During the Silence

Even though I haven’t blogged in months, it doesn't mean Go4Him hasn't been actively working behind the scenes. It’s actually has been just the opposite. 

Here are some great updated:

HAITI-funds were raised through another organization and sent to Go4Him. Immediately we turned around and sent the funds to an orphanage in Haiti for a water well. Within a month the water well was dug and fresh water was available. I can't even imagine walking for miles to find springs that have dried up or taking a bath and washing clothes in a river contaminated with Cholera but I have been there and seen it first hand. There are no words to describe this but yet they lived this way on a continual basis before they had the water well.

A huge thank you to the donors!! 

I've seen the pictures of the joy the kids have as they pump the water to drink. JOY! JOY! JOY!! I love it. It’s a character trait of Jesus. You can view the pictures HERE.

What are we doing now for Haiti? As funds come in to Go4Him, we will continue to help with the needs as we are directed by the Lord. Things are in the works and we will update you so be watching the website or like us on Facebook. 

I look forward to the day I can return to see the children and blessings provided by The Lord.

GUATEMALA-With God’s direction, we have been introduced to a great organization called DAR. The founder, Lourdes, is a lady with a heart to transform lives in her own country. She has a vision and passion to help orphans and those in the community, young and old. She has opened a school for free in Guatemala. She not only provides a great education for these children, but also structure, a stable environment, a meal a day, jobs for teachers, volunteer opportunities, and training for the adults. In addition to this, the families are building relationships with each other and seeing God at work in their own lives.

What I love is watching how God has favor on the works of Lourdes. She simply has a need, she asks God to meet that need and God meets it. That’s the way it is supposed to be. I believe God wants to bless us, bless us in abundance, and for us to bless others. In order to receive the blessings in abundance, I believe we have to be walking in His will! How do we do that? I believe it’s spending time with Him – praying, seeking, listening (Matthew 7:7-8, NIV), obeying and giving to others.

During the silence for Go4Him Ministries, I believe the last several months have been just that, praying for direction, seeking Him/His will, listening to His voice, and obeying what was heard. Birthed out of this time with God is Rest4Him; a ministry to give rest to those who serve in the ministry and an opportunity to strengthen their own personal walk with God and their family (Mark 6:30-31). It’s been an exciting journey and God has already begun blessing the funding. Once Rest4Him is complete, the donations to use the facility will go back into Go4Him Ministries-helping and providing for the needs of orphans and widows. Click HERE to read more about Go4Him and Rest4Him.

ONLINE AUCTION-Check out the online auction for Go4Him. Each week new items will be added so continue to watch the auction. The Online Auction will end on November 15. All proceeds will benefit Rest4Him.  

During a few trips internationally, Go4Him has partnered with Throneside, and delivered shirts to children and adults in need to Haiti, Honduras, and in Guatemala. You can purchase one of their shirts and they will send a shirt to someone in need. It has been amazing to see the children's faces light up when they realized the new shirt were for them to keep. Thank you Throneside for having a heart to give! Keep sending the shirts!!

Go4Him will continue to partner with other organizations and pastors around the world for seasons, as the Lord leads, to meet the needs of orphans and widows.

James 1:27 - Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

If you haven’t already, check out the website for Go4Him and by choosing to partner with us, together we can continue CHANGING LIVES ONE TRIP AT A TIME. 

A Sweet Fragrance - Haiti Part 2

Mack, Woodma and Sterline



Psalm 133

How good and pleasant it is

when brothers live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down the beard,

running down on Aaron's beard,

down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessings,

even life forevermore.

In the last Haiti Part 1 blog about unity in Christ among believers, I mentioned how there was going to be several ministries joining together to go on a mission trip to Haiti. Well, we are back and I am on a mission to help Pastor Nahum and the orphans!
James 1:27

Unity was evident and oh what a blessing it was!!

From the verse above, unity I understand, but 'precious oil poured on the head'...????

Well, tonight as I was in the grocery store, there was a lady that had WAY TOO MUCH perfume on. In addition, it just flat out stunk!

Could she not smell it?

Oh, it was awful! I had to leave the isle and decide to return to that isle on the way out, if the smell didn't still linger.

The bad experience had me thinking about the verse, "...like precious oil poured on the head..."

What is my 'oil' like? How does it smell?

Is my unity with other brothers and sisters in Christ a precious fragrance which is poured on my head and flows down (not down my beard-haha) or is it a fragrance that makes people run away?

The fragrance will linger. Good or bad.

In Haiti recently, we spend time with the orphans. We held them, played cards, threw a football, cooked with them and just loved on them as much as possible.

