I just sent this link to a bunch of my coworkers here at Eastern States Engineering. Welcome guys! I'm going to be updating this site regularly with info about the preparation for my leaving and will continue to post updates here from Haiti. So stop by often.
For a good starting point, click on the "Hello and Welcome" post on the right. Also be sure to check out the pictures from my first trip to Haiti. Thanks ESE for your support. It's been great working with you all!
Monday, January 31, 2005
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Resignation and the foolishness
It hasn't felt real (the fact that I'm going to Haiti for 6 months) until this last week. Receiving 90% of my support and then on Friday, I submitted my letter of resignation. My last day will be the 18th of Feb. It has started to hit me: I'm going to be without a job in three weeks and be in Haiti in about a month! Wow.
I had told my supervisors a month or so ago that I would be leaving, so there was no surprise on their part. But I got into a number of conversations with other coworkers about my trip and why I'm going. I was kind of frustrated with myself; I don't feel like I was conveying the depth of what Jesus had done for me and why I was going to spread that love to others. To be honest, as I was saying "I'm going to show the love of Jesus to others so that they might know Him," I felt foolish. I felt like some corny TV evangelist. But as 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." My human nature tells me it is foolish and other might hear it as foolishness, but "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 cor. 1:18).
So to answer the question of why I am going: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also out to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11).
Please pray that as I talk to people about this mission and why I am going, I can be clear that it has nothing to do with me, it's all about Christ. Pray that I can be clear in my words, but most of all that I would recognize the "foolishness of God" for what it really is: wisdom and truth.
I had told my supervisors a month or so ago that I would be leaving, so there was no surprise on their part. But I got into a number of conversations with other coworkers about my trip and why I'm going. I was kind of frustrated with myself; I don't feel like I was conveying the depth of what Jesus had done for me and why I was going to spread that love to others. To be honest, as I was saying "I'm going to show the love of Jesus to others so that they might know Him," I felt foolish. I felt like some corny TV evangelist. But as 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." My human nature tells me it is foolish and other might hear it as foolishness, but "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 cor. 1:18).
So to answer the question of why I am going: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also out to love one another" (1 John 4:9-11).
Please pray that as I talk to people about this mission and why I am going, I can be clear that it has nothing to do with me, it's all about Christ. Pray that I can be clear in my words, but most of all that I would recognize the "foolishness of God" for what it really is: wisdom and truth.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
90%!!!
Glory to God! 90% of my support is in or pledged!! It's the last push. Thank you all so much and thank you to God for expanding my view of how you can provide in amazing ways.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
There is no snow in Haiti!
But there is a whole bunch of it in philly! Life here has been pretty good lately. Work has been crazy the last couple weeks, but the overtime turns into a great paycheck :) It's good to pay off some of those bills before I leave.
So I should tell you a little bit about where I'm living now and how God provided this place. The lease for my apartment that I've been living in for the last 2 and a half years was up at the end of december. I really couldn't live there month by month, so I had to find a place to hang my hat just for the few months before I leave for Haiti. I had a few places I thought I could live, but two weeks before the end of my lease, they all fell through. So I sent out a mass email for anyone who wouldn't mind a roommate for 2 months to give me a call. Within 4 HOURS, a guy whom i had never met before called me. He was looking and had been praying for another roommate for just those couple months!! What an awesome provision by God! The rent is half of what I was paying before and the guys I live with have been a huge encouragement to me. Thank you so much Brian, Brian, Isaac, and Josh! A big thank you also to Jamie, Bindu, Liz, and Liz's parents for letting me store all my junk at their houses. Oh, and a shout out to my parents in Minnesota for looking after my cat. Holla!
I'm going to check on my support this week, so I'll let you all know when I do. Thanks for all your prayers.
