This whole journey is amazing, and crazy, and humbling, but you might have already figured that... each of our journeys is so. And our great God knows how to lead each of us in a way so that we will follow, and lean on Him.
Here are some Praises and Prayer Requests!
Praises:
I have received my certification from ACSI (Association of Christian Schools Intl)! This was needed so that I could teach in the school in Cayes. It also means that I can teach in any Christian school who accepts their certification...
Things sometimes work a little backwards, but I received my official invite to join WorldTeam's Haiti field. I knew I would be going there, but it is official now. :-)
Thanks to all of you who are willing to pray, I have over 50 prayer supporters now! (WorldTeam had asked me to let them know when I hit that mark, hence its significance.) But considering that I started even asking folks about a month ago, I think that is pretty awesome, and a testament to God's provision for all things!
Prayer Requests:
I will be looking for full time work since it will be about a year until I move to Haiti. And we all know what the job market looks like right now... but working two jobs (though I am thankful for them) has been physically hard to keep up with (to stay well in the process). I would love to use that teaching certificate I now have if God wills it, but I'd be happy in an office job, too. Just please pray that God will lead me right to where I need to be.
Most of you know that I am planning to go to Haiti with CrossRoad Church in May for about a week. This trip will also, near its close, function as what WorldTeam calls my Vision Trip, where I meet with the team members there, and I will also hopefully get to spend some time in my future classroom. Normally I would have to take a separate trip, but thanks to God, the circumstances are such that I will save that extra money and time off from work! (That is a Praise, too!)
However, here is the prayer request. We leave for Haiti May 20, a mere three weeks from today. As of Monday, I had 10% of my support in for the trip. So please pray that God will provide. I know his timing is perfect: never early, never late, always just in time. At the same time, I hate that the status of my account is probably stressing some people out... But God hears our prayers, so please pray that God will work it out! And if you would like to help, great! Let me know! For those of you who are not able to help, I am only asking you to pray, and I thank you for your prayers! And for those of you who have already helped along this journey, all I can say is thank you for sowing into the Kingdom!
Well folks, I hope to see many of you soon (some I know I will see sooner than others...). Blessings, and thank you again for your prayers!
Also, please let me know how I can pray for you! Some of you have already shared some things with me, and I am praying for you. It is the very least that I can do to serve you, and I am honored to do it.
Click the banner above to go to World Team's website!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
May Trip Letter
[This is the text of the letter I am sending/emailing so that people know what is going on with my upcoming short trip to Haiti. And I appreciate any prayers!]
My dear family and friends,
I am excited to write this letter to you! In addition to going back to Haiti with the team from CrossRoad Church May 20-29, I also want to speak about teaching in Haiti in the near future!
The annual visit to CrossRoad’s sister church in Tiburon holds special significance this year. After working with the Tiburon church since 2002, during our visit they are dedicating the church, and we will participate. I am excited, since visiting on the first team, to share this moment with our Haitian family. Our visit to encourage the church is a testament to God’s faithfulness, as we have partnered with them, helping to equip them to reach their community. Their school is also thriving, and almost all of the students are sponsored by CrossRoad families.
As a veteran Haiti team member, it will be a real treat to be able to equip and assist my fellow team members with their ministry ideas and plans, and then be available to serve them in implementing their ideas once we are in the ground in Haiti. I love to pool the resources, knowledge, and connections that we have access to, in order to bring big dreams and God-sized vision to life. And God is soooo cool to bring it all together in such a way that we cannot deny His hand in it all. I just can’t wait to get into Haiti, where I will be able to help and encourage the team as they encounter the challenges inherent in Haitian ministry.
I will also be leading our ladies' meeting this year. The Haitian women serve us so graciously, and sacrificially, when we visit, and we love being able to devote a time to all of the women of the church being together! I am ready and willing to step into this role, though at 26, I hardly feel qualified to speak to women of all ages. But I trust that God will give me a word for them, in order to encourage and love on them.
