Today - we need your swords.

Quite a few years ago I was in a what used to be an old bar with a group of Jesus lovers who weren't ashamed to admit that without Him, they'd fall apart.  I stood and watched, as one woman left her chair and made her way to the front of the building where she began to sing with all of her heart, "Lean on me...when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you to carry on..." 

As she sang, others left their seats and within minutes there were dozens standing arm in arm singing that promise to each other.  After the song was finished they prayed, and I knew I had just been part of REAL church. 

Church is not a building, it's not programs, it's not professional worship and a perfectly crafted message - it's broken people wrapping their arms around other broken people assuring them of their unconditional love and continuous prayers. It's souls comforting other souls with the comfort they were once comforted with. It's a bunch of hearts reminding one another of what is true.  It's a choir, that's singing a desperate song with one voice to Jesus, the only one who can make the wrong right, the only one who can exchange the spirit of heaviness for a garment of praise, the only one who can muzzle the enemies lies and pierce the darkness with His light. 

We are the lady at the front of the church today.

Our hearts are the hearts that need you to come alongside us with your intercession.

We have been facing an onslaught from hell that is fierce and unending.  There are glimpses of relief, and we need your swords to help us push it back.  We know you are holding up our arms, but we need you to lift them up a little higher. 

Jesus is GREATER than all of hell - and we are holding unswervingly to the HOPE that is ours!!!  We are not of those that shrink back!!!  We are part of remnant that believes in what they do not see and still praises our God even when we don't feel His nearness.  Like David we talk to our souls and say, "Why are you so downcast?!?! PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD!!!" 

But today - we are the woman at the front of the church needing her brothers and sisters to link arms with us. 

Today - we need His presence to overshadow the heaviness.
Today - we need His hand to reach down and bring us into a spacious place.
Today - we need your voices to join with ours to JESUS, The One who is enough, The One who never fails, The One who has promised to never leave us or forsake us, The One who is our strength and our shield.
Today - we need you to lift not only our arms, but your swords.
Today - we need you to fight back the forces of darkness.

We are choosing to live in the realm of "IT IS FINISHED!!!"
We are choosing amidst the darkness, to trust what GOD has told us has promised us in light!!!

Please sing with us...

Maurice and Sue 
 

Haiti ain’t heaven, but there is for sure a remnant here that the world is not worthy of - followers and lovers of Jesus who have given their lives to bring transformation one heart at a time in Haiti. 
 
Les and his wife raised their kids here and have been digging wells all over the nation for nigh on sixty years. They are in their eighties and still come back for weeks at a time.
 
Wilson is Haitian and met his American wife while helping out at an orphanage. They adopted three special needs children who require twenty-four-hour care, plus they have their own baby boy. When we told her what they were doing was amazing, she smiled and said, “It’s what Jesus tells us to do right?!” Their goal is to start a Community Center to encourage other Haitian families that it’s possible to raise a disabled child and give them a happy life. 
 
Pam and Matt came to Haiti twelve years ago. They spent the first two years in an incredibly remote area and eventually moved to a less remote community to showcase the love of Jesus. To give their girls a decent education, Pam drives two hours a day each way on Haiti roads – braving both the insane traffic and the beyond rough roads to make that happen. It’d be way easier to go back to America, but that’s not an option when Jesus has asked you stay in Haiti. Oh, and in Pam’s spare time she wrote and published an awesome Bible Story book in Creole.
 
Yup, the remnant is beautiful and shines brightly in the darkness.
 
Peter, a Haitian young man who has been watching us fix up and clean a house that we’re renting until we get accommodations built on our property, asked me yesterday why we left Canada to come to Haiti.
 
He said, “I hear it’s very beautiful and clean. Why did you come here?” 
 
I told him the answer to that question was simple. 
 
“Jesus told us to!” 
 
Jesus loves Haiti so much that He’s been sending living sacrifices here for decades. 
 
Living sacrifices who refuse to let what they see, influence what Jesus has told them will be. 
Living sacrifices who take Him at His Word and know that their God is bigger than the giants in the land. 
Living sacrifices who’ve been robbed and taken advantage of time and time again yet stay, because God’s love consumes them. 
 
The other day we drove through a street market that’s ankle high in mud and garbage. Pigs mingle with the vendors. The stench makes you gag. The eyes peering out from behind their lopsided tables, covered with wilted produce and fly covered chicken, are void of hope. The spirit of despair is thicker than the putrid air. As we meandered our truck through the chaos, our hearts cried out, “Jesus show us what you see!!” 
 
Quite frankly, that’s only way one can stay...
 
When you begin to see what He sees, everything changes.
 
When you start to hear His voice louder than the enemies, when His peace is present in the midst of utter confusion, when His mercy usurps the frustration, that’s when you see like Elijah’s servant did, that there are more of us, then there are of them!!
 
Ah yes, when you see the uncountable army of angels surrounding this nation, that’s when your heart begins to pound with expectation for all that God has declared will be!!! 
 
But our enemy doesn’t want us to see what God sees, so he works relentlessly to oppose us at every turn. His mission is to keep our eyes on the natural, so that we will give way to either rage or despair.
 
It’s far easier to doubt, then to believe, but here’s the deal...
 
There is just too, too much at stake to surrender to the enemy’s tug!!! 
 
I see a mountain, you see a miracle...
I see a wasteland, you see a garden...
I see dry bones, you see an army...
I see impossible, you see everything...
 
I see a seed, you see a harvest...
I see the water, you see the wine...
I see the broken, you see your body...
I see my enemy, you see your footstool...
 
(Jonathan David Hesler)
 
Jesus show us what you see!! 
 
Please don’t stop praying – we can’t do this without your faithful sword wielding!!! And please pray especially for Sunday. It’s Mother’s Day in Haiti, so we are going to treat our Mom’s on our property to a chicken BBQ and some ice cream. 
 
Ah, there’s nothing that compares to being one of His living sacrifices and being given the honor of seeing through His eyes.
 
In whatever you’re facing today, may He open your eyes to see that there are more of us, then there are of them!!!! 

Living to make Jesus famous,
 
Maurice and Sue

We bought another 40' container to have ready to store all the provisions from our container that's on its way to us from Canada right now!!!  The tilt and load was a tad small - but it worked!!

Which one would you pick?

Cap Haitien is hot, and this is Hong Kong girl talking. 

It’s dirty. It’s desperately sad. It’s rattle your brain noisy. It’s crowded. The air is rancid with burning trash and a spirit of heaviness looms, luring us to take our eyes off what God has declared will be, on to what is. 
 
Cows, goats, pigs, donkeys and horses all pick at scraps in one rocky, barren field. There is garbage piled high everywhere you look. The roads are one giant pot hole. LOTTO shacks and cock fights rob them of what little they have. 

Jesus, “JEZI” is written in colorful letters on the front of buildings and on the sides of tap-taps, yet the emptiness in their eyes is a sure give away that they may know His name, but they don’t know Him.  
 
The need is overwhelming.
 
Haiti screams hopeless and impossible, yet in the midst of the insurmountable obstacles is Jesus, in Maurice.
 
As we drive – in first gear the whole time because of the horrific conditions – men holler out his name and come to the window of the truck to give him the traditional Haiti handshake. 
 
“MOOREECE!!!!!!  MOOREECE!!!!!” 
 
Kids dodge other vehicles and run towards the truck with outstretched arms and teary eyes when they realize their friend is back!!  Cooks, waiters and custodians at the hotel we are staying in for a few days, all know Maurice and are so happy to see him!!  The ice guy down an alley off the highway, the water guy where we fill up our containers with clean water, the sim card lady where we got our phones sorted out – everyone smiles BIG when they see Maurice!!
 
And I don’t know if there are enough adjectives to describe how our family in Nan Rasin reacted when he drove on to the property.  He is a Dad to the kids, a brother to the women and men, and a son to Grandma. The kisses, the hugs, the tears, the instant kibitzing, the questions about his family, the relaying of news since he’s been gone – Maurice is family.

He’s not just a white guy that comes and goes.
They know Maurice is there to stay.
Their lives would be unimaginable without him. 
 
He’s truly brought Jesus into their despair and it’s simply, beautiful.
 
When I stood on our jaw dropping property for the first time, I fell to my knees and kissed the ground. With happy, thankful tears rolling down my cheeks I thanked our God for His faithfulness.  As I had my first impromptu Creole class with Rosemary, my heart pounded with expectation for all that God has said will be!!!!
 
Yesterday, we met with the receiving company that’s looking after getting our 40-foot shipping container into the country.  The drive this office defies description in any language. It was so hot that both of us got sunburned in the truck.  It was so crowded that at one-point Maurice couldn’t drive anymore and was forced to back up into a sea of pedestrians.  It was like the parting of the Red Sea.
 
