Broken Jars

The fiery issue of whether or not a mosque should be built near Ground Zero has stirred emotions worldwide.  Questions about the “rights” of Muslims to build so near to the place where so many were killed in the name of Islam abound. President Obama supports their rights, but questions their wisdom. Questions about where the funding for the multi-million dollar will come from, questions about the mosque’s imam who has occasionally accused the USA of causing the 9-11 catastrophe – these issues dominate CNN and Fox and everything in between.  In the past several weeks I have not met anyone who has no opinion: everyone has an opinion, wrapped in strong feelings. No one is neutral. (more…)

Last week presented me with a real “nail biter.” With a departure for Suriname scheduled for August 15, I had only three or four days to obtain my replacement Surinamese visa. One can’t do that online or at the point of entry. For Americans, the passport needs to be presented to the Consul General of Suriname in Miami. When I Express Mailed (US Post Office) my passport, the post office simply delivered a pick-up notice to the Miami consulate. They’d never get it in time to process my visa, partly due also to the fact that one of those crucial days in the middle of all this was a Suriname holiday, and the consulate was closed. How would they ever get my passport, process the visa, and get it back to me in time? Praise the Lord for his timing and for his servants: my sister in the Lord keeps that consulate functioning, and she super-expedited the process which brought me my passport and visa yesterday morning – two days to spare!

It’s been 21 years since the Lord gave an initial vision to kick-start this ministry. It was written within days of the experience, but never published on the web until now. You can click on “Our Executive Director” or “Our Core Essentials” to the left or simply click here to read it. Your comments are welcome.

The annual board of directors meeting, held on Friday May 7, 2010 at Lehigh University,  ended with 8 exhausted but gladdened members posing for the photo at left.  Representing Guyana, Suriname, the United States, and Venezuela, the board re-examined the initial vision that gave Broken Jars its birth and agreed that the Lord was calling us to revisit the two core places in that vision (Jamaica and Suriname) as well as developing newer areas of involvement in western Europe and Southeast Asia/Oceania.   The year 2010-2011 promises then to be an exciting one, and you are invited to keep up with the unfolding details by tuning into this website every several weeks.

The photo, courtesy of Paul Doth, shows, left to right: Hugh Norwood, Eric Harz, Paul Doth, Doug Norwood, Andres Hernandez, Anita Yard, Hampton Morgan, and Joe Johnson.