Tag Archives: But God Ministries; Hope Center; Jesus; Tony West; Mickie West; Stan Buckley; twins; God Provides; Unconditional LOVE

BGM – Galette Chambon – Child Sponsorship is LAUNCHED! Hallelujah!!

It’s finally ready! What an exciting answer to prayer! I have been praying for God to make a way for the children in our village to not only go to school but be able to have a daily meal provided for them for at least two years, and it’s finally happening! Child Sponsorships for the children of Galette Chambon have begun, and the response has already been awesome!

Go to the But God Ministries home page and click How to Get Involved

Go to the But God Ministries home page and click How to Get Involved

It started two years ago when I applied for Feed My Starving Children to admit us into a feeding program through a local distributor. We were denied because we were trying to feed too many children at once, and it would not be sustainable. My heart was broken, but then I also understood. I began praying for God to provide another way. All I wanted was to see children go to school and for them to be fed. In my prayer, I said, “Lord, I know you want us to care for these children and feed them as well. Your Word is FULL of commands to care for the children and the poor, and we have a village full of hungry children. Show us how, and we will run with it.” ….and He did! The folks up in Thoman had already been running a successful child sponsorship program and over 400 children in that village were getting a daily meal at school. Although we had already been sending kids to school in our village, the money we had to send them wasn’t nearly enough to feed all of them. Although they are so thankful that we help them go to school, we knew that empty stomachs meant zero learning. So we began looking into starting the same program in Galette Chambon.

Click on the link to sponsor a child in Galette Chambon

Click on the link to sponsor a child in Galette Chambon

We are starting with 25 children. Twelve are from Pastor Johel’s school and 13 are from Professor Salomon’s school. These are the two schools we have been sponsoring for three years now. As children are sponsored, we will add more to the program. For every sponsorship, you send one child to school, paying for his/her tuition, uniform, books, exams, etc., which is great! However, once we get 50 children sponsored, it gets even better! Once we get 50 sponsored, every sponsorship will feed FOUR children and we can begin buying the rice, beans, oil, etc. to start preparing meals for ALL of the kids to have EVERY day after school. The cost is $37 per month. You are given a choice of using SimpleGive through the BGM website or bank draft. If you use SimpleGive, that host company charges a processing fee which makes it $38.50. Bank draft, I believe, is a flat $37 per month.

Click on the link for each child to read a bit more about him or her. There is a link on each page that you can click to take you to the sponsorship form. The link says

Click on the link for each child to read a bit more about him or her. There is a link on each page that you can click to take you to the sponsorship form. The link says “Click here to sponsor me!”

Throughout this post, I have inserted pictures. These pictures show you how to get to the sponsorship page and how to sponsor a child. Please take some time to go to the But God Ministries page and click the links to meet our children. Or better yet, here’s a link directly to the page: BUT GOD MINISTRIES GC-SPONSORSHIP

As you look at their faces, ask God if He would make a way for you to help one of these go to school.

When God shared His vision with Tony four years ago – the same vision He had given Stan Buckley and others at FBC Jackson – He said to Tony, “What good will it do the people of Haiti for you to take one child out of the country when I want to use you to change a generation?” THESE are the faces of that generation!! These are the children God wants to use to bring revival to a land that has lived in hunger for far too long. The vision has been happening in so many ways over the last three years, but THIS step is one that excites me more than others because this is a huge step towards changing a generation. Thank you for sharing in my excitement over this! Thank you for your prayers for our ministry here! And thank you for each and every way you support what God is doing through But God Ministries.

God Bless You!!

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God’s Power Working Within Us…He is ABLE

This week we returned to the states because we are about to embark on a new and exciting adventure. We are not leaving our current role as missionaries at Hope Center, but rather God is leading us down a path that will enhance that role in a way. It is exciting to see how God has been planning and preparing us for this, and now it is about to happen!

