Hi everyone,
Already February! Good grief. Winter has been…well, winter in Missouri. Although not as much as some areas, we did get over a foot of snow in one shot, which is unusual. In the 80s it was common but not so much anymore.
This month, we thought we would share some “family” photos of the beginning of the ministry.
From the very first trip we felt we wanted the ministry to be a personal one. Personal in the way those we can into contact with, personal in the way we knew those we work with and personal in the way we would know each other’s families. It has worked out just that way.
The two pictures are of our sons, the top one being our youngest son Mike. In the picture he is packaging medicine, which is an important part of what we do. After the first trip, Mike spent the following June with me in Haiti, while I was “searching” – searching to see if this was really God calling or my own empathy because of what I had seen during the first trip.
The second picture is Joe (Steven Joseph, but call him Joe) and he is pictured with me (yes, at one time my hair was brown) during a break doing clinic.
In the years since both have been there numerous times, doing whatever was needed of them, to the point everyone always asks about them, their families, when they are coming back, and they know their kids’ names.
It’s personal. Personal enough that there has been more than one child named for one of us, which is about the biggest honor they could pay us. Or, asking us to name one of their new born.
It’s also trust. Trust built on years of knowing and working with each other to create a better life for everyone.
Obviously, you are a very big part of what the ministry has done over the past 24 years and they know that as well. To those who have been there, they always ask about you. To churches and groups that help, they know you and pray for you by name.
It was and still is personal.
