Good evening

I wanted to share with you about something our medical clinic is doing. We have had many requests from the remote villages we minister in asking us to build a medical clinic in their village. In answer to this, we have started providing medical outreaches every 3 to 4 months in one of our remote villages. All of our medical staff and some of our pastors and leaders volunteer for the day. 

During the outreach they meet medical needs and give out medicine. They also have evangelism and worship times. They then connect the new believers to our churches in the community for discipleship. They also give out food to those in need. 

They see about 100 people during the day. Many have lived with their sicknesses for years. They live with sickness because  of their poverty and limited access to medical care. Most are people that otherwise would not be seen by a nurse or doctor.

I would like to share some of the stories from Denonville during our outreach last Saturday.

The first story is about Juralda who is 27 years old. She wanted to share how this was a blessing to her. She had an infection and heart problem she said the doctors took care of her and prescribed good medicines. She says that she is healed now, after being sick about 2 years. She shared that she had tried to visit another clinic before, but nothing worked for her and she said, because of her poverty she couldn't follow their advise so she remained sick.  She has one 3 year old child who she brought because of stomachache pain and she shared that after being given some medicine she is now in good health. Juralda shared "The outreach was a great help and blessing, and they gave me a big can of rice also, thank you so much". She said she is now a new Christian in the Good Shepherd Church of Denonville. 

Jeralda

 

 The next story is from Carline. She says she is 39 years old and that she was one of the people who went to the mobile clinic that Pastor Nathan and his team brought to her village in Denonville. She shared that she had two main problems, itching and malaria fever. Carline said she was so happy to attend the clinic because the itching problem had prevented her from sleeping. When asked if she had been to a medical doctor she said no, I am poor so I could not afford the service a medical doctor. She said she had been sick for about 7 months. She brought her two boys who are 12 and 21 years old with her because they also had the itch problem. She shared  "To God be the Glory, we are all healed and happy and I am thankful also for a big can of rice that they shared with us to be fed".

 

Carline

 

 

The last story I wanted to share is from Rosemathe. She is12 years old. She came to the medical outreach for an infection, a stomachache and coughing. They gave her medicine and she says she is doing well now. Her Mother brought her two brothers who have also received medicine for their problems and rice to cook. Rosemathe shared "That the medical outreach was a blessing and a grace". 

We want to thank you for your faithful support with both prayer and finances. It is because of this that the medical clinic and outreaches are able to provide care to the poor and needy.

Many Blessings,
Chris

Rosemathe

 

 

Lemeque and Nathan

 

 Hello, 

A few weeks ago I shared a story about Fedler, today I would like to share his brother Lemeque's story, Lemeque is our Pastor over the Pastors.

"My name is Lemeque. I am 39 years old. I am one of the pastors of the mission Good Shepherd. I am leading the church of Poteau and God uses me and the first older pastor to make great impacts on the village for his glory. According to the way pastor Mike sees the Lord is using me, so he charged me the responsibility to be over the other pastors.

I have not been grown with father and mother since at 12 years old, because they left the country since 1996 to go to America. My father never comes back since then, but my mom had chance to come back twice, The last time was in my grandma's funeral. In the past two years after my mom have gone, they were really eager to see us going to live with them in America, but they failed. For the time being, even my brothers who are in the states discourage me to go stay for ever because of my responsibility that I have in Haiti. This is where I feel God wants me. When our parents had just left Haiti to be separated with us, we were sad during a good moment, but God made our grandparents good to care about us like our father and mother. Our dad and mom sent money to my grandparents to provide for school, food and other things. We were helping them in the garden by harvesting lemon, okra, millet and bananas, so we were useful to them. I am the first son of 6 sons of my mother. We are the only 2 of the 6 sons who live in Haiti now.

I have never dreamed to be a pastor. Until I have been 25 years old when I really grabbed the Lord Jesus as my savior.

I am married since 2015, but unfortunately God doesn't decide yet to bless us with children and this is a matter for which I claim your prayers the most! We have spent lots of money in different hospitals mostly in Port-au-Prince. Some times we refuse some doctor's appointment to go to pray.

With our village we let them know after God the church is there to back up them in the trying moments. And we go to visit them during their absence."

Lemeque is a well respected pastor who truly is a servant leader. Please hold him and his wife up in prayer. Please join with us also to pray that the Lord would bless them with children. 

