Update June 2009

Hi friends and family!

Sorry for the lateness of this update. As you know, we went to Haiti at the end of May. Promptly upon our return, I had some interesting challenges to come around. I am just now finally getting into a routine again (because my job situation shifted as soon as we returned) and I am working on a number of things to get them moving forward.

So the Haiti trip was amazing, as many of you have heard. Here are links to my pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2141139&id=25102982&l=e8b61c5607;

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2141476&id=25102982&l=f79ef3a969

The first one is from our time together as a team, and the second is when I was on my own in Les Cayes (and it was more just fun downtime pictures).

Our time together as the team visiting our sister church in the fishing village of Tiburon was very sweet. We have been visiting once a year since 2002, so it is like visiting family each time we go. I was so glad I was there as we were present for the dedication of the new church sanctuary, and the historic moments as our Pastor Gee, and the Haitian Pastor Lundy, stood together, praying together, before the church, and it felt like our churches were one church with two locations (and they are, as we are all the body of Christ!)

We had good times meeting together with the children, young adults, women, and deacons. We also helped as the Haitian church did two outreach meetings during our time there.

Bringing the message to the ladies went okay for me, even though I was very nervous. I had a great translator, Savana Moses, one of the missionary kids. She is fifteen and very intelligent, talented, and just great to be around. She was a great asset to our team, and felt like one of us.

The team all did such a great job in the areas they were responsible for. All of the meetings went so well. There was also good cohesiveness in the team, and we all worked together well. We all got along well, too. Praise God for unity!

I wanted to especially mention the youth meetings, which Derrick Scott (leader of Access218) had with the young adults, and subsequent meetings with just the leadership. Just seeing the hope that was awakened in these young people as a result of these meetings was worth the whole trip to me. I am excited to see what God does as a result of the seeds planted during our days in Haiti.

Near the close of our trip, I split off from the team for a day to meet with World Team people. I met some great people, and had a meeting with the President of MEBSH, the church organization for the south of Haiti that most of the missionaries do some work with (all of the sister churches are MEBSH churches). He was a kind man, encouraging, yet had worthwhile challenging thoughts he wished to share with me about working in Haiti. When he found out I was from Florida though, he said something along the lines of, "Well the same sun shines on both Florida and Haiti," and I think he is somewhat right about saying the heat is the same, but not comparing Jax to down there...

I had the opportunity to meet with several long term missionaries who have been in Haiti a while, and they were all ever so helpful. I got to ask lots of practical questions, and got really good answers. (And if you know me well, you know that meant more than anything else!) I got a lot of information that I really needed in order to logistically plan to move to Haiti. I also got to hang out at the school with the other teachers, and we were able to brainstorm ideas and otherwise talk shop. I really enjoyed that time with them, and that we were able to be productive, too.

Everyone I met was so welcoming, and I really felt at home. I did get to see Cite Lumiere (the mission center in Les Cayes, where I will be living) as it is more from the insider's view. I was able to begin to discern where I will run into challenges acclimating culturally, which was very interesting for me. But I look forward to the challenge and making the adjustments that must come.

Thank you all, as always, for praying. Once we returned home, one of our team members, Anna, contracted Malaria, but she is doing much better now, thanks to God. The evidence of your prayers was there as we went through the trip.

For this update, here are some current prayer requests and praises:

Praises:

Good productive time in Haiti! (I can't say it enough!)

Jesus has been teaching me a lot lately, and I have been listening. It has been hard, but awesome.

I got a sitting job to supplement Kumon for the summer, and we get along very well.

Finances have been manageable since my return. (That was a huge prayer request before...)

Prayer Requests:

I am trying to discern still whether to seek a teaching job, or just full time office work, for this time before Haiti. There are a lot of factors involved in that, so just pray for wisdom and direction for me in figuring that out.

Please also pray for my living situation. My current place was agreed upon only through August, so I may be looking for new accomodations soon. Pray that I can get some good notice, and that God would work that out if I do have to find a place to live.

Pray for focus and prioritization. There are a lot of little things that I need to do, but they add up and tend to be overwhelming.

Pray for spiritual protection. I have had to deal with a variety of very interesting stuff lately. It has not all been inherently bad, but the timing was strategic enough to make me question whether it was the enemy trying to shake things up. And there have been other things (like my car the day we got back, really?) that were just, come on?! (That one really didn't get to me more than just being annoying, but you get the point.)

Lastly, please just pray that I would be able to work toward all of this, while also being present in serving where I am right now. It is very easy to get sucked into one or the other, and I need to be able to be faithful where I am now, while working toward this other future reality.

Again, again, again, thank you soooooooo much for praying!!!!!! Merci, merci, merci!!!!!!

Please let me know anything that I can be praying for you about. I would be honored to do it!

Here we GO!

Hi friends!

We leave for Haiti tomorrow!!!!

Please pray for our team, and all those we will be with in Haiti...as well as the following....

1. That the rain will STOP and the rivers go down.

2. Good health for the team (at least one still fighting off junk).

3. Travel mercies (including motion sickness...).

4. Friday night, pray for the village of Tiburon (there may be voodoo ceremonies).

5. Pray for each of our meetings...one for Youth/young adults, Ladies, children, deacons, 2 outreaches, Sunday morning.

6. On the ladies meeting, please pray that it allllll comes together. (You can pray that for the others, too, but I am still trying to get ironed out what I am saying at the ladies meeting...)

7. Also, on Wed night and Thurs, please pray for me as I meet many new people in the Cayes missionary community, and have meetings with some of the WorldTeam folks.

You all ROCK! :-) Thank you thank you thank you for all of your prayers!!!!!

Please be praying for our team as we get ready to go...

So we are going to Haiti the 20-29. Here are the team members:

me.

Greg Stritch.

Anna Frederick. 

Derrick Scott.

Matt Landschoot.

Don Cheetam.

Josh Sizemore.

Ashley Tippins.

Perri Bevan.

Debbie Bevan.

Marcus Stouffer.

and Gee Sprague.

PLEASE pray that all stay well. Some have already or are currently fighting off a variety of junk. Just pray for us in general, from now til we get back. Thanks. :-)

Update for April 2009

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.

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