June updates and praises/prayer requests

Since January 12, 2010, when the earthquake hit, Agape Flights has sent more flights than in the past 3 years combined and shipped more cargo than in 5 years. The numbers are staggering but it is still not enough. We are still in constant action trying to provide relief supplies to the people and missionaries of Haiti. The needs are different but there are still needs.

With all the needs still present, we have slowly been returning to some type of normal but it is certainly a new “normal”. We are now flying two flights a week instead of one. One flight goes to Port au Prince to bring relief supplies and one flight goes to the Dominican Republic and other Haitian airports with core supplies. Core supplies refers to “normal deliveries”, like mail and packages. We are hoping this new schedule be sufficient to meet all of their needs.

The last sea containers arrived in Haiti the first weeks of May and are waiting in customs. Lance worked this month with another sea container organized by a local church. It was for a missionary associated with Agape so they tapped into Lance’s container knowledge to help get their container loaded and shipped. We are prayerful that all the containers will be processed and distributed quickly.

Agape certainly has learned a lot over the past 4 months. We have been pushed in every way; more flights, more cargo, more volunteers, more hours worked, more fatigue. But God has been God through and through. We have seen miracle after miracle as He made things happen for us and He worked out the problems that we would face. He proved Himself as sovereign every day and for that we are extremely grateful. The biggest lesson we have learned over and over again is “to lean not our own understanding but to trust in Him.”

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Here are this month's praises and prayer requests....

Praises and Prayer requests

Praise the Lord for the staff and volunteers at Agape. The “family” at Agape works together like none we have ever seen. Each person at Agape has a gift and a purpose in the ministry. God has orchestrated a wonderful group of people into His service.

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  Praise God for provision of a new plane. It is so cool to see His provision in tangible ways. This plane is more evidence of God’s hands working for this ministry.
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  Praise the King for His protection and strength. We have felt weary and tired but God always has picked us up. There have been times when we know we could not have continued without His intervention. Praise God that He is so powerful and so faithful.
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  Praise the Father for our partners. He has given us a wonderful support team. Without the encouragement and prayers of our team, we would not be here today. We are grateful for you and that is a reason to praise God.
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  Please pray for us as work on deputation and support raising. We are now looking forward to year 2 at Agape and need to refill the support base from one time gifts last year. Please pray for God to open hearts and minds to hear our story and link arms with us at Agape.
• 
  Please pray for an Agape members, Cody and Maria Whittaker and their daughters. After surviving the earthquake in Haiti, they discovered that their 5 year old daughter, Susana, has a very aggressive form of cancer. They have relocated to the US for treatment but they need prayers for strength and peace through this journey.
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  Please continue to pray for Lynn’s mom as she continues to battle cancer.
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  Please intercede with us again for the new sea containers waiting in customs in Haiti. Pray that God would prevail again and we will see them released this month.

As always, thanks for all of your faithful prayers. We are so grateful and humbled to have people who lift us and our needs to the King. We appreciate you. Don't forget, we would like to pray for you and your needs as well. Please email us if you have specific requests so we can petition God on your behalf.
Have a great month and thank you for linking arms with us.
Never give in!
Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson ministry team

May update and Prayer requests/Praises

Since January 12, 2010, when the earthquake hit, Agape Flights has:
· Made over 160+ flights into Haiti
· Delivered almost 600,000 pounds of donated emergency supplies
· Delivered over 300 backpacks to homeless people of Haiti
As you can see, the stats just keep jumping. The work level at Agape is still running at a fast pace. The needs have changed but the amount of needs has not. There is still so much to do. We have utilized 2 extra warehouses (besides the hangar) since the earthquake. One is now empty but the other is still full of boxes and supplies that need to be delivered. Every day, plans are being made and carried out to move these supplies into the hands of the missionaries. Two more sea containers are on the way to Haiti. Hopefully, they will be released in a timely manner and the 50,000 pounds of supplies in each will be through customs quickly.
We are extremely joyful to report that all of the sea containers in Haiti which were previously sent have been released. All 5 containers were released in one week, which meant over 250,000 pounds of supplies became available to be distributed. The items in these containers varied from food to medical supplies to homemade bunkbeds. The bottom line is that God worked in big ways to get these containers released. Thank you for all your prayers for these containers. God heard them all and He did what only God can do.
Along with planes and containers, backpacks are also a part of the Haiti relief efforts. Over 300 backpacks have been filled with critical living supplies at the Agape hangar. A missionary from Haiti, who was in the US during the quake, suggested that we start a project of filling the backpacks for the homeless. So with many donations, Agape volunteers and church groups have lovingly packed these backpacks. We are receiving great reports from the missionaries that the backpacks are a hit.
We at Agape are committed to the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts of Haiti so although a lot has already been accomplished. We will not stop until every missionary has what they need and are back on their feet. We want to serve them in every way as they minister to the Haitian people.
Thank you to all our prayer warriors who storm the throne for us. We can not thank you enough. Here are this month's praises and prayer requests.

