A God moment in Haiti:

Jesus informed us that we will know them by their fruits.  I often wonder when sharing the Gospel, through a translator, in another culture, if they get it.  When you see the fruit you know they do!

Matt and I were frustrated to say the least.  We were sorting out what appeared to be thousands of parts to a house church we were building in Haiti.  It  quickly became evident we did not have enough parts and some appeared to be miss- numbered.  We finally decided the best way to redeem the time was to share Jesus with the twelve on lookers.  These were high-school age boys.   Why not?  Nothing else seemed to be working at the moment. 

The boys quickly got engaged.  The translator seemed relieved that he wasn’t  having to carry heavy medal anymore.  Matt, our lead contractor on the project still looked bewildered.  But God began to work.  You could sense the hopefulness in the air.  These boys were not only open but also eager to hear what we had to share.  To the praise and glory of God,  ten of the twelve turned from their sin and put their faith in Jesus. 

What an awesome moment!  However, it doesn’t stop there.  The next day while I was sharing the gospel in their community, two of the boys followed along wherever I went.   In the background,  I noticed someone  speaking broken English as I would share the gospel with people.   It happened to be two of the young men who had given their lives to Christ the day before.  I inquired as to what  he and his friend were doing.  They told me they were practicing  so that one day in the future they could become translators to tell people about Jesus.   They followed me for the next two days.  Their names were Jackson and Louvin.  A few posts ago I told you about giving up my translator so two guys could have the privilege of leading a woman to Christ.  Now I was without a translator and standing before ten people.  Struggling to communicate Jackson spoke up.  “I will try to tell them”,  he said.   And that he did.   As I spoke,  Jackson translated the gospel and God did a work not only in him but  also in the ten who heard. 

The apostle John in his third epistle said,  “I have no greater joy than to hear that  my children walk in truth.”  Although these were not my birth children they were spiritual children walking in the truth of their newfound faith.

May God get all the glory!  I can’t wait to see what He does with these two new young soldiers of His.  In case you were wondering, we did finally figure out the numbering system and found all the parts to the home we were building.  As we put first things first , somehow, God took care of the rest.

God is Faithful!

Today I want to give testimony of God’s faithfulness in Haiti.   A core value of Co:Mission Ministry is walking with the expectation that God is always at work.  God can do more in a moment than I can do in a lifetime.  He is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or even think up, Ephesians 3:20.  I want all of us who participate in this ministry to experience this as we walk by faith. 

While waiting for our team from Texas to arrive in front  of the Port au Prince airport God spoke to my heart that He was wanting to work.   There were five  very rough looking Haitian men standing close to Matt and I.  The Spirit prompted me to share the gospel with them.  We faced two challenges.  One, our translator at the time was not really qualified to translate  the plan of salvation due to limited vocabulary.   Two, we have a strong conviction in Co:Mission ministry to see all who receive Christ also have proper follow-up. 

As I reluctantly but obediently began sharing with our disinterested Haitian friends, God showed up.  First,  we watched their countenances change before our eyes as God opened their hearts to want to hear the Gospel.  Secondly, while struggling with the translation two Haitian brothers showed up like angels excited that American missionaries were there sharing Christ.  As God would have it they were the only people around who were bi-lingual.  To our knowledge, they were the only believers around as well.  These guys made sure the gospel was clear to our new friends as we took the lead to share.  There in front of the Port au Prince airport all five men gave their lives to Christ. 

However, God was not finished yet.  It just so happened that the two “angels” who appeared took it upon themselves to invite these new believers to their church nearby and committed to follow-up our new brothers in Christ.  God is so faithful!

Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all the things you and I need will be taken care of.  May the earth and all His people declare His glory.

Sharing the Gospel

As Co:Mission Ministry finds God’s unique purpose in His awesome kingdom Joan and I are learning a lot.  We  continue to be overwhelmed in our hearts with the responsibility of helping to lead the Church to lead with the Gospel.

Years ago I memorized a definition of successful witnessing given by Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ; taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.  It seems we are taking the initiative to share a lot these days on the mission field, however, little sharing of Christ seems to be happening.  We seem to have bought the lie that people coming to Christ are a by-product of our ministry and not the purpose of our mission. 

