Hello All,
It has been a very busy month for us, but God is faithful and He has taken good care of us. When we are weak, He gives us strength. When we are tired, He gives us energy. When we are frustrated, He gives us clarity and when we are weary, He gives us hope. He has been our Rock and we are completely in awe of what He has been doing for us.
Lance is leaving for Haiti tomorrow. He needs to do an assessment on the ground of how we are doing and what is happening on the ground in Haiti. He has the task of meeting with some missionaries to find out what is working and what we need to do better. He will make a quick turn around and be back here to re-organize/re-define the system so we can make it work in the most effective way. We have increased our deliveries past what we normally do in one year so we know there are areas we need to re-assess. Please pray for him as he travels. We are uncertain as to where he will be staying and what conditions he will encounter, but we know he goes with God's covering and protection.
Here is a detailed account from our newsletter of what we have been doing in the Haiti relief efforts. Also, our prayer requests and praises are included. We cherish the many faithful saints who pray for us and thank God for you daily. Thanks for all of your encouragement and support. We love you.
Earthquake in Haiti
On January 12, life in Haiti changed dramatically as the earth shook and building collapsed from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Life for most Haitians will never be the same. Well, it is safe to say that life at Agape changed dramatically that day too. Although we didn’t feel the earth shake, we did feel our hearts break as the people we love and serve were encountering a disaster of unbelievable destruction. The missionaries we serve and have linked arms with were in trouble and we devoted ourselves to doing everything we could to help them.
The day after the quake, our King Air 90 was scheduled to fly out with regular cargo and mail, but that trip was cancelled and relief efforts began immediately. The plane was off loaded and relief supplies were packed in. On Thursday, just over 36 hours after the quake, our plane left Venice to land in Port au Prince with relief supplies. Since then the relief flights and efforts have been in high gear. We have flown 54 flights into Haiti, delivered 120,000 pounds of supplies, transported 24 medical personnel, and returned 8 orphans to their US parents. It has been a buzz of activity at the hangar as everyone has played a vital part in making these flights possible.
Supplies are being donated everyday in truckloads, food has been donated by the cases, medical supplies are coming in by the packs and volunteers are working tirelessly to sort, organize and pack boxes to be loaded and delivered. The Agape staff is working endless hours to dispatch planes, fill out customs forms, answer emails and phone messages and make the flights happen. We are swamped but we are determined to make a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti. We are working hard to be His hands and feet and bring comfort and support to the people in need.
As for Lance and I, we have been working 10-12 hours days since the earthquake. Lance has had many shifts in responsibilities. He has gone from IT work to logisitics to fundraising and everything in between. One of his projects was to arrange the transport of 25,000 pounds of supplies via a savage ship that was going to PAP to rebuild the port. The shipping company offered to take a sea container for us if we could get it loaded and to Miami by the next day. Lance worked in quick fashion to locate and purchase a container, get it transported to Venice, fill it with supplies and head it off on a truck to the dock in Miami. The project was completed in 24 hours. The container was offloaded in PAP one week later. God worked quite a few miracles in that story but it is sufficient to say His hands were all over that project as Agape has never sent anything by sea to Haiti. Next, Lance started working on renting a DC6 aircraft so another 25,000 pounds of supplies could be delivered quickly. That plane and cargo arrived in PAP on Saturday and he is now working on the second DC6 to do the same time of mission. God is showing favor to every project that Agape is undertaking and we have been very blessed to watch Him work for us and for Agape.
My responsibilies at Agape have also changed daily. I was working on the transport of medical teams for a few days. We are not in the business of transporting passengers but some of the donated aircraft we received were better suited for passengers than cargo we in those cases, we used to planes to transport medical teams to PAP. It was all very unfamiliar territory for me but God gave me wisdom and understanding of the system to help make it happen. We transported 24 medical personnel and were able to use those same planes to bring back children to their adoptive parents in the US. My duties have been very fluid. I’ve done webpage updating, clearing messages from the voice mail systems, working on moving 50 special needs orphans to a new orphanage in DR, Lance’s personal assistant and various other jobs. It has been challenging but God has been faithful to fill us with the energy and the understanding we need. The girls have come to work with us every day. They play in the office and stay busy on the floor while Lance and I run in and out. They have been wonderful. A few days they even got to play with Grandma Sharon in the flight lounge for a change of pace. We are very blessed to have flexible children who respond to the need with open hearts.
God has been our rock in all of this. We have been trusting Him every step of the way and we know we are only able to do what He empowers us to do. He is leading us and guiding us in every way. We are grateful that we serve such a big God.
Prayer requests
Please pray for the hurting people of Haiti. Pray that they will turn to Jesus in their crisis and trust Him with their lives.
Pray for the staff at Agape. Pray for God’s supernatural strength to fill us up and keep us moving.
Pray for the replacement of the King Air aircraft. Pray that God will replace that plane with an aircraft seven times bigger and better for His service.
Pray for the girls. Pray for patience as mom and dad continue to work lots of hours and spend lots of time at work.
Pray for my mom and dad. Mom’s struggle with cancer is very difficult. We are praying for God’s healing touch and peace to fill their lives.
Praises
God has been working in big ways at Agape. Praise Him for every staff member, volunteer, donor and pilot who has been involved in the relief efforts. He created each of us for "such a time as this."
Praise God for the safety of the pilots in the landing incident of the King Air. Satan tried to bring Agape down but God was in control. Praise the Lord.
Praise God for the donations of pilots and planes. God has continued to bring in the planes we need and can use.
Praise God for the hearts of all those who are serving in the relief efforts. The missonaries in Haiti are the reason we do what we do. They are the real heroes.
How great is God-beyond our understanding! Job 36:26
Living Victoriously in Christ,Lance and Lynn Anderson
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