Mr. & Mrs. Gillespie Go to England
At the moment, we are on a layover in Washington DC and on our way to England. We have really been looking forward to this trip, although it has been a bit of a whirlwind getting here after John’s time in Haiti. We’ll arrive in London late tonight, 10:00 pm England time, and be reunited with some great friends and family. First we’ll spend time in Cornwall where most of John’s immediate family lives. Then we’ll head back to the London area for the last couple days of our trip and meet up with friends there. On our journey back to Kona, we’ll stop in Colorado for a few days to spend time with friends there as well!
Our last visit to England was in September/October 2008, just after our dear friends Liam and Rachel were married in Scotland. We had a few days in England and then we flew back to Kona just a few weeks before our own wedding. All that to say, this will be our first time in England as Mr. & Mrs. John and Jenni Gillespie! (But to be truthful, my passport still says my maiden name, Larsen…we definitely need to get that changed soon!)
Hope you are all well, and if you’re in England we’ll be seeing you soon!
Love,
J & j
Home Again, Home Again
Johnny is home! Yep, I got to pick him up at our little Kona airport on Sunday. It’s so nice to have him home again. We grabbed a quick lunch together (at Taco Del Mar!) and then headed to our house for a nice, long nap. Well, he napped, and I cuddled up to him while my thoughts just kept going….I couldn’t exactly shut off my brain since I had so many questions to ask him and felt like we had so much to catch up on. But he was weary from his travels and needed some good sleep. He awoke feeling rested and we hung out at home for the afternoon while he spent time blogging and posting more about his trip. In the evening we had Beth and our nephews, Elijah and Carter, up to our place for dinner. We were all excited to hear stories about his time in Haiti and he did an excellent job answering our endless questions. It is amazing that he travelled to Haiti and back in just eight days- what an incredible journey. Throughout his time away, we both felt so encouraged, supported, and loved by many, many people. Thank you everyone for coming alongside us as Johnny stepped out in faith to make this trip happen.
Check back here again soon for more from him!
RHOP and Perspective
*Update* Please check out Jeremy Bardwell’s radical blog post on RHOP. We believe this to be the strategic key for changing the nation of Haiti!!!
Dear friends,
The following are a couple more videos of our dialogue in the bus. The first carries a solemn call to the Body of Christ to rise and and intercede for the Spirit of God to fill the land of Haiti. Now is the time for his Kingdom to advance in that nation, but it won’t advance by itself. Now is the time of the beloved to rise up and declare the heart of God over Haiti in intercession and acts of radical love. God is so faithful to humanity, even in the midst of a humanitarian disaster, he speaks his faithfulness.
The second is my process on walking in the fullness of God’s perspective. We walked into some crazy things in Haiti, and without God there is little hope, yet in Christ we were able to see the nation clearly, and declare truth by our words and actions.
You guys will be able to tell that we were a) pretty tired when we made the videos, and b) having a lot of fun! Thank you all for so faithfully reading and praying with us this week! It’s been such a privilege to journey with you!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw3ffa7PbMY]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG8wr3jjpLA]
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
Haiti and the dialogue of Heaven
As we began our journey home from Haiti, Jeremy and I found ourselves beginning to discuss aloud what had been brewing in our hearts all week in Haiti. I can tell it will take a long time for me to fully realize all the lessons I learned and to process all that I saw, but yesterday in the bus we started to just talk. And here’s what happened.
Please watch some of these videos as you have time and take a moment to pray and respond in your own heart to these words. Ask the Lord for his perspective. Please feel free to comment, link, repost as you want to.
Jeremy and I are so privileged to have been able to be a part of this momentous time in the history of a nation, and we declare that Haiti will return to it’s first Love!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOz2QKg2-uY]
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
Rice and Beans!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLFVNVZVYNs]
In the midst of the chaos, grief, and pain that we’ve seen here, there’s been so much hope – and a TON of fun! We were working in the office on our last afternoon there and Terry ran in and asked us to come help with…. a GIANT truckload of rice and beans! I think we had about 8 tons of rice and about 3 tons of beans. Crazy! A Haitian experience for sure!
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
Aftershocks
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgBctvefIU8]
We awoke this morning to the earth shaking. It’s such a weird feeling – I never will forget it since I was in that big one we had in Kona a few years ago. The same low rumble that you can almost feel more than you can hear, followed by a thump, then another thump, all the while the rumble growing and growing, until you can feel the ground moving under your feet.
All the guys jumped out of bed at once (some even ran downstairs). Afterward I went down and just snapped the morning on my iPhone – such a beautiful Haitian day. It really does make you think – just how crazy and terrifying that quake must’ve been. We heard about 70 people died in that quake this morning in PAP. We also heard than an 8 year old boy was pulled alive from the rubble of last week’s quake. Amazing.
Jeremy and I are stoked to announce that at this point it looks like our trip will have cost us $3450, and we have another $2850 on top of that to donate to YWAM Haiti. We cannot easily express our heartfelt gratitude to you all for making this trip possible for us – it’s been such a life-changing experience – and for the sake of YWAM Haiti. It’s clear to us that God planned so specifically for us to come and join them for this time, and he’s anointed us to help in a time of dire need. The need will continue long after we leave, as will the heroism of the YWAM staff. Right now YWAM projects that they will need in the region of $200,000 in the next month to feed and care for the refugees coming to St. Marc since the quake. Please continue to give as you feel led.
