Greetings-
It is Thursday night (Feb 18th) and I am sitting in a hotel in Conroe just north of Houston. It has been a busy week, well a busy time since the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, over a month ago.
In VRM emails that followed that tragic event we called for a time of prayer at VRM to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to reveal how God wanted to use VRM to serve in Haiti. In fact we called for prayer at VRM HQ as we converted the conference room to the Chapel of Compassion and Prayer for Haiti.
Amazingly, if you look back at those emails, the steps that God revealed then, is occurring now.
We felt that VRM would first have chaplains embedded in some of our responding partners- that occurred with Texas Baptist Men. We then felt that VRM would be called in to serve as counselors to assist those in trauma and grief with a start with debriefing responder teams- that is and has occurred. And eventually work with the people of Haiti and especially the children of Haiti.
That is all unfolding!
The Lord is guiding our path!
The first trip goes in tomorrow, Friday morning at 1000am through the partnership we have with Doug Stringer and his amazing organization Somebody Cares. On board that flight are directors of several other responding ministries that serve in Haiti.
In March I will be leading a VRM team of trauma and grief counselors to work with a partner who operates an orphanage and school in Haiti and has asked that we come and work with the children and staff that are in trauma.
There will be details to follow and stories to tell. But in the meantime please keep VRM teams in prayer, our responding partners in prayer and the people and children of Haiti in prayer!
Blessings to all as we move the chapel from Dallas-Ft. Worth to action on the ground in Haiti starting Feb 19th!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Update #2 Living Ready To Respond to Haiti!
The horror and suffering of the people of Haiti continues to unfold daily and the death count continues to rise. Aid is arriving in Haiti though frustration and anger continues to rise as circumstances hamper effectice delivery of that aid.
At this point Victim Relief Ministries continues to plan and prepare to response through our network of VRM volunteers and churches and partner responding agencies, organizations and ministries.
Because of this network of partnerships VRM is a conduit to get resources, materials and volunteers to a variety of channels that will get to operations on the ground in Haiti.
VRM will respond with trained and certified disaster response counselors and ministers to give spiritual and emotional care to both responders and Haitian victims. This includes Crisis and Trauma counseling, Crisis Intervention Stress Intervention training and debriefings and difussing among other chaplaincy and counselor services.
As we ramp up and things become more established in the ground we will send in more VRM Crisis Responders to serve the local communities and to help the children as we do children who are victims of crime and disasters in America.
The reminder of the best thing people can be doing is to pray. The best donation is in cash as deployment expenses need to be met and cash allows us to find the best materials or resources that need to be sent down. Be careful who you donate to.
Victim Relief Ministries has been serving victims of crime and disasters for over 10 years. We are recognized in the state of Texas by Gov. Perry himself, a member of Texas VOAD (volunteer organizations assisting in disasters), we serve with the Texas Baptist Men Disaster Response Organization, State Mass Care, Salvation Army and many more.
Please contribute to our response to Haiti at www.victimrelief.org
For those that can we are holding a time of prayer at our HQ in the "Chapel of Compassion and Prayer for Haiti" at noon central time this Thursday Jan 21,2010. If you cannot join us please join in at noon central and pray for Haiti.
Blessings as we serve as citizens of the United Kingdom of God
At this point Victim Relief Ministries continues to plan and prepare to response through our network of VRM volunteers and churches and partner responding agencies, organizations and ministries.
Because of this network of partnerships VRM is a conduit to get resources, materials and volunteers to a variety of channels that will get to operations on the ground in Haiti.
VRM will respond with trained and certified disaster response counselors and ministers to give spiritual and emotional care to both responders and Haitian victims. This includes Crisis and Trauma counseling, Crisis Intervention Stress Intervention training and debriefings and difussing among other chaplaincy and counselor services.
As we ramp up and things become more established in the ground we will send in more VRM Crisis Responders to serve the local communities and to help the children as we do children who are victims of crime and disasters in America.
The reminder of the best thing people can be doing is to pray. The best donation is in cash as deployment expenses need to be met and cash allows us to find the best materials or resources that need to be sent down. Be careful who you donate to.
