The blessings of God and New Adventures

 

Philippians 4:4-6 – “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

 

These verses are very applicable to us these days. We are truly rejoicing in all God’s goodness. God has been abundantly supplying our every need according to His riches in glory.

--He has supplied the funds to pay our elementary school teachers.

--He has enabled us to put a roof on our multi-purpose room.

--God has met our Bible school budget and supplied our personal needs.

--Also, we’ve made some improvements on our studio apartment in Jacmel, Haiti. We were just there last week relaxing with some very good friends.

 

We rejoice in that despite the many challenges the country is facing. New Life Bible College is finishing out the year thanks to the perseverance of teachers, students, and God’s favor upon us. We should have had graduation on May 29th, but for various reasons, have postponed it until September. We will be holding summer classes for allow some students to earn required credits before beginning the new school year in September. We had a special, joyous end of the year party for all the students.

Our 3 elementary schools will continue through June, and are doing well. We thank God for wonderful, Godly teachers who are raising up a new generation for Haiti.

 

We are busying wrapping things up here and preparing to go to the States for the month of June. We will visit 1 church, but this will mostly be a time of refreshing and visiting family. The past 18 months have been very difficult for us in many ways. We look for to coming back to Haiti refueled and with fresh vision for the years to come.

 

Please pray with us for the following things:

1) Political stability as Haiti is working to amend its constitution, and preparing for elections this fall.

2) Protection for us as there is continued daily unrest, violence and kidnappings.

3) Provision, protection, health, and anointing for all 7 of our New Life Mission pastors and their leadership.

4) Provision for a new 14-foot bed truck to replace the 11 year old one that we sold. (Need $23,000) This is greatly needed as we use it to transport food for 3,500 children in our nutrition program. This allows all the elementary students to receive a free daily lunch. It is also used in various other ways in our mission work

Darkness over the Land

 We want to thank each of you who pray for us.  We want you to know that Roger is doing much better physically and mentally, but still needs your prayers.  We are still in a personal spiritual battle which is a reflection of a greater battle over this nation. Haiti has always been a very dark place spiritually, but it has become a much darker place, maybe the darkest I have seen in the past 35 years of ministry here. Satan is using political figures, some Haitian elites, many heavily armed gangs, and the masses to wreak havoc in the nation. As you can imagine this has taken its toll on everyone who lives here, especially those who live in Port-Au-Prince where it is worst. 

 hese verses from 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 seem to sum things up pretty well. Please read them as if they are coming from our hearts to yours.

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

We want to thank all those who gave special gifts to help us cover the salaries of our elementary school teachers and their staff. It was a tremendous help, but we will again fall short this month (March) to cover the salaries as result of a drastic change in the exchange rate on the US dollars. We need an extra $2000 monthly to cover this short fall. If we are unable to meet this goal, we will only be able to pay the teachers half salaries for the rest of the school year, which ends in June. This would be very sad because their families are very dependent on it. Yet, we believe God is able to touch the right people’s hearts to enable us to meet this budget. God has never failed us in this, and we do not expect Him to fail us now.

The Bible College is doing well despite the total chaos in the country and wrecked economy. Since the beginning of the school year we’ve only had to close the school for 3 days due to the inability of students being able to travel to school. This is no small miracle. Yet, there are many days where attendance is very low because of violence, roads being blocked, and threat of kidnapping, which is very high at the moment. We are proud of our Bible college students who, by faith and trust in God’s ability to protect them, come despite the difficulties they encounter (road blocks which often involve burning tires across the road), and a chance of physical harm coming to them.

We ask you to pray for the following things.
1) Provision for the 3 elementary schools.
2) Protection for us and all the Haitian people we love.
3) Peace to reign in Haiti, in our hearts and in the hearts of the people.
4) Power of God to be displayed.

Bible College Online

“We are hard pressed on every side,
but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.”
2 Corinthians 4:8

All our lives, and the world in general, have been turned upside down.

Presently, in Haiti, we have over 4,000 people who have tested positive for the Corona virus and there are over 70 recorded deaths. This doesn’t seem extremely bad compared to reports from other countries. But the reality is that only 9,000 people out of 12 million have been tested since March 15^th when Haiti recorded its first case. Actually, the number of those infected and who have died from Corona virus is much higher. Out of fear, many are not willing to be tested or admit to the fact that they may have it. Communities have attacked those known to be sick with Corona virus. Also, there is a fear that they will be taken away and never seen again.

We are doing well here at home. We go out only when necessary and limit our contact with others as much as possible. Haiti’s international airport, churches and schools remain closed.

We had originally hoped we would be able to hold summer school classes in June and July to finish up the school year. When we realized this wasn’t going to happen we chose to finish this year’s courses online. This is something we have never done before. So, with the wonderful help of my daughter, I launched into Google Classroom to use as our teaching tool. There were so many challenges. Neither the teachers nor I knew anything about this program. Being the administrator for 12 courses is a lot of extra work for me. There are still 8 more courses to put online.

In many ways this is a greater challenge for the students. They have very little electricity, and poor internet connections. Also, most of them are doing it all on their smart phones using 'data', which is costly for them. On top of this, they have no experience with handing in assignments online. And so, I must try to explain this to them online. You get the picture, distance learning is a learning experience in itself! We are still hoping to hold the "May" Bible College graduation in August.

Our 3 elementary schools remain closed, but we are keeping our contract commitments to the teaching staff. Online learning is not an option for these remote schools with few resources. Considering the unrest we had last fall and now the Corona virus, the children have really only been in school for 4-5 months, depending on their location. This will greatly affect the teaching for next fall.

Our churches are still unable to meet, but our pastors are doing their best to remain in contact with their people. Most of our pastors are doing their preaching and teaching through audio messages on their phones. Yet, these are only heard by about 50% of their congregations since many don’t have smart phones.