The team also went door-to-door to evangelize, pray for the sick, and to visit with neighbors. The guys built bunk beds and we all ate a goat, which was very good!


The girls gathering
water for the day!



Unity as a team. Unity as brothers and sisters in Christ.

A precious oil that flowed!




Me experiencing
Haitian life (after I fell. So funny).

 



 A fragrance that welcomed others.

 A time that I will always cherish.

As you live life, what does your fragrance smell like?

The fragrance at Pastor Nahum's orphanage was so sweet and precious. It flowed on Pastor Nahum and to all who were around him. Something I hope you will be able to experience one day.

Until Haiti Part 3, live in unity and let the precious oil be poured on your head

**Pastor Nahum's immediate needs in Haiti: water well, a vehicle (he does not have one), shelter (kids are living in pop up tents).

INVEST IN YOUR FRAGRANCE AND DONATE NOW: Write a check to to any of the following ministries and write "New River/Pastor Nahum" on the memo line. 100% will go towards the orphan needs.

New River, RU4 Children or Go4Him 

Snowing Here, 90's There - Destination...Haiti

Editing buffs - chill because this is being typed with zero edits as I am trying to get out the door to the hotel at DFW before it starts sleeting - well that has already started now so 'before it freezes'.

Our flight leave first thing in the morning for Haiti.

Keep us in your prayers - Me, Rochele, Kat, Pastor Jesse, John and Don Mark

God has already begun a great work as Michael Laymon with RU4Children was in Haiti just days ago. His ministry was blessed by Gateway and Michael passed on some of that blessing to Pastor Nahum - where we will be going tomorrow.

Michael's team project was not Pastor Nahum's orphanage but felt led to send a blessings. Thank you Michael, RU4Children and Gateway for all you are doing.

I guess I will be helping dig hundreds of banana trees this week, preping ground for a foundation and hopefully pouring concrete for the foundation of a new orphanage. I guess my little bit of concrete work and knowlege from my past turned out to be a blessing for this coming week.

**PRAYERS:

• Texas weather does not hinder our flights/safe travels
• We will allow God to work through us for the work He has ordained us to accomplish
• The supplies will be available to start on the foundation of the orphanage
• Anything else the Holy Spirit leads you to pray

Ok, so here is the deal, at New River we are in the midst of Awakening - 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Simply put, fast from ________________ and put God and your family in the blank. Sacrifice the ________ and plug in God and family.

Well starting Monday, Jan 10-16 is the Media Fast.

Suzanne:     "I will be in Haiti all week. This is going to be easy!"
God:          "It's not about easy"
Suzanne:    "Oh, yes, it's about sacrifice but being in Haiti with no media is not that big of a deal."
God:        
Suzanne:     "So what am I supposed to do? How can I sacrifice for You?"
God:          "Think about it Suzanne. You can not blog about your trip, FB about the things I am doing in Haiti, ask for prayer through texting, send pics of the great work "I, the Lord" am doing.
Suzanne:     "Oh, yes, this will be more challenging than I thought."

So, I too am joining the Media fast.

So, I am headed to the airport.  Until next week...keep us in your prayers.                  

Unity? In God's People? - Haiti Part 1

The inevitable countdown for my mission trip to Haiti has started with excitement, anticipation and joy!

The reality has officially set in.

It's not my first mission trip so these feelings are very familiar - as in all my voyages 'on the field' and never gets old.

It's been a journey to get here due to a particular unrest in the country a few weeks ago regarding politics which ended up cancelling the flights. Not because the team didn't want to go but because the airlines shut down all flights in and out of Port au Prince

Disappointment set in, but knowing God was protecting the team and also challenging us in our walk with Him, provided us with peace to wait a little longer.  

I am excited about this trip for many reasons but there is one in particular I want to share with you today.

Psalms 133
How good and pleasant it is
when God's people live together in unity!

It is like a precious oil poured on the head,
running down the beard,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down the collar of his robe.

It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing
even life forevermore.

Read it again if you want.  Soak it in.

God’s people live together in unity...

I want to take this to a little bit of a different view.

Typically, I have seen churches or organizations do their own thing in the name of the Lord. That's great. Being the hands and feet of Jesus in your realm of believers is wonderful. I mean it...it's true! It's what we are supposed to do to reach out locally and nationally and internationally (Acts 1:8).

But this trip to Haiti goes so much further in my mind and heart with regards to the words ‘when God’s people live together in unity’ and I am excited to be a part of it. I cannot wait to see and experience the work of God's people, for God's people and with God's people in unity.

