Hello,

Wow, God is Amazing! So many awesome stories happening lately! I wish you could be here experiencing God's move here in Haiti with us.

If you remember a few prayer partners ago I shared the story of one of our prayer partners saying that she could see a picture in her mind of the Madame (Mariette) standing in a dark doorway surrounded by eyes peering out from the darkness. She said that she believed if the Madame were to give her life to the Lord that it would open a floodgate in what was then called DeForce, Pass Rein.  Well the Madame did give her life to the Lord, after many years of prayer and fasting. And NOW the floodgates have opened. The Madame's conversion along with the community changing it's official name from DeForce, Pass Rein (place of darkness, where the witch doctors come from) to Bon Berger (place of light) has litertally opened the floodgates. I believe that when God wanted to do a new work in someone's life, sometimes he chose to change their name, Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, or Saul to Paul for example. I think that the villagers wanting to change the name of their village was part of God's plan and with it, the power of satan has been broken in Bon Berger! We can hardly keep up with the salvations. The other day another witch doctor called our radio station and said that he wanted to give his life to the Lord. Joel and John Denis still go to visit every person that calls into the radio station and they share the gospel with them.

In our last prayer partner I shared that Joey and Joshua were able to film one of the witch doctors burning his voodoo things. I also shared that I had prayed for a little old lady that was there in the crowd. Well I found out that she too was a witch doctor and she was the mother of the witch doctor who was burning his voodoo things. She shared that her other son was also a witch doctor. On Tuesday nights Mike goes to Bon Berger, Pass Rein to share as the church visits different homes and has church in their front yards. Well last Tuesday we had the home service for Bon Berger, Pass Rein in the witch doctors front yard, in front of his mud hut. And guess what? She, the little old lady, his mother, gave her life to the Lord!!!! Praise God!!!!!!

Tonight's service was held in the front yard of the second sister of the Madame's who gave her life to the Lord. She shared her testimony tonight. She said she had been witnessed too on November 3rd and had responded that she was not ready to give her life to God yet. The following Monday one of her grandson's suddenly became sick and died, the following Saturday another grandson ( the brother) suddenly became sick and died. Then the next Monday her son, the father of the boys, who was a voodoo priest also suddenly became sick and died. She said she decided after losing three family members suddenly in the course of one week that maybe she was running out of time and better choose Jesus. That was when she decided to give her life to the Lord. And in her words she said "there's no turning back". Hmmm, reminds me of a song!!!!

​​

The Madame's sister shared that her father along with her other two sisters were voodoo priests. These sisters are all probably in their late 50's to early 60's. And God is cleaning house. The floodgates are definitely open. While she was sharing her testimony tonight, one of her neighbors was listening to her and felt convicted and started cleaning the voodoo paraphernalia out of her house, she too was a witch doctor. Nathan felt led to go and pray for her and she gave her life to Jesus. Then her husband came over to the house where the service was and said he too wanted Jesus in his life. Then another women and another man from the area came and asked if they could accept Jesus.  Wow!!!!!

You may have read the stories that I have written about our neighborhood coming to Jesus, without much doing on our part. Well last Sunday our neighbor Jerry invited another neighbor to come to church with us, making 9 neighbors, 3 older boys and our family of 7 all riding to church together (were going to be needing a bus soon :)  God obviously began moving in our neighbors heart, as she was crying quietly during the service. I prayed for her and Mike invited her over for lunch after church, she shared a heart breaking story of her mother deserting her at 18 months, she does not know who her family is, or anything about them. Well tonight  she said she wanted to come to the service with us, we hadn't even told her about it. During the service she was very quiet and it became obvious that God was delivering her. It has been so amazing, we just show up, or answer a call, or feed someone and God does His will. Witch doctors are coming to him, killers are coming to him, the impossible are being reached for Jesus. I so wish you could be here to experience what God is doing here in Haiti. GOD LOVES THE PEOPLE OF HAITI AND HE IS ON THE MOVE !