Maurice stayed with the truck while I hopped out of the vehicle and found the “office” – which at first glance looked like a storehouse of stolen goods from pillaged containers.  The guy sitting in an old beat up lawn chair pointed to a rusted out winding staircase and gestured for me to go up, so I did, and discovered a few desks that resembled an office.  I drew a ship with containers on it and his smile told me that he either thought my drawing was funny or that I had found the office.  I went with the latter and left to go get Maurice.  After a few moments Parola and her husband Riko arrived and we talked through the logistics of shipping our container from Canada to Haiti.  It will be shipped THIS weekend and will arrive in here in three weeks’ time – so start praying now and we’ll keep you posted!!!  By the time we got back to our truck a hawker had set up an umbrella over it and was selling her merchandise. 
 
To give you a snapshot into how bad the roads are and how congested the traffic is - our container excursion took us 7 hours!!  Coming home was like driving into an oasis.  The property God gave us is all that Haiti is not – it’s blissfully peaceful – plus we’re with Grandma and all her family!!!
 
While Maurice gave everyone some much needed food, I was examining two bedsores that Rosemary, the girl we sent the wheelchair to, has developed.  Her Mom has been rubbing them with hair cream mixed with Vaseline which needless to say hasn’t helped.  After a consult with Dr. Maurice, Dr. Sue applied some honey which has more healing properties than Polysporin and then I took her crippled hands in mine and asked the best Doctor of all to do what only He can do.
 
This is our prayer for all of Haiti because there are no programs, no creative plans and no amount of money that can heal Haiti.  Haiti is hell on earth where Satan has deceived millions of hearts into believing his lies, a place where He’s made The Name of Jesus mean nothing, a place where confusion and chaos thrives, and where its natural beauty has been invaded by a filth that a photo wouldn’t do justice…. but oh, I am so incredibly honored to be here!!!!  
 
I’ll be forever thankful that He chose to write me into this story, that He asked me to fan Maurice’s flame that already burns so bright, and that He has given me front row seats to an impending miracle that is going to put the eyes of the world on to our JESUS!
 
It’s where I was born to be, to do what we were born to do.
 
I’m home.
 
The nation of Haiti is not beyond God’s power.  He loves each and every soul in this place too much to not make the wrong right. 
 
What we see doesn’t matter. 
 
All that matters, is what our LIVING GOD has declared – and what He has promised is a revelation of His love and power and a supernatural transformation! 
 
We can’t even imagine how, and we don’t know when, but we KNOW our God never lies, never fails and always does what He says He will do, so until then we will keep being His hands and His feet to the lost, the lonely, the oh so broken and forgotten…
 
Robert Bruce was a Scottish missionary to Iran back in the late 19th century.
 
In one of his letters to his family he wrote, “I am not reaping a harvest; I scarcely claim to be sowing the seed; I am hardly ploughing the soil; but I am gathering stones.  That too, is missionary work...”
 
In the past few years, over 1 MILLION Muslim hearts have come to believe in Jesus as the final sacrifice for their sins, in the nation of Iran!!  Jesus is literally walking into rooms and introducing Himself!! Robert Bruce, although he only ever saw the harvest on his knees, cleared the soil, one stone at a time, in order for it to happen. 
 
Ah, what a privilege it is to dig out those stones in preparation for the unprecedented harvest that is for sure going to be reaped in the precious nation of Haiti!!!! 
 
It’s not easy, but it’s what we were born to do!!!
 
Your prayers make the difference between life and death.
Your prayers keep our eyes on what will be, not what is.
Your prayers fuel us with His strength and His love.
Your prayers push back the darkness.
 
Whatever you do, don’t stop!!
 
Clearing the stones,
 
Maurice and Sue

"My life on earth is so brief, so tell me what to do and I'll do it!", wrote David in Psalm 119:19. 

Another translation words it like this, "I am here on earth for just a little while, so make it clear to me what you need me to do!"  

David recognized that he was made to live exclusively for His GOD, that this world was not his home, but that he was put here to bring glory to The One who made it.    

He left all his money when he died to help build a temple for His God, he used his musical talent to write songs about the power, faithfulness and love of His God and he used his failures to point to His God's grace and mercy!!   
  
It is evident in every song David penned, that he was intentional in how he loved and served His God, and at the end of his life, there was no doubt who David called his King.  

On December 2, 1860, Charles Studd was born into a very wealthy family in England.  He gave his life to Jesus when he was a teenager, then shortly after enrolled at Cambridge University and became one of the most celebrated cricket players of his day, not only in Britain, but around the world!! Everyone assumed he would pursue this career, and were flabbergasted when he chose to leave it all behind!!  People just couldn't wrap their minds around why he would give up huge money, guaranteed fame and a comfortable life, to go to China to tell people about Jesus - but Charles couldn't be stopped!! 

He abandoned what he knew was temporary and fleeting - and chose to live his life in the light of eternity!!! 

Charles spent a decade in China working in a rehabilitation center for opium addicts, sharing the Gospel and seeing lives absolutely transformed by its power!!  While he was in China, his Dad died and left him a massive inheritance which he immediately gave away to one of our heroes, George Mueller, who was caring for thousands of orphans in Bristol.

From China, he and his wife, along with their four daughters, moved to India, where he shepherded a group of people for seven years.  Though he struggled with severe asthma, often having to sit up all night in a chair in order to breathe, he faithfully preached THE STORY OF ALL STORIES to anyone who would listen - and as a result, many, many souls in Southern India came to know his Jesus, The One he lived for!!!

After seven years in India, Jesus took him to the jungles of Africa!  He and his family settled in the Belgian Congo - and again it wasn't easy.  Bouts of malaria, close calls with poisonous snakes and continuous obstacles are woven all throughout the journey God wrote for the Studds - but despite the uphill battle they were able to establish a number of 'missionary stations' in the heart of Africa - which enabled The Gospel to be brought to tribes that had never ever heard the name of Jesus!  Throughout the twenty years they were in Africa, Charles also wrote over 200 hymns, translated the New Testament into the African tribes native languages - and had front row seats to thousands of African's coming to know JESUS!!!!

Someone once asked him...
 
"Charles, why did you give your life away?!" 

He smiled and said, "Some want to live within the sound of church or the chapel bell but I WANT TO RUN A RESCUE SHOP WITHIN A YARD OF HELL!!!!"  

AH YES!!!!  This is why we say goodbyes, this is why we leave comfortable behind, this is why we invest our treasure in heaven, this is why we are on this earth, this is why we get up every morning!!!!  

WE WANT TO RUN A RESCUE SHOP WITHIN A YARD OF HELL!!!!!!!!!!!

We want everyone to hear HIS Name and hear HIS Story!!!!!

Thanks so much for your continued prayers as we continue to wait to go to Haiti to set up that rescue shop!!!!  Our Sovereign God is connecting the dots!!  He is putting things in place and doing things HIS way, in HIS time, and proving to us every, single day that we can trust Him!!  When we have a departure date you'll be the first to know - but in the meantime - please don't stop praying!!  It's your prayers that are connecting those beautiful dots!!  

Until next time...may we all choose to live our lives in the light of eternity...and may all of of our homes and churches be rescue shops within a yard of hell....

Living to make Jesus famous,

Maurice and Sue

George Mueller was an amazing follower and lover of Jesus who built homes and cared for more than ten thousand orphans for decades, without ever asking for a single cent from anyone.  His journals are filled with story after story of how God intervened and provided for this man that simply believed with all of his heart, that his God could do anything!  

One of those stories was when he and his wife were crossing the Atlantic from Bristol England, to go to Quebec, where George was scheduled to speak. 

The captain of the huge ship had been on the bridge for twenty-four hours due to intense, thick fog that had encased the vessel.

On a Wednesday afternoon, just off the coast of Newfoundland, he was startled by a man who walked on to the bridge and tapped him on the shoulder. The man was George - who the captain had never met.

"Captain, I've come to tell you that I need to be in Quebec by Saturday afternoon!" 

The captain answered, "THAT IS SIMPLY IMPOSSIBLE because of this fog", to which George confidently declared, "Well then, if your ship can't take me, then MY GOD will find another way to get me there!!! I have never broken one of His engagements in fifty-seven years!!" 

The captain stammered, "I would help you if I could, but I am helpless!!!" 

George looked him square in the eye and said, "Let's go to the chart room and pray!"

The captain looked right back at him and asked, "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS FOG?!? DO YOU REALIZE HOW DENSE IT IS??!?!!"

"No!!" George replied, "MY EYES ARE NOT ON THE DENSITY OF THE FOG!!!! MY EYES ARE ON THE LIVING GOD WHO CONTROLS EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OF MY LIFE!!!!"

