Got up at 3:30 this morning to drop someone off for a 5 am flight. We were at the airport plenty early however, unbeknown to us a small airplane had a little brush with a UN helicopter the previous afternoon on the runway. While no one was hurt an extensive survey of the situation had to be done before removing the aircraft from the runway. Well without getting to cynical the survey was not that extensive it was more of a bureaucratic delay... So Thursday I spent most of the day at the airport watching the drama. Basically the UN helicopter was parked as you see it with blades hanging into the path of the runway. It was parked in that manner because there was another helicopter taking up the other pad. The nations air flight was able to stop in time to avoid colliding with the helicopter blade. After coming to a short but safe stop, the ground crew proceeded to guide the plane around the helicopter. The ground crew said that the pilot would clear the blade but obviously they misjudged the situation. So the planes prob took a little bite out of the helicopter blade.
To make a long story short they flew in another helicopter blade and moved the chopper and plane of the runway and the 5 am flight rolled out around 1:30 pm. So what else have I been doing? The other day Sadrak (a haitian engineer and a buddy of min) and I went out and did some surveying work. We had two known GPS points that we had to tie the rest of some survey work into. Basically we had two concrete markers on hilltops that we knew the longitude latitude and elevation of; then we had about five or six others that we did not. So we used a topcon total station to find the position of the rest. You do that by measuring the heading elevation difference and distance from known points. Here is Sadrak setting up the total station.
The surveying work is pretty fun. Lots of hiking, fresh air, and enough of a challenge to keep boredom at bay. These Points (little mounds of concrete with steel posts in the middle) that we established will be used to design and build future structures for irrigation projects. Good news, bible study has been going well on Sunday afternoon, some interesting questions are being asked by the kids. It is hard to get out of the memorize and bounce it back to the teacher mode that the educational system here ingrains into students. It is difficult to get the kids to seriously consider something instead of coming up with what he or she thinks you want to hear. There is one kid in particular who has been asking excellent questions. Please be in prayer for these kids. Also please pray for Leah and I. We often get asked for a lot of things here and it can be difficult to know what to do. Is there a limit to how much you give? What if the person is asking just to see what they can get? Do you give unconditionally when you are asked? We are surrounded by a lot of people with real needs, and they often see us as a source for meeting those needs. Please pray for our attitudes, it is easy to get frustrated and have a bad attitude. If we give food on a regular basis, are we making them dependent on us, is that something we should avoid doing or does it not matter, are we just called to give? I would love to hear some of your guys thoughts on this, drop me an email, or post. We are seen as being wealthy and so we are when compared to those around us. I find the scriptures very convincingly pointing towards giving no matter what, but that seems like it could get crazy? what if they ask for my shoes? Do I go barefoot? Do I give till I have nothing left? Maybe I do... maybe following Christ requires a little foolishness (by the worlds standard)... Just something on my mind, again I would love to hear your thoughts.
Things I get asked for:
Money (sometimes large amounts for school, sometimes anything no matter how small)
Food (every night)
Shoes (mine or new ones)
Soccer balls
Whatever I have in my hand (even when the person asking does not know what it is)
clothes
Matthew 5:42
Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
2 comments:
Ironically, we have been thinking through giving and such lately. Overall we have concluded that being weatlhy is more difficult than being poor. Why, because you have been given more responsiblity. Being that there is a shortage of wealth and enumerous needs there is a necessity fo discernment. Who do you give to and why, how do you make a judgment based on who is in more need than another. If you give one person your shoes, you will not be able to give them to someone else.. Or maybe you won't be able to hike around and do surveys for irrigation projects as effectively if you gave away your shoes so it would be better for you to keep them and give them water for a lifetime instead. These are just initial thoughts... will discuss more later. Is this one of those life long questions? ti ser
well, regardless of how foolish you get, remember that the Lord is sovereign. you are not going to mess up any more than you are going to mess up, and there is no way around divine providence so don't worry about what hasn't happened or what might happen. if you haven't given your shoes away then you still have them, and if you ever do, then you won't. in the meanwhile, don't worry about all the damage you may or may not do bc hey, isn't that a little silly? do you really have the ability to improve or ruin anything in and of yourself? instead, give thanks in all things as we have been called to do. be confident that inevitably, regardless of and often in opposition to you, all things will come together for good for all of us that love the Lord and seek to do His will. if you want to serve perfectly, pray that the Lord will allow you to serve perfectly, and perhaps he will bless you with increase. in the meanwhile, don't be anxious, and always, with prayer and thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Bc how can a man know the best way to handle every situation, regarding stewardship and giving or otherwise. omniscience is a little beyond our capability, i think. i know when i read the words of our Lord i think in my heart "well this is a command from the Lord, I need to figure our the best way to carry this out at all times." still, which one of the Lord's commands has any of us ever carried out perfectly? in fact, we know that when we do succeed, it is not us, but God in us, and our success is actually his success through us. as we grow we will get more in tune with the Lord's will, that seems reasonable. but perfection will have to wait for the next life, we are incapable of it.
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