How you can help me help Haiti.

My Dear Friends,

Are you as overwhelmed by the Earthquake in Haiti as I am? I wanted to go there the very next day. I’ve prayed a lot and my best response right now is to GIVE but even giving financial support is overwhelming. There are so many options, right?

Here’s a way you can give that will double your contribution. There is an immediate need for $61,000.00 for the purchase of 4 vehicles and a trailer to distribute relief supplies and transport aid workers through Adventures in Missions in Haiti. I will match your gift up to $12,000.00. I am donating the money from my Ukraine Account to fund this Match. The food and water is there; the bottleneck is a way to distribute the aid!

Adventures in Missions (The World Race people), in Gainesville, Georgia have a strong history of rapidly responding to disasters here and abroad. AIM Missionary Miquel Shaul has served in Dominican Republic for the last 5 years. He was in Port au Prince a few days after the Earthquake. An AIM Assessment Team was on the ground a week later. World Racers served in Haiti in 2009 developing and nurturing relationships with Haitian Churches. The network is there. AIM anticipates sending more than 2000 volunteers to Haiti this year. The first team leaves this week!

Teams serving in Haiti will need vehicles to deliver relief supplies and transport volunteers. AIM has already purchased one vehicle at a cost of $12,000.00. My goal is to raise at least $12,000.00 ($24,000.00 with the matching funds) to help purchase 4 more vehicles and a trailer.

Will you give to the Haiti Truck Fund? Remember, I am matching your gift dollar for dollar up to $12,000.00. Together I believe we can raise this money in just a few days! Your donation is 100% tax-deductible (and the deduction can be used on your 2009 taxes if you wish).

You can donate online right now at: http://www.razoo.com/story/Haiti-Transportation-Fund

or http://www.adventures.org/haiti/ (You can give at the Adventures site for ministry in Haiti in general but not specifically for the Transportation Fund)

Or you can mail a check or cash to:

Adventures in Missions

Haiti Truck Fund

6000 Wellspring Trail

Gainesville, GA 30506

Thanks for giving and praying.

In Christ,

Clinton White

Want to learn more about AIM’s response in Haiti? Check out these resources:

www.haiti.adventures.org

http://theshauls.myadventures.org/ AIMS’s Country Director in Dominican Republic

www.sethbarnes.com

www.clintonwhite.net-

I have no official affiliation with AIM; this effort is my own on their behalf.

Haiti. Money.

Haiti. The Earthquake.

When I first heard of the earthquake and it's magnitude I knew it would be devastating. Those first few hours I was either in a car or at a friends house watching an "Office" marathon...effectively a news blackout. It wasn't until later that night that I finally started seeing reports and images.

I spent the following evening glued to the television watching rebroadcast and live reports from that first full day after the catastrophic event. Here is some of what I wrote in my journal that night:

"I've prayed about children lying scared and hurt and separated from parents tonight. Many of them will never be reunited. I prayed about people lying trapped in the rubble hoping to be found in time but most of them will die slow, painful deaths.

Where is God in this? The answer is another question. God has a physical body here on earth. It's the body of Christ. So the answer to the question, "Where is God in this?" is... where is the Church in this?

The 2004 Tsunami. Katrina. Now Haiti. These are the great humanitarian efforts of our time. If we fail... if the church fails to show up, the the question will persist... "where is God?"

Growing up in Mississippi I had heard people talking about Hurricane Camille for 30+ years. I suppose people will be talking about Katrina 30 years from now. The difference is that no one (who was actually there!) can talk about Katrina without talking about the amazing response of the Church. The response and the witness of the Church IS the story and legacy of Katrina.

If the Church does what it is capable of, then the world will know there is a God. I believe it's the only hope Haitians have. Financial aid alone will not be enough for them to ever recover.

What should the "Church's" response be? Jesus said whatever we do to or for the least of these we've done unto Him. People in Haiti were already the "least of these" before the Earthquake. How much more so now? They are hungry, thirsty and naked among so many other things. How can we not feed and water and clothe them?

So I'm lying here in bed thinking about what I can do. I'm daydreaming about standing up in a Church business meeting and proposing that we give all our Building Fund money to help the people in Haiti. In my fantasy, I'm thinking how stupid it is for the local news to be reporting about how Jackson (Mississippi) has a temporary water shortage and you can drive to such and such location and workers will load your trunk or back seat with free water. You don't even have to get out of your car.

Meanwhile in Haiti, there is not water. There's no free drive-through. What an absurd contrast!

And then another thought popped in my mind. If I'm going to fantasize about being the lightening rod that spurs the church to forego it's building program in favor of giving to this immediate need, then maybe I need to give up "my" money too.

