Sunday, October 26, 2008
A Decade in the Books
Jesus in Haiti Ministries
October 26, 2008
A DECADE IN THE BOOKS
October 26th, 1998 I left my home in Fort Wayne, Indiana and moved to Haiti to follow a call God placed on my life.
Here is a rundown of my first 24 hours in Haiti.9am: Left for town with fellow missionaries,
9:30, the missionary I was in backed into a truck full of Haitians. Within minutes we had hundreds of angry people around our truck demanding money. We sped off and were chased. I wanted to leave Haiti!
11am: The missionary I was with hired a driver of a big truck to take a water heater to our mission, 5 minutes later he told the driver we could not get the heater so we didn't need him. He demanded $100 saying we hired him and had to pay him. The missionary I was with sped off, we were chased. I wanted to leave Haiti!
5:30pm: It was getting dark, and I had nothing to do. No tv, no fan and it was over 100 degrees. The bugs were so bad I crawled in bed with the sheet over my head, dripping with sweat and very hot. I wanted to leave Haiti!
7:30 pm: I heard a commotion outside in the living room. I went out and the missionary I was living with had a very large dog size rat trapped in the living room, shooting pellets at him. I wanted to leave Haiti!
3365 days, 12 kidney stones, 40+ bouts with the gout, one broken wrist, one revolution, country ride rioting and looting, 2 years of Haiti leading the world in Kidnappings, the death of my mother, 20 kids taken into my home, and much more, I am still here and I don't want to leave Haiti.
I moved to Haiti with Brad and Vanessa Johnson who are the directors of Hope Mission. I helped them build and start a school which now has grown to over 1000 children. I helped build and develop the Church of Hope which has over 600 weekly in attendance. I helped start the Hope house orphanage which has over 50 children presently living. Those 5 years were good 5 years and God used us to began to bring real change to Haiti.
5 years ago I left Hope Mission to begin the JESUS in HAITI MINISTRIES. My job at Hope Mission had become an "inside the walls" ministry. My calling was outreach, going where nobody else went, which is why we started the new outreach ministry.
Today we have our 5 points of light which you can check out at jesusinhaiti.org
*We support the Good Samaritan orphanage with over 100 orphans and staff
*A school with 90 very needy children,
*a church of nearly 300,
*my home with 15 young people
*an outreach to a garbage dump which has over 90 people living/working.
One email can't describe the emotions of living in this place for 10 years. If asked to describe the 10 years it would be a mix of "exciting" and "gruesome". I am so appreciative of all of you who stand by this ministry as we share the life changing message of Jesus Christ and care for the "least of these".
I want to also recognize those of you who have been with me ALL 10 YEARS. I don't have an exact list but Jim B, Gay, Patti Jo, Uncle Len, Bud, Les and Becky, Janice and Allyn, Shirley B, the Feltons, all the good folks at Robinson Baptist, Rollins Christian Fellowship, Emmanuel Fellowship and so many more.
I look back in awe of what God has done and never mix up what God has done and what Tom has done. Tom is the one who made the mistakes, misjudged people, didn't follow through on things, was lazy, and failed many times. God is the one who did mighty things, through this flawed old guy.
I look ahead with great anticipation for what God is going to do. Folks, our best days lie ahead. Year 11 will have us moving into our new 700 seat sanctuary which will double as our school. Who knows how many more young people God will add to our home. Who knows how many will accept and trust Christ as their personal Savior. Who knows the struggles, death and frustration that lies ahead. Only God knows and I am very thankful for this.
With God's help and your help, the next 10 years will be quite a ride. I am ready for it, thank you for allowing me to be here and do this.
Just before my father departed to Heaven, he told me "son, you go to Haiti and you tell everyone you see that Jesus loves them". Dad, I have done that for 10 years, and I will do it another 10 years Lord willing.
Thanks again for your support, your friendship and your hard earned money which makes all this possible. Tominhaiti
THIS EMAIL SENT IN MEMORY OF MORRIS AND MAXINE OSBECK, MARRIED THIS DAY, OCTOBER 26TH 1946. MAY THEY ENJOY HEAVEN TOGETHER (mom, leave a light on will ya)
Thank you for your support
Tom OsbeckJesus in Haiti Ministries
October 26, 2008
A DECADE IN THE BOOKS
October 26th, 1998 I left my home in Fort Wayne, Indiana and moved to Haiti to follow a call God placed on my life.
