to understand is who they follow, and what that means.  The yeast of the Pharisees and Herod is Jesus challenging the religious and political establishment of that time.  There is always temptation to do what the world wants, or expects.

As the chapter continues we see that the eyes of the disciples are opened and they see Jesus for who he is: the Messiah, King, and Sovereign Lord.  And Jesus then asks them to take up their cross and follow him.  They are challenged to understand that being a follower of Jesus is much more than a simple adjustment to life.  Following Jesus requires a life that puts away our ambitions, and our agendas, for a life of devoted service to Him.

And so to make music better at Cornerstone church, we need to acknowledge, that like bread, music is easy for God.  He can pull music out of nowhere and multiply songs, equipment, technique and skill. What’s more important to Jesus is that in our music we live a life that puts away our ambitions, and our agendas, for a life of devoted service to Him.

I’m very thankful for the Music & Arts ministry here at Cornerstone Church.  We have some of the best volunteers, who feel called to use their creative gifts to serve the body of believers here at the church.  They faithfully rehearse, they get up early on Sundays, they work with their equipment, and they work with each other.  But more so than our devotion to the programs, and the music, I pray that we become a team of people that start with our whole hearted devotion to Christ.  Out of that will come true worship, and we will find our way to better music.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

HAITI TRIP DAY 8, 9, 10, 11: Done Like Dinner…

HAITI TRIP DAY 11: Done Like Dinner…

Internet snafu the last few days as Haiti Arise experiments with going off city power (which charges absurd rates for hit and miss service) and running off the generator and custom built inverter they have. Here’s the “Coles Notes” version of the past few days:

MONDAY: Work day! And work we did… Schwackload (its an official term) of work done today. New high’s for posts and panels completed. We’re flying…

TUESDAY: Work day again. It’s a tad repetitive, but we’re having fun, working well together, and by this time we are more than comfortable with the Haitian crews we are working with. Funny how there is no language barrier for guys to make fun of each other, and compete and wrestle…

WEDNESDAY: Bunch of guys went to market in the morning to experience a different part of Haiti. By far the highlight of the day was in the early afternoon. After working like crazy the last few days, we completed the entire wall length at the back of the property where Marc has been having so much opposition. What was once a two year struggle and fight, both physically and spiritually, was finally overcome. It was a blast to watch Marc bouncing around like a kid high on birthday cake as the last panel went in to place. That section of wall: 87 sections, 870 panels, 440ft. What was once nothing is now a 10ft wall, protecting the area which will eventually become the garden. We ended having an impromptu party – one of the team members went to the “corner store” and bought drinks for everyone, Roberto (one of the Haitian workers who spent the bulk of the week with my crew on panels) put on show climbing a 50ft coconut tree in all of 60 seconds (free hand and barefoot) to knock down a bunch of coconuts for everyone to share. We spent the next five minutes trying to convince Marshall to give it a try, but no luck. It was fun to just sit around as a group of guys and laugh, chat, and “translate” as best we could with each other. By this time in the week, Roberto had started wearing high school chemistry lab goggles to work on the panels so the cement dust didn’t get in his eyes as he slid down. He looked like a goof, so naturally, took some heat from all sides.

Wednesday night, Marc and Lisa joined us for our debrief and were both overcome with the relief and joy of getting that that piece done, so that was pretty cool to be a part of. It’s been a long, tough road for them, and it’s been a redeeming week to watch things come together… finally.

THURSDAY: Last work day! And work we did… to the point that we ran them completely out of panels, and got as far as we could possibly go with posts. All that remains are two sections of wall that couldn’t be completed this week anyway. One section, they need to build a home for the family they are moving off the property for first, and the other section Marc is still trying to negotiate for a few more feet (dude guards his territory like a pitbull ). We could go no further…
… so we hit the beach! One last soak in the warm bathtub they call the ocean down here, then a last church service, followed by goodbyes. The crew of guys we had been working with all week doing the panels don’t normally come to church—they are town guys that Marc hires to help give them work. When we said our goodbyes at the end of the day today, we invited them to come and they all declined… until about halfway through the service when they sauntered in. It was fun to be able to see them a last time, and also to send them off with a bunch of work and dress clothes, gloves, and other things we could give them. One of them was a bigger dude like me, so I was able to get him some stuff. Also had my heart wrecked by a young family, but I’ll get to that at another time. Marshall gave away his guitar, we all got to say our goodbyes…

… and now bed. One last “half” sleep, then up for the ride to the airport at 430AM to catch the long ride home.

One last time, here’s the trip, By The Numbers:

- 75+ Cokes drank
- 10 fresh lobsters eaten on the beach
- 1 Swiss Frenchman suckered into buying a painting  (but it is nice, and will look great in his kid’s room!)
- 129 Sections completed
- 1290 Panels set in place
- 103,200lbs of panels lifted (and we note here: that number is actually double, as all of these panels were first lifted to be stacked for the skid steer, and then lifted again to be placed into the wall. Over 200,000lbs worth. We should the JACKED. Sadly, we are not. Just really, really really sore.)
- 653ft of completed wall set in place
- 156 posts set at 250lbs each which means…
- 35,000lbs worth of posts, which give a total material weight of…
- 138,200lbs of concrete and rebar that was not there 10 days ago. Yikes. And that’s not including the dozen or boulders dropped into the hole of each post.
- 790ft of posts in place (once they build up the panel supply to fill to finish them)
- 1 Jelly fish infested swim
- 1 Jelly fish attack
- 2 Jelly fish victims
- 1 Jelly fish victim crazy enough to pee on himself
- 1 Jelly fish victim man enough to suck it up.
- 20 holes dug wrong, that had the be redone (it was after this that we really considered using the auger attachment a bit more…)
- 4 BIG tarantulas
- 2 tarantulas inexplicably let go (so it very well could of just been two after all…)
- 0 panels left

- 2 beyond blessed and encouraged missionaries.