Creole phrases of the day:
Ou ba li bagay la ("you give him the thing")
Nou pa kapab travay nan ti kay la ("We cannot work in the small house")
Chen an mange pen ("the dog eats bread")
So I should tell you a little bit about where I'm living now and how God provided this place. The lease for my apartment that I've been living in for the last 2 and a half years was up at the end of december. I really couldn't live there month by month, so I had to find a place to hang my hat just for the few months before I leave for Haiti. I had a few places I thought I could live, but two weeks before the end of my lease, they all fell through. So I sent out a mass email for anyone who wouldn't mind a roommate for 2 months to give me a call. Within 4 HOURS, a guy whom i had never met before called me. He was looking and had been praying for another roommate for just those couple months!! What an awesome provision by God! The rent is half of what I was paying before and the guys I live with have been a huge encouragement to me. Thank you so much Brian, Brian, Isaac, and Josh! A big thank you also to Jamie, Bindu, Liz, and Liz's parents for letting me store all my junk at their houses. Oh, and a shout out to my parents in Minnesota for looking after my cat. Holla!
I'm going to check on my support this week, so I'll let you all know when I do. Thanks for all your prayers.
Creole phrases of the day:
Ou ba li bagay la ("you give him the thing")
Nou pa kapab travay nan ti kay la ("We cannot work in the small house")
Chen an mange pen ("the dog eats bread")
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
I Just Checked My Support...
And praise God! I have 60% of my support raised! Thank you so much to everyone for praying and supporting.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Hello and Welcome!
Thank you all for checking out this blog (short for weblog). I'll be updating this page regularly to keep you informed of how the preparation for my trip to Haiti is progressing. After I leave for Haiti, I will be posting updates, prayer requests, stories, and pictures here. So stop by often! Please comment as much as you like (click the comment link at the end of each post) or email me at bennyg612@hotmail.com.
I've posted the updates from my first trip to Haiti in August 2004. God did some awesome things, so be sure to read and look at the pictures. I also put the support letter for this coming trip at the very end (under the heading "Support Letter" on the right side-bar).
As of the last time I checked (last tuesday), my support is at ~40%. Praise God!! The target departure is the last week in February. In order to leave by then, I need to have 100% of my support in by next week, so there is still a long ways to go! Thank you so much to those that have sent in their support already. A couple people have been asking about contributing via credit card or otherwise, so for other payment options, please call 610-617-4696 or go to www.crossworld.org. I also have a few automatic deduction forms (either from your checking account or credit card), so if you want one of those let me know and i'll mail one to you. Thanks!
A couple prayer requests:
-Patience as the Lord provides support in His time
-Spritual and mental preparation
-Learning the Creole language
-For God's will to be done in Haiti
-For unity and good communication between Bruce and I
I've posted the updates from my first trip to Haiti in August 2004. God did some awesome things, so be sure to read and look at the pictures. I also put the support letter for this coming trip at the very end (under the heading "Support Letter" on the right side-bar).
As of the last time I checked (last tuesday), my support is at ~40%. Praise God!! The target departure is the last week in February. In order to leave by then, I need to have 100% of my support in by next week, so there is still a long ways to go! Thank you so much to those that have sent in their support already. A couple people have been asking about contributing via credit card or otherwise, so for other payment options, please call 610-617-4696 or go to www.crossworld.org. I also have a few automatic deduction forms (either from your checking account or credit card), so if you want one of those let me know and i'll mail one to you. Thanks!
A couple prayer requests:
-Patience as the Lord provides support in His time
-Spritual and mental preparation
-Learning the Creole language
-For God's will to be done in Haiti
-For unity and good communication between Bruce and I
Sunday, January 16, 2005
First Haiti Trip, 1st Update
September 19, 2004
God Bless!
First of all, praise God for the amazing things God has done to pave the way for this trip. Second, thank you all for being part of God's answer to prayer. Thank you to my family who has been a constant encouragement and a blessing to me. Thank you to those at Church of the Saviour (COS) for your prayer and financial support, for the blessing of the Missions Board, and for my pastor Jeb's guidance and direction. Thank you to people at work at Eastern States Engineering for your support, especially to my supervisor Choong for helping to free up time in our very hectic project schedules and to Bill for helping me to prepare some of the technical aspects. Thank you to my girlfriend, Jamie, who has been a great source of support and has continued to point me back to Christ when I feel overwhelmed. Thank you to everyone at UFM for your dedication to our God in missions and your help in preparing this trip, especially Jim O'Neill and Paul Halsey. And last but not least, thank you Bruce and Deb for allowing me to come down to Haiti and serve with you. As I look back over the last month and a half at how God has put together this missions opportunity, I am really in awe and feel very blessed.
