When we first started out on deputation we had to come up with a budget and a target amount of support to raise. Although we were going to work with veteran missionaries, it was still difficult to know what expenses we would incur. We came up with an amount and started making phone calls to set meetings with pastors to present our ministry at their churches. As we started gaining support, we were getting closer to the goal of being 100% supported. We had a target date we wanted to be on the field, and we were headed that direction.

I still recall quite vividly an incident that occurred at a church in NC during a mission’s conference when it was question and answer time with the missionaries. There were all kind of questions for the four couples on the stage. Then there was the all too common question of, “Where are you at in your support?” The other missionaries gave their responses of “35%”, “90%”, and “75%.” Then it was my moment of fame. I was handed the microphone and proudly replied, “3%.” I can still see the heads turn to me as if to say, “Stop joking, and tell the truth.” The pastor asked me to repeat my answer, and I did. That was a question that would be asked over and over again and again.

What is the percentage number that we give? What is the pre-field budget? What about a ministry budget? How about a budget for living expenses? Another one is furlough budgets. I realize that there are a myriad of policies that mission agencies and local churches have as far as calculating these different budgets. I will say that from my personal experience and from conversations with other missionaries that have been on the field longer than I have been saved, the reality is that you are never at 100%. One missionary that I spoke with had been on the field for 18 years, and when asked how long he was on deputation his reply was, “I’m still on deputation.”

Don’t let this discourage you in your calling. One thing that I can personally attest to is that in my 25+ years in the ministry and 21 years of marriage, I have never gone hungry, never been without a roof over my head, and never lacked clothing or shoes on my feet. While we have not been at 100% of the budget, we are always at 100% of the need for the month. God is faithful, and if He never does anything else for me, He has done enough! Consider these verses from the word of God:

Philippians 1:6 (KJV) “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

1 Thessalonians 5:24 (KJV) “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

Here are some things to consider when formulating a budget. I call them Budget Pitfalls.

• Churches or individuals will drop your support. Just when you get to the field and are setup and beginning to learn the language, boom you get a letter or an email (sometimes neither, just a blank spot on the spreadsheet) that says we are sorry to inform you that we can no longer support you due to . . . One time I got three in one month. Talk about knocking the wind out of your sail.
  
• A church or individual will skip a month and will not make it up. This is a very common situation. Your budget is tight, and you do not receive $150 that month because they forgot, or they did not have it to send. Whatever the case may be, there is a hole in your income. Sometimes the next month a supporter will double the support, but many times it is lost.
  
• Exchange rates change for the worse. At the time I am writing this post, in Haiti where we serve, the dollar is rising and so are prices. If I catch it at the right time I can make my money go farther. But what about when it is not in your favor? We have heard of missionaries in Europe, for example, having to raise an additional $1000 a month just to make up for the exchange rate when the dollar fell. It is hard to stick to a strict budget when you have to change money in a foreign country, not to mention foreign wire frees and exchange fees.
  
• Inflation is something that affects everyone whether foreign or domestic. We know it is going to happen, but how much and when?
  
• Unique circumstances can cause the prices of things to shoot up quickly. Years ago when we were building our house in Haiti, there was a hurricane that came through and hit Florida. As a result of that, the price of plywood tripled in Haiti because the plywood was being shipped in from Miami. We were not able to purchase as much plywood as we needed to pour the concrete roof. Another time gasoline was scarce because of some type of governmental type thing that was going on (to this day we don’t know exactly what it was), and the price of gas went from $5USD to $12.50USD a gallon. Poof – there went the budget that month.
  
• New children come along and knock a big hole in your budget. Just in case you are wondering, four kids cost more to keep up than three kids. I know that sounds like something simple, but there are those that seem surprised when there is more month left at the end of the money because the little cute precious adorable new baby is costing a lot. If you are married and of child bearing age, consider it as a possibility.
  
• Being sick is no fun and especially if you are in a country that has substandard or nonexistent healthcare. I have spoken to missionaries that have to travel hundreds of miles to get to a location that has decent health care. In other cases it may require going to another country. This happened to me and my family and it can really mess up your budget.
  

I realize that there are other areas that may not be listed here, but if you can begin to think along these lines and realize that everything doesn’t go according to the paper plan, then you will be on the right track to learn how to be flexible. The main thing to remember is that “Where God guides, God provides.” If God has called you to a specific field, whether foreign or domestic, He will provide for your needs and many of your wants too! There are a lot of hidden “Start-up” costs when you get to the field, but the great news is that God knew about them before you even got there.