Truth is, I don't have much to give; in fact I'm in debt from living in Ukraine all last year. But I do have a significant amount of "ministry money"; money that many of you gave me to minister in Ukraine. I haven't been able to use it because I served independently last year and not with an organization. I can however direct the organization that's holding the money to give it to Haiti.

So I'm praying about doing that. Part of me feels no remorse- I want to save lives and invest in the Kingdom...and it really isn't my money anyway, right? But part of me is fearful because I'll be giving up my safety net for returning to Ukraine and I'm afraid I won't be as successful raising support again if I have the opportunity to return to Ukraine in a few months.

So...pray for me and with me. I want to be found faithful and I want to be a good steward. And I want to trust God.

PS- check out how Adventures in Missions is on the ground and ministering in Haiti

Thoughts on Defining Moments

I heard a "heartwarming" little story on a radio station this morning. The lady had been asked to sing the National Anthem at an Atlanta Braves Baseball game. Of course, you know what happened. She choked. No, literally...she coughed/choked on a word while singing the song.

Afterwards she received the applause of 40000 fans and pats on her back from her husband and friends. All she could think of though was how she blew one word/ one note. For days she beat herself up until she came to the realization that she hit 80 words and at least that many notes- perfectly. From that time forward she gave herself a break in the knowledge that she had been defining herself by the one bad moment instead of the 80 good ones.

My immediate reaction to her story was that I should give myself a break too and not define myself by one sin or one mistake or one blown judgement call.

But as I continued driving down the road I started thinking that... regardless of whatever positive attitude I can muster, the fact is that most of us are defined by our "defining moments".

Nobody remembers or even cares much what George Washington might have done on a day to day basis; he's remembered for Crossing the Delaware in the middle of the night or for braving the bitter cold of Valley Forge...you get the picture.

So...here I am somewhere in the middle. I'm in the middle of nowhere Mississippi helping my best friend in his Survey business. (I'm the genius that holds the red and white striped pole steady!). And maybe I'm between "defining moments" too. Time will tell.

One thing I think though is that most of us don't know when our "defining moments" will occur. I guess we just play the Boy Scout and put ourselves in a position to be prepared for when it happens. If I blow it I can still thank God for His grace and if I succeed then I can praise Him for His grace. Either way, he gets the glory.

The Mighty Mississippi

I grew up close enough to the Mississippi River to sneak over on my bike when I was way too little to be riding that far on my bike!

Later, I moved to Natchez, MS and graduated from High School there along the banks of the Mighty Mississip.

A lot of my Ukrainian friends know about the River. And in all fairness, Ukraine has a pretty sizeable river in the Dnieper (but not as big as the Mississippi).

So, in honor of them, I snapped a couple pictures as I was crossing the river in Natchez to day heading into Louisiana to spend Christmas Eve with my niece and her family.

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree. Ukrainians don't play!

I got to see the Christmas Tree going up in Independence Square today. I guess this is equivalent to the National Christmas Tree. It was fascinating. I'm guessing at least 100 feet tall- maybe the biggest artificial/live hybrid tree ever!!

The "trunk" was a tall steel structure, like a light pole. Fixed along the trunk were hollow pipes of decreasing lengths from bottom to top. Real trees were inserted into the pipes and also strapped to the trunk- in other words...whole, live trees are the "branches" of this artificial tree.

I hope they get it decorated and lit before I leave next week. Check it out!!

Odessa Rewind

Gee Whiz, December already? Time flies.

I had a nice visit down in Odessa after Thanksgiving. It was cold and wet and just as ugly down there as it has been here in Kyiv so I stayed pretty close to my hotel room the first day in town. On Saturday I caught up with my Translator friends from summer camp...Natasha and Oksana, who are both attending the Christian University in Odessa. They went with me to visit my friends Katya, Vika and Yura- friends from my very first trip to Ukraine in 2004. The girls are 18 and almost 16 now, Yura is 14. They are growing up. Yura is still involved in the Bible Club but I don't think the girls are too much. My ministry friend Maxim still stays in touch with the family though. I was glad for Natasha and Oksana to meet them; maybe that will lead to some ministry opportunities.

Later that night I found a Cafe with WiFi and was able to watch the State-Ole Miss Game on the internet and enjoy some Intercontinental Smack Talk with my Nephew (an OM fan) and some other friends.

Sunday morning I attended church with Natasha, Oksana, and their roommate Ksusha. Some other friends, former SEND Language Students, were also at the church. I

really enjoyed worshiping with them.

