Acknowledge Him

August 31, 2008 By 1 Comment

Acknowledge Him – He Works All Things for Good!

 

It was an eerie feeling looking out the window of the airplane. The clouds looked quite ominous; I had never seen them appear so dark and layered. We were fifty miles from the eye of a hurricane. The pilot had already attempted to land in Santo Domingo once but could not see the runway well enough. He was circling around for another try!

As we landed my luggage was slightly delayed. I prayed, “God, I give You thanks in all things”, trying to stay in peace. As I caught up with the team, customs had taken issue with the 50 brand new backpacks we were bringing in for the very poor children of El Prado. We ended up in a basement area talking to Dominican airport officials. “You have to go to such and such building in Santo Domingo with the proper papers“, they said. Translation, pay the appropriate bribe or forget about seeing these backpacks ever again. Many people had sacrificed to send us with these backpacks so we could not just lose them.

I explained that we did not fly in to sell 50 backpacks and that they were for the poor, but nothing I said seemed to help. It turned out the hurricane that was supposed to be moving away from the Dominican Republic had actually come in closer! Suddenly, the entire airport was being closed so the officials told us to take the backpacks and go!

We made it to El Prado a little wet but with no problems and all the children received backpacks for the starting school year. On the flight home the following week we had the same crew on our plane. They said the pilot was told to go and land in Puerto Rico but he is known for being a bit of a maverick and tried to land instead! Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Yes, God directed our paths and even used a hurricane for our benefit. He is good!

Filed Under: faith, Missions

Father’s Love for the people of the nations!

March 28, 2008 By 1 Comment

Father’s heart is so large for the people of the nations. I believe that He calls all of us to receive His heart for the nations at some level. Have a look at our recent photo gallery updates and see some of what is happening in India, Cambodia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

http://fountainsoflife.org/photo-gallery.htm

Filed Under: Encounter Meetings, Father's Love, Missions, Nations Tagged With: , , ,

Father’s Love for the Nations!

March 26, 2008 By 1 Comment

Father’s Love for the Nations!

Hebrews 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

When I pastored a church in the Dominican Republic there was a lady named Castalina Lara, her friends called her Chana. She was a faithful member of our church there. One day, in the course of conversation, she mentioned her birthday. Chana was born two days after me, same month, and same year! For days I could not shake this thought, “Two people who came into the world at the same time, one born to a middle class family in North America, the other to a poor subsistence farmer in the Dominican Republic; why was I born in the US with all the advantages that entails of education and opportunity and Chana in this poor village?”  Chana had a third grade education and could barely read and write. Her father was a subsistence farmer and at fifteen years old she married a thirty year old subsistence farmer. This is the continuing pattern of poverty all the girls in this village follow. Chana, however, came to know the Lord. She pushed for her three children to stay in school. All three have graduated high school!!! This is unheard of in this village. Her oldest has now graduated college as an accountant! Chana was active in church and her community and was my chief evangelist during my time pastoring there.

God had challenged me to my core, with all the education, unbelievable amounts of Bible teaching and financial resources I had received, what is my responsibility to the nations? It is so easy to fall into the North American lifestyle trap. We all want our SUVs and nice homes while still in our twenties but Moses decided to forgo a lifestyle of comfort to join with slaves. He identified with “his people”! I personally do not believe there is anything wrong with enjoying the blessings that God has given us here in the U.S., as long as it is not what we live for and we are actively involved in contributing to the things that are dear to the heart of God.

Proverbs 3:27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

We can all make a difference at some level. May we all do something to reach the nations!

Below: Chana, husband Tulio and Daughter Yiyi

chana.jpg

Filed Under: Father's Love, Missions, Nations

Cyndi Shares at Beaches Chapel School

March 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Beaches Chapel School has a Spiritual Awareness Week once a year. During this week there’s a stronger than usual emphasis on spiritual things. Many special guest speakers come in too. On Wednesday, I, (Cyndi) was the guest speaker for the elementary students. I led them in some fun songs, then one in Spanish as my topic was the Dominican Republic. Robert and I had lived there and pastored a church about 4 years and we still visit often.  After all the singing I showed a powerpoint with lots of pictures which the kids really loved. Then there were many, many questions they had afterwards! It’s always great to share about missions and missionary work to youngsters. I hope it imparts God’s love to the nations into these children.

Filed Under: Father's Love, Missions, Nations

Robert’s home!