HGP3

Prayer is More Important than Money. I could not always say that, but I have learned through experience that money is no more than a tool. We could have $10,000 surplus each month and if we did not have the power of God, it would be worthless. At the time I am writing this article, we are currently at 79% of our budget with promised support. That means churches and individuals that that have promised to send a certain amount of money monthly, only 79% of them are actually sending it in. Some have discontinued or cut their support due to economic or other reasons. A few weeks ago I looked at a 6 month average for our contributions and guess what – we were at 100% every month! How does that work? It is God that works it all out. To make up the deficit He has a person send extra money this month. Then next month a few people add extra with their regular support. Then another month a church has a special offering and sends it our way. Something I have learned is not to worry about paying for next month’s expenses until next month. If you have a bill due in the 27^th, then don’t try and “find” the money on the 3^rd, it’s not time yet. There is a song I heard that said that when Lazarus died everyone said that Jesus was too late, but even when He is 4 days late He is right on time! Praise Jesus Christ!!!!

James 5:16 KJV Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

There is a story of a solider in World War II and he and his fellow soldiers were pinned down and a thick fog came rolling through and they were able to make it to safety. After he got back to the states, he was sharing the story with friends and relatives and an elderly aunt asked him the date and approximate time that the fog rolled through. After some discussion she realized that she was awakened in the early morning hours and felt impressed to pray for her nephew. Not knowing exactly what to pray for, she asked God to send a cloud to help him out! I have yet to meet all of those that have prayed for the “clouds” to cover me and my family, but praise be unto my God in Heaven I have felt the presence of the “fog” that has blocked and confused Satan’s fiery darts.

Call on your Epaphrases

These are people that in rough situations you can call and you know that they will drop what they are doing and pray. When I have an urgent situation I make two phone calls: the first to my mom who in turns calls my grandmother and sister. The second is my pastor who in turns calls upon his wife and a few others. It is amazing to see God work, sometimes within a matter of minutes, after making those phone calls. I encourage you to find some people along the way, like Epaphras, to pray for you.

Col 4:12 KJV Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Seek out your Prayer Team

I have been to many small churches that said up front that they could not support us to which I would always reply, “All we ask is that you pray for us.” I have seen God do many miraculous things because His people are praying for us. Deputation is the one thing that I feared about becoming a missionary. For those that are not familiar with the term “deputation,” it the process in which missionaries travel from church to church or individual to individual seeking financial support. This process can take anywhere from 6 months to 5 years depending on the situation. I did not want to go through the process and knew ahead of time that I would fail. Well that is just the point, “I” will fail, but God can do things that you could never imagine. Deputation is a needed process to teach you to live by faith. I plan to write another article on the importance of deputation later, but let me give you a few of the points. It increases your faith. It teaches you to organize your life. It gives you opportunities to preach. It connects you with people and resources you will need later on the field, etc. Some folks have tried to figure ways around deputation and I guess there are ways, but in doing that you bypass the power house of prayer partners on your prayer team.

“You will not believe this”

I can’t remember how many times I have told people that phrase when it comes to how the Lord Jesus has provided for me, my family and the ministry. I want to share some things God has done because of the prayers of His people.

I remember one time when we had just started on deputation we were headed to a mission’s conference and I did not think we had enough gas to make it to the meeting and we had no money in the check book and we did not even have a savings account nor a credit card. I told my wife to get the kids in the van and we would go as far as we could and if we ran out of gas we would call the church and see if they could pick us up. Well as we backed out of the driveway at around 5:30pm my wife said let me check the mail, which was unusual that time of day. Well inside we found a card that had $100 cash in it. We went a filled up the van with gas and made it to the conference. That night was my turn to speak and I was talking about how God provided because of the prayers of His people. After I finished speaking, the pastor got up and said, “This man came here broke, but God said not to let him leave here broke.” They took up a love offering for us and it was over $500. They also gathered around me and were praying for me. It was during this time I was struggling with quitting my job. During that prayer time God settled it in my heart that He would take care of everything and to go ahead and quit. At that time our support level was not even enough to pay our house payment, but I obeyed and God kept His word and has until this day. In fact if He never does another thing for me He has already done enough.

While we were in Haiti during our first term a few months before we headed back to the states, we began to pray for a few specific things during our family devotions. First was a place to stay during furlough, second was a video projector, and third was a vehicle to use during furlough. Two weeks before we headed back our pastor called to tell us that he had found a three bed room trailer to stay in for just the utilities. When we arrive in the states, someone had bought us a van, and a projector. When we got to the mobile home, our home church had gone in and made up the beds, and all of us had a new outfit hanging in the closets. All and more than we asked for.

We were headed to a church in the mountains of NC for an evening service. This was before GPS and we had gotten the directions from the pastor but we got lost anyway. It was getting lat and we were going to be late for the service if we did not find the church soon. We parked in a parking lot and decided to pray about it. When we finished praying within a couple of minutes a bus went by with the church name on and we pulled out and followed it to the church. When I preached that night, I told the church about us getting lost and as an answer to prayer, god sent us a personalized escort!

All of these things happened to us as the result of many people praying for us. Never underestimate the power and effectiveness of prayer. It is something that Satan wants us to forget and not use.

HGP3

Jesus said in Mathew 16:18 “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This is definitely the case in Haiti. Both in our church plants and the church plants of our co-workers we can see growth. We praise the Lord for His faithfulness.