With that, George knelt down and prayed a simple prayer....

"FATHER, please remove this fog in five minutes. You know the engagement YOU made for me in Quebec on Saturday, and I believe you want me to keep it."

The captain feeling guilty, knelt down beside him and was about to try to pray, when George stopped him...

"Don't pray. First, you don't believe God will do it, and second, I believe God has already done it!! I have known my Lord and Savior for fifty-seven years and there has never been a single day that I have failed to gain audience with my KING!! Get up Captain and open the door, and YOU WILL SEE that the fog is gone!!!!"

Months later when the captain was relaying his encounter with George to another passenger, he ended the story with, "George Mueller was in Quebec by Saturday afternoon!!!" 

This is what we know...

There is no one like OUR GOD!  
Nothing is impossible for OUR GOD!
And OUR EYES ARE NOT ON THE DENSITY OF THE FOG!!!  
OUR EYES ARE ON OUR LIVING GOD WHO CONTROLS EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OF OUR LIVES!!!!!

YUP!  Our eyes are FIXED on The One who knows the END from the beginning and who has made all the in between just as He knows it has to be, in order for HIS PURPOSE to be accomplished!!!!!!

YUP!  Our eyes are FIXED on The One who with a breath, dissolves fog and makes dry paths through seas - who with a word, brings storms to a whisper, makes blind eyes see, deaf ears hear and raises the dead!!!! 

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS FOG?!? 
DO YOU REALIZE HOW DENSE IT IS??!?!!  
HAVE YOU SEEN THAT GIANT?!?!? 
DO YOU SEE HOW TALL HE IS?!?!?
HAVE YOU SEEN THAT SEA!?!?!?  
DO YOU SEE HOW IMPASSIBLE IT IS?!?
Don't you understand that this task you've been asked to do is IMPOSSIBLE?!?!?!
Don't you understand that it just can't be done!?!?!?! 

AH HOGWASH!!!!! 

The next time the enemy of our souls comes at us with his relentless rhetoric and horrible lies - let's take a page from George Mueller's book - let's look him in the eyeball and set him straight...

NO!!!!  OUR EYES ARE NOT ON THE DENSITY OF THE FOG!!!!  
OUR EYES ARE NOT ON THE GIANT!!!  
OUR EYES ARE NOT ON THE SEA THAT STANDS BETWEEN US AND ALL THAT HAS BEEN PROMISED!!!!  
OUR EYES ARE ON THE LIVING GOD WHO IS IN CONTROL AND WHO WROTE THIS STORY AND WHO ASSIGNED US THIS TASK!!!!  
OUR EYES ARE ON THE ONE WHO NEVER LIES, NEVER FAILS and WHO NEVER BREAKS A PROMISE!!!!

Friends - we are SO excited for what's ahead and can't wait to watch our GOD do all that He has DECLARED He is going to do in Haiti!!  
Like our friend George, we have chosen to look past the obstacles, to the face of THE ONE who will for sure get us to where He wants us to be, to do what He has set us apart to do for HIS GLORY!!!  

The Charitable status is in the hands of our LIVING GOD - if He wants us to have it - then nothing can stop it from being given to us!  
What we know, is that OUR LIVING GOD is OUR SOURCE of ALL that we will EVER need to complete this mission He has entrusted us with!
What we know, is that GOD HIMSELF will be there to receive our container and get it through customs and on to the property that HE GAVE US to house HIS DREAM for this nation that HE SO LOVES!!!

YUP!  OUR EYES ARE NOT ON THE DENSITY OF THE FOG - BUT ON THE LIVING GOD WHO CONTROLS EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OF OUR LIVES - AND WHO HAS NEVER LET US DOWN!!!!!

Be encouraged today!!!
If you're looking at JESUS, there's no way you'll even notice the fog!!!!  
He will get you to where He's scheduled you to be, at the exact time He wants you to be there!!!  

YUP!  This is what we know...

Maurice and Sue 

As we step into yet another year to make our Jesus famous, may we wake up every day expecting the miraculous!!! May we put ALL of our trust in The One who SPOKE the world into existence!! May we do like He commands, and OPEN OUR MOUTHS WIDE, SO HE CAN FILL IT!!! (Psalm 81:10)

The original Hebrew text paints a picture of a baby bird in a nest with its mouth wide open IN EXPECTATION of being fed!!! When a mother bird brings food, she never has to ask her babies to open up their mouths wide!!! Even before she flies into the nest their mouths are WIDE OPEN because they KNOW that their Mama is gonna fill them up!!! Those babies are chirping with excitement long before their MAMA swoops in with the worms!!! The only problem the MAMA faces, is satisfying their insatiable appetites!!!

 

May we be just like those baby birds!!!

OUR GOD DOES NOT FAIL..
OUR GOD DOES NOT LIE...
OUR GOD DOES NOT DISAPPOINT THOSE WHO PUT ALL THEIR HOPES IN HIM!!

So WHATEVER your need, be it physical, emotional or spiritual - whatever prayer you're desperate to have answered - no matter how impossible it feels - OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE and start anticipating a FEAST way, way beyond your wildest dreams......and that's not us talking, that's GOD TALKING....The One WHO RAISES THE DEAD and calls things that are not, as though they were....it's HIM talking, to YOU.....right now...so start chirpin' and flappin' cuz' what He says, HE DOES!!!!

With thankful hearts and wide open mouths,

M & S

PAPA GOD, your faithfulness in our yesterdays, fills our hearts with HUGE expectation for our tomorrows!!!!

Well, the boy is home!!!!  We had a busy 10 days filled with mountains of paper work, meetings with our accountant and our board, an eventful trip to the dentist where I was schooled in fixing cracked teeth, a container unveiling, lots of good food and good conversation - before he boarded another plane and flew home into the arms of his family for Christmas!  It was the best Christmas gift ever to be in the same room, to be able to thank our PAPA God for all He's done, for all He's doing and for all that He has promised to do!!!!

Many of you have asked what DREAM BIG WITH US needs as we move forward into the next phase of this epic GOD story, so we thought we'd send you our Christmas WISH list...

# 1 - For this nation He has set us apart for,  to come to know the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Our hearts pound for every, single heart to come to understand just how much God loves them, because when you come to know JESUS, every day is Christmas.  

# 2 - To finish our septic system....$2000

# 3 - To attach the two twenty foot containers....$2500

# 4 - To install a solar panel system....$16,000

# 5 - To ship our modified container to out property in Haiti...$6500

100% of your giving will go directly to these projects! 

If you want to support DREAM BIG WITH US please contact Maurice and Sue at 

info@dreambigwithus.org

You have our word that every dollar you give, will go towards making JESUS and His unmatched love - that compelled Him to leave heaven, to embrace a cross, so that we could live guiltless and forever with Him - REAL famous!! 

THANK YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH!!

Your giving will change a life, that will change a nation, and that our friends, is what Christmas is all about...


Maurice and Sue

$6500

$2000

$6500

$16,000

CAVU

Those letters hung on a plaque on President George H. W. Bush's wall from the days of when he was a young navy pilot back in his late teens.  When he became the president, he brought the plaque with him to the Oval Office.  They were four letters that everyone on his staff understood and knew that the president lived by.

                                                  CAVU

                        Ceiling And Visibility Unlimited.

President Bush explained that CAVU was the kind of weather he and his comrades in arms needed whenever they flew off their carrier in the Pacific to carry out a mission.

'Ceiling and visibility unlimited' became his mantra that he lived by until the day he died. 

                                         The sky is the limit!!! 
                                         Nothing is too hard!!! 
                                  Nothing can't be accomplished!!! 

                                               
                                              CAVU!!!!  

               Ceiling and visibility is unlimited so let's get the job done!!!  

In an interview, President Bush said that he confidently told his guardian angel every morning, that his life was CAVA, because he knew that with God on his side it was true!! On the morning of the day he died, his best friend and his former Secretary of State, James Baker was visiting him.  He said to James, "Where are we going today James? What's our mission?"  James took the hand of his old friend and said, "We're headed to heaven!" and President Bush replied, "Yes! I'm looking forward to that! CAVU!" 

           We cracked pots have the most exciting, adventurous,
                  fulfilling life, with a capital L, on the planet!!! 
                       We aren't like the rest of the world!!!
       We are strangers and aliens passing through on our way to forever
        who have GOD as their compass, commander and cheerleader!!! 
                       We are citizens of heaven who serve in His Kingdom, 
                          that cannot be shaken and will never end!!!! 
      We are on earth to accomplish His purposes and to bring Him glory and
       that's actually possible, because He has made our hearts, HIS home!!! 

                                             
                                              Our motto is CAVU!!!!! 

