Rebuilding God's House

In the Old Testament much is written about the importance of "God's House" for Israel, the people of God. In fact, the part of the Jewish temple called the "Holy of Holies" was believed to house the very presence of Yahweh, the proper name of God in the OT. For this reason, only the Jewish High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once per year after strict cleansing rituals. For the Jewish people, God's House in Jerusalem was the center of their existence. Much of this focus on the temple is not present in the New Testament, partially because the Jewish temple was destroyed in the NT period (70 A.D.) and partly because Jesus introduced a new theology in which the dwelling of God (i.e., the Holy Spirit) became the heart of the regenerated believer. For Christians, the "House of God" is no longer blocks and mortar, but it is the church of Christ, made up of men, women and children from all nations and cultures. Nevertheless, church buildings are still important, especially as a place where the church can gather to worship. That is why we, with the financial assistance of SON-BEAM International, are rebuilding the Siloye Christian Reformed Church (pictured above) in Jacmel, Haiti. Though not entirely destroyed by the earthquake, the church structure (left) became unstable and had to be completely demolished (right). In its place, Lord willing, will stand a 55'x30' heavily reinforced concrete church structure. Please pray for the execution of this project. Pray especially that the members of Siloye church will be able to find all the necessary volunteers to construct the church as we are providing grants solely for construction materials.