Spiritual Growth

We recently had three young men baptized in Good News Baptist Church. These young men will hopefully one day be leaders in the church.

Annual Missions Conference in Haiti

Pastor Andrew Carrigan along with his wife and another couple from his church came to preach for our annual missions conference. It was a great conference, and God moved on the hearts of the people in that they increased their faith promise giving by over 50%! To God be the Glory!!

Physical Growth

Another blessing is that we had our first service in the new building, at least in the walls and the floor of it. We have tied tarps between the walls so we can continue to meet in the new location. We have plans to put the roof on the building at the end of June, Lord willing.

How You Can Help

1. Pray that God will supply the need.
   

   We need many people to pray that God will meet the needs of money, construction team members, safety during the work, and His continued blessings on the work.

2. Give to the construction fund.
   

   We need an additional $3600 to complete the project.

3. Come alongside us and help with the construction team.

   A team will be coming to Haiti during late June or early July to finish the church. If you are interested in joining the construction team, please let us know.

Sometimes in our Christian lives, God asks us to attempt things for Him for which we feel totally unqualified.  We can either choose to step out by faith and obey the calling of God or choose to give in to our fears and disobey.  In our last letter, I mentioned that we were going to begin an outreach to the deaf in our area.  This was one thing that we, as a family, knew God was calling us to do, but we felt totally inadequate to undertake.

Then we began to “find” the deaf in our area and visit in their homes.  What we found was a neglected, abused, and forgotten group of people.  But God had not forgotten them.  Our hearts were so touched by the need to reach them with the gospel.  But there was one big problem.  No one in our area even knew a language existed for the deaf.  The deaf here were considered useless, only valuable if they could work or beg.  But God valued them, and He had already formed a plan to reach them.

Over ten years ago, God sent a deaf teen to our youth group, and my wife and son took sign language classes.  Our son’s work this past summer with MTT Ministries and the Bill Rice Ranch sharpened his signing skills.  Our daughter showed a desire to take sign language as her foreign language this year.  God had already put into our hands the tools necessary to reach these people.  So in January we began having sign language classes for the deaf once a week.  So far we have 20 students from ages 3 to 65 enrolled.  It has been such a blessing to see the “light turn on” when they learn a new sign or word.  It has also been a challenge, but each week the Lord gives us new insights into how to teach them.  It has been encouraging to see each member of our family try to think of ways to teach a particular word or idea.  Also, God has opened doors and blessed in more ways than I can recount.  Please pray for our students, that one day they will come to understand the immense love that God has for them.

Another project that I always feel inadequate to undertake is a building project.  But God always gives me wisdom, guidance, and good counsel when I need it.  The church people put their hands to work during Mardi Gras week and dug out the foundation for our new church building.  The ladies brought vegetables and spices and cooked while the men and children dug and moved wheelbarrows full of dirt.  The new truck acted as a team of oxen to plow the dirt quickly.  Even Benjamin and Micah tried their hand at plowing to the enjoyment of our seasoned Haitian plowmen.  In March, we will pour the foundation and build the walls and then wait on God to provide the funds for the roof.  Please pray for continued safety and wisdom as this project is completed.

As Christians, we cannot let Satan discourage us from doing something for God just because we feel inadequate.  Missionary Joy Ridderhof emphasized the importance of following God’s call when she said, “The need of those lost millions breaks my heart, but we don’t have to stand and weep, but believe that God has put into our hand that which when blessed and used by Him can ‘thresh the mountains and beat them small . . .’ For what period of history is God referring to when He speaks of the great things He will accomplish in the earth?  If it is not for now, for when is it?”

Harry, Melissa, Benjamin, Madelyn, Micah, and Bethany Peart

Dear Praying Friends,

The goal of every missionary is to work himself out of a job. We work to teach and train nationals to do the work of the church so that the church can function independent of the missionary. As I sat in the first church service after our return to Haiti, the thought that kept passing through my mind was, “I am no longer needed here.” In honor of our return from furlough the church had planned a “Happiness Festival.” They had purchased decorations, planned a big service with special activities, and invited lost people to come. In our absence, the young ladies had faithfully taught my wife’s Children’s Sunday School class, the church had continued their missions support, and four people were waiting to talk to me so they could join the church. The church had grown, instead of diminishing while we were gone. My flesh felt useless, but my spirit felt an overwhelming sense of joy in the church leaders and members. I could see that their faithfulness and service was to God and not to me.

Our return to Haiti has been a busy but smooth one. After we climbed out from under all of the dust, dead bugs, and boxes in our house, we began the 7-day countdown to the Teacher Training Week and the 14-day countdown to begin school (as well as add in the Child Sponsorship sign-ups and 2 preschool graduations). The Teacher Training Week was a success, with 40 teachers in attendance each day. This is always a tremendous opportunity to give not only our teachers, but also teachers in the community, Christian teaching principles that they can apply in their classrooms. Thank you to all who donated supplies and time to make this possible. School will begin September 28^th with over 300 children in attendance in both schools. Please pray for these children as they hear the Gospel and solid Bible doctrine taught daily.