Praise the Lord for the release of the sea containers. Many missionaries are fully stocked now that they have had over 250,000 pounds released in one week. Praise the Lord for overcoming the government obstacles and red tape.
Praise God for the sale of our home in Iowa. He found a better buyer than the first and is releasing us from that burden. He is quite a realtor.
Praise the King for His protection and provisions at Agape Flights. Missionary aviation presents a load of risk but God is constantly providing His protection and blessings on Agape aircraft and personnel.
Praise the Father for strength to keep pressing on. The work load since the earthquake has never really lightened up but our strength has come from the Lord. He gives us the power and energy to complete His mission.
Please pray for us as we face persecution for standing up for the Word. We expected to have trials and we are experiencing a large load of them. Pray for us to have strength to withstand the fire. We also need you to stand in agreement for peace for our oppressors.
Please pray for our Iowa house to close perfectly without any glitches. It will close in the end of June and we are praying for a smooth transition.
Please continue to pray for the staff at Agape. Each team member has dedicated their lives to in serving this ministry. It has been a long year so far and we all need pray for refreshing and renewal. Pray for God’s strength to keep flowing in us.
Please intercede with us to the Father for the people of Haiti. New challenges are being presented to them every day. This month, millions were moved from their “tent cities” to safer ground for the rainy/flooding season. These people are still in desperate need. Pray for their protection, their health and their safety.

We hope you are all enjoying the spring weather. We love you and appreciate you. We could not be here without your support, prayers and encouragement.
Have a great month.
Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson ministry team

New Life Church sews for Haiti

A few weeks ago, one of the ladies of our church, Loretta Cooper, approached us and asked if she could help us with the backpack ministry at Agape. Since the earthquake, Agape has been filling backpacks with critical supplies and sending them to the missionaries to distribute to the homeless people of Haiti. Loretta asked if it would be helpful if she headed up a campaign to make and fill bags with the New Life family. We thought it was a wonderful idea so we agreed to help her in what ever way we could.
Loretta's campaign was called Sew On Fire and they made 96 bags for Haiti. Today, I had the pleasure helping this project first hand as the girls and I went to Loretta's house to help fill the bags. Donated supplies (tarps, blankets, towels, silverware, food, soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, etc.) were used to fill the bags. and then the bags were delivered to Agape. The bags will be loaded on next week's sea container and will arrive in Haiti by the following week. Praise God for these hard working people who sewed all the bags, packed them with love and worked as His hands and feet to send God's love over the ocean.
We are so blessed to be part of a family of believers who link arms with us and join us in our efforts to help Haiti. Thank you, New Life family. We love you and appreciate you.
To Haiti with love....

Filling the bagsFilling the van

Safely delivered to Agape, ready to be tagged and processed

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson ministry team

PS. Big praises to God for all the sea containers. Every one of them has been released and the 50,000 pounds of supplies in each container are now flowing through the hands of the missionaries into the hands of the Haitian people. God is amazing!!!

Grace turns 5!!!!

It's a big day in our family tomorrow. Five years ago, Lance and I went from husband and wife to Mom and Dad. What a transition it has been??!! God has blessed us to richly with our girls and we are so humbled to be their parents. We didn't know the joys and heartaches we would have in front of us but we would not turn back a single day.

Grace is our amazing first child. We are so proud of her. She is the sweetest, most loving child I know. She puts her heart first in everything she does. She loves the Lord and sings praise songs to Him all day long. She loves her little sister, adores her dad and opens up to her mom. She is very compassionate and caring. She will go out of her way to give a hug and a smile to everyone she knows.

Grace enjoys life to the fullest. She loves sports. She will be starting soccer in a few weeks and she would like to try T-ball in the fall. She loves riding...whether it is a horse, bike, scooter, Harley, roller coaster, sled or a ATV... she loves to ride....the faster the better. (one guess where that comes from??) She could sit and make craft projects for hours. I can not keep up on all the things she wants to make. She loves animals of all kinds. She is a whiz at her school work and just started reading to us. That is a joy to watch. Grace just plain loves life. She is a very happy, healthy and energetic girl.

We are very proud of Grace and very blessed to be her parents.

Here are a few picts of Grace from this year....

