ISSUE NO. 23 February,, 2014

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1 The Newsletter of Light and Life Evangelical Ministries, Inc. Our Mission: Support churches in northern Haiti by helping Haitian pastors and evangelists win souls to Christ and minister God s word to them. ISSUE NO. 23 February,, 2014 Work Teams Begin Construction of Savane Carree Church Two January work teams made rapid progress towards the construction of the Savane Carree church building. Ministry President Gerry Molitor led a large work team from Middle Tennessee in early January, a portion of which located the church on the property and poured the footings for the building [for other of the several accomplishments of this team, see articles on pages 3 and 4]. In mid-january, Ministry Vice President Dr. Ken Howard led a 3-man team from the De Kalb, TX, First Baptist Church to supervise the laying of the blocks. Master Mason Shawn Daffern, assisted by Jeff May, again lent his expertise for the Ministry s third major building project. A few of the previously trained masons from earlier Ministry projects were joined by local laborers to lay blocks for the 26 ft. X 59 ft. building. Due to the slope in the lot and the necessity to step the footings, the number of blocks specified fell a little short. At this writing, the walls have now been completed, and preparations are being made to pour the floor. Cap-Haitien church will lead an all-haitian work force to build the roof trusses on-site and then complete the roof by adding the corrugated metal panels. The church footings as completed in early January Haitian masons lay the concrete blocks The Ministry s truck eases by a road barricade An unexpected complication, not untypical in Haiti, nearly put a crimp in the block-laying work. A new electrical transmission line to support the growing nearby industrial park by-passed the towns near its route without providing them power. Local towns-people barricaded the major road to the work site in several places for several days in protest, requiring our newly acquired Diahatsu truck to hit the ditch in order to get to the Savane Carree work site from Cap-Haitien. Once the floor is poured and cured, the Haitian carpenter who supervised the roof construction on the Nearly finished walls when the blocks ran out

2 LifeLines Page 2 February, 2014 Ministry News from our Churches in Haiti Compiled from the monthly reports from Rev. Claude Saintil, National Director We have just finished with five tight months about heavy miscellaneous operations for the ministry. We do praise God for His wonderful help to be successful in every realm of our activities. Without your genuine Christian love and your generous contributions nothing would have been made. Now let us look briefly at our mission field and see what has been going there. Cap-Haitien Parish Pastor Bastien and a church committee have been doing a wonderful work in stuccoing and smoothing the church building. Dr. Ken [Howard] and Brother Shawn [Daffern] had partially completed it, and the church leaders were now following up. They used the little funds collected among themselves and church members to complete the exterior as well as the interior. Dr. Ken brought six solar lights for the church. They light the church, but about eight more are needed for Bible studies and night services. Last month this church was the scene of several weddings of our unmarried couples: two from Bas- Fossé, one from Savane Carrée, and two from the Cap- Haitien church. Bas-Fossé Parish Pastor Pierre and the church leaders are doing their best to bring their congregation to a no-turning-back point. Since the strong warning of president Molitor and the revival held last September, the church has dramatically changed up-gear. Evangelism, house-tohouse visitation, praying with sick people, open-air services, etc., are seriously kept. January. Dr. Jill Ratner led a Hands Up for Haiti medical team from New York [see story, page 4]. The evangelism team was led by President Gerry Molitor. It was wonderful, and the presence of the Lord was with us. In a very short time many came to Christ and others re-conciliated. [See story next page] Savane Carrée Parish The Christians in this parish worship under a brush arbor. [Lately] the top [of the brush arbor] is crowned with holes, and it is impossible to worship the Lord in the rainy season. After long prayer and much patience the Lord has answered their request for a church building. [See story, page 1]. The carpenter is assembling the pews, and soon will care for the roof of the new church building. The church people are very happy and thankful for those who sacrificed to help with the building and the pews. They really pray for all the LLEM friends and supporters. Ceciline Parish The church in Ceciline is going and growing well, too. Pastors Renel and Ulrick are working hard in visiting all the church people and holding bible studies in Christian homes. Attendance has grown to between 40 and 50 for Sunday worship. A new convert gets her own song book Bas-Fossé church was really privileged to warmly welcome a medical team and an evangelism team in The crippled lady with her new wheelchair The January team spent half a day at Ceciline, and about 24 people were spiritually touched, including 12 new conversions. The most outstanding event of the day, one that was on everybody s lips, was when a team member gave a wheel chair to a crippled lady. She had suffered from a car accident in the D.R. and came home with no dime to provide for herself. The Lord sent this missionary to help her. After that event, all her family members choose to come to church. We are looking for a better place to build a church building. It is not easy. We are in prayer for a positive answer on a lot owned by man in Port-au-Prince that may have a reasonable cost.