Time to come home…

HAITI TRIP DAY 6 & 7: Watch Out For the Jellies, Maaaan!

No internet connection last night so here’s the recap for the last few days:

 

Recovery.  Ahhh…..

 

Saturday morning we rocked it.  The Haitian crews only work until 2 oclock, so “we” made the executive decision to work through till then as well to get as much done as possible.  This was not an overly popular decision, but everyone sucked it up and we powered through.

 

20 sections completed.

 

Running tally:

51 sections complete, 66 holes dug.

 

By early afternoon the panels we’re getting suuuuper heavy lifting them above our heads.  Each section takes 10 panels to fill.  That’s 10 80 lbs panels handed up the scaffolding and down.  The guys below lift them up, Jason and I grab ‘em, lift ‘em, and lower ‘em.  According to the math (and yes, I used a calculator) we’ve lifted 40,800lbs.

 

Ain’t nothin’ but a thang.

 

With 51 sections done, the goal this week is to match that before we leave.  This would mean we could finish the section of wall that has been giving Haiti Arise the most grief, and also cross another section that would enclose their area a little more in another direction.

 

It doesn’t look like it will get completely finished tho, so the word is going out officially tomorrow:  They are looking for another wall building team for November 20 – December 3 to finish it off, and start the homes for the people they are moving off of the children’s village property.  Anyone interested?  Marc figures he can convince Russ to send me back if we can get another crew

 

Saturday afternoon we we’re spent.  After lunch, we headed to the beach at Taino with the whole team, and Marc and Lisa as well.  Fresh lobster and cokes on a gorgeous calm ocean beach is a beautiful thing.  Was fun to spend some time with other team members from other places, and get to visit.

 

After a wonderful sleep Saturday night, we had church Sunday morning (always an experience).  Was able to share a warm “hug” from Cornerstone with them (and found out I will be preaching Tuesday night.).

 

Speaking of church – was thinking much of you at Cornerstone this morning, and wanted to share with you a simple way in which God has continued to care and guide us as a team, and a congregation in our relationship with Haiti Arise.  During our time here, a few issues came up supplies wise for the wall that needed to be purchased.  I had mentioned to Marc when I got here that if need be we could round up some funds.  When the call went out, family members of team people stepped up huge and covered a large chunk.  But when I contacted T&F back home at Cornerstone, they told me the cheque from when Marc and Lisa were at Cornerstone – the one designated for the wall and village – was on the way.  Those funds will help go a long way to finishing the wall off.

 

And so, I wanted to thank you as a church for your faithfulness and obedience in giving to make a difference.  It was neat answer to prayer, and affirmation of what we are doing.

 

Sunday afternoon after church, Marc and Lisa arranged to take us to another beach, and to a “restaurant” (I use the quotations simply to point out that “beachfront hotel restaurant” in Haiti isn’t even in the same stratosphere as a beachfront hotel back home, even if the beachfront hotel was in LaRonge) for supper.

 

We piled into the van and drove out to a beautiful black sand beach with a little island that was a sort swim away.  Just for fun we decided to swim to the island.

 

About halfway across, a few of us got aquainted with some jellyfish.  They are not nice, and I don’t recommend it.  On the bright side, an unnamed team member did get to experiment with the theory of peeing on yourself to relieve the sting (and yes, it worked).

 

We figured it was just one vengeful jellyfish, and thought nothing of it as we enjoyed our time on the island.  Then we decided to swim back.

 

And then we saw the jellies everywhere. Neeeeeeemo!!!!!

 

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For the record, Nemo’s dad is correct.  The tops do not hurt.  The bottoms do.  After a few attempts that were turned back we decided to brave it.  It’s scary business swimming hard knowing they are there.  Even more so when you are touching the tops of them repeatedly as you swim back.  This was no so relaxing.

 

Back on the beach we just hung out for the rest of the afternoon, with a perfect sunset.  Supper was fun – an experience to be sure!  After initially forgetting my lobster order, they rushed it – meaning it was still half frozen from coming out of the freezer – however the fried plantains and fresh passion fruit juice more than made up for it.

 

I got to sit with Marc and Lisa, and on the way home we actually stopped at their home and got a chance to see where they live.  By far one of my favorite parts of this trip has been the amount of relaxed time I have had to spend with them.  More shoulder to shoulder time, and it’s been fun.

 

Quick sleep tonight, then back at it 630am for devos, breakfast and out to work.  Just pray that all that wonderful local food (including the spaghetti and hot dogs one person ordered) stays where it should tomorrow as we’re working…

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