Victim Relief Ministries has been serving victims of crime and disasters for over 10 years. We are recognized in the state of Texas by Gov. Perry himself, a member of Texas VOAD (volunteer organizations assisting in disasters), we serve with the Texas Baptist Men Disaster Response Organization, State Mass Care, Salvation Army and many more.
Please contribute to our response to Haiti at www.victimrelief.org
For those that can we are holding a time of prayer at our HQ in the "Chapel of Compassion and Prayer for Haiti" at noon central time this Thursday Jan 21,2010. If you cannot join us please join in at noon central and pray for Haiti.
Blessings as we serve as citizens of the United Kingdom of God
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Living Ready to Respond and Impact Haiti
The disaster that struck Haiti in the form of a 7.0 earthquake on January 12 has left in its wake a ground zero that appears to have inflicted a human loss of up to or beyond 500,000 souls. The capital city of Port-Au-Prince has been rocked, shattered and broken apart. The National Palace is in collapsed ruins.
Responders already on the ground in Haiti are trying to cope with this massive disaster with few tools while the USA, the UN and nations around the world rush to bring in humanitarian necessities in water, food and medicine just to give injured people a chance to make it just one more day.
At Victim Relief Ministries we are in the process of finding the best and most practical way to respond. We are working with our responding ministry and organizational partners to come together and help reach people.
The first thing that is needed is for people to pray. Prayer warriors from within the VRM volunteer responder family and those in partner organizations and all churches that are reading this.
We have VRM chapters throughout Texas, Arizona and California pooling resources as they prepare to respond. We are working to send in chaplains with assessment teams and to help give support to the responders and those needing assistance and rescue.
As we live ready to respond and impact, keep us in your prayers.
Go to www.victimrelief.org to contribute funds
Responders already on the ground in Haiti are trying to cope with this massive disaster with few tools while the USA, the UN and nations around the world rush to bring in humanitarian necessities in water, food and medicine just to give injured people a chance to make it just one more day.
At Victim Relief Ministries we are in the process of finding the best and most practical way to respond. We are working with our responding ministry and organizational partners to come together and help reach people.
The first thing that is needed is for people to pray. Prayer warriors from within the VRM volunteer responder family and those in partner organizations and all churches that are reading this.
We have VRM chapters throughout Texas, Arizona and California pooling resources as they prepare to respond. We are working to send in chaplains with assessment teams and to help give support to the responders and those needing assistance and rescue.
As we live ready to respond and impact, keep us in your prayers.
Go to www.victimrelief.org to contribute funds
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
A Winter Tornado- A Christmas Miracle!
On Dec. 23 cold weather began to move into Texas, dropping temperatures that had been in the 70's rapidly down into the 30's and 20's. It was an explosive mix that produced 30 and 40 mile per hour gusts across North Texas that by Christmas Eve would see snow blowing horizontally.
In Lufkin, Texas on that Wednesday night; many people were relaxing or getting ready to go to bed. They were probably tired from a day of work mixed with last minute Christmas preparations. I could imagine children being pretty excited as another day ended and brought them one day closer to Christmas.
And then a storm came roaring in. And some time after 10pm people began reporting a funnel cloud to the south and north side of downtown around the Loop. Without warning this funnell cloud landed as a tornado rated between a F1-F3 and left a trail three miles long and about 400 yards wide that devastated the sub-division at Englewood, and homes and buildings along Atkinson Drive, Lubbock Street and Kit McCormick Park and destroyed the VFW Post on Ford Chapel Road. The VFW Post looked like a battle scene where the enemy shelled it until its roof caved in and its walls were battered- but the flag was still there. The local elementary school looked like an aerial attack had targeted it and taken it out with missiles and bombs.
As I drove around surveying the damaged areas I looked at homes with giant trees laying on the roofs. Trees and branches had come down on garages and crushed the cars inside. Metal Debris hung high in trees whose branches were torn and bark was stripped. One house would look fine just a few yards up from their neighbors destroyed house or between two destroyed homes. Bare fields lay exposed where pine trees once stood. People were walking with dazed looks on their faces and many were trying to dig their way out of the damaged houses and buildings to begin the road to recovery and the hope of normalcy.
