God's work through a stolen DVD player...

Repentance is not only the key at beginning a journey in Christ, but so important in continuing a walk with Christ.

I want to celebrate a story of repentance from Saturday morning during our time with the guys around the table.

Each Saturday morning, the guys of the House of Moses along with a few others spend time going through the Scriptures.  Some of the topics we have dug deeply into are:

-  What are the attributes of a MAN following Christ?

-  What does God want for me in my future wife?

This Saturday, we took a look at Genesis 4 and the way God called out Cain in his anger, warning him of his soon to be sin, if he did not repent.  We then went on to share our temptations/struggles of the past week and then spent time in prayer.  WE were finished!

Two hours later a knock on the gate revealed a local pastor and one of the students that attend the Saturday morning bible study.  The pastor asked if he and the boy could sit down as the boy had something he wanted to share.  

As the boy talked, he revealed that while he was at our house he stole a personal DVD player.  Through brokenness he shared how wrong he was and wanted to seek our forgiveness.  The pastor followed up his story by saying that this young man came to him out of conviction of what he had done and wanted to return the DVD player.  

As I sat and listened to him, I began to rejoice inside along with the angles.  Check out this verse in Luke 15:7

You see, this is FRUIT of the labor.  The Holy Spirit is doing a work in this young man's life.  

I do not even see the item that was potentially stolen and gone forever, but I look at the greatness of the work of the Holy Spirit and how this young man is learning to hear and obey HIM.  

After all, didn't Jesus say that we should STORE up TREASURES in heaven...

Only Jesus...

There are many moments...days...living Haiti adventures that I have "only Jesus" moments- Surreal moments where you know that there is no place else that you'd rather be and nothing makes sense to have that feeling; it can only be from God.

Those are the moments like yesterday; walking 2 miles plus with 2 five year olds, Terah, big HoM kids and lots of neighborhood kids in the middle of the afternoon heat through mud from the weeks rain, to go watch our church play futbol (soccer).  Sitting on the ground full of bugs (literally, ants, spiders, crickets, mosquitos, flies - they all came out to feast!) with Jordan and Ava on top of us because they don't want to be with the bugs and we couldn't be happier...As we listen to people from our church chant and sing, watch our kids play futbol (our team won by the way) that's an only Jesus could do this moment.

Today, heat beaming down on a tap tap full (and I mean FULL) of people because nobody can find gas.  It's the end of the day, we are exhausted from walking all over PdP looking at houses, hungry, so dirty, Terah sick to her stomach (just threw up), Ava is heavy and it smells; we all smell...piled on top of each other, loud-Bob Marley playing and everyone seems happy.  We are all bobbing our heads, dancing (if you had to stand) and singing and as I sing, "Everything's gonna be alright" (No Woman, No Cry) I look at a beautiful sunset over the ocean and think, Only in Jesus is this an awesome moment.

I wonder how many times Mother Theresa had those moments - That's peace...contentment.
Maybe that's what Stephen felt when being stoned and by Luke's account it says, after he forgives his murderers, as Christ did on the cross, that he fell asleep.  Fell Asleep?  Being beaten? But that is peace.

Jesus moments that can only be explained that God's love is consuming and our finite human lives get to be a part of His kingdom's work and there is no other place to be than with him there - in Haiti, the U.S., India...all over the world; wherever God has called you, whatever He has you doing for His glory  do it with all your heart and find true joy!

4 lollipops, 2 kids, and 1 lesson

Yesterday, I had promised Jordan and Ava that we would go on a walk and buy 4 lollipops after their nap.  As soon as Ava arose from her nap, she quickly reminded me in a tone that woke Jordan that we had a mission to accomplish.

What I thought would be a short walk down the road, turned into a journey with a lesson.  We ventured from merchant to merchant asking the same question, "Do you have lollipops?"  After the 5th merchant and at least a mile of walking, we had struck gold.

From there, we decided, or I decided,  to sit down and watch the world go by.  As I was sitting there, God was telling me that this was a great opportunity for a solid lesson from the Scriptures.  

The dialogue went something like this:

"Jordan and Ava, what do you think God wants you to do with these lollipops."  

Ava responded quickly, "Dad, he wants us to eat them."  In which I agreed.

But I responded, "But you guys each have two lollipops..you can only eat one at a time!  Do you think God would want you to give away one of your lollipops to a kid you see on the street?"

Jordan broke the brief silence by saying, "No, I think he wants us to eat both of them."  

Isn't the unadulterated honesty so great!  

I responded with, "In the bible it says that we should do to others as we would want them to do to us.  Don't you think you would like for someone to give you a lollipop if they had an extra one."

Immediately, Jordan gets up and walks about 20 yards and hands a little boy his lollipop.  Ava on the other hand, takes the lollipops out of my pocket and looks at both of them.  She then glances at me and then at the lollipops and slowly gets up and takes one lollipop to a girl close by.  

The whole point of this little story is to remind us all how easy it is to teach our children lessons from the Scriptures.  Tangible lessons that will stick close to their heart.  Lessons that they will remember, because it involves them immediately responding in obedience or disobedience.  

Reminds me of what God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:5-7

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.  Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up."

Don't miss those great teaching moments that God allows you with your kids.  

ON a side note, the answer is "No, I would not have made them give their lollipops away.  This is part of the lesson too."

