Our sewing class

Kathy gave her reading glasses to this women, she was thrilled

Washing the feet and hands of the staff and painting their nails

Nathan with one of the accordions that was donated

Baby goat

Even Mac had his hair done :)

Melissa with the girl she sponsors

Children from the feeding program in Gonaives

Mac, Mike and Nathan driving the stake in the ground in the voodoo camp, claiming the land for Christ

Hello,

We have arrived home safely. Thank you very much for your prayers. It is good to be home, but soooo hard to be gone from Haiti. We had a great, productive and powerful trip. We could feel the prayers that were said for us. We really appreciated them.

Please continue to pray for Melissa, as she will be staying in the orphanage until the March team goes to Haiti to pick her up. The team helped her to move her things into the oldest girls room and get settled in before we left. The girls are very excited to have her stay, as is the whole community. Pastor Nathaniel introduced her to the whole church on Sunday and announced that she would be staying for 2 months. They all clapped and cheered.

When we went up to Peru, one of the things we wanted to do was clear up the mystery of Yolin's name. When we first prayed for him last January, I had asked what his name was and was told that it was Yolin. But this fall the mother had made a comment saying that was what the white people called him. So we made a point of trying to clear up confusion regarding his name. We found out that his mother's name is Yolin, and that is where the confusion started. We also found out that his name is Wahder. So from now on I will be calling him Wahder when asking for prayer for him. He seems to get just a bit better each time we see him. He has an incredible Christian mother, whom we also prayed for. Such a privilege!

I would like to share a little more of the story of what went on at Pass Rien. Hopefully it will encourage insight and prayer. When we had finished praying for the land the voodoo camp was on, which is very near to the property we are trying to obtain, we then met with the Madame (the witch doctor) to talk about the land. A man had called us earlier and had said he was going to sell us the land. This man turned out to be her son. She is trying every way she can to negotiate selling the property to us, instead of giving it to us for free like she had promised. By now, it had become pretty clear to Mike that as far as God was concerned it was not about the property. So Mike asked her if he could share a story with her from the bible. She said yes and allowed Mike to proceed. This is what he said to her in his words. "I told her of a great king, a Pharaoh of Egypt where Gods people worked. God sent people to this great king to ask if he would let the people go free to worship Him. The king refused, because he wanted the control, he wanted to remain as king. Several times the men went to the king, each time they asked if he would let the people go free to worship God. Each time the king refused or had some excuse not to let the people go. Eventually God took care of the king so that His people would be free to worship Him. At hearing this story the Madame got very defensive and said we needed to negotiate for the price of the land. But I said that God wanted more than just the land. He wanted her heart as well. She kept saying that she wanted to negotiate for the price of the land and I just said that that was not what God wants us to do yet." She got very upset and walked off. The team then got together with some of the Haitians who were there and prayed for the situation. The conclusion they came to was that it was not about the property, but about her heart. They also felt like God was saying we needed to have many pray hard and seriously. We also felt like God said it would take more visits and time. So I am writing to ask if you would like to commit to praying seriously for the Madame's heart. That she would come to know Jesus and have a very real personal relationship with Jesus. We feel that this is key to what God wants. We also believe it is key to many more people in the community giving their lives to God. We also believe the land is a secondary issue and will work itself out according to God's will. We are not against paying something for the land, if and when we think God is asking us to. But for now we believe the Madame's heart is the more important issue. Please join us in praying for her. And again thank you so very much for your prayers during our trip.

Blessings,

Chris

Part of the voodoo camp

Our sewing machine class

Feeding the poor at Emory's

Hello again,

Today was a very full day. Thank you for praying for us, we would not have been able to accomplish what we did without prayer. We started the morning with a women's conference in Marose. Once again it was very rewarding, God is so good. The women were very blessed.

Later we went to Emory's to help feed the children. It is hard for the team to see poverty for 8 days and then go to Emory's and see even worse poverty. We held children and saw what his ministry is up to. We then went to his home for lunch and shared experiences with a team he had visiting. It is refreshing to meet with people who share the same heart for Haiti. In the late afternoon we went to Pass Rien. We met on the land we would like to build our church on. We then went to the area of the voodoo camp. We claimed the area for Christ. We sang songs and prayed over the area. We drove a stake into the ground and Mac even climbed up to one of the Mapoo(sp?) trees they worship under and took one of the voodoo flags down. We had a very powerful prayer time. We were able to meet with the Madame, who is the witch doctor, but we do not have the property yet. But most of the team believes the battle is won, it is just a matter of God's timing. Please continue to pray for her heart, and protection for and faith of the community. We also spent time praying on the land we would like to plant the church on. Community members are meeting there on the land as a church. We do have one more of the military type tents we would like to put there for a church and school, once we own the land.

