How we got our name...

Well, I figured I would start with how I came up with our name...
It is a little long for the name of a ministry, so we nickname it Fearless Warriors for Haiti, but Fearless Warriors in a Picket Fence Ministry for Haiti came to me as a result of some things I had been thinking about as a result of visiting Haiti and the calling I felt on my heart to do more work there.
I knew the calling was real. I knew I had heard God clearly. Almost audibly. But upon returning home from my 1st trip to Haiti in March of '09, I started talking God out of it.
"I must be making this all up. I am not a missionary. What can I do? I have young kids. A husband. How could this possibly work? I don't know anything. I don't even know your word well enough to speak with any authority. I just turned 39 while I was there. You don't call people this old. This is crazy. What to I have to offer?"
The 2nd day after I returned home, we went to our regular church service. At this time we were attending a local church. I believe about 1,000 people probably attend the service we were at. It was one of 6 service they held. We arrived late, as we unfortunately usually did, and were seated in the only set of 3 seats left in the sanctuary. Jeremy, Delaney, our 10 year old daughter, and myself. I was seated next to a well dressed man with dark skin. My 1st thought was, "I wonder if he is Haitian?" my next thought was "Um Tam, every black man you meet is not going to be from Haiti. You are in Rockford, Illinois, the chance that you will meet a man from Haiti here in the very heart of the midwest is extremely remote. Give me a break!"
So we settled in to hear the sermon. The pastor walks out, and this is how he start his sermon...no I am not kidding~
"You know how when you go to different places, people don't know who you are? You just some obscure person? Like when we go to Haiti, they don't know me as Pastor, they call me 'tet klere'...which means 'shiny head'"
OK, we had been attending church here for maybe 2 yrs at this point. He had mentioned many times about his daughter working in the mission field in Haiti, but this was the 1st time he had ever mentioned him being there. So, I am thinking, well, that is a little weird?
Now someone comes up to give his testimony about how God had changed his life...and he starts his story by explaining he has always tried to talk his way out of things...even tried to talk his way out of following God's prompting for the mission that changed his life. OK, so weird thing 2 in the past 5 minutes.
Next, the pastor comes back on to talk about his topic for the day, Mt. Siani, where Moses was called into his mission...he explained that Moses was not called into missions until he was nearly 40 years old.
"Really?! Did he just say that. How did I know ever realize that? Didn't I just explain that I am too old to be called to missions because I am nearly 40?"
Now I am really crying in my seat. REALLY crying. Jer is wondering what I am crying about and I am trying to explain to him that I can't explain it now, or I will REALLY fall apart. He now thinks I have lost my mind, but also looks like he thinks that is nothing new.
So I pull it together. The service ends and the gentleman next to me thanks me for the napkin I handed him during service when he spilled his coffee. When he thanks me I can hear his heavy accent. I just HAVE to ask now. "Excuse me, I just love to guess where an accent if from, can I ask you where you are from?" And don't you just know it! He is from Haiti! I explain that I believe we are supposed to meet and that I had just returned from Haiti. He asked what I was there for and I told him the ministry I went with. He explained that he had just found a piece of material on this organization he had been given 4 yrs ago and set it on the table in his dining room the previous week. He sees this as a quite the coincidence also.
God brought me back from Haiti, where I heard him call us to further missions work and sat me down in a service next to a Haitian man, during a sermon on Moses, with a testimony about arguing with God's calling, all topped off with a little kreyol lesson. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
So I started praying. Praying about what to do next. Praying that I would seek His wisdom. Praying that Jeremy would hear the calling to.
At this point I was 'somewhere in the middle'. So this song struck me. As we pursued finding out more about Haiti, about serving, about what he could possibly want me/us for, I became attached to this idea that, because of God, we all have gifts to offer. And that sitting in our homes in the relative safety and security of life here in America, behind our symbolic 'white picket fences' living out the 'American dream', He does call us. He calls us to be His warriors. To do battle for His kingdom. To fight against the lies of this world for the Truth of His. He calls all of us, in a millions ways, everyday, everywhere. I hope that as part of the mission of our organization we are able to remind people of that. That we all have something to offer. Every gift is valuable. And we grow most and learn most when we go outside of our white picket fence and see where we are needed. Our American dream can be a blessing! It can also comfort us to death. Don't be lulled warriors! Use your gifts today in a way that makes you feel uncomforable. It may remind you how alive you are. Go on a mission trip...bring a dinner to a neighbor...hug someone that you fear may reject you, because maybe they need the hug more than they are letting on...sacrifice a little of the cappuccino money one week to save the live of a child in a 3rd world country, it only takes a few dollars...pray for someone you do not know in the mission field, they really do need your support in any way. So that is the big picture on the name. More on where we are now, and what lies ahead. Blessings!