House of Moses Update

“Obedience to God does not always mean a happy ending.  But why do we think it should?”  -  Charles Colson 

A dangerous quote in which we all live amongst in the journey as followers of Jesus.  We do not like quotes such as these but the inherency in which they are true in our own lives, cause them to resonate. We know the things we should do, but if we step into these obediences the cost MAY affect our lives.  We may be ignored, rejected, ridiculed..

In the last few weeks at the House of Moses, we have lived out an obedience in which we are just recovering from.  Discipleship, as we are learning, is a very unique journey that we all are on...NO ONE has ARRIVED even though some may appear this is true.  

God allows things to come into our lives to refine us.  But isn’t it awesome to know it is not just for “refining sake” but to make us holy as HE is holy.  Once again, the reasoning for holiness is that we are complete in Jesus.  When we are complete we secrete fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, etc.  The cool thing is, if these “fruits” are being secreted this must mean our hearts are in peace, or contentment, wherever the journey is taking us.  Take a closer look at how Paul explains it in Philippians 4.

We say all this, to say, oh how GREAT is our GOD in the midst of each journey at the House of Moses.  The beauty of transformation that is happening brings us to our knees in HIS overwhelming work amongst us all.

Now for a quick update of what is happening at the House of Moses:

Exams, exams, and more exams 

Currently as I write this update, the students are diligently studying for their quarterly exams.  Each student has an average of 11 tests.  If you were walking around the house you would see many of the students in deep study for these exams.  We are so very proud of them.

Something new for all you SPORT’S FANS 

A new tradition is happening at the House of Moses.  The students love participating in a X-Box soccer tournament on Friday nights.  Needless to say, we are up very late for these tournaments.  

An update on Vanah 

Praise God for technology.  We are able to SKYPE weekly with Vanah which brings joy to both Vanah and all of us here.  Vanah is doing so well.  She made an “A” on her first math test and was the highest grade in the class.  She is having so much fun meeting new people and we are so thankful for the community that has welcomed and loved on her.  Also, thanks to Rodney and Debbie Payne, she has been introduced to Whole Foods where she can buy plantains, which are a staple in Haiti.  Continue to pray for Vanah as she adjusts.

Children’s Ministry 

Okay, I was not ready for this to happen so quickly but the students have officially taken over this ministry.  Yesterday I was upstairs studying Kreyol when I heard a beautiful choir of children’s voices singing.  I thought to myself, is it already Monday.  This is so cool to see how they have not only taken it over but are diligently seeking God on what to do each Monday night as they pour out to our community’s children!

Thursday Night Bible Study 

Humbled and so thankful in what God is doing amongst this community.  As we are taking on Kingdom topics, the house gets fuller each week with those hungering for the Scriptures.  In the next few months, Jocelyn will be teaching one of these nights.  Excited to see him do this as we believe in allowing students opportunity to grow by being thrown into the “fire”, so to speak! 

Look at your calendars 

We, the Barnes’ will be in America from mid May - early July.  We are already planning dates to share the journey of the House of Moses with churches, small groups, etc.  Please keep us in mind and contact us via barnesinhaiti@gmail.com if you would like us to share.   We could also use any help in any form to do our annual donor appreciation gathering, and this year we are going to host a Haiti House of Moses Golf Tournament to raise funds for a vehicle!  If you are interested in hosting or helping with food, invites, etc OR you’re a golfer - PLEASE let us know!

Student of the Month

Jocelyn is the student of the month at the House of Moses.  He brings so much joy to our house in the way he is always smiling and humming/singing some worship song.  On most Saturdays you will find him visiting his sister and his nieces and nephews.  Although he loves to eat, oatmeal and porridge is two of his least favorites; but you will never hear a complaint, just an empty plate.  Jocelyn longs to be a Pastor/Missionary and has a great handling on the Scriptures.  He has had several opportunities to preach at our local church and looks forward to more opportunities in the near future.  We are so thankful for Jocelyn and the light he brings to the House of Moses. 

Praises 

-  Growth in the students as disciples 

-  Overall health for our family and students at the house 

-  Our local church that feel just like family

-  March will be the month of visitors, which is always an encouragement for us 

Prayer 

• Our marriage, that it will be an example of Christ’s love  
• Wisdom on continued discipleship and refining of the students...and US! 
• Wisdom on the exact school and location God wants the House of Moses in 2013-2014 
• Preparation for our time in the U.S., prioritizing and scheduling as God opens doors and provision for the next year’s mission support, rent and needs.  

Intimate Encounters

John and I sat down yesterday with the Ferguson's book, Intimate Encounters to evaluate our marriage. It challenges three areas of needs:  Emotional, Spiritual and Physical...

   As we began the evaluation from the book everything that John thought we were strong in; I thought we were weak in and what he thought needed work - I thought was good.

 We decided to answer the questions from the "evaluation" today as our communication was just not cohesive yesterday.  John's about to get back from devotions at the trade school and we'll see where we are today!  LOL - We laughed as this revealed to us once again the deep truth of the beauty of brokenness that Haiti shows us every day. 

Our reflection of Christ is revealed in our need for him.

Our testimony is not manifested through perfection but redemption.

Our worth lies not in an ability of any kind but our availability to His Will and His love daily.

Mercy, Grace and Faith is real and raw when lived out in desperation for a Mighty Savior.

His love is shown in and through us when we have received it, our filled by it and overflowing...

HE is made strong in OUR weaknesses...

Poverty has such a beautiful way of revealing our inability to do anything apart from Christ and Haiti has a unique way of challenging us to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God!"  

To love with reckless abandonment.  To listen and yield to the Spirit of God...

Oh, this faith journey -