You may have read in the newspapers or seen on TV that there are many organizations and individuals who have gone in to Haiti with a heart to serve and have ended up hurting themselves or others in the long run. The orphanage problem is a big one right now. Many do not know if the Haitian orphans are in the orphanages they are in because they don't have a family or simply didn't have food on the table. Many of the folks trying to help by finding these children homes are actually ripping some of these children from their homes.
It is absolutely imperative that if you are going to go anywhere to do mission work you have at least the basic training before working. If you don't have training then go through an organization who will get you what you need to get the job done without you hurting those you have gone to help.
Neighbors Across the Land offers trainings for mission teams and individuals in disaster relief. If you would like to go overseas we have trainings on what you need to be fully prepared before leaving. Our President has worked with and trained hundred's of mission teams over the past several years and is willing to train you as well. Visit us at www.natldrr.org or email us at natldrr@gmail.com to find out more about trainings.
It is imporant to have basic training tied with the desire of your heart to serve others before heading into a disaster anywhere in the world. The best way to repsond is to know how to respond and this will prevent a lot of injuries. The last thing we want is to end up in disaster to help and cause another one while we are there serving our God and one another.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
Suspended Domain
Suspended Domain: "This account has been suspended.
Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources."
This is on our website right now and we have no idea how it got there. We have talked with our hosting site and they say that everything is good on their end. We have talked with our domain registrar and they said everything is okay on there end. I am getting no answers. Does anyone know what this means and how to fix it? HELP!
Marie
Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources."
This is on our website right now and we have no idea how it got there. We have talked with our hosting site and they say that everything is good on their end. We have talked with our domain registrar and they said everything is okay on there end. I am getting no answers. Does anyone know what this means and how to fix it? HELP!
Marie
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Gowanda, NY
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest fields" Matthew 9:37-38
The town Gowanda, New York is definetly understanding the meaning of this passage. A month ago raging waters tore the town of Gowanda and surrounding areas. Destroying many homes, roads and lives. One month later, there is still much work to be done, but very few people who are on the site helping. NATL was asked to respond to these floods and upon arrival found much work to be done to get this town back to the way it was one month ago. There are many homes that were damaged and some completely destroyed. There are people who have lost much and right now need an outstretched arm from their neighbors across this land. NATL along with Katrina's Angels from New York, and Love Inc. based out MN, have partnerned together to bring aid to this town during their time of need. Helping with everything from delivering supplies to cutting down trees as well as simply listening to those have lost much. If you are are willing to come volunteer please contact us at www.natldrr.com/contact.html if you can't donate your time then consider a financial donation www.natldrr.com/help.html to help purchase flood clean up supplies, fuel for both vehicles and chainsaws, water and many other needed supplies. We are called to reach out to those in need and right now Gowanda needs our help. Here is one chance to Love. Serve. and Build. during a time of need.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
helping your "neighbors"
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind and all your strength. And Love your Neighbor as yourself. There are not other commandments greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
Over the past 5 years I have grown very close to some friends who are farmers. I grew up in a town of 52,000 so the concept of farming was very unfamiliar to me when I moved to Iowa. I had a neighbor who was very close in proximity, but I did not have day to day conversations with them. When I was living in Postville, IA I had a conversation with a friend about helping out our neighbors and was telling me about his “neighbor” who lived 5 miles up the road. I realized that in the farming community the concept of a neighbor is much different then that of a non-farmer. Farmers help one another and do it because that is how they survive. God has called us to help our neighbors and as I have been learning over the past couple of years, our neighbor isn’t the person sitting or living next to us; it is the person in need. We are called to help those in need and I have been demonstrated that one way this is done is in a small farming community in Postville, IA. How are you helping your neighbors?
Over the past 5 years I have grown very close to some friends who are farmers. I grew up in a town of 52,000 so the concept of farming was very unfamiliar to me when I moved to Iowa. I had a neighbor who was very close in proximity, but I did not have day to day conversations with them. When I was living in Postville, IA I had a conversation with a friend about helping out our neighbors and was telling me about his “neighbor” who lived 5 miles up the road. I realized that in the farming community the concept of a neighbor is much different then that of a non-farmer. Farmers help one another and do it because that is how they survive. God has called us to help our neighbors and as I have been learning over the past couple of years, our neighbor isn’t the person sitting or living next to us; it is the person in need. We are called to help those in need and I have been demonstrated that one way this is done is in a small farming community in Postville, IA. How are you helping your neighbors?
