Avis Goodhart - Out of the Dust (Story of an Unlikely Missionary)

Out of the Dust

Story of an Unlikely Missionary

Published by LIFE SENTENCE Publishing at Smashwords Copyright Avis Goodhart

With Marti Pieper

Click to watch Avis Goodharts interview on 100 Huntley Street

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.

The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:10-11

I believe that before we are born, God places within us a particular personality with certain qualities, talents, and traits. He also picks our parents and siblings. I am so grateful to be in the family He chose.

This book is dedicated to my sisters and brothers, Rada, Bob, Art (deceased), Fred, George, and Carol; and to my kids by birth, Tia and Mark; and by marriage, Glen (deceased), Cindy, and Cleta.

It is also dedicated in memory of my parents, Bob and Elsie Miller. As Dad once said, All these happy people because I loved Elsie and she loved me.

Avis Goodhart

Pacasmayo, Peru

Contents

Foreword

I will write down all these things as a testimony of what the Lord will do (Isaiah 8:16a NLT).

I ts been said the only story God cant use is the one that isnt told. For twenty-six years, it has been my joy and privilege to help people tell their stories of His faithfulness on national Christian television. After her first appearance on 100 Huntley Street , I knew Avis Goodharts journey had to be detailed in a book.

Here is a woman who could have been defeated by past failures and harsh realities, but instead has showcased the truth of 1 Corinthians 1:27: Gods strength shows up best in weak people. Avis leaves no room for doubting God has a plan and the power to bring it to fruition. As she said on our program, God can use anybody to do anything. We just need to be willing to follow where He leads. God will use the things of our past hurts, homelessness, abuse, as well as a good family life, education, and money. They all can be tools that God will use if we give them to Him. God was calling me: Go. I will show you what to do when you get there.

When the effects of Bells palsy cost Avis her teaching job, she retired with two-thirds of her salary until age sixty-five, providing the start-up funds for Go Ye Ministries. Gods launch pad freed Avis to become ordained, incorporated, and prepared for Pacasmayo, Peru, and the church, orphanage, and school she founded.

In a place of loss and discouragement, God reignited a call to missions that Avis first sensed at age twelve. This testimony reminds us all that it is never too late to make a fresh start and perhaps discover our destiny and purpose.

He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump (Psalm 113:7).

Moira Brown

100 Huntley Street

Toronto, Canada

Acknowledgments

G od must have wanted this story written, or it would never have happened. Like so many things He has led me to do, I was and am incapable of doing the job. But through Him, we can do all things.

Each time I had the pleasure of appearing on 100 Huntley Street , Moira Brown, host of Crossroads , would tell me, You need to write a book. Two couples, Jim and Cathy Johnson and Tony and Mary Ann Geisen, heard Moira because they had driven me to the station and were watching the live program.

Thats all the encouragement Jim needed. He started looking for a writer. In fact, the next week, he called the program and asked if they knew who could help. That eventually led us to Marti Pieper, who is now a good friend and collaborative writer of Out of the Dust .

Tony and Mary Ann live half the year in Canada and half the year in Peru. Every Sunday afternoon, they host all the volunteers from the Casa de Paz orphanage for a wonderful lunch and fellowship. After they heard what Moira said about writing a book, they came up with a plan. Every Sunday after lunch, they would stick a small tape recorder in front of me and ask a few questions. Mary Ann transcribed everything from these sessions.

Later, Bettina Neubauer, another volunteer from Canada, spent several days with me as we put everything Mary Ann had written in order and added more to it. By the time Marti came to Peru, we had 130 pages of notes to share. Marti and I became fast friends as we worked on more. Marti followed me around for the next two weeks, doing what I did and interviewing everyone along the way. Marti returned home, and the work and phone calls began. It was really happening. Praise God!

I also want to thank all the people who accompanied me on those early mission trips to the mountains of Honduras, the jungles of Colombia, and down the Amazon, and over the mountains of Peru. God bless you, Daniel Ortega, Helen Blair, Steve Claypool, Fred and Peggy Miller, George and Mary Miller, and so many more. God blessed us as we ministered to others. Also, many thanks to Lorene Vickery who keeps Go Ye Ministries books straight and packed so many shoeboxes, blessing thousands of children through the years.

God blessed Go Ye Ministries and me very much through Rachel and Herb Cypert, Al and Charlotte Lockhart, Helen Blair, Jim and Cathy Johnson, Pastor Jeff McCracken, Mike and Jan Bayton, Mary Ann and Tony Giesen, Roseana Giegler, Emma Mier, Arada and George Steinann, George and Mary Miller, Fred and Peggy Miller, Mike and Mary Ann Traylor, Roger Bill and Ruth Remington, Kevin Guier, Bruce Goulding, Mandy Kauer, Tammy Dicken, Jana and Wayne Salley, and the list goes on. God knows, and He will bless.

Thank you also to the many children and families God has allowed me to serve through the years. You have my heart and my prayers always.

Avis Goodhart

Pacasmayo, Peru

Chapter 1

Preparing the Way

P recious things often carry a high price tag. That explains why most of the big decisions in my life have begun with a spiritual battle. My journey into missions did too.

You could say Im a late bloomer. I married at eighteen and had my first child before my nineteenth birthday, but other things took me longer. I didnt graduate from college until my mid-forties. I didnt start my career teaching special education until after that. And, at age fifty, Id never gone out of the United States on a mission trip.