"Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
for you are the wind beneath my wings."

 
Rhonda and Vic Thompson
Mallory Brockman
Erin Casey
Carrie MacKenzie
Stacy Ceccarelli
It’s important to note that when Jesus Himself speaks of the judgment day He makes it very clear that the separation of sheep and goats will be done using the criteria of what we have done on behalf of the poor and oppressed, not church attendance, not responding to altar calls, not religiosity of any kind, but rather social action is the dividing factor. Through the centuries theologians and the likes have developed a lot of dogma which include various other "hoops" to jump through but when Jesus himself speaks (red print) of what He is going to judge us on, its how we have responded to the needs of the Least that really matters.

Matthew 10:42   
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."
Our trip to Haiti was, and continues to be, challenging. We met a girl named Gracia. She had previously been treated for TB at Grace Children's Hospital (G.C.H.) for months and then she was released to live an Aunt in a servant-like role to earn her keep. After a few months Gracia slipped back into poor health because she wasn't kept up on her TB drug regiment. Consequently Gracia has developed a drug-resistant case of TB, as her condition is immune to the affects of the medicine available. It's very difficult for her health to improve now but she says that she is glad to have a comfortable bed to rest on and glad she doesn't have to work so hard. Gracia and many children like her seem to have the deck stacked against them and it's with new awareness that I read scriptures like Luke 12 where Jesus tells us that from those of us who have much, much is expected and demanded.

I am enthused by Mallory's concrete answer to one of our devotional questions we videotaped while in Haiti. The question was, "how are you going to respond to what God has shown you here in Haiti?"



Her response wasn't an abstract one of "well I'll have to wait and see what God leads me to do," her response was simple and real: "I'm going to put a little container in my car and when my friends and I go out to eat lunch we can put our change in it, then I'll send the money to Grace Children's Hospital."
Its concrete, simple, responses like Mallory's that make all the difference in the world. This is evangelism in its truest form.

 


Carrie Mackenzie brought with her a check for $545.00 to give to G.C.H. The money was raised in a week's time by Senior High Campers at Michigamme putting in loose offering money that might have otherwise gone toward snacks or T-shirts. A little bit can add up to be quite a lot and a little bit can go a long way in Haiti. When you are truly starting with nothing, as most everyone in Haiti is, a little bit can be a miracle, an answer to a mother's prayer as she sits with her baby for hours waiting to see a doctor. Gracia's immunity to TB drugs is no fault of her own. She clearly is a victim of circumstance. Pray that we who have gone to Haiti, most of us twice now, will not develop an immunity as well; not to medicine but rather to the needs of the poorest of poor.
Thank you to everyone who supported us monetarily and with prayer.
It was an experience with a lifetime of value, helping to make us more like Jesus, finding ways to further our Father's Kingdom. - Vic Thompson