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.

Great progress despite severe challenges.

We are thankful that New Life Bible College has only missed one day of classes since opening on Sept 7th. This is amazing considering all the trouble around us. There are still students from outside the city who have been unable to attend, but the majority of students have made a great effort to get here.

We have made great head way on our construction project (pavilion) for New Life Bible College. We have poured all of the columns and beams. They are ready to receive the concrete slab for the roof. It is looking great. 

We are rejoicing in the completion one of our church projects. New Life church in Lazile expanded their auditorium and we helped them put on the new roof. Now pray with us for a move of God Spirit to fill the larger church.

We thank God for answered prayer. We have received all the funds needed to purchase new batteries for our solar panels and inverter. These are greatly needed because the current batteries are not holding their charge well, resulting in lengthy blackouts. The challenge we face now is going out and buying the batteries on the other side of the city.

For the past 7 months, those who oppose the president of Haiti have hindered him from installing a new prime minister after the previous one was forced to step down. There have been protests every week. These last 4 weeks have been the worst. The opposition to the president has been blocking the streets with burning tires and barricades throughout the country, EVERY DAY.

As a result, the country has come to almost a complete standstill. Most schools have not been able to function. Public institutions and businesses have only functioned sporadically. Travel from city to city is often impossible. At one point the grocery stores and open markets were almost out of food in Port-au-Prince. Thankfully, the opposition gave a two day break last weekend that allowed open markets and stores to replenish some of their supply.

The most difficult and stressful thing for most in Haiti is the constant wondering if they will be able to go out and do what they need to do. Also, the big question in everyone’s mind is when they do go out, will they make it back home and under what circumstances. As I write this, there has been gun fire all morning not far from us, and there is smoke in the air from burning tires at intersections in the street.

Pray:
- That the political powers in place bring about a solution to the impasse in this country.
- Protection and wisdom for all.
- Provision for the masses who are suffering greatly and for many who may not have eaten a regular meal for days.
- Peace and stability so people can get back to their lives and allow the children to go to school.

Summer Travels and Blessings

We have now been in the U.S over 6 weeks. We have driven in 6 states, traveled over 3500 miles, flown to Texas and will be going back to Haiti on July 18th. We have slept in over 15 different beds as we visited family, friends and churches. Through it all, we have rested and enjoyed many things. We are presently in Florida with some good friends, making last minute purchases before we return.

We have 2 big praise reports. We have received the money we have been trying to raise for New Life Bible College Pavilion. This is for the second stage of this project which is pouring the pillars.

Also, from an unexpected source, we received money for a new roof on our New Life Church of L’azile. We were speaking in one of Elim’s churches when after service a man came up to us and told us that he would take care of this need. The miracle is that he was not a member of this church, but a visitor. God knew the need, and sent someone we didn’t know to a church that was not his own to provide for God’s kingdom work.

Our God is Awesome!!!

As we look to this coming school year, we would like to challenge you to sponsor an elementary school child or provide a scholarship for one of our New Life Bible College students.

This is of great importance due to Haiti’s high inflation rate of 17.70 % (compared to the United States being 1.60 %). The results of this, to an already very poor nation, are devastating: causing greater poverty, malnutrition and hunger. According to latest statistics by the World Bank, 50% of children do not attend school due to the fact that 90% of the schools are private, and the impoverished parents are unable to afford them.

 

 

Won’t you consider sponsoring ?
A child for $35 a month or $420 for the year.
A Bible College student for $30 a month or $360

SOLAR PANELS INSTALLED

Solar Panels! Praise God we now have 8 solar panels installed for our 3 story building. They provide power for our home, New Life Bible College & the administration offices. These will greatly lower our costs for city power as well as the diesel for our generator.  They will also provide consistency of power, which is much needed. We thank those who provided us with these solar panels.

Solar Panels on the Roof! End of the year party under a shade screen. This is the location for our new pavillion.

