Madame Paul Donne

I never met Madame Paul, but the emails I have received regarding her death have made me realize that she was a mighty woman of God. This is the most recent from the Turners:

It was very unexpected. She had not even been sick. She had a couple days that she felt bad. Then on Thursday she got real bad and they sent her to PAP to the hospital and she passed away on Tuesday. She left her husband and ten children and we really don’t know how many grandchildren.

Pastor Charles took charge of the service and Pastor John preached the message. The Minister of Cultes, which is like a cabinet member here in the states, sent condolences to be read at the funeral. He also sent three officials under him plus five more of the staff. The Director General himself, spoke, Pastor Turner spoke. One of Pastor Paul’s daughters read the eulogy. I asked one of the officials about so many of them coming. He said that MFM has had a close relationship with the Dept of Cultes and that Joel Donne, one of Pastor Paul’s sons, is a secretary at the Dept of Cultes. He inferred they usually don’t send that large of a delegation to funerals even if it were a very VIP who had passed away. The Donne family themselves, have different ones who hold fairly high government offices. I think many people came for the positions of the family as much as for the family.

It was really sad that Bro Turner did not have  the new Saut d’ Eau church finished. It would have literally been packed out. I was told by one of the Haitians there were between 1200-1500 people there.

Pastor Paul as well as numerous family members asked me to send you all a big “Thank You” for your prayers and financial help on the funeral. The casket itself was very simple. We understand she wanted it that way. She had been in a coma but on Tuesday morning, she awoke and asked for all her children. Several of them are not Christians. They say she preached them a real message-the first and last one of her life. She told them she was going on to be with Jesus and encouraged them to meet her there.

The funeral was last Sunday. On Monday morning, Pastor Paul was at my house. He knew that on Tuesday morning we were leaving for the states. He said he had never cooked a meal, washed any clothes or cleaned house. She had been the perfect wife. He did not know how he was going to make it. He asked me when I got in the states I would contact all my friends and have them pray for him. Please don’t forget.

Later I heard arrangements had been made for one of his girls to stay there with him for awhile. I think Madam Paul was 14 when they were married. They lived extremely poor. Never owned a vehicle, never had electricity up until recently when the mission purchased a generator for them. But they led hundreds of people to Christ.

Great is her reward!!

Honestly, as I read Pastor Paul’s comment about not knowing what to do, I was emotionally moved. I hope that you’re moved to pray for him. I have never really communicated with him directly (ie. talked to him w/out a translator) but I do know that he is a magnificent servant of God who deserves each Christian to unite in prayer and lift his name before the Great Healer in Heaven.

Join me as I pray for the Donne family.

Last week

This is what the past week looked like:

Monday – 6 mi in 53:28

Tuesday – 9.2 mi in 1:20:41

Wednesay – 7 mi in 1:02:07

Thursday – 7.1 mi in 59:54

Friday – 6 mi in 53:17

Saturday – 3 mi in 29:00

Sunday – 13 mi in 1:49:26

 

Friday night, I took some of our teens to a state wide youth rally/lock-in.  (I hate lock-ins)  I finally got to bed around 6:15am on Saturday morning and slept till almost 1pm.  When I awoke, I put on shorts and ran the three miles.  My legs HATED me.  So I did a nice, slow, recovery jog.  That was smart, because on Sunday’s long run, I pushed the pace from miles 8-11.  Here’s what that workout looked like.

 

7 miles easy

4 miles @ marathon pace (7:32, 7:37, 7:45, 7:31)

2 miles easy for cooldown

It felt great while I was running.  The 7:37/7:45 are on slightly hilly portions, thus the pace decreased. 

Anyways, 51.3 miles last week, and my legs are a bit sluggish today.  Feeling good overall though and ready to begin building on it to set some personal records in 2010.

December 6 brings the Kris Kringle 4 Miler back, so we’ll see how that goes.  Should be able to go under 27:00 this year…hopefully.  We’ll see how running distances like this trashes my legs.

Home

Got home last night at 9:10.  Got put on standby.  Unfortunately, the luggage didn’t make the flights until my original.  Nonetheless, got there with my wifey.

Will update tomorrow or so.  

Also think I have an infection in my mouth.  Not fun.  

Alive though.  Good day.  Glad to be with my wifers.

Update Monday

It’s 3:15 local time.  It’s 91 degrees.  It’s hot.

Today we walked to downtown Saut d’Eau to show the new blancs the city.  While there, we were able to stop by the mayor of Saut d’Eau’s office.  It was pretty awesome.  He’s an evangelical pastor.