3 LifeLines Page 3 February, 2014 (Ministry News from Haiti, Cont.) Limbé Parish The Limbé church is pretty good size in numbers, with about 100 Christians taking part in Sunday worship. The church faces the same problem as Ceciline and Savane Carrée in that the place they worship is not theirs. They have to pay annual rent for it. The church is in prayer for God to perform a miracle and provide a place to buy in Limbé. Pastor Azemar is having difficulty to pay the three teachers in his school. They receive less than $10 per month, and are working through faith, now paid only by tuitions of the students in their classes. Spiritual Victories in Haiti La Suisse Parish The church is going very well. The pastor and church leaders are keeping the church people together through bible studies, evangelism, prayer meetings, open air meetings, house-to-house visitation, and praying with sick people and church members. The church would be glad to receive the solar lights like those Dr. Ken shared with the Cap-Haitien church. They will surely use them and care for them. The walls on the Mission House are now complete, but construction is stopped until money for the roof is available. The chicken project is going well, and I will report to the Board on it soon. By Rev. Frederick Richardson [Ed. Note: Rev. Richardson is the pastor of the New Hope Lutheran Church in Murfreesboro, TN.] God clearly preach there on Sunday morning and be a part of the wanted me on this trip! team that started building their new worship space. Back when Pastor During our Claude visited last week in Haiti, over summer, I signed up as forty people either a possible participant. accepted Jesus as But as the time got their personal Savior closer, I hadn t set aside for the first time, or the funds to go. Two renewed their men from our commitment to Christ. congregation, James Getting to pray with Adkins and John Sneed, them was a had signed up for their tremendous blessing. third trip with Light and I was especially Life, and a donor moved when praying stepped forward in our congregation to cover the with three mature expenses for them to go. children of the witch Then, due to a business conflict, John had to doctor in Savane say that he couldn t go. With the funds in place, James Carree as they called to ask if I was still interested. God provided! And accepted Christ, and to pray with the witch doctor s wife, I m so glad that it worked out. For all who have made who is obviously being drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit. the trip, you know how life-changing it can be to After I returned home and reflected on the trip, I experience life in a culture and with economic conditions realized something. In each of the villages we visited, so different from our own. My wife and I had been to Gerry looked for the witch doctor so that we could talk Uganda on a mission trip back in 2008, and in many with him about Christ. None of them were available. I ways, Haiti is much like Uganda. now believe that this was because of a spiritual reality in I was particularly impressed with Pastor those villages light is pushing back darkness. Just as Claude s love for the people and concern for the other rats and roaches run for cover when a darkened room is pastors serving the Light and Life congregations. He is flooded with light, so are the satanic forces of voodoo a jewel of a man. What a gift God has given to the running for cover as Light and Life floods these villages! church in Haiti! I was humbled and encouraged by his While I have been praying for the work in Haiti, commitment, enthusiasm and deep, strong faith. now my prayers will be much better informed and It meant a lot to me to get to meet Pastor invigorated. I thoroughly enjoyed ministry and the Parisien and the people in Savane Carree. Since our fellowship with all of the Light and Life team, both from congregation helps specifically with financial support for the U.S. and those who help and support Pastor Claude that congregation, I m so glad that I was invited to in Haiti. I do hope that the Lord will provide me the opportunity to go again.

