Coastal Haiti Mission Newsletter
May 2024
– THE COUPLING –
The Word hit the town like an unexpected blast. Made its way from ear to ear. A
prophecy it was, indeed: God was going to give Jericho to the Israelites. Now
there was a prostitute named Rahab living in Jericho who believed the foreboding
message. Oh, she had her doubts, I suppose, but on the other hand, what if it was
true? She’d made her choice: She would believe the prophetic Word. And she
knew you didn’t mess around with Israel’s God — Yaweh!
Now Joshua (Yehoshua), an Ephraimite, military leader, and successor to Moses,
sent two spies on a covert mission to scout out Jericho. Once there, they planned
to lodge at the house of Rahab. ( I guess two men seen approaching the home of
a harlot would not raise suspicions about what their mission was.)
A knock on Rahab’s door. Two men, and she knew they were military. Israeli
military! How could she advance her cause to be rescued from the calamity to
come? She knew the spies’ lives were in danger. And Rahab was no fool. She had
leverage, and she knew that opportunity was also knocking at her door. She
offered to hide out the spies beneath the stalks of flax on her flat rooftop if they
agreed to rescue her and her family from the coming destruction. They agreed.
Night time. Another knock on the door. This time agents from the king of Jericho
who’d been informed about the arrival of the spies. Had she seen them?
“…Yes, she said, two men came to me, but I did not know from
where they came: Where they went I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you
will overtake them.” (Joshua 2:4b & 5 TAB)
When the king’s men left, Rahab went up to the rooftop to do business with
Joshua’s spies. She wanted to tie up any loose ends, make sure the spies would
not renege on the promise they’d made earlier.
And so the day came. Jericho would be destroyed – except for one household; that
of Rahab the prostitute whose house was built into the wall. Now Joshua was a
man of his word. A promise had been made by his men and would be honored,
even in the heat of battle.,
“…Go into the harlot’s house,” he ordered the two men who’d spied out the land,
“and bring out the woman and all she has, as you swore to her.” (Joshua 6:22
TAB)
Imagine the relief and joy in Rahab’s household when Joshua’s men entered her
home on their rescue mission!
The town was encompassed seven times by the Israelites, led by Joshua’s men.
The trumpets were blown. The people shouted. And the great wall of Jericho fell.
SAVED THAT DAY: Rahab, her father, her mother, her brethren, and all her
kindred. Rahab went to live in Israel. She married there and became the mother of
Boaz, the husband of Ruth, and the great-grandmother of King David. According
to Matthews genealogy listed in the first chapter of Matthew, she was one of four
woman mentioned in the family tree of Jesus Christ. The author of the book of
Hebrews in the New Testament referred to her as a woman of great faith
(Chapter 11, verse 31) a shining example! (Yes, I know she out-and-outright lied
to the authorities, and I’m not even going to try to explain that one!)
—————————————————————————————————-
Rahab was saved by faith. Let’s identify that faith. Rahab BELIEVED the
prophesy that God was going to give Jericho to the Israelites. And, so, in response
to what she believed, she SHOWED KINDNESS AND HID JOSHUA’S SPIES,
thereby saving their lives.
Did her BELIEF save her? NO – She could have believed the prophecy with all
her heart, but refused to help the spies. And nothing would have changed her life
for the better. What saved her was HIDING OUT THE SPIES. It was a wonderful
coupling of faith in believing and works, a joining together. It was her ACTION in
response to what she BELIEVED that saved her.
“The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlet. Wasn’t her action in hiding
God’s spies and helping them escape – that seamless unity of believing
and doing – what counted with God? The very moment you separate
body and spirit you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and
you get the same thing: a corpse.” (James 2:26 The Message)
Faith alive through belief and good works. My brothers and sisters, let us be
intentional Christians. Let us recognize the good works that God has planned
beforehand for us to do. (Eph. 2:10) The foundation has already been laid:
Jesus Christ. We are building upon that foundation via our works , good or bad.
Gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. Good quality works will be
rewarded. Bad quality – burned. (But the builder, if a follower of Christ, will still
be saved. As you know, we are not saved by works, but by surrendering our lives
to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.)
This is not a dress rehearsal, nor a “dry run.” The next time you reach out to
perform a good work – maybe a handout to someone down and out, maybe a
smile to someone in the supermarket checkout line, maybe a comforting act for
one who is bereaved, mow someone’s lawn, shovel snow, or, well you’ll know
what to do, you will be coupling FAITH with WORKS and you will be pleasing
our Lord! It’s OK to be excited! This stuff can change your life and the lives of
your children.
Walking this Way with you,
Connie
The End of the School Year Activities
Pastor Coty Writes:
In our village, people can swim only when there is a big rain. But we know our
school kids really enjoy swimming. This year, the weather is extremely hot.
We were able to take some of the school kids to the ocean for a day, to have a
good time together.
I wish I could send you a video showing this message, because you would
better understand the joy of these kids, for this day at the beach.
We gave them a first meal (spaghetti) right before we were to leave. Some of
the kids explained that they could not eat, because they were too excited.
When we got to the beach, the students played as many kinds of games that
they could remember or imagine. They jumped rope, played soccer and many
other games that they could remember or create.