The crusade in Denonville, had 36 salvations, thank you so much for praying into the crusade. Nathan and a team have been preaching in Denonville each Sunday and holding two Bible studies a week in the village. They have had another 14 salvations since the crusade. Please pray for the new believers. Pray also for leaders who feel called to step into ongoing leadership roles and to become part of the community in Denonville.

Blessings, Chris

Mike and I and Nathan

 

 Hello,

I wanted to let you know that Mike will be flying out early tomorrow morning. (Monday morning.) It has been a great trip, we are thankful for your prayers. Please continue to pray as he has many legs of travel and will not be back here until very early Tuesday morning. Also pray for Nathan as it is very hard emotionally for him whenever Mike leaves Haiti. Thank you so very much.

Blessings, Chris

 

Lemeque on the left and Fedler on the right.

 Hello,

I wanted to share an update and a story with you. Also I wanted to thank you for your prayers, they mean a lot to us.  First the update for Thursday at the crusade was 5 salvations and 4 healings and a dozen deliverances. I don't know how Friday night or tonight have gone. Mike ended up with such a bad sore throat (from the kids in the Children's Village, not covid) he could not preach Tuesday or Wednesday at the crusade, instead he preached Friday night and will be preaching as I write this tonight. Please pray for hearts to open up to Jesus, the crusade will go through Sunday night. 

Mike held another Pastors Conference on Friday. He said it went really well. Nathan had each pastor stand up and share how the ministry and teachings have impacted them and their ministry.

Then today, Saturday, Nathan held a New Year's Celebration with all the staff. I will include some photos on the bottom of this letter. It was much appreciated and a great time. 

Tomorrow morning Mike will be preaching at Bout Nat, again we would appreciate your prayers. I am not sure if Nathan will be leading worship there or at another church. Please pray for all of the churches Sunday morning.

And now for the story. I had shared about two brothers named Lemeque and Fedler. Both of whom have close family in America but they feel called to remain in Haiti and share about Jesus. This is the "rest" of the story from Fedler. 

Hello, my name is Fedler. I am working as the administrator of the good shepherd mission. I am so excited to share my story with you .
I was 9 years old when my mom left Haiti ahead of my dad to go living in USA so two years after my father moved over there.
My parents let our grandmother and grandfather to take care of all of us.( 4 brothers ).
 My father never comes back to Haiti since after he went in 1996. He promised to come at the moment of his mother's death three years ago but he was so scared about the politics , so he didn't come. 
My mother came back twice , the last time was in my marriage in 2017. 
My father, as a pastor left the church on the responsibility of Pastor Clervois and Chael. Before going to America, my father baptised me in my premature age because he witnessed how much I love Jesus.  Praise the Lord  that 
I am still shining for the Lord by making choir sing and leading the Youngs guys to the Lord . I am a musician like my dad , my cousin Pastor Nathan and other relatives of mine. So playing music is a inherited gift 
I am married in 2017 with a Christian daughter but unfortunately her father till his death, never went to church. But her mother is renowned for a good Christian .
I have 2 healthy children.
In my job as administrator, I always give good example to everyone and I preach whenever it's necessary. My faith always helps me for whatever enterprise that I work. 
My father tried a lot to help me moving to America but he failed. And this is according to God's plan. 
So for the time being I don't longer follow neither my own desire nor that of my father but that of the Lord , either to visit  America ,to stay serving my people or going to live with my father and mother. 

Our friend Jonas then asked Fedler these questions.

1) how did you feel when your parents forsook you to move to America? 
I felt so sad at the beginning but after a while I felt okay because my grandparents treated us so carefully. 
2) do they still have contacts with you? 
Yes,  even when we were teenagers,  they always provided for our needs. 
3) what if your parents ask you to move also to America? 
I am not interested.  I notice that God's eyes are on me so it's not up to me to decide. 
4) how does pastor Mike influence you in life? 
Oh,  he is a man of God,  always have good message to share to encourage us. 
5) what are your persecutions like? 
Some times bad strengths ( spirits) come to fight us in the night .
5) how long have you been working here?  More than 6 months .

I love Fedler's heart, it is very much for the people of Haiti. He has been our administrator for 6 months, but has served in church for over 15 years. Please continue to lift him and his family up in prayer.
We are so appreciative of your faithful prayers.

