The treadle machines we need for classes at Pass Rien

The Georgia team put on a Harvest festival for the children

Potato sack races

Harvest festival games

Lester explaining the game

Our anniversary celebration in Pass Rien

The Good Shepherd choir

Another photo of the anniversary celebration in Pass Rien

Pass Rien

Hello again,
I know we just wrote yesterday, but it feels like so much happened while I was sick that I felt like writing to you and sharing some of the highlights.

First in answer to some of your questions about the "little one's journey". The little boy came up to me after about two days and said Mama Chris I like it here, I do not want to go, can I stay?" I told him he would have to go to school if he stayed, he said okay, then I said he would have to go to church if he stayed, he said okay, so I told him I would ask Papa Mike and Pastor Nathan. We found a school uniform and a fabric bag from, VBS with Becca and Sue, we filled it with school supplies and sent him off to our Marose school. He was beaming. When we were finally able to make contact with his relatives they told us that they would not be able to care for him. So he is here with us. Thank you so much for helping us to provide a safe place for children like him. And by the way, if any of you are interested in sponsoring him, let me know. My waiting list for sponsoring orphans has been used up.

We are still trying to raise money for sewing machines in Pass Rien. A couple of you have offered to buy one. We would appreciate it, if a couple more people would consider helping to provide an income for a family, by providing funds for a treadle sewing machine. If I remember correctly they are a little over $200. If anyone is interested, I can get you a more accurate price. I will post a photo of one of the machines we are looking for, from a friends ministry on the blog. Pass Rien is really excited about learning to sew. The adult literacy classes are going very well also. They really are more than a literacy class, the adults are going to school full time and using the same curriculum that we are using in our schools. The adult classes are almost unbelievable. It is still hard for me to imagine putting in a full days work and then going to school for 5 hours a day. The adults are so proud to be learning how to read and write. Last week one of the teachers shared about their  faith and 5 people were saved. God's hand is on Pass Rien and it is such a changed community, we keep hearing that it is unrecognizable to people that have not been to Pass Rien  in a while.

Right before I got sick my daughter Rebecca and my grandson came to stay through the holidays and into January. It has been so good to have them here. They were a huge help while I was sick also. Two days after they arrived, we had a wonderful team from Georgia visit. They held a women's conference in Marose and also in Pass Rien. They spent a lot of time with the children in our Children's village. One day they put on a Harvest Carnival, much like some of you hold in your churches. They had different games stations that the children could go to and try to win prizes. The children had a blast. They also brought glo-sticks for the children.

One of my latest adventures has had much to do with one of my greatest fears. I have had many conversations with Haitian's here about the fact that I am not afraid of the lizards, cockroaches (which are HUGE here), praying mantis or stick bugs. I am not afraid of snakes either. Every Haitian I have met is afraid of snakes. I think it is because they are connected to voodoo here. They are surprised that I will pick up a lizard and even put it in my house, because they help keep the bug population down, they especially love mosquitoes. But I have told them, that I draw the line at spiders. I do not like them at all. During the 9 months I have lived here I have actually not run into that many. There is one that looks like a mock scorpion that I don't particularly like, but it is harmless. I have been put to the test over the last few days though. Five days ago, I walked past my couch and about four feet into my doorway was a tarantula the size of my hand staring at me. I tried to flick it towards the open doorway with a flyswatter and it RAN up the back of my couch. After a second try I succeeded in flinging it out the door. My daughter then got involved and was able to smash it with a shoe. It took a couple of really good whacks to kill it. I was not a happy camper that it had actually made it into my house. Next day, no problem. The following day, Lizzy called from the doorway into the house from our porch, mom I see a REALLY big spider here. If I had not seen the tarantula in our house the day before, I probably would have chocked it up to a regular spider. She is five and thinks all bugs are big. But something made my daughter and I pay attention and go look, and sure enough another there was another tarantula. Again I was not really happy about this. It took Mike two direct hits to kill it also. Another day goes by, no problem. Then tonight one of the children calls us from the doorway and says he is cut and he needs us to fix his wound. My daughter Becca goes out to help him. My husband goes to the doorway and my daughter says  "uh Dad look down". Another tarantula sitting in my doorway. Each of these are as big as my hand and very hairy. I would really appreciate prayer for these visitors, as I try to conquer my fear of them. I am wondering why now, all of the sudden. And as with everything else that comes our way I ask "What am I supposed to be learning from this, because I want to learn it quick if I am, so I can move on and be done with them.

