Thursday, December 11, 2014

Sometimes I paint to process my thoughts. Here is another favorite quote of mine that I painted.

Tuesday, December 9th

We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers. If prayers can move mountains, then surely they can unlock the bureaucracy enough for us to all be together as a family for the holidays. We felt the favor of God on our efforts today in Port-Au-Prince. I will travel back on Thursday to pick the Visa's up and we will be in the air on Sunday, headed for the cold north. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 

P.S. Some of you have asked how best to contribute towards the rice Christmas dinner for the people in Haiti. The best way is to go to our website at: www.newgenerationhatiti.org 

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Visa's and Christmas

Hello,

We hope you are enjoying all of the snow and cold  in the Pacific Northwest.

We wanted to send out a reminder, asking for your prayers. We have a visa appointment for two of our children Tuesday morning, @ 7:00 AM Pacific Standard time. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for favor, granting our children travel visas. Also for traveling to Port-au- Prince and back to the appointment at the US Embassy. We have been working on obtaining visas for almost 2 years. The children have been living with us here in Haiti just short of 2 years.  It would be heart breaking to leave them behind as we travel to visit family and friends for Christmas.

We would also like to share a Christmas hope and dream with you. We are hoping you will be able to help us provide each of our 6 churches with (30) 50lb bags of rice, which the churches would be able to distribute to their community, for their Christmas meal. Each 50lb bag of rice costs $25. Most of Haiti still eats only 1 meal a day. It is not uncommon to run into families who eat every other day. Would you reach out and help them have a nice Christmas meal, by donating bags of rice, which we will purchase locally here in Gonaives. It would be a great outreach for our churches.

Thank you so much for your prayers and help with providing a Christmas meal. 

Blessings,
Chris

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

A quote by George Mueller that I painted.

Hello, 
Hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a nice thanksgiving meal here minus some of the ingredients :) We had a house full, as I know some of you did. 

Many of you have been asking if and when we have a visa appointment for the two children we are trying to adopt. Yes we finally do have one. Praise God! It is on December 9th and we would really appreciate your prayers for a favorable response. The children have been living with us as part of our family for almost two years. It would break our hearts to not be able to bring them back to visit with our family. We had been trying to apply for an earlier appointment, but we have been told that they are reserved for emergency visas, and that it would not help if we just showed up and waited for an opening from a cancellation. In faith we have already purchased their airline tickets. So December 9th is the date and we would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Last Sunday Mike was blessed with the privilege of becoming a Godfather of one of our cooks little girl. Our cook Elemen has been with us since the beginning of the ministry and she asked Mike if he would be the Godfather at her daughter's dedication. 

This Sunday I also am being blessed with the privilege of becoming a Godmother of David's little baby, David is one of the witch doctors that came to the Lord in Pass Rien. You may remember my story about painting his house. His life has been such a witness to others in Pass Rien. Many of the witch doctors struggle to find another source of income, after surrendering their previous life style to Jesus. David has been blessed to find a driving job for a Dominican road construction company here in Gonaive. It has been wonderful to watch his transformation into a loving father and husband. He has also gone to the church leaders and expressed his desire to be married. I continue to be amazed that God chooses to allow us to be involved in this community. 

Tomorrow I get to fill in teaching an English class in the community. The Haitian man who usually teaches the class is going to be out of town. It is a great class as he offers it as a community outreach. There are about 35 students of all ages in the class. It is held in a little church around the corner from us. Again, I would appreciate your prayers as it will stretch me a bit. 

Thank you for coming along side of us, we do really count on you. 
Blessings,
Chris

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Leo, Terry and Greg our November team.

Mama Becca and Altine at her new transitional home for boys from orphanages.

Mama Chris with Altine,  before he leaves our Children's Village for the new transitional home for boys.