As I continued to write my observation report for the Incident Command Center and to talk to people in the neighborhoods to encourage and pray with them. One thing struck me- no one was killed or seriously injured. If you were seeing the damage I was witnessing you would know how miraculous this was.
It was also a miracle that the terroist on the Northwest Airlines flight was unable to blow up the flight after lighting his weapon.
I know people say if there is a God why do bad things happen. Why are there diseases and why do people die. I know that we can debate matters of faith or no faith. I believe God prevented people from being injured or killed from the winter tornado and I have felt that at countless ground zero's.
I give thanks and praise to God because I believe He protected people in Lufkin from the "Christmas Twister!"
In Lufkin, Texas on that Wednesday night; many people were relaxing or getting ready to go to bed. They were probably tired from a day of work mixed with last minute Christmas preparations. I could imagine children being pretty excited as another day ended and brought them one day closer to Christmas.
And then a storm came roaring in. And some time after 10pm people began reporting a funnel cloud to the south and north side of downtown around the Loop. Without warning this funnell cloud landed as a tornado rated between a F1-F3 and left a trail three miles long and about 400 yards wide that devastated the sub-division at Englewood, and homes and buildings along Atkinson Drive, Lubbock Street and Kit McCormick Park and destroyed the VFW Post on Ford Chapel Road. The VFW Post looked like a battle scene where the enemy shelled it until its roof caved in and its walls were battered- but the flag was still there. The local elementary school looked like an aerial attack had targeted it and taken it out with missiles and bombs.
As I drove around surveying the damaged areas I looked at homes with giant trees laying on the roofs. Trees and branches had come down on garages and crushed the cars inside. Metal Debris hung high in trees whose branches were torn and bark was stripped. One house would look fine just a few yards up from their neighbors destroyed house or between two destroyed homes. Bare fields lay exposed where pine trees once stood. People were walking with dazed looks on their faces and many were trying to dig their way out of the damaged houses and buildings to begin the road to recovery and the hope of normalcy.
As I continued to write my observation report for the Incident Command Center and to talk to people in the neighborhoods to encourage and pray with them. One thing struck me- no one was killed or seriously injured. If you were seeing the damage I was witnessing you would know how miraculous this was.
It was also a miracle that the terroist on the Northwest Airlines flight was unable to blow up the flight after lighting his weapon.
I know people say if there is a God why do bad things happen. Why are there diseases and why do people die. I know that we can debate matters of faith or no faith. I believe God prevented people from being injured or killed from the winter tornado and I have felt that at countless ground zero's.
I give thanks and praise to God because I believe He protected people in Lufkin from the "Christmas Twister!"
A Day of Infamy- A Date That is Never to be Forgotten!
History is a tricky thing. The reality of history is a strange and intriguing and as devastating or victorious over enemies or challenges as one can imagine or write about in fiction.
I am afraid that many people have little to no knowledge of US History, and many are re-writing history or revising it even as I write this.
As far as history goes it was not very long that an American President stood in front of congress to tell the American people about a devastating attack on the pacific fleet far from Washington D.C. on the island of Oahu.
A air attack by the forces of Imperial Japan had left behind battered and sunken ships, mainly battleships, hundreds of air planes were destroyed and over 3,000 military personnel and civilians were killed.
A nation could be shattered from all recovery by such a stunning victory, hope could be lost and defeat could almost be a certainty.
Almost!
President Roosevelt stood boldly, delivered the hard core truth and reality and then stirred the nation by telling them to never forget Dec. 7, 1941 a day that would live in infamy in American history and told the American people no matter how long it would take and at whatever cost- Pearl Harbor would be avenged and the American nation would rise from the bottom of Pearl Harbor to ultimate and complete victory.
So, I echo and repeat the command that our President gave in December of 1941 that this day not be forgotten. Two great symbols of World War II can be visited today in Pearl Harbor.
The memorial that is erected over the USS Arizona in which sailors are still entombed that lead us into WWII and the Battleship Missouri that carried the war to the door step of the enemy and on whose decks the enemy surrendered and ended WW II.