                                     There is nothing our God can't do!!!  
                                     
                                  Ceiling and visibility is unlimited!!!!  

NOTHING is impossible because the maker of the sky is FOR US!!!!  He fights for us!!!  He exchanges our weakness for HIS strength!!!!  He guides us in HIS ways which are perfect and beyond understanding!!!!  

He parts seas, crumbles walls, mutes lions, rains manna from the sky, brings water out of rocks and stills storms, for those who belong to Him!!!!  

We cracked pots aren't exempt from trials, disappointments and pain, but for those of us who love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength; for those of us who trust Him no matter what, He works it all out for HIS good, according to HIS purposes!!!!  

He uses our chains to advance The Gospel. 
He uses jail time... 
He uses cave time... 
He brings eternal beauty out of ashes... 
He raises armies out of dry bones!!!!  

                                                 
                                            CAVU!!!!  

Ceiling and visibility unlimited, is how it is for US, His kids, His sheep, His olive trees, His servants, His friends, His cracked pots, who have chosen to fall on our faces before His throne...and stay there.  

David wrote that for those who fear God - for those who are bowed in His presence and acknowledge that life is hopeless and meaningless without Him and that in their own strength they can't do squat - "He will raise a banner and unfurl it against the bow of the one who wants us dead..." (Psalm 60:4)

David never, ever, went into war without a banner, or what we would now call a flag.  A banner was hoisted high on a pole to let the troops know which direction to strike from, plus it was a source of encouragement!  The soldiers knew that as long as the banner was flying, their leader was pressing forward with the battle!!  An unfurled banner declared "VICTORY IS OURS!!!! VICTORY BELONGS TO THE CHILDREN OF GOD!!!!" 

The sight of Israel's banner flying high in the sky also made the opposing army tremble in their boots, because it reminded them who they were up against!! To the enemy it was like a billboard in neon lights that flashed, "YOU'VE LOST BEFORE YOU EVEN BEGIN!!!  WE ARE THE ARMY OF THE ONE TRUE LIVING GOD WHO NEVER LOSES!!!!"

What David did for his troops, is what GOD does for US, His troops, His army, His soldiers, who have been called to fight the good fight!!!!!  

He raises a banner and unfurls it against the bow of the one who wants us dead...and that banner says, CAVU!!!!!!  His banner announces to us that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE - that HE IS ON OUR SIDE - that HE'S GOT IT - that He NEVER loses!!!  AND it reminds our foe that THE WAR IS OVER BEFORE IT EVEN STARTS because there is NO ONE LIKE OUR GOD!!! 

David went on to write in Psalm 60....

GOD has SPOKEN from His sanctuary, "IN TRIUMPH I will give you what I have written!!!!  I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is MINE!  Manasseh is MINE! Ephraim is my helmet!  Judah is my scepter!  Moab is my gargage can! I toss my sandal at Edom  and over Philistia, I SHOUT IN TRIUMPH!!!!!"  (Psalm 60:6-8) 

In other words, "YOUR ENEMY WILL BOW TO ME!!!! YOUR ENEMY IS UNDER MY CONTROL!!!! YOUR ENEMY DOESN'T STAND A CHANCE BECAUSE I - THE ONE TRUE LIVING GOD - HAVE DECLARED IT AND WHAT I SAY - IS!!!!"

David responded, "AH LORD!!!  YES!!!! IT IS YOU who gives us aid against the enemy!! The help of man is worthless!!!  BUT WITH YOU, WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!!!!!  WITH YOU, WE WILL TRAMPLE DOWN OUR ENEMIES!!!"

      Everything that stands in opposition to OUR GOD will be destroyed!!!
                       Every scheme of the evil one will be crushed!!!! 
                                      THE BATTLE IS WON!!!!! 
                               HIS BANNER IS FLYING HIGH!!!!
SO HOW CAN WE NOT KEEP MARCHING AND WIELDING OUR SWORDS
        WHEN THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY IS UNLIMITED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Whatever you're facing today - know that GOD IS FOR YOU - and so nothing         is impassable, uncrossable, unattainable, uncrushable, unbeatable
                                           or impossible!!!
           
                           Yup,  we'll believe that till our last breath,

                                               Maurice & Sue 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest..." says Jesus.

The word WEARY is from the Greek word KOPAIO, which describes the most bone tiring kind of labor. It paints a picture of a person who has been giving their absolute ALL to an assignment for a very long time without a break.

The word BURDENED is from the Greek word PHORTIDZO, which was a military term that described a backpack or a bag that every soldier was required to carry.  The weight of their load was determined by the length of the soldier's journey.

The word REST is from the Greek word ANAPAUO, which means to PAUSE, to cease, to take a breather, to have a hiatus, a lull, an interval, an interruption from what you've been doing, in order to be revitalized, reinvigorated or rejuvenated, so that you can keep doing what you have been asked to do.  

Jesus says, "Come to me, all of you who are tired to the bone, who have been working tirelessly for so long....Come to me and lay down your load...Pause for awhile and let MY STRENGTH be made perfect in your weakness...Let me strengthen your hands and your heart....Let me fill you up with more of me....so that you can go back and keep doing what I have set you apart to do...." 

There's an old song that was sung around the altar when we were kids that said, "Sweep over my soul, sweep over my soul, sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul....my rest is complete, as we sit at His feet, sweet Spirit, sweep over my soul...."  

And after we sang that song, we'd slide into, "I need you, O I need you....every hour, I need you...bless me now my Savior...I come....to thee...."

And therein lies the secret to that perfect rest...we must come, when Jesus says 'Come...'  

When He says to lay the bag down, we MUST lay that bag down and let Him sweep over our souls...until He lifts us up again, straps that load, that somehow feels much lighter, back on our backs, and sends us out into the war once again, ready to fight!!!

Maurice has started the trek back to Canada!!!!

He's obeyed the 'COME', laid his load down and sat himself at the feet of His Master, and will stay there until His Master says, 'It's time to go back!' 

So our prayer is, "Sweep over our souls, sweep over our souls....sweet Spirit, sweep over our souls....Our rest is complete, as we sit at your feet, sweet Spirit, sweep over our souls....Cuz' we need you, O we need you!!! Every hour we need you, O bless us now our Savior....we come...to thee....." 

And our prayer for you, is that you, who are weary and burdened, would also obey His 'Come unto me' and that He would sweep over your souls, with all that you need to carry on doing what He has set you apart to do....

At His feet,

Maurice and Sue

For the past few weeks I've been keeping an eye on one red leaf that has remained clinging to a branch on the Red Maple outside my window. Despite gale force winds, a snow storm and freezing rain, it's stubbornly remained in tact to greet me every morning with a message of steadfastness.

We simply can't do this earthly trek without a steadfast spirit.

It not only keeps us from sinning, but it's what keeps us believing in what we do not see, and certain of what we hope for!!!!!

Without that 'I will not be moved' mentality, standing firm in the faith would be impossible!!

A steadfast spirit is what got Abraham up every morning while he waited for his Isaac, it's what kept the hammer in Noah's hand, gave Paul and Silas a song in the dungeon and compelled Jesus to cry out to God, "not what I will, but may YOUR will be done!!"

And, it's what took twenty-seven year old John Chau to a tribe of unreached people who live on North Sentinel Island, located in the Indian Ocean.

Just last week - John made a few trips to the island to scout things out. He gave the isolated tribe gifts - scissors, safety pins and footballs. He wrote in his journal that some of the people were kind, but others were very hostile, that his inspiration was Jesus and that if he died, to please not blame the Sentinelese people.

On November 16, just ten days ago, John hired a fishermen to take him to the island and told him that he would not be coming back. John was in it for the long haul, willing to do whatever it took to make sure these people came to know Jesus!!!

THAT'S A STEADFAST SPIRIT!!!!

A steadfast spirit keeps you right where GOD wants you to be, despite the opposition or the outcome!!! 
A steadfast spirit enables you to hang on to what GOD has spoken; it gives you the courage to refuse to listen to any other voice, except for THE VOICE that spoke the world into existence and has asked you to join Him on top of the waves!!!

Much like Jim Elliot, and the other 4 men who responded to GOD'S call to come to Ecuador back in the 1950's - on the morning of November 17th, 2018 John was speared to death and buried in the sand by the people he came to love.

Sovereign God, renew a steadfast spirit within your people....

May we refuse to be swayed by the lies of the enemy, by the opinion of people or by the level of our comfort...
May we fiercely hang on to every, single, solitary promise you have declared....
May we stand firm in the faith and let NOTHING move us....

May we stand out like the tiny red leaf as a testimony to the power of your grip and the honor of being called to make you known.....