The second Sunday in October we will celebrate the 6^th anniversary of Good News Baptist Church. We are thankful to be able to announce to the church that thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor we will be able to begin the foundation of a new church building. Please pray that God would direct in every aspect of this building project.

Thank you for praying for wisdom and safety about our return to Haiti. Although we had to delay our return, God used that time in the States for a time of true “furlough” as we visited with friends and family and took some much needed rest before returning. Things have been calm since our return, but are expected to get more turbulent as the October 25^th presidential election date approaches. Please pray for stability in the country.

Thank you for partnering with us in every avenue of this ministry. It was such a blessing to see how the Lord answered every need mentioned in our last letter. His answers are a direct result of your prayers and your financial gifts. Thank you all so much for all that you do to help and encourage us.

Now, it is time to get back to work – working ourselves right out of a job!!!

Harry, Melissa, Benjamin, Madelyn, Micah, and Bethany Peart

Dear Praying Friends,

The goal of every missionary is to work himself out of a job. We work to teach and train nationals to do the work of the church so that the church can function independent of the missionary. As I sat in the first church service after our return to Haiti, the thought that kept passing through my mind was, “I am no longer needed here.” In honor of our return from furlough the church had planned a “Happiness Festival.” They had purchased decorations, planned a big service with special activities, and invited lost people to come. In our absence, the young ladies had faithfully taught my wife’s Children’s Sunday School class, the church had continued their missions support, and four people were waiting to talk to me so they could join the church. The church had grown, instead of diminishing while we were gone. My flesh felt useless, but my spirit felt an overwhelming sense of joy in the church leaders and members. I could see that their faithfulness and service was to God and not to me.

Our return to Haiti has been a busy but smooth one. After we climbed out from under all of the dust, dead bugs, and boxes in our house, we began the 7-day countdown to the Teacher Training Week and the 14-day countdown to begin school (as well as add in the Child Sponsorship sign-ups and 2 preschool graduations). The Teacher Training Week was a success, with 40 teachers in attendance each day. This is always a tremendous opportunity to give not only our teachers, but also teachers in the community, Christian teaching principles that they can apply in their classrooms. Thank you to all who donated supplies and time to make this possible. School will begin September 28^th with over 300 children in attendance in both schools. Please pray for these children as they hear the Gospel and solid Bible doctrine taught daily.

The second Sunday in October we will celebrate the 6^th anniversary of Good News Baptist Church. We are thankful to be able to announce to the church that thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor we will be able to begin the foundation of a new church building. Please pray that God would direct in every aspect of this building project.

Thank you for praying for wisdom and safety about our return to Haiti. Although we had to delay our return, God used that time in the States for a time of true “furlough” as we visited with friends and family and took some much needed rest before returning. Things have been calm since our return, but are expected to get more turbulent as the October 25^th presidential election date approaches. Please pray for stability in the country.

Thank you for partnering with us in every avenue of this ministry. It was such a blessing to see how the Lord answered every need mentioned in our last letter. His answers are a direct result of your prayers and your financial gifts. Thank you all so much for all that you do to help and encourage us.

Now, it is time to get back to work – working ourselves right out of a job!!!

Harry, Melissa, Benjamin, Madelyn, Micah, and Bethany Peart

Each time my family and I go back to the states, I am amazed how far the USA has progressed technology wise. There is a new vocabulary that we have to pick up, in a form of reverse cultural shock. I feel like I am behind the times because I don’t use #hashtags. #whataretheyanyway? The texting lingo throws us off when communicating with friends. IHNCWMOTA = I have no clue what most of them are? I just got used to smiley faces, and what do they have now – emoticons. What!? It can go on and on and on.

Let me be clear and honestly say that I realize that some of this confusion is in part because I am getting older and I don’t pick up on things as quickly. Why must software updates change the way things look and where other things are located?

I live in Haiti, a third world developing country.
It remains the only country in the history of the world where slaves revolted and won their independence, and it was the second in the Americas after the US to gain its independence. As history has noted, Haiti has suffered from chronic poverty since it won its independence on January 1, 1804. Less than 25% of the population has electricity. Let me explain a little about that. For the first time since God said, “Let there be light,” we have electricity in our area. But it is not what you think. It may be on for 3 days and off for a week. It may be on for a few hours and off for a couple of days. At the time this article was written, the normally 120 volt service has only been putting out 87 volts. That is not enough to run our battery charger or other things like that. The reason I tell you this is to let you know that once you leave the USA be prepared for the technology curve to take a nose dive.

