Sunday, August 28, 2016

Samuel and Mike


Hello, 

The team has arrived home safely, thank you for your prayers, I posted some photos on the blog. One of the photos is of the tables they made with the older boys. Two are of the kids in soccer pinnies that the team brought to help the kids tell who is on which team when they are playing on the field. The team also made treats for the children, which is something the children look forward too. It has been fun for the children to experience new treats from the teams. 

Now for the Wow! Praise Jesus part. We had the parade in Pass Rien yesterday. There were about 400 of us marching along with the marching band. We marched about 5 miles each direction. It was hot, but a lot of fun. After marching the first 5 miles, we came to a small school compound and spent some time worshiping before praying and then marching back. After the worship time Nathan asked if anyone wanted to give their life to the Lord and a women came forward and gave her life to Jesus. Then a mama carried her son piggy back from across the street. Nathan asked me to pray for the little boy with him, a pretty normal thing we do. I asked him his name and he said it was Samuel. I asked his age and he said he was 8 years old. I asked the mama what he needed prayer for and she showed us that he was paralyzed, he could not walk. I was feeling pretty unworthy that day and just asked God to heal this little boy for the boys sake and for the sake of glorifying God Himself. It breaks my heart that children have to go through hard things, but it breaks my heart even more here in Haiti, where there is no resources to help them and most people are against them, simply from a lack of understanding and fear. So here we are praying for this little one in the middle of a crowd of 400 plus people, most christian, some not. And Jesus heals him, we lift the little boy up by his hands for a minute then ask him to walk and he does very shakily. HE WALKS! WOW! PRAISE GOD! Everyone broke out into praise!  It was almost unbelievable, almost, but we saw it with our own eyes! God is so over the top good. I will post a photo of him with Mike on the blog, remember you can access it by clicking on the blog link below.

We start a week long crusade tonight in Pass Rein, please keep supporting us with your prayers. They are making a difference. Praising God!

Blessings, Chris

New picnic tables for the children


The team brought pinnies for the kids so they can tell one team from another on the field.



Thursday, August 25, 2016

Hello,

We wanted to let you know the team is doing great. Last night they went to Pass Rien for the 50 days of prayer in Pass Rein and they spent time near the end of the evening praying and ministering to the people. It was a good evening. So far there have been over 60 salvations during the 50 days of prayer, please keep praying for the spirit to move. 

Today the team is working on the picnic tables again. They have also installed more clothesline for the Children's Village. They put up steel posts with plastic coated steel cable for the line. It should last a while. The laundry workers will appreciate having the extra lines, especially the strong line. 

Tonight the team will be going to Perou for bible study. Please pray for hearts to be open as Mike teaches and the team ministers.

Friday the team will be leaving for Port-au-Prince to catch their flights home. Once again, could you please pray for on time flights, connections and safe travel. Also for the adjustment from one culture to another. 

Saturday, Pass Rein will be having a parade through out the village. This will be multi faceted. They will be celebrating the end of the 50 days of prayer in Pass Rein. They will also be celebrating the start of a crusade of one week in Pass Rein (it will be held on the soccer fields again, as there is a bit of a tug a war going on between us and the witch doctors over the land, but we already know the winner ). They will also be celebrating the life changes in the village of De Force, Pass Rein. Which will include some of the steps in changing the name from De Force (place of darkness, where the witch doctors come from to Bon Berger (Good Shepherd). Please pray for this event also, it will be a witness to the area. Thank you so much for joining together with us.

Blessings, Chris

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Hello 

We wanted to send an update on our team in Haiti. The team flew into Haiti the day after I arrived back in Haiti, so it has taken me a few days to get caught up. They are doing wonderful. 

The team arrived Friday evening and spent Saturday playing with the children and introducing themselves at the pastors conference. They also planned out the project they are working on. We have been needing new tables and chairs in our Children's Village dinning room for a while now. So the team is making picnic tables that are ultra strong and ultra balanced. The team has paired up with older boys in our Children's Village to teach the boys a building skill. Together with the boys they made a prototype today, Tuesday, and then had all the older boys sit on one side of the table with the attached benches and tested out the safety and strength. The table passed the test. The team and boys now have all the pieces cut for assembling the rest of the tables. We are so excited for the children to begin using them.

On Sunday the team went to Marose for church and then to Pass Rein for part of the 50 days in Pass Rein crusade.
​They enjoyed the worship and ministry time very much. Please continue to pray for this crusade as there have been many salvations and healings taking place. 

For the first half of the day Monday, the team went to Poteou for a women's conference.​ Then they worked on the picnic tables again. 

Today, Tuesday the team went into the market in Gonaives and spent some time learning some history and culture. Tonight they are attending bible study in Marose. 

Tomorrow night the team will be back in Pass Rein attending the 50 days in Pass Rein crusade. Mike will be sharing that evening and would appreciate prayers for open hearts. Please also lift the team up in prayer as they minister and seek God while here in Haiti. The fruit from the 50 days has been so amazing, in a week and a half we will be having 15 couples getting married during the same ceremony. Two of the couples are neighbors of ours, and we are so thrilled they are making this commitment. Thanks to your prayers God is stirring the hearts here in Haiti.

I will share more, later this week, thank you ever so much for partnering with us in prayer.

Blessings,
Chris 

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Hope and pray that you are all well and close to the Spirit of the Living God. My wife Chris is in America right now, in that heavenly place of spending time with our children and grandchildren. Normally we can't afford a trip like this mid-year, but our adult children were so generous as to purchase a ticket for mom to come for a visit. She is loving it. I am here holding down the fort, and God is definitely on the move here.....

   The Day Chris flew out was not a very easy day for me, not just emotionally, but physically as well. We had stayed at some dear friends in Port the night before. But I had not felt well for several weeks. I had a parasite that I affectionately named Olivia, (because the actual medical term sounded a lot like that). I was on my second round of strong antibiotics, and I wasn't too sure which was worse, Olivia or the meds. Olivia was not happy... I was also suffering from the burning and itching of a rash that had taken over most of my skin. This was greatly exacerbated by the heat and sweat that is just part of daily life in Haiti. After dropping of Chris and saying our good by's at the airport, I ran several errands in the heat and extreme traffic of Port-Au-Prince. I Then drove to Acahaie to preach in the "Big Church" of Pastor Jeremiah for a crusade that they were having there. Their church is fairly conservative compared to ours, but they like to hear "The white guy" preach the gospel message.

    As I was sitting up on the big stage, trying to mentally and spiritually prepare myself for this message, I was also trying to keep track of my 5 children in the audience of almost 2,000 people. I was also just informed that my translator was sick and might not be showing up. My skin felt like it was literally on fire and itching at the same time. As a result of being on the road all day, I had not been able to shower before changing clothes, so I felt soaking wet and sticky with sweat. My stomach felt like a thunderstorm was going on in it, and I was fairly convinced that the minute I stood up to preach there would be diarrhea all over the stage. I prayed for God's help and felt that this was a huge test of my will and my body, and I resolved to myself and God to preach this message, no matter what happened, I would continue as if everything was fine. 

   I received a real peace from God, that He would be carrying me through this test. As I was preaching I could feel God's presence, and His voice speaking through me. I felt His power in me. When I finished over 100 people rushed to the stage to receive prayer. Pastor Nathan came to the stage and led an amazing time of worship and ministry, the Holy Spirit revealed Himself in powerful ways. The whole thing was nearly overwhelming for me. As I drove the 2 hours home late that night, the kids were all asleep in the back seat, and I could feel the complete peace and comfort of my God....

   The Spirit has been moving very powerfully here at home as well. We have been celebrating a special "50 days of prayer" in Pass Rien. The crowd seams to get bigger every night. I preached on Tuesday and Friday night to a large crowd of people who were very hungry for the "Good news." In the first 15 days we have seen 29 salvations, 6 deliverences, and 2 witch doctors come out of the slavery of darkness and into the light of eternal life......Amen

   About 100 of us gathered for a time of prayer at 4:00am on Tuesday morning. As we were praying Nathan felt that we should go the the big Mapoo tree in the village. Under a Mapoo tree is the traditional place where many of the witch doctors practice their ceremonies and cast spells. When we arrived we saw lots of very bad voodoo stuff and we saw the names of many of our people nailed to the tree. We saw the name of one lady who had been warned by her pastor not to  attend our "50 days of prayer". Her name was written on a piece of wood, with barbed wire wrapped around it. We prayed to break these spells off the people and bring freedom. The Lord reminded us that having our names written in "the lambs book of life" is the most important thing for us....
   
   Blessings to you all. Please continue to pray for us as God is pushing back the darkness of Haiti, and bringing the "good news" to the desperate souls who are calling upon His name....    Thank You
​Mike​