We are so appreciative of your prayers and very much in need of them. Nathan is ministering daily and nightly, mostly in Bon Berger and Marose. He also is leading worship most nights. Mike preach's most Tuesday nights in Bon Berger, teaches bible study in Marose on Wednesday, bible study in Perou on Thursday, preach's most Friday nights in Marose at the all night prayer and worship service, teaches pastors and leaders on Saturday and preach's again in Marose on Sunday mornings. They are also both ministering to the couples, families and people in all seven of our communities as things come up during the day. They need your prayers for wisdom, guidance, stamina, and discernment as to where to apply their time. They need your prayers as they raise up leaders to carry the load. Mike is trying to teach, preach, and share with the pastors and leaders so that he can give it away to them and let them lead, teach, preach and share in their villages.  Your prayers have and will continue to make all the difference. Thank you so much for them.

Blessings,

Chris

A dead Mapo tree which traditionally is used for voodoo worship. You can see it sticking up from within the voodoo camp. A tree used for satan now dead, surrounded by living trees full of life. Significant.

One of the new signs for the village.

The ceremony for the name change.

Nathan and the mayor.

Nathan and Mike at the ceremony.

Getting ready to cut the ribbon.

And the ribbon is cut. It is official!

The parade.

Marching with two new signs.

Hello, 

Thank you for your prayers. The ceremony for changing the name of De Force, Pass Rein went wonderfully. De Force means place of darkness, and had the reputation of being "where the witch doctors come from". Bon Berger, the place of light, is the new name the villagers chose. During the ceremony there was great worship, Nathan's choir performed, there were official speeches, a marching band and parade, new village signs and a ribbon cutting ceremony and lots of food. Everyone is now trying to get used to calling the village Bon Berger. I cannot even begin to describe what this means to the villagers, Nathan, Mike and I. It feels like things have come full circle, sort of an ending with a new chapter just beginning.  A battle was raging and victory has come. God has been so good to the people. We have been praying for the conversion of the Madame and salvation to come to De Force, Pass Rein since April of 2011. Since then there have been hundreds of salvation's, hundreds of healings and many miracles. I cannot even count the number of witch  doctors and killers that have accepted Jesus. But all along, many of you have been praying faithfully with us as we have been praying for her, witnessing to her, and converting other witch doctors under her authority. And God moved a mountain. He moved beyond what we could imagine or hope for. The madame now lifts her hands in worship to our God. She and many others who fought against Christians and realized their powers in Satan were not as strong as the power of God. One of our friends years ago said she could see the Madame standing in a dark doorway with many eyes peering out from the darkness. She said she believed that when the Madame came to accept Jesus, that the floodgates would be open and many would come to salvation. This has happened. Daily there has been people who have called the radio station, the leadership of Pass Rein or Nathan and said they wanted to know about somebody named Jesus. Sometimes individuals and sometimes whole families. The madame controlled the village, she ran prostitution, cock fighting, gambling and voodoo. She controlled with fear, backed up with violence. And now she has asked for forgiveness and raises her hands in praise to God. She has ups and downs and she does struggle, choosing Christ has consequences, but she is continuing to press on. The revival has created so many new Christians, please keep lifting them up in prayer, it is so hard to be a Christian in Haiti, as their whole world changes.

Joshua and Joey were able to get video footage of the ceremony. They also interviewed many people during their stay in Pass Rein the last few days, they will be putting together a video for our ministry as well as creating one that tells the stories of Pass Rein. Please keep them in prayer as they work on this project, which is immense. Also they fly out tomorrow, after being here for 10 days filming, please pray for safe travel. 

Thank you so much for your prayers,

Blessings,

Chris

The Madame worshiping in our Pass Rein church.

The Madame sharing in our Pass Rein church.

More sharing.

The Madame's sister cleaning out her voodoo items.

