The Lord Will See To It!

I can't believe it has been TWO MONTHS since my last blog post!  Now that the Christmas season is over, I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of blogging!  I have missed it!

Over the time of Advent we were reminded, as many of you read in our newsletter, of how much we need to cherish the time of waiting.  Advent means "a time of expectant waiting" and it is completely synonymous with how we are feeling about Haiti.

Waiting can be SO difficult, and yet so amazing, all at the same time... being able to watch as God moves and works and does what only He can do.  When I am doing all of the work, it seems that nothing gets done!  But when I simply wait on Him- He provides, He moves and He accomplishes so much more than I could ever do!

On that note, we have some very exciting news to share!  Even though it seems that much of our missions planning and scheduling came to a screeching halt over Christmas, God continues to work.  So here it is...

As of January 1st, 2013-  we are currently 80% funded for Haiti!!!  Isn't that amazing?!?!  God is truly "Jehovah Jireh"-  (which means- The Lord Will Provide)

This term is first found in Genesis 22- in the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is commanded by God to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him to the Lord.  Abraham is faithful (as crazy as that seems!), and just as he is preparing to do as God directed him, God provides a ram to serve as a sacrifice instead.  Genesis 22:14 says "And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”

The name Jehovah Jireh literally translates as "The Lord Who Will See To It".  What an amazing promise that is for us, isn't it?   God's Word tells us that not only does God see us and see our needs, but that He will be faithful to "see to it" that we are taken care of.  We may not always know what that will look like in each circumstance we face, but we can trust that HIS provision is the BEST thing for us!

I think of how often I am like Abraham in moments like these... I am working to take care of what God has commanded me to do and then, He reveals to me that He is the one who will ultimately "see to it" that His will and plans are accomplished.  It doesn't mean that I don't have to do the work that is required of me when the time comes, but it does tell me that when I am faithful to His call, He will work out the details and provide for our needs!

 Now that we are only 20% away from meeting our funding goal, below I have listed a few upcoming events/speaking engagements to share with you.  Please be praying for God to continue to provide for our needs, for Him to open doors for us to share our calling at churches and with individuals, for our house to sell (definitely has to be a GOD thing in this economy!) and for our hearts to be prepared to GO... 2 Haiti 4 Him!

Thank you for your continued love and support!


The Heckman Family 

January:

January 20th- Speaking at First United Methodist Church in Bridgeton
January 31st- Speaking at chapel at Bridgeton Christian School

February:

Still planning... please let us know if you would like us to come speak to your church, small group or fellowship gathering!  (pheckman@onemissionsociety.org)

March:

In Indiana for Cross Training at One Mission Society

April-July:

Still planning... please let us know if you would like us to come speak to your church, small group or fellowship gathering!  (pheckman@onemissionsociety.org)

Tentative departure for Haiti... 

End of August 2013!

Seeking God's Face

The last two weekends have been truly amazing and eye opening for us.  First, the end of October we had the opportunity to go to Harrisburg and be a part of the One Mission Society Northeast Conference.

There we spent the weekend hearing from OMS missionaries about all that God was doing through their ministries.  We heard from missionaries serving with OMS from Mexico to the Ukraine, from new missionaries to those who have been serving for 50+ years, and spoke with those in the funding process just like we are! We also spent time in worship throughout the weekend, praising God for who He is and all that He has done.  We took time to pray for missionaries all over the world, for the persecuted church and for God to raise up more missionaries to reach the lost!

It was a blessing to us and to our children.  Ethan and Haylie quickly became friends with other missionary kids whose families serve all around the world!

They are excited to stay connected via email and to see each other again!  Not sure of how soon that will happen, but as parents who know that transition is not always easy, we were grateful for these kids who serve alongside of their parents and who LOVE being "MKs"!  I have to admit that I was quite emotional as we left the conference.  As many of you know, this has been difficult for Ethan and we praise God for every little step that he takes!  This was a HUGE step :)   Thank you all for your continued prayers for him and for us in this area!  (Haylie is still ready to jump on a plane whenever we say we are leaving- and for that we are so thankful too!!)

Following that amazing experience,  I had the awesome privilege this past weekend, of taking three young ladies from Sharptown Church to OMS World Headquarters for OneWeekend.   We packed ourselves in a tiny little rental car and headed out on the 12 hour journey!  Despite the tight quarters... we had a blast!

OneWeekend is a conference that OMS does each year that is designed to raise awareness about missions and to encourage participants to seek God to find out what He is calling them to do.  When I arranged for these girls to go, I had in my head that this opportunity was really for them and that my job was just to get them to Indiana and back home safely and to maybe help out and serve where needed for the weekend. Well... God had other plans!!!

To sum it up: We spent the weekend seeking God's face.

Hours of our time were spent in prayer, reflection, worship, journaling and alone time with God.  From the moment we arrived (and really in the months leading up to this!) to the final moments before we left (and beyond!), prayer was the driving force.  I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for this experience.  OMS had no intention of spending a weekend trying to convince those in attendance to come and serve with OMS or to become missionaries for that matter.

Their main goal was to create space for God to speak to each one of us and for us to listen to His voice.

Did we spend some time hearing about OMS and missions around the world? YES!

Did they help us to understand the ways that God calls us and the different opportunities that we have to use our gifts in missions? YES!

But first and foremost, they wanted us to leave with a clear sense of God's call and with a stronger connection to our Savior- and I can tell you that I have never felt more connected to God and to His mission for the world and for our family than I do now.  One Weekend was a blessing beyond words for me, and I know that many others, including the girls who went with me, were also blessed!  Thanks to OMS for giving God the weekend and for focusing all of their energy and efforts on helping to create space for us to spend time in His Presence!

