H. Henry Williams

Poverty in Woodbury?

I'd love to see someone help our church address some of the needs really close to home. As with any ministry of this kind, it requires a champion...a leader. Our work in Haiti or with the Karen refugees or with our other partnerships are initiated and fueled by a champion of that ministry and the team that grows around that champion. Anyone want to attend a seminar on poverty in Woodbury? See below. Let me know if you're going to go.

Hey Jude

He must get sick of hearing that from Americans, but Jude is one of two guys who run the day-to-day operation at the All God's Children Orphanage. And he does a super job, I might add. He's gentle, committed and sacrificial. When I was in Haiti in the spring, we talked a bit about how he might be possible to take a day off at least once per week. He gets two or three a year! He lives at the orphanage and bascially never leaves.

But Yves is a wise leader and is making him come to the U.S. to get some rest and refreshment so he can make it for the long haul (and maybe to see that things will not totally fall apart when he's not at the orphanage). He'll be at the GVCM Hope for Haiti banquet next Friday night. I can't wait to see Jude on my turf.

If you'd like to go, it's a great evening and many Five Oakers will be making things happen behind the scenes. You can read about it here and register here.

Family Mission Trip

It has been a couple of years since we have sponsored a family mission trip, but you won't have to wait much longer for the next one. The P.E.A.C.E. team is partnering with Meg Boren (nurse and full-time missionary) in providing a family short-term mission trip to Nicaragua on March 12-20, 2011. Team Leader Matt Turvey will be hosting an  informational meeting on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1:00 p.m. at his home. Childcare will be provided. Children as young as age 5 can participate on this mission experience. Email me from this site to RSVP or to get more information about the meeting. I'll forward your email.

PEACE Inititiatives Over the Last Few Months

If you're a member of Five Oaks, please read all the way through this post. I received an email from Jerry Meras, our Outreach Director, to the PEACE leaders and coordinators outlining some of our recent PEACE initiatives and I think you should know as well. Here's are just some of the things your money and your church is doing:

• Pastor Henry and Pastor Trent Redmann of Valley Creek Church trained pastors in Haiti.
• We gave $6,800 to GVCM to feed and support the welfare of the orphans, earthquake refugees, and staff at the All God's Children Orphanage in Fedja, Haiti. We will also send another $9,000 to Haiti for continued support in September.
• We sponsored a Golf Hole to benefit the 5th Annual Robin's Nest Children's Home in Jamaica. They raised a total of $21,000!
• We supported Stephanie Lise on her short-term mission trip with the Summer Training Project (STP), with Campus Crusade, as a team leader.
• We supported Kaela Pittman on her summer short-term mission trip to Haiti with Hayden Heights Baptist Church.
• We supported Fawn Sparks, a Harvest Academy graduate (meets at Five Oaks), with a scholarship to attend the EMS Academy. 
• We sent a team to France to work at amp des Cimes. While there we visited with John and Sharon Stacknik, our supported missionaries in Toulouse, France. John and Sharon work primarily with the Muslim, North Africans in Toulouse. They are doing great work in a very difficult ministry.  
• We were able to support Union Gospel Mission with a $5,000 donation towards their bid to purchase the Payne Avenue Outreach Center, 899 Payne Avenue.
• In a coordinated partnership between Global / Local P.E.A.C.E. and our Children's Ministry, we put on a Karen / Haiti backpack drive. Our congregation packed over 450 backpacks for the Karen kids in St. Paul and the Haitian orphans and students of All God's Children Orphanage / School in Fedja, Haiti.
• Tim and Nancy Navratil, our supported missionaries from Wuhan, China were in town. Beth Dalton hosted a wonderful dinner for the Navratils at her home. We got to know the Navratils better and hear about what their ministry was achieving in China.
• On Saturday, July 3, the Wiants led a group of highly motivated volunteers in preparing and serving a delicious meal for the homeless at the Dorothy Day Center in St Paul.
• In June, we sent out our 2nd quarter support payments to the 21 missionary families we support in the U.S. and throughout the world.
• We supported Victor Ezigbo, of Bethel University, with funds to purchase necessary office equipment for the Center for Research in Global Christianity (CRGC) in Nigeria.
  

Make a Difference in Someone's Life...Including Yours

Here's a great P.E.A.C.E. opportunity for you, your family or your small group. Some of you are made for this. This fits your gifts and passions...all you need to do is decide to give your time. That's a big decision, but it has a clear beginning and end. Make a  three-month commitment and change a life (I'm talking about yours). You will receive a short orientation that gives you the tools and know-how.

Please prayerfully consider befriending a Karen refugee.  You can make a world of difference in the life of a Karen family by giving 4 - 8 hours per month of your time for at least three months. The Karen continually request American friends for new families.

When refugees arrive in MN, life here can seem overwhelming.  Imagine fleeing for your life to a new country with a foreign language and customs.  How would you schedule appointments, pay bills, or even find a bus stop without help?  This is what it means to befriend a refugee – take them to the grocery store, teach them how to pay bills, go through their mail with them, make appointments, take their kids to the zoo, carve pumpkins with them, learn about their culture and teach them about yours – be their friend!  You will be blessed as you heed God’s call to love the alien and stranger in our midst (Deuteronomy 10:19).

Five Oaks partners with World Relief Minnesota in welcoming our Karen brothers and sisters.  World Relief requests at least a 3 month commitment, visiting the family once a week or every other week.  World Relief asks all volunteers to fill out an application and attend a brief orientation so they can provide the best support for the volunteers and refugee families.

Please contact Jennifer Dunbar or Denise Coronado at [email protected] to learn more and to get involved. Ta blut doe mah (Thank you very much).

Haiti Pastor's Seminar

We have two days under our belt in the "Bible Study Methods" course here in Haiti. We have about 35 or more pastors after several more arrived yesterday. The first two days we focused on the Bible in the life of the pastor, letting their teaching and preaching be the overflow of their interaction with the Bible themselves. We also focused on the big picture of the Bible--the one story it tells and how it all points to its one hero.

Photo 1: Three of the children from the deaf school. They go to school and board at the orphanage.

Photo 2: Trent Redmann (Senior Pastor of Valley Creek Church)

Photo 3: The pastors when Trent is teaching.......Just kidding.

Twitter and Facebook

I'm in Haiti and I'll try to do a couple of posts this week, but most of the time I'll be posting Twitter and Facebook. You can see my Twitter posts on the right side of my blog page.

We have a few more than 25 pastors. The earthquake and rainy season kept lots of them away. A few more will make it tomorrow.

Trent Redmann (pastor of Valley Creek Church) and I are leading a seminar on "Bible Study Methods." We got a late start today so only Trent taught. I lead a couple of sessions tomorrow morning starting at 9am.

Our interpreter is living in a tent on the orphanage grounds with his family. His church where he is an associate pastor collapsed in the earthquake with 250 people in it. Twelve died. He's going to show it to us on Sunday morning on the way to the airport and the soccer field where they now meet under a tent.

"From Here to Haiti" - Part 4

 

"From Here to Haiti" - Part 3

 

"From Here to Haiti" - Part 2