It's Thursday night and I have spent the night packing and praying. I've packed almost everything and it looks like it will all fit in one bag. You know those movie scenes where people are jumping on their suitcase just in order to get it closed? well yeah, that was me tonight. I think they're going to need a forklift to put it into the airplane.
I will be leaving for Haiti this Saturday, the 21st, out of New York. Bruce and Deb will be meeting me at the airport in Port-au-Prince, and we are going to go up into the nearby mountains to spend the night, go to church in town on Sunday, back out to another place to stay on Sunday night, and then driving to Bruce and Deb's home in northern Haiti on Monday. It will be a great time to get acclimated to the country and the people, and to have time just to talk with Bruce and Deb. The trip from Port-au-Prince to Bruce and Deb's home is only is 150 miles, but it takes 8-10 hours!
A couple prayer requests:
-Safe and smooth travel to and in Haiti for myself and Bruce and Deb
-Adjustment to a new culture/language
-A good time of bonding and fellowship those first couple days
-My daily submittal to and seeking of God
-Opportunities to show people God's love and to talk to them about Jesus
-For the healing of the country of Haiti and its people
Most of all, pray that God will bring Himself glory in every circumstance regardless of my own comfort or desires. God has every situation in His control and He will work it out all for good; pray that I may "be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for [me] in Christ Jesus."
Again thank you all, and God bless,
Ben
God Bless!
First of all, praise God for the amazing things God has done to pave the way for this trip. Second, thank you all for being part of God's answer to prayer. Thank you to my family who has been a constant encouragement and a blessing to me. Thank you to those at Church of the Saviour (COS) for your prayer and financial support, for the blessing of the Missions Board, and for my pastor Jeb's guidance and direction. Thank you to people at work at Eastern States Engineering for your support, especially to my supervisor Choong for helping to free up time in our very hectic project schedules and to Bill for helping me to prepare some of the technical aspects. Thank you to my girlfriend, Jamie, who has been a great source of support and has continued to point me back to Christ when I feel overwhelmed. Thank you to everyone at UFM for your dedication to our God in missions and your help in preparing this trip, especially Jim O'Neill and Paul Halsey. And last but not least, thank you Bruce and Deb for allowing me to come down to Haiti and serve with you. As I look back over the last month and a half at how God has put together this missions opportunity, I am really in awe and feel very blessed.
It's Thursday night and I have spent the night packing and praying. I've packed almost everything and it looks like it will all fit in one bag. You know those movie scenes where people are jumping on their suitcase just in order to get it closed? well yeah, that was me tonight. I think they're going to need a forklift to put it into the airplane.
I will be leaving for Haiti this Saturday, the 21st, out of New York. Bruce and Deb will be meeting me at the airport in Port-au-Prince, and we are going to go up into the nearby mountains to spend the night, go to church in town on Sunday, back out to another place to stay on Sunday night, and then driving to Bruce and Deb's home in northern Haiti on Monday. It will be a great time to get acclimated to the country and the people, and to have time just to talk with Bruce and Deb. The trip from Port-au-Prince to Bruce and Deb's home is only is 150 miles, but it takes 8-10 hours!
A couple prayer requests:
-Safe and smooth travel to and in Haiti for myself and Bruce and Deb
-Adjustment to a new culture/language
-A good time of bonding and fellowship those first couple days
-My daily submittal to and seeking of God
-Opportunities to show people God's love and to talk to them about Jesus
-For the healing of the country of Haiti and its people
Most of all, pray that God will bring Himself glory in every circumstance regardless of my own comfort or desires. God has every situation in His control and He will work it out all for good; pray that I may "be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for [me] in Christ Jesus."
