Hey friends
Our hope is that you are having a wonderful start to a
new year. It has been a time of abundance of Family, friends,
fellowship, and food through the holidays. In addition to that we
have experienced an abundance in the out pouring of your love and
support. Exceedingly abundantly above what we could think or
imagine. There has been several times over the last few weeks
that I have wept as I learned of your sacrificial and selfless
acts of giving to those in need. As much as I was overwhelmed at
the sight of those in need, so am I overwhelmed at the provision
for those in need. Thanks seems to be so insignificant at the
moment, but I know how thankful will be those who are the true
recipient of your gift. We arrived in Haiti on Thursday the 12th
and were able to receive delivery on a truck for our
transportation. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Unfortunately on Friday after we arrived, a good friend of mine
went home to be with Jesus, so I returned to the states for a few
days for his going home celebration. Please pray for the Glynn
Little family and friends. I returned on Tuesday of this week. Our next
Goal was to find a place to call
home. And yesterday we found a place to rent in Port Salut. Thank
God for His blessings. Our Goal was for 100 homes, and God has
provided nearly enough for 200 plus a truck, so I do not want to
set anymore goals, but allow God to do what He wants in this. I
was able to begin construction on about 15 homes in December and
looking forward to following up to see where they are over this
next week. Our goal is to empower families by giving them the
construction materials they need to rebuild their homes. Please
continue to share our vision and passion with others so we can
continue to help those in need. They need you to be a voice for
them.
You can give via PayPal at
christianlightminitries.org or send it to
Christian light ministries PO box 23881 Jacksonville. Fla. 32241.
If you want to designate to our work in Haiti, put Emory Wilson on
the response or comment line. You can also see our history and
recent photos at
love4haiti.blogspot.com.
The three amigos.
Sometimes in life, people come in who impact your life
and make a difference. Mary and the group of ladies she does life
and study with on Wednesdays, have been praying and providing for the
homeless people in our area. Little did she know that God would allow
her to meet the needs of a few people in need. So the Thursday before
new years day in the middle of the afternoon, Mary calls me to let me
know that God has placed three people without a place to call home in
her paths. She had done the normal giving goody bags which she keeps in
her car for this purpose. But today was different, God is speaking to
her about helping with more than goody bags. She says " I think the Holy
Spirit is telling me that I need to help these along the way to their
destination by bringing them home, feeding them, washing their clothes,
and letting them get a bath. My response is for her to abandon her fears
and fences to do what she hears God speaking to her. Yes there was
fears of being a woman with three men, and yes there was these fences up
where woman should never help men. (by the way is this clearly is not
the example which Jesus set for us.) So thankful that in this situation
she is not allowing what our cultural norm would tell her. So she
extends the invitation for these three guys and their injured pit
bulldog to get in her car and bring them home. We I arrive she is
preparing their meal and they are hanging out on the porch. They are so
thankful and graciously appreciating the hospitality that Mary has
extended to them. After diner I get them some shorts and under ware so
they can get a bath and Mary washes their clothes. It was a cold weekend
and Mary suggest inviting them to stay for a couple of days to stay
warm and also participate in our annual family cane grinding. So we
extend the invitation and they accept. The next morning they wash Mary's
car before she goes to work, I go to work and out son leaves to hangout
with friends, and they are there to fend for themselves. They interact
with family and friends in the community as they find more new friends.
Some are very accepting, some definitely have questions, but yet through
it all they testify of an acceptance and love which they have never
experienced before. On Sunday morning I awake early to take them to
Jacksonville so they can continue their journey. One of the guys was
searching for relationship and community, and one of my nephews asked
him, "why are you running if you want relationship"? So a week later he
returned to find the relationship and community he has been searching
for. He is now living in our community, has a job and hopefully will
find his relationship with God through a community who is representing
Christ to Him.
In the mist of all this, God continues to show me boundaries
and fences we have up in our culture, which keep us from loving others
well. I think many times people act out of what we think about them, so
when we think the worst in people they act in the worst, if we think the
best of people, then they act out of that value system. I am
definitely guilty of profiling people and judging them by their
environment or their relationships. A few days after they left, I
realized that I did not even look in our home to see if there was
something missing which they had taken, in part because all I have
belongs to Him and in part realizing there is nothing materially this
side of heaven which should keep us from demonstrating His love to
others. Through sharing this story with groups and individuals, it has
opened my eyes to many boundaries that we use which prevents us from
hearing and following the Holy Spirit in our lives. Some have shared
they would never pick up strangers like that, especially if I am a woman
and they are men, or visa versa. Does that mean that you will not allow
the Holy Spirit to let you be the good Samaritan to those in need. Does
fear or cultural expectations of people drive us in such a way that we
would ignore if God called us to do something outside the norm? Do we
have material things in our homes which we want to protect, so we would
never bring a stranger in our mist due to fear of loosing material
things? So we say the Holy Spirit of the living God would never lead us
to do that!! Hopefully we have not so blocked God out of such an
intimate relationship he desires for each of us. I am so proud of my
wife for allowing God to use her in such a way, despite the fear and
what others may think about her following the leading of God.
Thankful
Emory and Mary