November Team

Hello,

I know we have sent out quite a few emails lately, but I wanted to share about what's going on with the team that is here. They have had a short whirlwind trip. They started with a board meeting in Port-au-Prince, for three days. The team traveled up north for a day, then they came to our children's village. So in 4 short days, they have spent time with the children, passed out glow sticks and have taken photo's. I mention the photos because Terry already has over 1100 photos on HIS camera, he is a bit over the top as far as photos go, those of you who know me, know I am the same. I had over 60 photos hanging on the walls in my home in Lynden when we lived there. I love photos. The team also spent the first day seeing all the projects we have going in Marose, and catching the vision of the future projects.

On Friday their second day, the team spent the morning visiting Perou. In the evening they traveled to Pass Rein for a church service. Nathan led worship and Mike taught. It was a good evening.

Saturday morning the team visited our Poteau church to see the Awana program. Later that morning Greg, Terry and Leo each had a turn to speak into the lives of our Good Shepherd pastor's during our pastor's conference. Later in the day the team visited us at our daughter's house to see the boys transitional home. Greg has a good relationship with both Junior(David) and Altine, so he wanted to see where they are living now. Afterwards, they visited Gonaives for the evening. Gonaives is a different place in the evening then in the morning. Greg and Mike bought some street food, which is a fun cultural experience. I love the manje lari, (street food), especially the BBQ chicken which comes smothered in onions, and a special hot sauce along with bannann fri and ponmdete (fried plantains and potatoes). The stand we usually buy from, knows Mike really likes the hot sauce and usually gives him some extra in a bottle.

Today, Sunday, the team is heading back to Port-au-Prince to fly out, please pray for safe and on time travel. We really enjoyed having them, although Mike and Greg never went on the moto (motorcycle) ride that they have been wanting to do. I will post a team photo on the blog.

I will also post photos on the blog of Altine, the first boy to transition from the Children's Village to our daughter and her family's transitional home. We are really proud of him. He is in 11th grade. They have a total of 13 grades in Haiti, before you can move on to University. We are enjoying living here with him and Junior(David) as part of our family, while our daughter Rebecca and her family are stateside fund-raising for a bit. It has been challenging though to say the least, home schooling my 5 children and Junior. They range from first grade to 6th grade, with three of them in multiple grade levels due to their past education and their level of understanding English.

Thank you for reading our prayer partners and praying, many blessings,

Chris

Canadian Fundraiser

Hello,

I wanted to write and share with you about the Canadian fundraiser that Wendy has so generously offered to hold in Canada. The event will be held on the evening of Wednesday November 26th. This is the night before American Thanksgiving. This should be a wonderful evening. A buffet will be served, with all the bells and whistles, along with a live auction. Wendy has reserved the Redwood Golf and Country Club, in Walnut Grove, B.C. for the event. Looking forward to seeing both our Canadian and American friends. For more information you can contact Wendy at wendgare@gmail.com. We would love to see you there.

Blessings,

Chris
Orphan Sunday November 2, 2014

November 2, 2014

Hello,
I wanted to share my heart a bit on this Orphan Sunday. I know Mike has written a few short notes to you already. But I feel called to share a story. If you take time to read it, it will touch your heart.

It is amazing to me, that after 40 years this November of walking with God in a personal relationship, that I realize more and more how much I do not know, and how very far I fall from being like Jesus. I feel like I should be so much closer but then He reveals another broken part of me.

Last night was all night prayer and worship in Pass Rein. As I stood and assessed where I would sit or stand in the crowd of probably 300 at that point a little girl about 7 years old named Schinina ran to me in the dark and threw her little arms around my legs and held on for about 5 minuets. Her cousin T-LeLe and her love hanging out with us when we are in Pass Rein. I was offered someone else's chair, which I usually turn down, but I was already tired and it was all night prayer and worship so I accepted the offer. Schinina crawled up on my lap and grabbed my arms and wrapped herself up in them. She only left my lap when she had to pee, as she put it, or when I left to pray over someone. Mike had brought a couple of handfuls of peanuts with him, a gift from a pastor and his wife who send treats to us sometimes. I put a handful of them in my pocket and let her pick them out and eat them.