Praying for the Madame's sister.

Another witch doctor who accepted Jesus and wants to clean his house of voodoo items.

A voodoo pole

The witch doctor taking a machete to his voodoo pole. 

Joey and Joshua filming the burning of the voodoo items.

The witch doctor with the voodoo paraphernalia.

Burning voodoo paraphernalia.

Hello,

Hope your fall is going well. It is finally cooling off a bit in the evening here. 

We have had a small team here for five days now. I would like to share a bit about what they are doing.  Anna Babe is from Anacortes and has been taking photos for us. We would like to refresh our website, brochures and slide shows, etc. So she has been taking photos at our children's village, our schools and around the community. She has been staying in our home with us, and then traveling around each day. I have really enjoyed the time I have been able to spend connecting with her. 

Joshua and Joey are from the Lynden/Bellingham area. They are filming life here in Haiti for us and them. They have felt called to tell the story of Pass Rein ever since their trip here about a year ago, when they filmed Mike for Logos Software. So they are capturing stories on film. They also are capturing our ministry here in Haiti on film. They have been staying in our Children's village mostly, all though they stayed one night in our home. They have also been capturing film at our children's village, schools, churches, market and around the community. They will be capturing a huge event tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, Sunday, in the afternoon, the official name of the community De Force, of Pass Rein, which means place of darkness will legally be changed to Bon Berger, which means Good Shephard, with the expression, the place of light. This has been the desire of the community for quite sometime now that so much change has come because of so many from the community accepting Jesus. The community has seen a huge increase in agriculture, it is amazing the quantities of produce coming out of De Force. The community has also seen a huge increase of new jobs. And they have become a true community together, one that even the non Christians have acknowledged. In the past they have had a bad reputation, a large part of which was because it was known as the place where witch doctors came from. This has changed and they want their name to reflect that. Tomorrow there will be a huge celebration. We are expecting at least 1000 people. The mayor will be there along with other government officials. There will be worship, speaking, food and fun. Joshua and Joey will be filming the event. Then they will be staying over in Pass Rein, in the home of one of our church leaders for a couple of nights to continue filming and gathering for the story they feel led to share.

It has been a very fruitful time since the Madame gave her life to the Lord. It has not come without a cost, but it has been fruitful. The madame's sister gave her life to the Lord last Saturday and then asked for us to come to her home after church and help her clean the voodoo things out and pray over  her home and family. Also, the Madame has had many ups and downs in the last few weeks. It has been difficult for her to go from being a leader and controller in the community, to having no power at all. It also has been difficult for her as she had quite a large monthly income and now has no income. She had been quite busy before, running all of her illegal businesses, and now does not have much to do. Also her friends and support group are now no longer there, and because of the horrific things she had done to the community in the past, it has been difficult for the community to forgive her and accept her. Last Sunday she spoke at church and tried to mend things. So the community is working on helping her. She also did an amazing thing this past week. She went back to her compound in Pass Rein and told the people she has living there that she was liberating them, setting them free. They had been her restavek's, which are slaves in Haiti. Four of them have now given their lives to the Lord. This is an amazing thing. There are many people in Haiti who have restaveks and do not think there is anything wrong with it. So for her to understand it is wrong and then give them their freedom is huge. It is so crucial that we continue to lift her up in prayer along with those who are involved with her. 

Today Nathan received another call from a witch doctor in the Pass Rein area. He asked us to come to his home and pray for him, his family and to help him clean his house of voodoo things. This is another of so many witch doctors who have recently come to the Lord. Joshua and Joey were able to go with us. The witch doctor and his immediate family all gave their lives to the Lord. I felt lead to pray for one little old lady, who came to see the witch doctor. Later on Nathan said he felt called to pray for her and the lady told him I had already prayed for her. She did not want to accept Jesus in her life and she shared that she had another son in Pass Rein that also was a witch doctor. There are so many questioning and coming to salvation right now, please lift the Madame up in prayer, her husband, who still has not accepted Jesus, her family, her freed restavek's along with the community of Pass Rein. Please also pray as other witch doctors hear the Madame's story. Your prayers have been moving mountains please keep lifting the people of Haiti up to the Lord. 