You see, this trip is not about one ministry. It's about the unity of God's people...God’s people from li’l ole' Parker County, TX, Tarrant County, TX, Canada, and even reaching all the way to the people and ministries in Haiti.

The actual team leaving on Monday represents many organizations.  To view more about each one of these organizations, just click on their name and you will be sent directly to their link:  The Gathering, New River, RU4 Children, and Go4Him Ministries.

But Unity doesn't stop there.

In Haiti we will also be partnering with Pastor Nahum to help support him, his family, his orphans and his community. We will also be partnering with Gerald Bataille Ministry. This is the actual ministry where New River and RU4 Children will be taking a team in May 2011.

This keeps getting better. Unity doesn't stop there.

Throneside has donated t-shirts for orphans through their 'Buy One, Send One' offer that I will be taking with me on this specific trip. Mark and Shaunda James offers the ‘Buy One, Send One’ regularly so don't think you missed out - I will be going to Haiti again as well as Guatemala and Honduras over the next few months. I would love to pack suitcases full of t-shirts that you allowed Throneside to donate to orphans in all of these countries.
Strands hosted Haircuts for Haiti.  Stephen Erwin, the owner, donated the funds from Haircuts for Haiti to help support Pastor Nahum in Haiti. Haiti t-shirts and Haiti prayer bracelets were sold. The salon stayed packed and we feel very blessed for the turn out and God’s favor.
Parker County Life Today is a website produced by Danielle Ford. She has a passion for Parker County and is great at getting the word out about our community, what's happening and things Parker County has to offer you. She has displayed calendar events for us on her website leading up to this trip to Haiti.

I believe these organizations are successfully living out unity not only in their businesses but through the people behind the name!

That kind of unity, my friends, takes humility and selflessness. Characteristics, I admit, that God has put me on a journey to learn - daily.  Some days I succeed and some days I don't. I am thankful that His mercies are new every morning.

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

I am thankful to be a part of this specific team to Haiti and am excited to see the Lord's hand continue to move.

Until Haiti Part 2...live together in Unity!

Wait for the Lord

It’s a new year and my blogging begins.

How many times have you been waiting for something to come; a new year, a package in the mail, a raise at work, the home coming of a relative from Iraq, a pregnancy after many years of trying, Christmas, your birthday?  Whether big or small, your emotions and joy cannot be contained! It shows from the inside out.

What about waiting for the Lord? For Him to open a door of opportunity since you have been without a job for months, a season of heartache to pass, a financial blessing, or physical healing. Are you waiting for Him to speak to you? What are your emotions now? Scared, tired, fearful, unsure, doubting Him, frustrated?

His Word says:
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him… (Psalm 37:7a).

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope (Psalm 130:5).

I wait for your salvation, LORD, and I follow your commands (Psalm 119:166).

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes (Psalm 37:7). 

This has been the word He has spoken to me for the past month. Wait!

As most of you know, from October through the end of November, I know the Lord spoke to me and told me to begin raising full-time mission support. Birthed out of those specific directions, Go4Him Ministries was formed; a nonprofit organization to raise full-time prayer and financial support. Simply put, an avenue for people to give as I in turn give to orphans - food, clean water, shelter and other basic needs. Supporting me as I live out a passion He has put in me. Sometimes this may mean me physically going to another country with organizations such as RU4Children or New River Fellowship to help with outreach projects and lead teams but all-in-all this will mean funds directly supporting His children (A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. Psalm 68:5). 

The beginning of this ministry has started. A Board of Directors has been formed, registration with the state is complete, a logo created, a Facebook page set up, initial emails and letters sent, the filing process for a 501 (c) 3 with the IRS, bank account set up and still more to do.

What next God? “Wait”

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD (Psalm 27:14). 

I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him (Isaiah 8:17). 

LORD, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God (Psalm 38:15).

Waiting has been the difficult part. I’ve been given direction and I am ready to move full force but He has called me now to wait. I have learned a lot about myself over the past 30 days. It has been very humbling. Not fun at times either.  I’m learning to develop a character that reflects Him; the Lord, God Almighty. That means putting ‘self’ away and choosing to display His character. Easier said than done but it’s worth the journey. A journey I am still on as I seek His face, His plans, and His timing even when I do not understand.

Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov 3:4-6).

God is blessing me and giving me hope as I have already begun to receive prayers support, words of encouragement, volunteers providing their help and financial support. This has been very encouraging to me so for that, I say, 'THANK YOU' as I wait for what He has planned for me and Go4Him Ministries.

… Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18b

Click here to hear Be Still by Kari Jobe