Welcome to the Victory Blog

Update 1/27/2010

All of the team, except for Pat Bradley of ICA & our Missions Pastor Dennis Russell, have returned safely home. Praise God!!

Here’s the text from Dennis last night:

God continues to show His favor! We are down to just me and Pat now but that did not slow God down any. Today, with the help of our steadily growing Haitian team, we were able to distribute enough food to feed 1,577 people for 10 days!! For the 2nd time, we were the only relief team picking up food as it was being airlifted in at the US Marines helipad. If we had not been there, the food would still be there at the landing zone. We are excited that construction will begin on the orphanage on Thursday. Tomorrow promises to be another great day!

Blessings,

Dennis

You know how you have to take and pass tests in school in order to keep moving forward from grade to grade? Well, the rest of life is just like that; we have to keep passing tests in order to keep moving forward. We really don’t know how much we’re learning until we take the test. If we don’t pass the test of life, we just have to keep doing it over and over again until we do.

So, the question is, are we going to move forward in the calling of God? God’s called every one of us to do something. If we’re going to keep moving forward, we’re going to have to get through some tests in life…we have to learn how to deal with them. In fact, there are three main areas of our lives that we will be tested on and have to pass in order to keep moving forward:

1. Purity Test – God has called us to live a life of purity. Holiness. It is not easy to live holy…inevitably, we’re going to be tempted in our flesh – lust of the flesh. Many of us, before we gave our hearts to Christ, spent a lot of time and energy feeding the lust of our flesh. And, even after accepting Christ, our flesh will fight hard to keep getting fed. Now, our bodies have three primary natural desires: food, sex and amusement/entertainment. God put these desires in us, but he also set up boundaries to keep us from being ruled by these desires. Most people are ruled by at least one of these…they may overcome one or two, but fall into the other. These things, if they rule us, will keep us from moving forward…even cause us to fall backwards. How do we gain victory over these things and keep moving forward? Go after God, fasting and prayer, turn our hunger towards him and be filled by him. If we’re going to keep moving forward, we’ve got to be hungry for God.
2. Possession Test – “Mammon” has tremendous power and rules over people’s lives until they learn how to overcome these things. In order to move forward, we have to pass this test. If our goal is to get rich for ourselves, we’re setting ourselves up for misery. We have to recognize that EVERYTHING belongs to God…we have to put him first. If our heart is all about things, we’ve fallen for another god and will not move forward. If we’re going to rule over money, we have to learn that it doesn’t belong to us – we have to do what God wants us to do with it. We have to be good stewards. It starts with tithing…giving God the first 10% and trusting Him to take care of all your needs with the rest. Whose kingdom are we building here on earth?
3. Pride Test – Whenever I get before the Lord and start examining myself, there’s not a day goes by that I don’t find that I have pride issues to deal with. I think most of us are that way. The number one virtue that we should be pursuing as Christians is humility. With pride, we are guaranteed to fall. If we humble ourselves, God will lift us up. If you want to know what humility looks like, read the Gospels; Jesus gives us the best picture of humility. We should ask ourselves these questions:
   • Do I esteem others better than myself?
   • Do I have a servant leader mentality?
   • Am I overly concerned about my reputation?
   • How much am I losing myself for the sake of others?

Listen to, watch or download this message in its entirety here.

Update 1/26/2010

The updates below are from text messages received from our team in Haiti from Sunday evening & Monday evening.

Day Six – Sunday
The days just seem to get better. We are getting more fatigued by the day but it is worth it! Today, we were able to distribute enough food to feed over 1,500 people 3 meals a day for 10 days!! We also were able to get out over 4,400 gallons of water. The divine favor and divine appointments are too numerous for us to count. Other than with my family, there is absolutely no other place I would rather be. God is good. (text sent by Dennis Russell, VWC Missions Pastor)

Day Seven – Monday
Another good day! We were initially disappointed when we found out that no relief was going to be airlifted today, but it turned out God had something else in mind. Not only did it provide for a needed physical break but it also allowed us time to find materials to build a shelter for the orphans. We finally found what we needed and so the Canadian Navy is going to begin construction tomorrow as we resume distribution. Dr. Christie was a mad-man today as he saw 224 patients! Better get some rest, we’re in for a BIG day tomorrow! (text sent by Dennis Russell, VWC Missions Pastor)

Media Update: We also received an email from Phillip O’Conner, a reporter from the St. Louis Times who is traveling with our team recording the relief efforts. Here’s the latest article he posted, regarding the Orphans in Leogane. Click the photo below to be directed to the St. Louis Times website…

The picture above is a snapshot from the St. Louis Times article written by Phillip O'Conner, a reporter on the ground with our relief team in Haiti

Update 1/23/2010
Just heard from the team in Haiti. Here’s the update of their journey so far.