February 19, 2008 By 1 Comment

Robert’s home from Venezuela. He’s a little tired, but well. The whole trip was wonderful he said; there’ll be a full update soon. Thank you all for praying…..God bless.

Filed Under: Encounter Meetings, Missions, Nations Tagged With: ,

Update from Robert in Venezuela

February 17, 2008 By 3 Comments

Greetings

Today was the last day of the conference. The church here is a worshipping church which really seems to help people to be open. We had a tremendous ministry time today as most everyone in the conference was weeping as God touched them. There was a very successful business man who cried in my arms for at least 15 minutes.

We also saw some physical healings once again. Several women had pain in their chest and stomach and were completely healed. One kept poking herself in the stomach showing the pain was gone. Another lady has had a foot problem for seven months receiving weekly injections for the nerves and unable to move it, she was in tears as she showed all of us how she could now move it. This has not only been one of the more open places I’ve been recently but also one of the hungriest. On top of the meetings I have done 6 one on one ministry sessions with 6 more after the service in the morning.

One of the sessions was very interesting. It was a lady who has lived in Venezuela for about 20 years but is from Cali, Columbia. In her childhood her dad would always talk in favor of leftist guerilla groups and as a teenager she joined one! She was involved for a number of years. At 18 she became pregnant and her mother refused to help her with the child, thinking she would then just return to her activities with this group “19 de Abril”. She had fallen in love with a Venezuelan and so moved here. Four years ago (16 years after coming here) she became tired of never having any peace and always having nightmares from her time in the guerilla group and all the things she had done. She got saved in the church we are working at. One thing interesting that she said is that she has seen in the Bible that we are not supposed to take advantage of the poor, which is part of what these guerilla groups do. They get people stirred up and against the government on the basis of their poverty. As I ministered to her today she forgave her dad for influencing her in that way and received healing over the regret she had over how her life would have been had her dad influenced her toward an education.

Thanks to all who have been praying. We have also had a lot of warfare over this event. I have never seen more sound system problems in my life. Then after the service the pastor will check and find nothing wrong. My Spanish has also gone well which was a big concern of mine as it has been two years since teaching a conference in Spanish.

Filed Under: Healings, Miracles, Missions, Prayer Ministry Tagged With: , , , , ,

Keep Praying!

February 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Blessings in the name of the Lord! God is doing awesome things down in Venezuela, Robert reports. The encounter is going well, the prayer ministry is going well, and the healings are going well too!! PTL! There have been numerous physical healings along with emotional ones. Many are being restored to wholeness. The people are very sweet he says and it’s a wonderful time. The main prayer request is to pray against the warfare that’s still going on, mostly through the sound equipment and little distractions (little foxes!). Darren is also at church with the youth group doing a 30 hour famine for World Vision. So please keep praying!

Filed Under: Encounter Meetings, Missions, Prayer Ministry

Please pray for Phillip Miles

February 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Many of you know that we are team members and teachers of Shiloh Place Ministries, founded by Jack & Trisha Frost. Phillip is the son of Bishop Houston Miles, and Trisha’s (widowed) pastor as well as many of the team’s up in Conway, SC. (last year Jack went home to be with Father God) He’s in jail in Russia after trying to bring in some hunting shells for his pastor friend there. Pastor Miles has been in and out of Russia for more than 25 years. Please, please, please pray for his release. They’re supposed to detain him for 60 days then decide about a trial. As I think about this, I think about what if this ever happened to Robert and it causes me to pray much harder. Thank you for all your prayers. If you want more info you can go to www.christcommunitychurchonline.com.

Filed Under: Missions

Safe Arrival in Venezuela

February 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

jerry-y-miok-morris.jpgI got an email from Robert saying he arrived safely in Venezuela. Apparently the water was off (like the DR!) so he took an “army” bath to clean up. He’ll be staying with Jerry & Miok Morris, missionaries who have been there over 25 years. Keep praying!

Filed Under: Missions

Take 2!

February 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Well, Robert sat at the airport for a few hours yesterday, but with all the bad weather here and in Miami, he ended up coming home. He needed to be in Miami by 8pm in order to be on the 1am flight to Venezuela, but there was no way he’d make it with such a long delay. Because of the bad weather delay, American Airlines switched his flight to this morning at no charge. PTL! So he left, in reality, this morning. He called from Miami and said all is well so far. He should be there tonight @ 11pm. With all the warfare this trip’s had, I’m believing it’s going to be a prosperous one! Pray for many souls, signs and wonders! Blessings!

Filed Under: Missions
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