THE EYES OF THE LORD

Thus began my Bible verse this morning from Deut.11:12 "the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year." Perhaps on no other day of the year do so many of us look back and reflect on those things that happened in our lives. Yes we can remember the good and bad things that happened but not one of us can get back a single second to change the events of 2009.

Though the "it" in this verse was in reference to God's eyes being on the promised land of the Israelites "it" could also just as well refer to other things. Each of us could easily substitute such things as our priorities and goals, our relationships and love of others or how about successful or wasted opportunities. Then there is the work and ministries of the Church (that is all of us) not just pastors and missionaries. Reaching out to young and old, the lost and unchurched, the poor, the sick, homeless and orphaned. Just as God's eyes were upon the land they are also upon us.

This past month I had a man come to Haiti looking for ways he might get involved supporting ministry efforts there. As we sat and talked he shared his life story with me ( one of financial success), his love and passion to serve his Lord, the blessings given to him to share with others. He told me of his fear that at the end of his life he would face God and have to account for what was entrusted to him (gifts, talents and resources) he wanted to make the most of those opportunities God gave to him. Shouldn't that be a priority of all of us?

I received an e-mail this week on the passing of Pastor Jim Wallace missionary and founder of Project Help-Haiti in 1967. Though I never had the chance to meet him and his wife I do know some of their story and their pioneering missionary work in Haiti still holds me in amazement. Sometime on Tuesday Jim went to be with his Lord and gave his final accounting on what God entrusted to him. I don't pretend to know how that may have went but by all accounts Jim and Leona Wallace got the mission work of Project Help-Haiti off to a great beginning. Almost forty three years later we now have 30 churches with 6500 members, twenty schools, a discipleship training center, a clinic, a hospital, 2 guesthouses, a metal fabricating shop and block making enterprise. God entrusted the Wallace's with a vision for making a difference in Haiti through making disciples for Christ, the eyes of the Lord were upon (them) "it".

Likewise I also know that God's eyes are upon what He has entrusted to me. On November 1st 2009 I took over as the managing director of Project Help-Haiti the organization they pioneered forty plus years ago. As the year draws to a close I look ahead knowing full well that God just as he did for the Israelites has given (entrusted) me a "promised land". That through my faith and willingness to follow Him that 2010 holds a future of many blessings and opportunities. Deut.11:11 "but the land you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rains of heaven, a land for which God your Lord cares ; the eyes of the Lord are always on it. " In God's love may everyone have a blessed New Year, steve

INTERNATIONAL PASTOR'S CONFERENCE

In early November Shirley and I got to be a part of Cross Cultural Ministries first International Pastor's Conference held in Haiti. This first ever event was held at Project Help's Borel Discipleship Training Center which allowed us to host twenty two pastors, doctors and missionaries from seven countries. This event had been a long time in the planning and the hard efforts of so many showed in the successful outcome of the five day event. It was personally gratifying to my wife and I to get to meet some of the many missionaries representing Cross Cultural Ministries our denomination's international mission outreaches. Many of these people had only been names and faces on prayer cards till that evening when they arrived at our compound in Borel, Haiti. As the five days progressed a bond of brotherhood and sisterhood grew among us as we shared the efforts of our labors for the Lord with each other. Though not all the countries that CCM works in was represented we did have the countries of India, Bangladesh, Kenya, Brazil, Venezuela, Haiti and the U.S attending. The next conference is tentatively planned to be hosted in Bangladesh in three years.

BACK HOME

Just a week ago this evening I returned home after six weeks of working in Haiti. I had set several goals for my trip: * Meet with Project Help leadership and staff * Visit some of our 30 churches and pastors * Prepare for upcoming teams * Assess progress of on going projects

* Prioritize maintenance needs and future projects. It was also my hope to get some sort of direction as to where God might be leading as I take over the responsibilities of leading Project Help-Haiti into the next decade. I have been working in Haiti ten years now and much has changed in those ten years. Project Help has been working in Haiti since 1967 much more has changed in those four decades. One thing that hasn't changed is why we are there "to make disciples" . When I started GAP ministry we came up with a slogan on our brochures "People Reaching People" and that is one thing that will always remain in any successes we may attain in building God's kingdom. It depends on people coming to help and be a part of the work, it depends on people praying and lifting us up, it depends on people giving us the resources to sustain the ministries. I had hoped I could share with you through my blogs all that was going on while I was in Haiti but because of computer problems I could barely do e-mails. So in the days ahead I will try and share what happened the last six weeks . In God's love , steve

November 2009 Newsletter

(Click here for the printable pdf color version of the newsletter.)

GREETINGS
My name is Steve Mossburg. Some of you know me, but for most of you this will be our first introduction. My wife Shirley and I were recently confirmed to be missionaries for Cross Cultural Ministries in Haiti where I will be taking over the resposiblities of Vic Binkley. It’s a great honor to be following my friend and the man I consider my missions mentor in leading the Project Help ministries in Haiti, and it is also a tremendous responsibility. My situation is somewhat like the athlete or assistant coach who leaves a successful career and returns to his alma mater to follow his former coach.