Day One – Tuesday Evening/Wednesday Morning
The team departed out of Miami airport and arrived in Port au Prince shortly before midnight. Most of the team were taken to a safe house for the night while 8 to 10 of the team members spent the night on the tarmac watching the supplies. While there, they were able to make good connections with the Brigadier Commander and leaders of the Joint Taskforce that is directing all incoming aid through NPOs and the US Military.

Days Two/Three – Wednesday / Thursday
The team made it out of Port au Prince to the Grace International compound in Carrefore. Once there, they found the compound in good shape, were able to treat some injuries and assessed the food/water situation on the grounds. At the moment, with two natural wells, the food and water in Carrefore are in stable condition. So, the team moved just west of Port au Prince to Leogane – an area hard hit and slow to receive aid.

Days Four/Five – Friday / Saturday
Yesterday the team discovered an orphanage in Leogane with 85 children. Their structure was completely destroyed by the earthquake and they were without food and water. The team provided them with enough food and water for a week and are currently looking for shelter. There is a group of 40 Canadian military traveling with our group and they are ready to help assemble a shelter, but are in need of supplies. Anything from a tent structure, to tarps, wood, cots – anything to construct a temporary shelter to protect the children and get them off of the ground.

Yesterday, the team was also able to make contact with the US Military and a local drop off area for helicopters carrying loads and loads of food and other goods. The problem that they are having is that the UN doesn’t have trucks to help transport the goods or personnel to provide distribution. The team asked if they could bring a truck, would they release the goods for distribution and the answer was, “Yes!” After driving off trying to decide where they could rent a truck they drove by a huge moving-type truck on the side of the road being loaded with fallen debris. They stopped and negotiated rental of the truck – and, at this moment, the US Military is loading the truck with some of the backed up food and other goods for distribution. The team is now praying for wisdom on where to set up the distribution point to meet the greatest needs of the people while also keeping their team safe. They will continue to use the truck over the next few days to help get the backed up goods transported for distribution by our team and other NGOs in the area.

The US Military loading aid onto the truck our team rented
to get food distributed to the people of Leogane, Haiti

Points for Prayer:

• Ask God to provide the right contact for getting shelter for the 85 orphans in Leogane.
• Ask God to provide wisdom and direction for the food distribution as well as on-ground contacts with other NGOs who can help get the food out to the people.
• Continue to pray for the safety and stabilization of the country and that God’s peace and provision would prevail.

Update 1/20/2010

Prayers just keep getting answered…

Our preliminary team arrived safely in Haiti around 11:30 last night. They didn’t get to sleep last night, so please pray for supernatural rest and energy for them. They did feel the tremor from the earthquake this morning, but they are all okay. Today will be recon and assessment in preparation for the next team going in.

We are in preparation for a Saturday or Sunday departure for a medical team.

For more information, or to see how you can help, visit our Haiti Earthquake Relief page – every dollar, every item, every prayer matters. Thank you.

In this series, we’re trying to find and identify anything that’s keeping us from going forward in this new year. We want to address these things. This week, I’m asking, “How do we move forward in the midst of crisis?” I mean, terrible things happen in life. Anybody who’s seen the news about the devastation in Haiti can have no question about this. And, the truth is that no matter who we are, we all experience crisis at one point or another in our lives. It can be relational, physical, financial or otherwise. It can be large or small. But the question is: how do we get ourselves in a position such that no matter what comes our way, we are able to keep moving forward?

The answer, of course, lies in Jesus. Only through him can we find the strength and peace that we need. Then, with this understanding in place, we start moving forward by doing the following:

1. Evaluate – to Appraise or assess something. To think it over, to ponder it, to consider the situation. Ask why these things are happening, even before you start moving forward. There may be a real reason for the crisis. How did I get here? If you don’t evaluate, you’re going to go out and do the same thing all over again.
   • Evaluate the past in what you want to change.
   • Evaluate the present in what you can do.
   • Evaluate the future in what is God calling you to.
2. Plan – everyone needs to plan. A person without a plan is at the mercy of someone who does. If you don’t have a plan for your life, someone else does, and it’s probably not a good one. It’s a whole lot better to go into a crisis with a plan than to wait until you’re in the midst of crisis to try to come up with a plan.
3. Act – too often, when we get in crisis, rather than continuing to move forward, we get paralyzed by things like fear, anger, unforgiveness, discouragement or disillusionment. But we can’t let these things stop us. We’ve got to keep acting on God’s Word…keep moving forward.
4. Focus – how do we stay focused in the midst of a crisis? It’s not very easy, but that’s exactly what we need to do. We mustn’t look left, right or back, but look forward. We have to keep our gaze on what God’s Word says; above and beyond what our circumstances say. Focus on where God is taking us, not where we’ve been. Focus on the answer, not the problem.
5. Trust – every single outstanding character of the Bible is known for their trust in the Lord. We can find trust over and over and over again throughout the Bible. Unfortunately, whenever we face a crisis, we have a tendency to forget how essential trust is. We will be severely tempted to stop trusting God by the circumstances in our crises. But remember this: we go through tests to learn about trust. Every test has a trust issue involved.

Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become. ~ B.F. Westcott

(To listen to or watch this message in its entirety, click here.)

First we want to thank our wonderful congregation and the many friends of VWC in Atlanta and around the world for your interest in helping the people trying to survive the earthquake and its aftereffects in Haiti.  Your prayers and giving are making it possible for us to respond to the situation in Haiti and help restore and rebuild this country. Below is the latest update regarding our fight(s) and teams leaving to assist:

As you know, the situation on the ground in Port au Prince is dire.  Airport activity is restricted and the port is destroyed; so a continual flow of incoming aid is hindered. To make matters worse, the disorder and disorganization on the ground is negatively effecting distribution.  You have seen the pictures and video in the media so you know how the situation has been deteriorating over the last few days.  There have, however, been signs of improvement today (as far as distribution and security are concerned), so we are praying that the situation on the ground continues to head in the right direction.

Our top priorities for our trip are 1) physical relief and medical care to the people of Haiti, and 2) safety and security for our team.  We feel pretty good about the relief and medical part, and are very close to insuring the safety and security part, which has been a portion of the delay all along.  The other part of the delay has been getting clearance to land an airplane. The US Military has taken control of the airport and has highly tightened their criteria for issuing clearances to land.  Our inside sources tell us that this is a temporary development that will change soon.

For four days, we have been working the phones non-stop; and every time we would get a break through, the rules would change and we would have to start over.  The rules are still changing and so we are trying to adapt.  It makes it very difficult to organize in such a fluid and unstable environment.  But for the sake of the Haitian people, we are continuing to push on. Please continue to pray.

When we have security and clearance secured at the same time, then we will know its time to leave.  Because we were close this weekend, we decided to put out the word and start seeing who is available so we can be ready when it is time.  Yesterday, it looked like we were good for a Tuesday departure on a US Military Transport plane, but it turned out that the US government pulled the plug.  We now have a 30-seat private jet ready to depart from Atlanta later this week, all depending on clearance and security. It looks like both components are moving in the right direction, we just don’t know how fast.

Here is some information regarding the mission itself.  We will be partnering with three organizations: Medishare of Haiti, Hospitals for Humanity of Gwinnett County, and International Crisis Aid of Missouri. Our relief efforts will help to support Grace International’s operations in Haiti.

Medishare is the most respected medical relief organization in Haiti, as considered by the government of Haiti itself.  Because of this, we are close to securing a 25-man UN armed security detail at the Medishare base where we most likely will set up base operations.  It is a walled community just outside Port au Prince.

Hospitals for Humanity is a highly experienced organization in medical field hospital operations.  They just returned from a trip to Nigeria where they treated over 10,000 patients in one week.  They have a highly effective and proven medical missions model.

International Crisis Aid is a relief organization that has brought relief to the Sudan, the tsunami effected areas, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.  Pat Bradley, the founder, will be directing the part of our mission which will address the non-medical concerns (food, water, shelter, etc).

All organizations involved will also be assessing the situation on the ground for the purpose of developing a long term plan for helping the people of Haiti, which will provide valuable information for subsequent trips.

How many will go on the first team will depend on seat availability on the plane.  Preference will be given to those in the medical profession, translators, and those with cross-cultural relief experience.  Those not able to participate in this first trip can more than likely find a place on a subsequent trip that will not be so heavily focused on medical relief, and not have strict space limitations.

We will do everything within our power to give at least a 2 or 3 day notice before departure.  But please know that we may find ourselves in a situation where we have a small window of opportunity or a situation where we are on standby for a few days.  Some things are just out of our hands, but we believe at the right time, God will open the door for us.  As of now, we are shooting for Wednesday – but it could be later.

We are committed to sending the first team as soon as security and clearance can be secured; if it takes 3 days or if it takes three weeks.  We appreciate your prayers and your patience as we seek to navigate these very difficult waters.

