Hello,

I am writing to thank all of you for your prayers for the July team. They arrived back home and on time :)

Also, some of you have asked how Danika, the young girl who was badly burned is doing. Mike spoke with Nathan today and he said she is improving. Please keep remembering her in your prayers. Burns can be slow in healing.

We also wanted to let you know of an event benefiting the ministry, it is being held by Rose and Bob Crabtree. Rose is having a mission store open house. It will be held this coming Thursday, July 26 from 5:00-7:00PM. The address is 6871 East 5th Place in Lynden. There will be a light picnic served, which should be delicious (we know the cooks). Rose has pre purchased items for the mission store for everyone to shop from. You will be able to purchase items like children's vitamins, worship books for the church, a pediatric blood pressure cuff, cooking pots, 50# bags of beans. She has both large and small items, all of which are very practical and needed by the ministry. Please come and enjoy a picnic and fellowship while blessing the people of Haiti. If you have more questions, please feel free to call Mike at 360-305-9070.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

Sorry this is going out so late. I am out of town and have finally been able to get a wi-fi connection. Hopefully some of you will get this e-mail before you have your quiet time with God in the morning or before you leave for work. I was able to talk with Mike tonight, the team had a great day. Mike met with the man who is the broker for the goats again. He is still working on getting all the goats we have asked for, he thinks the communities are ready to move forward and care for the goats. So I guess now the goal is delivery by the September trip. We are trying to get chickens also and he says he can get the chickens as well. Everything seems to take so long in Haiti. But I guess God knew all along when the people would receive the goats. We will get photos for everyone to see, both of the goats and the chickens. The team was able to bring quite a few boxes of medical supplies to Jubilee. Jubilee also shared some of them with the hospital in Gonaives, which turned out to be a good thing, they have offered to properly dispose of medical items, like sharps and expired items for us. In Haiti you have to be very careful how you dispose of things, people scour the garbage for their very existence. The team was not able to help prepare food for the children after all, but they were able to visit Jubilee for a while. The team also passed out more dresses and candy. Afterwords they went downtown and to the market in Gonaives. In the afternoon 1/2 of the team helped Neil take soil samples and measure the river. Mike was able to meet with one of our teachers from Marose, his sponsor donated enough to buy him a bicycle for transportation. Mike said the teacher was thrilled and so excited. It is so fun to be able to bless the people, they are so appreciative. In the evening Nathan went to the crusade in Gonaives again, he said it was very good. The team stayed at the orphanage and spent their last night in Haiti with the children. They laid hands on all of the children and prayed for them. The children then laid hands on the team members and prayed for them. The team will leave for Port-au-Prince around 9:30 in the morning. Please pray for both the team and the children, as good byes are always so hard. Please pray for safe travel and on time connections also.Thank you so much. 

Blessings,

Chris

news, a bit of our heart and tomorrows prayer needs

Hello,

This morning the team and some of the children, planted 150 trees and built wire cages around them to protect them from the goats. Most of the trees were planted on the mountain behind the orphanage. A few were planted in the orphanage. They also hauled 5 gallon buckets of water by hand up to the trees. Mike said the meeting with the school directors went well. They would like to open a school in Poteau, but Mike has told them it depends on whether we are able to get all of the school children sponsored out first.  Some of you have asked the name of the little girl who was burned badly. Mike said her name is Danika. Please continue to pray for her. He will try to find out how she is doing tomorrow. This evening the team went to the crusade in Marotte, and it was wonderful. Nathan lead worship and it was so good that it lasted about an hour. The Haitian Christian's love to worship with all of their heart, mind, body and soul. It is wonderful worshiping with them. The team performed their skit one more time and then Mitch gave the message. About 40 people came forward for prayer for various reasons. They passed out about 50 dresses to the girls and they gave out about 50 t-shirts from our church, along with candy for the children.

Mike has felt called to teach mostly on love, acceptance and forgiveness the last few trips. Most of the church in Haiti is very rule and legalism oriented. He feels like God has been prompting him to help the Haitian people grasp mercy and grace a little more. When we are changing our perspectives on life, sometimes it is hard to put into action what we have learned in our minds. Sometimes the enemy causes hurt and pain in areas, which causes us to question what and why we believe what we say we do. I believe God uses those times to take us deeper in our faith and cause our roots to grow in Him. Those times challenge us and present a crossroads which in some cases will affect our lives not only here, but for eternity. A very horrific thing happened to a family in one of our churches in Haiti. They are a good Christian family and are dealing with all the questions in their minds now. How do you walk out love, acceptance and forgiveness? Do you turn the offending person into the authorities? They asked if Mike would spend time talking to them and praying with them. Mike explained that in God's word it says to follow the laws of the land, which this person broke. But, God also calls us to forgive those who hurt us. Sometimes forgiveness takes time. Do we believe God will take care of it? Mike spent some time with them, and obviously shared more than I am sharing here. We are far from thinking we know all the answers. I am just trying to share a little bit of what we come across and ask for your prayers for wisdom and discernment as we try to help people understand and walk out their faith. Please especially pray for this family for healing, comfort, wisdom, peace and the ability to forgive. Please pray for God's justice. And please continue to pray for us, for leading and direction as we continue to reach out and love the people of Haiti. Thank you so much.