The blazing fast 4G service you are used to will slow down to dial-up speed or slower. I must interject here that the internet service in Haiti has improved tremendously over the past year. You may be used to email communications and that is not the case in many other countries. For the first time in 8 years I finally received an invoice via email from a local Haitian company where I buy books from for our schools. Granted culture has a part to play in all of this too. You may find that in some cultures it is required to have a face-to-face meeting to place an order or to conduct a business deal. Techies can get really frustrated really fast in “non-techie” countries and cultures.

One reason I personally do not use an electronic Bible is that the Haitians are not ready for that yet. You have to realize that cell phones are a relatively new technology here in Haiti. When we visited the country back in 2001 the only cell phone coverage was through one company, and they only had a few towers in the largest cities. Jump forward in 2006 when we arrived in Haiti as a family, and there was a company that was expanding throughout the country and then to today (2014) almost all of the country is covered. Even still if I were to use an electronic Bible, there would be those that may think it is my own words and not a Bible because they don’t see me turning the pages. Child Evangelism Fellowship taught teachers to read from the Bible in their hand so the children could see it was not just someone else’s words but it came from the Book called the Bible. Therefore, people who do not know anything about an electronic Bible may not believe you are reading from the Bible if you are using a smart phone or tablet. I do want to say that I love studying with e-Sword®. It is the only electronic Bible program that I have found that has the Haitian Creole Bible on it. So when studying for a message, a Bible class, or a Sunday school lesson I can have my KJV English, the Haitian Creole and French Bibles all open and go back and forth to try and get something that is clear in a language that I was not born speaking. I benefit from using calendar and task apps on my smart phone. My laptop makes translation work much easier. So there is a place for technology, but at the same time it can be a deterrent.

Technology is a tool, but not when it takes too much time to get it working or keep it working correctly. A laptop in the hand of a national pastor that has no clue how to use it becomes a time stealer for a missionary. I use my laptop nearly every day. It is an invaluable tool to me. If I were to put it in the hands of some well-meaning national pastor, I would not be able to get any work done for having to “walk him through the process” multiple times. For example, the director of one of our schools completed a computer coarse and received a diploma stating that he had completed the necessary requirements to receive said diploma and is proficient in Microsoft Office programs. The diploma failed to include that during the entire semester he never touched a computer, much less typed even a sentence in a word processing program. So to allow him to do some of the computer work, it actually took more of my time to fix the stuff he did than it would have if I had done it myself from scratch. This is very typical in developing countries. There are institutions that want to teach and students that want to learn, but there is a lack of resources to fuel the education process. Haitians definitely want to learn and they are definitely not lazy. They simply do not have the opportunities like in other countries. This is a quote from World Bank.org:

Haitians have also benefitted from better access to some services. The biggest success has been in education, where participation rates of school-age children rose from 78 to 90 percent. However, the quality of education remains low. Only one third of all children aged 14 are in the appropriate grade for their age.

We as missionaries are expected to stay in constant contact with the USA. If a pastor has not heard back from his email in a “few days” he is ready to cut our support. Meanwhile he has no clue that our satellite internet has been down for several days and that we have no idea when the guy is going to get here to fix it. (actually happened to me) Mission boards are having more and more things available online as far as financial accountability forms and the like, while here in the boonies it can take 3 to 5 min. for the photo rich home page to load. As we say in the south – Bless their hearts they mean well.

I find myself asking the same question from time to time – Why am I here? Am I here to advance the technology threshold of Haitians or am I here to advance the Kingdom of God? Am I here to help the Haitians live like Americans, or am I here to help them realize they can have a victorious life in Christ in Haiti? I could go on and on. I have found that Haiti is a black hole for social programs. Just after the earthquake, I was in contact with a pastor that had been to Haiti in 1973 during the Duvalier years. He made an interesting observation in that he saw no difference in the country from 1973 to 2010! Here the Haitians still plow with oxen, many still cook over open fires, and according to UNICEF, 49 percent of rural Haitians openly defecate. Why does Haiti seem to be stuck in neutral? Well if you do a small amount of research on the internet you will find that the list goes on and on and I am not going to try to wade into the muddy waters of reasons. I will say this – no matter what country, what culture, what race, what language – sin can have a devastating effect on a country. Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” If America does not change its direction, it too will be going in the opposite direction.

To power down this article, I want to give you this advice. Test the waters on technology. OK that was not the best analogy – water and technology. Go with little to no expectations and then see where you can go from there.

Serving Jesus,

HGP3

What image comes to mind when you think of a “missionary.” Is it someone in clothes that are ten years out of style? Maybe it is a person with a wad of gospel tracts in his or her hand. Perhaps you have the thought of a man standing next to a display board handing out prayer cards accompanied by a homely wife and stair-step children dressed in matching homemade outfits.

When I became a missionary, I had no clue what it was really all about when I “signed on the dotted line” (actually it was a solid line). Bible collages and Christian universities do a great job at teaching doctrine and philosophy, but there is a whole other side to the missionary thing. I had no idea that I would need to be a public relations coordinator, an accountant, a graphics art designer, a mechanic, a construction foreman, and the list goes on and on. As a missionary I can tell you that I spend less time actually out there “preaching the gospel” than I do on the other activities of being a missionary. Especially here in a third world country where I spend 50 to 60 percent of my time trying to keep me and my family alive.