While in Haiti I had the privilege of working with seven young people all eager to learn on the mission field.  They arrived in Haiti with a passion to work and make a difference.   They were not quiet sure how to share their faith but hoping their lives would count and communicate Christ’s love. 

Wanting them to have the experience of leading others to Christ I gave two young men access to my translator one day.  They came back rejoicing that a woman was interested in giving her life to the Lord.  I asked them if they had led her to follow Christ.  They indicated that could happen later but she was very interested in becoming a Christian.  I instructed them to immediately go back to her house and lead her to faith in Christ.  I only wish everyone reading this could have been there when these young men returned.  They had stepped past their comfort and lead this women to turn from her sin and put her faith in Christ.  They were literally skipping back almost floating above the dusty road beneath their feet.  Why in the name of missions do we find it so hard to take the initiative to lead people to the saving knowledge of Christ?  Proverbs 11:30 reminds us that he who wins souls is wise.  Romans 1:16 tells us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.  Paul encourages us with the fact that God has placed this life-changing message in clay pots, that is, He entrusts the gospel message into our lives and expects us to share it.

I hear of testimonies today of hundreds coming to Christ through dreams and visions.  God can and does do miracles to draw others to Himself.  Every conversion from sin to salvation is a miracle.  I want it to be said; it is a privilege to carry out the mandate of winning souls by taking the initiative to intentionally lead others to Christ.

As Mark Driscoll shares “when it comes to the gospel we tend to be gun collectors and not hunters”.  Though we love the gospel we treat it like a gun  from our gun collection.   We admire it but never take aim and shoot.  We love the Gospel but seldom call others to respond to it. 

We want to encourage all of you to get out your gospel gun, polish it up and take aim and fire to the glory of God.  Remember to leave the results to Him.  Rejection may come but probably won’t.  You may do it less than perfect but God won’t miss your heart.  Take the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God.

Co:Mission Ministry in Haiti

When we step out in faith God always shows His faithfulness.  I have heard this, preached this and have even tried to live this but the trip to Haiti was a stretch of my faith.  So many details had to fall into place that unfortunately or fortunately I had no control over.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)  I will take the next several days to share the details of how God came through in so many ways but today I want to give you an overview of what God did.

Island of La Gonove:

After three hours of  taxi and boat rides, no one speaking English, and wondering where in the world my contact was we finally arrived to explore opportunities for ministry on La Gonove.  La Gonove is an Island of three hundred thousand people and very few churches.  While ministering on the Island we worked in four distinct communities bringing encouragement to the believers and sharing the gospel with unbelievers.  Pastor Benies was our main contact and he was located on the far side of the Island in a mountainous region called Mapou Village.  We worked in Fregade, Palma and Las Titans as well.  During our time we were able to train twenty-seven leaders in church planting and saw twenty-four others give their lives to Christ.  Again, our main purpose on the Island was to explore future possibilities for church planting and the possibility of creating partnerships with churches in the U.S..   May the Lord give wisdom as we consider our future work on La Gonove.

On the Mainland:

Our time began by praying earnestly that our ride would be there to take us from the port.  Only forty-five minutes late, praise God our ride arrived.  While on the Island there was little to eat and nothing but hot bottled water to drink.  When we saw a Coke stand God spoke to our hearts about getting a couple cold ones!  From there, Pastor Rigaud, the precious man of God we worked with on the mainland, took over and was a wonderful help.  We began locating the unassembled homes provided by our good friends at Agriboard.  We were greatly encouraged to see the pastor’s home in Cabera completed by our partners from California.  [Thanks HOPE and Come Over Ministries for a job well done!]  Cabera  is the area where we launched a new church plant the last time we were in Haiti.  The ministry is being led by Pastor McGraw and has over eighty new disciples growing in the Lord. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness.  From there we went on to locate the other unassembled homes provided by Agriboard.  With many parts scattered into about ten different areas we set out  prayerfully to organize the remainder of the homes.  The young man traveling with me, Matthew Sirmans, took it all in stride and graciously took over the building process.  What a blessing he was both on the Island and building the homes!  We were able to sort things out and begin the process of building and pass off the finishing to a team God provided from Texas.  I can’t say enough about the faithfulness of our God.  We are beginning a  new ministry in Jerusalem  where hundreds of thousands have settled since the earthquake hit Port au Prince over a year ago. It will be led by Pastor Midace pictured below.   With no churches in that area, this church plant has enormous potential.  By the grace of God, Pastor Regaud  and I believe we can see over three thousand being discipled in the next couple  of years.  From there we visited another area we had launched a new work last visit.   In La Saline we were informed that  the ministry was growing and over two hundred are actively being discipled in Christ.  Our team from Texas is scheduled to finish that building this week.