Usually each team gets to come alongside and help serve food to the poorest of the poor in Jubilee, a section of Gonaives. Tomorrow the team will not only be serving the poorest of the poor in Gonavies, they will also get the privileage of helping to prepare the food. Please pray for the team as they minister in Jubilee. They will also be taking some suitcases of medical supplies.  In the afternoon, Neil will be heading up a group to take measurements of the river. He will be trying to figure out if irrigation from the river is possible up as high as we are. We would like to be able to get another crop season in. So the team has a full day tomorrow. Thank you again for all of your prayers, it is what makes all of this possible.



Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

Hope you all have enjoyed the sunshine lately. At almost 10:00 pm (1:00 am in Haiti) it is still 81 degrees according to my computer. At least we have cool evenings after the heat of the heat day.

Part of the team has medical experience, so they worked in the medical clinic today with Dr. Ralph. They had a young girl about 8 or 9 years of age that came, with really bad burns all over her body from hot cooking oil. The team helped Dr. Ralph work on her for a while. Mike felt like her injuries were beyond what they could help her with. In the end Dr. Ralph and Mike sent her into Gonaives to the hospital. They gave money to her mother to help with transportation and things. They said that the burns were very deep. Mike said they were not sure if she would live. Please pray for her. If she does live, there will be obstacles she will have to deal with, pain, infections, scarring and possible ostracizing. Bad burns are so common in Haiti and they do not have the benefit of having burn centers, specializing in treatment like we do.

This morning the pastors conference went well. They started with worship and the team's skit, then Mitch taught. After that the pastors took a break and then Mike taught. Darlene finished the Good Shepherd mural on the building, Mike said it looks absolutely amazing. I can't wait to see it.

Later on the team went to Pass Rien for the community outreach. It poured down rain, with no signs of letting up.

There is no building or covered area in Pass Rien, so they went back to the orphanage. They spent time praying for the people of Pass Rien, for the witch doctor and for our church plant there. They were very disappointed, but it may be possible to try again Wednesday afternoon.



Tomorrow the team will be tree planting. We are trying to help fix the erosion problem on the mountain. In the morning, the team will start planting 150 trees and then build guards for the trees, so the goats do not eat them.

Neil will be taking soil samples, he works for Washington State's department of agriculture, and he will be trying to help us amend our soil for farming. Mike also has a school directors meeting for the next school year. In the evening the team will be going to the crusade in Marotte (Gonaives). There will be worship, then the team will perform their skit. There will also be teaching, and the team will pass out candy to the children and dresses to the girls. Please pray again for the team as they will be out in the sun for most of the day. Also for the school director's meeting and especially for the crusade tomorrow evening. Thank you so much for your prayers, we really appreciate them.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

The team had a great day today. They started the day out with Mike teaching and the team performing their skit in church. Nathan did not feel well, so he had another pastor teach in Marotte, and he stayed with Mike and the team and was Mike's interpreter. The message was about being born again and renewing your life for God. He said about 30 people came forward for prayer after the service. Yeah!  After church the team did crafts with the children and some of the women staff members. They also enjoyed time swimming in the river with the children. Later Nathan went to Marotte for the evening service, which is the first night of an 8 night revival. There were 6 people who came to the Lord. The team went to Poteau and again Mike taught  on being born again and the team performed their skit. Mike said there were 6 salvation's that he knew of, and about 40 came forward for prayer. God really met them. Thank you so much for your prayers. While the team was in Poteau, a family brought a lady to them, who was being restrained by 4 people. They said that she had always had some trouble with her mind, but she had gotten worse over the last 6 years. They said she had to be restrained constantly. They wanted prayer for her, Mike told them if they wanted prayer for her they needed to let her go and stand there on her own accord. They said she would run. Mike said let her go anyway, so they did. She stood there very agitated and would not make eye contact, but she did not run. They started praying and after about 30 mins. she settled down and would have eye contact with Mike. A little while later she had a slow tiny smile. He explained to her that God had a free gift of eternal life for her and to open her hands and receive it. She did and started smiling. The rest of the evening she walked around smiling, very settled and peaceful. Mike said she seemed to be set free, although her mind didn't seem to be completely healed. Mike said she had been severely abused and raped over her life time. Please pray for continued healing and grace for her. The team also passed out dresses to a lot of the girls in the community of Poteau. A huge blessing to the children.



