Sunday's final game

Sunday night Rich's neighborhood team played a "friendly" match against the organizers of the tournament. It turned out to be a high scoring game and we tied at 7 to 7 (Rich scored a goal). But unfortunately the evangelism did not go as well as on Friday night. The spiritual atmosphere was completely different for one thing. Whereas on Friday night people were appluading Jesus' miracles as portrayed in the "Jesus film", on Sunday night a voodoo "RARA" band paraded past the field twice while we were playing and many people were drinking heavily. For some reason, the man who was supposed to do a Gospel presentation at half-time did not show up and so nothing was presented. Nevertheless, there were some evangelistic counselors in the crowd who got some people to fill out response cards so we could do a drawing and so I did get to say a few words between games and give out Bibles to the organizers.

The results from Friday night were very encouraging, however with 43 people trusting in Christ and over 328 people filling out response cards.

Please continue to pray as we follow up.

My faith was small, but my God is big

My faith was small, but my God is big.

Weather in Haiti can change very quickly. The rain clouds can come rolling down the mountains surrounding Port-au-Prince and turn a sunny day into a cloudy one in 15 minutes. As I was loading the equipment to show the Jesus film I was rejoicing that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Less than 30 minutes later as I pulled up to the spot where we were going to show the Jesus film, it was overcast and spitting rain – and then the thunder and lightning started and I was beginning to lose hope. Lord, I cried, you know how we’ve been praying that it would not rain!

But the light rain turned out to be the least of our problems. After the technician had announced to the whole neighborhood over the loudspeakers that we were going to show the film and rolled the tape, the old 8mm projector with the big film rolls started to skip and the picture was all blurry. It was like watching modern art while listening to the Christmas story (all in Creole of course).

So I started to pray again asking God to intercede and then went back home to get my TV and video player in case we could not get the projector going. (I also had the Jesus film on video cassette). By the time I got back, the film was running normally and people were really starting to gather in spite of the rain.

Watching the Jesus film in Haiti is very interesting because you feel like the people surrounding you could actually have been extras in the film except for their dark skin. In our neighborhood there are still many who don’t get enough to eat everyday, we see farmers taking their cows to pasture and the crow of roosters still wake us up in the morning. Then there was the young man who climbed a dead tree and perched in its y shaped branches to watch the film, just like Zacheus did to see Jesus!

It was also interesting because the technician that helped me with the film was also part preacher and cheer leader. He got the crowd really excited about watching the film and then did a running commentary throughout. For instance, he encouraged people to cheer when Jesus did a miracle (which they did enthusiastically). He also added drama by stopping the film just before the crucifixion to remind people of its significance for them. Plus, the thunder and lightning also added special effects while the rain clouds blew by as the film came to a close.

At the end of the movie, we had counselors from a local church distribute response cards and lots of people filled them out because we also used the cards for a drawing where they could win a soccer ball or a Bible. In total we got 358 responses and 43 trusted in Christ, 88 asked for more information, and 134 want to study the Bible! So you see, God did answer

Please pray for the follow-up of these new believers and seekers by the church in our neighborhood!

After the movie, the people watched the semi-final of the soccer tournament. We are also going to do an evangelistic presentation tomorrow night just before the final game, so please pray for that as well!

Neighborhood Soccer Outreach tonight!

In many neighborhoods in Haiti they hold "Ti Kan"(small goal - about 2ft by 1 ft) 3 on 3 soccer tournaments during the summer to provide some healthy activities for youth. They hold these tournaments around 10 PM because they block off the streets to have a place to play.

When I (Rich) got back to Haiti at the end of July our neighborhood was making preparations to hold one of these tournaments so I prayed about how we could use this event for evangelism and I talked to some of the young men who play "ti Kan" with Ricky and I in our driveway most evenings. We decided to enter the tournament and also got the idea of partnering with Campus Crusade for Christ and a local church to show the "Jesus Film" before the semi-final games tonight. We will then do clear presentation of the Gospel at halftime and invite people to trust in Christ.

Please pray that it does not rain and that lots of people will come before the games to watch the movie. Pray also that the Holy Spirit touches the hearts of many people and opens their eyes to their need of salvation. Thanks!

Changed lives

(Carol has been writing most of our blog entries, but this time it's Richard.)

Today I met with one of the 8 supervisors of the evangelistic counselors for follow-up of the soccer outreach in Port-au-Prince. His name is Yves.

I asked him how the calls were going and he said he made 7 calls and got 2 appointments with people who wanted to study the Bible with him.

Then I asked him if he had called any of those who had indicated they had trusted Christ during the game in Port-au-Prince. He said he had contacted 2 and then told me their stories.

The first was named Bernard. He had heard about the game over the radio and had come just to watch his favorite team play. When he got there he was surprised to see that it was something “Protestant”. He said he would never have come if he had known that. When the message was given he listened, and filled out the response card saying that he had accepted Christ so that he could have a chance at winning a laptop computer. But then during the second half of the game, the Holy Spirit touched his heart and he saw his need for salvation.

Even though it has taken us 2 months to follow up with some people like Bernard, they are still happy to hear from us. In Bernard’s case, Yves suggested they meet for 30 minutes, but he was so interested in what Yves was showing him from the Bible, that Yves spend two hours with him – and he wants to meet with Yves again. Yves is convinced that Bernard’s conversion is sincere and praises God that he has the opportunity to feed one of His lambs.

As Yves was telling me this story I was overcome with emotion and started to cry. Through my tears of joy I explained to Yves that even if Bernard were the only person who trusted in Christ as a result of the soccer tour, it was worth all the investment of time and money and heartaches that made the tour possible. Changed lives are the reason we’re here.