William Carey said, "Expect great things from God… Attempt great things for God!"  In the midst of overwhelming opposition God accomplished so much for His glory.  In the end, we will see four new churches.  Thirty-three leaders were trained in Church planting.   Forty-four new believers came to faith in Christ and about four hundred and fifty  are being discipled.   The labor is never easy but always worth it. 

Joan and I want to thank you for praying for this ministry and us.  Thank you for partnering with us to fulfill the great commission and planting churches around the globe.

                                             Our Haiti Team

               Pastor McGraw's wife and children from Church plant in Cabaret

                                  Mamas making mud pies for their children

                       The faces of some of the many children on the Island

                     Pastor Midace and his family from Jerusalem Church Plant

                             A few of the precious children in Haiti

                            Matthew building the house in Jerusalem

                     The Texas team building the pastor's home in Jerusalem

                                Mark sharing the gospel on the Mainland

                                Mark with Pastor Midace and his translator

                                             A home  in Jerusalem

Heading to Haiti

Island of La Gonave

As I head to Haiti I want to share with you prayer requests for the trip and the pressing needs that Co:Mission Ministry has.  Joan and I are very encouraged with how God is working in this ministry already and specifically how He put this trip together.  I will be leaving St. Louis on August 2^nd and heading to South Florida.  I will meet up with a young man Matthew Sirmans who I am mentoring in missions.  We will head to Haiti on August 3^rd.  We will begin our work on the Island of La Gonave.  Our purpose will be to prepare the leadership for future house church plants.  We will be meeting with community leaders and perspective pastors.  We are looking to start ten churches on the Island in the next twelve months. 

Pray for safety in travel.

Pray for Matthew Sirmans since this is his first over seas mission experience.

Pray for our teaching times as we build into the new pastors. 

Pray for my health as I am battling a sinus infection.

Pray that we know the right villages to approach to start the house churches.

Pray that we can rest in the evenings because sleeping could be very interesting on the Island.

Work in the Mainland

On the 8^th of August we will travel back to the mainland.  Our purpose will be to establish three house churches and build those houses.  We will meet up with a team we put together from Texas.  Seven college students will meet us for the purpose of building the houses.  My purpose will be to train the pastors, assure the building goes well and launch the churches.  We will be doing a great deal of evangelism to strengthen the work in each of the areas.

Matt and I will return on August 12^th.  Our building team will return on August 23^rd.

Pray for the many logistics involved in building these homes in Haiti.  (Foundations, Materials, Tools, Enough workers etc…)

Pray for the pastors who will be equipped and left to lead these new house churches.   (Their names: Margera, Midace, Janic)

Pray for the team from Texas as they give sacrificially and work tirelessly to get these homes together. 

Pray for our evangelism efforts that many come to Christ.

Pray for the launching of these house churches and their impact in the communities they will dwell.  Pray for hundreds to become true Disciples of Christ.  (Community names are: La Saline, Canaan, Cabaret and if time allows La Plaines and Arcahaie)

Immediate Needs for Co:Mission Ministry

As God is opening many doors for Co:Mission Ministry we have some big needs.  We are already working with three churches to help create partnerships globally.

We need help as we put together our prayer ministry coordination, web-sight development, budgets, databases, brochure etc…

 We need help with the many flights we are taking to establish ministries in other countries around the world.  If any of you have flight miles you could donate it would be very helpful.

We need start up funds and partners who will give generously to help launch this ministry into the harvest fields God has called us to.

We need prayer partners who will stand in the gap and passionately pray for Co:Mission Ministry.

We praise God for you and your prayers, love and support as we work diligently to launch a ministry that will impact countless lives.  Thank you for your wilingness to be involved with us.

Until the nations hear,

Mark and Joan