The Missouri fulfilled the promise that President Roosevelt gave to a shocked nation that waited in hope to hear him give the direction and guidance and course of action. Let us remember today and let us remember our troops who are fighting in lands for from our shores who brought the war to our lands on 9/11. And let us stay the course, lift up our nation, our leaders and our military as we seek to end a new type of warfare and enemy.
I am afraid that many people have little to no knowledge of US History, and many are re-writing history or revising it even as I write this.
As far as history goes it was not very long that an American President stood in front of congress to tell the American people about a devastating attack on the pacific fleet far from Washington D.C. on the island of Oahu.
A air attack by the forces of Imperial Japan had left behind battered and sunken ships, mainly battleships, hundreds of air planes were destroyed and over 3,000 military personnel and civilians were killed.
A nation could be shattered from all recovery by such a stunning victory, hope could be lost and defeat could almost be a certainty.
Almost!
President Roosevelt stood boldly, delivered the hard core truth and reality and then stirred the nation by telling them to never forget Dec. 7, 1941 a day that would live in infamy in American history and told the American people no matter how long it would take and at whatever cost- Pearl Harbor would be avenged and the American nation would rise from the bottom of Pearl Harbor to ultimate and complete victory.
So, I echo and repeat the command that our President gave in December of 1941 that this day not be forgotten. Two great symbols of World War II can be visited today in Pearl Harbor.
The memorial that is erected over the USS Arizona in which sailors are still entombed that lead us into WWII and the Battleship Missouri that carried the war to the door step of the enemy and on whose decks the enemy surrendered and ended WW II.
The Missouri fulfilled the promise that President Roosevelt gave to a shocked nation that waited in hope to hear him give the direction and guidance and course of action. Let us remember today and let us remember our troops who are fighting in lands for from our shores who brought the war to our lands on 9/11. And let us stay the course, lift up our nation, our leaders and our military as we seek to end a new type of warfare and enemy.
Let's be Merry Out There People and Put Christ in Christmas!
Greetings to the Victim Relief Ministries Volunteers, Network, Partners and Yellow Shirt Nation!
A quick shout out as Christmas day draws near. We have been challenging people via the social networks to reach out and touch a stranger and in some way brighten up their Christmas and let them know that God loves them.
While there is a battle over Christmas tradition- over saying Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. Not allowing nativity scenes to be displayed, Christmas trees to be put up, candy canes to be distributed or the fact that some people feel "offended" by Christmas etc.
And as I acknowledge that let me say that Christmas, true Christmas "tradition" does not need an "official" title on it. Christmas is a fact based on a true event and nothing can change or distract from that historic and world changing epic!
Christ was a gift presented to mankind by God!
"Tradition" is like "Religion". An institute by which we forget many times to put in action what the event was for. What good is it for our neighbors if we fight to put up the biggest Christmas tree with 10,000 watts of light, so we can stuff a million gifts under the tree with Santa on the roof and three wise men inflatables standing out in the snow- if we fail to deliver the goods at Christmas ourselves?
World News speaks of unemployment, failing banks and companies, depression, suicide, divorce, medical issues, terrorism, murder, abuse, crime, a lack of confidence in our nation, the world and ourselves. Many of us have a loss of hope and the will to move forward.
Well we have the Good News and now in the darkness we need to reflect the light of that truth on the world. Be Merry people, push back with acts of kindness, acts of caring and acts of love. Let us put our fears aside and let us not judge Christmas by the gifts we brought for ourselves but by putting CHRIST in Christmas and helping someone in need ahead of one of our needs.
Merry Christmas and spread Christ beyond your living rooms to those living and needing Christmas in action and to restore hope!
A quick shout out as Christmas day draws near. We have been challenging people via the social networks to reach out and touch a stranger and in some way brighten up their Christmas and let them know that God loves them.
While there is a battle over Christmas tradition- over saying Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas. Not allowing nativity scenes to be displayed, Christmas trees to be put up, candy canes to be distributed or the fact that some people feel "offended" by Christmas etc.
And as I acknowledge that let me say that Christmas, true Christmas "tradition" does not need an "official" title on it. Christmas is a fact based on a true event and nothing can change or distract from that historic and world changing epic!
Christ was a gift presented to mankind by God!