Again thank you all, and God bless,
Ben
Pictures, 1st set
Elsa's beautiful porch
the truck that we travelled 15 hours in, yeah it doesn't have AC, but the company was great! :)
Elsa, Deb, and Bruce at the Baptist Haiti Mission
The Global Outreach Mission, just north of Port-au-Prince
The road leaving the Port-au-Prince area
The view from the drive #1
The view from the drive #2 (it gets a lot drier in the north)
Sunset on the second day
Clothes drying on the mequite plants (watch out for those thorns!)
The dry country-side near Passe-Catabois
More country-side
some kids that followed us on our surveying adventures
the rest of those same kids that were too afraid to be in the first picture
some more Haitian kids
Boss Cuyu, Bruce's right-hand man
First Haiti Trip, 2nd Update
September 25, 2004
Greetings from Haiti!
I hope all is well back in the States or wherever you may be (Guyana perhaps? J). Things here have been going very well. The flight in went smoothly and the first few days of traveling were without event, a great blessing from God. In our 13 hour-150 mile trip through Haiti, I was able to see a good amount of this beautiful country. The time was able to spend getting to know Bruce and Deb was awesome as well.
Bruce and I have been getting to work. We helped install some water pipe yesterday, and today was spent putting some windows at the new Team House and beginning to survey this afternoon. Things here move very slow, so we’ve been taking our little victories as we have them. Tomorrow we will most likely go and install a new pump on a well and continue with the survey work in order to determine the best location for a water reservoir.
A couple prayer requests:
for continued seeking and closeness with God on a daily basis
for unity and fellowship with Bruce, Deb, and I
for me to learn more of the language (creole)
for bonding with the Haitian guys I will be working with
for protection while we do our work
for God to bring Himself glory through whatever way He deems best.
Thank you all for your support. Your prayers have been evident in this trip; God has done nothing but continually bless us.
In Him,
Ben
Greetings from Haiti!
I hope all is well back in the States or wherever you may be (Guyana perhaps? J). Things here have been going very well. The flight in went smoothly and the first few days of traveling were without event, a great blessing from God. In our 13 hour-150 mile trip through Haiti, I was able to see a good amount of this beautiful country. The time was able to spend getting to know Bruce and Deb was awesome as well.
Bruce and I have been getting to work. We helped install some water pipe yesterday, and today was spent putting some windows at the new Team House and beginning to survey this afternoon. Things here move very slow, so we’ve been taking our little victories as we have them. Tomorrow we will most likely go and install a new pump on a well and continue with the survey work in order to determine the best location for a water reservoir.
A couple prayer requests:
for continued seeking and closeness with God on a daily basis
for unity and fellowship with Bruce, Deb, and I
for me to learn more of the language (creole)
for bonding with the Haitian guys I will be working with
for protection while we do our work
for God to bring Himself glory through whatever way He deems best.
Thank you all for your support. Your prayers have been evident in this trip; God has done nothing but continually bless us.
In Him,
Ben
Pictures, 2nd set
Area we were surveying to build a dam
People begin to gather with buckets almost immediately upon our arrival
bruce supervises as some guys build a ladder to get down into the well
As we pumped dirty water from the well in order to clean it, there was a mad rush to capture that water. people well leave in their buckets for the day until the sediment settles to the bottom.
Installing the pump shaft for the well
It's done!
beautiful scenery #1
beautiful scenery #2
beautiful scenery #3
beautiful scenery #4
beautiful scenery #5 (look at those clouds!)
The road we took to get to the beach
wow
a group of fishermen coming back at the end of the day
God is good
First Haiti Trip, 3rd Update
August 31, 2004
Bonjour tout moun! (Hello everybody!)
Well, Deb and I just got finished killing a family of cockroaches that was living inside their bathroom sink. There’s nothing like brushing your teeth and seeing little antennae coming out of the sink overflow holes. So we sprayed some insecticide in there and out came about 5 cockroaches from the baby all they way up to big ol’ grandpa (and I do mean BIG). There may not be TV, but there is never a lack of excitement here.
