Mission Leader

This story, along with many others at CommissionStories.com gives a telling picture of the day-to-day realities in disaster areas around the world. Volunteers are there making a difference.

‘No bottled answers:’
Haitians ask volunteers ‘what do I do’ now?
Staff
See more stories at CommissionStories.com
What do I do?” the Haitian man asked helplessly. The Jan. 12 earthquake had destroyed his home and taken the lives of his wife and two children. He was living out of a suitcase.

Butch Vernon, pastor of Thoroughbred Community Church in Nicholasville, Ky., struggled to answer the man’s question. Vernon was in Haiti as a volunteer with a Kentucky Baptist disaster relief team.

“I’m not asked that question a lot back in the States, you know?” said Vernon, his voice cracking with emotion.

“It’s not one of those deals where you can say, ‘take two [Bible] verses and call me in the morning. It’s the only time I’m going to see that guy, and there are no bottled answers.

“I prayed with him and I hugged him, and we gave him some medicine that won’t fix [his problems], but it made him feel better,” he added. “We’re seeing a lot of that.”

Teams on the ground in Haiti
From Jan. 31 to Feb. 8, Vernon and the Kentucky team joined forces with a Mississippi Baptist disaster relief team. They were part of a coordinated effort among the Florida Baptist Convention, which has a long-standing relationship with Haitian Baptists; Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist relief and development agency; the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board.

The toughest part for a volunteer is accepting that you can’t help everyone, said Daniel Edney, who directed the medical response efforts with the Mississippi disaster relief team.

“But we can take care of those who God puts in front of us,” said Edney, a member of First Baptist Church, Vicksburg, Miss., who had led relief teams in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and in South Asia after the tsunami.

“When those you help walk out with a smile on their face, you know you’ve done something.”

When the Mississippi volunteers pulled up to a church on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, they were surprised to see people praising and worshipping God — so many of them were struggling to get by without food and water.

“It was a neat thing to drive up and hear them singing and praising the Lord and worshipping,” said Kay Cassibry, Mississippi’s state WMU executive director who led the 10-member relief team.

“They have been so receptive,” added Cassibry, a member of Highland Colony Baptist Church in Ridgeland. “People do not know us, but they are receptive to our hugs and everything.”

Many helped during week
During the week, the Mississippi team helped at makeshift medical clinics and saw more than 1,100 patients.

“We have treated all kinds of things,” said Cassibry, while walking through one of the clinics. “There were a lot of respiratory problems, a lot of infection. We had to set a couple of bones.

“We’ve got a guy on an IV,” she added. “He asked for a Bible as soon as he woke up. We were pretty excited about that.”

For Hester Pitts, another Mississippi volunteer, the biggest blessings were the thank you letters she received from Haitians.

“I know what it means for us to be here,” said Pitts, a member of First Baptist Church of Vicksburg, “but [these letters are] tangible evidence of what it means for them.”

Pitts admitted her life-changing trip to Haiti was almost a missed opportunity.

Vacation interrupted to serve
She was on vacation with her husband, Kerry, and two other couples in Tampa, Fla., when she was contacted about joining the relief team. Pitts — a retired medical technologist — admitted she wanted to wait until later to volunteer, but she couldn’t shake her burden for Haiti.

Pitts agreed to go to Haiti immediately and asked others in her vacation group if they wanted to join her. One of her friends, David Baldwin, broke down in tears.

“He said, ‘Hester, I’ve been sitting here praying that God would open that door for me to go,’” Pitts said. “I could not believe it.”

Within two hours, the couples were on the road back to Mississippi so that Baldwin and Pitts could prepare for their trip. For Pitts, giving up her vacation was an opportunity of a lifetime.

“I’m just thankful that I didn’t miss the experience,” she said. “I came so close to telling God ‘no.’”

Here’s a local news report about two churches, FedEx Pilots, and a motorcycle club who are making a difference in an under-served community in Memphis.   As Easter approaches, it is a good idea to ask if our lives reflect Christ who died and rose for us. While the following article is from a secular news source, the churches and the believers involved saw a community need and took action. Makes you ask, what am I doing to make a difference and point people to the living Lord Jesus Christ in me?

Taking Back Our Neighborhood: Manassas baseball field

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – The baseball team at Manassas High School began play on a “field of dreams” this week.

Teamwork between some caring FedEx pilots, a motorcycle club and two Memphis churches resulted in a home run for Manassas High baseball players. “It was a great idea to be able to give something back and to give these kids a home field to play on,” said FedEx pilot Lamar Washington.

Until Monday, Manassas had no home field advantage because it had no home field. “We played all road games,” said Manassas baseball coach Dennis Paden.  “We didn’t even have a facility to practice.” The field began to take shape when FedEx pilot Eric Lampelay’s wife began clearing rocks from a field with Oasis of Hope, a ministry of Hope Presbyterian.  Lampelay told co-pilot Washington, who brought his motorcycle club to help rake up the rocks. “There’s a lot of interest and guys are always looking for an opportunity to do something good in the community,” Washington said.

Volunteers from Hope Presbyterian and Bellevue Baptist Church graded the fields.  They donated sod and clay for the infield and pitcher’s mound. On opening day, Lampelay threw out the ceremonial first pitch. At long last, the Tigers of Manassas took their home field against the Pharaohs of Raleigh-Egypt.

“It’s just a blessing that we finally got a field,” said Montrail Brown, Manassas baseball player.  “It’s going to draw a crowd, and more people are going to play.” Paden said the field was a blessing for all involved.

“It’s blessed the people who’ve built the field as much as the kids on the receiving end,” Paden said.  “It really has been something magical.” The Manassas Tigers won their first game on their home field in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Copyright 2010 WMC-TV. All rights reserved.

The attached video (to the right of this front-page posting) tells the story of Shadi, an indigenous Christian in Gaza who chooses against all odds to live out his faith in a very volatile setting.  His pastor was recently murdered and thrown into an empty field.  Muslim children at the school where Shadi teaches are magnetically drawn to the love of Christ that emanates from Shadi’s being. How strange for a Christian to be teaching in a Muslim school. Sounds like the kind of thing that Jesus would do.

What are you living for? What is your bold step of faith in the midst of a world that is either complacent or hostile toward faith?

If I am living a life of purpose, I am on a path of knowing nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  To know The Crucified One results in self-crucifixion by believers today.  Since Shadi has placed himself on the cross already, he also is living by the resurrected power of The Resurrected One.

So in the story of Shadi, it becomes clear, when you’re already crucified there is no need to fear death. And when your already living in the power of the resurrection, there is power in your walk and talk.   Living purposefully? It’s about being crucified with Christ, nevertheless living in His resurrected power – even on the streets of Gaza.

Read the “Last Letters” of missionaries and contemporary leaders at www.thelastletter.org