Tomorrow will be the Pastor's conference from 9:00 until 1:00. Please pray for Mike as he teaches. Then the team will travel to Pass Rien. They will be putting on a community outreach day. They will be cooking, serving, preaching, worshiping, performing their skit and passing out more dresses to the girls in Pass Rein. The Madame, who is the witch doctor will most likely be there. Please pray for her heart to be moved by the Spirit of God and that the community will feel the love of God as the team reaches out to them. Thank you so much for reaching out to the people of Haiti in prayer with us.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

Thanks so much for your prayers today. It was about 107 degrees in Haiti today.The team is doing great. Mike is feeling better. Your prayers made a lot of difference. The worship conference went really well, there were a lot of young people who also attended, and Jim felt like they were engaged and attentive. The team shared a skit they had prepared, it was well received. They will perform their skit again tomorrow at church. Part of the team also painted the kitchen today, and the other 1/2 of the team cleaned and organized the medical clinic some more. Darlene one of the team members, is painting a mural of the Good Shepherd (the name of our ministry in Haiti). She is painting it on the outside of the office wall, which is the wall you see as you come up the hill to the orphanage. It is 6 feet by 6 feet. Mike says Darlene is very skilled and it is looking great so far. The team spent time playing games with the children in the evening and passing out some of the sponsor gifts. They also had devotions, which Mike said have been really good this trip.

Tomorrow the team will stay in Marose for church, Mike will preach,Tom and his group will be doing worship and the team will do their skit. Nathan will be preaching in Gonaives. Please pray for all of them as they share with the communities. In the afternoon they will be doing crafts with the children. In the evening Mike will be preaching in Poteau and then the team will perform their skit again. Please pray for God to prepare peoples hearts. Thanks again.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

Most of the team is doing well. Mike's back has been hurting today, as well as his stomach. I have felt like the last couple of nights the enemy has been especially hard at work. Please pray for God's peace and protection. Mike said the team did an amazing job painting. They painted the front of building #1 and the front of building #2 also. This includes all of the porches and coverings too. The team climbed the mountain this evening and spent some time praying.

Tomorrow the team will paint the kitchen, which needs it the most. They will not be out in the heat, but they will be indoors, which can be hot and stuffy. Please continue to pray for them. Also, all of the pastors in our association and their worship leaders will be coming to Marose for a worship conference tomorrow. Jim Glynn and his team will be teaching on worship. Jim has taught on worship for us in the past. He has helped to translate 100's of worship songs into Haitian Creole. Not only the lyrics, but also some of the differences in chords and beats. It should be a very powerful time. I believe Mitch, (pastor of the church the July team is from) and Nathan and Mike will also be teaching tomorrow. Please pray that God will be speaking through each of them and that they are able to impart God's heart for worship. Also please pray as each pastor and worship leader try to impart what they learn to their people Sunday morning.

Blessings,

Chris

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Hello,

Thank you for your prayers today. The team is doing well. Neil and Mike spent time on the generator and have come to the conclusion that it will take a professional to fix the problem, which seems to be electrical. So Mike will try to find someone in Port-au-Prince from Cummings, who is capable of repairing it. Please pray he can find someone willing to drive to the orphanage and work on it. It would take quite a few men to lift it into a vehicle and take it to Port-au-Prince. Part of the team spent time cleaning and organizing the medical clinic. Which is much appreciated. They also spent time with the children. We like to take one fun food for the children that they have never tried. This trip, the team choose to serve celery stalks with peanut butter, marshmallows and raisins.

Tomorrow the team will be painting the orphanage. Please pray for them as they work in the heat, and with 67 helpers :) The team will also be passing out gifts from the children's sponsors.

On a fun note, Stephanie, the nurse who stayed in Haiti from the March trip through the May trip, made a significant impact on the village while she was in Haiti. She spent a lot of time doing prenatal and postnatal care. Tonight Mike shared with me that Angel's granddaughter who gave birth to a little girl, has decided to name her baby after Stephanie. What an honor. I think it speaks volumes about her interaction with the community. Thank you for continuing to lift everyone up in prayer.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

Just a quick note to let you know the team made it up to the orphanage. Haiti decided to put a last minute box embargo on flights into Haiti, which caused a lot of problems. We always check ahead of time for this, but evidently it was put on after we checked. This meant we had to buy duffel bags from the airline and were only able to take 12 out of 24 bins. The Rubbermaid totes we use for carrying supplies to the orphanage count as boxes. They had a delayed flight out of Seattle last night also, which added to the difficulties. But all is well now. Tomorrow the team will be unpacking. Neil and Mike will be working on the generator, as it is not working at present and is the only power source. Please pray for a quick fix. :) Thank you.

Blessings,

Chris

                                                                        July 2012 Team

Hello,

Just wanted to let you know the July team flies out tonight. They should arrive at the orphanage sometime tomorrow evening. Please keep them in your prayers. I will try to get a team photo at the airport and post it. Thank you ahead of time for your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Hello,

We wanted to send out a note thanking and acknowledging Randy Anderson, a teacher from Lynden High School, and his group of four boys. Randy along with Jalani, Jake, Ben and Lucas researched, designed, and built an incinerator for the orphanage. In Haiti garbage is dropped and thrown everywhere. We are trying to teach and encourage the children in the orphanage to properly dispose of garbage. There is no garbage pickup, and no recycling available other then old fashioned pop bottle returns, so short of what they can compost or feed to the goats, the rest of the garbage needs to be taken care of in a responsible manner. This incinerator burns at a higher tempeture and is safer for the enviroment and the community. We will be sending the incinerator in the next container. We really appreciate all the hard work this group has put into this project.

Blessings,

Chris