Our call
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4: 8-10
God tells us to love our neighbor by meeting their needs. We are to do this by using the gifts God has given us. All across the United States (and truly around the world) there are natural disasters that strike daily. This summer much of the damage from disasters occurred in the fields. All too often we feel that there is nothing we can do when things like this happen and although we cannot regrow the corn, or provide the all of the missing income for the farmers who are out the opportunity. However, we can stand up as brothers and sisters in Christ and reach out. We are to be sure our neighbors have enough to continue. We are to be Jesus. God has equipped each of you with skills and tools to help our neighbors. No matter what your skill set is, God has trusted you with these tools and skills and you can sure bet he is counting on you to use them to help your neighbors.
What does being a neighbor mean?
Luke 10: 25-37 The parable of the good Samaritan.
We hear this parable and talk about it in Sunday school, but how many of us have sat down and thought about what Jesus really meant for us when it comes to our brothers and sisters in need. I began to understand what God meant here when I met Greg Conklin. Greg is the president of Neighbors Across The Land. God told him 4 years ago to pack his bags, sell everything he owns and begin to meet people where they are at. “You belong in disasters” is what he heard God saying, “You have been equipped to serve your neighbors all across this land and it starts here”
I met Greg about a year ago in Parkersburg, IA about a month after the f5 tornado wiped out over 350 homes and a week later a flood took out the entire town of New Hartford. I began working with Greg and his disaster efforts and he shared with me his past and his training. He told me that God had given him a vision of planting neighbors all across the United States to respond in times of disasters. “Your neighbors are not just the people sitting next to you” he would tell me “they are the people in need” How many of you have heard the parable of the good Samaritan a million times and thought yep I need to help people if they are bleeding by the side of the road and move on. I finally understood what this parable meant for one week ago. While I was in Eldora one Sunday I was asked to present to a church about. I had been invited to worship with a family I met while serving with NATL after the hail/wind storm that struck Eldora. I was in the middle of talking about NATL and realized that I didn’t just believe in an organization or any one person, but I believed in a vision. God has demanded us to meet people where they are at. He demonstrated it for us by send HIS son to live among us and serve. I realized that week that I had been missing HIS point. God is telling us to love our neighbor by meeting their needs.
All across the United States (and truly around the world) there are natural disasters that strike daily. Most of them we do not hear about. How many of you heard about the 8 tornadoes that struck in Wood River, NE on June 4th and wiped out thousands of acres of crops and damaged hundreds of pivot sprinklers? This was my first tornado experience. I went out to view some lighting and ended up in a car driving through 8 tornadoes to get to safety. The only people that heard about these tornadoes were people I shared my experience with. I went back to NE in August and many of the farmers in the area had no crops because of the hail and tornadoes that have ripped through the filed this summer. If not enough damage is done, not enough people are killed, or not enough money is available many other organizations do not want to help. The bottom line is people are in need everywhere you go. Eldora had help for 4 days and all other organizations pulled out. They asked NATL to step in and help run the volunteers and the town for the weekend so the city people could have a break. We go where no one else feels like going. We help people whether they are Methodist or Baptist, Lutheran or Catholic, Christian or not…God demands us to do like he did…to love our neighbors and meet them where they are at. I visited with many people while in Eldora and some houses I prayed with the residents and others I did not. People need Jesus and sometimes the best way we can give them Jesus is to fill their need. After all Jesus didn’t go around quoting himself or telling people what great things his Father did, he went to people and healed them and loved them.