4 LifeLines Page 4 February, 2014 January Medical Clinic at Bas-Fossé by Tony Martin [Ed. Note: Tony is a Deacon at Southside Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN. He served as an Army Medic during Desert Storm.] Another wonderful trip to Haiti! This was my third trip. Each time is as eye-opening and heartwarming as the first. The people are so welcoming, loving and happy to see us. It is with great pleasure and a thankful heart that I had this opportunity to work in a clinic at Bas Fossé set up by Hands Up For Haiti. Hands Up for Haiti Doctors at Bas-Fossé As an Army medic, you are taught skills that may help fellow soldiers on the battlefield--stopping bleeding, treating wounds, shock, impalement injuries, applying tourniquets, etc. In Haiti, the conditions we treat are mostly malnutrition, dehydration, rashes, worms, stomach aches and muscle pain. About 80 people were seen and treated. This great team was made up of pharmacists, dieticians, social workers, interpreters and pediatricians (one specializing in breastfeeding). The Hands Up For Haiti teams were very organized and mentally and physically prepared to meet and treat the rural village. Crowd control was the first order of business. Only patients are allowed inside the church where the clinic was held. If too many get inside, chaos soon follows. Much like in America--everybody wants to be seen NOW. Several of the team members even read books to the children to lessen the wait and anxiety. Before patients arrived, Dr. Jill Ratner taught a training class to the Community Health Workers about dehydration and diarrhea--two very common and lifethreatening ailments in Haiti. Afterward, a certificate was issued to encourage and remind our CHWs how much they are needed and relied upon. The church was divided into several stations including: first: triage (weight and diagnosis of symptoms); second, five doctor stations (where each patient was seen by a caregiver); and lastly a pharmacy (where medications were distributed). In this particular clinic, the doctor went to the pharmacy for the patient to make it easier and less confusing One thing you NEVER want to hear in a clinic of this nature is this: "This baby is going to die if we do not get him to a hospital immediately!" My heart fell, my eyes started to fill with tears, and I began to silently pray that God would take care of this little baby. It was a tiny, 3- month old boy who was dehydrated and unresponsive. Approximately 15 minutes later, God answered my prayer when I witnessed the tiny boy taking in diluted peanut butter from the fingertip of one of the nurses. That glimpse of God's hand at work in Haiti--answering a prayer that no one else heard--just reinforces my desire to serve there. It also reassures me that God has not given up on nor forgotten the beautiful people of Haiti. Mothers of newborn babies were given prenatal vitamins and encouraged to breastfeed up to 8 times per day. Breastfeeding is perceived as being inconvenient. Often, mothers do not want to awaken a sleeping baby to nurse, sometimes only nursing twice a day. I also conveyed through my interpreter how important it was for the mother to do all she can to stay healthy. The three Community Health Workers, Pastor Claude Saintil, Gerry Molitor and I met with the Cap- Haitian Healthcare Network. This network was made up of many different professions - but all have the same goal in mind: improving health care in Haiti, increasing health education and striving to improve diet and nutrition. There were doctors, community health care workers, a CEO of a new company recently based in Haiti (Meds and Food for Kids) and a missionary who is stationed in Haiti for the next 3 years. This meeting should prove quite beneficial for L.L.E.M. in the future. Pastor Claude and Gerry made many new contacts. Tony Martin with CHWs Bethany and Elna Haiti and L.L.E.M. have been blessed with 3 wonderful Community Health Workers. Bethany, Dorelus and Elna are joyful, compassionate and have a desire to serve God and their communities with their hearts and skills. They also seem to have an unquenchable thirst for more medical knowledge and training. This is truly encouraging. I feel they have accepted this role as a calling not simply a job or simply as a means to an end. It is great to see them each time I visit. I consider them dear friends and I always look forward to their hugs and smiles each time we meet.

