Saturday, July 28, 2012

Things we leave behind.




I started to say, ‘as you prepare to leave on mission’ and the Spirit checked me by saying, ‘as God prepares you to leave on mission’, and this is so true. More true in fact than I’m comfortable testifying. There are multiple stages in the preparation process that cuts progressively closer and closer to your heart.The stage we are in right now is releasing our ‘stuff’. 




It is embarrassing how much ‘stuff’ you can accumulate in 32 years of marriage! We really thought we had downsized 5 years ago when we sold the big ‘American Dream’ house and moved into this apartment. After spending several weeks agonizing over what to store and what to sell, you really learn about emotional attachment to material things. The last 3 days we’ve had a ‘moving sale,’ trying more to get rid of stuff than to make money. Some of the urgency in getting rid of it is we haven’t really released it, so if it’s gone you can’t move it back into the house. And really, once the rest of the stuff is in a box, you kinda forget about it too.


The day may come when we look into these boxes and say, ‘what in the world did we save that for!’ But the day may also come when we say, ‘man, I’m glad we saved that!’ All we know for sure right now is there are days coming when we will leave it all behind. Whether it’s sold or stored , it will be useless to us then. The day we step on the plane to Haiti is one of these days, and the day the Father plucks us from this life is the other. What we are discovering is, there is joy in ‘Things we Leave Behind.’  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQY2auav8Qw

Friday, July 13, 2012

Trading our dreams for Promises!



About 9 years ago, Cheryl and I stepped off of an airplane and discovered how sheltered a life we had lived. When we landed in Moscow in January 2003, and it was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz saying, ‘we’re not in Kansas anymore!’  We stepped into the reality that the whole world isn’t like the good ole’ USA!  It was then that God began to show us the folly of chasing our dreams and exposed us to the truth of His Promises to His followers. Since then He has taken us to some interesting places in the world. We’ve experienced wealth and poverty, luxury and depravity and health and sickness, often just on the opposite sides of the fence from each other.  We’ve been drawn to the side of the fence where the pockets and bellies are empty, but the smiles are huge and the hearts are full. And we’ve met a lot of ordinary people that are quietly serving, for no other reason except simply being obedient to the calling of the Father.  We’ve felt that calling and served in many different ways, but the timing never seemed to be right for a long term commitment.  We were beginning to think…well we didn’t really know what to think, but we continued to pursue God in prayer listening intently for His call.  Last fall, things here at home seemed to change and we had the opportunity to spend a month in Haiti, living pretty much on our own in the house Heart of Compassion had built in Soliete.  It was kind of a ‘shakedown cruise’ to how an ‘older’ couple would hold up in the challenges of mountain life.  A month might not be a realistic gauge of everything we might face, but it was enough to get a good taste of just how difficult it can be.  It was difficult, but not impossible.  In the mean time we made a lot of friends, renewed some old relationships and started studying the language (difficult, and seemingly impossible for us).  We came home very encouraged and God began confirming that our near future would be in Haiti.  What the long term future looks like, only He knows, but for now we have been accepted by Heart of Compassion International Ministries to serve for 2 years in Soliette.  We go as just a couple ordinary people simply being obedient to the calling of the Father.  Our vision is more community development, working with the people and encouraging them to work together.  Mostly, we will be living there working in our gardens, practicing what we’ve learned and if it works, teaching our neighbors to work smarter, not harder with the focus being on developing relationships, sharing the gospel and modeling a Christian lifestyle.  Our full time presence hopefully will communicate to the people that we (HOC) are committed to the church, the school and the community of Soliete.  While we have committed our time and resources to this new chapter in our lives, you can consider yourself invited to be involved in God’s work in Haiti.  More than anything, we covet your prayers!    Through this letter, we hope to build a support network of praying people.   Pray also if you should be involved financially.  If God leads you to give, a onetime gift or a monthly sponsorship would go a looooong way in the hands of God.  In response to your support, we will attempt to introduce you to the people, familiarize you with the landscape of the country and learn more of their culture as we discover it for ourselves.  We’ll soon be stepping off another plane into a new chapter of our lives.  We’d like you to walk with us and share in God’s plan.
Simply Serving….Serving Simply
Pat n Cheryl (pnc) Kaufman

Heart of Compassion International Ministries
6796 W 1400 N
Silver Lake, IN 46982