Blessings,

Chris

Kalano, Francesca and their family

Their marriage

A sweet couple

Praying together during the ceremony

Hello, 

I  am writing to share a story. It involves some dear friends of ours. As I have said in the past Mike has said we have been called to minister in Haiti, but in the rural areas, not the city. But sometimes I think God just smiles down on us and thinks, they haven't a clue what I am up too. Slowly more and more of our neighbors in the city, have been asking to know about Jesus. This story is about one of those families.

So the story begins during this past July. Kalano and his wife started asking questions about our family and our faith in Jesus. Mike answered the questions as they came and then one day he asked if they were interested in Jesus, why they did not go to a  church? Their answer was a common one, "everyone says we cannot go because we do not have any clothes nice enough for church". Mike told them that they could come to any of the churches in our ministry with Nathan, and they would be accepted, no matter what clothes they had on. 

They shared that they each have a child from another relationship, and that as we knew their youngest child was both of theirs. We assured them that God was a God of forgiveness and acceptance.They shared that they struggled to find jobs and that they felt their lives were a mess. Over the next day or two they decide that they wanted to give their lives to Jesus. Mike shared the life giving gospel message with them. They accepted Christ into their lives and asked if they could go to church with us. We said yes, even though we already have on average 12 to 13 of us in the truck going to church each Sunday. They went the next Sunday and loved it. They came forward for prayer, and the healing started.

 The next thing they asked was if they could get married so that they would be right with God. They were one of the couples in the group we married on September 3rd. They also started reading the bible. This is huge, as the wife has some education and can even speak some French. But, God is performing a miracle with Kalano. He is not educated and cannot read and write other then to sign his name. But in his hunger and passion to know God more, God in his mercy has allowed Kalano to read and understand the bible. He still can't read anything else. 

God has also given Kalano a passion to learn and a sense for business. A little while later, Kalano came and asked if he could open the boutique that came with our house. It has been closed since we moved into the house. It is a room about 6 feet by 8 feet. There are two 500 gallon water tanks above this little room, set up for a purified water business which has a window opening to the street to sell through. We decided to take a risk and invest in him to start a business selling food items, toiletries and purified water. He and his wife have been running it now for a little over a month and they are doing wonderful. They are so faithful and such hard workers. They share their struggles and ask how they can learn and grow in their marriage, family and life. They also share their dreams. It has been such an honor and blessing to be involved in their transformation. They are a very sweet couple and have become friends. We are so thankful for what God has done in their lives. Two weeks ago Francesca, the wife, shared her testimony in church. God is such a good God and it is truly a gift to be able to see him move in peoples lives. Please keep them in your prayers as they learn how to walk out the lives they have been called too.

Blessings, 

Chris

It's so hard to sit and take any time to marvel at the miraculous way God covered us these past few days. It's hard when there are so many others that were not so covered. If you want to see it that way. I think he has us all in his sights.

We spent the day helping many of them with their physical problems. And God has used this hurricane, or the fear of it, to open a door for us to help their spiritual problems as well.

God knows what he is doing...

It is us who do not really know most of the time. I think there's nothing wrong with that, as long as we are closely following Him...
So, if you don't really know most of the time, how closely are you following Him?????

Mike

The second meeting of our neighborhood church

Mike sharing Jesus with the Non Christians

and Christians in our neighborhood.

Mike passing out rice in Gonaives

Mike passing out rice in our neighborhood.

Mike passing out rice.

Passing out rice in our neighborhood in Gonaives.

Nathan passing out rice in the community of Marose

Nathan passing out rice in Marose.

One of our boys helping pass out rice.

Passing out rice.

