After visiting Haiti four times in recent years, Nick Fiano and his family were devastated when danger and difficulties put a stop to their trips. They continued to pray for God to open doors for them to love and minister to their dear friends in Haiti. In early 2022, the Fiano family went on an extended sabbatical in the Dominican Republic after making the decision to close their family business of 20 years, to seek God’s will for their future. During their stay God brought them people (mostly Haitian) to pour into, and they started a Bible study that has now grown to about 10-12 individuals. The vision is to plant and solidify this first church that in turn will multiply out from there to share the gospel, creating a cross-country ministry alliance with our teams in Haiti. Many of our local leaders in the DR are Haitians that have fled from their homeland to search for opportunities, and still have a deep love for their homeland. We are rejoicing with the Fianos in how God has answered their prayer! If you’d like to be a part of the new ministries with the Fianos or Paola Martinez, you can give at Worldrenewal.org/give We celebrate with Edgar, one of the first people that God brought to the DR team, as he has been able to start his own business: Edgar’s Taxi & Delivery Service. The Fianos were able to invest in him and share their business skills (over 20 years) to help him purchase a motorcycle and create business cards. Please pray for him as he is building his clientele, and also pray for his safety as he is working in the moto taxi business. The Fianos have a few other business ideas with others on the team as well. These small investments will be repaid as their business succeeds so that we can help another person, so they have an investment in the lives of the next person as well! From December 19-26, Pastor Maula's church in Haiti had revival and celebration services. As Maula shares, "The goal was to keep praising and giving thanks to God for his mercy despite all the problems in the country and in the world. As a result one soul got saved. Praise God! We ended up also sharing with the children 30 Christmas gifts to 30 children. They were excited to receive their gifts. Thanks again for your prayers." There are many prayer requests and needs, and Covid is hitting many in the schools, orphanages, and leadership. But God is good, and when we think about our incredible partners in Haiti, we remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18NIV "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Despite the kidnappings and political turmoil, life continues in Haiti. Pastor Luc Joseph overseas 14 churches and Christ Compassion orphanage. Petite Riviere (Little River) church, Southeast of Gonaives, is one of the churches he planted with Pastor Michel. The Petite Riviere church is growing and full of people. However, the location is too small to hold everyone: it is basically an open shelter with a fence around it. When it rains, they cannot have church because it floods. They have made due for the past ten years, but Petite Riviere church desperately needs prayer and financial support to buy their own land, with an actual building, rather than a makeshift shelter. Would you like to bless our brothers and sisters in Haiti? We need about $10,000 for this church to have their own place. Worldrenewal.org/give Herminouse is in tenth grade, a strong leader and doing well in school. At four years old, she started attending pastor Maula Jean Marie’s preschool. From a poor family that was barely able to get by, she was not expected to do well, or continue in school for long. Many of the children in Haiti, especially the girls, drop out of school early to help at home, take care of the younger children, or just try to find food. Pastor Maula makes sure that the kids at the preschool and grade school get the food they need to be able to continue going to school. For the children who do not have a family, he also runs the Good Samaritan Orphanage. Herminouse was able to stay with her family and stay in school because of this extra care. Now, as she prepares to graduate soon, she told Pastor Maula that it was only because of the meal she got every day in school. As she puts it, “An empty stomach has no ear.” There is a great need for child sponsorship at the Good Samaritan Orphanage, as well as food and education needs in the schools. For over a year, now Pastor Maula has been without a vehicle for his family and for the ministries and churches he oversees. Would you consider partnering with this vital ministry in Haiti? Worldrenewal.org/give In December 2021, Pastor Edwin Robles, from Colombia, was able to take the International Leadership Institute (ILI) training online. ILI training is a powerful development tool with eight values: intimacy with God, passion for the harvest, visionary leadership, culturally relevant evangelism, multiplication of leaders, family priority, faithful stewardship, and integrity. Pastor Robles was just one of around 3000 leaders who were trained last year. Edwin was so excited about training others that he organized an excellent face-to-face training