Tomorrow the team will go to yet another conference across the river. Then we will get Melissa settled in. She will be staying in the orphanage for two months, until the March team goes to Haiti. She will come back with them. Please pray for her as she will be adjusting to a new language and a new culture. The rest of the team will then be traveling to Port-au-Prince.

We will be attending part of a conference on starting small business in Haiti. Which will help us a we get nearer to starting a market. Please pray for safe travel and and every ones hearts as the get ready to leave the children. Tomorrow I will probably not be able to write. So please also remember to pray for us Friday as the team travels and flies home. We will arrive home very late Friday night, early Saturday morning. Thank you sooooooo very much for all of your prayers during this trip.

Blessings,

Chris--

Our January team in Peru

Hello,

Today was a very full day, thank you for your prayers. We appreciate them very much. The men worked on grouting tile today. Kathy and I held another sewing machine class. I believe the three people we taught are able to use the electric machines, trouble shoot and maintain them. thanks so much for praying for us.

The women in the group pampered the women workers in the orphanage today. We scrubed, lotioned and polished their feet and hands. It was very good to be able to serve them as they are such hard workers. Later the men went to Gonaives to hold the men's conference. They said there were a lot of young men that came and it was very good. We then organized both the food and storage depot and gave out clothing. The crazy part today was deciding to change all of the children's room's around. This would be like arranging every room in your house with 62 young excited helpers. Crazy, wild is an understatement. The team was so helpful in this. We could not have done it otherwise. The interpeter had gone home. So a lot of charades were in order. The women started the project before the men on the team were back from Gonaives. It was very fun though. And now the newest children have both bins and beds to sleep in. And the number of children per room is a little more even. After that we had treats (peanut butter Rice Krispie bars) with the children. They sang and had devotions and so did the team. It was a very busy day, but a good one with a lot of interaction with the children and staff at the orphanage.

Tomorrow may prove to be even fuller. In the morning will be having the women's conference in Marose. So all of the women on the team will be sharing again. Please pray for each of us and for the women of Marose. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will be present and that we will be an encouragement to them. Hopefully we will also be going to Emory's in Gonaives, to feed the poorest of the poor. Again please pray, as this can be very hard for the team. Then we are going to try to fit in a trip to Pass Rien. We would like to pray over the land and for the madame who is the witch doctor. She has told us she is ready to sign the land over, but we have yet to see anything in writing. But she has been the initiator this time around. We also would like to fit in some teaching of brushing teeth and hand washing skills for the children. So we will be waiting on God to see what he would have us doing. And once again thank you so very much for your prayers, they make such a difference.

Blessings,

Chris

Praying during the Women's conference 

Greg setting tile on the boys bathroom counter top.

Brenda teaching about Nutrition at the Women's conference

Hello,

Thank you for your prayers today. We could feel the prayers. We had a great day. We started out the morning in Peru. We visited the school and passed out candy and took photos. We also visited Yolin, the crippled boy. We brought food and gifts for him and his family. He still breaks out in a huge smile when we blow bubbles for him. We spent time praying for him and his mother also. She is a very special women. We came back to the orphanage and played with the children some. The guys had our welder make a basketball hoop for the children and put it up. So basket ball and soccer games were played for the rest of the day. The guys also cut the tile for the counters in the boys bathrooms. The women went to Gonaives to hold our women's conference. It went very well. We each shared something. Stories, scriptures, teaching, music and singing. Some of what we shared brought tears to both the team and the women we were teaching. One women was so moved that she asked if she could pray for one of our team members after they shared. Some of the things we shared had everyone laughing so hard we were crying. Our translator had an incredible sense of humor. He was such a good sport and added much to the laughter as everyone thought it was funny to see a Haitian man talk about some of the things we shared. We helped every women to make a bracelet and then we ended with praying for the women. They were so blessed that they all sang over us and prayed for us. It was awesome. Everyone did great, the Holy Spirit was obviously present. When we arrived back at the orphanage this evening we had a worship and prayer time with the children. Then we brought out glow sticks. The turns into a chasing game, as the older girls usually end up with most of the glow sticks and with team members trying to get the glow sticks back for the littler children.

Tomorrow Kathy and I will teach sewing again, while the men run into town. Then we will go up to Pass Rien for a visit. In the afternoon the guys will be teaching the men in the church at Gonaives. The women will be making peanut butter and chocolate rice krispie treats for the orphanage. Please pray for our travel and visit to Pass Rien and for teaching both the sewing and the men's conference.