Thank you for all of your prayers, blessings,
Chris

Painting the voodoo house clean

Mixing up more paint

All most finished :)

The witch doctor burning the voodoo things

Prepping the house for painting

Stirring the paint

Painting the inside 

The inside of one of the rooms

One of the rooms in the voodoo house

The church people helping to clean up the voodoo things

Some of the paintings we painted over

Praying over and cleaning up one of the witch doctor's houses

A wild goose (turkey) chase & thanks

 Prayer Partners: We sure hope that you are all having a very blessed Thanksgiving Day today, thanking our Heavenly Father for all the good blessings He sends our way. We at New Generation Ministries are certainly thankful for all of them and you, your support, your encouragement, and most of all your prayers. I know that we seem to say that a lot, but it is how we feel, and it is true.

   Living in Haiti has given us a new perspective on most everything that we thought we had figured out about this life we are living. The things that most of us take for granted, like electricity, clean water, three meals a day, driving on smooth roads, and safety and security are “much different here” in our new life in Haiti. But not everything that is “much different here” is bad or negative. Some things have been very encouraging, and very positive, like the way some here “hunger and thirst for God, and are satisfied” by Him, and the way the “poor in Spirit seek Him, and will receive the Kingdom of God” for it.

   But the point of the Holiday remains the same as it was for those early pilgrims in America. They realized how desperate they were for God’s assistance in their life. And they were so very thankful for receiving it from Him. They realized just how fragile this life is and how dependent we really all are on Him. They realized that the things they took for granted, and left back home, were not essentials, or even that necessary for a life that is truly thankful to our gracious heavenly father for everything He does though us and for us.  … Mike

   Hello, this is Chris writing now. I would really like to thank all of you who have been praying for me. I was really sick for a full week. I became sick the evening we painted the witch doctor’s house. I felt sure that it was at least partially spiritual. I did try pushing through a day in the middle of last week, but ended up back in bed. Thanks to prayer there was a break through last Sunday and Monday and I am good to go again. Thank you very much.

I have a little Thanksgiving story I would like to share with you. Most days I have a list that I try to accomplish. The goal being to get from point A to Z, or at least D or E. Today my “list” consisted of trying to come up with some kind of version of a Thanksgiving meal. I already had a list for Mike and my daughter Becca to try and find in the open market. I was going to start cooking J As I was getting dressed for the day, I told Mike I could hear one of our turkey’s outside of our bedroom window, which meant they had escaped the children’s village and were loose in the community. Mike went and checked and said all was well and he and Becca left for the market to find as many things on the food list as possible. Not five minutes after they left, Nadine and the children were calling for help. One of our turkeys was headed up the mountain. So the day stared with a wild goose (turkey) chase, literally. On the way to town Mike ran into a police stop and the truck paperwork of our friends truck, which he was driving, was seized and he had to come back for our paperwork to take to the police department, so he could get the other trucks paperwork back, which he later did. Apparently very large trucks are not allowed on the roads in Gonaives between 6 and 8:30 in the morning, Monday through Friday. Then one of the children in our village realized we were going to eat one of the turkeys and started crying. Catching goats or chickens and eating them apparently is okay. But our turkeys had become like pets. The not so little boy was standing there asking me “why Mama Chris”? So next I find myself giving an American history lesson. Some of the staff joined my history lesson. Then the director of our Marose School wanted to meet with me for a minute. I stopped and laughed, then asked God, “Am I even going to get to A on my list today?”