The best part of the trip was the ocean part. We had to force the kids to leave
the water, because otherwise, they would have stayed in it all day long. Then
we gave them another meal before we traveled back home. We thanked God a
lot, for His protection. I was very concerned about the safety, of these
children, but God made everything go very well.
Making memories
Life in the Village
Pastor Coty Writes:
Many times, I describe the life of the people in the village by what they do,
and sometimes, by what their lifestyle is. Today, I want to point out something
else in their lifestyle. It’s about one of their distractions.
Some years ago, we used to have rain on a regular basis. That is when the
village people were able to grow a significant amount of food from their own
gardens.
But, in these later years, we do not get rain as often. That is one of the reasons
why we have not been having good gardens. This is also the reason why the
rivers are drying up
But when occasionally we get a sizable rainstorm, so that there is water in the
river, it brings tremendous joy to the young people and even to some of the
kids. That is when they go swimming in the river.
After school a group of them get together and go swimming in the river.
There are always some members of this group, who use this opportunity to
teach others how to swim, and also, how to fight in the sand by the river. Only
some people in the village get this opportunity to learn how to swim.
As for me and my brothers, we never learned how to swim. The reason for
this is because our parents would never let us swim in the river. There is only
one of us that can swim, and that is because he was the one that always
disobeyed our Father.
Great fun
The Home Lighting Project
Pastor Coty Writes:
Lighting dark homes is our mission.
There are some people who live in the village, where only someone who really
knows the village layout extremely well, is able to find the location where they
live. I was glad to go to this man’s house.
He is a good beneficiary and a grateful user of the light that we supplied him
with. According to his statement, “the light has greatly improved my life, and
made life much easier for me”.
He lives in this hard to find place with his nephew.
The light enables his nephew to study his school lessons at night.
Imagine living in this remote place without a light!!!!
Food for the Needy Program
Pastor Coty Writes:
Some people in this program just receive some rice, but for other people, we
always feel the need to provide more help for them.
This lady is living by herself in her home. Occasionally, some relative may go
by and give her something, but this does not happen very often. So, for people
like her, we do more.
For example, after giving her the rice, we also give her some money, but we do
this confidentially, so other people are unaware that we are providing this
financial assistance.
It was very cool when she showed me the kind of leaf (weed) that she will mix
the rice. Even though rice and beans is the Haitian special food, beans are so
expensive that the country people find some kind of leaves that they mix with
the rice instead of beans.
Thank you Pastor Coty for having a kind heart.
The Saturday Sunday School
Pastor Coty Writes:
In summertime, like it is now, it is always better to meet under the mango tree,
because it is extremely hot inside a building.
It is always a joy to see the kids coming from every corner in the village to this
class. We have different generations of kids receiving good instructions in this
special class.
Because of this class, held in our village, the children know the bible much
more than their parents.
Peacefully sitting and listening to the teaching, knowing that after the
teaching, there will be a distribution of something good to eat. This is a very
good strategy to instruct the kids.
Thank you to you, our supporters, for providing the incentive to come to class.
Pastor Coty Joseph
It is much cooler under the Mango tree.
The Drought Resistant Gardening Program
Daisee Kangas Writes:
Working with the Solidarity Gardeners has been a real blessing to me. Not
only have they worked very hard planting and harvesting but they have also
shown their great generosity in giving tithe and teaching the students at the
school.
Recently, a faithful contributor to CHM brought to our attention a non- profit
that provides and plants trees in Haiti and other countries. Their website was
a wealth of information and got me to seriously consider how important tree
planting is for our Solidarity Gardeners. In their words, “If you plant a tree,
it will produce food for 50-100 years.” I then began to research how to plant
some of the trees that would be beneficial.
Cashews are in season right now in Haiti and they are very easy to plant. They
will also start producing fruit within 3 years. I spoke with Jeff and Yamoutch
and they have already begun the planting.
We are now deciding on what to do next as some species will be more
complicated than just planting a seed. The goal is to plant an abundance of
trees in Cahess and turn this community into a food forest. Creating an
abundance of food for eating and selling at market.
Thank you for your prayers and support. Working with the Solidarity
Gardeners gives me and them hope for the future.
Daisee Kangas
Planting Cashew Trees
A sprouting cashew tree
Proverbs 19:17 ESV
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for
his deed.
A blessing for you from the scripture:
2 Thessalonians 3: 16
Now may the Lord of peace himself
give you his peace at all times and in
every situation. The Lord be with you all.
Thank you, Family and Friends of Coastal Haiti Mission, for all that you do to
help the people in Cahess, Haiti. You are making a huge difference for these
people.
Please remember, that CHM must continue to send our monthly commitment
of $1700 to carry on the ongoing CHM ministry in Cahess. This is in addition
to the cost of the School Lunch Program.
If you desire to help, please send your tax-deductible check to our address and
tell us how you want us to use your donation:
Coastal Haiti Mission
C/O Constance Goddard
3048 Spring Fancy Lane
Indian Trail, NC 28079
Or For tax deductible “online donations”, please use our PayPal service. Also
please designate how you want us to use your donation.
May the Lord our God, who knows your heart and sees your actions, grant you
great joy as you serve Him. Connie, Esther, Pastor Coty, Carl, Dan, and Ken are
very grateful for your sacrifice. Ken Johansson CHM Newsletter Editor