There have been countless new missionaries that have gone through a lot of time and money to get to the field only to be sucked into the black hole of the mission field and spit back out in their home country never to return again. I encourage all prospective missionaries to take time to sit down with a mechanic friend and learn the basics. You don’t want to be charged for changing the headlight fluid in your truck. (If you are wondering how to check the headlight fluid – stop reading this and go immediately to a mechanic friend, skip Google.) Ask for a crash course in accounting from and accountant in your church. Go to a construction site with a contractor friend and look around and ask questions.

In conclusion, we can all be an expert in one area or another, and “little sperts” in a lot of other areas. Thomas Huxley said, (don’t agree with a lot of what he said but he had a point here) “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” I quote Benjamin Franklin, “If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.”

Serving Jesus,

HGP3

What is a Furlough?

If you look in a thesaurus you will find these synonyms for the word furlough: leave, vacation, absence, leave of absence. I can tell you that while we are taking a leave of absence from the field, we are not on a big long vacation. Just to clarify, we do take time to rest and sometimes take a vacation, if at all possible, but we are very much at work. During our last furlough we were in the States for 15 months, traveled nearly 50,000 miles, and spoke in 105 church meetings. This is not to mention the Christian school chapels and other civic organizations (They wanted to find out more about the devastating earthquake that had just taken place in Haiti.) that we spoke to. We were tired, and at the end, when we were supposed to have a few weeks off, we spent going from doctor to doctor for a medical situation that came up with one of our children. We got back to Haiti and hit the ground running and did not stop. The only absence during furlough was an absence of rest. Thankfully we love to travel, and we take advantage of museums, zoos, state capital tours, and historical site tours along the way to enhance the homeschool curriculum.

So having said all this – is it necessary for a missionary to take a furlough? Should a missionary leave the field and report to supporting churches? Really the best thing would be for all of our supporters to come visit us on the field, but that is not always possible. However, I do believe missionaries should take furloughs and here are some reasons why.

Furlough is a Biblical principle.

Paul and Barnabas did the following as an example to all missionaries.

Acts 14:27 KJV “And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.”

We as missionaries need to tell the churches that support us what has happened in our ministry and what their mission money has made possible. I know that we send back letters every month/quarter whatever the case may be. Let me stop here and scold my fellow missionaries. If you, as a supported missionary, do not send out a prayer letter at least every six months, then shame on you. I think 4 times a year is sufficient, and some even do more than that. There are exceptions in closed countries where any slip of information could result in the imprisonment or death of the missionary family. Other than that in the day we live in and with technology as it is, everyone can get a letter out to his/her supporters at least two to three times a year. Even in the most limited countries, missionaries go to a large city for supplies from time to time and can call on the help of fellow missionaries. Anyway that is another subject for another blog. To get back to what I was saying about letters, how many people actually read our letters? I was in a church that supported over 100 missionaries, and the letters and prayer cards were each displayed in clear plastic insert type things on the back wall of the auditorium. All of them were evenly spaced and all in neat rows that went nearly to the ceiling! Who could see, much less read, the letters way up at the top? So if our letters are not being read, then how will our supporters know what is going on and how to pray for us?

A missionary should guard his/her heart in order to keep a pure heart and attitude when talking about the work. Don’t let pride take over so that your report becomes a “look how good I am” contest. I have been at conferences where the missionaries were trying to outdo each other. They were constantly trying to butter up the pastor and would not give other missionaries the time of day. “Pastor so n so, this is the best conference I have ever been in.” “Wow pastor, I pray that God allows such a wonderful church like yours to partner with us.” Blah Blah Blah. Give me a break buddy. Check your pride. How about this story I came across for a change:

When William Carey was on his death bed a fellow missionary came to visit him by the name of Duff. As Duff Began to leave Carey said, “You and I spoke about Dr. Carey, Dr. Carey. When I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey but say Dr. Carey’s Saviour.”

The sin of pride resides in the missionary not the hearers.

Furlough helps you to avoid burnout.

I saw a quote on a friend’s Facebook page that said:

Sometimes retreat is better than defeat – 2 Tim. 2:22

Of course this reference is talking about fleeing youthful lusts, but I think it can be applied to defeat in the ministry through burnout. Living in another country and culture is very difficult at times. In a town with the population of about 52,000 our family and the other missionaries we work with are the only white people around. Every place we go from church, to funerals, to weddings to the market, we are the only white people around. We will never fit in – ever. I know some missionaries that have spent over 40 years in Haiti. They may have some level of respect and acceptance where they live, but let them go two towns over and they are just like the new missionary that arrived yesterday. Everywhere you go people stare. Then if we take our kids somewhere it is ten times worse. Even at our church where we go each week, people still say, “Look, there’s a little white.” Some Haitians will say things like, “You are Haitian,” because I speak Creole or I know how to count their money (which is more confusing than it sounds). Don’t deceive yourself. You will never be one of them no matter what. Even if I were to change my citizenship, I could not change my skin color or my accent. This fact wears on you, and you just need a break to get back to a culture and people where you can just blend in.