With her best friend

Loading the plane with her favorite pilot, Uncle Paul

With her favorite house guest, Dr. Chuck Stecker

Sledding in Green Bay

Slip n slide time

Loving the animals on the farm

Swingin' with sister in their cool hats and glasses

Heading to the Wild West party with her favorite Dude

Happy Birthday, Grace! We love you and we thank God for you.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—Ephesians 2:8

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn and the crew

The Prayer Notes: AGAPE FLIGHTS...from a Volunteer...Thanks

Here is a note from an Agape volunteer. I share it because she says so beautifully what it feels like to work with the wonderful people God has called to Agape. Barb, thanks for your kind words and we feel equally blessed to have volunteers like you who show God's love to us in so many ways.
The Prayer Notes: AGAPE FLIGHTS...from a Volunteer...Thanks

We are blessed with so many great people of faith standing beside us and working with us. We love to see the many facets of God's provisions and volunteers are the heros He sends to help us complete our jobs.

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn

April Update and Prayer requests/praises

Here we are again at the beginning of a new month. It seems like time if just flying by these days and there is so much to do and say. This month has been very busy at Agape. Since January 12, 2010, when the earthquake hit, Agape Flights has:
· Made over 150 flights into Haiti
· Delivered almost 500,000 pounds of donated emergency supplies
· Transported medical personnel to Haiti
· Evacuated 37 adopted children
This month was again very busy and eventful at Agape. We are continuing in the relief efforts of Haiti as well as delivering regular supplies to the missionaries. Our current statistics show the vast amount of supplies that have been shipped via Agape. We are continuing to fly the Embraer aircraft, which we have leased for the next few months, along with donated airplanes. The majority of supplies are donated either to Agape or directly to a missionary. The outpouring of love and generosity is amazing.

One shipment of love hit very close to home for me as DePere High School, the school where my nieces attend, sent over 1400 pairs of shoes. During my trip to Green Bay I met with one teacher, Isaac Oslund, who inspired his students to get involved. The result was four pallets of shoes and a large bag of toothbrushes. Not only did the students get involved but a local trucking company joined in as well. WEL Companies of DePere drove the shoes to FL and directly to our front door at Agape. What a blessing! The shoes were loaded into a sea container on the day they arrived and they are on their way to the people of Haiti. Many thanks to the students of DePere High School.

Lance has been working on more sea containers this month. A total of 6 have been sent. They each contain close to 50,000 pounds of supplies. The logistics of obtaining a container, ground transportation, and shipping arrangements keep Lance busy. Among other duties, this is one thing that takes up a majority of his time. Several men from our church has taken on these containers as a volunteering opportunity. They come each time we load one and they are a huge blessing to us. We love to work with our church family.

The Volunteer appreciation lunch was also this month. That was a great chance for us to show our volunteers how much we appreciate all they do. Agape would not be able to exist without our faithful volunteers. We sent out 250 invitations but we know we missed a majority of folks who have "flown" back north for the summer. The event was very successful and we really loved watching God work as an event planner. I have no experience in event planning so I know it was only through His help and guidance that this event was pulled off. He is the best event planner of all. (Picts of the event can be found on the Agape website under Shutterfly. Take a look, the hangar was turned into a banquet hall.)

Psalm 62:11-12
One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.

Praises and prayer requests

Praise the Lord for a successful Volunteer Appreciation Lunch this month. Under short time constraints for planning the event honored our most valuable players and thanked God for them.

Praise God for a very generous deal with AirNow which will allow us to purchase our new airplane,”Paid in full”. He provides for every dollar and every need. See the Agape web for details.

Praise the King for His Son who died for us and triumphed over the grave to give us the gift of eternal life. The Resurrection is such a great time of rejoicing and we praise Him for His promises and His plans.

Praise the Father for His hand working for our finances. We are scheduled to begin raising support for year two, but God is already at work for us. He has brought new supporters on board and gifts we were not expecting. We love to watch Him multiply the seeds that are sown.

Prayers

Please pray for our Iowa house. It was scheduled to close at the end of March. The couple staying in the house is still working on selling another home. Our prayers is that they will find the resources to close on our house by the end of April. Please stand in agreement with us that the house is sold and closed in Jesus’ name.

Please pray for the release of the sea containers in Haiti. As with all things in Haiti, it is a slow process. Pray for God to open those doors and the containers to be released quickly.

Please continue to pray for our staff and volunteers. Just when we think things are slowing down, a new challenge, new shipment, or new need arises. We are committed to the cause of Christ and need His strength and energy to continue on. Pray for strength and endurance.

Please intercede with us to the Father for the people of Haiti. As the months of the rainy season are upon them, they need prayers for protection from the storms and shelter for their families. The levels of violence are also on the rise. Please pray for peace in the nation during this time of desperate need.