Yes and Amen,

M & S

You've been hearing about what God has put on our hearts to do for quite awhile now, and have been following each step with your prayers, and that, our friends, is invaluable.  Your faithful intercession is what has got us to where we are now, and what will get us to where God has written that we will be - so whatever you do - don't stop praying!!

Waiting is not easy, but it brings huge rewards.

Abraham and Sarah were promised descendants as numerous as the stars.  Twenty-five years into the journey, their arms were still empty.  Now before you jump to conclusions, it's not going to be another quarter of a century before we get our Isaac, but we DO want an Isaac, and not an Ishmael.

Like was mentioned, waiting is not easy, and 9,125 days into the wait, Sarah got a little antsy.  She'd been hanging in there, rehearsing God's promise to her soul month after month, year after year, decade after decade, and it just got the best of her.  In a moment of humanness, her flesh won over her spirit, and her thinking shifted from 'GOD WILL' to 'I WILL'; from 'GOD CAN do this!', to 'I CAN DO THIS!' and the rest is history...

They got their baby, but it wasn't the baby GOD had planned for them to have.  Oh, God loved and blessed Ishmael, but there were consequences that have lasted to this day because of Sarah and Abraham's impatience!  You know, most of the time when this story is told, Abraham seems like the poor guy who had to go into the tent and have sex with Hagar, but Abraham could haveand should have, taken Sarah out to the fields and pointed at the sky!  Abraham should have reminded his wife of what GOD HAD SAID WOULD BE, but he didn't.  He too gave in to the weariness of the wait.  

What's beautiful though, is despite their temporary lapse of faith, what GOD PROMISED still happened!!!  Ten years later, Sarah, although she was far past child bearing age, and Abraham. although he was as good as dead, conceived a baby JUST LIKE GOD HAD SAID WOULD HAPPEN and they called him Isaac, which means laughter!!!  

Our God ALWAYS keeps His word.

Always.

And...there is NOTHING that we can do that will erase what HE HAS HAD WRITTEN since before the beginning of time.

Nothing.

But here's the deal.  
We want an Isaac. 

Since God put His dream in our hearts for this nation He has prepared us for our whole lives, our prayer has been HIS WAY, HIS TIME, and all for HIS GLORY!!!  And as we've done our bests to listen to His voice and respond to all of His nudges, HE HAS BEEN FAITHFUL to WOW us over and over again!!!  

These past 18 months have been full of the miraculous!!!  

Maurice got his permis - his permanent residence status which enabled us to own land!!
'Dream Big With Us' was granted NON-PROFIT status which allowed us to open up a bank account, which GOD quickly grew!!  When we opened the account with a hundred dollars, the teller asked us if we expected large amounts of money, to which we both declared with massive grins, "YES!!!!  HUGE!!!! HUGE!!!! amounts of money!!!"  Within two weeks we had hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in that account!!  
God led us to the most jaw dropping acreage of property in all of Haiti, had someone else pay for and construct the bridge across a river to get to it, AND ON THE SAME DAY, He sold my home for MORE than the asking price!!
God has blessed us with TWO TRUCKS, and 4 SHIPPING CONTAINERS, one of which has been modified here in Canada into a beautiful multi-purpose room, that we will ship FULL of provisions to Haiti, to house our teams, and to use as our first classroom!!
And while we wait for our faith to become sight, God has provided a beautiful haven for me to stay in, for which I thank Him for every day!  There are not enough words to thank our God, or the generous owners who have graciously let me borrow their home!!

Oh, there are many more miracles - like how He provided for me to go and spend a month with CJ and the family in Hong Kong, OR how He provided the perfect house here in Canada to purchase and then to rent, to generate funds for what He's doing in Haiti, OR how He blessed our first MASSIVE YARD SALE in so many ways, not just with $18,000 worth of sales, but the many lives that were incredibly touched that day in an undeniable and unforgettable way!! 

It's been an AMAZING YEAR AND A HALF!!!  

It's been an ASTOUNDING SIX YEARS of having front row seats to watching a tiny seed, grow into a flourishing TREE, that we KNOW will soon be a FOREST!!!  The MIND BLOWING REVELATIONS God has shown us on our knees, have convinced us that IT WILL FOR SURE, BE WORTH THE WAIT!!!!

So when is 'Dream Big With Us' going to be fully operational you ask?!?!
When will my feet finally hit the ground?!?!
When will we finally BE THERE, doing everything that GOD has showed us that He created us to do!!?!?!?

WHEN GOD MAKES IT HAPPEN!!!!

Maurice has been in Haiti for the past eighteen months pouring out his life, from sunrise to sunset.  He's been pushing through continuous obstacles that the enemy relentlessly puts in the way, because he knows what's coming is going to be well worth the blood, sweat and tears.  He's spent thousands of hours on our property clearing land to make a road, he helped complete the bridge so that he could get containers situated on to the cement foundations he poured, he built and erected a gate, not once, but twice, to keep truck-loads of garbage from being dumped on to our property - the first gate got dug up and driven away by a work crew when the highway was being widened!!  He's overseen the digging of our well, which included fixing the rig too many times; put in a septic system and gave our vehicles some 'love' as he would say, to make them road worthy!!  And along with all those tasks, he's loved the boots off our Nan Rasin family - taking them to multiple doctors visits and to the beach!  He treated them to barbecued chicken and chocolate and LOTS of ice cream!! He's taken the boys out for pizza and coke - both of which they never have unless they're with Maurice!!  He's done food deliveries to the poorest of the poor, he's celebrated birthdays and mourned the loss of Shiela, one of our kids who died too soon.  And on top of all of that, he's survived an 5.8 earthquake and typhoid fever!!  

It's been a really full and awesomely eternal eighteen months, and it's time for a rest - so in the next little while, he will return to Canada for just that - a good rest - and when our PAPA GOD thinks He's ready to go back, we will fly into Cap Haitian with hearts POUNDING with ANTICIPATION for ALL OUR GOD IS ABOUT TO DO!!!! 

SO while we wait...we ask that you wait with us, for the Isaac that our God has promised is coming!!!!!

We ask that you would continue to pray for us during this time of valuable preparation for all that’s ahead....and we ask that you would keep calling out to God to do what ONLY He can do, for our Haitian families and for this nation that God has called us to love....

AH...it won't be long!!!!  

Every day brings us one day closer to LIVING the next chapter of this most epic story He’s written us into!!!!  
Every promise He has declared WE WILL SEE and WE WILL LIVE - HIS way, in HIS timing and for HIS glory.....

Looking at the stars, persuaded that Isaac is on the way....

M & S

The Greek word for mercy is HESED which is a word that is interchangeable with the word AGAPE - the 'over the top', lavish, unconditional, never-ending love our heavenly Father loves us with!!!

HESED and AGAPE are inseparable.  

The word HESED paints a picture of the deep love a mother or father has towards their children - a steadfast, endless, loyal, enduring kind of love that births continuous forgiveness.  It's a love that sees past what is, to what will be.  
It's undeserving and unstoppable.  

HESED is what PAPA showed the children of Israel in the wilderness.  
It was 40 years of HESED.  Despite their unbelief, rebellion, disobedience, and complaining - He extended His HESED.  
It's what JESUS displayed on the cross towards His executioners, and to His disciples even though they had left Him alone in His most painful hours.  

Blessed are the merciful - blessed are those, who love those who are the hardest to love - blessed are those, who despite how they're treated, refuse to retaliate, but instead remain steadfast in their choice to love and forgive - blessed are the merciful - for they will be shown mercy - they too will be loved no matter what, they too will experience GOD'S steadfast, loyal, unflappable, undeserved love, forgiveness and grace.  

To those who show mercy, mercy will be given.  

Jesus told the expert of The Law that those who modeled their actions after the Samaritan who stopped to help the dying man on the side of the road - would LIVE - that those who extended HESED - that those who chose to stop and give even their enemy what they needed, would be awarded with not just ETERNAL LIFE with GOD when they died - but LIFE bursting with GOD GIVEN PURPOSE here on earth, that would change the world one beat up person at a time!!!!

In 2006 a man entered a Mennonite school, tied up ten little girls and then shot them one at a time, then killed himself. Five of those precious girls died and five were critically wounded, but survived.  

The parents of the girls chose to be merciful. 

Together they went to visit the wife of the man who had murdered their five daughters and forever traumatized their five daughters who had lived through the horrific ordeal - and gave her food and comfort.  They expressed their grief for her - they surrounded her with their love and lifted her up in prayers.  On the day of her husband's funeral - the press was there in droves.  These Mennonite families showed up in their carriages and formed a human wall around her, shielding her from the camera's.  They grieved with her that she had lost her husband - that wasn't always like he was, on the morning that changed their lives.