As I speak of the short-term trip to Haiti in May, I want to reaffirm that I do still feel God’s call into long-term missions, and for that to lead me first specifically to Haiti, to teach the children of missionaries and local church workers in the Cite Lumiere School, located in Les Cayes. I will be going through an agency called World Team to do this. I recently completed their candidate evaluation school, referred to as RACE, and I signed with them, so I am officially a missionary now! The trip in May will also function as what World Team calls my "Vision Trip," where I meet their other missionaries in the field, and spend some time in my future classroom. In the end of our trips to Haiti, we have an extra day built in. So during that time, I will be meeting with the other World Team missionaries who work and live in Cite Lumiere (which is within Cayes, where RMI, who facilitates the sister church program, is housed as well). It is truly a blessing that I can essentially "kill two birds with one stone" financially speaking, because if it were not for the trip with CRC, I would have to buy another plane ticket, as well as take more time off from work and cover other expenses a second time. I am very thankful for God's providence in the situation.
For more updates and details not in this letter, you can visit: http://gerimovingtowardhaiti.blogspot.com, or email me at geribass@gmail.com to subscribe to the email update, if you prefer. Those will go out when the blog is updated.
Also, as always, I covet your prayers. More and more I learn just how valuable our prayers are, and how God really does hear when we call on His name. I hope that you will pray for the May team, especially for unity to be fostered of the supernatural kind, and for God to be glorified no matter what happens as we prepare and go to Haiti. Pray that each team member would just lean on God in this season of preparation, and that each of us would listen for His voice in all that we do. Also, please pray that God would equip those who he has called financially, both for the trip, and for the lack of pay they may experience during the trip. Please additionally lift up each team member’s health, both now and while we are in Haiti.
In Christ,
Geri A Bass
My dear family and friends,
I am excited to write this letter to you! In addition to going back to Haiti with the team from CrossRoad Church May 20-29, I also want to speak about teaching in Haiti in the near future!
The annual visit to CrossRoad’s sister church in Tiburon holds special significance this year. After working with the Tiburon church since 2002, during our visit they are dedicating the church, and we will participate. I am excited, since visiting on the first team, to share this moment with our Haitian family. Our visit to encourage the church is a testament to God’s faithfulness, as we have partnered with them, helping to equip them to reach their community. Their school is also thriving, and almost all of the students are sponsored by CrossRoad families.
As a veteran Haiti team member, it will be a real treat to be able to equip and assist my fellow team members with their ministry ideas and plans, and then be available to serve them in implementing their ideas once we are in the ground in Haiti. I love to pool the resources, knowledge, and connections that we have access to, in order to bring big dreams and God-sized vision to life. And God is soooo cool to bring it all together in such a way that we cannot deny His hand in it all. I just can’t wait to get into Haiti, where I will be able to help and encourage the team as they encounter the challenges inherent in Haitian ministry.
I will also be leading our ladies' meeting this year. The Haitian women serve us so graciously, and sacrificially, when we visit, and we love being able to devote a time to all of the women of the church being together! I am ready and willing to step into this role, though at 26, I hardly feel qualified to speak to women of all ages. But I trust that God will give me a word for them, in order to encourage and love on them.
As I speak of the short-term trip to Haiti in May, I want to reaffirm that I do still feel God’s call into long-term missions, and for that to lead me first specifically to Haiti, to teach the children of missionaries and local church workers in the Cite Lumiere School, located in Les Cayes. I will be going through an agency called World Team to do this. I recently completed their candidate evaluation school, referred to as RACE, and I signed with them, so I am officially a missionary now! The trip in May will also function as what World Team calls my "Vision Trip," where I meet their other missionaries in the field, and spend some time in my future classroom. In the end of our trips to Haiti, we have an extra day built in. So during that time, I will be meeting with the other World Team missionaries who work and live in Cite Lumiere (which is within Cayes, where RMI, who facilitates the sister church program, is housed as well). It is truly a blessing that I can essentially "kill two birds with one stone" financially speaking, because if it were not for the trip with CRC, I would have to buy another plane ticket, as well as take more time off from work and cover other expenses a second time. I am very thankful for God's providence in the situation.
For more updates and details not in this letter, you can visit: http://gerimovingtowardhaiti.blogspot.com, or email me at geribass@gmail.com to subscribe to the email update, if you prefer. Those will go out when the blog is updated.