Blessings, Chris

This is most of the teachers, not all.

 This is most of our medical staff. I know they are missing at least Dr. Ralph.

Some photos of the New Years celebration.

 

The Farmers Association meeting.

 

 Good evening,

I wanted to start with a praise report on the high volume agricultural wells for the Farmers Association.

From Mike, "We had a Farmers Association meeting. The man with the orange t-shirt  is one of the directors. He says they have not had adequate water since the hurricane in 2004. Then, no rain till the hurricane in 2008,(I was there). Then drought till 2012. Then, they dredged the river to get gravel to build the road. Now the river is lowered so the beginning of the irrigation canals sit high above the water level. They are in extreme poverty. They are barely surviving.

We are starting the second, high capacity well near the canal heads next week. We are designing a solar system with submersible pumps for day use. No power needed, no batteries needed.
These wells will directly effect over 350 families and indirectly thousands. 

 Just hearing that we are doing this project has brought me one very interested owner of the Louisiana Hot Sauce Co wanting these farmers to grow Habanero peppers. And another wanting us to grow Soybeans for them. Its hard to contain the tears of joy as I report this to you. Praise the Lord."  "God has brought us life again."

This is so huge for so many families, please Praise God and pray for the drilling to be successful. 

Another praise report is for the Poteau church, they baptized ten people. Most churches in Haiti discourage baptism until after a few years of being a Christian, but then some fall away. So we offer a short class and then encourage them to be baptized. Please be praying for them.

And, yet another praise report. The update for Larry is, " The procedure went well, they ground away the calcium in three of his arteries, and put three stints in his descending aorta. He didn't have to have a double bypass, there is no balloon, or impella in his heart, so it's pumping on its own. Dr. said good blood flow, good everything. They are going to move him to a different place to start the recovery process." "There will be some elective surgeries to be had, but as right now we are finished and hopefully by next week Larry will be coming home."  Praising God, He is good.

So, a bit long for a prayer partner but so many things to Praise God for. Thank you so much for coming alongside of us and helping us help the people of Haiti. Thank you for helping to usher in the KINGDOM.

BLESSINGS, Chris

 This little sweetie is also new to the Children's village and would love a sponsor. Her name is Elvuis.

Renald

 

 Hello,

I wanted to update you on yesterdays prayer request for Larry our website manager. We received this update from NCCTK a few hours ago:

"The cardio team thinks that Larry is in good shape to handle the procedure. Apparently, Larry’s heart somehow created a bypass on its own and that is likely how he had been surviving up to this point. They are going to attempt another bypass and also clear two of the blockages. They seem to feel confident. They gave a 10 to 20% failure risk chance. He heads into surgery between noon and one. They estimated a 2 to 3 hour procedure. Please continue to pray."

The surgery will be tomorrow, Tuesday. We really appreciate your prayers, and are so thankful for you.

I also wanted to share a story from the Poteau church. It is a testimony from Renald, he is 18 years old. He shares that it has been one month since his mother and father brought him to church to meet Jesus. He says "he feels comfortable in the Lord" and that he regularly goes to church now. He shared that before coming to Jesus he used to dance Rara (which is a moving street party involving voodoo) and in his words "run after pleasure and drink alcohol". He says that fortunately God has changed him and that he understands His word. When he was asked why he had not come to church before, he replied it was because "I had no shoes or clothing". He requested prayer because "I dropped out of school when I was in 5th grade, I felt I couldn't study and I felt desperate, incapable and forsaken". He helps his mother and father in the garden. He has not been baptized yet, but would like to be and he would like a bible. He says his parents are very poor, but they love Jesus. Please lift Renald up in prayer. And please continue to pray for the nightly crusade at Denonville. Nathan is leading worship and Mike will be preaching tomorrow, Tuesday, and again on Wednesday night.

On Sunday Nathan and Mike also had a community meeting regarding the Market Place. They addressed the different opportunities that would be available and talked about the training for finances, safety, cleanliness and community spirit.

On Wednesday they will be having another meeting with the farmer's association. This will be multifaceted, part of it on growing soybeans and corn for our chicken feed and also growing  habanero peppers for wholesale for a business that sells retail. Thank you again for your faithful prayers.

Blessings, Chris

 We do have a couple of new children in the Children's Village if you are interested in sponsoring, this little sweetie is Gyel.