5 LifeLines Page 5 February, 2014 Meet Pastor Renel Renel Jaques is the pastor of the Ministry s church in Ceciline, a brush-arbor, rural church near Limonade, a town about 10 miles southeast of Cap-Haitien. Pastor Renel stepped out in faith to start the church in Ceciline adjacent to his mother s house in He began his association with Light and Life Evangelical Ministries as teacher/principal of the Ministry s school at Bas-Fossé in Pastor Renel was born April 14, 1976, in Limonade. He attended the Roman Catholic elementary school in Limonade and the Rosalvo Bobo high school in Cap-Haitien. After high school he became a professional guitar player, and it was through playing the guitar at a crusade that he came to know Christ as Lord and Savior in As he grew in his Christian life, he became a teacher at the New Hope Ministry school in Limonade to help finance his brush arbor church. Our National Director in Haiti, Rev. Saintil, subsequently hired him to teach and be principal at the Bas-Fossé church. Pastor Renel s testimony: In Summer, 1992, in the month of July, there was a very important crusade held by Bethany Ministry in Ceciline. I was able to play guitar in company with another non-christian guy known as Eliphete. After singing it was made known to the Pastor in charge that the other guy and I were not Christians. And the Pastor said if he had known that we were not Christians he would have not permitted that we sang on the stage. After hearing the pastor, my friend and I took decision but not seriously to ask the Pastor to pray for us. It was like mocking the Pastor. 72 hours later the pastor visited us and started a bible study. The other friend did not join us. The pastor developed the theme about a clean and a dirty heart. To answer the pastor's question about a clean heart, I said that I would like my heart to be clean by the blood of the Lord. It was only at that time I seriously have taken decision to be a Christian and have been so until today. After my conversion there were lots of difficulties, but I never look back any longer. I have never been sorry for my decision. Pastor Renel is now in his fourth year at the Logos Biblical Center in Cap-Haitien, studying to earn his seminary degree. Pastor Renel and his wife, Yacienthe, have three children: Davidson, 6; Gérelda, 3; and Mirnelle, 2. A Closing Word by Dr.John Baker, Executive Director When I traveled to Haiti last August, the Lord put it on my heart to preach and teach from the book of Titus. I saw an interesting application to the church in Haiti. Paul exhorts Titus to engage in good deeds, and ends the letter by encouraging Titus to mobilize the people to meet pressing needs (Titus 3:14). Standing in the midst of an open field of weeds and an outcropping of rocks, we held hands in a circle and prayed my wife, myself, Gerry Molitor, Claude Saintil, Pastor Parisien and various members of the Savane Carree Church. We prayed that God might raise up a building in which the Savane Carree congregation might worship and use for ministry in the greater community. Six months have gone by, and now God has answered that prayer. The foundation has been laid and the walls are up! It s a wonderful thing when the body of Christ engages together to meet pressing needs. Amidst all the pressing needs, there is one that is the most pressing the proclamation of the gospel. It is only the gospel that can penetrate the human heart and bring about an eternal and everlasting change. People who have been changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ become themselves the people of God, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:14). May God continue to grow his church in Savane Carree and all of Haiti!

6 Praise For the safe and rapid progress in constructing the Savane Carree church. 2. For the salvation and spiritual growth of the Haitian men, women and children who accept Christ through our ministry. 3. For the continuing improvement in medical help for the poorest Haitians near our rural churches. 4. For the addition of the versatile and economical Diahatsu truck to supplement the Ministry s aging Toyota Tacoma. Please Pray 1. For consolation for Dr. Baker in the loss of his father. 2. For spiritual victory over Satanism, voodooism and demonic beliefs that are so prevalent in Haiti, and for witch doctors to come to Christ. 3. For an increase in the monthly support needed to meet current expenses and provide a more representative salary for our teachers and pastors. 4. For God to provide a man to be Deputy National Director to assist Rev. Saintil in his increased responsibilities. 5. For funds to provide a suitable lot to relocate the Ceciline church. 6. For funds needed to add the roof to the Mission House in La Suisse. Light and Life Evangelical Ministries, Inc. Office Mail Address: 351 Joy Lane Readyville, TN Web Site: Office Phone: Office Fax: Office Molitor@dtccom.net LifeLines Editor: Clyde.Nevins@Juno.com