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Today’s post is actually about my amazing husband, Tony. This trip to the states is about his future as a health care provider, and I am so excited about what God is planning for him next. As most of you know, he has a degree in Nursing and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration. Since moving to Haiti, he has been called upon to perform a wide range of activities related to health care that pretty much run the full gamut of all things related to health care provision. He does everything from cleaning the clinics to delivering babies, and he does an amazing job! I have never met a doctor who has come to Hope Center that didn’t have full confidence in Tony’s ability to perform all of the things he does and who doesn’t respect him for doing what he does in the field. His ability to diagnose and treat illness and injury is truly a gift from God, the Master Physician. It is absolutely amazing to me to watch him at work, and the people he cares for – both young and old – absolutely love him.

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I have said before that whatever God calls us to do, He also equips us and provides for us so that we can do His work. It is a promise he gives in Philippians 1:6 where it says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” He has definitely always done that for us so far, and we have no reason to believe He will not continue to do just that. God has been up to something big for a while now in our lives, and every day it just seems to get bigger!

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At this time, God has called Tony to continue his education through an online Nurse Practitioner program offered by Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Today he is sitting in a classroom for the first time in over ten years and he is beginning his journey to becoming a Nurse Practitioner. It will not be easy to add this to his very extensive list of responsibilities he already has at Hope Center, but we are confident that God will make a way and He will provide the resources, stamina, and capability to get it done. It is interesting how it has all come about.

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A couple of years ago, Tony met an instructor that was visiting Haiti who works in this exact program. She told Tony that he should consider getting into the program to enhance his skills as a medical provider as well as better qualify him to do the things he often finds himself doing in the clinic at Hope Center. He began to pray about it, and doors began to open. Recently he found out that he had been accepted into the program, and today is the day the journey begins!!

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If you are reading this blog post, then I know that you are a supporter of our ministry at Hope Center in Haiti. You either have served there personally, you pray for our ministry, and/or you support But God Ministries in one way or another. If you follow our work, I know that you see what a huge ministry we have there. Children are going to school, families are being fed, people are receiving routine health care that improves their quality of life, people are being healed daily, lives are being saved, and God is being glorified in the many souls that have come to know Him through the efforts of everyone that serves and supports Hope Center in Haiti through But God Ministries.

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I also know that through all of this, you know that Tony is one of the most gifted, dedicated, and hardest working individuals in both health care and on the mission field. He gives everything he’s got to glorify the Lord in service to Him. I think we are all pretty much amazed by the things God does through him.

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So now I am asking you to PRAY. Please pray that God will continue to guide Tony through this journey, equip him to accomplish what He has called him to do, provide the support he needs to help carry the load, as well as the support he needs to pay for this degree program, and the encouragement he needs to finish strong. This education will ultimately broaden the scope of Tony’s ministry as a provider and in turn allow him to help many, many more people in his call to serve our Lord in Haiti.

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We thank you so very much for following our ministry in Haiti, and we especially thank you for praying for us. We put all confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ to lead those He has chosen to support us in various ways to answer His call and do just that. So every time the Lord places us on your mind, please stop and pray for God to give us strength, peace, stamina and provision. If He prompts you to sign up for a mission trip to come help us carry the load of ministry in Haiti, then do not hesitate to get on a team that is coming down. If He prompts you to help support us financially in this endeavor, then we ask you to follow through with the instructions below. Whatever God asks you to do, please know that we value every form of support and we cherish the role you play in this ministry.

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God’s plan just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more and more exciting, and it is such an honor and blessing to be a part of it. It still just blows my mind that we are doing what we are doing and that we GET to serve in this way daily. We could never do it on our own though, and we certainly don’t want to. We give God ALL the Glory!! Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to HIM who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” He has definitely exceeded our expectations in Haiti! It is ALL HIM, and we seek to Glorify Him in everything we do. We are all just body parts…allowing God’s power to “work within us.”

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If you are led to give towards helping us pay for Tony’s school, just go to the But God Ministries page and click DONATE and then create an account, and on the drop down menu click NURSING MINISTRY. In the ADDITIONAL COMMENTS line, put TONY SCHOOL. We are trusting and waiting on the Lord for provision. Tony made his first monthly payment to Samford this week and God provided EXACTLY what we needed to do that. It was actually more than we make in a month! Wow. The next day, we had to order books and received a text telling us that same amount was being deposited into our account! HOW ABOUT THAT FOR AN AMAZING GOD!! He is ABLE!!