Passing out rice to the community.

Nathan in Marose.

October 5, 2016

Hello,

We want to thank you all for praying so much for our family and our friends here in Haiti. We so appreciate all of your prayers. We experienced miracles because of them. 

One of the precious miracles was a surreal feeling of Peace. Yes, the anxiety of the long wait squirt out differently among our family and friends, but over all we experienced a Peace that only could have come from God. I know I for one, on the Sunday morning the hurricane was first chosen to hit, was contemplating the what if's, in regards to the approaching  hurricane. But a peace that is hard to explain covered us, it was tangible, you could touch it. That, as the unknown approached was a miracle. 

Another miracle happened in Artibonite, where Gonaives is located. One of the reports I read said that after the hurricane first hit the south of Haiti, the storm started to come apart and the wind was not as concentrated, although it remained a category 4 hurricane. It stated that the hurricane passed the west and northwest part of Haiti, before regaining its concentration and moving on. I am not sure if that is the reason or not, but as the 140 - 155 mph hurricane passed, the winds were not nearly as destructive as they should have been for that speed. My phone said they were 76 miles per hour with gusts to 105. They certainly did not feel that strong. We did receive rain and lots of it, hence a little flooding, but nothing compared to what we were expecting.  I believe there was a huge covering over us and God showed his mercy and grace to us even though we were so undeserving of it. 

The third miracle we personally experienced was that of asking the people in our neighborhood to come out onto the street and worship and pray to God together Monday evening before the hurricane hit. We had between 30 and 40 people show up. Most of them not Christians. Mike shared about how Jesus desires them as they are, not after they are fixed up and dressed up. He explained that the religious rules that have been put on them are man's rules, not God's. He shared the simple gospel and then we worshiped and passed out muffins.

As we were thanking them for coming, some of them asked if we could do this again in the street? Some of them asked if this could be their church. We prayed for one teenage boy for healing. Then we all went back to our homes and waited for the hurricane. 

This morning we went back out into the neighborhood and asked the people to come once again so we could explain God's miracle of being spared and Thank Him. Again Mike shared a little bit about God and explained why and how we could thank him. We also prayed and worshiped again. This time we had closer to 50 people come. Afterwards we passed out rice to each family to help them. 

Nathan also passed out rice to the community in Marose around the orphanage. We have passed out a lot of rice and will continue to reach out and help with rice and whatever else is needed to help the people who have experienced some flooding or other problems due to the hurricane. Please help us reach out to them, help us to continue to be the hands and feet God. You can donate on our website, the link is below. You can say it is for hurricane relief. We would so appreciate the help.

Another miracle was that the hurricane did reach a category 5 (the highest rating possible)  before it struck Haiti and then changed to a category 4. Because of hurricane Matthew reaching a 5 in the Caribbean and because it was in the Caribbean longer than any other recorded hurricane it's name will be retired in history, scientists say.

Please continue to pray for Haiti, Cuba, the United States and the other countries hit by hurricane Matthew. The southern part of Haiti was hit very hard. The mayor of Jeremie said 3 historical buildings were destroyed and many roofs are gone and most of the town is flooded, and many have died. There are many little villages in South Haiti that have experienced the same things. Please continue to pray for them. And please continue to pray for us as we help people recover. 

On another note I just read more rain is coming like 14 inches plus! Please continue to pray.

Blessings,

Chris

October 4, 2016

It is 6:20 pm. According to this satellite photo we should be a little more than 1/2 way through with the hurricane. This is good news, prayers answered. The rain is still coming down hard, hopefully the canals and rivers are handling it. Please keep praying. The south part of Haiti did not fair so well.

Blessings,
Chris

October 4, 2016

It is almost 5 pm. Rain is increasing a LOT, some flooding, this picture is across the street from me. Literally 6-7 feet away. Wind not bad yet. We have been without power since 5am. Pictures from friends coming in from the south, in Haiti show much damage and flooding. So far we don't see major damage thank goodness. Thank you to all who have been praying. Please keep praying.

