In Psalm 27:14, David implores us to:

“Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

The 17th-century theologian John Trapp remarked on this passage, “Many of the Lord’s promises bear a long date; but they are sure and infallible. Wait, therefore.”

Last weekend’s first in-person training was the culmination of a long wait.

Beginning with an exploratory trip to Puerto Rico in 2019, followed by a site visit to our Santo Domingo office in 2022, Raydel’s training was years in the making. Still, we trust in God’s providence and celebrate His provision of this opportunity to serve the body of Christ in Puerto Rico.

Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support, which is how the Lord has chosen to strengthen and sustain this ministry.

Please join us in praying for the nation of Haiti, as the depths of human depravity are tragically on full display.

In many ways, we see the embodiment of the following quote by the late theologian Francis Schaeffer (1976):

“Here is a simple but profound truth: If there are no absolutes by which to judge society, the society is absolute. Society is left with one man or an elite filling the vacuum left by the loss of the Christian consensus which originally gave us form and freedom.”

Romans 13:1-5 informs us that civil authorities are to function as instruments of God’s wrath on wrongdoers and for the benefit of society by punishing evil and rewarding good.

Proverbs 29:2 states, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

Therefore, we pray for a national leadership that would be faithful to the mandate of being “God’s servant for good.” (Romans 13:4)

We pray for the transforming power of the Gospel to be faithfully proclaimed, recognizing that “the law of God has wider function than the promotion of conviction, which leads to salvation. Where it is heard and known, it acts as a restraint on sin. It speaks to the conscience of the unregenerate” (Murray, as cited by MacArthur, 2016).

We pray for the Haitian evangelical Church, sent into the world to represent Christ and serve as the last barrier between the moral implosion and utter chaos.

Finally, as Widmy’s update below attests, we can praise God that Christ’s Church is still at work for His purposes even amid the turmoil.

References

Schaeffer, F. A. (1976). How then shall we live?: The rise and decline of western thought and culture. Crossway.

MacArthur, J. (2016, June 5). Who is God’s Candidate?, Part 1. Grace to You. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/90-489/who-is-gods-candidate-part-1