Author: Eric & Elisabeth

The week before last we watched our children share the gospel with their friends and classmates in Haiti and rejoiced with them as some of their friends are beginning to understand the gift of salvation better. One trusted in Jesus Christ alone to save her!

This past week we have been watching our four children make their Christmas gift giving choices after arriving stateside in the land of too many options and after repeatedly promising that this year we would not be helping them purchase their gifts. As a result they are learning that spending their own hard earned money on thoughtful gifts for others is not as easy as they thought (especially when they see how many things the stores have to offer that they could spend on themselves instead). We have heard statements like, “What if they don’t even like it?”, “What if I don’t get anything as nice in return?” Basically, “What’s in it for me?” We felt it necessary to sit down as a family and introduce a movie that would explain why we’ve been calling our children “Scrooges” this past week and search our hearts as to why we are often tempted to hold back when we have been given so much.

The classic movie based on Dickens book, A Christmas Carol, takes Ebenezer Scrooge through his life lived in the past, the present and future. This unique opportunity gave Scrooge a look from the outside in and revolutionized his life and actions from that day forward. His attitude toward giving changed drastically after seeing how his stinginess not only affected his personal life but others as well.

How much are we willing to give? As we give gifts to our loved ones this Christmas let us think about the ultimate gift, the gift of Jesus, that has been given to us. Are we stingy Scrooges with this gift? Do we primarily share Jesus only when we feel secure in our relationships because we don’t want to harm the relationship? Or do we only share with people whom we have no relationship with because we feel it can’t do any harm? Are we more concerned with how sharing and investing in another will affect us or how it will affect another person if we don’t share? Where do you stand? If you know the Messiah are you holding back from sharing him with those who might not know him? You can start now. Don’t wait for a Scrooge like experience to shake you. If you don’t know Jesus Christ personally, there is no better time than today to find out what he has done, is doing, and will do for you if you place your trust in him!

We can learn from Scrooge in many humbling aspects of our lives. Take a moment and reflect on your past. Do you remember the moment you knew you were separated from God and without hope in this world? Do you remember the moment that someone shared the good news of Jesus Christ with you and the immediate hope and confidence that resonated in your heart? Through your trust in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection on your behalf you now have forgiveness of sin, have received the Holy Spirit and have an eternal home in the presence of Jesus Christ1

Reflect on your present. How are your friends and family, coworkers, neighbors and the world impacted by your life? Are you living and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with this world? We have a perfect opportunity to share the hope that is within us and offer the best present in the world – Jesus Christ and him crucified, resurrected and coming again!

The gospel future would significantly impact our present if we had a glimpse of the faces we love in their future eternal homes (heaven or hell). Pray today that God will give you an opportunity to share the hope within you with someone who is without hope in this present world. As we reflect on the first Christmas past, how that has changed our present lives and has given us hope for the future, may it revolutionize our life and actions from this day forward.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!

-Isaiah 9:6-7

Thank you for partnering with us and praying with us as we pray for you also to have more opportunities to share the best gift of all-JESUS! Merry Christmas!

*In case you didn’t know the Ream Team is currently traveling stateside in IL, and TX, for the holidays. We are excited to see family and friends, speak at one of our partnering churches and get ready for Elisabeth’s sister’s wedding January 10th! We return to Haiti January 13th!

I used to have a hard time playing the glad game on Sunday. There were a few things I could find to be glad about Sunday but for the most part my feelings would join Pollyanna when she said, “Well at least we can be glad because it will be a whole week before Sunday comes around again!”

Truthfully most of the time I didn’t want Sunday to come around again. I know that sounds awful especially in light of the fact that my family has served in some capacity of ministry in nearly every church I have ever been to in my entire life. Prior to moving to Haiti church had mostly been anything but a Sun-day for me. It was typically a Stress-day for our family. My father served as a pastor from my K-12th grade years. Stressful preparations, stressful people to deal with, stressful (often unreasonable) expectations, stressed parents and stressed kids. We occasionally made time for some fun days but they were not on Sunday and recovery time from Sunday to Sunday usually left room for little else. I had a 4 year break in college when I went to church (most of the time) and enjoyed it because it was totally my free choice to get up and go and worship, learn and fellowship and that was fun. Then I married a pastor and for 12 years prior to moving to Haiti our Sunday’s were always full. Certainly there were fun moments with joyful celebrations of lives changed. Yet typically Sundays were full of stress. Please don’t get me wrong as this is not a bash the church blog. I love the Church. We chose this kind of stress and we loved the reasons for the stress which were the people we love. It was not bad. But it was not always good. Sometimes the things we experienced in church just made us so sad. When you serve in ministry inside a church it is often almost impossible to share the sad part of your own struggles with nearly anyone there. You often have the privilege to help sad and struggling people, but rare are the times you can struggle openly. You know things about many people but very few know many things about you. At least it felt like that to me the majority of my life. Sunday was rarely a family day after marriage and kids. It was hard to find another day that was.  I can remember very few times over 12 years that I even got to sit with my husband in church because he was too busy serving others or because I was busy taking care of little ones in the nursery. It is very easy for me to understand why so many people get completely disillusioned with church. Especially those who spend a good deal of time serving. We loved serving and don’t regret it. I just regret that I didn’t find ways to enjoy Sunday much more.

The thing about Haiti is that it is pretty difficult NOT to share your struggles. The struggles are evident. Just getting places is a struggle and the sadness you see along the way is real and heavy and a burden you can’t bear alone. Even though everyone has different stories we all have felt this sadness. Everyone needs a Sun-day and we don’t want to wait a whole week for it to come around!

Sunday is now a day I usually really look forward to each week! I’m so thankful for our sun filled Sundays! We are thankful for the doors that have opened for us to serve the body of Christ in Haiti with Montrouis International Fellowship for the past two years. This fellowship travels from several areas over rocky, sometimes flooded, sometimes hostile area roads to come together on Sundays to be together. We come from several different denominational backgrounds. That is sometimes interesting, sometimes hard, but mostly a refreshing teeny taste of what Heaven will be like. It isn’t about going to church. We have not even formally called ourselves a church. It isn’t perfect. There are still unmet expectations. There are still stressful preparations and people like us that inflict much stress upon ourselves and others. I’m still perpetually late to church even though I love it. I love it because it is just a bunch of broken people getting together in a broken place. We are a hot mess and I haven’t met anyone yet who pretends to have it all together. We just enjoy being a hot mess together. Our stories are different and the same. We have this Hope that brought us to this place and Who we are trusting to get us through another week until our next Sun-day. Sunday should have always been a Son-day. But how often do we not make it about Him, the One Who invented Sunday in the first place, at all?

Do you enjoy Sunday or is it stealing your joy? What can you do differently right where you are to light up your world?

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