Saturday, January 30, 2010

His All-Surpassing Peace!

Psalm 91
    1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
         Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
    2I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
         My God, in whom I trust!"
    3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
         And from the deadly pestilence.
    4He will cover you with His pinions,
         And under His wings you may seek refuge;
         His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
    5You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
         Or of the arrow that flies by day;
    6Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
         Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
    7A thousand may fall at your side
         And ten thousand at your right hand,
         But it shall not approach you.
    8You will only look on with your eyes
         And see the recompense of the wicked.
    9For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
         Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
    10No evil will befall you,
         Nor will any plague come near your tent.
    11For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
         To guard you in all your ways.
    12They will bear you up in their hands,
         That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
    13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
         The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
    14"Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
         I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
    15"He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
         I will be with him in trouble;
         I will rescue him and honor him.
    16"With a long life I will satisfy him
         And let him see My salvation."
 I can't believe how much my perspective has been changed when reading the Bible ever since the earthquake and the various attempted break-in's during the night.  Now I understand what David is talking about when he talks about "terror in the night,", or having enemies lurk all around him, or when he talks about nowhere being completely safe.  Or when I read the book of Isaiah, now I know what it's like to live in a place that is destroyed (Isaiah 25) and will now be able to be rebuilt upon the foundation of God.  Now I understand what it feels like to not know where my next meal is coming from, or when I'll have an abundance of water again to drink and shower with.

In the midst of all of this though, God has continued to keep my heart steadfast in Him, and has given me so much peace about all of it.  There was only one night when fear really got the best of me, but God was able to help me quickly overcome it.  I can't imagine doing any of this without Christ.  I think that me and everyone else here would probably be a complete wreck if we didn't have Jesus!  He has given us strength and a peace of mind that couldn't have come from anything but God.  We really have no idea how we were able to keep going on with so many sleepless nights the first week when it happened, but the Lord kept us going, and praise God He did, because many people wouldn't have survived and been able to tell of God's grace in saving them!  Praise God we were able to be His hands and feet to them!

This past week we have been getting things back in order, and figuring out how to best minister to all of the starving, homeless communities surrounding us.  I have been busy working on taking inventory of all of our food donations, getting ready to start up the feeding program again this Monday, visiting different communities living under tents all around us, distributing food to all of our staff, their families and other communities, getting our guest house back to normal, taking inventory of everything we now need for our guest house and our boys and girls homes (all of our pillows are now gone, many of our mattresses are destroyed, and many of our sheets are now not usable because they were used for our many patients in our triage center), and I am now able to focus on the guest house again.  Our boys are moved back into their homes and our girls are sleeping downstairs at the Manassero's house.  We were finally able to convince them that it's okay to sleep inside again (the first time that we had convinced them of that, we had the 6.1 aftershock come the next morning)!  We've temporarily fixed almost all of our walls surrounding our houses, and have more security now.  So the rest is up to God to protect us.  He is in total control, and He has kept us alive for a reason, so we will continue to trust that He will protect us amidst all of this.  He is bigger than all of this!  Thank you all for your continued prayers, e-mails, support, and donations!  We have adequate food and water now, and have been supplied with enough to be able to give to others.  So thank you!  Your prayers really are felt here, and your prayers have been answered daily for us and our ministry, so please continue praying for us and the Haitians, as this is just the beginning of so much more that God has in store for this country.

3 comments:

  1. Your words are so beautifully written about God's provision in the midst of the most trying times. I'm inspired to trust God more! I love you, Mom

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  2. Thanks for the update Dana! I know what you mean about having a new perspective when reading the Bible. Miss you and Love you! Will

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  3. Dana!! Thank you so much for writing. It keeps me in touch with what you are doing/needing.

    I am so thankful that the Lord has you there. I know you are doing great things in His name!

    I am reading scripture like this with new eyes:

    Psalm 29:11
    The LORD will give strength to His people;
    The LORD will bless His people with peace.

    love you

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