Furlough is necessary to give your children ties to America.

Your family needs a break and needs to do things with friends back home. We always refer to Inman, SC as “home” and our sending church as our “home” church and our sending pastor as “our” pastor. We want that tie with an area to provide our kids with some sort of foundation. I remember when I was in Bible College, there was a guy that was an MK (missionary kid), and his family did not believe in furloughs. He had only been to the States a couple of times in his whole life because he spent most of his time in the Philippines. When he came to college, he did not fit in at all. I tried to help him out by giving him rides to Wal-Mart and such, but he was like oil in water. He eventually left mid-semester. I have read of MK’s committing suicide because they could not take the sudden change. One missionary told me that when her daughter went to college, the bells that rang to end and start class drove her crazy. I believe in furloughs to help my kids adjust.

Furlough is necessary for medical reasons.

We are fortunate to work with a medical missionary that has been in Haiti for over 25 years. She is right there when we need medical care. She has stitched up our kids, saved my life twice, operated on my wife, and kept us all well. But she will tell you that she has her limits. For other missionaries medical care is not that close by. In most countries health care, if it exists within 100 miles, is substandard to say the least. Missionaries need to take a furlough to have a physical and to take care of medical problems. A missionary friend went to an optometrist here in Haiti and got a pair of glasses. When he went to pick them up, the bifocal part was so bad off that he could not see out of them, and he just threw them away. You take things like that for granted in the States.

Furlough is necessary to maintain ties with extended family.

Both of my grandfathers died before I was born. My children have the blessing of having all four of their grandparents and one great grandparent still living. I want them to have more than just a simple knowledge of their names. It is important for the grandparents as well. Not all missionaries have a situation like we do, but it is important to help those relationships grow which in turn can help the transition of an MK when he/she returns to the States.

Furlough is necessary to raise additional support.

When I was a teenager in camp, we would put canoes in a river for a day of fun. Three other friends would rush to get in two canoes and paddle as fast as we could to reach the turnaround point and then tie our canoes together with our life jackets and then head down stream flipping over every other canoe we passed. Loads of fun! This story is a perfect illustration of financial support for a missionary. It is like paddling a canoe in a river; in order to stay in the same spot you have to paddle. In order to go forward you have to paddle at least twice as fast as the current. If you simply took your paddles out of the water and looked around to enjoy the scenery, you would find yourself going backwards. The brutal fact is that once you raise your initial “target support level,” by the time you are ready for your furlough, you have gone down stream financially. And if you want to go forward and do more in the work, then you must not only replace lost support, but you must also raise additional support. Churches will drop you because of splits or economic difficulties, or maybe a new pastor comes in and makes “changes” that do not include continued support of all the missionaries. For one reason or another missionaries are in a constant battle against the current of financial support.

To give this subject a furlough, I will conclude by saying that furloughs are necessary for missionaries. I do not believe a missionary should spend more time on furloughs than on the field, but there should be a regularly scheduled time off of the field. Depending on your pastor’s recommendation along with your board and budgetary constraints, the frequency and length can differ.

Serving Jesus,

HGP3

This article was posted originally on August 4, 2014. After receiving some comments from a friend I decided to revise it and post an updated version. I also suggest that you check out the article I posted on July 21, 2014 entitled “Boxes or Barrels.” Loel Handley was gracious enough to help me with this article and has a lot of experience in shipping containers. Having retired from the Rail Road, he has experience not only in the shipping of containers, but also in the packing of containers for missionaries headed overseas. He helped me pack my container, and when I opened it up in Haiti, it looked like it did when we shut the doors in SC.

Once you are called to be a missionary, then what? There is a lot that goes into it from that point on. One of the big things that we as missionaries all have in common is how to get all of our stuff to the field. We have shipped items three different ways: by a container, by cargo plane, and by shipped boxes with a company. By far the easiest is the third option. This is not the fastest, but it was the cheapest also. We fly exclusively with Missionary Flights International, and they operate DC-3 cargo planes so we are able to fly along beside our cargo. While our cargo arrives the same time we do, we have to pay Missionary Flights International  $1.60

per pound plus customs at the airport in Haiti. So that can get expensive, but it is nice to have your clothes arrive with you. The third option I mentioned is a long drawn out fighting process.