The second person Yves met with said he understood the plan of salvation at the stadium, but did not make a decision to accept Christ until the following week when he attended an evangelistic crusade near his house. Then he went home and promptly forgot about his commitment. If it wasn’t for Yves being faithful to follow up, this person could have been like the seed sown along the path that withered for lack of water. But now Yves has met with him and he wants to continue to study the Bible with Yves and grow in Christ.

Thanks to our friends at Blue Ridge Ministries, we were able to get over 2,700 New Testaments and Psalms to give to people like Bernard who is eager to study God’s Word. They also gave us several hundred Bible study books called “Beginning the Christian life”, also in Creole. Having these books to offer makes the job of those doing follow up a lot easier since most people are eager to receive them.

Please pray that we will hear many more encouraging stories about how God worked through the soccer tour!

Pray for Joy - at a medical clinc

Our daughter, Joy, left yesterday to go to Seguin, up in the mountains, to help out in a medical clinic and learn more about what it's like to work in one. Teresa Murphy, who works in the Haitian Christian Outreach, often has college interns come and work with her, and we were really happy that she was willing to have Joy even though she's still in high school.

You can check out the website of this ministry at: wwww.haitianchristian.org look at the medical clinic page or the picture page.

Good Results - Training & Follow-Up

Left: Sylvain Nelson, our intern from the seminary leading a session
Below: the coordinators of the volunteers at the training session


The training session went well. There were coordinators from each of the 8 sections of the city plus some from Arcahaie and Saint Marc. We were really glad that Richard made the trip to Blue Ridge Ministries in Croix-des-Bouquets for the New Testaments and booklets because the volunteers really appreciated them. One said that he thinks it will be much nicer to make the follow-up visits since they will be giving something to the people. Things like that are much more appreciated in general because people have hardly any reading material (and you can imagine they don't get any junk mail!).
(Richard loading up the pick-up with all the stuff for the training session.)










Most of the Bibles and booklets were taken home by the coordinators and phone cards were given out as well.

Stories from Follow-up

It was good to hear a few stories from the follow-up that has already started. Our friend, Jaclyn in Arcahaie, told about a lady who was surprisingly the daughter of a Deacon of a another church, but indicated desire for spiritual help. She is now attending a Bible study.
The Bibles from Blue Ridge being delivered to the training site-Campus Pour Christ.

Update on Tomorrow's training session

The exciting thing that happened today is that we got 2700 New Testaments (with Psalms) for free--provided by Blue Ridge Ministries. Not only that, but they are the updated version of Creole. We also have 960 booklets for new believers (also from Blue Ridge) and booklets that Ligue Biblique uses on the third follow-up visit. They will be given to the volunteers at the training for use in follow-up.

Please pray that those who are leading the sessions will communicate well--that will be Richard, Sylvain Neslon (intern from STEP) and Pastor Elyson from Ligue Biblique. And pray for the participants--that they will find motivation and practical help; and for the logistics of getting the New Testaments and booklets to their areas, since most of them come by public transportation. We are expecting 50 people to come; please pray their safety in travel, too.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Anybody want to come visit us? Spirit Airlines flies from Fort Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince. They have specials from time to time with really low fares on certain days. Here's what they're showing this week:

Ft. Lauderdale - Port-au-Prince, Haiti: $55 each way. These fares must be purchased by 11:59 PM ET on August 10, 2007 for travel on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays between August 21, 2007 and February 13, 2008.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Port Au Prince, Haiti $13* Each Way 10/1, 10/19, 10/22, 10/26

And it's really crazy because you have to buy the tickets by tomorrow at midnight.

Prayer needed for a friend

Please pray for a friend of ours, Pierre (yes, that's a very common name here...a little anonimity is good...and God will know who it is). Let me tell it this way...

Church on Sunday started out very differently at the English church. The person leading worship for this week just started talking about how there had been some problems between church members during the week. She openly confessed a sin of her own and then asked forgiveness of the church. She suggested that all of us examine our hearts and get up to go ask forgiveness of anyone we had problem with. Then she excused herself to go ask forgiveness of an individual in the church.

All of this had a big effect on this friend of ours. As soon as church was over, he told Richard that he had been doing some confessing himself of some sins that have had a big impact on his life, and in fact he had been hiding it. He is involved with a woman, has had a child with her and they are having a lot of conflict. There have been other consequences, too. We've always known him to be a very humble person with a big heart who is always ready to help with ministry. We prayed with him right then and are trying to stay in close touch with him to help them in any way we can. We appreciate your prayers.

Pray for training this Saturday

We're back in country. Sorry for the long delay in posting. We had a nice time visiting family, friends and churches. I took a course in curriculum design and assessment at PBU which turned out to be very interesting and very practical.

Please pray with us for a mobilization training session for follow-up in Port-au-Prince.

This Saturday we are hosting a mobilization training session for the area leaders of those who are doing the follow-up on those who responded during the Cleveland City Stars tour. Instead of working directly with 200 or so volunteers, Richard and Pastor Bilda (Director of the Bible League in Haiti) chose leaders in 8 different areas of the city. These leaders plus an assistant will be at the training. It's great to have these people to work with since Pastor Bilda has been working with them on a discipleship project (Project Philippe). Also, leaders from churches in each area are invited as well. Some leaders from Arcahaie and Saint Marc will be there, too.

Follow-up in Cap Haitien is being done independently. We’ll update you when we get news of how that’s going.

So, this week is busy already with preparation for the session, advertising the truck for sale (no, the truck still has not sold), and I’m finishing my paper for the class I took in July.