The work here has been going great. We have been able to collect a lot of information. Last week we took some data that will help Bruce in deciding where to put a water reservoir and how far the water will be able to service. We also collected topographic information of a ravine for a possible dam location. This week has been spent surveying the existing water system that provides water to a number of towns. God has really been blessing us. The equipment we’ve been working with has been great, and we’ve been able to interpret all the data we’ve taken so far. The weather has also been good, hot but with an occasional breeze to cool things off.
I’ve been calling our work “extreme surveying.” We’ve been hiking up and down mountains, through rivers, and around herds of cattle and goats. We’ve been setting up in the middle of people’s yards and have been followed by dozens of kids who come out to watch the funny white people. As we hike across the wilderness, they gladly show us the best path to get to where we’re going. It has been awesome to interact with the people here, and I’ve been able to pick up some of the language. The scenery has been wonderful as well. There are mountains everywhere and the clouds here are amazing. The past couple nights we’ve worked right until sun down, so I’ve been able to enjoy some great sunsets from atop the mountains. God’s creativity was in full swing when He made this country!
I have three more days until I return to home, and there are a few things to pray for:
The weather would permit us to finish our work and that God would keep us safe as a hurricane passes north of Haiti.
Perseverance in these last days.
Wisdom for Bruce to know which projects and tasks to complete first.
More opportunities to build relationships with the people here.
Safe travel as I return home on Friday.
God to do His work through me in order to bring Himself glory and that I would be continually willing to submit to Him.
Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. I really appreciate the encouraging emails. I have also received all the financial support I needed, so praise God! Please continue to pray through these last couple days. I hope this email finds you all well. God bless.
In Him,
Ben
Bonjour tout moun! (Hello everybody!)
Well, Deb and I just got finished killing a family of cockroaches that was living inside their bathroom sink. There’s nothing like brushing your teeth and seeing little antennae coming out of the sink overflow holes. So we sprayed some insecticide in there and out came about 5 cockroaches from the baby all they way up to big ol’ grandpa (and I do mean BIG). There may not be TV, but there is never a lack of excitement here.
The work here has been going great. We have been able to collect a lot of information. Last week we took some data that will help Bruce in deciding where to put a water reservoir and how far the water will be able to service. We also collected topographic information of a ravine for a possible dam location. This week has been spent surveying the existing water system that provides water to a number of towns. God has really been blessing us. The equipment we’ve been working with has been great, and we’ve been able to interpret all the data we’ve taken so far. The weather has also been good, hot but with an occasional breeze to cool things off.
I’ve been calling our work “extreme surveying.” We’ve been hiking up and down mountains, through rivers, and around herds of cattle and goats. We’ve been setting up in the middle of people’s yards and have been followed by dozens of kids who come out to watch the funny white people. As we hike across the wilderness, they gladly show us the best path to get to where we’re going. It has been awesome to interact with the people here, and I’ve been able to pick up some of the language. The scenery has been wonderful as well. There are mountains everywhere and the clouds here are amazing. The past couple nights we’ve worked right until sun down, so I’ve been able to enjoy some great sunsets from atop the mountains. God’s creativity was in full swing when He made this country!
I have three more days until I return to home, and there are a few things to pray for:
The weather would permit us to finish our work and that God would keep us safe as a hurricane passes north of Haiti.
Perseverance in these last days.
Wisdom for Bruce to know which projects and tasks to complete first.
More opportunities to build relationships with the people here.
Safe travel as I return home on Friday.
God to do His work through me in order to bring Himself glory and that I would be continually willing to submit to Him.
Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. I really appreciate the encouraging emails. I have also received all the financial support I needed, so praise God! Please continue to pray through these last couple days. I hope this email finds you all well. God bless.
In Him,
Ben
Pictures, 3rd set
Bruce, Deb and Myself
A group of kids on broken down equipment
Niva (middle), another worker, and myself
Frayer Agis and myself
deb in front of her house
Deb's dogs
stop foolin' around Ben, i'm ready to eat!"