That's HESED.  
That's MERCY.

Elizabeth Elliot took her two year old daughter and chose to live among the tribe that had speared her husband and four of his friends to death - because she so wanted them to come to know the Jesus that Jim had died for.  Rachael Saint, the brother of Nate Saint who had flown the plane carrying this band of brothers into where the Auca Indians lived and who had also been martyred - also moved in with this tribe and stayed there until the day she died - in fact she is buried there, in a community that ALL came to know JESUS because of what Elizabeth and Rachael displayed to those who hurt them in the deepest of ways.

That's HESED.  
That's MERCY.

Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's home together with a bunch of tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees did what Pharisees do - they ridiculed and pointed fingers - they judged - and they did it all in the name of God.  They were outraged that Jesus would associate with these kind of people.  Jesus looked at them straight in the eyeballs and said, "It's not the healthy that need a doctor - it's the sick.  Go and learn what this means - I DESIRE MERCY, NOT SACRIFICE.  For I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners."

Jesus was quoting the prophet Hosea who had told God's children centuries before - that their sacrifices meant nothing when their hearts were far from Him and filled with judgement towards others.  Jesus was using Hosea's words, that were His Father's words, to make a point - - - they could pray on the street corners so everyone could hear them until they were blue in the face - but they wouldn't be heard by The One who they were supposedly calling out to - they could bring their lambs to the temple and sacrifice them every day - but The one who they were offering them to, wouldn't receive them, because their hearts were merciless.  

Paul said it best to the called out ones in Corinth,  "You can speak with tongues of angels until the cows come home - but if you aren't full of that AGAPE, GOD KIND OF LOVE and GOD KIND OF MERCY - you are nothing but an annoying GONG!!!  You can have the gift of prophecy, you can have big huge revelations, you can have the faith to move a mountain - but if you aren't full of that AGAPE, GOD KIND OF LOVE and GOD KIND OF MERCY - you have NOTHING!!!  You can give all you possess to the poor, you can even be a martyr for the sake of His name - but if aren't full of that AGAPE, GOD KIND OF LOVE and GOD KIND OF MERCY, than it's all for nothing!!!!!!!!"  

To those that show mercy - mercy will be given.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be blessed with mercy...
says JESUS.

Jesus, we thank you for your mercy that you poured out for us on the cross and that you still make available to us with every sunrise!! 
Thank you for looking past what we are, to what you have destined us to be!!!!  
Thank you for not treating us the way our sins deserve for us to be treated!!!!   
In light of ALL you have done for us - we choose mercy - because we know that we couldn't live without YOUR MERCY!!!  
We choose to extend mercy and love like Jesus extended mercy and love!!!  
May we be conduits of your mercy and love, both in Canada and in Haiti, to the ones who have been beaten up and cast aside, who are laying on the side of the road gasping for their next breath, who desperately need what we have in order to truly live....may we be willing to kneel in the dirt and pour out our lives to bring the broken to YOU, the one and only true and lasting refuge....

AH, our Sovereign God is about to release an unprecedented avalanche of His love and His mercy on to the nation of Haiti...........
Haiti is about to be swept away in a tsunami of His love and His mercy that is going to make the whole world gasp......

So please keep praying......because YOUR prayers move will unleash this promised outpouring of love and mercy that is going to transform that nation.....

Thanks so much for praying for Pete and Joelee's girls - they are doing well and so are the puppies, but Coffee is still struggling, so let's keep praying!  

Isn't it beautiful that GOD'S love and mercy extends to ALL of His creation?!!  
Isn't it beautiful that His eye is on the sparrow as well as us?!?!!  

AH, there really is NOTHING that compares to the love and mercy of our GOD - absolutely nothing....

LIVING in His mercy and overwhelmed by His love,

M & S

Pour yourself a cup of something and then sit back, take a listen, and think about where you'd be without His love and mercy....

The power of WIND is unmatched!! 

In seconds, it can bring devastating destruction, but it also powers windmills that produce energy that generates electricity.  It keeps the air from becoming stagnant and it cools us down.  It propelled the first explorers across the ocean.  

Wind can't be seen, but its effects sure can be felt and heard!! 

Luke writes that "When the day of Pentecost came, the called out ones were all together in one place, when suddenly a sound like a rushing, mighty windcame from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting."  (Acts 2:1,2)

The word suddenly in the Greek, means just that, suddenly - they were taken off guard - it was a surprise - it was totally unexpected.  They were waiting for The Holy Spirit to come, just like Jesus had commanded them to do, but they weren't expecting Him to come like He came!!!   

The word sound in the Greek text describes the DEAFENING ROAR OF THE SEA. 

The word rushing in the Greek text paints a picture of something being driven downwards VERY loudly.  

The word mighty in the Greek text is better translated VIOLENT.

The word wind in the Greek text describes a wind SO LOUD that everyone instinctively covers their ears because the noise is so overpowering. 

When The Holy Spirit came He was STRONGLY FELT!!! There was no mistaking that He'd arrived!!!!!!  The house SHOOK!!!  And along with the wind, there was what looked like tongues of fire on top of everyone’s head!! And then everyone began to speak in languages that they’d never learned!!! Their voices were so loud, that the people on the street below that had come to Jerusalem from every nation, were amazed to hear their individual languages declaring the wonders of God!!! The Holy Spirit released an explosive power that day strong enough to transform one hundred and twenty Jesus followers into a mighty force for GOD, that quite literally changed the world!!!  When God made Adam he was lifeless until GOD BREATHED into Him!!!  Likewise when the called out ones came together in one place, they too had no power to do what they were destined to do - UNTIL GOD, in the person of THE HOLY SPIRIT,  BREATHED on them!!!  With a LOUD BOOM the POWER OF GOD resided in them enabling them to bring the story of JESUS to the nations!!!  

When The Holy Spirit is welcomed, He pours out unmatched, undeniable power that SHAKES the house, that TRANSFORMS hearts both inside and outside the walls of the church!!! 

When The Holy Spirit is welcomed, He SUPPLIES US WITH A  SUPERNATURAL ENERGY that EMPOWERS US to do what we could not naturally do on our own!!!  

Holy Spirit... sweep over Haiti like a mighty rushing wind...from the youngest to the oldest...from the north to the south...from the east to the west...BREATHE on this broken nation!!!!

In and of ourselves we can't do anything to bring change to this place that many have cast aside as hopeless - there are no programs, no initiatives, no human solutions - so Holy Spirit INVADE our hearts and INVADE this nation in an unmistakable way to usher in a transformation that will cause the world to sit up and take notice!!! 

Holy Spirit...we welcome you!!!!    

TRANSFORM this valley of dry bones into a MASSIVE ARMY that will raise their swords and cut the enemy down at his knees!!!!

RAISE UP Peter's and POUR YOUR POWER into their hearts and YOUR WORDS into their mouths!!!!

Holy Spirit...come and BREATHE on all of us today...FILL US to overflowing with undeniable, unmatched, explosive power that will empower us to tell THE STORY OF ALL STORIES to your broken world!!!!

YES and AMEN!!!!

AH, what our GOD has in store for Haiti is MIND BLOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busting with expectation,

M & S

Samuel tells the story of Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth.  

David and Jonathan were best friends who made a covenant with each other to look out for each others families until the day they died. 

Years later when David was King - and both Saul and Jonathan were dead - David asked his servants to find out if Jonathan had any surviving children. 

They came back and told him that there was one son, Mephibosheth, who had quite the story.  

On the day both his Grandfather and his father were killed, his nurse fearing he would be next, grabbed him and started running.  In her haste, she dropped Mephibosheth, which left him crippled.  She scooped him up and fled to a place called Lodebar, a desolate, barren place filled with doom and gloom.  Everyone who lived in Lodebar was at the end of their rope, they had nothing left to their name, they were jobless and cast aside by society and waiting to die.

As soon as David heard about Mephibosheth he sent chariots to Lodebar to go and get him.  

The Kings chariots NEVER go to places like Lodebar so you can just imagine the shock when suddenly servants of the KING were in their midst!!! The question on everyone's lips was what on earth would THE KING ever want in Lodebar?!!?!?  

Mephibosheth had grown up knowing who he was. He'd heard the stories about how his Grandfather had tried to kill the present King, so when the Kings chariots rode into the ash heap where he was existing, it's safe to say that he assumed his meaningless, pathetic life was finally over.  At the very least, he would have for sure been thinking that the King had sent someone to kill what remained of Saul's family, so we can only imagine his shock, when instead of death - HE WAS BROUGHT TO THE KINGS TABLE - GIVEN A ROOM IN THE KINGS PALACE - and then told by King David that HE WAS JUST AS MUCH A SON TO HIM AS HIS OWN SONS!!!!