Long story short about Saut d’Eau.  There are famous falls.  Lots of voodoo goes on at the falls.  The city has spiritual battles going on constantly in ways people in America would never imagine.  Voodoo witch doctors basically want the city to be given to Satan.

So, here we are, in what has been formerly called “Satan’s Throne on Earth.”  Before we leave, one of our guys prays with the mayor for the city.  Then, the mayor, in turn, prayed for the Americans as well as the city.

Tell me God isn’t awesome, and I’ll call you a moron.

I love it here, but I can’t wait to get home and tell stories, post pictures, and work on promotional material.

Until later: adios.  Or something like that.

We’re Here

So, we’re here.  People are piling in today to the compound.  Catching up with some old friends.

Flights were good, except we got diverted to Ft. Meyers, delayed 2 hours, were late for our flight to PAP, got in a rain delay at MIA so we made our flight, but they lost our luggage.

Presently, I’m waiting on my luggage to arrive.  We had to send a couple of people down to PAP to get it, but supposedly it is here.  Hopeful, because I’m on the bare minimum in my carryon.  Nonetheless, we’re here.

Updates to come!

Best Smile

It’s your vote…

 

Headed to Camp

Yep.  Leaving after church to take our juniors.  I’ll be missing for the next week.  I’m sure when I get back I’ll be in a great mood, so don’t expect a post until then.

I now pronounce you…

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Akers.  

Yep, I’m hitched.  It’s pretty sweet.  Our honeymoon was great.  We went to Tybee Island, GA and it rained every day.  We had one day at the beach.  The wind was blowing 30 mph most of the time.  It was too cold to get in our pool at our beach house.  Heh.  But, it didn’t rain on the wedding day.  

Running has been an afterthought lately.  I still have a 178 day streak, but on the honeymoon, I barely ran every day.  Most in one day was 3 miles.  It was sweet.

Nonetheless, I am back in the office as a married youth pastor.  I feel more mature.  I feel like I can finally be an effective youth pastor in this community.  My wife is an amazing woman who has already contributed so much to my ministry.  I’m very excited about it.

Plus, she’s hot.That’s a picture my mother took.  I have tons more from my mom.  Our actual photographer will be posting ours on her blog this Friday.  Regina did a phenomenal job. She already has some up with a slideshow for those who are not patient.  Go here.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my big day.  The meteorologists have been very helpful.  They’re giving a chance of rain.  Thanks.  Really.  That helps a lot.  “There’s a chance that it might rain, but there’s a chance it might not.”  Heck, there’s a chance that aliens driving BMW’s will come into town and abduct all of the animals.  There’s also a chance that they won’t.  They’re helpful.

Anyways, my running has been lacking.  I’ve got a 168 day streak going on right now, and that won’t change, but my mileage is lacking.  It’s okay though, I know that presently there are more important tasks at hand.  After the honeymoon, the mileage kicks back up and it’s back into training, I suppose.

Don’t expect anything next week.  I’m going to be on a honeymoon.  For real.  You think I’ll be wanting to spend time with you guys?  I’ll be sitting on the beach.  Drinking sweet tea.  Sleeping.  Reading.  Running.  Swimming.  Yeah, sorry folks.  I love you three for reading.  But, next week, you take the back seat.

For anyone who finds this:

I have been privileged to be a part of a mission in Haiti called Mountain Faith Mission – (website here).  I just received this email from our missionaries, Richard and Wilma Turner who are in their 70’s and serving in the mountains of Haiti.

Hello Everyone,

We are without electricity. This means we have no fans, and 90 degree temperature under a tin roof without no ceiling, no refrigeration and no ice. For short periods of time we run the generator to get emails out.

The reason we have no electricity is because our inverter has gone out. Our electrical system consists of a generator running the current through the inverter into batteries. By running the generator 6 hours a day we could have electric 24 hours a day with this system.

The inverter is over 5 years old and had been rebuilt twice but this time we must have a new one. They have a new one here in PAP and within one day we can be back in business.

Our problem is we’re broke and we need 900.00 to buy one. If you could help it would be deeply appreciated. We’re hoping that perhaps many could give a little and we might be able to make this purchase quickly. If you are able to help send your money to Ronnie Lee at P.O. BOX 433, SPARTA, TN 38583 . If you would please email us what you are sending to we can stay connected as to how much comes in. 

You who cannot give, please pray.

This is considered a very serious condition from our end of the world.  

Blessings,
Richard and Wilma Turner

 

If you are interested in helping, please visit our website to donate by PayPal, or send a check to the address listed above.  It’s amazing the things that are never thought of here, such as air conditioning and electricity, are prized possessions there.

Donate here: http://www.mountainfaithmission.com/donate.html