She stayed with me until 4:30 in the morning. When church was over I walked with her in the dark to the short path that leads to her hut. She started to tell me why she could not go to the hut. I told her she needed to and kissed her on the forehead and said goodnight. Then I walked away. When I turned back I could see her coming after me. It made me cry. Cry because she wants love so badly, cry because I see her wandering all over Pass Rein with no one watching out for her, cry because I can not protect her, cry because I can not heal the fungal spots on her body, cry because I can not make sure she has eaten that day.

During the night we prayed for at least 40 people for healing and restoration, we also prayed for over 80 young girls who were struggling sexually. From my experience here I would say most of them were not choosing sex. It was humbling to watch that many come forward knowing their own community was watching and ask for help and prayer. But, among the huge numbers there is always the “one”. The “one” God points out. The “one” your called to minister too! It means I will be on my hands and knees in the dirt with her, it means I will probably get scratched or accidentally kicked in the process. It means I will hold her sweaty body and try to keep her from writhing too much and hurting herself on something, it means I will look in her eyes and try to see if the enemy's legions have left her or if Jesus has more work to do. The “one” is why I said yes to Jesus.

But, I have to remind myself of that “one”, when the beggar will not stop harassing me, when the man in the market is making sexual comments about me, that I only understand in part, or when I get upset with a child who has made a bad choice for the 12th time, I have to remind myself of that “one” when I am hot, frustrated, and exhausted. Oh how I wish I got it right each time.
The other day Mike and I were having a disagreement and I said “it's not fair I have given up everything, my home, my belongings, my children and my grandchildren, everything.” It made me even more mad when he said I had given up little in comparison. But he was right. You see God is changing my perspective, it is starting to not look so American, but it is not looking Haitian either, It is looking a bit more kingdom like. By this statement I do not mean that I am more Christ like, quite the opposite, I just see my short comings and failures oh so much more lately.

I am trying to spend my life on the people of Haiti and there are days when I struggle just to see joy. Days when we have no water, the solar power has failed, when we do no have money for the 1150 children the school directors have just finished signing up, When the nanny's are not doing what they have been asked, when some of the children have made a poor choice and the enemy is riding on my back and whispering in my ear, failure, your a failure. Sometimes I am trying to discern whether God is trying to tell us something or the enemy is attacking us, and I want to just sit down and cry. We are in the front line and in desperate need of people being with us.

One of the verses I hang onto is 2Corinthians 4:16-18;
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

So in closing we need you. We need your prayers, we need your notes of encouragement, we need your physical support, we need your financial support, we need you to share with others, but above all we need to get more of the children sponsored out, so we can meet their needs. So little girls like Schinina have food, water, medical care and the ones caring for her understand protecting and watching out for her. You see it is very holistic, it is like everything is broken and needs to be retaught. Please help us in the battle for His children...He is calling!
Blessings,
Chris

November 1, 2014

Hi again from Mike on this "Orphan Sunday' weekend. We at New Generation Ministries are trying to use this designated "orphan Sunday" weekend to bring much needed awareness to the plight of the vulnerable children in Haiti and around the world. Millions of children in every country are in need of your prayers and your help. "We want to bring to you the revelation of the heart of God for these children." We want you to be aware of the needs they have and how easy it would be for you to help. New Generation Ministries is;
  • Providing Safe, Healthy Care for 55 Orphans
  • Providing Christian Education to 1,150 Students
  • Providing Medical Care Clinic for the area
  • Providing Jobs and Job Training 
  • Providing Food and Clean Drinking Water 
  • Providing Adult Education
  • Providing Life Giving Churches
  • Providing Good Haitian Leaders
  • Providing Life Giving Community Conferences
You can help us reach these children by sponsoring one or more of them to receive help from the list above, plus the deep satisfaction of giving such a wonderful gift to a child, who has absolutely no way to pay you back, other then by becoming healthy, growing, flourishing, and blossoming into the greatness of what God has planned for them............ Mike