Blessings,
Chris

October 4, 2016

Nathan going out to buy rice, to help people through this hurricane. Kind of cute, you can't see his flip flops and shorts :)

October 4, 2016

Hello,

Just lots of rain so far. Many news reports are saying it is past Haiti. It is not past us, it is not even to Gonaives yet. Friends in Port au Prince are saying it is in Port au Prince now.
We are 81.1 miles from Port au Prince, 2 hours and 31 mins. by car. We are just experiencing the beginnings of rain and wind. This is an extremely slow moving hurricane. 6 miles per hour, even though the winds within the hurricane are 140 to 155 miles per hour. So please, please keep praying. The people here along with us need God's mercy and grace. Most likely it will not clear us before morning. God is in control, just trying to have peace literally in the midst of the storm. We have so many we love and care about here. They are important to God and his work here in Haiti. We are praying He is somehow glorified in this storm, bringing more people to life in Him. We need you to keep pleading before Him for Haiti.

Blessings,
Chris

October 3, 2016

We gathered our neighbors together for Prayer and Worship, Christian and non Christians together. Four different neighbors asked if this could be their church here on our street. Jesus with feet.

The house across the road from ours, it was destroyed in the last big hurricane, still full of mud and  not repaired.

Hello again,

I am writing to keep you abreast of all that is going on here in Haiti. Sometimes God is moving quicker then I can keep you updated :) 

Since the Madame, Mariette, has given her life to Jesus we have had many salvation's. One of the salvation's was for another man who is a killer by profession. There have been 8 additional salvation's in the area which she lives. Also the other day two of the madame's nieces called Nathan and said because of the huge change in the madame, they too would like to give their hearts to God. People are coming and giving their hearts to Jesus without anything being said. God is just lovingly calling them to him. Please continue to pray for the Madame's husband, he still has not given his heart to the Lord. We continue to have interesting dialogue with him​. I actually like him a lot, God has given me a heart for him.  I am pretty sure that he is really close to giving his heart to Jesus. Also, please keep praying for the Madame as she adjusts and learns how to live a new life. She is having a hard time with no income, loss of possessions, loss of friends, a community that is embracing her with caution and her not understanding how to walk out her day now. It is almost like learning how to walk again in the spiritual realm. 

One of the very cool results of her transformation is the fulfillment of a prophecy.  Back in May of 20ll, when we first felt called to minister in Pass Rein, the madame told Mike and Nathan that she would give them a piece of her property on the top of the hill by the voodoo camp. She never followed through with it, as she meant it as a manipulation tool, and because Nathan and Mike did not want to join forces with her, so it never materialized. Mike has felt ever since, that the ministry was supposed to have the land, that it was really the Lord's land. Well, now that she is saved she has come back to Nathan and Mike and said she wants the ministry to have the land again. Nathan feels like we are supposed to have a prayer and worship time on the land and drive a stake into the ground claiming it for Jesus, much like we did in the voodoo camp many years ago and like we did on the soccer field about a year ago. Prayers are huge, they move mountains, they move hearts, thank you ever so much for yours.

On another note we need your prayers for safety and mercy for us and the people of Haiti, as hurricane Matthew heads our way. Last night it became a category 5 hurricane, changing back into a 4 this morning. So far it is in line with Jamaica, with parts of it moving along the west coast of Haiti, right where we are ministering. It is supposed to hit Sunday night. Haiti is still recovering from previous hurricanes and earthquakes, because of deforestation and poverty dwellings Haiti will not fair well if hit with a category 4 or 5 hurricane. Please pray for mercy and protection. Right across the street from our home, literally about 6 feet from us, are the remains of a home destroyed in the the 2008 hurricane. There are many scattered though out our neighborhood. I will post a photo. We really need your prayers. 

Blessings,

Chris