Later after the turkey was caught, killed and de-feathered for me and brought to my apartment, I thanked them and realized the neck was still intact and that meant the insides would still be intact, sigh, I was hoping they would clean it out for me. But communication is interesting here, to say the least. For example the word li, means he, she or it. How are you supposed to have a clue who or what someone is talking about? Thankfully Mike came to my rescue and cleaned the insides of the turkey out for me.

Thanksgiving Day is not over yet, nor the adventures of life here, and every recipe I am making has at least one ingredient missing, but it will resemble a Thanksgiving meal. My children have made a large paper turkey, I copied my daughter in law Tena’s idea, each feather has something they are thankful for written on it. They have been working on it all month. I don’t have most of my children, grandchildren and other family members with me. But I can call them, I know they are safe and I know God is with them. And for those things I am very thankful.

I hope and pray you are enjoying your Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by family, and good food. I pray you are blessed and thanking God for all you have. And I hope your day is filled with past memories and memories in the making. I know we will remember the year our turkey tried to run up the mountain, and I know we will remember how thankful we were for all God had blessed us with, as we looked around the communities that we ministered in. As Mike said earlier, living in Haiti has given us a new perspective. We wish you many, many blessings, and new prespectives … Chris

Hello,

Wow what a day! Actually four days! We are so thankful for your prayers.

Friday was the beginning of our anniversary celebration for the church in Pass Rein. Nathan led worship and Mike preached. The church will be celebrating for three days with two services on Sunday.

In the morning we left for Port-au-Prince to pick up our daughter Rebecca and our grandson Felice who arrived Saturday. We made it back to Marose in the evening. All of the children were very excited to see them. 

We left for church early (6:30) Sunday morning. We held church early because of the celebration in the afternoon and the service in the evening. The witch doctor who gave his life to the Lord at the crusade had been wanting help cleaning out his home of voodoo items. So Nathan invited the church to go to his home and help after the morning service. Quite a few of us went to help. Everyone arrived at his home and started to worship and pray. Then he started to bring out the voodoo items. Many of the church members helped him to carry the items down the hill to where he was going to burn them. In the process, neighbors and other family members asked what we were doing. Nathan shared about Jesus each time someone asked and by the time we were finished 7 more people had come to the Lord. This particular house had many rooms which were painted with evil things and filled with some really evil things. It was one of the more spiritually dark places I have been. I felt like God was saying the whole place needed to be painted. After everyone was done praying, worshiping and the items were being burnt, we told them that we would come back the next day and paint. This brought tears to some eyes. It is hard to explain sometimes the feelings that are part of times like this. Watching people be set free from bondage. Watching the truth change their lives and the lives of the families. 

So this morning,Tuesday, we skipped doing school and went into town to buy paint and paint supplies. Our painter heard about what we were doing and volunteered to help organize everyone. So after getting what we needed we headed up to Pass Rein. We had one of our staff here volunteer to help. We also had some from Pass Rein volunteer. We swept his house and then everyone started painting. His madame kept telling me "you work with Jesus". I think she was surprised that the white people would actually help do the work, not just pay someone else to do the work. The witch doctor sang worship songs as he painted, we prayed as we painted. There were some rooms which I felt were more evil than others. I kept thinking about the children also. What they had seen, what they had heard, what might have been done to them and others. The evil that had surrounded them as children. The generational curses. Standing there on the grounds of evil, knowing that God is a God of reconciliation. Believing that HE COULD, WAS, and HAD healed their family, lives and land. Knowing that the children's lives would be different. Please pray for them. And please pray for us as we continue to walk out what God has called us too. We and others are depending on your prayers.

Blessings, 

Chris

Mike preaching at the crusade

This little boy was so cute. He was so into seeing his photo on my camera. He just could not fathom how it got there :)

I love the smiles

A little ones journey

Hello,

So to start with, the crusade was absolutely amazing. Thank you for your faithful prayers. The last two nights we had many salvations and people coming forward for prayer. On Sunday morning Mike preached in Pass Rein and there were three salvations. Nathan took our good Shepherd Choir to Arcahaie on Sunday morning. They performed in Nathan's bother in law's church and really enjoyed singing there. Nathan accompanied the choir with his accordion. He is a very talented accordionist. 