October 31, 2014

Good afternoon everyone; We are rapidly coming up on "Orphan Sunday." If you have not heard of it before, then let us tell you about it. Orphan Sunday is the dedication of the first Sunday in November to raise awareness of  the plight of the orphan. This year Novemeber 2, 2014 is the Sunday set aside for you to join together in unity with other believers for the sake of orphans and vulnerable children around the world. Won't you please join us in prayer for these children?
  • This is your opportunity to be in alignment with the heart of God in His concern for these vulnerable children. 
  • This is your opportunity to offer up prayers according to His perfect will for these vulnerable children. 
  • This is your opportunity to bind the tragedies caused by this world, and loose the compassion of Heaven for the sake of these vulnerable children.
"Lord, you tell us that you are near to the downtrodden and destitute. Your heart aches for children that face the world alone. You champion the cause of these children all over this world who have no one else to take their side. And you have called us to do the same."

So will you please join with us in prayer, and an effort to reach out to the lost and hurting children in Haiti.

How can you help?
  • Pray for these children
  • Pray for the people who are helping them
  • Sponsor a child in Haiti
  • Encourage your friends, family and co-workers to sponsor a child in Haiti
  • Send financial support for this ministry
The best way that you can get involved and help this ministry reach out to the vulnerable children in Haiti, is to sponsor one or more children from New Generation Ministries at just $30 per month. 

Blessings,
Mike and Chris

Our October team from South Carolina baptized 13 believers from Marose

Emmanuel one of our boys from the Children's village being baptised.

Pastor Neely's team baptizing.

Proud papa at the baptism.

Wonder what he is thinking?

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Hello, 

I am sorry that it has been sooo long since I have written. A lot has happened since I wrote last. First of all Jacob and Amber have decided to go back to Lynden, they were here for 3 months. Amber is due with her fourth child in the beginning of January and their midwife was not able to come to Haiti after all. They also found that the paperwork to get American citizenship looked like it could take a few months. So they are back in Washington and we miss them very much. I am hoping to be back for the holidays in time for their birth and the birth of my son Jeremiah and his wife Davida's child, which is in the beginning of December.

So the next happening, was my daughter Rebecca and her husband deciding it was more expensive to live in Haiti then they realized. So Rebecca and her son Felice flew back to Washington to spend time raising additional financial support. She has been running their home in Gonaives for the boys who have aged out of the orphanage. So, in the meantime our family has moved into the transitional home and are watching over it until they return, which should be early spring. 
 
I am doing better health wise now, but have been really sick again. What I thought was a really bad flu that I  was just not getting over as fast as I should have, turned out to be typhoid. I waited until I realized I was not getting better and went to see a doctor during the weekend. He gave me IV fluids and medication and told me to come back the following Monday and have labs drawn. I had the labs drawn the following Monday, but then had to wait for results. So, by the time I realized I had typhoid, I was already getting better. The  doctor did prescribe different medication once he knew I had typhoid though, and after almost two weeks, I now am feeling better. I am looking forward to getting my health and immune system built back up, when I am stateside over the holidays. I would greatly appreciate your prayers, as I think my immune system is pretty much done here.