Containers come in different sizes. Some important things to remember is that the container must be a dry container, and it must be certified by the US Coast Guard to be sea worthy to ship on a cargo ship. They come in 10′, 20′, 40’sizes which are rated Standard or HC (High cube). HC allows for an extra 300 cubic feet more than a standard container (by the way the abbreviation symbol for foot or feet is the apostrophe sign [‘] and inches is the quotation mark [“]). Basically a 20′ container has 1172 cu. ft. of interior space. The actual interior measurement of a 20′ container is 19’5″, and a 40′ container measures 39’5”. All containers are basically the same width because of road widths and trailer chassis. More importantly is that they interlock on the corners with each other. This means that two 20′ containers can stack on one 40′ container or vice versa. Once they are locked together they cannot be pulled apart. There is a 48′ container, but it is nothing more than a 40′ container with a 4’ extension on each end. The floor is usually wood which makes it easy to nail or screw down supports. Door widths and openings are pretty universal.

If you have ever been behind a truck hauling a container, you will notice that it has written in the upper right hand corner of the container a 4 letter identification followed by a number. For example PVTU is commonly used for private containers. APLU is a container owned by American President Lines. JBHZ is a trailer owned by J. B. Hunt trucking Co. Guess who owns UPSZ trailers? That’s right United Parcel Service. The “U” on the end indicates that it is a container for a boat or a flat rail car. If it ends in “Z” it is a trailer that has fixed wheels and can go on a boat or flat rail car. There is a total weight limit on the contents, but everything you pack is not counted by weight so much as it is counted by cubic feet. Cars and trucks are often shipped in containers. The last container we shipped was packed half with stuff, and then Loel built a wall to restrain everything in order to leave room for a truck in the last half.

Some friendly advice for you is take a few minutes and search around on Wikipedia about shipping a container to familiarize yourself with the terms you will be hearing. I would start with the term bill of lading. When you go with a shipper they can give you all the information you need, but it is helpful to know what they are talking about ahead of time. A list of contents is not necessary when moving by rail; you can simply put “FAK” freight of all kinds. That generally is the cheapest way. For foreign countries by boat, they usually want a detailed manifest listing the contents. For example instead of listing each item in each box, you can put 8 boxes of donated used household items, 3 boxes of used clothes and so on. The idea is to be general but NOT deceptive. If you have any large items, you will need to list that separate. A generator will need to be listed by wattage and emptied of gas/diesel and oil. Vehicles require a different set of paper work. Your shipper may require separate paperwork and so might the country you are shipping to. Your shipping agent, or broker, will be able to walk you through the process. Be sure to ask for clarification when terms or phrases are used that you do not understand.

Other costs to consider are the cost of getting the container where you want it to go. Your freight cost is to the port only unless you pay for what is normally called “door to door” service. Be sure to ask your shipper ahead of time if this is available. Sometimes you only have a limited amount of time to pack the container and then the transporter starts charging by the hour, so plan on having a lot of help. Customs, duty, and declaration fees in the destination country can be a nightmare of a headache. Depending on the country, the process could take up to a month or longer. I have heard of missionaries spending 7 months trying to get a container out of customs. Another hidden cost is storage fees. Normally the port allows you a certain number of days to work your container through customs, and then they charge a daily storage fee. I got hit with this one with a 40′ container that two other missionaries and I sent to Haiti. They began counting storage fees from when the boat arrived, not when the container touched the ground. Also be sure to spend the extra money and get the insurance!!! We have a missionary with our board that had a bad experience as a result of having no insurance. The shipper mixed up some numbers, and the missionaries got a container filled with barrels of chemicals, and their stuff was sent to another country. They lost it all because they did not have insurance.

Something else Loel reminded me of is to be sure and get names and numbers for people with the shipping company on both shipping and receiving sides. When you get to your country you want to be able to walk in to an office and ask for a specific person. I speak from experience and add a hearty AMEN there. While other people were standing in a long line, I asked for a specific person and was taken straight to an office and given my paperwork and receipts needed to start the process of getting my container through customs.

Packing a container is a major undertaking. Every nook and cranny must be filled. If not it will be by the time it reaches its destination. Dresser drawers should not be left open but filled with clothes. Towels can be used as packing material to protect breakables. Try to find as many of the same size boxes as you can to make it easier. I encourage you to check out our post entitled Boxes or Barrels for more information. The “extra” room at the top can be used for building materials or mattresses. I shoved a 30′ extension ladder on top of everything once. DO NOT put anything that can be damaged by the heat if you will be shipping things in the summer. Ports are outside and no shade. If your container ends up on the top of the stack it is sitting in full sunlight and maximum heat! Containers are rough handled and MUST be blocked and braced very well. If not when you open it up you could end up with a bunch of junk. Last but not least, buy a few strong lock to lock up the container and keep the keys in your possession.

To pack this all in to a conclusion, if you are reading this and thinking that it is a breeze, go find someone who has done this before and ask for their help or advice. Weigh it out and see if it is cheaper to buy some of your stuff in the country you are going to. It might save you money and frustration. If I can help you in any way, please contact me. hgpeart3@gmail.com

Serving Jesus,

HGP3