Blessings,

Chris

Getting my hair braided

Baptism in Gonaives

Kathy playing games in Gonaives

Hello,
Thank you again for praying. We really appreciate the prayers. They really do make all the difference. This morning Nathan preached in Gonaives. Part of the team went with him. Mike preached in Marose and part of the team stayed with him. All of the team members shared a little bit. In Gonaives about 20 people came forward for prayer this morning, for salvation, re dedications or healing. About 20 came forward in Marose also. Melissa and Laura played and sang a worship song in Marose during the morning service. After church we painted the girls finger and toe nails, with bright sparkly colors. They were thrilled. Then the girls did both Kathy's hair and mine. They had already done Mac's last night. Somehow we do not look as attractive as the Haitians do in multiple small braids. Some of us even had colorful barrettes added to our braids. It was a lot of fun :)  In the afternoon we all went back to Gonaives for baptisms. Eleven people were baptised in the river. It was pretty cool. After the baptism we went back to the church and school grounds where we waited for evening church to start. Kathy Dickenson and I some how ended up in some games with a bunch of 4 to 6 years olds. The games were kind of like tag and ring around the rosey mixed together. Another game was like red rover, red rover, except in a circle instead of lines. We were the blanc's (which means white's) in the middle when they tagged or chose us. We did not quite know the rules but they pointed or pulled to show us. It was a lot of fun. I had the honor of sitting with them in church. One little girl in particular showed me when and how to raise my hands, and she told me when to stand up and when to sit down and when to pray. During worship she was so cute, she looked like a mini worship leader. I prayed for her after the service, I believe she has the gift of worship on her. During the night service all of the team shared a scripture or a story. There was a common thread through all that was shared without any of us letting the others know what we were going to share. Definitely the Holy Spirit working. Mike taught in the evening church. At the end another 15 or so people came forward for prayer. God is so good.
Tomorrow in the morning we will be going to Peru to visit our school. Please pray for safe travel. In the afternoon the guys will be laying tile. The women will be hosting a women's conference. We will be sharing testimonies, stories, teaching from the bible and teaching about nutrition, playing music, singing and praying. We will also be teaching them how to make a bracelet, so that they will have something to take home with them. Please pray for us as we will be stretched beyond our comfort zones, but we want to bless the women and walk in obedience to what we have been asked to do. It is not an accident that we have more women on this team than men. God knew what he had prepared for us to do.Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying for us.
Blessings,
Chris

 Mike with Elemen's baby.

 Mac and Phil traveling from Port-au-Prince to Marose.

 Brenda giving a gift to the boy she sponsors.

Phil with the bread he baked. YUM!

Hello,

Today was great. Thank you sooooo much for all of your prayers. We started out with a team visiting us from Colorado. We met them at the orphanage we visited earlier in the week. Then around 10 in the morning we held the Pastor's association conference. Each of us shared a short encouragement with the pastors. Then Mike shared two messages. The pastors said they were both encouraged and blessed. Next Kathy and I taught the sewing machine class. It went really well. We taught two women and a man. They were excited, and we had fun. We only were able to teach about 2/3 of what we wanted to, in the 2 1/2 hours we had. So we will be teaching them again next Monday morning. We helped all of the orphanage children write thank you notes for their sponsors today. It was amazing watching a few of the older boys consistently helping the little boys write their notes. They were so encouraging and patient with them. In the early evening we climbed our mountain to the cross and had a devotional. The devotional was on perspective, which is very relevant from up on the mountain looking down in the valley of Marose. We finished off the day with home baked bread, which Phil made in the kitchen today. It was great, everyone enjoyed it. Pretty amazing given the conditions he was working with.