We have had the pleasure of having the team back from South Carolina. This is their fourth year staying with us. They came up from Bercy on Sunday, for their third annual crusade and pastor's conference with our ministry. Mike preached that evening as the opener for a week long crusade in Marose. On Monday, they held the first day of a two day pastor's conference. In the evening pastor Janice preached at the crusade. Tuesday the team visited two of our schools and then held the second day of the pastor's conference. That evening pastor Willmar preached at the crusade. Today, Wednesday, the team visited the prison in Gonaives. They brought food and toiletry gifts for about 300 prisoners. In Haiti, you are not fed in the prisons. You need family or friends to bring you food. The conditions are really bad. The prisoner's tie their one sheet to the bars, like a hammock, so they do not have to sleep in the pee that is all over the floor. Only some of them are able to use their sheet as a hammock, as there is only so much room. Some of the prisoners have served their term, but do not have the bribe money they need to pay to get out of prison once their term has been served. The prisoner's also are guilty until proven innocent, unlike in the U.S., where they are innocent until proven guilty. Mike talked to one pastor who has already served 29 months and has not been formally charged yet.  It is incredible what conditions humans are some times subjected to. Nathan, Mike and the team had about 6 older Haitian teen age boys with them. Mike took the boys aside and talked to them about what they could see and their life choices. It was a pretty emotionally moving day. Tonight, Virginia preached at the crusade. Each evening's ministry time has had many people coming forward for prayer. Tomorrow the team will be participating in about 30 baptisms and then in the afternoon they will be visiting the hospital in Gonaives. They will be bringing toiletry gifts again and the team will be praying for the patients and families. Again, even in the hospitals, the family and or friends are responsible for the feeding and cleaning of the patients and their bedding in the hospital. I do not know what happens if there is no one to help. I do know that in our churches, members have gone in to help the people with no family. We do not realize how blessed we are in the states. Please pray for the baptisms, hospital visit and the crusade in the evening. 

On another note, we have applied for a visa appointment for Jonathan Erwins and Lydia Mannrose. We are supposed to hear when the appointment date will be on Monday. Please pray for a date before the holidays, so that we can come home as a family for the holidays. Also please pray for a favorable grant of a travel visa for both of the children. We know of some families where some of the siblings, but not all, were granted visa's. We really need your prayers, so that both children are allowed to come back for the holidays with us.

Thank you so very much for your prayers. We really depend on them. 

Blessings,
Chris

Friday, September 5, 2014

Adding the second floor to Dita's Home

The older girls, two of which will be moving to Dita's Home, the others will follow soon :)

Inside Dita's Home

The second story

The kitchen and eating area

Our older girls

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Mail and dreams

Hello,

I am writing tonight with two things in mind. The first is our headquarters in Lynden is located on a rural country road. Occasionally the local teens like to play pranks. A typical one is to knock down or smash a mailbox while traveling 50 miles plus as they go by. The other is to stick a firecracker or other such explosive in the mailbox and blow it up. Melissa told us that is what happened on Saturday. So besides having to replace our mailbox, we also need to let you know that if any of you sent any mail the last few days, including automatic bank checks to our home address could you please let Melissa or Dustin know. If you sent them to our PO Box there would be no problem. We would really appreciate it you can contact them at, melissaleland@newgenerationhaiti.org
You can also reply to this email and we will forward it on.
Sorry for the inconvenience, we just have no way to know who's mail would have been in the mailbox. I would like to strongly encourage everyone to use our post office address in the future it is; 

New Generation Ministries 
PO Box 42
Lynden, WA 98264

Thank you so very much !

The second thing I would like to share is a small dream I have for the children. Thanks to many of you we now have about 5 boxes of children's books collected. We also have puzzles, games, color books and various leftover VBS crafts for children. I let a couple of children come into my home at a time and spend time drawing, reading or playing. It would be nicer though to have a room set up just for these activities. I have also wished we had a room set up to pray with the children in a semi private place. As I have put more thought and prayer into this I believe I have found a solution. Nathan, Mike and I use our own places for an office, rather than the room here in the children's village designated for an office. Sooooo.... My heart would be to turn the designated office into a library/game/prayer room. So here is where some of you come in. I need a little help, not much. First I would need some wood for book/game shelves. The current window we have in the office has opaque amber colored glass, great for privacy, but it lets very little light in. So I would love it if someone would help me change the amber glass out for clear glass. I also would love to paint the room. Painting the room would obviously require some paint, but I would also love to bless the children with some painted murals in the room. Which leads me to another way you can help, I would love it if any of you would feel led to come help me paint some murals. I know some of you are very talented in this area and would enjoy helping paint the room. I would be open to art work that fits your talent. We do have a projector too, if that would help. Any takers????? Please let me know :) I am excited to get started. 