with 65 people in the north of Peru in January 2022: this is the power of multiplication! Would you be willing to give a scholarship for one of these local leaders to receive the ILI training? It is about $30 per person. You can give at Worldrenewal.org/give. For 19 years, Pastor Assuerio Naque planted churches with World Renewal Brazil around his hometown. He loved it, but felt a strong calling to Mozambique, Africa. They spoke Portuguese in Mozambique, and he had heard that there was a great lack of training for the pastors and leaders there. In 2017, he and his family became the first missionaries sent by World Renewal Brazil internationally. Last October, Assuerio lead a training conference for pastors and leaders in a central region of Mozambique. For three days we were studying the Bible with a group of 13 pastors. One night while they were talking around a campfire, one of those pastors decided to open his heart and confess that he had two wives, but he was being confronted by the Word of God to leave one of them and stay with only the legitimate wife. Hearing this testimony was very encouraging because it is common in that area to find pastors with several wives. Only God can change the heart. The ministry in Mozambique needs $5,000 to travel and give training materials to pastors and leaders throughout the country this year. You can give at Worldrenewal.org/give For 20 years, Pastor Boaventura has led a prosperity gospel church in Mozambique that often exploits the faith of its members. Recently, he started to question the doctrines of his church, seeking answers in God’s Word, and asking for God’s guidance. When he heard about the leadership training offered by Pastor Assuerio in a neighboring city, he immediately signed up. As Pastor Boaventura finished the Christian Life course, he said “I am going through a theological “detox” process.” Hearing this from a pastor who has only been walking with us for a few months is so encouraging! Assuerio Naque (who left a rich ministry in Brazil to serve in Africa) says, “Working toward the spiritual liberation and edification of leaders all over Mozambique and Africa is fulling the calling God has given me.” To run the Church-Based Training (TBI) in Mozambique and reach pastors like Boaventura, it costs about $600 a month (for materials, travel, food, accommodations, and scholarships). Would you partner with us? You can give at Worldrenewal.org/give. Elizabeth is a smart young girl who started school at Mwanzo Mpya Foundation (MMF) this year (Mwanzo Mpya is Swahili for “Genesis”). She is six years old, and comes from a polygamous family in the Rangi tribe of Tanzania, which is an unreached people group (meaning there are less than 2% Evangelical Christians). She is the seventh of nine children who share the same father, and the third born of her mother. Both her parents are not believers, but through Elizabeth, her mother has become good friends with Agnes (her teacher), which has given Agnes an opportunity to share the gospel with her. It is our prayer that God is opening doors through little Elizabeth to bring the light of salvation to her family. Elizabeth is top in her class at school, and will turn 7 on the 28th of November. According to Tanzania law, she needs to start first grade in January 2023. It is our prayer that she will continue her education at our school, but for that to happen we need to complete the construction of the first-grade classroom. We still need $18,000 to make it happen! Would you partner with MMF in Tanzania? Would you consider sponsoring Elizabeth? You can give at Worldrenewal.org/give. Cloud Roman’s family was Catholic, and God used a priest giving Cloud a Bible as a teenager to lead him to Himself. In the Rangi community that is 98% Muslim, Cloud is part of the .5% Evangelical Christian population, as is his coworker, Jerome, and their wives. The Mwanzo Mpya Foundation (MMF), which is “Genesis” in Swahili, has been embraced by the community and local government leaders. They started the Mwanzo Mpya Academy in January, growing a grade each year. In July, Cloud and Jerome were given permission to visit the neighboring government schools and speak. In 8 schools, they’ve been able to not only introduce MMF but also to share the gospel. They were accompanied by two local government leaders who even encouraged them to use the opportunity to speak about God. In one school, that is 100% Muslim, Cloud spoke about God as the loving Father and Jesus dying on the cross on our behalf to take away our sins. It was a blessing to see the Muslim boys and girls hearing the good news of salvation for the very first time. Some of them asked good questions expressing the desire to know more about the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that God will grow in them a deep longing for the truth and they will grow to know the Lord. To continue growing the Mwanzo Mpya Academy, they need to build the 1st grade classroom. The bricks are all made and stacked, and they are ready to put on the roof: we just need $8,000 to finish this building. Would you partner with MMF? You can give at Worldrenewal.org/give. |