First Haiti Trip, 4th Update
Sept. 11, 2004
Greetings all!
As most of you know, I’ve returned home to the US safe and sound. God was so good and blessed my travel with safety and smoothness. Instead of a 15 hour drive, I took an hour hopper flight from northern Haiti to the main airport in the capitol (beautiful views from the air for the whole hour!). Despite Hurricane Francis, which thankfully passed just north of Haiti, my flight to New York was still scheduled and even left on-time. Praise God!
As I write to you from Starbucks this morning sipping my tea and eating a fruit cup, Haiti feels like another world. I can imagine the people there that have been up since dawn. The women begin their daily journey to a well just few miles; the men, those that are fortunate enough to have jobs, make their way to work, and the children put on their smiles despite their empty stomachs. Being back in the affluence of America, I do not pity the Haitian people, but I do respect them immensely. The strength, determination, and joy of the people I saw and met there was amazing. And the sense of community and encouragement within the Christian church was convicting and inspiring.
It was evident from the blessings that God continued to pour on this trip that it was being covered in prayer; thank you all for being diligent in praying for me. We were able to accomplish a lot of surveying and engineering work that we set out to do. We sited a location for a new water reservoir and determined where to place a water pipe that will bring clean water to thousands and save people from walking millions of miles a year for water. We also collected information about a possible dam location that will provide much needed irrigation for croplands. Lastly, we analyzed 6 miles of an existing water system. God kept us safe everyday and all my prayers about abilities to use the equipment there were answered. It was awesome to use the skills and talents God has given me in engineering in order to serve the needs of the Haitians.
Bruce and Deb treated me just like family. The time I spent with them ministered to my heart. Their love of God, commitment to each other, and dedication to their work in Haiti were beautiful. And despite the difficulties of not knowing the language, I was able to build some relationships with a few awesome Haitian Christians, especially Niva and Loradieur. On the last day of our surveying, we were driving back home and Loradieur and I were in the back of the truck. Earlier he had bought some food and something to drink, and as we road back he shared his food and drink with me. The way he shared with me out of the little that he had really touched me.
Thank you all for your support of this trip. God is doing a lot of great work in Haiti, and it was awesome to be used by Him in His work. Your prayers and financial support were an integral part of the great success of our work there. Thank you especially to those that sent encouraging emails. Please pray for Bruce and Deb, the work that continues in Haiti, and for direction as to how God may want to use me there in the future. Thank you again for your support and if you have any questions or want to hear more about my adventure, I’d love to talk with you!
Take care and God Bless,
Ben
Greetings all!
As most of you know, I’ve returned home to the US safe and sound. God was so good and blessed my travel with safety and smoothness. Instead of a 15 hour drive, I took an hour hopper flight from northern Haiti to the main airport in the capitol (beautiful views from the air for the whole hour!). Despite Hurricane Francis, which thankfully passed just north of Haiti, my flight to New York was still scheduled and even left on-time. Praise God!
As I write to you from Starbucks this morning sipping my tea and eating a fruit cup, Haiti feels like another world. I can imagine the people there that have been up since dawn. The women begin their daily journey to a well just few miles; the men, those that are fortunate enough to have jobs, make their way to work, and the children put on their smiles despite their empty stomachs. Being back in the affluence of America, I do not pity the Haitian people, but I do respect them immensely. The strength, determination, and joy of the people I saw and met there was amazing. And the sense of community and encouragement within the Christian church was convicting and inspiring.
It was evident from the blessings that God continued to pour on this trip that it was being covered in prayer; thank you all for being diligent in praying for me. We were able to accomplish a lot of surveying and engineering work that we set out to do. We sited a location for a new water reservoir and determined where to place a water pipe that will bring clean water to thousands and save people from walking millions of miles a year for water. We also collected information about a possible dam location that will provide much needed irrigation for croplands. Lastly, we analyzed 6 miles of an existing water system. God kept us safe everyday and all my prayers about abilities to use the equipment there were answered. It was awesome to use the skills and talents God has given me in engineering in order to serve the needs of the Haitians.