I have been working in Haiti for 10.5 years, and my first two years were spent working at Pierre Payen and finishing the construction on the new hospital 2000-2001. Later I briefly worked up at the Borel compound getting it ready to reopen (early 2002). It was with the encouragement and support of Vic that I went on to start my own ministry and mission organization in Haiti.

In the summer of 2002, my wife and I started G.A.P., go and produce Ministry (John 15:16). We ran our ministry and guesthouse in Montrouis, Haiti from 2002-2005 when we decided to not renew our lease on the property. In 2006 we relocated to Canaan Christian Community and opened a new guesthouse where our ministry work and construction projects continue on.
Vic contacted me this summer that he was facing a serious medical condition that would keep him out of Haiti for long periods of time. My first thought was how can they find someone to step in and direct the ministry work at P-H. My second thought was why would someone want to step in? As in sports, major corporations, churches and other successful organizations, following a legendry and long serving leader can be difficult for a multitude of reasons. I didn’t give it much thought that I might be that person until I returned to Haiti in August. Almost immediately I could feel God convicting me that I was the one most prepared and immediately ready to come in and direct Project Help. I shared this with Vic and several days later received an e-mail from Don Dennison, director of CCM, asking about arranging a meeting to discuss many of the ideas I had talked to Vic about. Our nearly 1.5 hour meeting resulted in us both going away and feeling comfortable with one another and an invitation to sit down with the CCM commission members at their September meeting.

Shirley and I are very excited about the opportunity to work with P-H, we have both been associated with the Church of God denomination from our earliest years. Shirley has always been with the First Church of God Columbia City and my earliest recollection of church was attending The Oak Grove Church of God. We are hoping to visit as many COG churches as we possibly can to promote missions and short term missions (stms).

At G.A.P. Ministries we have had great success at recruiting and leading mission teams from across America. The people they have helped in Haiti have been blessed by the loving hearts and helping hands of so many teams these past years. Yet I never fail to hear from those who have come to Haiti how their lives have changed forever from the experience. In my conversations and visits with pastors I also hear how the dynamics of their church changes after their members come back from a short term missions opportunity. Just possibly you or your church have been thinking, praying and talking about a mission experience—that is a good First Step. Step Two of your journey is contacting myself or Dee Callahan. I can be reached at smossburg@msn.com or 260-691-3806. You can always contact Dee Callahan in Findlay at 419-424-1961 ext.122.


GETTING STARTED
Shirley and I return to Haiti on November 11th and will be jumping into the work right away. The first item of business will be the International Pastors Conference being held Nov. 13-18 at the Borel Discipleship Training and Conference Center. We have 23 delegates arriving from the United States, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya and Venezuela. After that concludes I will try to start visiting some of the 29 Project Help churches and 17 schools to talk with the Pastors and school directors. All during my 6 weeks in Haiti I will be identifying future projects that short term teams can come and get involved in. Some of these will be simple maintenance, and others will be larger projects that may involve securing funding before we can start. We hope to receive a container in late November or early December that will need taken out of Customs. Plus we are hoping to get several of the P-H vehicles repaired and back in service for 2010.


THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US
Upon being confirmed last month I requested and received much of the historical information relating to Project Help. Even though I knew much of the history, I still found the reading very interesting. We of the Church of God have a mission heritage to be very proud of in Haiti. There are quite probably only a handful of missions with a longer history there than ours. What is amazing is that even as the face of missions has continued to change over these last 42 years, we have held true to our missions purpose and main focus of making disciples. It is with that single thought in mind and all those who have come before us to forge the way that we humbly accept this great responsibility. —Steve & Shirley


(Click here for the printable pdf color version of the newsletter.)

THE BRAAK FAMILY

Last weekend Shirley and I made a 2.5 hour trip to Grand Haven, Michigan to help fellow Haitian missionary Tom Braak of Faith in Action International celebrate his organization's ten years of work in Haiti. Tom actually has been in Haiti since 1997 and took several years of traveling and working in different areas of Haiti before he was sure of where and what God wanted him to do there. He eventually ended up in the Artibonite valley at a place called Verrettes. Tom's ministry focuses on helping and training Haitians in agricultural endeavors to be able to support their families by using environmentally friendly technology , introducing new improved crops and livestock. They also have started schools, capped springs for safe water , built cisterns and evangelized. Tom has a goal to build an experimental village where new ideas can be put to use in construction technology, agricultural practices demonstrated and alternative energy systems tried out.

Tom and his wife Fecilta recently (Sept. 1st) welcomed little Ryan Curtis into their family and hope to return to Haiti in late October. Almost 100 people turned out at the beautiful Grand Haven Community Center to celebrate with the Braaks and the FIAI board members ten years of wonderful work in Haiti. In God's love, steve