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 4:53pm, a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti. The epicenter of this major quake was just 10 miles west of Porte-au-Prince and its 2 million inhabitants and sent 33 aftershocks ranging in magnitude from 4.2 to 5.9. Over 3 million people are in need of emergency aid after major earthquake.

Update 1/16/2010
We have two teams departing for Haiti within the next few days. Our first team will leave tomorrow and will begin preparations for the second team that will depart on Tuesday. Tomorrow’s prep team includes representatives from International Crisis Aid, Grace International, Medi-Share and Victory. Please keep this team in your prayers as they arrive and begin to make assessments of the situation at Grace International’s compound.

The second team, departing on Tuesday, will include a team of 50 medical professionals from Gwinnett Medical and others through Hospitals for Humanity. This flight will also include Grace International Pastors Joel & Doris Jeune as well as many of the supplies donated to our collection center. Please keep this team in your prayers, the medical team includes surgeons who will begin much needed operations as soon as they arrive at the Grace International compound.

We are proud of the partnership of all of these organizations to bring hope and healing to the precious people of Haiti.

To see how you can help, visit our Haiti Earthquake Relief page – every dollar, every item, every prayer matters. Thank you.

We serve a God who is always moving forward – He’s not stagnant. Yet, at times, we find ourselves getting stagnant…some area or thing in our lives is keeping us from moving forward. While other things may come into play, the number one thing that keeps us from moving forward is our failures. Our failures usually (though not always) go hand in hand with sin, which is designed by the enemy to stop us from moving forward, but only has that power as long as we agree with it.

So, we need to ask ourselves often, “Is there anything in my life that I’ve agreed with that keeps me from moving forward? Most people don’t know how to live a life that keeps moving forward. One thing or another will often keep us in bondage. (On a side note, this is why doing this 21-day fast at the beginning of each year is such a great idea…it helps to break such bondages.) If we want to keep moving forward, at some point, we’re going to have to deal with whatever is holding us back.

Paul teaches us that we have to put our failures behind us. Yes, I know that’s much easier said than done, but we can do it if we remember that we’re not the only ones in the world who make mistakes. Every one of us has fallen short of the glory of God. That’s why we need Jesus. Through him, we can continue moving forward even after we’ve failed! Also, every single Bible character except Jesus failed (and even Jesus appeared to have failed to some), but those we admire as heroes of the faith, such as Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, etc., are those who kept moving forward.

How did they do it? How did they move forward from failure? They did so through the following process, which, if we will follow, will keep us moving forward as well:

1. Responsibility – Although it’s often very hard, we must accept our responsibility for our failures. Unfortunately, we’re very quick to blame other people or things, but as long as it’s always another person’s or thing’s fault, we’ll be stuck. However, when we start taking responsibility, it opens the door for God to move in. What’s in your life for which you have yet to take responsibility?
2. Repentance – This is not the same as being sorry or remorseful. Rather it means having a change of mind, emotion and action in regard to sin. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, no one moves forward without repentance. Is there any sin in your life that you haven’t repented of?
3. Restoration – When we accept responsibility and repent, restoration comes. God doesn’t see us through the lens of our failures, but through His Son. God is in the restoring business. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but to restore it. Knowing this, we can overcome guilt and shame, which hold us back, and learn how to receive forgiveness…as the free gift that it is…no penance required.

Friends, we’ve got to get this truth in our hearts. In order to help, let me encourage you to listen to or watch the message I gave about this last weekend, over and over if you have to. Don’t stay bound up in your failures. Take responsibility, repent and move forward into the amazing restoration that God has for you!

Every New Year, we set goals to move forward in our lives. Unfortunately, many Christians stop somewhere along the process and never move forward into the life to which God has called them. But that’s not the life we want to live. No, we want to keep moving forward, because as we do, God will show up. So this week, I’m starting a new series called, FORWARD, so that we can all learn how to move forward into the life to which God has called us.

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Every person has a call from God on their life to do something for God in this earth. God wants us to know it, live it and be fulfilled in it. But the devil resists this, and tries to keep us from living in our call. He tries to get us stuck in the past, focused on prior abuse, sickness, financial troubles, relational failures, etc., so that we cannot move forward. Or at other times, he may try to get us stuck whining about how difficult things look in the present, thinking about how “good” they were in the past and, again, stop moving forward.

We need to put the past behind us and keep it there. God always has something better for us in the future, but in order to get there, we’ve got to move forward. Yes, I have to tell you that there will be times when moving forward will seem completely ludicrous and impossible, but that is exactly what we have to do, stepping forward in our faith in God – just as the Israelites did when they were caught between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army.

Here’s what it takes to move FORWARD:

(Listen to, watch or download the entire message here.)