Bruce and Deb treated me just like family. The time I spent with them ministered to my heart. Their love of God, commitment to each other, and dedication to their work in Haiti were beautiful. And despite the difficulties of not knowing the language, I was able to build some relationships with a few awesome Haitian Christians, especially Niva and Loradieur. On the last day of our surveying, we were driving back home and Loradieur and I were in the back of the truck. Earlier he had bought some food and something to drink, and as we road back he shared his food and drink with me. The way he shared with me out of the little that he had really touched me.
Thank you all for your support of this trip. God is doing a lot of great work in Haiti, and it was awesome to be used by Him in His work. Your prayers and financial support were an integral part of the great success of our work there. Thank you especially to those that sent encouraging emails. Please pray for Bruce and Deb, the work that continues in Haiti, and for direction as to how God may want to use me there in the future. Thank you again for your support and if you have any questions or want to hear more about my adventure, I’d love to talk with you!
Take care and God Bless,
Ben
My Support Letter
Friends, family, and partners in Christ,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This past August, God opened a door for me to travel to Haiti to serve the practical needs of the Haitian people by using the engineering knowledge and experience that the Lord has given me. I lived and worked with Bruce Robinson and his wife Deb for two weeks installing water systems, surveying for future water system work, and gathering information to design a dam to provide irrigation to crop fields. By the grace and power of God, our work there was very successful. Thanks to many of you who supported that mission through prayer and finances; please know I am very appreciative and that God used you all in a great way. Through community development projects such as those listed above, the local Haitian church is able to better connect, minister, and bring the gospel to the people.
God has continued to be very gracious to me and has opened an opportunity to travel to Haiti again, but this time for a period of six months. I will be working with Bruce who is an American engineer that has lived in Haiti for around twenty years. Bruce and Deb live in Passe Catabois, in the northern part of Haiti. By most in Haiti, this is considered the poorest part of the country, which says a lot being that Haiti is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Starvation, a lack of drinking water, meager housing, rampant disease and AIDS, and the absence of almost any economic means all contribute to the harsh and deadly conditions that these people endure on a daily basis.
While Haitians have many physical needs, their biggest need, as it is with us all, is spiritual. Religion in Haiti consists mainly of Voodoo/Satan worship and a saved-by-works social “christianity.” The love and grace of Jesus Christ is what is needed most by the Haitian people. We will never be able to meet all their physical needs, and Haiti will probably be a poor country for a very long time, if not forever. The work that Bruce and I do is to show people that we love them in a tangible way in order to get our foot in the door for us and others to share the gospel with them. In the reality that we (myself included) far to often forget, it is not our possessions, money, or even food and water here on earth that make us rich; it is only the gift of God’s grace that assures our eternal place with Him in heaven. If we can bring them this gift, then we can make an impact on Haiti and its people beyond our wildest dreams.
I am writing to ask you to partner with me in this next journey to Haiti through prayer and financial support. I am looking to build a home team that is committed to praying for this mission on a weekly basis. Prayer, our recognition of God’s power and strength in everything, is a necessity for a successful mission. I will be sending out a prayer needs list every other week or more frequently. There is a lot to pray over, even now as preparations are being made!
In addition to a prayer team, I also need to build a financial team (feel free to be part of both!). With the Lord’s help, I need to raise about $1500 dollars a month; the Church of the Saviour Mission Board, my home church in Philadelphia, has graciously given a portion of this need in their support of this mission. Donations can be made directly to the missions organization I am with, Crossworld (formerly known as UFM International), as a one-time gift or on a monthly basis. Automatic monthly deductions from your credit card or checking account are also possible.
There are additional items above the monthly support that are needed such as a place to store my things while I’m gone, a four-wheeler ATV (can be shipped from the US to Haiti), AutoCAD software, and an engineering plotter.
