... And Thank You for Your Support.

A number of people have asked about our fund-raising efforts.  We have recently begun speaking in our area churches and are going to send out support letters to friends and family soon.  We sincerely hope no one feels pressured or obligated to give, and we certainly don't want to bother or burden others, but we do want to offer you the opportunity to join in this great God thing that is happening in our lives.

As I have mentioned before, asking for money is not something I enjoy doing, but it is another area in which God is stretching me to have faith in his provisions and stop relying on my own plans for success.  I think of it as a "painful blessing" -- there is pain in the stretch of growth, but the blessing is becoming closer to the Lord.  It's the intimacy with God that allows me to feel certain amidst uncertainty.

I've noticed a parallel between what I have learned about attachment and how I grow in my relationship with God. A simplified definition of a healthy child is one who is best bonded to their caregiver.  The caregiver provides the grounding for this healthy relationship through their stable, consistent, loving presence.  The child comes into the relationship helpless and dependant on the parent's care and slowly learns to respond and interact, based on the caregiver's capacity (and other factors such as environment, experience, temperament, etc.)  Parents are imperfect and kids are sometimes difficult.  Sometimes situations are muddled and things get in the way of healthy attachment.  But with God, he is always stable, loving, good, and just.  The more I respond to his direction and discipline, the healthier and happier I am.  When I kick and scream and rebel, God doesn't misbehave in return; he waits and guides me to return to the path of intimacy with him.

So this asking for support thing is yet another example of how he is nudging me to grow in relationship and intimacy with him.  Do I really trust him to "pay up" and take care of everything material I need along the way?  Even the plane tickets and health insurance needed before we can move forward?  Of course I know the Bible passage that tells me not to worry about what I will eat or drink or wear, and how he cares for sparrow and me,  but living that knowledge is challenging.  I get caught up in all the needs and wants and things I think I need to do to be happy and secure.  How easily I forget that my happiness is directly linked to my secure attachment to my heavenly father... perhaps you sometimes feel the same.

That being said, I am excited for the journey the Lord is taking my family, and how he is giving me all I need along the way.

Some of what the support letter says will be review, but I do ask you take a minute to think about if our ministry in Haiti is something God is stirring you to be a part of.  If so, would you like to pray for us or support us financially?  We need both.  We can't do it on our own because it's about relationship.  We would love to share this God-journey with you!

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 MAY 2012

Greetings dear friends and family,

As you read this letter, lists are being made, “FOR SALE” is on the lawn, and boxes are in the garage in anticipation of a big life change! We’re moving to Haiti and we are asking you to partner with us as we respond to God’s leading into a new chapter of our lives!

Why Haiti, and Why Now?

Missions and outreach have always been an important theme in our lives – even before we married we agreed that overseas work was part of our calling as a family, but we didn't know when.  Last June Kirk organized a trip to serve at Children of the Promise in Haiti.   What began as a plan for one mixed age 10-day trip, turned into three 10-day trips, back-to-back, with Christina and the boys going along and staying for the duration, as Kirk led each incoming group. The interest and support of this endeavor was over-whelming and our teams were able to be a blessing to those going, those receiving our care, and to the home community upon hearing of God’s great work in hearts and minds.

God was also beginning a work in our hearts and minds.  Not long after returning home we felt drawn to adopt two beautiful children from COTP.  How this came to be and the surprises along the way is a story unto itself (read the full story at www.theprovokedlife.blogspot.com), but suffice it to say, it was one of the steps in the path God was using to draw us to Haiti. We remain in the process of completing these adoptions, but will be able to have the girls as part of our family once we move to Haiti, much sooner than would be possible if we remained stateside.

In the months that followed the trip, first Kirk, and then Christina began to have a sense God was calling us to something more.  We began to have conversations with the directors of COTP who informed us of their desire to have our set of gifts at work for COTP.   While COTP had become excellent at providing physical healing for very needy infants, leadership was beginning to understand more of the emotional, social, and psychological needs of the babies in their care.  This knowledge led to a decision to develop a new standard for orphan care in Haiti.

Presently, while in process of change, infants at COTP are housed in one main baby house with individual rooms and caregivers for each age group.  While this model allows for streamlined care and has generally provided well for physical needs, flaws in emotional care have been revealed.  COTP has been eager to remedy this in order to provide the best care possible to these little ones; care that even better reflects the relational nature in which our Creator has so fashioned us.  Our relational nature requires consistent care by predictable caregivers where emotional and social needs are most likely to be attended to, and healthy attachment is made possible.  This is better care for both those babies returning to their families of origin, as well as babies being adopted.  The new model will allow for individual baby houses of mixed ages, with care provided by a stable team of house parents and nannies. 