I wanted to share some thoughts with you. We all have the ability to have perspectives that are skewed. We as humans tend to be self focused. I for one got caught up in the days problems as breakfast was an issue. Doing laundry by hand for 7 people is a lot of work, and I focused on a few other things that were not going my way. I also was missing my children and grandchildren stateside. Life is a lot easier stateside. So that was my perspective as a precious child was brought to our children's village. 

Nathan's brother was driving back from Gonaives after dark and saw a little boy about 7 or 8 years old, the age of one of my sons, walking along by himself. He stopped and talked with him and then brought him to our children's village. The parents of this little boy had just died. Another family took him in for a few days and then deserted him. He stayed there until he ran out of food. Scared and not knowing what else to do, he started walking for Gross Morone, where he says he has an uncle. This is about a 20 mile walk in 90 plus degree weather. There is no way he could walk that far in one day. I have no idea what he thought he was going to do during the middle of the night, or where he was going to sleep. He had already walked about 1/3 of the way by himself, with no food, no water, and only the clothes on his back. In America most likely friends, relatives, or a government agency would have intervened. I can not even begin to imagine how a child must feel to be so abandoned, so utterly alone. 

Sometimes I have wondered what happens to the little ones in Haiti, when tragedy strikes. Who is there for them. Who makes sure they are safe. Who makes sure someone takes them to a safe place. Who protects them from predators. In America we assume someone will take care of them and all will work out. We hardly give it another thought, unless we knew the family well. We have support set in place, so hopefully no child falls in between the cracks. In Haiti, no one may even know the parents died, much less that there are children left with no one to care for them. Many end up becoming Restaveks, child slaves. Some become street children, Nathan has rescued children from the streets at very young ages. Every one here at the children's village has responded with mercy, but it is not shocking. It should be, but it is not. The story is not uncommon. It is amazing what children have to go through here in Haiti. Often they are forced to become adults at such a young age. 

The enemy robs them of their childhood. A lot of times they are robbed of their life and forced to live a life that most of us would say is not living.

I share this story so you will pray for wisdom and guidance for us as we try to locate extended family for this little one. I share this so that you will pray for our eyes to be open and our hearts to know when other children we see are in need of protection. I share this so you will pray for the children in this country, that other safe people will see the needs and respond. I share this so you will pray that the enemy does not take the little ones out. 

Chris

Making hot dogs for the children

Pastor Janice

The November birthday children

Our November team from South Carolina

The women on the team 

Hello,

I tried to send this e-mail out last night, and it did not work. I am able to send it this morning, so please read it knowing it was sent out a day late. The team leaves in about one hour, so it is not to late to pray for them.Thank you and blessings.

Hello,

I am writing a short update once again on word. I was able to publish yesterday’s prayer partner earlier today. Hopefully I can publish this one when I am through writing it. Otherwise I will publish it tomorrow.

Yesterday I neglected to mention that the team passed out certificates to each of the people attending the pastor’s conference. I have posted some photos on the blog.

The team did well today. This morning they went into Gonaives to see a little of the city’s history and to the market. Afterwards we held the birthday party for the children who have November birthdays.  The children are getting a little more comfortable with the birthdays. Most have never had a birthday party or been recognized at all. So some are having a hard time being the center of attention. Later in the afternoon, the team barbecued hot dogs for the children, which the children loved.  Also part of the team visited our church and school in Poteau  to watch the Awana program.  The Awana program has been pretty successful so far this school year.