Tentatively, I am scheduled to depart for Haiti in February, but 30 days before I leave I need to have 100% of my support raised and/or pledged. I know that the Lord will provide in His time and in His way. Please pray that I have the patience and the faith to wait for His timely provision.
Thank you all for your time and prayers. Please write, email, or give me a call if you have any questions, want to be a part of the prayer team, or just want to talk more about what God is doing in Haiti. As the apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
In Him,
Ben Gustafson
229 W. Upsal St.
Apt 803
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-620-4387
bennyg612@hotmail.com
Send donations to:
Crossworld
PO Box 306
306 Bala Avenue
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-0306
Make check payable to Crossworld
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This past August, God opened a door for me to travel to Haiti to serve the practical needs of the Haitian people by using the engineering knowledge and experience that the Lord has given me. I lived and worked with Bruce Robinson and his wife Deb for two weeks installing water systems, surveying for future water system work, and gathering information to design a dam to provide irrigation to crop fields. By the grace and power of God, our work there was very successful. Thanks to many of you who supported that mission through prayer and finances; please know I am very appreciative and that God used you all in a great way. Through community development projects such as those listed above, the local Haitian church is able to better connect, minister, and bring the gospel to the people.
God has continued to be very gracious to me and has opened an opportunity to travel to Haiti again, but this time for a period of six months. I will be working with Bruce who is an American engineer that has lived in Haiti for around twenty years. Bruce and Deb live in Passe Catabois, in the northern part of Haiti. By most in Haiti, this is considered the poorest part of the country, which says a lot being that Haiti is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Starvation, a lack of drinking water, meager housing, rampant disease and AIDS, and the absence of almost any economic means all contribute to the harsh and deadly conditions that these people endure on a daily basis.
While Haitians have many physical needs, their biggest need, as it is with us all, is spiritual. Religion in Haiti consists mainly of Voodoo/Satan worship and a saved-by-works social “christianity.” The love and grace of Jesus Christ is what is needed most by the Haitian people. We will never be able to meet all their physical needs, and Haiti will probably be a poor country for a very long time, if not forever. The work that Bruce and I do is to show people that we love them in a tangible way in order to get our foot in the door for us and others to share the gospel with them. In the reality that we (myself included) far to often forget, it is not our possessions, money, or even food and water here on earth that make us rich; it is only the gift of God’s grace that assures our eternal place with Him in heaven. If we can bring them this gift, then we can make an impact on Haiti and its people beyond our wildest dreams.
I am writing to ask you to partner with me in this next journey to Haiti through prayer and financial support. I am looking to build a home team that is committed to praying for this mission on a weekly basis. Prayer, our recognition of God’s power and strength in everything, is a necessity for a successful mission. I will be sending out a prayer needs list every other week or more frequently. There is a lot to pray over, even now as preparations are being made!
In addition to a prayer team, I also need to build a financial team (feel free to be part of both!). With the Lord’s help, I need to raise about $1500 dollars a month; the Church of the Saviour Mission Board, my home church in Philadelphia, has graciously given a portion of this need in their support of this mission. Donations can be made directly to the missions organization I am with, Crossworld (formerly known as UFM International), as a one-time gift or on a monthly basis. Automatic monthly deductions from your credit card or checking account are also possible.
There are additional items above the monthly support that are needed such as a place to store my things while I’m gone, a four-wheeler ATV (can be shipped from the US to Haiti), AutoCAD software, and an engineering plotter.
Tentatively, I am scheduled to depart for Haiti in February, but 30 days before I leave I need to have 100% of my support raised and/or pledged. I know that the Lord will provide in His time and in His way. Please pray that I have the patience and the faith to wait for His timely provision.
Thank you all for your time and prayers. Please write, email, or give me a call if you have any questions, want to be a part of the prayer team, or just want to talk more about what God is doing in Haiti. As the apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
In Him,
Ben Gustafson
229 W. Upsal St.
Apt 803
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-620-4387
bennyg612@hotmail.com
Send donations to:
Crossworld
PO Box 306
306 Bala Avenue
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-0306
Make check payable to Crossworld
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