Hello!
Thank you for caring about your Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ and joining with us in prayer. We know that we serve a powerful God and that all things are possible when we call on Him! I was shocked when I first learned all that all that has been accomplished through the little provided for Patmos Baptist. However, last week, I realized that is the natural outflow of an unshakeable faith in our Father. I asked Pastor Riccardo what his favorite part of being a Pastor was, and to my surprise, he answered “fasting.” I couldn’t imagine that someone truly enjoyed it: I saw it as deprivation, a test of my will; Riccardo realized that it was a chance to instead be filled with the Spirit, and that this is both a powerful and beautiful experience. For example, Pastor Riccardo’s daughter was kidnapped this year and miraculously was released unharmed after she was told that “they had picked up the wrong person.” Riccardo shared with me that he had been fasting and praying for three days before this happened, and we call on the name of the Lord, we can expect him to be with us in powerful ways. Is anything or anyone greater than our God?
As for the prayer requests:
A major praise is that Grace Baptist Church agreed to finance building a wall around the church in Saut d’eau and construction is underway! This is an answer to prayer for several reasons. This will allow us to raise chickens and grow fruit and vegetables for the feeding program. In addition, the wall will provide protection for the congregants and the caretaker of this property, who have experienced harassment from those practicing Voodoo in the area.
We are also planning to build 3 new classrooms for the elementary school in Saut d’eau by the end of October, however, we are still praying for God’s provision in finding sponsors for 50 of the students and for the money to finance the salary of a secretary.
In addition, we still are hoping for around $800 to purchase Bibles in Creole.
May God bless you and keep you! Please let us know how we can pray for you as well!