Mephibosheth knew his life was hopeless. 
He was merely existing with no hope of truly LIVING.  He survived on scraps - until THE KING came to his rescue!!!! 

That's the perfect picture of where we were until JESUS came and rescued us!!!!! 

We were stuck in Lodebar until THE KING of ALL KINGS chose to take us out of there and MAKE US HIS OWN!!! 

We were as helpless and hopeless as Mephibosheth, until THE King gave us a seat at HIS TABLE and DECLARED that what belonged to HIM, now belonged to US - all because of the covenant JESUS established on the cross!!! 

AND THAT IS THE GLORIOUS GOOD NEWS WE GET TO SHARE WITH OUR WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JESUS, thank you for taking us out of Lodebar and bringing us into your Kingdom!!! 
Thank you for setting us a place at your table!!!  Thank you for giving us LIFE!!! 
You have declared that all you have is ours - so thank you JESUS for your strength that is made perfect in our weakness, for your grace that is always enough, for your wisdom that is perfect, for your power that is unrivaled, and for your provisions that are endless!!! 
We will NEVER forget how you rode into our Lodebar's and rescued us and  we will NEVER stop telling THE STORY of how we were hopelessly lost until you found us!!! 
AH JESUS, ride into Haiti, ride into this place of despair and stun countless hearts with your love.....scoop up the broken into your arms and bring them to your table that is mounded with a feast of your goodness and mercy....
YES and AMEN!!!!!

God's Word tells us to cast ALL our cares on HIM, for He cares for us.....and so today we are asking you to pray for Coffee - a dog that means the world to a family in our community - who has been bit by a trancula - which has caused a horrific infection that has resulted in him chewing his leg to the bone.  Coffee is looked after by a wonderful JESUS loving family from America - Pete and Joelee and their precious little girls.  A few months back Coffee gave birth to a litter of puppies - which you can imagine made those little girls smile BIG,  but in the last few days, five out of the nine puppies have died due to a parvo virus.  Coffee's condition and the death of these puppies has broken their hearts.  

Please pray for healing for Coffee and protection for the remaining puppies, so that these little soldier sisters that are asking Jesus for a miracle, will grow up CONVINCED that HE REALLY DOES CARE and CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE!!!!  

This is a family that has come to LODEBAR to make our Jesus famous who need to feel HIS arms today!!!!! 

These are little girls that Jesus wants to use to TELL HIS STORY to the broken, so let's pray with them and for them, believing for a miracle!!!!!  

Thanking Jesus for rescuing us from Lodebar,

M & S

MEET GRIN

This is GRIN - one of Coffee's puppies that we have claimed as our WATCH DOG :)  It's part Doberman and part German Shepherd - so cute eh!?

The disciples and a huge crowd of people had been camped out on the side of a mountain for three days - listening to Jesus.  Bible scholars estimate that there were at least 30,000 people on that camp-out!  Jesus so captured their attention that no one wanted to leave.  He looked at that massive crowd and said to his friends, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?"  

This question was so ludicrous to His disciples that Andrew, Peter's brother, shot back a sarcastic response - "Here's a kid with a lunch!  Let's see, he's got five little barely loaves and two small fish!"  Philip stated what all of them were thinking, "EIGHT MONTHS WAGES wouldn't even buy enough bread for every one to have just a tiny bite!!"  John writes, "Jesus asked this question only to test them for He already had in mind what He would do." 

Every word Jesus spoke - every deed Jesus did - was intentional and scripted by His Father for an eternal purpose.  Jesus never stopped teaching.  His mission was to get this crew that His father had chosen, ready for what He'd destined them to do.  While He went about healing the sick and sending demons back to hell, He poured Himself into these men that would one day believe so strongly that He was indeed the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world, that they would die for the sake of His Name.  Every moment He spent on earth was to show these boys the Kingdom way of doing things, it was to convince them that nothing was impossible with GOD, it was to show them that they were aliens passing through on their way to a forever that would take their breath away, but until they arrived, they'd been given the task of taking HIS STORY to the world. 

"Hey my friends, where can we buy bread for these people to eat?" 

"Jesus asked this question only to test them for He already had in mind what He would do." 

The disciples watched as Jesus lifted that little boys lunch up to the heavens and thanked His Father for what He was about to do.  They saw with their own eyes those five barely loaves and two tiny fish multiply into so much food, that there were twelve baskets of leftovers!!  But even after they witnessed such an incredible miracle, their faith was still lacking, because that very night when they found themselves in a boat in the middle of a storm, they were terrified, and the next morning when they were hungry they wondered where they'd ever find food!?!?!  

Through their entire earthly journey with Jesus they never quite got it, in fact, it wasn't until after He was crucified, and resurrected, and walked through the wall of the room where they were hiding from the Romans, that they finallybelieved that He was indeed The Son of God, their Redeemer.  

What's beautiful, is that despite how slow to learn they all were, Jesus never gave up on them. 

Not once did He throw His hands up in the air and write them off.  Never did He question His Father as to why on earth, He would have chosen these guys for such a task?!  Jesus was well aware of what His Father had written for these men before He spoke the world into existence, because Jesus was there when He wrote it!!  

Jesus looked past what they were, to what He knew they would become. 

Jesus knew that one day these men who on the night He was betrayed would run away in fear, would one day do greater things than He was doing!! 

Jesus knew they would die making His Name famous.  

Jesus still asks us questions today to test us, and He still always has a perfect plan for whatever situation we find ourselves in, and He still knows that one day, we'll finally 'get it'.  

He still keeps wowing us, despite our doubts, and He still walks through walls to speak peace into our fears - because just like with His disciples, He's fully committed to getting us ready to fulfill the destiny that The Father has had written for us before there was time!!!   

Whatever question He is whispering into your spirit today, know that HE ALREADY HAS IN MIND WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO! 

Know that He is testing you, longing for you to look into His face and declare with assurance...

"JESUS! We KNOW, you know that answer to that question already!  We KNOW you have a plan, so our trust is in you!!!  We say, WOW US JESUS!!!  Wow us with your power and your provision!!! Do what ONLY you can do!!!!  WE choose to trust you!!!  We choose to remember that you go before us and that you you have our backs!!!  We choose to remember that the SAME power that raised you from the dead, now LIVES IN US!!!  We choose to keep our eyes FIXED on you!!!  You have showed us over and over and over again, that there is never ANYTHING to fear or fret about!!!  You have proven to us countless times, that you don't lie, you don't fail and you never, ever break a promise - so WE TRUST YOUR WAYS - and we wait with expectation to see your plan unfold......"

"Hey my friends, how do you suppose a nation like Haiti can be turned inside out and upside down for me?!!?!"  

"AHAHAHAHHAHAA JESUS!!!!!!!!  We KNOW you have plan and we are so thankful that you have given us front row seats to watch it all happen................." 

May His presence be more real to you today than any turmoil you may be facing, and may He bless you in abundance for your faithful intercession for two cracked pots that KNOW He has a MIND BLOWING plan for Haiti and who live to make Him smile....

M & S

Happy NOVEMBER our amazing Aaron and Hurs!!!!!!

Yup! We're alive and kicking and super busy doing what we love to do - BUT for the past number of weeks there's been limited internet access at Braeside, so the ON THE HILLS have been put on hold, until NOW, because.....can we get a drum roll pleeeze!?!?.... in the wonderful haven where I will be until we go to Haiti - I have AWESOME internet, so we're back!!!!!! 

THANK you to everyone who has called and texted to make sure we were okay!! Without a doubt, we truly do have the BEST Aaron and Hurs on the planet, bar none!!  Seriously, there is no one like YOU GUYS!! Thank for your faithful prayers for us, despite our lack of communication!!  YOUR sword wielding quite literally makes the difference between life and death, so whatever you do, don't stop!!!

Throughout the last few weeks the one who wants us dead, has tried very hard to complete that mission in both Canada and Haiti, but our GOD is BIGGER and STRONGER than anything that the enemy throws our way!!!  He will never stop trying to get us to give in and give up, because he hates us, and hates who we serve, and who we represent, but our hearts pound with GOD'S LOVE and the perseverance of JESUS, who has given us eyes of faith to see what's coming, not what is!!! The GOD we have abandoned our lives to, NEVER LOSES which is why the fiercer the storm, the bigger our smiles!!!!!!!!

If the Israelite's hadn't been trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh, they never would have seen the hand of GOD roll back those waters!!!

If Daniel hadn't been thrown into a pit of hungry lions, he never would have had front row seats to watching GOD shut their mouths!!!

If the three Hebrew boys hadn't been bound and tossed into a blazing furnace, they never would have had the thrill of walking in that fire, unharmed, with JESUS!!!

