GREETINGS FROM HAITI

          On Monday morning, I, Carl, traveled for my second trip to minister in Haiti.  According to Spirit airlines, Port Au Prince, Haiti is 790 miles from Fort Lauderdale, which is where I flew from yesterday morning.  By my calculations I am only about 825 miles from my home in Florida.  I am now at a mission compound waiting for a ride up the mountain to where we will be ministering.  I would appreciate your prayers for me during my time there through November 12.  I will be participating with a ministry team in the training of Haitian pastors, teachers, and leaders. 

Upon landing in Haiti yesterday, my good friend Kirby met me at the airport.  We pushed our way through the crowd of overly-eager baggage assistants to the place where Kirby’s motorcycle was getting a flat tire repaired.  I was pleased to get a jeep taxi to carry my 160 pounds of training materials instead of having to pile it on the motorcycle.  After an hour of adventurous driving through the city, we arrived at the home of a Haitian pastor where we left the heavy materials.  We securely tied our back packs on the motorcycle rack in preparation for another hour ride to where we spent the night.  Just before mounting the motorcycle the tire went flat again.  My first words were; "thank you Lord that this happened before leaving."  Little did I know that it would happen again and that we would work for over two hours patching the tire three more times and pushing the motorcycle.  They say that this is normal life here in Haiti.  By God’s grace we finally arrived to our destination one half hour before sunset.  There seems to be a problem with the rear tire spokes on the motor cycle.  Today’s project is to get this fixed and head up the mountain two more hours to the conference site. 

          The purpose of this trip is to train Haitian men and women to use the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship materials.  We are expecting 100 the first week and even more the second week.  This material is a chronological Bible study focusing on 40 key Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation.  These stories are the foundation for revealing God’s plan of redemption as well as highlighting eight essential truths of the Gospel.  I am very excited about this opportunity to share these practical materials. The Haitians will then be teaching them in their churches and schools.  Literally thousands of Haitians will be exposed to life-transforming Bible exposition!  You can see the materials for yourself on line at www.goodsoil.com  

          I am amazed at how I am constantly running into people here in the USA who have been involved in ministries in Haiti.  If you have never gone, please consider taking an opportunity to go and help in some way.  Everyone who I meet that has taken a trip to Haiti has returned from their first visit a different person in many positive ways.  It is sad to see the poverty, but so thrilling to see Haitians who are born again believers trusting and serving God. 

          I am hoping to be able to travel one weekend to the Northwest of Haiti and visit the church which I preached in last September.  The church building there is still in terrible conditions and is in need of a total re-construction.  Please pray for the funds to be able to make that happen as soon as possible. 

Hispanic pastors conferences

            I am please to inform you that the Hispanic pastors conference in Michigan was a success. Thirty-three Hispanic pastors and leaders came for a day of fellowship, interaction, discussion, exposure to the Good Soil materials (in Spanish), and prayer. It was exciting to see the enthusiasm in the faces of everyone there.  God was working in all of our lives in a unique way that day.  For one man who came along with his church group, it resulted in him understanding the Gospel for the first time and accepting Christ as his Savior.  This was not something we had expected to happen but it was obviously God’s plan.  Praise the Lord! The next Summit conference will be in Miami in January.  We are also making plans for this conference in other parts of the country, all in Spanish.

          The purpose of the Hispanic pastors Summit conferences is to assist independent Hispanic Baptist Churches in evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training and to assist them to branch out and start new churches.  We are also communicating with pastors of English speaking churches who are interested in using their facilities to reach out to Spanish-speakers and other ethnic groups in their community.  Of course, all of these church-planting endeavors must be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to be effective.  The next step is to include your prayers to assist us spiritually in our efforts.   Please be in prayer for these Hispanic churches to understand the importance of outreach and church-planting, for wisdom for the missionaries and for God’s blessing on our efforts to reach Hispanics with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Baseball

            Though baseball season is nearly over, we maintain contact with many of the players in the off-season.  Just this week a player asked for prayer as he prepared to share his testimony to a group of high school athletes.  Here is the message he sent after the event:

"Thanks for the prayers! I could feel the lord speaking through me to these kids. 76 high schoolers showed up! Can you believe that!"

           This is why we believe so strongly in our ministry of discipling these baseball players; so that they will effectively and boldly tell others how Christ has given them eternal life and a true purpose for living.  There are many other players now during the winter season who are also taking the opportunity to share Christ.  The majority of the Spanish-speaking players are now back in their home countries.  Pray especially that the players who are new believers will remain strong in their faith. 

Lois also gives her greetings to you all.  It was great to see many of you in Elkhart, Indiana this month. 

Thank you again for your prayers and your investment into our ministries. With your participation we make an awesome team! 

¡Bendiciones!
Blessings to you all! 