So here’s the rest of the story…… The driver who gave his life to the Lord last night is from Pass Rein. He also was a witch doctor. So another witch doctor has been saved out of Pass Rein. God is amazing, even when we are not in Pass Rein, he is saving the people. It just goes to show everyone it is Jesus that does all the work, not any of us. The witch doctor now wants some of the people from the church to help him clean all of the voodoo items out of his home. It is such an amazing testimony when men and women so steeped in evil can see the light and choose Jesus. Voodoo is real and it is evil. Here in Haiti it involves death and human sacrifices, and other evil, it is ugly. But God is a God of redemption. In His word He says when light comes darkness has to flee. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!

Please pray for the team as they head for home tomorrow, please pray for safe travel for them. Also please keep praying for the crusade.

Blessings,

Chris

Two of the team members fixed some of the girls hair.

Receiving certificates for the pastor's conference

Receiving certificates for the pastor's conference

Thursday November 8,2013

Hello,

I am typing this in word, hoping I can post it later J

The team is doing great. Yesterday they went to visit Pass Rein and our school there. This was special for some of the team members as they were part of the team last November which brought a meal to share with the community of Pass Rein. The meal served last November was the beginning of the revival in Pass Rein. The very next day the church we had been trying to plant took off and there have been salvations every day since then. The Spirit has moved incredibly from that day forward. The team was able to see our new school that teaches children in the morning and adults in the late afternoon. After the team arrived back at the children’s village they taught at the pastor’s conference. Eight of the team members are Pastors and they have been taking turns teaching at the conference and preaching at the crusade in the evening. Last night Pastor Rodney preached and Nathan led worship. There were about 15 -20 who came forward for prayer.

This morning the team visited our school in Perou. Then in the early afternoon they taught at the pastor’s conference again. Two of the women on the team did some of the girl’s hair in the orphanage.Tonight Pastor Janice preached. She preached out of chronicles, using the story of Jehoshaphat. She did an excellent job. Six people gave their lives to the Lord tonight. One of them was a driver who was hired by us to provide transportation for villagers who wanted to come to the crusade. He had been driving the last three nights. But, he called Nathan today and said “I know you have hired us for the week, but my boss sold the truck we were using to transport the people and I am out of work now.” Nathan asked him if he knew anyone else who could drive for us. He said he would check around. Later he called Nathan and said he found another large truck and the owner of it said he could drive it tonight. Nathan talked with him and found out that he was not a believer. Nathan told him that he should give his life to the Lord and that God would bless him. The man responded that he had other plans and would choose God later. He arrived with the people and sat and listened, as he had nothing else to do until he took the people back home. He was so inspired by Janice’s message as he sat and listened, that he gave his life to the Lord tonight. You should have seen him, he was so excited, he was like a little child before the Lord. Please pray for him as he begins his new life in Christ and tries to find another job, which is almost impossible with the unemployment rate in Haiti.

Tomorrow morning the team will go into the market in Gonavies. Later in the day we will have our birthday party for the children who have birthdays in November. A huge thank you to those of you who bought cake mixes and powdered sugar for the birthday cakes. I really appreciate it. One of the team members will also be preaching at the crusade again. Please pray that God continues to move and bless the people of Haiti, and know that He has been answering your prayers each evening.

Many Blessings,

Chris          

Worship during the crusade

The Good Shepherd choir

Pastor Neely addressing the crusade

The South Carolina team

Worship

Hello,

Thank you so very much for partnering with us in prayer. The team arrived safely on Monday. They had a little bit of time to settle in and then went to the crusade. Pastor Ronnie (I am not sure of the spelling and it is 12:39 AM here so I cannot check), from the team preached Monday evening at the crusade. He had a very good evangelistic message. Nathan led worship, which was so alive, it was obvious that God was present. There were about 700 in attendance and about 50 people came forward for prayer.

Today the team visited our medical clinic in the morning and then climbed the mountain for a devotion on perspectives. Eight of the ten team members are pastors. Some of them taught at the pastor's conference this afternoon and some of them shared VBS with the children in our Children's Village. 