Work has already begun in the construction of these new homes, however additional leadership will be needed in developing the policies and procedures surrounding mental health and the new model of care.  Guidance for caregivers in how to best optimize healthy attachment with these precious little ones, teaching the importance of self-care for providers, and helping to trouble shoot where adaptive behaviors indicate difficulties with attachment, will also be addressed.

Besides the mental health piece, on-going construction and supervision of new staff coming to parent in the baby homes, are areas that require oversight. 

So here's where we come in!  Our pairing of gifts and talents seems to be a great fit for the needs that exist at COTP right now!  Christina has her Master's in Counseling Psychology and for the past couple of years, has begun training and practice in the field of Infant Mental Health.  She has access to wonderful resources and people who are willing to consult along the way as an infant mental health program is built from the ground up.

Kirk has experience in numerous areas that will be helpful including administration, staff oversight, and construction management. The changes under way at COTP will involve building and remodeling structures gradually over the next three years to accommodate new staff and programs, and Kirk's skills in planning and implementing these projects will be a tremendous asset.
The current staff are tireless, dedicated workers, but are stretched to their limits managing the current programs, so for COTP to make these wonderful improvements, additional staff are needed.
So to answer the question “Why Haiti?  Why Now?”  Haiti has begun to take root in us during the past year, and we are at the exact point in our lives where our skills and experiences meet the needs for service there.  But above all, God has planted a passion for Haiti in our hearts, and it is growing into the mature plant he is nurturing it to be!  We respond now, because we believe we are being called now.

What is it going to take to make this happen?

We hope to move the end of August (2012).  We are committing to a two year term in order to provide consistency during the transition to a new standard of care; however we may be willing and able to serve for a longer time period.
  
We have numerous needs for which we are seeking support from our community.  It has been a tremendous blessing to have words of encouragement and promises of prayer.  These things will boost our morale during tough days and seasons, and will be our lifeline to the Father, as you petition on our behalf.  We deeply desire your partnership in this way to sustain us.

To cover our financial needs we are seeking donations to cover our expenses. We estimate that it will cost approximately $50,000 per year for our family of 6. This includes food, lodging, health insurance, travel, and schooling.  (We would be happy to provide our financial statement upon request.)

We are hoping for various levels of support--one time donations, annual gifts, and monthly support.  50 households supporting us at $84 per month would cover all our expenses, but there are lots of ways this can happen and we’re waiting on God to see how He works all that out.

If helping to fund our service at Children of the Promise is something you are led to do, donations can be made directly to COTP, and are tax deductible.  As with most charitable giving, our names should not appear anywhere on the check-simply write a note or post-it indicating how you request your gift be used.  In this tech-savvy era, we plan to have our fund-raising progress updated on-line to keep our supporters informed of our fund raising progress.  If this interests you, be sure to give us your e-mail address, so we can provide you with a link to our financial information.

We are humbled and filled with joy to be on this faith journey and are grateful to God for allowing us to share this experience with his people both here and in Haiti.  Thanks for taking the time to hear how God is leading us!

Most Sincerely, 

The Vander Pol's
__________________________________________________________________
Donation for our fund-raising can be sent to:

Children of the Promise                    OR                             via on-line donation @ www.childrenofthepromise.org

P.O. Box 123

Prinsburg, MN 56281

Please indicate on the letter or with a post-it note on your check who you are designating the gift for.  If you would prefer to receive a donation letter and response card by mail for on-going support,  please contact us directly at:

The Vander Pol's                        OR                          via e-mail @ kirkvanderpol@gmail.com

501 Minnesota Ave.

Prinsburg, MN 56281

Pass the Salt, Please

This past Sunday was our first "fund-raising Sunday".  We had the opportunity to share about our plans and how we believe God is leading us to Haiti, at Willmar Christian Reformed Church where Kirk is employed as Youth Pastor.  (Technically he is employed by both Willmar CRC and Unity CRC in Prinsburg, but the youth facility is in Willmar.)  I was able to share with the church how sometimes when we keep ourselves comfortably rooted in one place, believing we are "doing our part" or being self-satisfied with our own religiosity, God may nudge us to grow, as he has with me. 