Here is a rundown of my first 24 hours in Haiti.9am: Left for town with fellow missionaries,
9:30, the missionary I was in backed into a truck full of Haitians. Within minutes we had hundreds of angry people around our truck demanding money. We sped off and were chased. I wanted to leave Haiti!
11am: The missionary I was with hired a driver of a big truck to take a water heater to our mission, 5 minutes later he told the driver we could not get the heater so we didn't need him. He demanded $100 saying we hired him and had to pay him. The missionary I was with sped off, we were chased. I wanted to leave Haiti!
5:30pm: It was getting dark, and I had nothing to do. No tv, no fan and it was over 100 degrees. The bugs were so bad I crawled in bed with the sheet over my head, dripping with sweat and very hot. I wanted to leave Haiti!
7:30 pm: I heard a commotion outside in the living room. I went out and the missionary I was living with had a very large dog size rat trapped in the living room, shooting pellets at him. I wanted to leave Haiti!
3365 days, 12 kidney stones, 40+ bouts with the gout, one broken wrist, one revolution, country ride rioting and looting, 2 years of Haiti leading the world in Kidnappings, the death of my mother, 20 kids taken into my home, and much more, I am still here and I don't want to leave Haiti.
I moved to Haiti with Brad and Vanessa Johnson who are the directors of Hope Mission. I helped them build and start a school which now has grown to over 1000 children. I helped build and develop the Church of Hope which has over 600 weekly in attendance. I helped start the Hope house orphanage which has over 50 children presently living. Those 5 years were good 5 years and God used us to began to bring real change to Haiti.
5 years ago I left Hope Mission to begin the JESUS in HAITI MINISTRIES. My job at Hope Mission had become an "inside the walls" ministry. My calling was outreach, going where nobody else went, which is why we started the new outreach ministry.
Today we have our 5 points of light which you can check out at jesusinhaiti.org
*We support the Good Samaritan orphanage with over 100 orphans and staff
*A school with 90 very needy children,
*a church of nearly 300,
*my home with 15 young people
*an outreach to a garbage dump which has over 90 people living/working.
One email can't describe the emotions of living in this place for 10 years. If asked to describe the 10 years it would be a mix of "exciting" and "gruesome". I am so appreciative of all of you who stand by this ministry as we share the life changing message of Jesus Christ and care for the "least of these".
I want to also recognize those of you who have been with me ALL 10 YEARS. I don't have an exact list but Jim B, Gay, Patti Jo, Uncle Len, Bud, Les and Becky, Janice and Allyn, Shirley B, the Feltons, all the good folks at Robinson Baptist, Rollins Christian Fellowship, Emmanuel Fellowship and so many more.
I look back in awe of what God has done and never mix up what God has done and what Tom has done. Tom is the one who made the mistakes, misjudged people, didn't follow through on things, was lazy, and failed many times. God is the one who did mighty things, through this flawed old guy.
I look ahead with great anticipation for what God is going to do. Folks, our best days lie ahead. Year 11 will have us moving into our new 700 seat sanctuary which will double as our school. Who knows how many more young people God will add to our home. Who knows how many will accept and trust Christ as their personal Savior. Who knows the struggles, death and frustration that lies ahead. Only God knows and I am very thankful for this.
With God's help and your help, the next 10 years will be quite a ride. I am ready for it, thank you for allowing me to be here and do this.
Just before my father departed to Heaven, he told me "son, you go to Haiti and you tell everyone you see that Jesus loves them". Dad, I have done that for 10 years, and I will do it another 10 years Lord willing.
Thanks again for your support, your friendship and your hard earned money which makes all this possible. Tominhaiti
THIS EMAIL SENT IN MEMORY OF MORRIS AND MAXINE OSBECK, MARRIED THIS DAY, OCTOBER 26TH 1946. MAY THEY ENJOY HEAVEN TOGETHER (mom, leave a light on will ya)
Thank you for your support
Tom OsbeckJesus in Haiti Ministries
# posted by Tom Osbeck @ 5:26 PM 
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