"Tradition" is like "Religion". An institute by which we forget many times to put in action what the event was for. What good is it for our neighbors if we fight to put up the biggest Christmas tree with 10,000 watts of light, so we can stuff a million gifts under the tree with Santa on the roof and three wise men inflatables standing out in the snow- if we fail to deliver the goods at Christmas ourselves?
World News speaks of unemployment, failing banks and companies, depression, suicide, divorce, medical issues, terrorism, murder, abuse, crime, a lack of confidence in our nation, the world and ourselves. Many of us have a loss of hope and the will to move forward.
Well we have the Good News and now in the darkness we need to reflect the light of that truth on the world. Be Merry people, push back with acts of kindness, acts of caring and acts of love. Let us put our fears aside and let us not judge Christmas by the gifts we brought for ourselves but by putting CHRIST in Christmas and helping someone in need ahead of one of our needs.
Merry Christmas and spread Christ beyond your living rooms to those living and needing Christmas in action and to restore hope!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The Chapel of Hope-The Power of Prayer
I had seven minutes to share my stories and thoughts of encourgement and hope at a recent chapel service at Houston Memorial Hermann Hospital. Gathered together were patients, care-givers, medical staff and fellow belivers and encouragers.
I built my talk around Romans 12:12-13. "Be joyful in hope, be patient in affliction, and stay faithful in prayer. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality."
I want to bring these powerful verses to life through some of my own life experiences. Sometimes miracles are done by divine intervention. In the case of my father. I grew up in Hawaii where my father was the pastor of a church. In 1969 he boarded an small, private, aircraft for a flight from Honolulu to the nearby island of Molokai. As they neared the island all instruments were reading normal. There was no turbulence or storms to rock the small aircraft.
Sometimes that is how our lives are just before a major disaster or challenge strikes our life. Everything looks fine and then....
Well THE THEN part that struck was that the prop flew off the plane as the coastline of Molokai drew near. The pilot struggled to glide the plane but it struck the water so hard that it knocked him out of the plane. My father was temporarily knocked out from the impact and the plane took on water and sank quickly beneath the sea. My father came too and struggled to get out of his seat belts and to breath as water filled the small cockpit. Gulping air from the shrinking air pockets he felt as if this battle would be lost. As his strength ebbed he felt himself being released from the seatbelts, the door came open and he began to lift from the bottom of the sea channel toward the light at the top of the ocean. Tired and dazed he popped to the choppy surface where a fisherman jumped into the water upon spotting him and pulled him to shore- a true act of providence from God!
Other times God shows His power through the skills and talents of people-such as the medical staff that are sitting in chapel today.
My daughter was about 7 years old. And she went to attend a birthday party of a neighbor just up the street from our house. She had on her pretty little party dress and was enjoying the celebration. Suddenly a dog, the family pet that my daughter had loved on and hugged many times, sprang up and attacked my daughter. Knocking her violently down on the ground the german shepard tried to reach around to her throat and clamp down. My daughter stayed face down, drawing her little arms up to instictively protect her face and throat as the dog repeatedly bit down on her until the shocked owners pulled their dog off.
We rushed her to the hospital, she was in massive pain and bleeding badly. She was rushed into the emergency room and we waited for the specialist to come and help. I looked outside the door and saw a man praying. It was the doctor, and when he stepped inside he looked at my daughter, took a deep breath and smiled.
It took 150 stitches to close my daughters body up and she took many shots and had to stay conscious throught the entire ordeal. Afterwards I asked the doctor why he smiled.
He told me that he had been born in Vietnam. As a youngster he left on a boat and spent several years floating from place to place, finally ending up in Hong Kong before a missionary couple who sensed his talent, arranged to send him to the states where he eventually ended up in medical school.
He was praying outside the emergency room when I saw him, asking God to prepare him for what he was about to see and to give him the skills needed to save and restore the afflicted patient. He specialized in working with people attacked by animals and he usually deals with people who have terrible face injuries. The reason he smiled was that he was so relieved to see that my daughter did not have facial injuries and he was thanking God.
The point was that God has brought this incredible and dedicated doctor from Vietnam to restore my daughter through the skills and talents he learned and the training he received.
