Missions: Haiti

Earlier this year, Bill and Darla Moxon and their daughter Emily moved to Haiti to resume their service to the people of the small Caribbean nation. The following is an excerpt from their latest report on their work and daily life in Haiti. Be sure to check out a video that explains the Moxon family and their story in Haiti on the Missions page.

from Bill Moxon
God has been so good to us! We’ve just finished our first month in Haiti.

Our re-entry period was made so much easier because God brought in so
many special people to ease us back into life in Haiti. Then he gave
us a quick trip to the Dominican Republic so that we could get our
vehicle fixed up and spend some time with Norm Currington - the one
Manna Global Ministries director that we didn’t know. We also got to
buy some items we needed for our new home.

I’ve been realizing that these last two weeks have been our “new
normal.” We can finally get into it...whatever “it” is! And we have
been having some great conversations and prayer time with all kinds of
people. God really seems to be meeting us in special ways as Darla and
I really strive to lean upon each other as we keep our eyes on Him.

One of the major themes that I think God has been laying on my heart
for a long time is a desire to intimately know and enjoy His Good
News. Yes, the Gospel is very simple and foundational, and yet my
generation and culture seems to have allowed the Gospel to become
quite vague and wishy-washy.

So I was really excited this past week when I started to feel God
laying a sermon on my heart for me to preach in our local Haitian
church. The sermon was a simple study of Jesus’ well known Prodigal
Son parable, but I felt God was laying deeper understanding of His
Father heart for me and His children as revealed in this profound
story. And I think that is one way that we discover the Gospel- when
God opens up our hearts and minds to the reality of who He is- that is
the greatest news of all news.

I hope you know me well enough that you won’t think I’m boasting if I
say I was very happy with how the sermon came off? My language skills
are surprisingly still intact from when we left here 14 years ago, but
I am aggressively applying myself to be able to speak more like a
native and especially to be able to share from a natural heart level.
But I think I was happy with how the sermon went for two reasons:
First, I had a strong sense that God had led me to share from that
parable for that day. Secondly, I loved the way the parable so
naturally showcases the loving, gracious, forgiving heart of our
Father God. I felt so confident that I could concentrate on letting
the story show off God’s heart for what it truly is. I look forward to
God teaching me more about how to preach! This is the most exciting
challenge I’ve ever known.

Please pray with us about Ilen and his family. He lives in our village
with his girlfriend and extended family and he approached me last week
asking if I would study the Bible with him. His girlfriend used to be
interested in church but now she is not. He wants to know the truth
about God and His Word and he wants to put his life on God’s track. I
asked Ilen to go back to his girlfriend and see if she would be
willing for both of them to study together with Darla and me. He
seemed to really like this idea and so I have been praying that God
would guide us and meet us in a special way as we open His word
together.

Every day we have at least 3 people come ask us for financial help.
Often they wish to buy medicine or go see a doctor. Many times they
need money so that they can improve their living situation or pay for
school. Some of these visitors have never met us or heard of us
before, but we are wealthy and they are needy and so they ask. Most
requests come from people that we have known and worked with in
various ways over the past 20 years. Many from this group seem to feel
that our ongoing relationship with them qualifies them to explain
their needs to us. (And I realize that the Bible encourages them to do
this!)

In the past, Darla and I have given money or paid for many different
needs. (Some of the money came out of our pocket, but much of it came
through projects that we were administrating.) We have given, we have
loaned, and we have given advances. But after years of “trying to do
the best thing” it is impossible not to notice that many of the people
that have received the most help are no better off (maybe even worse?)
than those who’ve never been “so fortunate” as to have benefitted from
our help in the past. Will God show us a better way to help in this
desperate, heart-breaking country? I’ll try to write more about this
topic as we struggle with it anew after our 14 year hiatus.

I will end this first official newsletter from the field with an
update that many of you have been praying about. Jerry, the little
“hydro” boy from the orphanage next door that had swelling in his
brain and an enlarged head really seems to be doing better. I got to
spend some time with him last night and was very surprised how much
more he is now moving around and able to manipulate his head by
himself. Please keep praying for him and for the other babies there.
Some of their youngest ones require constant care to help them get
back on their development track.

Thank you all so much for making it possible for us to live and
minister here in Haiti again. We hope to include some pictures in our
next newsletter! If you are on Facebook we have been putting several
post up there, so let us know if you'd like to join in on that fun.

Here is a repeat of our financial giving info for those of you that
have been asking:

Manna offers online giving through their website at http://mgm.mannadr.org/

Laura Beth Lamb administrates MGMs home office and can be emailed with
any donation questions at: laurabethlamb@mannaglobalministries.org

You can use Paypal or credit cards through their "donate" button. The
only tricky part is that we need you to write "Moxon" in the "add
special instructions to seller" field just before you finalize your
transaction.