Blessings,
Chris

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Helping Papa Mike



Greetings,

We really appreciate all of the people that have supported us over the years by giving financially, going on trips, or lifting us up in prayer.  To show our appreciation, we would like to invite you to a BBQ.  This is not a fundraiser.  This is simply an opportunity to bring together all of you that have a heart for Haiti.

We are excited to share with you all that has been happening in Haiti.  We have had an eventful summer and Mike will be here to update us and to share our vision for the coming months.  We will be providing the dinner.  Bring your kids, bring your friends, bring your neighbors, leave your check book at home.

The BBQ will be held on Saturday, September 6th at 5:30 p.m. at Henry's Pond in Lynden.  9030 Guide Meridian Rd.  Lynden, WA 98264.  (Henry's Pond is just a couple of miles from the Canadian border, so we hope some of our Canadian friends will join us!)


We look forward to seeing you all on the 6th! 

The Lelands


Map of 9030 Guide Meridian Rd, Lynden, WA 98264

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Our swarm of honey bees. They decided they like it on our porch.They are already building a comb.Trying to figure out how to make a bee hive, so we can put them in a safer place.

I know this is blurry, but I thought it was cute. This little boy built his own guitar and was playing it during worship just to the side of the tent.

So hungry for Jesus

I want to share with you a fun thing we have been able to do the last couple of mornings. The community of Pass Rein is so hungry for God and trying so hard to figure out life differently, that besides meeting for church every night, they also wanted to have a men's conference and a women's conference and this week a marriage and family conference. So yesterday Nathan, Mike and I, and today just Mike and I sat with them and let them ask questions, any question they wanted to. We have had a lot of interaction, a lot of oh my's, a lot of hard life questions and a lot of laughter​. It has been great. The youth have now come to Nathan and said they want a conference too, so they can learn about life. Please, please pray for these families, that their eyes, ears and minds would be open and that they would understand the things of God. Not life like Americans, Canadians or even Haitians, but Kingdom life, life like God created them for, like Haitian Christian men and women. 

Thank you again for helping us to put Bibles in the hands of the Haitian believers. You have helped to give 100 bibles towards our goal of 300. What a huge blessing.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Eating at my daughter Becca's house in Gonaives at her new table made by Scott.
The table is 15 feet long and really built well, to withstand teenage boys :)

Jacob has been teaching the older boys how to work out. It has been a good way to relate to them. 

Tyler, Christina and Jacob building up Janae's two front teeth.

A Very Cool Little God Story

Hello,

I wanted to share a "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would have put it. 

So the story starts... with God drawing a man to the well. A man who does not know God.There are two natural springs that I know of in Pass Rein. The springs are places that draw community for obvious reasons. One of them is located across the road just outside our church meeting tent. When church or bible study are happening anyone at the spring getting water cannot help hearing what is going on. Frequently we pray quietly for the people at the spring or well. Yesterday morning Mike was preaching in Pass Rein and Nathan was preaching in Poteau. While Mike was preaching a man came to the well  and as he was drawing water he said he could feel the presence of God. So he stayed by the spring and listened. He said as he listened to the white man, God showed him that our church was in the center of Pass Rein (a mountainous village of about 3000 people). He said he could see flames of fire in the spiritual realm over the church. Then he said he could see the flames of fire spreading out over the village and valley. He said he knew it was the spirit of God. The rest of the story is... that He came back to church that night, last night and gave his life to the Lord.
God is soooooooo amazing!!!!

When I was reading in the bible today this was the verse I read; Isaiah 9:2-3
 
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.

God just keeps blessing and we are sooo very privileged to be a part of it. Thank you sooo very much for your prayers, and help both physically and monetarily. We could not AND can not push through the darkness without you. Your response was great for bibles, I wish that every one of you who helped to give bibles could stand with us and see the smiles break out and the joy take over as they hug their bibles to their chests. A sneak preview of heaven :)

Blessings and thanks
Chris

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Huge Victory !