There is ALWAYS an eternal purpose to the Red Sea moments, pits full of hungry lions, and furnaces seven times hotter than normal. 

There are beautiful, powerful, life transforming truths that our PAPA God is only able to teach us while we wait for those waters to part, or when we find ourselves in a pit of lions... ah yes, it's very good to remind our souls that when Shadrach, Meshack and Abendigo were thrown into that furnace, the only thing that was consumed by the flames, were the ropes that bound them, so thank you PAPA God for furnaces...that do what  needs to be done to prepare us for what is waiting!!  

So, our Aaron and Hurs, it is well with our souls.....

Maurice has tapped the well (yeah!) and is finishing up our gate which will hopefully keep out the trucks that are dumping mountains of garbage in our neighborhood!  At the same time he is still on the look out for a crane to move the 40' container he has set aside, on to our property, and we've both been trying to find an agency that will receive the container that's being modified here in Canada - which by the way, is looking AMAZING and is pretty much done!!!  All that's left to do - is to pack it up and ship it to HAITI - and OH WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE!!!!  

But until that day comes - we are smiling BIG and surrendered to whatever our PAPA God wants to teach us during this time of preparation.............

M & S

BEFORE

AFTER

And the things of this world will grow strangely dim....

So what DO you do when the well people don't come back to finish the job?!
What DO you do when the container that had your name on it, is sold out from under your nose?! 
What DO you do when all hell has been unleashed against you in an attempt to lure you into doubting what GOD has declared?! What DO you do when things are taking way longer than you ever imagined, when the body is weak and the heart is heavy!?!?

O Lord, look at how many rise up against me!!! Look at how the enemy has come out in full force!!! Some are even saying, 'GOD won't deliver him!!!!!' ~ Psalm 3:1, 2

When David penned these words, his own son was leading a revolt against him. Samuel writes that the hearts of his men had turned against him, and that as he ran barefoot into the desert, his enemies were shouting that this was all God's way of punishing him for taking the throne away from Saul.
 

Of course it was all lies, but the enemies voice can be often louder than the truth -  so David cries out, "O Lord, do you see what's happening?!?! Do you hear what they're saying?!" and into that despair he remembers what is true....
 

BUT YOU, my Lord, are a SHIELD around me...You surround me with your presence and lift my head... ~ Psalm 3:3

In the original Hebrew text - "You are a shield around me" - is actually translated "YOU ARE MY TAKER" - which paints a picture of God taking us INTO Himself and HIDING US IN HIM!!

Our GOD doesn't just stand in front of us and stand behind us - HE TAKES US INTO HIMSELF!!!  And you can't be any more shielded or surrounded than that!!!!

SO - what do we do when things don't go as planned or when it feels like we are wielding our swords in cement?!?!!  

WE REMEMBER WHAT IS TRUE!!!!  

And as we do that - THE VERY HAND OF GOD takes our chin and lifts our eyes in His direction - and as soon as our gaze is fixed back on HIM - everything else just fades away.....

No matter what yuck you're in the middle of today - may you remember what is true - may you focus shift from the turmoil around you to His beautiful face - may His truth be louder than the enemies lies - may His hope swallow up despair - so that once again, you will be persuaded to believe in what you do not see and be certain of what you hope for!!! 

"To The Lord we cry aloud, because WE KNOW that He WILL answer us!!  We will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against us on every side because from OUR Lord comes deliverance and abundant blessing!!!!!!!  So arise O LORD!!!  DO WHAT YOU'VE PROMISED!!!  Strike our enemy down into the dust!!!!!!"  ~ Psalm 3:4-8

Looking at His face,

M & S

We thank our Father every time we think about you....

Just want to say a HUGE thanks for being on the hill with us!!  Your prayers make the difference between hope and despair, peace and anxiousness, and life and death!!  Your prayers are being heard and answered by our Father who is unbeatable, unchangeable and unmatched!!  

Many have asked about the earthquake and if Maurice and our property is okay, and with a heart full of gratefulness to our Sovereign God, the answer is a big huge 'YES' to both!!!! 

Please pray for the area that was hit the hardest as they begin to rebuild the rubble, of not just their homes, but their lives.  Pray for those that have lost people they love that their pain will draw them into the arms of The One who loves them the most.

We really do say with Paul, that 'we thank our Father every time we think about you', which is pretty much all the time, because we know how incredibly blessed we are to have your swords wielding on our behalf.....

Whatever you do, don't stop praying okay?!

Believing for the miraculous,

M & S.

A father comes to Jesus and begs him to come to his house because his only daughter is dying.  Jesus goes with him, but on the way, He stops to bring relief to a lady whose been hemorrhaging for twelve years.
 
Nothing is said about this Dads reaction to the delay – but that must’ve been agonizing.  To know that your daughter is dying, and time is of the essence, and then be forced to wait until Jesus finds out who touched Him, had to be stressful. 
 
It’s hard to wait on Jesus.
 
It’s wonderful when we tell Him our need and have Him respond with a “YES, I’ll do that!”, but it’s difficult when into that assurance and joy, comes a delay.
 
All of us want Him to do what He said He would do, right NOW! 
 
No one likes to wait. 
 
Yet most of the time, there is a wait, that requires us to take Him at His word; that requires us to close our eyes to what we see, and how we feel, and fix our thoughts on what He has promised He will do. 
 
And it’s always during that choice to believe in what we do not see – that the naysayers come forward telling us that is hopeless, it’s over. Our flesh and our enemy join forces to convince us that we misunderstood Jesus and that we got our hopes up for nothing.
 
“Your daughter is dead so why bother the teacher anymore!?!?” 
  
Jesus ignored the naysayers and spoke truth into the lies and hope back into Jarius’ soul…
 
“DON’T BE AFRAID!  JUST BELIEVE!  YOUR DAUGHTER WILL BE HEALED!!!!”
 
In those seconds, Jarius chose to refuse doubt and fear, and embrace what Jesus said was true!!  

The closer they got to home the harder his heart must have been pounding as he anticipated the supernatural intervention of God!!  When they arrived, they were met with wailing and mourning - his wife was likely sitting at the bedside holding on to their daughter’s lifeless hand.  I’m sure when they saw each other, her eyes told him it was too late, and his eyes told her that it wasn’t over yet!!  Jesus clears the room of all the wailers.  He walks over to their daughter’s lifeless frame, takes her by the hand and says, “My child, get up!!” and she does, just like He said she would!!!  
 
Whatever He promises, is always worth the wait!!!!
 
It’s always, always, always, worth the wait!!!!  
 
So, when doubt and fear raise their voices, when the enemy tells you it’s hopeless, it’s over, and that your prayers are for nothing, give him the hand and choose to walk with JESUS right into the miraculous!!!!
 
What HE SAYS HE WILL DO – HE WILL INDEED DO!!!!!!!! 
 
A year ago we were still waiting for the land He had promised – and now not only has He given us the most breath-taking property in all of Haiti, but we have a well that’s pumping out ten gallons of clean water per minute, we have two vehicles, two storage rooms, and a 40’ shipping container that’s been modified into the most jaw-dropping beautiful, multi-purpose room you’ve ever seen!! 

AND THAT’S JUST THE BEGINNING!!!! 
 
EVERY PROMISE THAT HE HAS GIVEN US -  WE WILL SEE!!!!!
EVERY PROMISE THAT HE HAS GIVEN YOU – YOU WILL SEE!!!!
 
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!! 
 
All that’s required from us is to believe Him and follow Him straight into the miraculous!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Believing and expecting,
 
M & S

Grab a cup of something and take a listen to this awesome new song....."WON'T STOP NOW"

It's sooooo good and sooooo true!!!!!!  

"I KNOW BREAKTHROUGH IS COMING!
BY FAITH I SEE A MIRACLE!
MY GOD MADE ME A PROMISE AND IT WON'T STOP NOW!!!!"

Whatever is standing between you and your promise - sees GOD and trembles...

"Lord, you are the one and only, the great and glorious God!!!!  Your display of wonders, miracles and power are unmatched!!!! When the Red Sea saw you, OUR awesome God, its waters looked and trembled!!!  The sea bed saw you, OUR God and shook with fear!!!  The clouds poured down rain, roaring thunder was heard in the whirlwind as your arrows of lightening flashed through the sky!!! The earth quaked as you, OUR God, carved a path through the water!!!  You went ahead of your people leaving invisible footprints for them to follow!!!"  (Psalm 77)

The God who made a dry path through the sea - wants YOU to know, that WHATEVER is standing between you and your promise - sees HIM and trembles!!!!!  

Today - may you hear the thunder, and see the lightening, as GOD goes ahead of you carving HIS path through the impossible!!!!!!!!

Yes and Amen,

M & S