Joy in the midst of sorrow

"I’m sure you’ve seen the singing and praying of Haiti’s believers. The television news men have not been able to ignore it. When the world is falling down around us, the Holy Spirit is at work in the midst of what to us seems out of control. When we remember that, we are strengthened, we have joy in the midst of sorrow, we give thanks even for the heartache, and God gets the glory." Boxley Boggs, in the sermon he preached today at Town North Bible Church, Texas.

These comments of our friend Boxley pretty much summarize for me the last 12 days; "the Holy Spirit is at work in the midst of what to us seems out of control...we have joy in the midst of sorrow..."

Our son Nate and I saw evidence of that today when we interacted with David, live via internet. I cannot tell you how good it was to see for ourselves that he is well, in fact thriving. "I'm really glad I'm here; it's so good to be with and talking to the Haitian people again....I'm loving it."

Another day at Bolosse

An update from Cindy McMartin, missionary with CrossWorld living on the Bolosse campus (where my David lived for 2 years, and where Samaritan's Purse went with a water purification system yesterday:

^{Where to begin? It’s hard for us all to remember what day it is, let alone what happened during the past few days. David [Scmid] said to me today, “We’re into our 3rd week since the earthquake, right?” I said, “no, it hasn’t even been 2 weeks.” The days run together and there is always so much going on. We go to bed exhausted and usually wake up weary.}

Samaritan's Purse in the News

"What impressed me is Samaritan's Purse's ability to work in so many different arenas once they're on the ground," says Dr. Bill Frist, a former U.S. senator and one of the surgeons working with Febres at the Baptist Haiti Mission hospital last week. "They very aggressively put in surgical teams. And within 72 hours, they had a water-filtration system for the hospital that can produce 10,000 gallons of clean water a day."

"This is far from the agency's first disaster. And Samaritan's Purse, with about 450 employees in Boone and 2,000 around the world, has built a reputation as a lean machine that responds quickly - and with Christian fervor.

"Some have suggested that proselytizing has no place in emergency relief. But Graham, son of Charlotte-born evangelist Billy Graham, is unapologetic about ministering to victims spiritually as well as medically.

"We want to bring God's comfort to them," says Graham. "I'm an ambassador for Jesus Christ and want everybody we meet to know that God loves them."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/408/story/1200620.html