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God Gives UNCONDITIONAL Love

Last Friday, a mother came to Hope Center Clinic because she was in labor. After assessment, Tony felt he needed to send her to the hospital. Her BP was a bit high, and she was running a 102 temp. Before loading her up in the truck, he decided to check to see how dilated she was. To his surprise, there was a tiny foot with wiggling toes there! The baby was not going to wait for the truck, and she was breach! Tony had never delivered a breach baby, but after a quick prayer for guidance, he proceeded with delivery. The tiny baby arrived without complication, but mom’s temp was still high. They began to massage mom’s tummy when Tony noticed the head of a second baby beginning to crown! There were twins! Baby number 2 was delivered safely as well, but mom’s health was deteriorating. Quickly, they bathed & weighed the babies and finished the delivery so they could take mom and babies to the hospital.

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After the doctors at St. Damien’s assessed the mother, they determined that she needed 6 pints of blood. In Haiti, it costs the donor $25 to donate blood, so finding donors was going to be a challenge. The father returned to HC Clinic to talk with Tony about the situation. After much discussion, Tony found out that the father is not a Christian but rather a voodoo priest. Tony was concerned that this might limit their ability to find donors as well. He prayed for God to give him love, wisdom and the words to guide the conversation. Suddenly Tony remembered that the last team at HC had left $150 cash for him to do with as he saw need. He realized that this family needed to experience the love of Jesus in a way that they had never seen before. The father said, “If your God is a loving god, then he will save my wife and babies.” Tony said, “Well He IS a loving God, and He has already provided a way to get donors for your wife, and he gave the father the $150 to pay for donors.” Next the father said, “Well, the babies have been separated from their mother. They need food. Will your God provide formula as well?” Tony said, “We will pray and ask for God will provide.” They prayed and then Tony got up and went into the clinic and came out with two bottles and two large canisters of formula for the babies. The father’s eyes rimmed with tears and he thanked Tony for helping. Tony reminded him that HE (Tony) doesn’t have money and things to give, but our God is a loving God who provides and He knew this man’s family’s needs before he even came to the clinic. The father promised to keep in touch, and left to return to his wife and babies at the hospital. Please pray for the health of both mother and babies and pray for God to continue doing a work in the heart of this father. God is clearly up to something! God calls us to love one another as He loves us, and without judgement, share His love with those who do not know His love. Thank you Jesus for Your unconditional LOVE!!

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Today, at 7:00 a.m., before starting the clinic, Tony and Vladimir went to the home of the new babies to find them healthy and sleeping in their bed with mom nearby. All are recovering well, and we are all celebrating yet another miracle of LOVE from our Father who loves and provides.

Please pray for continued opportunities for ministry to this family as well as wisdom and provision. Our God is a god of unfailing LOVE, and He desires to show His love to all who would call upon His Name. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” This is a PROMISE from the Word of God, and His provision is designed to show how great His love is for ALL of us! Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” We pray that as we show God’s provision for the needs of many people daily, they will experience His “kindness, forbearance, and patience,” and that unconditional love will lead to repentance and faith in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” We know what it is like to work daily in complete dependence upon God’s provision. We are provided all we need daily so that we can “abound in every good work.” This is the way God intended for ALL of us to live – in complete trust and faith that He will and DOES provide.

You don’t have to live in a third world country to know what it means to need the love and provision of Jesus. ALL of us can claim the promises He gives in His Word and discover what it means to not just live, but to live abundantly! Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever!” It is God’s desire that His children not live in defeat, but rather in complete and abundant Joy. John 10:10 says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” This is the promise we claim to those who are seeking relief from their pain and sorrow. Jesus gives Joy that is beyond our ability to comprehend. HIS Joy is not guided by circumstances, but rather by HOPE and FAITH in a loving God who knows our needs and gives us strength to overcome all adversity. He is HOPE, He is JOY,….He is GOD!!

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