Thank you for all your faithful prayers. We are so blessed to have a supportive team of friends/family who lift us up to the King. We could not do it without you.

We pray you have a rejoicing Easter and celebrate the Resurrection with those you love. We are so grateful for the cross and we are so thankful for the blood shed for us. Without the cross, there would be no HOPE. You are in our prayers.

Be blessed!

Living victoriously in Christ, Lynn for the Anderson team

March 1 updates, prayer requests and praises

Here we are at the beginning of a new month. I seriously thought I would be blogging all month but then life happened and I ran out of time. This month has been as crazy as the last and as busy as possible. We have been blessed in so many ways this month and so many things have happened. I will give you some updates and try to get you caught up.

Since the earthquake, Agape Flights has been one busy place to work. The statistics are staggering. We have send over 130 flights to Haiti, delivered over 350,000 pounds of supplies, reunited 37 orphans to their "forever" families, and transported over 25 medical personnel. The details of how all these things were made possible is easy to tell.... God did it!!! Every single flight and detail was in God's hands. We have learned over and over since the earthquake that God will supply every need and fill every void. He is leading us and directing our every step. We are doing our best to listen and follow.

Lance had an opportunity to visit Haiti this month. Early in the month, he was called on by Agape to do a logisitics study in Haiti. We needed to know how we were doing in meeting the needs of the missionaries and how we could improve. With the vast amount of supplies we were dropping on the missionaries, we needed to be sure we were helping them and not hindering them with the large shipments and numerous flights. It was a great trip and Lance got to spend time with several missionaries out in the field. What an experience to see our work from their perspective?! It was a very productive trip.

This month, all three girls headed up north to Green Bay for a week. It was really hard to leave Agape but I found that my cell phone did not stay quiet long. Through the dispatch center and my cell phone, I ended up scheduling flights and passengers from the road. I was happy to stay busy with work while enjoying a very nice visit with my family. The girls loved being in snow again and spent as much time as possible outside. They loved seeing Gramma and Grampa as well as their cousins and aunts and uncles. It was a wonderful trip.

We also experience a very scary situation this month in our work at Agape. Twenty-four hours after we send 2 orphan escorts to Haiti to pick up 6 children and head home, we found them in serious danger. The adults were falsely accused of trying to steal the children and were detained by the Haitian police for 9 hours. The children were taken away from them later that night and sent to a tent camp for older orphans. They had no bottles, no wipes, diapers of only one size and no adult to watch over them. The adults were able to visit them during the day but could not stay with them through the night. Three days later, after several meetings between Haitian and US officials, the adults were able to regain custody of the children. The biggest fear hit when they returned to the tent where the children were last seen and they were gone. The officials of the tent orphanage moved the children to a new orphanage 2 hours away. Some reports state that the Haitian officials planned to move the children, separate them and lose them in the Social services system but the Lord intervened and destroyed that plan. Praise the Lord that the next day a plane became available to pick up the group and bring them to the US. All 6 children are now safe at home with their new families. It was very difficult to feel helpless when the situation was in the works, but what an absolute honor to watch the Lord take this desperate situation and turn it around?! Once again, He thwarted Satan's attempt to destroy families and cause chaos. God is good all the time.....all the time, God is good.

So there is a brief update on what has been happening here. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We appreciate all of you more than we can ever express.

Prayer requests and Praises

Prayer requests

• Please pray for the hurting people of Haiti. In this time of desperate need, we pray the Lord will meet their needs and touch their hearts.
• Please pray for the release of 2 sea containers in Haiti. They each contain 45,000 pounds of supplies. They are currently being held in customs. Please pray that they are released quickly and into the hands of the missionaries.
• Pray for Lynn's familyl. Cancer is a rough road but we are navigating it the best we can. Please pray for God's peace and healing.
• Please pray for the staff members, volunteers, donors and pilots who are involved in the relief efforts. We need God-given strength and understanding to complete all that needs to be done.

Praises

• Praise the Lord we have reached a settlement with the insurance company on the King Air. Now we can begin the process of acquiring a new permanent plane.
• God has been working in big ways at Agape. Praise Him for every staff member, volunteer, donor and pilot who has been involved. He created each of us for "such a time as this". And He deserves all the honor for orchestrating each person and each life into His perfect position and timing.
• Praise the Father for the safe return of the 6 orphans and their escorts who were falsely accused in Haiti. God was in control of their release and their travels to the USA. Satan tried again but God overcame. Yeah, God!!!

This following verse has really touched us this month. He is our help and our shield and we pray you will allow Him to be your help as well.

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Psalm 33:20-22

Have a great March!

Living victoriously in Christ, Lance, Lynn, Grace and Hope