Hello,
I just wanted to let you all know that I am safely home again. Good to be with my wife and family. Thank you all for your prayers and encouraging words while Joey and I were traveling to and from, and the time we were in Haiti.
It was a great trip in so many ways. I had not been back for 10 months, the longest time away from Haiti since 2008. So lots of business meetings, words of encouragement for pastors and leaders and staff, and speaking and sharing opportunities at several of our life-giving churches. But without a doubt, the best and most precious part of the trip for me was re-uniting with the people I love so much.....
The picture of coming into the orphanage after 24 hours of weary travel, and being greeted, hugged, and cried over by the littlest children, set the stage for the whole trip. Everywhere I went, I was being greeted, hugged, and cried over as if I was a dear family member back from a long lost journey.
We dearly love these people and they dearly love us. Not because we have given them food or clothing, but because, in the name of Jesus, we have given them life. A whole new way of coping with a world that has treated them so poorly and unfair. They know that Jesus came to give them love, joy and peace. Despite living in a country where nothing is given freely, they know that the love, acceptance, and forgiveness of God is free. Despite living in a culture of corruption where no one really knows the truth, they know the TRUTH of God and it has set them free from their captivity.
Oh' If only you could see their faces, and feel their hugs, and hear their cries, then you too would fall in love with these people, and I know that many of you have. And for that I thank you, beyond words, from the bottom of my heart............I thank you...........Mike
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