PayPal username:
johnny.gillespie@gmail.com
You can also send me a donation, by check, tax deductible, at:
John Gillespie
75-5851 Kuakini Hwy. #93
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
Make the check payable to U of N Kona, with a post-it note on it with my name and mission account number, 5297.
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
So, Johnny, what did you and Jeremy do today?
Well… all we did was formulate and initiate an entire plan to mobilize a refugee relocation and rehabilitation effort for up to 10000 refugees from Port-au-Prince to St. Marc, working with the local government, schools, a bunch of NGO’s, the UN, churches, and volunteers. It starts on Thursday.
Then we strategized how to organize a national leadership team for the response efforts in the longer term.
Then we sat in on a team meeting and heard a bunch of amazing stories of how God is redeeming this disaster and using the church radically.
Then I skyped my wife.
Like I said – it’s a crazy privilege to be here. Big time. Pray for us. Without the Holy Spirit, we’re in WAY over our heads.
For more info on our day today, check out Jeremy’s blog at www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com.
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
RHOP – Refugee House of Prayer – C'mon!!!
Hope for John Peter
Yesterday evening I went over to the basketball court here on the YWAM base to spend some time with the refugees shaded from the burning Haitian sun. YWAM Haiti has been asked by the local hospital to house some of their less-wounded refugee patients, because they’re quickly being over-run by refugees from Port-au-Prince. I went to bless them and to pray for them yes, but I went also to hear some story. Just earlier that day I had witnessed the greatest devastation that my eyes had ever seen, and I wanted to hear something that would tie my heart to the humanity affected. Some process.
I wandered through the huddled humanity lying on straw mats across the concrete. I wondered about the disease and pain represented in that room. I realized I hadn’t washed my hands.
Jeremy and I prayed for a girl who wasn’t doing too well, then I moved over to a guy who had caught my eye lying on the other side of the room. I asked him his name, and in broken English John Peter began to explain to me that he’d broken his collarbone in the earthquake. His eyes were downcast and he resisted conversation at first, but as I felt led, I continued to ask him questions. I finally began to hear some of his story. In the earthquake last week, John Peter hadn’t just broken his collarbone. He’d also lost his father, mother, sister, and two cousins. I didn’t know what to do as he began to weep between grimacing from the pain. He began to say over and over, “I’m dead, I’m dead. It’s better if I’m dead.”
I just prayed for him. I asked the Spirit of God to come upon him and give him hope. I asked Jesus to heal his heart, and to be with him in bearing his loss. I spoke destiny and life over him.
As I stayed with John Peter, praying for him and speaking with him, something in the heavenlies began to shift. I went back to see him later that night and we laughed and talked for half an hour as I showed him pictures of Jenni and my family. By the end of the evening we were talking about wives, the future, and I was able to share Jesus with him. Jeremy and I are stoked to continue hanging out with him and others as we have opportunity. There is hope, and there is life coming to this place.
This place is soon going to be crying out for an army of intercessors, willing to go into the very center of the humanity struggling to survive, and speak, sing, pray, and demonstrate the love of Jesus and the destiny God has for this people. Now is the time for the Kingdom to rise! Jeremy and I were talking today about how amazing it would be to see teams of people come and intercede in the very midst of the city, in the tent cities, in the hospitals, then go from there and demonstrate Christ’s love in a palpable and quantifiable way. Feeding, clothing, healing. Talking. Crying. Laughing. For the broken…. Unto Christ.
There is so much hope for this nation. Though it has been majorly smashed up, now is the time for rebuilding, physically, socially, and spiritually. The input going into this nation is already tremendous, and it continues increasing, with no signs of an imminent crescendo. The money and aid flowing in, the Kingdom message, the people walking the streets speaking hope and living out love, its pounding every corner of this nation like waves on the shore. God’s love for this place is relentless.
All we feel is privileged to be here and to be a part of this. Privileged to meet the people we’re meeting. Privileged to work with YWAM here (I’ll post more about that later). Privileged to be a part of what God is doing. This is not just headlines. This is history.
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
That video from the other night….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEeFaE7dBB0]
This is the video from the DR just before we crossed over into Haiti. It’s rad. Check it out and pray!
(Feel free to re-post this blog anywhere and check out www.jeremybardwell.wordpress.com for Jeremy’s perspective on our trip!)
A Little More from Johnny
I just got an email update from Johnny!
He and Jeremy are off to sleep now, so please pray that they get good rest.
He let me know that today they drove through the part of Haiti most effected by the earthquake, Port-au-Prince.
He says, “DR is largely free of any earthquake damage, so everything had felt fine up until that point, but the border was just crowded with people trying to leave Haiti and get into the Dominican.
As we drove on for the next hour or so toward Port-au-Prince, the signs of the quake became more and more visible – a cracked wall here, a pole down there, until all of the sudden we were on the outskirts of the city and the damage became more extensive and commonplace. Eventually our convoy (which had a flashing light police escort) wound its way into the heart of the city. Jenni I can’t even begin to describe the level of devastation. It wasn’t like every building was down, but everywhere you looked there was a building down, and then some streets or sections of town whole blocks were flattened. I’m not talking wood and tin roofs I’m talking concrete and block houses, businesses, walls, and telegraph poles.”
He also let me know that they are doing well and are happy to be helping with whatever they can! Please pray that the Lord will give them wisdom about how to be the most helpful!
He included these prayer requests:
1) Wisdom and revelation 2) Faith – giant faith 3) Favor with the leadership here 4) clear guidance from the Holy Spirit