Pray with us for the following things:

1) Protection from the Corona virus, for all of us.
2)  For greater political stability in Haiti.
3) For the Haitian government to gain control of the gangs. About 1/3 of Haiti is controlled by gangs.
4) For many in Haiti food insecurity is on the rise. (4.7 million of 12 million are in need of urgent food assistance)
5) For peace in our hearts as we face so many uncertain days.

Student Ministry & New Life Bible College Crisis

In February, our 4^th year New Life Bible College Students went out for 4 days of ministry in a remote mountain village of Haiti, where one of our alumni pastors a church. This group of 20 students visited 161 homes, where they prayed for and encouraged those present. They also witnessed to 345 people, and led 15 people to the Lord. Along with this they taught Bible studies every morning, and held revival services every evening. We praise the Lord for the work they accomplished for Christ’s kingdom in the midst of very difficult circumstances.









As in many countries all over the world, Haiti has temporarily closed churches, schools and many businesses do to the Covid -19 virus. As a result, New Life Bible College is shut down until the government allows schools to re-open. This puts the Bible College in a very difficult position financially because our students pay by the month.

We still have yearly contracts with our Bible College teachers that we need to honor despite having no current income from the students. Their contracts go through June. At this point, the government has not indicated when they will allow schools to resume. After looking at our budget, we will need $4,000 to finish out the contracts for this school year. The Haitian government will not give us any help to fulfill this goal. Therefore, we turn to you our prayer partners and supporters to help us meet this need. We know that you may be facing financial challenges of your own, but ask the Lord if He would have you give to this need. Our teachers and staff are dependent on this source of income. 

 Send gifts to:
Elim Fellowship, 1703 Dalton Road, Lima, NY 14485
www.elimfellowship.org
Please include a note stating "preferred for Roger Clark Grant Fund"

Pavilion Roof Pour

We are now back to serving free lunches to our Bible College students twice a month. (Remember we only have classes on Saturdays 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) We would love to give them free lunches every Saturday because we know they struggle to purchase their lunches.

We thank the Lord that the political situation has calmed down considerably, but at the same time, it remains very unstable. There has been a rise in kidnappings lately and continued random violence. We thank the Lord for His daily protection of us and all those in our mission. God has been gracious to us.

 We would like to pour the concrete slab roof on our pavilion, which will be an addition on New Life Bible College. The pavilion will be used for large gatherings, as a cafeteria, and as an additional class room. Please consider giving a gift to this very important and urgent project. The cost is $7,200. We already have $2,000 towards it.

 Pray:
- For a solution to the present unrest in Haiti.
- That those who lack the basic necessities will find provisions.
- Protection and wisdom about where and when to travel in Haiti.
- Peace and stability.

New Year & New Challenges

Happy New Year to our family, friends and supporters,

It is hard to believe we are into 2020. We want to first and foremost thank God for binging us through 2019. Secondly, we want to thank those who support us through prayer and giving. We could not have done it without you.

As we have mentioned in our regular updates life in Haiti was VERY difficult in 2019. The country has been on strike with protests for most of the fall months with at least 2 months of "lock down".  “Lock down” means that everyone was unable to go out, businesses were closed and if you did go out you took a chance of being attacked.  This went on Monday - Friday for over 2 months.  They did give a 'reprieve' on the weekends so that folks could do shopping and make preparations for the next week. Schools in the city were unable to function at all from October to December.

Although the issues that brought the country into the political crisis have not been resolved, we are thankful things have calmed down. Most businesses, and all government offices have re-opened. Also, all schools began functioning this week. The radical opposition has decided to allow all these things to function once again, mainly due to the fact that their efforts of forcing out the president have failed, and people in general are unwilling to be held hostage by them any longer. Ultimately, we believe it is a miracle how things have improved, and give all the glory to God.  We are believing God for continued improvement in the country.

Despite these many challenges, God was gracious to us and our ministry. He protected everyone in our ministry from harm, supplied our needs, and allowed our elementary schools and Bible school to continue to function.
Prices are still extremely high and life is very difficult for many.  Many folks were without work during the fall months and are now in debt because they were obligated to borrow in order to live.

In light of this, please consider giving a onetime donation of $25 or more that we might be able to help those who are struggling to feed their families.

 Send gifts to:
Elim Fellowship, 1703 Dalton Road, Lima, NY 14485
www.elimfellowship.org
Please include a note stating "preferred for Roger Clark Grant Fund"

Give thanks to the Lord with a Specail Gift

“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalms 106:1

We are THANKFUL!
Thankful to God for redeeming us.
Thankful that His mercies are new every morning.
Thankful for the strength God gives us every day.
Thankful for family, and friends like you.
Thankful that during these days of continual unrest in Haiti that we only missed one day of Bible College classes.
Thankful our elementary schools have been functioning well.
Thankful life has returned to a more normal state where people are able to go about their business in relative peace.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

As we enter the season of Advent in anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus, God’s Son, and the great gift of salvation we have in him, won’t you please consider giving a special gift for one of the following things:

---To our child sponsorship program.
---To our Bible College scholarship program.
---To our nutrition program for school children's hot lunches.
---To our cafeteria program for Bible College Student's lunches.
---To our Bible College building expansion project.
---To our weekly radio program.
---To us personally.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about these areas of ministry. Our email address is newlifemission@yahoo.com

Please be praying for the following things:
---Health & protection for Margaret & I & all those who work with us in these volatile times.
---A solution to the political unrest that will usher in peace and strengthen Haiti.
---Financial provision for all the things mentioned above.

Know that we are praying for each of you during this season, that you would know God's presence as we celebrate the greatest gift ever, His son, Jesus the Christ.