Also, as always, I covet your prayers. More and more I learn just how valuable our prayers are, and how God really does hear when we call on His name. I hope that you will pray for the May team, especially for unity to be fostered of the supernatural kind, and for God to be glorified no matter what happens as we prepare and go to Haiti. Pray that each team member would just lean on God in this season of preparation, and that each of us would listen for His voice in all that we do. Also, please pray that God would equip those who he has called financially, both for the trip, and for the lack of pay they may experience during the trip. Please additionally lift up each team member’s health, both now and while we are in Haiti.
In Christ,
Geri A Bass
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Immunizations...
(Did I mention that I HATE needles?)
I went on Tuesday, and got the first of a series of three immunizations for Hepatitis A and B combined. Yay, fun! But the lady was really great, and I don't have to pay crazy office fees every time I go in. Shout out to Marcus for telling me about The Travel Clinic!
I went on Tuesday, and got the first of a series of three immunizations for Hepatitis A and B combined. Yay, fun! But the lady was really great, and I don't have to pay crazy office fees every time I go in. Shout out to Marcus for telling me about The Travel Clinic!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
I am a missionary - Officially!
Hi friends!
So you may remember in my last update that I was coming up on something called RACE. Well I got back from the Philadelphia area on Saturday, which is where I participated in RACE. Not only was there some training and information that I gained in RACE, I also didn't realize some of what to expect coming into RACE. The C and E stand for candidate evaluation... which was a very challenging process! I was stretched and challenged, and got a chance to self-evaluate as well, which was hard but good. I am still trying to process everything, but as far as getting to Haiti here is where I am:
I signed with World Team, and I am officially a missionary!
I received a list of requirements for what all needs to be done before I go.
I also created a ZAP (Z to A Plan) that illustrated all the timing for said things.
I met my Field Director, and he is supportive of my choice of going to the field in Haiti (good thing, since that was where I felt called to go to!) :-)
I plan to go with CrossRoad's team to visit Haiti in May. This will also be a chance for me to meet with the missionaries I will later be working with.
Ways you can be praying:
I am seeking a mentor. (So if you are interested or know someone, let me know. I have a few prospects, but that does not make anything final)
My finances (with being gone, they are okay right now, but pray God would continue to work in them).
I have A LOT of things that need to happen before I go to Haiti. Pray that I get on it (and I already have some...).
I will be raising support for the short term trip which is in a month and a half. Pray the finances come in.
I am seeking God on some aspects of all of this during this week. Please pray that I can discern the direction I should take.
Finally, if you are interested in committing to be a prayer partner (for the foreseeable future, hence the word choice) please email/call/fb me. I will add you to my email update list, and keep you posted on what to be praying about.
Thanks friends!!!
So you may remember in my last update that I was coming up on something called RACE. Well I got back from the Philadelphia area on Saturday, which is where I participated in RACE. Not only was there some training and information that I gained in RACE, I also didn't realize some of what to expect coming into RACE. The C and E stand for candidate evaluation... which was a very challenging process! I was stretched and challenged, and got a chance to self-evaluate as well, which was hard but good. I am still trying to process everything, but as far as getting to Haiti here is where I am:
I signed with World Team, and I am officially a missionary!
I received a list of requirements for what all needs to be done before I go.
I also created a ZAP (Z to A Plan) that illustrated all the timing for said things.
I met my Field Director, and he is supportive of my choice of going to the field in Haiti (good thing, since that was where I felt called to go to!) :-)
I plan to go with CrossRoad's team to visit Haiti in May. This will also be a chance for me to meet with the missionaries I will later be working with.
Ways you can be praying:
I am seeking a mentor. (So if you are interested or know someone, let me know. I have a few prospects, but that does not make anything final)
My finances (with being gone, they are okay right now, but pray God would continue to work in them).
I have A LOT of things that need to happen before I go to Haiti. Pray that I get on it (and I already have some...).
I will be raising support for the short term trip which is in a month and a half. Pray the finances come in.
I am seeking God on some aspects of all of this during this week. Please pray that I can discern the direction I should take.
Finally, if you are interested in committing to be a prayer partner (for the foreseeable future, hence the word choice) please email/call/fb me. I will add you to my email update list, and keep you posted on what to be praying about.
Thanks friends!!!
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