Greetings!
While our friends, family and faith community are accustomed to the Jerozals partnering in ministry in BD/India, or even Nicaragua, Andrea (me) has been asked to join a group of mostly women to visit Haiti to encourage Gods work through an indigenous Haitian organization called Open Door Haiti. We will visit and love on orphans. A significant portion of our trip, however, will consist of a 2.5 day women's conference, put on by our group for the purpose of building up the Jesus-following women of Haiti.
To learn more about Open Door Haiti, here is the link: https://opendoorhaiti.org/
We leave tomorrow AM - EARLY!! The sun will barely be peeking over the horizon when our plane lifts off, heading south. After a 3-hour layover in Miami, we will fly into Haiti.
Our daily schedule is in the link above. This allows you to "follow along" and know where we will be each day so that you can pray for us accordingly.
My role on this trip has been to coordinate the women's conference. Essentially, this required time in prayer and God's Word as I considered our Haitian partner's request that we address women leaders of churches to encourage them and speak the truth of God's great love and purpose for each of them. The result is an outline of 4 teaching sessions, each followed by an interactive, small group breakout session, allowing the women to discuss and strategize how to apply what they will have learned.
The outline of each session topic was given to 4 women on the team (myself included) and each of us has one session to teach. Our other team members will be praying, leading worship, sitting among the women, participating in the breakout sessions, and they will be making themselves available to serve with whatever Open Door Haiti staff will be helping make this conference happen AND they've put in hours already (!) gathering and preparing supplies.. There are lots of logistics involved, some of which can't be dealt with until we are there, most of which we hope to get in order on the Monday we are there. The conference itself begins Tuesday. One exciting feature of our time with the women is when a few members of our team will be able to present Days For Girls feminine hygiene kits to the women. These kits allow women some extra freedom during their menstrual cycle with long-lasting, washable items. Here is a link to learn more about Days For Girls, an organization several women of Christ Community Church have partnered with and blessed our international impact partners with: https://www.daysforgirls.org/
There are four men also joining us on our trip. Their mission for the week is to build benches for a church. During that time they may also be able to interact with other Haitians and demonstrate Jesus' love for them.
Conference Highlights:
The theme of the conference is: YOU are God's Work of Art
Conference theme verse is: Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's handiwork (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
For we are God's handiwork (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Session 1 -
GOD’S LOVE in YOU - (JENEE)
Eph 2:10
You are God’s Masterpiece (easier to translate into Creole: Work of Art).
You have a PURPOSE BECAUSE OF GOD’s LOVE: You have GOD’s LOVE EMPOWERED through you:
You have a Story. You influence your Family.
You have a Skill. You influence your Church.
You have a Passion. You influence your Community.
Communities can influence nations.
You being YOU can turn the world toward God.
Eph 2:10 - In Love, you are created with a purpose.
1. God Himself created YOU.
2. You are IN Jesus Christ.
3. You have deeds to do.
4. God PLANNED You and your Purpose.
Ministry out of love and identity in Christ. NOT ministry to GET love or identity.
Session 2 (SUE) - GOD’S LOVE in YOU and YOUR story
1. Look at the Bible – a woman with a story: Mary Magdalene
a. She had been possessed by 7 demons (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9). Tradition suggests she had also been a prostitute.
b. She served Jesus after being rescued/healed/set free by Him (Luke 8:3)
she and other women accompanied the disciples who traveled with Jesus
she helped support Jesus and the disciples with her own resources
c. She watched with her friends as Jesus was crucified and died (John 19:25)
d. Mary Magdalene was among the first of those who arrived at Jesus’ tomb
and saw her risen Lord. She ran with this good news to tell the other disciples
(John 20:11-18) Jesus spoke to her FIRST when He was resurrected.
2. The elements of her story –
a. Life before Jesus – her particular sins and their destructive ways.
b. Life serving Jesus - freed from sin to follow Him
c. Life transformed by Jesus – her heart loved Him, she told others about Him
Session #3: Love Empowered (Andrea)
You were created with a skill.
Look at the Bible – a woman with a skill: Priscilla – ACTS 18
Her skills: Tentmaking, Hospitality, One-on-one teaching
Tentmaker: Priscilla practiced a skill.
Tentmaking is a highly skilled trade.
Involved use of heavy fabrics, fine stitching skills needed to not only stitch neatly and strongly, but also accurately in order to produce a waterproof product, valuable for selling.
Provided income, but for a follower of Jesus, it
also meant exposure to many people – both within the tentmaking industry and buyers – and therefore, possible opportunities to speak of Jesus.
Hospitality: Priscilla welcomed God’s servants into her home.
Hospitality involves not only serving others in your home with
food, and drink and shelter when needed, hospitality involves an open heart to welcome people. Friend or stranger. Powerful results may come from opening our hearts and homes to people that God brings our way. Our encounter with those people may even change the course of their life OR your life, if God leads that way.
Learn God's Word: Using her skills, Priscilla was able to meet people, welcome
them into her home AND teach them what she learned from God’s
Word.
Your Skill(s) will allow you to come into contact with certain people that God may be bringing into your path to share His love and good news with.
Session #4 – Love Empowered Part 2 - (LAURIE)
GOD’S LOVE EMPOWERED through you.
Through the passion in your heart.
Look at the Bible – a woman with passion: Tabitha/Dorcas (Acts 9)
Her Passion – doing good, helping the poor
How do we know this was her passion? “…she was always”
Holy Spirit’s Role – NOTE ACTS 9:31 - right before story of Dorcas
Main theme verse is Eph 2:10,
Consider then the prayer in Ephesians 3:14-20
Interactively teach the women this prayer - with notecards that main points of the prayer translated with room to draw their own symbol next to each line as a way to help memorize the prayer.
On the final morning of the conference, we will all worship God together in singing and in hearing the testimonies of women who volunteer what God has been teaching them through this conference.
Thanks SOOO much for you love, care, prayer and support!
It is likely that I will not have access to the internet for the entire week. I will update this blog with the highlights of our time in Haiti when I return.
May God bless you and your families.
Andrea
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