Neighbors Across The Land was established to train and equip people all over the United States to respond to all disasters. By responding we don’t just mean picking up debris, we mean changing hearts. In fact, I don’t care how many houses I rebuild, or how many branches I cut down when I am in a disaster it is about the victims and their needs. If they need a tree cut, then I cut, but if they just need someone to vent to, then listen is what we do. We are called to meet people at their level and love them like Jesus. It has been 4 years since Hurricane Katrina hit and there are still thousands of people without homes due to lack of help. Residents of Cedar Rapids, IA are still waiting for their distribution of the funds given to help with flood cleanup and rebuilding. The vision of NATL is respond with immediate aid until other help can arrive. We bring food, water and other needed supplies immediately after a disaster strikes. In fact, we were in Eldora, hours after the storm hit. However, that is just one part of NATL. We also are still working in areas long after many other organizations have left. We help provide mission teams and tools to complete the recovery process.
There are “disasters” of our own we have each day and NATL aims to teach the importance of not just rebuilding a house or feeding the hungry, but looking up the road or across the street and helping those in need so they have someone if a disaster should strike. God tells us in 2Timothy4:2 to be prepared. NATL teaches disaster preparedness classes and we provide information to have disaster kits in homes. You never know when a disaster might hit your home, whether it be a tornado, flood, fire, or even a damaging wind or ice storm. God tells us to be prepared and that is what NATL is about.
God has equipped each of you with skills and tools to help our neighbors. Last weekend when I was working in Eldora, I was shown that my skills and tools are talking with victims and listen or praying with them, if I pick up a stick or two in the process that is great. I ask you to think about what skills you have and how you can use them to a blessing to someone else. We are blessed to be a blessing. A man who owned a local paint store made a donation to one of the houses we worked on and after the conversation about the donation he said “Hmm, I never really thought I had anything to help further the kingdom of God, I always felt like how can I help, I just sell paint, but God does even use paint shop owners to further his kingdom” One small donation can make big difference in God’s kingdom. God commands us to love him first, and then to show that love through loving our neighbor. This neighbor can literally be your next door neighbor, or it could be the person sitting next to you in church today or it could be the person who just lost their house in a tornado 2 states east. No matter what your skill set is, God has trusted you with these tools and skills and you can sure bet he is counting on you to use them to help your neighbors. Remember our consequence if we choose not to use our talents to the full potential, God will take them away. If you don’t believe me read Matthew 25:14-30, it is the parable of the talents.
Please consider sowing some seeds and becoming part of a vision, by not just seeing the needs, but meeting them. If you would like to join us in our efforts to go and love, serve, and build with neighbors in need all across this land, you can contact us via email at natldrr@gmail.com or call at 641-691-4146 or write to PO Box 41 Marshalltown, IA 50158. I ask that you please consider joining us to Love, Serve, and Build to better and expand God’s Kingdom each day by meeting people wherever they may be.
Thanks in advance for any support you can provide!
Marie Mysliwiec
NATL Vice President/Operations Director
We hear this parable and talk about it in Sunday school, but how many of us have sat down and thought about what Jesus really meant for us when it comes to our brothers and sisters in need. I began to understand what God meant here when I met Greg Conklin. Greg is the president of Neighbors Across The Land. God told him 4 years ago to pack his bags, sell everything he owns and begin to meet people where they are at. “You belong in disasters” is what he heard God saying, “You have been equipped to serve your neighbors all across this land and it starts here”
I met Greg about a year ago in Parkersburg, IA about a month after the f5 tornado wiped out over 350 homes and a week later a flood took out the entire town of New Hartford. I began working with Greg and his disaster efforts and he shared with me his past and his training. He told me that God had given him a vision of planting neighbors all across the United States to respond in times of disasters. “Your neighbors are not just the people sitting next to you” he would tell me “they are the people in need” How many of you have heard the parable of the good Samaritan a million times and thought yep I need to help people if they are bleeding by the side of the road and move on. I finally understood what this parable meant for one week ago. While I was in Eldora one Sunday I was asked to present to a church about. I had been invited to worship with a family I met while serving with NATL after the hail/wind storm that struck Eldora. I was in the middle of talking about NATL and realized that I didn’t just believe in an organization or any one person, but I believed in a vision. God has demanded us to meet people where they are at. He demonstrated it for us by send HIS son to live among us and serve. I realized that week that I had been missing HIS point. God is telling us to love our neighbor by meeting their needs.
All across the United States (and truly around the world) there are natural disasters that strike daily. Most of them we do not hear about. How many of you heard about the 8 tornadoes that struck in Wood River, NE on June 4th and wiped out thousands of acres of crops and damaged hundreds of pivot sprinklers? This was my first tornado experience. I went out to view some lighting and ended up in a car driving through 8 tornadoes to get to safety. The only people that heard about these tornadoes were people I shared my experience with. I went back to NE in August and many of the farmers in the area had no crops because of the hail and tornadoes that have ripped through the filed this summer. If not enough damage is done, not enough people are killed, or not enough money is available many other organizations do not want to help. The bottom line is people are in need everywhere you go. Eldora had help for 4 days and all other organizations pulled out. They asked NATL to step in and help run the volunteers and the town for the weekend so the city people could have a break. We go where no one else feels like going. We help people whether they are Methodist or Baptist, Lutheran or Catholic, Christian or not…God demands us to do like he did…to love our neighbors and meet them where they are at. I visited with many people while in Eldora and some houses I prayed with the residents and others I did not. People need Jesus and sometimes the best way we can give them Jesus is to fill their need. After all Jesus didn’t go around quoting himself or telling people what great things his Father did, he went to people and healed them and loved them.
Neighbors Across The Land was established to train and equip people all over the United States to respond to all disasters. By responding we don’t just mean picking up debris, we mean changing hearts. In fact, I don’t care how many houses I rebuild, or how many branches I cut down when I am in a disaster it is about the victims and their needs. If they need a tree cut, then I cut, but if they just need someone to vent to, then listen is what we do. We are called to meet people at their level and love them like Jesus. It has been 4 years since Hurricane Katrina hit and there are still thousands of people without homes due to lack of help. Residents of Cedar Rapids, IA are still waiting for their distribution of the funds given to help with flood cleanup and rebuilding. The vision of NATL is respond with immediate aid until other help can arrive. We bring food, water and other needed supplies immediately after a disaster strikes. In fact, we were in Eldora, hours after the storm hit. However, that is just one part of NATL. We also are still working in areas long after many other organizations have left. We help provide mission teams and tools to complete the recovery process.
There are “disasters” of our own we have each day and NATL aims to teach the importance of not just rebuilding a house or feeding the hungry, but looking up the road or across the street and helping those in need so they have someone if a disaster should strike. God tells us in 2Timothy4:2 to be prepared. NATL teaches disaster preparedness classes and we provide information to have disaster kits in homes. You never know when a disaster might hit your home, whether it be a tornado, flood, fire, or even a damaging wind or ice storm. God tells us to be prepared and that is what NATL is about.
God has equipped each of you with skills and tools to help our neighbors. Last weekend when I was working in Eldora, I was shown that my skills and tools are talking with victims and listen or praying with them, if I pick up a stick or two in the process that is great. I ask you to think about what skills you have and how you can use them to a blessing to someone else. We are blessed to be a blessing. A man who owned a local paint store made a donation to one of the houses we worked on and after the conversation about the donation he said “Hmm, I never really thought I had anything to help further the kingdom of God, I always felt like how can I help, I just sell paint, but God does even use paint shop owners to further his kingdom” One small donation can make big difference in God’s kingdom. God commands us to love him first, and then to show that love through loving our neighbor. This neighbor can literally be your next door neighbor, or it could be the person sitting next to you in church today or it could be the person who just lost their house in a tornado 2 states east. No matter what your skill set is, God has trusted you with these tools and skills and you can sure bet he is counting on you to use them to help your neighbors. Remember our consequence if we choose not to use our talents to the full potential, God will take them away. If you don’t believe me read Matthew 25:14-30, it is the parable of the talents.
Please consider sowing some seeds and becoming part of a vision, by not just seeing the needs, but meeting them. If you would like to join us in our efforts to go and love, serve, and build with neighbors in need all across this land, you can contact us via email at natldrr@gmail.com or call at 641-691-4146 or write to PO Box 41 Marshalltown, IA 50158. I ask that you please consider joining us to Love, Serve, and Build to better and expand God’s Kingdom each day by meeting people wherever they may be.
Thanks in advance for any support you can provide!
Marie Mysliwiec
NATL Vice President/Operations Director
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