Carl

GREETINGS FROM HAITI

          On Monday morning, I, Carl, traveled for my second trip to minister in Haiti.  According to Spirit airlines, Port Au Prince, Haiti is 790 miles from Fort Lauderdale, which is where I flew from yesterday morning.  By my calculations I am only about 825 miles from my home in Florida.  I am now at a mission compound waiting for a ride up the mountain to where we will be ministering.  I would appreciate your prayers for me during my time there through November 12.  I will be participating with a ministry team in the training of Haitian pastors, teachers, and leaders. 

Upon landing in Haiti yesterday, my good friend Kirby met me at the airport.  We pushed our way through the crowd of overly-eager baggage assistants to the place where Kirby’s motorcycle was getting a flat tire repaired.  I was pleased to get a jeep taxi to carry my 160 pounds of training materials instead of having to pile it on the motorcycle.  After an hour of adventurous driving through the city, we arrived at the home of a Haitian pastor where we left the heavy materials.  We securely tied our back packs on the motorcycle rack in preparation for another hour ride to where we spent the night.  Just before mounting the motorcycle the tire went flat again.  My first words were; "thank you Lord that this happened before leaving."  Little did I know that it would happen again and that we would work for over two hours patching the tire three more times and pushing the motorcycle.  They say that this is normal life here in Haiti.  By God’s grace we finally arrived to our destination one half hour before sunset.  There seems to be a problem with the rear tire spokes on the motor cycle.  Today’s project is to get this fixed and head up the mountain two more hours to the conference site. 

          The purpose of this trip is to train Haitian men and women to use the Good Soil Evangelism and Discipleship materials.  We are expecting 100 the first week and even more the second week.  This material is a chronological Bible study focusing on 40 key Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation.  These stories are the foundation for revealing God’s plan of redemption as well as highlighting eight essential truths of the Gospel.  I am very excited about this opportunity to share these practical materials. The Haitians will then be teaching them in their churches and schools.  Literally thousands of Haitians will be exposed to life-transforming Bible exposition!  You can see the materials for yourself on line at www.goodsoil.com  

          I am amazed at how I am constantly running into people here in the USA who have been involved in ministries in Haiti.  If you have never gone, please consider taking an opportunity to go and help in some way.  Everyone who I meet that has taken a trip to Haiti has returned from their first visit a different person in many positive ways.  It is sad to see the poverty, but so thrilling to see Haitians who are born again believers trusting and serving God. 

          I am hoping to be able to travel one weekend to the Northwest of Haiti and visit the church which I preached in last September.  The church building there is still in terrible conditions and is in need of a total re-construction.  Please pray for the funds to be able to make that happen as soon as possible. 

Hispanic pastors conferences

            I am please to inform you that the Hispanic pastors conference in Michigan was a success. Thirty-three Hispanic pastors and leaders came for a day of fellowship, interaction, discussion, exposure to the Good Soil materials (in Spanish), and prayer. It was exciting to see the enthusiasm in the faces of everyone there.  God was working in all of our lives in a unique way that day.  For one man who came along with his church group, it resulted in him understanding the Gospel for the first time and accepting Christ as his Savior.  This was not something we had expected to happen but it was obviously God’s plan.  Praise the Lord! The next Summit conference will be in Miami in January.  We are also making plans for this conference in other parts of the country, all in Spanish.

          The purpose of the Hispanic pastors Summit conferences is to assist independent Hispanic Baptist Churches in evangelism, discipleship, and leadership training and to assist them to branch out and start new churches.  We are also communicating with pastors of English speaking churches who are interested in using their facilities to reach out to Spanish-speakers and other ethnic groups in their community.  Of course, all of these church-planting endeavors must be empowered by the Holy Spirit in order to be effective.  The next step is to include your prayers to assist us spiritually in our efforts.   Please be in prayer for these Hispanic churches to understand the importance of outreach and church-planting, for wisdom for the missionaries and for God’s blessing on our efforts to reach Hispanics with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Baseball

            Though baseball season is nearly over, we maintain contact with many of the players in the off-season.  Just this week a player asked for prayer as he prepared to share his testimony to a group of high school athletes.  Here is the message he sent after the event:

"Thanks for the prayers! I could feel the lord speaking through me to these kids. 76 high schoolers showed up! Can you believe that!"

           This is why we believe so strongly in our ministry of discipling these baseball players; so that they will effectively and boldly tell others how Christ has given them eternal life and a true purpose for living.  There are many other players now during the winter season who are also taking the opportunity to share Christ.  The majority of the Spanish-speaking players are now back in their home countries.  Pray especially that the players who are new believers will remain strong in their faith. 

Lois also gives her greetings to you all.  It was great to see many of you in Elkhart, Indiana this month. 

Thank you again for your prayers and your investment into our ministries. With your participation we make an awesome team! 

¡Bendiciones!
Blessings to you all! 

Carl