As we close out the school year there is much activity. We had our end of the year school party. We are gearing up for our Bible College graduation as well as preparing to celebrate New Life Mission’s 25th anniversary. In the midst of these things, we must prepare ourselves to leave for the States on May 30th. We will be gone for six weeks visiting family and friends and getting some rest. We would like you to consider helping us in expanding our Bible College facility. We need to build a large pavilion which will serve as a multi-purpose space for New Life Bible College. It will be used as place for our students to eat lunch, as a classroom, and a space for larger seminars and meetings. We thank the Lord for our 95 Bible College students and how He is working in and through them. We need this 6th classroom for the expanding student body. The first phase will cost $7,400 and the second phase will be $9,600, for a total of $17,000. Prayer Requests: 1. For political stability in Haiti. 2. For funds for the new pavilion. 3. For safe travels for us this summer. 4. For Roger as he will have surgery for a hernia repair next week.

Road Trip To Fond de Blanc, Haiti

This past week I went to our mission church out in the country side to minister and thought some of you may want to see the roads that I must go over to get to this place. Much of the road is dry river beds and others are roads carved out of the mountain by hand, and at some spots no larger than my truck.

I praise the Lord for our good 4 wheel drive Ford Ranger pickup truck that is able to go every where no matter the terrain.

ENERGY CRISIS - SOLAR PANELS NEEDED

We want to thank you, our prayer supporters, who have stood with us in prayer during these difficult times in Haiti. We thank the Lord that for the past 2 weeks that the country has returned back to normal in many ways. The major protesting has ended for now, but the long-term impact it has made on the nation is great. Many businesses and missionaries (NGO groups) have left for good and others are contemplating when they will return. Most mission groups have cancelled for the year.

The political instability has worsened the economical and social problems in Haiti. One of the things that it has affected is the amount electricity (city power) that you receive. There has been a shortage of electricity these past few months, and it has only become worse.

In the past 48 hours we have received 20 minutes of power from the electrical company without much hope that things will get much better. Our generator and inverter backup system can not keep up with the energy that is needed to run our house and Bible College.

We are needing to go to solar panels which we have resisted doing in the past due to its initial cost. Therefore, we are asking funds to buy 8 - 315w solar panels to put on the roof of our building. The cost of purchasing and install the solar panels will be $3800.

Please consider helping us meet this urgent need.

Also, continue praying for Haiti because it may be at its lowest point in 30 years. Yet, we are not discouraged because our Lord is able to do above and beyond all that we could imagine or think.

God bless you,

HAITI IN TURMOIL AND MANY LOSING HOPE

February 2019

Greetings in the name of our wonderful Savior and Lord, I trust that God is blessing you and using you for His kingdom. Matthew 6:10 says, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

This is what Jesus commanded us to pray. God wants His kingdom to be established on the earth. His kingdom is already on earth through His church. Now we, as the church, must extend His kingdom through proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel and by living lives worthy of the kingdom. We are especially praying this for Haiti.

As many of you may already know, Haiti was locked down for 10 days. What I mean by this is that for 10 days the opposition to the Haiti president (Jovenel Moise) closed down all roads and activities through the country. If anyone tried to defy them by going out, their lives were in danger. The result of this was that no businesses or offices were open for 10 days, and no food was transported to the open markets, which most people depend on. Haitians live day to day by what they are able to sell each day and most have no way to conserve their food. Most were shut in their houses or never left their neighborhoods, including us. All this has brought Haiti to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

We thank the Lord that our home and neighborhood were safe and we had all that we needed during this time. It has now been 4 days of relative calm and almost normal activity in Port-Au-Prince and most other areas of Haiti. Most schools have not yet re-opened. We ask you to keep us and Haiti in your prayers.

Pray -
1) That New Life Bible College may be able to function this week. We’ve already missed 2 weeks of classes do to the unrest in the country.
2) That there be an end to the political unrest, which is still very volatile.
3) That the government leaders, and those who have political power, seek the best interest of all who live in this beautiful country.
4) That the hearts and minds of the people be opened to the truth of God’s Word and applied in their lives.

