1.To a new battle,
Jesus is calling us,
And here we are faithful
Ready to follow Your step
Lead us to the battles
We are your soldiers
Refrain
Arm our arms, arm our hearts
And we will be
More than conquerors
2. Arm us, O Lord
With faith, with boldness
With strength, with wisdom
With love, and with zeal
Embrace us, Lord
With one invincible ardor
At 11:00am yesterday morning, many Haitian churches across the US gathered for worship with an even more somber spirit. El Shaddai, Miami, was one of them. The above French hymn (translated, of course) was the opening song. The congregational reading was taken from 1 John 3. How very appropriate the opening song seemed. Sometimes we forget that the battle is really a spiritual one and so we forget to pray along that end. God has a mighty army to fight the battle and has equipped that army, the Church. Then the Scripture reading reminded us of the God's love and how we, as His children, should show His love. Praise God for His Holy Word.
After the tempo of the music died and the singing voices silenced, sobs were heard, even from those leading the worship. There were tears for their beloved Haiti. As poor as it is, it's home. Then there were the sobs for loved ones that they haven't heard from since Tuesday. Where are they? Are they OK, dear Lord? And probably thoughts like, "Will my boss give me time off? If I go I may lose my job and then how do I support the rest of the family in Haiti?" Or, "How can I find more money to send to my family? I already sent what I had last week."
Latest from Haiti:
Widly, the 12-year-old boy found walking in the streets of Gonaives, was left with other family members in Lester. Dony and DouDou never made it to the south. Two dear brothers, Mike and Joe, from C3 Missions, flew in via DR, to do the coordination of the food with Mission of Hope. They all stayed Saturday night there on that mission's complex which is on the outskirts north of Port-au-Prince. Hurricane Ike caused more damage. In a city near Cabaret, about an hour away, flood waters came through and about 30 people died that night in that city alone.
Yesterday, efforts were made once again to get to Gonaives with 5000 pounds of military food and purified water. Hired men loaded the food on the bus, took it as far as they could go in front of a damaged bridge. Another group of hired men took the food off and put it on a truck on the other side of the bridge, and then the drive into Gonaives began. Then they came to a road blocked by vehicles. No one was allowed to pass that point. Relief effort would once again be delayed. However, on the way, they were many who had left Gonaives in search for food. Food supply and water was given to them.
This morning, the team is at the airport waiting for the two helicopters from the DR to arrive. With bridges broken down, roads damaged, they will try this one more time.
In your prayer time, remember also the spiritual warfare that is going on. Pray also for the other ministries that will try to get into Gonaives.
The services at El Shaddai ended with the preaching of the word from Psalm 29 given by Rev. Bresile St. Germain, Dony and Louis' father. Here is how that Psalm ends with verses 10 and 11-
" The Lord sits enthroned over the the flood; the LORD is enthroned as king forever. The LORD gives strength to His people; the LORD blesses His people with peace."
To God be the glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment