Prayer Partners: Last night we received some bad news by telephone. Around 10:30 Pastor Nathan called me to say, among other things that Madame Maurice was very sick and had seen Dr. Ralph that day. I agreed to pray for her, but the call was lost, as often is the case. Nathan called back about 10 minutes later to say that Madame Maurice had just died. We were shocked at the sudden news. This is the widow of Maurice who was an elder in the church, and worked as a tech in our medical clinic until he unexpectedly died about 7 months ago. They leave behind two daughters, 21 and 19, two sons 17 and 13, and a grandson about 4. They are all Christians and close to our ministry. We had been continuing to pay Maurice's salary to Madame Maurice to help her with the children. They were both strong healthy people and strong in the Lord. I must admit that I will probably never understand this one, but please pray with me for God to turn this tragedy into a rich blessing for these children, and profitable for the Kingdom and His Glory.

As we were so vividly reminded on this last trip, life in Haiti is a real battle. This country has been held by satan for most of it's existence. And in order to take back this country for the Lord, we must first go into the country and bind up this strong man and set his captives free. This is not an easy job, and we cannot do it by ourselves. We need you and your prayers and we need the spirit of our VICTORIOUS LORD. Please stand firm with me as we work out our calling with fear and trembling...............Mike

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Prayer Partners: Notice that I said "Back Again" instead of home again. Home is both places for me now. Anyway, We had a great trip with a great team. It was very rewarding to have two of my sons with me on this trip, Jake and Jeremiah. They have been a big part of this ministry and I appreciate them tremendously. I appreciate so much the updates that Chris, my beautiful wife, sends out daily. It's not easy for her when I leave her with all the duties and responsibilities of home and small children, as I am in Haiti.

We encountered quite a bit of spiritual battle going on all around us, but the team fought gallantly and held their position well. We saw satin losing battles in the sky, and the prevailing victories of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the highlights that Chris was unable to disclose while on the trip until Julia could notify her family and friends, was that she, along with several Haitian adults was baptized in the river at Marose. It was a fantastic celebration of the spirit. And it will be a part of Julia's walk with God that she will never forget. We applaud her faith and stand buy her as she continues to push on with God's generous grace and assistance. The team loved on our orphans with passion and grace and were sad to leave for home. We also made great strides in our continuing support and training of the pastors of some 35 churches in the area of "Life Giving Churches". Please continue to pray for us and the victories that God is placing into our hands as we push hard to reach the lost and hurting and needy in Haiti................Mike

Hello again,

This morning the team went to the market and spent time in Gonaives. They enjoyed seeing the city side of Haiti, it is an eye opener to say the least.

Also 1/2 of the roof was poured (cement) on phase 2 of our orphanage building. It is getting closer to being finished Yeah!

The team feed the poor today and said it was both good and hard. The ministry we partner with in doing this then came back to our orphanage for lunch and worship and prayer. Usually we have lunch at their place. So it was nice to host them this time.

Each trip we try to bring something that the orphanage children have not seen or tried before. This trip the team brought popcorn and

cooked it the old fashion way, in a large kettle over an open fire. Which is how all of our meals are cooked. (we can not wait to get them up off the dirt floor and out of the enclosed hut in which they cook over an open fire). When the orphanage is done they will have a clean kitchen with a commercial propane stove. Anyway the popcorn was a hit. The children loved it.

Thank you for your prayers for Nathan, we have been assured that the director of the Gonaives IBSER will write us a letter of recommendation and give it to IBSER in Port-au-Prince.

Also the boys were able to find all the needed parts for laying the pipe. So the pipe work is laid and waiting to be hooked up to

sinks, showers, toilets, ect. Again thanks for all of your prayers.

Tomorrow the team will head to Port-au-Prince. They fly out in the late afternoon. This time they have some extremely long layovers

and will not fly into Seattle until Friday night at about 10:40 pm. Please pray for them, this will be a long 2 days of travel, especially if

they have missed connections like every other time. We would really appreciate your prayers for safe travel. Also for each of the team members as they try to seek God and figure out how what they have experienced fits into their lives at home.

Blessings,

Chris

Wow,

What a day the team had! First in the morning Mike met with the 3 directors of our schools in Marose, Gonaives and Peru. It looks like we are growing from about 300 students last year to about 600 students this year. Wow! That means books, supplies, school uniforms, and one meal 5 days a week for 600 children.The Marose school meets in our church. Gonaives meets in a tarp covered pole building. And Peru meets in a reed and grass building. This looks impossible, but God has always, always provided. I am so excited to see how He meets the needs this time. He knew years ago that we would be schooling 600 children this fall. 600 hundred children that will get the chance to rise above poverty, 600 children that will grow up able to read and write. 600 children that will have hope. 600 children that can change Haiti. A while ago a friend of ours told us about 2 young boys who built a raft to try to get to the US from Haiti. 99.99% of the time Haitians trying to get to America are turned back. Haiti is a country with no natural resources left, nothing of interest to the rest of the world. These 2 boys convinced the coast guard who picked them up out at sea after their raft had come apart, that they should get political asylum because Haiti was in the midst of a coup. The coast guard consented and brought them to Florida and they were allowed to immigrate. They both worked hard and years later were accepted into the University of Washington. One of the boys is now getting his doctorate in mathematical statistics. Sometimes I wonder how many Beethoven's and Eisenstein's live in places like Haiti and just never got a chance. Anyways these 600 will by God's grace. It reminds me of a quote of George Muller's that I just had a friend put in some cards she is making for me. He said "Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends." Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The team also had a baptism today. These are a lot of fun. They parade as a big group down the road a little bit and then down to the river. Nathan plays his accordion and they sing worship music the whole way. All the kids come and go in the river also. It is very much a celebration.

Later the team headed up to Peru (pay-roo). They visited through out the village. Then they went to the church and Mike felt like they were supposed to pray for the pastor. Jeremy felt like he had a vision to share with him. Then they started to worship and pray and there was thunder and lightning with no rain, while they prayed. When Haitians pray you really feel God's presence. The pastor was very moved. The team really enjoyed their time in Peru.

Tomorrow the team goes to feed the poorest of the poor in Gonavies. In the past I have tried to explain this, it is sometimes a very difficult thing for the team members. They let the first 250 children and a few pregnant women in. The rest do not get in. For most of these it is the only meal they will receive that day. It is a chance to literally be the hands and feet of Jesus. It is hard to see the desperation, but at the same time such a privilege to literally be feeding the poor and needy. Please pray for the team tomorrow as they do this.

Tomorrow the team will be able to experience going to market.This should be fun for them.

They will also try to finish up the pipework, they have most of it done.

Also please pray for Nathan tomorrow, he will be meeting with the director of IBSER in Gonavies, the equivalent of our child protection services. Mike and Nathan have a pretty good relationship with him and Nathan will be asking him to write a recommendation letter to the director of IBSER in Port-au-Prince. This would be a great help in getting approval for our crèche licence which is different than

an orphanage licence in that it will allow us to adopt some children out to the US and Canada. Getting approval from Port-au-Prince is

necessary, it would be like getting approval from Washington.D.C.

Thanks so much for your prayers,

Blessings,

Chris

Hello again,

Thank you for all your prayers. We certainly appreciate them. We have a new little boy at the orphanage. He is 4 years old, and

for right now is being called Sunday. I am pretty sure he has a name, but he does not seem to know it or at least he isn't sharing it.

Nathan is trying to get more information. Please pray we are able to, sometimes this seems to take an incredibly long time. This will bring us up to 40 children that we are taking full time responsibility for.

Tomorrow Mike has a meeting with all three of our school directors. Pray we have a good meeting, with good communication and that we can get an accurate count of the number of children that will need curriculum and uniforms. An accurate count will also help us to know if we have hired the right amount of teachers for fall.

Today was the last day of the youth event. Mike said it was a really good day. Two kids came forward and gave their lives to the Lord.

Tomorrow there may be a baptism in the river. Also the team will go up to Peru (pay-roo). For those of you that do not know, Peru is a small village about 1 1/2 hours northeast of us. It is in the mountains and we have been asked to be a part of the village. I have posted photos of Peru on this blog if you are interested, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on "older posts". They are part way down the page that will come up first. We have started a church and in the fall will be starting school up there. They still use a creek down in a ravine as a water source, and it is not clean drinkable water, but it is all they have. We are working on trying to change that. Please pray that God continues to move in Peru and that the team is a blessing to the community. Also please pray for safe travel to and from Peru.

Mike said that the pastor's conference went very well today. Some of the pastor's brought elders from their churches with them. Mike said they had about 50 people attending. Both Jeremy and Mike taught. They were thankful for your prayers.

The meeting about the trees for reforestation has been moved again, they are now supposed to meet tomorrow morning. It seems

to be the Haitian way.

Many Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team is doing great. They had a huge celebration at Pastor Perry's church this morning. It turned out to be a celebration of the first anniversary of our Pastor's association. They had all the pastor's attend and introduced each one. They had a choir presentation and Mike preached. He said the celebration lasted about 3 hours and there were about 400 people attending. They went back to Marose for lunch and then around 4:00 they went back to Perry's for the second part of the celebration which also included worship and dramas. They arrived back in Marose at about 9:00. So the second part of celebration lasted almost 5 hours. They said it was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow they will have the pastor association's regular get together and Mike will be teaching again. Also our son Jeremy who majored in religious studies at Trinity Western will get a chance to teach. Please pray that God will minister to these pastors.

In Haiti a pastor is rarely a paid position and many have given up a lot to follow God's calling on their lives.

Mike still was not able to meet with USA aid, about the trees for reforestation. I guess now the meeting has been moved til tomorrow.

Madame Nathan was not feeling well today. Please pray for her health. She has an ongoing health problem that she eventually will need surgery for.

On a positive note, Mike checked on the little boy named Benji who the team prayed for earlier in the week. He seems healed, he no longer has a fever or anything. Praise God!!!!!!

Again blessings and thanks so very much for all of your prayers.

Chris

Hello,

Another update from Haiti:) The team is doing well and says they want to bring the kids home. They have been having a great time building relationships with the children.

Mike said they found most of the pipe fittings that they needed in town. They have the majority of the pipe laid, they just need to make a few adjustments before they turn the water on. So thanks for your prayers.

There was no meeting with USA aid about the trees today, because the man meeting with them had car trouble, so the meeting is supposed to take place tomorrow afternoon.

One of the team members was sick this morning, but is better tonight. Also Dr. Ralph called and said he and his family were in a car accident but everyone is okay. The enemy would love to stop us from helping the people. It is so important to keep persevering in prayer, please keep praying for protection and good health.

The youth event has been going well. Mike taught them today and Jeremy taught them for the second time today.

Mike talked with Pastor Nathaniel, he is director of our school in Marose and he is Nathan's father, he said they already have almost 200 from Marose signed up for school in the fall. That does not include our schools in Peru or Gonaives. Mike asked about the results of the National 6th grade test. They said they still do not have the test results, but will let us know as soon as they do.

The meeting with the orphanage staff was very encouraging. Mike taught the Good Shepherd pastors

for 3 hours today and he said it was a very good time.

Tomorrow the team will go up very early in the morning to visit Pastor Perry's church. Mike will be teaching there. Nathan has also planned a choir presentation. So the team will be able to experience that.The team will then go back to our church in Marose right before it is over, for ministry time, please pray that God moves in both places.

We do really appreciate your prayers, like I have said before, we could not do all that we do without your partnering in prayer with us. Many Blessings,

Chris

Hello,
I talked with Mike tonight. He said the youth event went well today. Thank you for your prayers. They will be participating again tomorrow and would appreciate more prayer.

The meeting with World Food went well, so now we can fill out a formal request for food help for our 3 schools.

Mike will also be meeting with U.S.A. aid tomorrow. We are hoping to be able to receive native trees

from them. We would like to plant them on the mountain behind the orphanage, to try and build up the soil, and stop erosion. Reforestation is important because most of the land has been stripped of natural resources and the topsoil washes away into the river and then into the bay. Please pray that this is also a favorable meeting.The coordinates of the land put us on the edge of what they believe is land that the trees will be successful on. The trees grow fast, and are deciduous so thier leaves become compost to build up the soil and they bear fruit that can be harvested for the oil they produce.

Tomorrow Mike will also have a staff meeting for all the Good Shepherd Orphanage workers. Please pray that they are encouraged. He then will spend time teaching the four Good Shepherd pastors. Please pray that God moves as he teaches. Thanks again for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Hi,

I spoke with Mike today. Everyone is doing well. The children have enjoyed seeing some of the returning team members that they had become friends with. The team had fun passing out gifts from the sponsors to each of the children.

The team also did some sorting of the containers that arrived a few weeks ago. Then the girls did crafts with the children, while Jeremy and Scott organized the medical clinic. Mike, Evan and Jacob planned the lay out for the pipes that will bring the water into the orphanage buildings from the well. They hope to find a few critical pieces that they need in town tomorrow, so that they can lay the pipe, which will bring us one step closer to moving the children into the new building.

The team went to Maurice's for the prayer meeting. They shared and prayed. One prayer in particular was for a little boy that appeared to have strep throat and a fever. He seemed to feel better and his fever left, after they prayed. Mike said he will check on him again tomorrow.

The team also hiked across the river and on the other side for awhile and visited Nathan's grandfather. They were pleased to see that fields had been planted. Mike said our corn was about 6 feet high already. The rains had filled up the irrigation ditches enough for crops to be planted in spite of the government breaking the irrigation system when they worked on the road. This is very good news for the people in the area.

Jeremy caught a tarantula today . And as Mike was speaking to me some of the team and children were catching frogs in the dark. I could hear them in the background. :)

Tomorrow morning will be the beginning of a 3 day youth event in the area. Our team will be participating for a couple of hours each day. They will be sharing testimonies, doing skits, teaching, praying, ect.

So prayer needs for tomorrow are for the team as they meet with the youth in the area. Also for finding the right connecting pieces for the pipe work in town (harder than you might think). Thank you so much for partnering with us in prayer.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team has safely made it up to the orphanage. They are all doing well. They have some prayer requests for tomorrow. The first is Mike will be meeting with a representative from the world food program. They are the world's largest organization distributing food. Please pray that the meeting goes well. Since we are starting school in Peru (pay-roo) this fall, we believe our school count will be closer to 400 children that we will be giving a meal to 5 days a week. So some extra food would be very helpful. We have a little over 1/2 of the children sponsored at the $10 a month, which is for books, school supplies, a uniform and the one meal a day.

The team will also be doing crafts with the orphanage children tomorrow and passing out gifts

from the sponsors.

The team will also be holding a prayer meeting where Maurice's family lives. If you remember Maurice was our medical tech that passed away. We connected to the village of Peru through some of his relatives who came to his funeral. His family has been under spiritual attack lately and have asked for prayer. There will most likely be opportunity to share about Jesus at the prayer meeting, so please lift them up in prayer. Thanks so much for your prayer support, we really depend on it.

Blessings,

Chris

Our August team flew out early this morning. They will be arriving in Port-au-Prince tomorrow. Please pray for safe travel.

I also talked with Pastor Nathan
today and he said he brought 26
people to the Lord tonight in Gonaives!!!!!!