2005 In Review (and looking ahead!)
Who on earth has not looked back and wondered about the events in 2005, and wondered what might be in store for 2006? 2005 was an amazing year for us, both in terms of being awed by God's power and thrilled by his provision and his compassion for his children.
When 2005 started we were blessed to be participating with the Friendships ministry in Haiti, helping to deliver many tons of supplies along with fire trucks, ambulances, medical supplies and care to the people in need there. That mission introduced us to the hospital, school and orphanage operated by Grace International ministries, who invited us to return often, an invitation we accepted and hope to accept again soon! March found us doing several trips to missionaries working in northern Mexico with the Triqui people, during which we were able to bring lots of baby formula and other foods that the missionaries are using to combat the severe malnutrition that is common among the youngest children there. The “All Nations” ministry has been blessed to be able to start an indigenous church there last year, as well as making great strides towards helping the Triquis form their own economic support by such means as building a bakery.
Amber Smith with Friend Ships dentist in Haiti Triqui kids in their village in Mexico
Hugging kids and building walls at the N.A.O.M.I house for abused kids in northern Arizona
During April, May and June we continued doing trips to northern Mexico while planning for our mission to Haiti to support Grace International ministries there. During this time we joined with a team from Renton Park Chapel in Washington State to help the N.A.O.M. I. House during the construction of their much-needed staff housing. July marked preparations for our Haiti mission, during which we transported tons of cargo to Miami for delivery to Haiti . In August the Haiti mission took place, and we were blessed to be able to help provide some additional training for the volunteer fire department, put on a medical clinic that saw over 1,500 patients along with providing some construction on the hospital project there. As always we found that providing medical care to those who can not otherwise obtain it is a wonderful way to introduce people to the love of Jesus, and many of the patients accepted Him as their personal savior for the first time during the clinic!
Haiti mission - prayer in the medical clinic, fire training, hospital construction.
It was only a short while after returning from Haiti that our nation experienced the shocking disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Even though we had hardly caught our breath from the many missions of the summer we realized that our mobile kitchen would be a valuable tool in the hands of the people of God so we set out for New Orleans , not knowing exactly what we would find. Through a series of miracles we were given permission to enter the city while it was still closed by the military. It should be mentioned that the volunteers who joined us on this mission had only hours of notice that they were needed, so it is nothing short of miraculous that we were able to put together our “convoy” and deploy the whole team to New Orleans as quickly as we did. The following pictures tell some of the tale of what we found in New Orleans and some of the work that we were blessed to participate in. While this tragedy was clearly horrific in scale, we could not help but notice that God is using these events to reveal himself to large numbers of people, and many of them are making new or renewed commitments to God as a result of these storms. Being a part of that kind of victory makes all of our efforts worthwhile!
What we found in New Orleans
Ruined houses, ruined vehicles.
Empty Neighborhoods, streets in shambles.
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What we left in New Orleans
Lots Of Hugs!
Meals from our kitchen!
Thanksgiving dinner, plus lots of peanut butter sandwiches!
We were just getting the hang of working in a hurricane affected area when we found ourselves responding to two, and then three areas simultaneously. Our ministry had volunteers and equipment working in Lake Charles , LA (Hurricane Rita) and Belle Glade , FL (Hurricane Wilma) while continuing to support New Orleans .
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Hurricane Rita
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Hurricane Wilma
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Looking Ahead
So now here we are in 2006, with mission teams continuing to work in New Orleans , and another (according to the “experts”) big storm season coming up. It's natural for us to want to take a moment and try to make sense of all of these occurrences, and to therefore make some plans for the future, but clearly the only prediction that is completely accurate is that God is in control!
With this in mind we continue to be grateful to God for opening the hearts of many new donors this year, while praying that the fact that our work is not in the news at this time will not cause us to be forgotten. The future of New Orleans continues to hang in the balance, both spiritually and physically. Thousands of college students and youth groups are making plans to work in New Orleans over spring break, and we are blessed to be a part of such a godly effort, but we ask for daily prayer that the Church in America would increase rather than decrease their support for the crucial work there. Many Christian leaders have spoken to the fact that if New Orleans is re-born as a Godly city the implications for our nation and world could be more positive than we dare imagine. At the same time, if New Orleans returns to its previous condition or worse, then the negative implications are greater still. Much of the missions work being done around the globe could be impacted by the witness we provide with success or failure in our own nation, so we are encouraging each church member and pastor in our nation to pray, and send resources and workers.
In addition we do covet your prayers and support for our own ministry, as we feel that God has clearly put us in a position to be one of the fastest responding mobile kitchen and disaster relief agencies available. With this in mind we are planning on improving our equipment and general preparedness, but that sort of thing requires considerable finances. Therefore, we ask you all to pray about increasing your support for us and also introducing us to churches or organizations who would like to partner with an existing ministry preparing to respond to Gods call this year and in the future.
Wings Of Love Ministry
" Serving People Who Serve God"
3818 E Libra Pl, Chandler AZ 85249 (480) 917-3608 email to: info@wingsoflove.org www.wingsoflove.org