Later that afternoon I met Maxim and attended the Gypsy Church. Here's what I wrote while I was waiting to meet Maxim:

Crazy! I'm sitting in a cafe (which happens a lot in this part of the world) in a shopping center on the outskirts of Odessa. There's a Cafeteria upstairs and when I walked through there earlier I was flooded with memories. I distinctly remember eating there with kids from my youth group during a mission trip 5 years ago. I remember being scared to death because I couldn't read or understand anything. I remember choosing my food and paying for it and trying to look like I knew what I was doing because I was the "leader"!

I still don't know if I know what I'm doing. I'm just more comfortable in my discomfort now!

I'm right in the middle of where it all started...this love for Ukraine. I'm just a few blocks from where we stayed at the church. I'm a few blocks from our daily "Field of Dreams" Backyard Bible Club. It's a 20 minute walk to the Gypsy settlement. In just over an hour I'll be meeting Maxim to go to a Church Service in the settlement. It starts at 4 pm. It'll be dark already and as I understand it, there's no electricity. Probably no heat either. We will worship by candlelight. I don't think there'll be a translator, so I'm off the hook for speaking unless I share my standard short paragraph of who I am and what I'm doing speech in Russian.

Without a Translator, I won't be sharing a message tonight. And even if I did, what do I have to say to a handful of Gypsies huddled in the cold, dark night of Odessa? Do I tell them that in spite of all the blessings I've received from God, despite all I have and all I've been given that I still have all sorts of doubts and fears about my future? I doubt I have anything to say to them that will encourage or strengthen them more than just being with them will encourage and strengthen me.

Aftermath: The church was dark. The worship was by candlelight. They had a propane heater though so it was warm...it was warm in more ways than one. And talk about a mix of no tech (no electricity) and new tech (they used a laptop computer for music and lyrics!!).

The people made it special though. As best as I could tell there were probably only 2-3 families present and mostly teens and children. They are beautiful and friendly. Here's a picture of the Pastor and some of his family.

Finally! Sunday night before catching the train back to Kyiv, I took Natasha, Oksana and Ksusha to their first Mexican Restaurant. Food was edible. Time together was much fun. After dinner, they treated me to Tea and Cookies at their dorm and then walked me back to the train station at 11 pm!

Happy Thanksgiving

Ok, so there is no “Thanksgiving Day” in Ukraine, not like in the United States in any case. Nevertheless, it is that time of the year and I guarantee you the American Community here in Kyiv will be thinking Turkey & Dressing today! I’m spending the day with my friends, the Hathcocks, and a bunch of their friends for all the traditional fare including (maybe) Football (not Futbol) on TV. We’re not quite sure how we’re going to pull that off yet...but we are committed to making it happen! I’ll probably make a Skype phone call to my family sometime this evening. And late tonight I'm taking the overnight train to Odessa for a few days to visit with some friends from summer camp and with my friends Katya, Vika and Yura whom I met in 2004 during my first trip to Ukraine. I hope the time you have with your family reminds you of all you have to be thankful for.

Being thankful is something I’ve struggled with the last few months. I’ve been listening to Ben Stuart’s Podcastthis month (from the Breakaway Bible Study at Texas A&M) as he’s been going through the book of James.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers” James says, “whenever you face trials of many kinds….”

Consider it pure joy? What was he smokin’? I hate to sound like a weenie but most of this year has been a trial for me with no end in sight! And I’m supposed to “consider it pure joy”?

Really? I’d rather complain and protest. It’s a lot easier to list all the things that have gone wrong and the things I’m definitely not thankful for!

But then I read (in 2nd Cor. 11) where Paul is boasting about all the crap he’s been through and then in Phil. 3 he essentially recounts all that would otherwise be accounted as “blessings” in his life and says of them that he considers them as a “loss for the sake of Christ.” It’s hard not to see the “upside-down-ed-ness” of following Christ.

Lord, I want to want Your will to be done no matter the consequences. I want to be like Paul and James and see that my trials are for my good– they are producing Godly character in me. I want to be like the Hebrews in the fire– I want to trust You even if you choose not to deliver me from the fire.

Finally, here's some things I'm thankful for...I posted these a few days ago in another blog, but they bear repeating I guess:

I’m thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to be in Ukraine all year, for the opportunity to move forward with language study. I’m thankful that I’m making progress. Sometimes I can’t believe I’m actually reading, writing, understanding and speaking a 2nd language– even if I do sound like a toddler!! I’m thankful to have lived on less than half of what I originally thought it would take. I’m thankful for my family’s unyielding support of me. I’m thankful for a handful of friends that have consistently reminded me this year that they are! I’m thankful that what I’ve done is not who I am! I’m thankful that He hasn’t forsaken me and He won’t. If it gets worse before it gets better, He’ll still be walking through it with me. And I’m thankful for your continued prayers for me as I approach what has to be the culmination of this ordeal I’ve suffered through all year long.