If you prefer to send checks please make them out to "MGM" and put
"Moxon" on the bottom memo line.

The mailing address where you should now send support checks is:

Manna Global Ministries
P.O. Box 2993
Clarksville, IN 47131

May God be glorified!!

Bill, Darla, and Emily Moxon

Go the Distance 2011

by Errol Schroeder
Photos: courtesy Delmar Schroeder

The battle cry of "Go The Distance" was heard at Journey Christian Church on Saturday, January 29th, as nearly 100 men participated in a marriage conference for men only.

Men of all ages were encouraged to not only “Go The Distance” in their marriages, but to also insure that they are enjoying the journey with their wives. Speakers Arron Chambers, Terry Davis, Matt Estrin, Patrick Lightfoot and Mark Young delivered inspired messages about the roles and duties of men in marriage that were also filled with realistic life application.

A lot of energy and information about a variety of topics were packed into just 6 hours of fast-paced sessions that were seasoned with a good dose of “man humor”. Breakfast burritos and chili were the fare for the day. A big thanks to all the volunteers who worked hard to make the 2011 Go the Distance event a success.

2nd Annual Luke 14 Dinner

by Errol Schroeder
Photos: courtesy Delmar Schroeder

Journey's 2nd annual Luke 14 dinner was served Christmas Day in the evening to nearly 100 guests.

These guests were typical of those described in Luke 14:1-24, homeless, lonely, and needy folks. We served a family style dinner, ham, potatoes, green beens, Jello salad, great desserts, etc.

This dinner was sponsored and organized by Journey's Celebrate Recovery group, we thank all those that donated food, came to to help with serving, cleaning up, etc.

It was a great evening for everyone that was there, I believe it made God smile.

Angels Aware Performance

by Rhonda Chambers
Photos: courtesy Delmar Schroeder

Our Angels Aware program was a great way to share the birth of Christ with our church family and the community.

It is a Christmas musical that is actually over 25 years old. I love this musical because it tells the Christmas story through the eyes of the angels when they found out Jesus was going to earth. It is filled with fun songs about the angels wondering WHY He would go to earth and also HOW He would go to earth. They decide that going as a baby is a wonderful idea so we humans can feel close to Him.

The kids really did a great job!

10th Anniversary Celebration

by Delmar Schroeder
Journey celebrated it's 10th Anniversary October 2 and 3, 2010. The celebration started with an evening at a huge horse arena north of Greeley, a dinner of chicken and pulled pork, a pictorial history of Journey, a hymn sing-a-long, a Praise Team, with the highlight of the evening being Journey's founding Pastor Russ York telling about the vision and all the things that God put in place to put Journey into being what it is today.

Sunday morning Pastor Russ gave the morning message and again related the vision and what it means to be a church that is reaching out into the community and changing many lives. You can hear Pastor Russ' message in the "media" page of this website.

It was a great evening of encouragement and catching up with old friends.

And God was there too.

Vintage Church Retreat

by Delmar Schroeder
The first annual Journey's Vintage retreat was held Sept 17 and 18 at The Fountains in the LaQuinta hotel in Loveland. It was a great time!

Our first session was Friday evening with a Sermon in Song by John and Mary Smith (Rhonda Chambers parents), this was followed by a great time of fellowship, it showed that
us vintage types can have a lot of fun. The morning started out with breakfast, then a hymn sing led my Bud Barber with Mary Smith at the keyboard, it was singing at it's best.
John Smith led us in a Bible study. The final session was a Sermon in Song by John and Mary Smith, it was super, made Heaven very real. The conclusion was the most inspiring
singing of The King Is Coming by John Smith. You haven't heard that song till you have heard it sang by John Smith!

Bean and Bailey Family Night

by Errol Schroeder
“Bean and Bailey” – the name of the newest upscale, overpriced haberdashery on the Promenade? “Bean and Bailey”- the latest upscale, overpriced espresso served up by your local barista? All good answers…but not the answer we’re looking for.

“Bean and Bailey” is a Tennessee-based comedy duo, proving that clean comedy is indeed funny comedy. Bean and Bailey included Greeley and Journey Christian Church as a stop on their current tour, treating over 200 people to a night of music-driven, Smothers-Brothers-esque funny stuff including impersonations of the King of Rock-n-Roll and the King of Pop, a twisted look at folk music and Best Blues Performance Ever on the handmonica. (Guess you just had to be there to get that one.)

And if getting a belly full of laughter wasn’t enough, Chick-fil-A stopped in with FREE hot and spicy chicken sandwiches for everyone and coupons for more free sandwiches. Tell me, does a Saturday night get any better than this?

Everybody wonders where the good, clean (and family affordable) comedy has gone. We found it at Journey Church with Bean and Bailey. A good time was had by all, wish you were there!