So here are a few things that God spoke to me about this weekend:

1) Everything that He has given me- gifts, talents, time, experiences... He wants to use for His glory and I am often not willing to let Him have it all.  This weekend I was really convicted in this area. I know that God will bless me when I am obedient and that I have to trust Him with everything.  My prayer is that I will be continually obedient to His call and follow Him no matter what the cost!

2) We spent time learning about all of the different ways that God calls us (for example: through needs around us, music and worship, Scripture, prayer, dreams, other people, etc.).  We had to think of a time when God called us to do something and share about it... as I spent time thinking about our call to Haiti I could see how God spoke in ALL of these ways and it was so comforting to know that He provided such clarity!  But then I realized something.... God wants to speak to us EVERYDAY in these ways... and I truly believe He calls us EVERYDAY to serve Him.  No matter what we are doing during our day- whether we are home with our children, in the workplace, on the road, at the grocery store, wherever- God is calling us!  If we would just listen to His voice every day and ask Him to speak- He will.  We just get so busy in our days that we don't take the time to ask.  I want to wake up every morning and spend an extended time with God- asking Him to reveal to me His call for me every day.  What an exciting thing to think about isn't it?  God desires for us to simply BE WITH HIM and He speaks to us if we are willing to listen.

3) I have recently been feeling led to explore the possibilities of serving God in another capacity, different than what we originally intended to do in Haiti.  After going to OMS Headquarters and hearing more about the ministry of HOPE61, the anti-human trafficking division of OMS, we are feeling that God may be leading us to get involved and to be trained to work within the community surrounding Emmaus, and with the pastors at the seminary- to begin prevention ministry through evangelism and education.  Prostitution is rampant in Haiti and it breaks my heart...  If we can educate middle school and high school age students... if we can share the Gospel with them and help them to see that this is NOT what God wants for them... we can begin to break the cycle and to bring about change in that community... but we only want to do this if it is what God wants for us. We just want to follow His will in this. Would you pray with us about this?

We are so grateful for God's continued direction and provision as we prepare to go to Haiti.  The recent opportunities, as you can tell, have reignited an excitement for us to continually follow Him and His plan for us!  We are over 55% funded at this point and are praying that God would provide the additional 45% needed so that we can get on the field and begin to serve Him there! Would you also pray for our funding needs?

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support and for journeying with us...

2 Haiti 4 Him!

Fishers of Men

Back in August, a team of 18 of us from Sharptown Church, went to Emmaus to serve.  

We spent three days working around the seminary grounds- pulling weeds, mowing, cleaning up leaves and palm branches, painting hallways and doors and cleaning up classrooms in preparation for the students to return for the upcoming semester.  

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to go to a church service (a 4 hour church service, by the way!) 

... And then sit down to a nice meal at the Hotel Christophe

 

On Friday, we took a trip to the Citadel (a hike that is NOT for the faint!). 

 

But the most powerful part of the trip, at least for me and I'm sure many others, was the day we spent sharing the Gospel on the streets.  We rode for over an hour in the back of the truck (how we ride everywhere in Haiti when in large groups!) 

 

We were broken up into three teams to do door-to-door ministry, women's ministry on the street and at homes, and Vacation Bible School with the kids in the church building in the community.  What an amazing experience... 

to sing and share stories with children who desire to be loved and held... 

to walk the streets and share of Jesus' love and to pray over the sick- both mentally and physically... 

to speak truth to women as they sell charcoal or fried goods on the dusty streets.

Later in the week, we took a walk down to the bay.  We had heard how beautiful it was (Phil had gone there when he went down to Haiti to work with Don in March) and I wanted to make sure I (and our group!) had the opportunity to see it...

 it's about a 20-30 minute walk from the seminary...

When we arrived, and took it in, we all concluded that it was WELL worth the walk. (And now.. in hindsight.. I can say that at a much deeper level... explanation coming soon!)

As we stood there, on the shore, Matt (the president of Emmaus and a fellow Sharptownian!) told me that the size of the bay is very similar to that of the Sea of Galilee.

 

And that's when it hit me...

At that moment, surrounded by old fishing boats that looked like they were taken from the pages of Scripture, I imagined what it must have been like to watch as Jesus crossed the sea and went up to the mountainside to pray, or for the disciples to pull up fishing nets only to see that they were so full they were breaking because Jesus provided a miraculous catch of fish... or to be on that shore and listen as Jesus spoke of truth and light and love.

Looking back, I know that God wanted me to see that, to experience that moment, because He had something He wanted to teach me. Recently, while doing devotions, I was drawn to read the accounts of Jesus calling His first disciples. When He first called Peter and Andrew, He came to them at the water, while they were working as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee... he provided a miraculous catch of fish for them and then spoke three distinct statements to them:

 

Don't be afraid.

 

Follow me.

 

I will make you fishers of men.

During this journey, I have to tell you that fear has definitely been one of many emotions that we have felt.  The question of how will we sell our house? How will our children adjust? Can we raise the money? What will life be like in a 5th world country that doesn't have the same laws, language, freedoms, advances, foods, safety, etc? How can we leave familiarity of home, family, church, friends?...

And yet He says to us... Don't be afraid.

And then there is the reality that God has called us, God has opened doors, God is at work in our hearts and our lives and He has been preparing us to do this work (for years!).  He will help us to learn the language, sell our house, adjust to the culture, raise the funds needed to go...

We just have to continue to... Follow Him.

And why?

 

Because He has called us to be fishers of men. 

 

The reason my heart was overwhelmed with joy that day as we shared the Gospel on the streets of Haiti is because that is what God has called us to do! And just like He said to the disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, I can hear Him telling us that we have nothing to fear if we follow Him.

And do you know what the disciples did when Jesus called them that day?

"... they left everything and followed Him."  Luke 5:11b

2 Haiti 4 Him.