Hello,

Thank you for praying for us. Everyone here is slowly but surely getting past their sickness. Stephanie and Jason made it home safely as did the Teen Challenge team. So we are down to one family from CTK Snohomish visiting now. Tyler and Jacob have worked on the electric and plumbing at my daughter Rebecca's house. They are working on the electrical for Dita's home today. 

On Saturday evening in Pass Rein 25 more people gave their hearts to the Lord. Last night there were 6 more salvations and we prayed for at least 30 people all together. These salvations in themselves are huge, and I know that God sees us all the same, we are all sinners and need to be saved, but we are so excited to share about one salvation in particular. We live and minister in an area where the surrounding villages are among the top voodoo villages in Haiti. Three of the villages are the ones that were advertised as destinations to see voodoo during Haiti's annual carnival. Two Sundays ago a man came to the church service in Pass Rein. He came again yesterday, and 
​ received salvation.​ It turns out that this man is the boko  (head witch doctor) for the area of Gonaives and Enerey. For those of you who have been here, when you are on the mountain behind the orphanage and look down onto the valley as far as you can see, you are looking at about 1/3 of the area he is over. He wept and wept for all that he had done. God is so amazing, to think that He would save us when we are so evil, He loves us and forgives us when we are at our worse. I think God has big plans for this man. He has influence in areas we would never be able to speak into. Please pray for him and his family. The enemy will not be happy  with his decision and he will have to find another way to make an income and support his family. It will change absolutely everything for them and many others.

We have had so many salvations lately in Pass Rien that we have a good problem that you can help us with. We could really use more bibles for all of the new Christians. We are able to purchase a new complete bible in Creole for $10. If any of you would like to help us, you can go to our web site newgenerationhaiti.org. On our web site you can use credit card, pay pal or your bank. You can also send a check to our ministry if you would prefer. The address is New Generation Ministries, PO Box 42, Lynden, WA 98264. Again thank you so much for your prayers and help.

Blessings,
Chris

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Jim Glynn and Teen Challenge sharing in Marose

Team Challenge praying for people in Pass Rein

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Jacob teaching baseball

Doesn't he have a great smile. He is one of our newest, he says he is 6yrs looks like 4 yrs to me. 

Nathan's grandmother is in the middle, her sisters on either side. She is 82, her sisters are 80 and 84. The life expectancy for a Haitian adult is 52. Amazing!

Nathan and his grandmother :)

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Hello,
It is hard to believe we have reached the midpoint of summer. I am not sure I am ready for fall and back to school yet. Our summer got off to a late start this year.
I know it is also the start of back to school supplies being both available and on sale. We would greatly appreciate your picking up some extra supplies for our children when you pick up supplies for your children. There will be over 800 children this year that you will be helping to go to school. 

We have a small team coming today. They have had some flight delays. Please pray for safe and on time travel for the rest of their trip. They will be doing some medical outreaches. Stephanie will also be updating the medical records of the orphans in our Children's Village. I am looking forward to spending time with her. She lived with my daughter Rebecca and her family for a year and then with our family for a year. She also spent 2 months here in the Children's Village.

Last weekend Nathan, Mike and I went to Arcahaie for a crusade and wedding. Mike preached twice and Nathan preached once. Nathan also led worship once and directed the choir. There were 5 salvation's the night Nathan led worship and Mike preached, also about 25 came forward for prayer. This particular church does not usually have ministry time afterwards so it was a new experience for them. 

Rebecca took possession of her house in Gonaive on Monday. We are working out the legal paperwork at the moment so she will be able to start taking children who are still trying to finish school, but are aging out of the Children's Village soon. 

Everyone here is also working hard to finish Dita's transitional home for the girls before the school year starts. They are pouring the ceiling/roof today. After the cement is set they will start laying the blocks for the walls of the second story. 

I think we may have seen the world record for the most live goats carried on a motorcycle. Would you believe 14 goats. It was an unbelievable sight. 