Tomorrow Nathan will be preaching in Gonaives. Some of the team will be going to Gonaives with Nathan. Mike will be preaching in Marose, so the other 1/2 of the team will stay here to pray for people.  Please pray for both Nathan and Mike as the teach. Please pray that the Holy Spirit moves. In the afternoon we will be going to see people in Gonaives be baptised. This is always fun to be a part of. Nathan has a new accordion from friends in Canada. Which he has enjoyed playing very much. He will most likely play it in the band as we walk to the water for the baptisms. Please pray for the people being baptised and for those who join us as we walk along. It is a pretty big witness to the rest of the community.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,
Another great day in Haiti. Sorry to all of you that have 2 to 3 feet of snow back at home. It is nice and warm here. Nathan's trip to Port-au-Prince was mostly successful. They want him to turn in one more piece of paperwork for the container in Saint Marc (which is somewhat closer). Please pray we can get the container up to the orphanage before we leave. We would like to be able to help unload and organize it. We passed out sponsor gifts for the children today. It is such a blessing to see their faces light up as they receive a gift from their sponsor. The team also did crafts with the children today. It is fun to do, but it can get pretty wild with 62 children :) We had a special treat today. We were able to visit one of our workers named Elemen, who is off work right now because she had a baby near the end of November. Mike and the team saw the baby when she was a day old, on the November trip. Mike has been asked to be the Godfather. Today we were able to spend time with her and hold her. I will post a photo when I can, so far I am still using a laptop in the office and it does not have a way to download my photos. The baby has a bit of a cough, please remember to pray for her.
Tomorrow in the morning we will have the Pastors association meeting. We will all share an encouraging word and then Mike will teach. Please pray for Mike as he teaches, and for the Pastors as they travel here and that the teaching will be encouraging and what God wants for them. In the afternoon the guys will be building another stove. The cooks want one that is able to hold much larger pots so the guys will be building them one tomorrow using some parts we brought and a framework they will build from here. Also please pray for Kathy Dickenson (there are two Kathys) and I  tomorrow afternoon. We will be teaching how to use and maintain electric sewing machines to three people. They have been sewing and teaching sewing on treadles up until now. After we teach them, they will be teaching others. Exciting, but we need to do a thorough job, because they will be on their own after we leave. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, we really appreciate them.
Blessings,
Chris

January 19

Hello,
We had a great day today. Thank you for all of your prayers.The team is loving it here. We spent a lot of time with the children today. We sang to them and they sang back. We played a lot of games, and learned a bit more Creole. We passed out Superfeet sandals to our women workers. Then we passed them out to other women in the community, and to the older orphanage girls and to a few boys. The team also spent time organizing the all the bins we brought down. We went to visit another orphanage on the other side of the river today. They have 62 children, in a facility way smaller than ours. We passed out candy, prayed for them, and played a little with them. We will share some of the food in the container with them when we get it. We have 3 new little boys. So we are up to 62 children also. This evening we had the chance to spend some intense time praying over 8 different children individually. These are children that we know some of the history of and knew they needed some healing prayer. Please pray for them and that God will protect and seal what He has done. Each child was so peaceful after they were prayed for.
Tomorrow we will spend most of the day at the orphanage again. Nathan will be going to Port-au-Prince to get the final paperwork on our container. I had thought we had it at the orphanage. But I was mistaken. So please pray for safe travel for him and that the paperwork is approved, so that we can bring the container here while the team is here to organize and unload it. Again thanks so much for your prayers, we appreciate them.
Blessings,
Chris

Hello,


Just a quick update. We arrived at the orphanage safely. Thank you so much for your prayers. Everyone had a great time meeting and playing with the kids. I wanted to upload a photo of Phil and Mac riding on top on the luggage in the back of the truck, from Port-au-Prince to Marose. The laptop I am using does not have an SD card port. So tomorrow I will try to post it on the blog. Tomorrow we will be setting up some more of the office and unloading a container that has arrived. We will also be hanging around the orphanage and playing with the children. Thanks again for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Our January Team (minus Kathy). I will try to get another photo of the team up in Haiti.

Prayer Partners:  A team of 11 members will be leaving, (weather permitting), tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for the team to see, hear, and do the will of God, and may He move in a mighty way among them and the people and children they come in contact with. Like the disciples we often ask "who then are our neighbors?" The team will meet many new neighbors on this trip. Please pray for our ministry times, and for the Madam up at Pass Rien, who is willing now to give us the land for a new church. I'm praying that she gives Jesus her heart as well. Chris will be with me on this trip, and will be sending her fabulous up-dates from the orphanage in Haiti.  Thanks so very much for your prayers and support. They make us feel "sent in His name." because of it................Mike

  A Special Night of Intercessional

   Prayer and Worship for Haiti

                                       With worship Leader Angie VanDeMark

  New Generation Ministries and the Awake & Arise Team will join together for an evening of intercessional and prophetic

      prayer and worship on behalf of the people of Haiti.

    Join with us on February 13^th at 7:00pm

            at NCCTK Church in Lynden

   For more information call (360) 305-9070

Prayer Partners:  It is with real anticipation of the moving of God's Spirit, that we announce

that "New Generation Ministries" is teaming up with "Awake & Arise" to host and facilitate a special evening dedicated to Worship and Prayer. Together we will worship God and intercede for the children, people and Nation of Haiti.

  As you may know Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and one of the poorest in the entire world. Haiti desperately needs our prayers. For the past four years New Generation Ministries has been reaching out, with your help, to the lost and broken and hurting in Haiti. Awake & Arise is an intercessory prayer team that is not only called to the hurting and broken in our neighborhood, but to the nations as well.

  Please join us for an intimate time of worship and interceding for the people of Haiti.

  Please see the flier above for the time and location. Hope to see you there...............Mike