We need to thank God for miracles and we need to lift up medical staff people that God also works through and we need to stay joyful in hope, be patient in affliction and stay faithful in prayer. And when God's people are in need be ready to help them. And always be eager to practice hospitality!
My wife just celebrated her 3rd year of being cancer free from a rare form that grew in her hand. The recommended procedure was to remove most of her hand that would eventually lead to her arm curling up and being useless to her. We prayed and proceeded with the doctor to avoid that and to just try to remove the tumor. The combination of God and the doctors again led to a successful removal of just the tumor (a miracle in itself) that left the hand intact and no major damage.
Keep the faith and keep praying! Blessings to all!
Edward
I built my talk around Romans 12:12-13. "Be joyful in hope, be patient in affliction, and stay faithful in prayer. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality."
I want to bring these powerful verses to life through some of my own life experiences. Sometimes miracles are done by divine intervention. In the case of my father. I grew up in Hawaii where my father was the pastor of a church. In 1969 he boarded an small, private, aircraft for a flight from Honolulu to the nearby island of Molokai. As they neared the island all instruments were reading normal. There was no turbulence or storms to rock the small aircraft.
Sometimes that is how our lives are just before a major disaster or challenge strikes our life. Everything looks fine and then....
Well THE THEN part that struck was that the prop flew off the plane as the coastline of Molokai drew near. The pilot struggled to glide the plane but it struck the water so hard that it knocked him out of the plane. My father was temporarily knocked out from the impact and the plane took on water and sank quickly beneath the sea. My father came too and struggled to get out of his seat belts and to breath as water filled the small cockpit. Gulping air from the shrinking air pockets he felt as if this battle would be lost. As his strength ebbed he felt himself being released from the seatbelts, the door came open and he began to lift from the bottom of the sea channel toward the light at the top of the ocean. Tired and dazed he popped to the choppy surface where a fisherman jumped into the water upon spotting him and pulled him to shore- a true act of providence from God!
Other times God shows His power through the skills and talents of people-such as the medical staff that are sitting in chapel today.
My daughter was about 7 years old. And she went to attend a birthday party of a neighbor just up the street from our house. She had on her pretty little party dress and was enjoying the celebration. Suddenly a dog, the family pet that my daughter had loved on and hugged many times, sprang up and attacked my daughter. Knocking her violently down on the ground the german shepard tried to reach around to her throat and clamp down. My daughter stayed face down, drawing her little arms up to instictively protect her face and throat as the dog repeatedly bit down on her until the shocked owners pulled their dog off.
We rushed her to the hospital, she was in massive pain and bleeding badly. She was rushed into the emergency room and we waited for the specialist to come and help. I looked outside the door and saw a man praying. It was the doctor, and when he stepped inside he looked at my daughter, took a deep breath and smiled.
It took 150 stitches to close my daughters body up and she took many shots and had to stay conscious throught the entire ordeal. Afterwards I asked the doctor why he smiled.
He told me that he had been born in Vietnam. As a youngster he left on a boat and spent several years floating from place to place, finally ending up in Hong Kong before a missionary couple who sensed his talent, arranged to send him to the states where he eventually ended up in medical school.
He was praying outside the emergency room when I saw him, asking God to prepare him for what he was about to see and to give him the skills needed to save and restore the afflicted patient. He specialized in working with people attacked by animals and he usually deals with people who have terrible face injuries. The reason he smiled was that he was so relieved to see that my daughter did not have facial injuries and he was thanking God.
The point was that God has brought this incredible and dedicated doctor from Vietnam to restore my daughter through the skills and talents he learned and the training he received.
We need to thank God for miracles and we need to lift up medical staff people that God also works through and we need to stay joyful in hope, be patient in affliction and stay faithful in prayer. And when God's people are in need be ready to help them. And always be eager to practice hospitality!
My wife just celebrated her 3rd year of being cancer free from a rare form that grew in her hand. The recommended procedure was to remove most of her hand that would eventually lead to her arm curling up and being useless to her. We prayed and proceeded with the doctor to avoid that and to just try to remove the tumor. The combination of God and the doctors again led to a successful removal of just the tumor (a miracle in itself) that left the hand intact and no major damage.
Keep the faith and keep praying! Blessings to all!
Edward
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