We firmly believe that the root of all the problems in Haiti is first and foremost spiritual and secondly a lack of good education. New Life Mission of Haiti is seeking to change these two things through Bible training, elementary schools, and church planting.

We thank all those who have been praying for us during this time. We could not be serving God here in Haiti without your prayers and financial support.

We challenge those who have not been involved in what God is doing in Haiti to ask the Lord what your part would be. Also, we encourage those who are already standing with us to remain faithful and ask God if there is anything new or different you could be doing as we fight a mighty battle against the principalities and powers of darkness in this nation.

Pressing on in difficult times in the joy of the Lord,
Roger & Margaret Clark

A special thank you to all who helped purchase the computers for our pastors.
We were able to purchase 7! They will be hand delivered to us in March.
A blessing for all.
 

Our mailing address is:
Roger & Margaret Clark, 100 Airport Ave #433, Venice, FL 34285
newlifemission@yahoo.com

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"

Thank you.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

“The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

Dear Friends & Family,
As we are in the Christmas season, it is time again to celebrate the greatest gift of all, Jesus the Christ. It is a wondrous and glorious thing that our God took on our humanity that He might be our Savior and perfect High Priest who daily fights on our behalf. He is full of grace and truth. By His grace we are saved, and through the same grace, he sustains us. As we allow His truth to renew our hearts and minds, we are being transformed into His image.

We pray that you have a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year. As we reflect back on 2018, we are so thankful for God’s faithfulness to us personally and the ministry that He has given us. Also, we are thankful for your financial and prayerful support. We could not be doing what we are doing without you.

As we look towards the new year, we know that he goes before us. We are believing for great things. We are believing for his continued financial support, and protection over us. We are believing for the New Life Bible College pavilion to be completed which will serve as a multi-purpose facility. We are believing that God will allow us to establish several satellite Bible schools in key areas of Haiti.

As we look towards 2019, we make an appeal for teams to come and serve the wonderful people of Haiti. We are looking for building teams, ministry teams or a combination of both.

Pavilion Needed for New Life Bible College

Margaret and I are doing well. We are working hard in preparing for the new school year. We want to thank all those who support a school child and/or a Bible college student. Without your support we would not be able to educate over 300 elementary children and train over 80 men and women in our Bible College. Also, we thank each and every one of our supporters for their prayers and faithful giving.

New Life Bible College begins on September 1^st and we would like to challenge you to help us put up a large pavilion (30ftx30ft) for New Life Bible college. This pavilion will be a multi-purpose facility for New Life Bible College, which is greatly needed. It will be used as a gathering place for students between classes as well as a cafeteria/classroom. Until this is built, there will be no good place for our students to gather or eat their lunches. 

The cost of this project is $18,000 which will be done in two stages. The first stage costing $7,400 and the second stage 10,600. We encourage you to send funds to enable us to complete this much needed facility.

Also, if you would like to send a team to work on pouring the columns (pillars) for this facility, we would love to have you. Just email us and we can start planning for your trip.

GRADUATION 2018 & PAVILLION

We rejoice in the Lord that 28 of our Bible College students graduated on May 26th. We are proud of each and every one of them that persevered in their studies over a 5 year period and received their bachelor’s degree in theology. Many are already making and impact in their local churches and society as a whole. We are believing for greater works through them for the kingdom of Christ.    

We are presently in the United States and will be returning to Haiti on July 3rd. We are enjoying spending time with family and friends. 

Please pray:
1) As we travel and share in 3 churches on the West Coast.
2) For Haiti because the economy does not seem to be improving, and violence is on the rise.
3) That God provides for the pavilion we need to build for New Life Bible College. 

Please consider giving to the second phase of building this pavilion which is estimated at $3,500. This is a much needed place for our students to eat their lunches, and will also be used as a large classroom.