Oh how I have loved my convenient life here in rural MN, in the heartland of the wealthiest nation on earth -- a magical world where grocery lines are short, roads are smooth and wide as I ride in my choice of two vehicles, my house has cushioned floors, my clothes bear the scent of spring rain, and the temperature of my home is effortlessly controlled for comfort.  I live in a neighborhood where young children roam freely without fear and their greatest sadness is bidding farewell to a lumpy pet toad.  Women pin clothes under clear skies by 7 AM and the aroma of fresh-baked goodness wafts from sparkling windows.  The music of birdsong is like that of a forest preserve and a rumble of thunder is the only noise to break night's silent blanket of peace. 

"Women pin clothes under clear skies by 7 AM and the aroma of fresh-baked goodness wafts from sparkling windows. The music of birdsong is like that of a forest preserve and a rumble of thunder is the only noise to break night's silent blanket of peace."

This too-good-to-be-true image, is in fact, part of my actual life.  Of course, I occasionally get an inept cashier, I have to vacuum my comfortable carpets,  my vehicles' total worth is around  $4,000 and not entirely reliable, and sun-bleached laundry sometimes gets pooped on, but the reality is, my life is cushy!  Even with the deep challenges I have faced within our family unit during the last year, I practically live in nirvana!  Oh there are people with needs not too far from the outskirts of my peaceful kingdom, but it takes effort to mingle with those outsiders.  My day to day is filled with maintaining my castle and grounds, and rubbing shoulders with the local aristocracy.  It's all very convenient.

I have noticed that like schools of fish, we, and I mean, "we Christians", tend to stay in safe groups with notions of "protecting our children" (and maybe ourselves) from the dangers of worldly influences, and we keep the messiness of the outside at arm's length. In our comfortable homes with tidy yards we remain safely numb to real need. 

Now let me be clear that I love my community and the people of it -- so many are good, honest, loving, giving people.  I have personally been the recipient of grace, generosity, and earnest prayer from these folks, and have grown in faith and maturity while experiencing fellowship with many of these people.

Kirk has challenged me with this: how do I act as the salt and light Jesus talks about in Matthew 5 when I'm so close to all this other great seasoning?  Isn't it kind of selfish of me to enjoy all this flavoring to myself and not use it as Jesus talks about when he said we're "to be the salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth"?  How does where I live and who I rub shoulders with affect my ability to bring the "God-flavors" to those who haven't yet experienced Him?  Am I running the risk of losing my saltiness and being worthy of nothing more than the garbage?

So this is how I started to feel stretched, how I began to feel my roots crowding, and how I started to attend to God's patient beckoning and the hunger he was growing inside of me. With all these thoughts as the background for our decision to move, I tried to hand my pride over to the Lord (again) and told the church we needed their financial partnership to make this thing happen, and asked for prayer. 

Following the church service there was a potluck dinner.  While Kirk and I were sitting talking with our table mates, this guy walks up to Kirk and said, "hey, if we want to give something to your Haiti thing, how do we do it?  Can I just give it to you?"  I had never seen the man before.  Kirk told him we would get the money to the right place and accepted a small bundle of bills.  He asked if the man wanted a tax donation receipt, but he said, "no", and wished us God's blessings on our plans.  I said thanks, asked the man his name, and, I'm embarrassed to say, promptly forgot nearly as soon as he away.  I assumed it was a little wad of 1's, and in my heart said a quick thanks -- thanks for how this small gift was again confirmation of God's blessing over our endeavor. 

Later that afternoon, I overheard Kirk saying something to the boys about a cool thing happening today - that a man had come up to him after church and given $140.00  How cool is that? Not just a little bundle of 1's but a bundle of 20's -- $140.00! 

Once again, God teaches me not to underestimate his ability and desire to provide for all I need and more.  Success is not dependant on me and all that I have to offer.  It is all about him and what he has to offer.  He takes joy in inviting me to be a part of his amazing plan and gives joy when I participate in it.  He allowed a "stranger" in on it to bless us beyond the dollars, and will use me, too for building his kingdom, encouraging his people, and being the God-flavoring in places that need to taste godliness. 

How might God be asking you to express your salt-seasoning and light?  It might involve some stretching... and some joy.

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Matthew 5:13-16

The Message (MSG)

Salt and Light

¹³"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. ^14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven."