Chapters

Our lives are like a book, filled with pages and chapters. Each page captures a moment, an event in our lives that tell of an episode, but not the complete story. Even the chapters of our lives don't tell the whole story, they to give a glimpse into our journey. All of us have pages we would like to remove from our book, our chapters we would like to forget, our re-write a paragraph or two. The fact is our stories are still being written and the ink is still wet, and the end will be better than the beginning!

Special Needs

Our youngest daughter, Olivia has downs, but it hasn't slowed her down. Next month she will be graduating from Emmaus High School, it's hard to believe. It's seems like yesterday that the doctors said "Mr. & Mrs. Landis, you should consider placing your daughter in a home for special needs..." well, they were wrong in their assessment. I remember something I learned years ago; "don't believe everything you have heard", choose to believe that all things are possible!

The Main Thing

What's at the core of our faith? When you consider Christianity; what's at the core? What's at the heart? The writer of the first letter to the church of Corinth writes, "Now abides, faith, hope and love, the greatest of these is love". At the end of the day, what real matters? What can we do to impact our world and convert others to our belief system, "follow me as I follow Christ"? Is it, loving others as Christ has loved you, celebrating the uniqueness of each person and serving one another. What's your thoughts?

Pressure

Everyone is confronted with pressure. There's pressure at work, in the home, in relationships, everyday we are under pressure in some form or another. How we handle the pressures of life will determine our behaviors and reflected in our attitudes. If we don't deal with pressure effectively it will cause stress and stress is the cause of many illnesses. Consider applying the following spiritual disciplines when confronted with pressure, first, unload your cares, worries anxieties on Christ, who cares for you. Second, keep the sabbath, set aside at least one day per week and rest, take time for you and refresh. Third, gather others to support you through times of intense pressures, don't try to carry the burden or face pressure on your own. Just a few thoughts to consider as we face the challenges of life! Peace!

Back in the USA!

Our trip was amazing, ten days of setting-up tents, providing food for the hungry, handing-out brand new pots & pans and giving a gazillion hugs and kisses! Our days began early in the morning and ended late, totally exhausted from the days activities. The survivors of the earthquake are still in need of the basic necessities, food, clean water, shelter and medical care. There are hundreds of thousands of people living in tents and under sheets and tarps, in conditions that are unbearable, the heat under the tarps and in the tents reaches 100+ degrees! We walked through a tent camp and hundreds of children living their had a small amount of toys. What happened in Haiti is hard to describe in words, pictures help, yet there's nothing like being on the ground living among the people. If you're sensing a call to serve the poor and offer your gifts to God to assist others, consider a trip to Haiti! Thanks for your support in seeding relief to those who have suffered from the affects of the quake, please continue to pray for Haiti and the rebuilding of lives and communities!

Moments

This relief trip to Haiti was very productive and challenging at the same time. When we arrived we discovered that our relief supplies did not, we still haven't located them. If it were not for our feeds at Love A Child we would have aborted our mission of providing shelter for hundreds of displaced people. The days are long and hot here in Port-au-Prince with rain at night, it comes down in bucks! We wake-up around 6am. and turn-in around 10pm. exhausted from the days activity only to do it again all over the next day. When you look into the eyes of the children, you can't help to think that life may never change for them, because of their country's history. Yet, through the eyes of faith and the work of the church, things will improve for many, this is our hope!

Haiti Bound

As we prepare for yet another trip to the quake zone to offer assistance to the survivors, we are awaiting news on our supplies stuck in Customs! Our team of eight (4 Lifechurch & 4 The Worship Center) are anxiously awaiting word from PAP on the status of our supplies. The mission for this trip is to provide shelter for about a 1000 people living under sheets, and to provide shelter for some smaller camps! I am looking forward to reconnecting with my daughter, Natalie and having our son, Randall joining us later in the week! Our clinic (LifeClinic) is set to open in the month of May, ready to serve the people of Santo 19 and surrounding neighborhood. Stay tuned for updates from PAP!

Haiti Relief Trip 4

The time has final come, the tents have arrived in Port-au-Prince and the team is ready to go! We depart tuesday early morning from JFK and will be on the ground for twelve days. We will assess several camps of displaced people as well as reconnecting with Pastor Eddy to transition those living in his backyard back to their homes. The need is still great, we must continue with our relief efforts and partner with other NGO's in the task of rebuilding a country. Our friends at Love A Child, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Field Recovery camp, Feed The Hungry and others have provided us with tremendous support since the quake as well as many in the states. Thank you for sending yet another team to assist the survivors in Haiti. Stay tuned for up-dates from Port-au-Prince!

Pressure

Paul had encountered pressure from all fronts in his journey. He states that he didn't think he was going to make, he thought it was all over! Yet, he did make it and through it all he learned to totally trust God! It's amazing to me how one day, the sun is shining and the next, clouds have rolled in and it is dark and grey outside! You know what I mean! Paul reminds us that pressure can either break you or refine you, it depends on Who's strengthening you!

Distractions

The past few days have been filled with mental distractions which have drained my emotional tank. Its amazing how a voice in your head can gain your attention and cause you to miss what's going on right beneath your nose! Our distractions become our destinations, and when we get there, we wonder how we got there! So tomorrow I will try again to remain focused and if not, I'll give it my best the day after that!

Haiti Benefit Event

Tonight we attended "Save A Life Haiti Benefit Event" @ Lifechurch presented by a group of students to raise funds for Rescue Children Orphanage. The event was amazing, well attended and raised over $2900. There was media, music, interviews and a beautiful dance to finish the evening. Afterward there was food and refreshments in the World Cafe. The local news station covered the event (TV 69). Thanks to everyone who worked hard on the event!

Giving Up!

It's tough to endure hardship in the best of times, especially if you don't know why, it can be extremely frustrating! I'm reminded that "endurance" isn't just the ability to endure a hard thing, it's a part of the faith process to refine who I am. Enduring hardship is not denying reality or being "tough as nails" in hard times, it seeing the bigger picture and how it all relates to something that connects to your purpose! So may we not be moved, discouraged, or thrown by our situation, but rather endure for the purposes of The Kingdom!

Haiti Bound

The adventure continues, in just a few weeks a team of us will depart for Haiti on a mission to establish a "tent city" in Carrefour! Our contact on the ground is making all the necessary arrangements to receive our team. We will set-up 100 or more tents and help to secure the area by rebuilding the wall around the compound. It's been reported that there are 770,000 people living under sheets and tarps, we can't move every one into a tent but we can move some!

Progress

Received word today that we were able to purchase 100+ tents to provide shelter for the 2500 people living in Pastor Eddie's backyard. Also, our team has secured free shipping from the states to Haiti, a team of two will be assigned to deliver the tents and other needed supplies to Florida for shipping. A group of churches are providing the finances for the purchase of tents and another church has collected $8000 to be used to re-open the clinic. We are amazed by the generosity of The Church and ordinary people who have a heart of compassion to assist the poor, and obey the Spirit's leading!

Daddy's little girl

You know the day is coming when your baby girl turns 21 and begins to date a young man. It's seems like yesterday that she was in high school and enjoyed evenings at home with the family. Tonight she's on a date with Alex, a basketball player for the Eastern U. Eagles. I hired a private security firm to track their where a bouts, just kidding!

Slow going

As we work on providing tents for 2500 displaced people in Carfour we're discovering it's slow going. Making phone calls, surfing the web and making a lot more phone calls, and text messaging can be exhausting. Spoke with Congressman Dent who appreciates all that LC is doing in Haiti, and is offering his assistance (he's got my vote) to move supplies from the USA to Port-au-Prince! With every day that goes by, the rainy season is approaching rapidly and the need for shelter is essential. Hopefully things will work-out and everything will come together.

Possiblities

Working on providing tents and sleeping bags for 2500 displaced people in Carfour, Haiti. A group of local churches and a team of six men are on standby waiting to offer their gifts and serve the community of Carfour.

Home Sweet Home

Back in the USA! It's been an amazing trip, so many stories to share of lives changed through Acts of Kindness, Santos 19 will never be the same! The faces, the tears, the smiles of Haitians will be with me for ever. The malnourished child that we cared for has found a place in our hearts for eternity. Already planning to return in March to re-launch our clinic and continue to serve the neighborhood and people of Haiti. Haven't even unpacked and I'm packing in my mind, there are so many suffering people who are need of God's Love and His approval. Time to refresh and take care of business here at home, back to the office, o the joy!!!

Moving Day

Today we moved the belongs of RCO into their new home, it was a long hot day, everyone is totally exhausted at this point! We walked through the new home and it's a place to develop Champions for Christ, absolutely beautiful. Said goodbye to a lot of good people at Camp Hope/Love A Child, dedicated people from all walks of life, giving of themselves to assist their neighbors. This has been an amazing trip, I invite you to consider attending a missions trip to Haiti some time soon, it's a must! To many stories to tell at this point, Follow my bog and watch for updates and pictures!

Chef Lucky

A few days ago we discovered that Chef Lucky was preparing meals for hundreds of people at Camp Hope, using coal fired pits to cook on! We decided this was unacceptable, so we found this manufacturer of gas stoves in Santo Domingo and purchased two large units and filled four propane tanks. We rented a truck and drove them back to Haiti and delivered them to Chef Lucky, it was priceless to see the look on his face! Thanks RCO & HopePoint Church for your gift, well done!

Sun Rise

With each sun rise there is a dawn of a new day, filled with promise and opportunity for Haiti and us! Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" this is the work of the Holy Spirit through The Church as we assist our Haitian neighbors. Humanitarian Aid is essential and desperately needed, but their some things that only God can provide!

Love expressed through actions

The last couple of days have been "morning to evening" assisting the people of Haiti. On my Facebook page you may view pictures and descriptions of our activities in and around Port-au-Prince! Slowly we are making a difference in the lives thousands, from providing food, water, shelter and medical care to simply listening to a father, who has lost "everything" (3 family members). In the midst of the chaos there is hope for a better tomorrow, the Haitian people are resilient and will continue to find a way to improve their lives. With the help of The Church and the global community, and new leadership, this country will have an opportunity to rise from poverty and despair! I encourage you to do something, lest you do nothing!

Hope for Haiti

As we drove through Port-au-Prince to Carfour, we witnessed complete devastation along the way. Thousands of people living in tents, under tarps trying to shield themselves from the heat. We made our way to visit Pastor Eddie Francois of Final Hour Missions, he has 2500 people living in his yard. He is doing his very best to assist the people in his neighborhood and congregation. Earlier in the day we partnered with Feed The Hungry and delivered 250 family food packets house to house (tent to tent), to have witnessed the expressions on their faces was priceless. The Lifechurch/RCO clinic is receiving patients six days a week, Doctors, nurses and support staff provided by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative task force. They have said, medical teams request to staff our clinic! Finished the day visiting the children in the orphanage, they are a bunch of little rascals! Yet, we believe they are the hope of Haiti.

Hugs

This morning we woke-up bright an early to greet the children, we knocked on their dorm room and when it opened, hugs were abundant! The children meet Maribel for the first time, they absolutely love her. Tonight Maribel assisted in worship with the children, it was simply amazing!

Haiti Trip 3

Packing for my third trip to Haiti in the past two months, this trip will consist of supporting the team presently on the ground and future projects in our effort to assist the Haitian people. My wife is traveling with me on this trip, her first to Haiti, also my life-long friend who led me to Christ!

Prophetic Word

"Difficult circumstances often create paiadegin shifts; entirely new frame of references by which we see the world, ourselves and others, and by what life is asking of us."

Prophetic Word, February 6th 2010

Love Sunday's

I love going to church, gathering with a community of radical followers of Jesus who passionately pursue the things of God. These "Radicals" gave $22,000.00 towards our Haiti Relief Fund, plus made huge donations of tents, medical supplies and items to be offered to those in need. I love when the church responds without reservation to those who are suffering and without hope, it's an amazing thing to witness!

Worship Weekend

Tomorrow we "Worship" like there's no tomorrow, our Worship Weekends are simply amazing! This WW is especially exciting with guest Worship Leader, Alma Rivera and we'll receive Communion, sure to be a transformational experience! There's so much to be thankful for! Can hardly wait!

Relief Continues

Just got an update from our Relief Team in the quake zone, 100 tents have been given to replace families, 1000 people have been seen at our clinic, food, water, prayer and hugs are given without restraint. Our team is working long hours in the blazin heat to provide care and demonstrate Christ love to the Haitian people!

Disease of Ideology

Until we have serious conversations about our "ideological sickness" we will continue to experience "solution deadlock" in our attempt to tackle global issues!

The secular and the sacred

The Sands Casino, Bethlehem, Pa. staff are donating non-persishable goods for the Haiti Relief effort, an example of the secular and the sacred working side-by-side to provide relief! In the quake zone you're not exchanging business cards and discussing "personal beliefs" or "religious views", you're engulfed in helping suffering humanity!

Homeless

The Relief Task Force and CNN report that 1.5 million are homeless in Haiti, aid is pouring in from the global community, the secular and sacred committed to helping the people of Haiti. It's amazing to be a part of such a huge effort that is helping so many!