Tonight the team went to the crusade again. Nathan led worship, which was excellent. Pastor Darryl from the South Carolina team preached a message on salvation that was very inspiring. Eight of the team members sang two different gospel songs for everyone. The songs were very powerful. Afterwards the team came up on the stage again and they were prayed for along with two of the leaders from our Marose church body. There were over 700 in attendance again tonight and about 60 came forward for prayer. It has been a blessing for us to have the team here helping us pray for all of the people coming forward for prayer.

It is hard to explain the atmosphere of the crusade. As you know a lot of prayer has gone into this event. Haiti is a very black and white country spiritually, there is no gray area. Even though it is November, it is 80 degrees right now at 12:56 AM. It was about 86 degrees tonight at the crusade. So imagine a warm summer evening, with 700 plus Christians around you, worshiping God with their whole heart, body, soul and mind. It is absolutely incredible. I like to think of it as a glimpse of what heaven will be like, when all the nations worship at the throne of His feet. I wish everyone could experience this, what it feels like to be doing what He wants us to, where He wants us to. Life is far from perfect here, but the feeling of knowing you are where He wants you. That you have answered His call, no matter the cost. That you are walking in the purpose He created you for. The feeling is indescribable. I do not share this to make anyone feel less of a person, but rather to encourage everyone to ask God to show them the purpose He created them for and then too choose to walk in it, no matter what the risks appear to be. It is worth it, He guarantees it.

Please keep praying for the crusade and the people God is reaching out to. 

Blessings,

Chris

Nathan leading worship at the crusade in Marose

Hello,

We wanted to thank you for praying and update you. 

Church was great this morning. Nathan lead worship and Mike preached. Afterwards we came home and prepared for tonight's crusade. The crusade will be each evening through next Sunday. Tonight was the opening night. It was a lot of fun. Everyone was full of energy and excitement. There were at least 500 people. The crusades usually increase in attendance as the week progresses. There were about 40 people who came forward for prayer near the end of the service, which is one of my favorite parts. We are looking forward to tomorrow night. 

In the morning, Monday, Mike will be leaving to pick up our first November team. Again, please pray for safe travel. One of the pastors from the team will be preaching tomorrow night, and Nathan will be leading worship again. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers.

Blessings,

Chris

Our new stage for crusades, public meetings, 

community events or just a shady spot to sit under.

Our new little shop selling Haitian Artisan goods!!!!

Hello,

Hope this e-mail finds you well. I am excited to share a new idea of mine.

We have some great friends here in Haiti, whom I have shared about before. They are called Second Story Goods. Part of their ministry is to reach out and mentor Haitian Artisans in developing their small business into a business that can actually support their families. We have brought some of their items back to Washington and have sold them at our fundraisers. We have also been considering selling some of their items on our website. A little while ago I told Mike that I would like to make some of the items available to teams that come to stay with us in Haiti. These items are all quality items, made in Haiti, by local Artisans, being paid a fair living wage for their goods. Many of the items include recycled parts. They are also items that you would actually enjoy or be able to give as gifts unlike traditional souvenirs, that are sometimes not even made in the country you are purchasing them in. So to make a long story short, I asked Mike if he could build me a cabinet that looked like a shipping crate to hold the items for sale. He did and I just finished stocking it today. I can't wait until teams are able to see the products and give me feedback. The initial proceeds help the Haitian Artisans. The proceeds from purchasing the items from our cabinet will go to support our children's village. 

We also have a team of South Carolina Pastors and some of their wives arriving on Monday. Please pray for safe travel for them. They are coming to be part of a huge Crusade we are hosting here at our church in Marose. We are expecting upwards of 1000 people to attend each evening. It will be held outside in front of our newly built stage. The pastors from South Carolina will be preaching some of the evenings and they will also be teaching a pastors conference during the day for three days. They will be both teaching and encouraging the local pastors. The crusade starts this Sunday evening and will continue through the following Sunday evening. Mike will be opening the first night with preaching and Nathan will be leading worship each night. The pastors conference will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Please be praying for the crusade each evening and the pastors conference during the day. The crusade should be a huge outreach, especially as it will be held outside. Blessings and thank you ahead of time for your prayers.

Chris