My waiting list for sponsoring an orphan has been fulfilled. 
I have three new orphans to sponsor out, so if any of you are interested in sponsoring an orphan please send me an e-mail and I will send you a photo and give you more information. 

Thanks so much for all of your prayers. 
Many Blessings,
Chris

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Chris holding Jonas' baby boy.

Jonas and Nathalie with their baby boy.

Mike with Jonas' baby

Dita's home, our transitional house for girls aging out of the Children's Village.

The back of Dita's home.

The front view.

A side view.

With grateful hearts

Hello again,
Hope you are having a wonderful summer Sunday. Mike is preaching in Marotte and Nathan is preaching in Pass Rien. And I am home with my 8 year old son Joshua. He has the chikungunya virus which is spread from mosquitoes. Most of Haiti has it or had it. According to what I've heard It came from South Africa. I thought we had managed to avoid it, but I guess not. You mostly get a fever, rash and bad joint pain. So we would appreciate your prayers please. 

We had a great night in Pass Rein. Nathan led worship, Mike and Rusty preached, Joann and Mike from the Anacortes team shared their testimonies. And best of all five women were prayed over and set free. I am constantly in awe over God's love. He continues to allow us to participate in bringing his light and glory to the Pass Rein area. 

So I am sitting here with my 6 year old daughter and I asked her what else did the team do lately? She looks at me and says, painted my nails, sang songs, played with me and played with Dieka. I guess her perspective of the important things the team did is very different from mine.  Hmmm I wonder what God would deem most valuable. Something to think about.

Yesterday, Nathan and Mike rented a big bus and took the teachers and school directors from all of our schools to a beach near Arcahaie. Nathan's wife made a beautiful meal for them to eat. They talked about how the school year went and what they want to see for next year. Then they spent the day relaxing. It was constructive, but also a thank you to them for the work they do.

Mike also took the team to Saint Marc yesterday, they were such a blessing to all of us in the Children's Village. He will  take them to the airport Tuesday morning. Please pray for safe travel for them and for on time flight connections. 

On another note, a very exciting note for both us personally and for the ministry. My son Jacob and his wife Amber along with their family of 3 and 1/2 little ones arrive in Haiti Tuesday, along with my daughter Rebecca, soon to be followed by her 9 year old son (who will be staying with his other Grandpa and Grandma for a week or so). Her husband Andrew will follow in about a year. He has
some commitments to finish up with first. We are excited personally to have some of our children and grandchildren ministering with us. It has been so hard being far away from family. But, we are also excited for the ministry as the two families will be running transitional housing for our aging out orphans. Jacob and Amber will be running Dita's home and the ministry for the girls and Rebecca and Andrew will be running the home and ministry for the boys. We are excited because they are not just providing a house, they are providing a true transition into adult life. This program is offered to those children that are trying to finish high school or vocational training. They will also receive training in cooking, cleaning, laundry, purchasing food, budgeting and inductive bible study, along with other life skills. We are so thrilled to be able to offer a life giving alternative to being put out on the streets.

The venture of transitional housing was the focus of our May fundraiser headed up by our daughter Amber, she along with Mia, Jesse, Jacob, Melissa and Dustin and a few others, worked hard to raise funds for this project. This project was also the focus of our very faithful friends, Bob and Rose Crabtree's mission store. They hold a mission store for us each summer with a particular theme. They invite their friends to a picnic lunch and share, sometimes they have a store set up of actual items needed, this time they focused on transitional housing and it was very successful. We received many notes telling of how enjoyable the time was. Rose asked our son's Jacob and Jesse to speak. Jacob spoke on the transitional home and his family's calling to minister in that area. Jesse, whom we adopted from Haiti 25 years ago, spoke from both his heart and his perspective. We are very proud of them. We are also very grateful to Bob and Rose and their friends for their help and support.

Thank you for reading my thoughts and thank you for your prayers and support.

Blessings,
Chris