EK Lutheran Parish ~ Missions

Up North, click LAMP
LAMP - Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots is a cross-cultural ministry sharing Jesus Christ with First Nations people in remote areas of Canada.

Or, at the Westcoast, click BC Mission Boat.
"Connecting people in coastal British Columbian communities with God's love."

Please, prayerfully consider to support
the poorest country in the western world:

Gonaives, HAITI

Haiti Lutheran Mission Society
400 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines, Ont. L2T 3L2

July 2010
Report on the Lutheran Church of Haiti
By Pastor Revenel Benoit

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, greetings in the name of our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Is there any hope that Haiti might one day become a modern and developed Christian nation? Will the Haitian people one day experience the blessings of a good government that truly cares about the people? With God all things are possible. Please continue to pray with us that things change in Haiti, and that the Lord’s blessings can be seen all over the country, and that Haiti might cease to be the haunt of demons, and become a country where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is worshiped and glorified!

That’s been the vision of the LCH for the past five years. Despite dirt, deep poverty, voodoo, superstition, and corruption in the government, we still believe that the Lord can turn things around and make Haiti a model of a country that turned to the Him and was rescued from hopelessness.

As long as the Church is committed to spread the Good News of the Gospel according to the Lord’s great commission, as long as the Word and Sacraments are administered faithfully, as long as the Church is committed to care for the widows, the orphans and the broken hearted, the Lord will bless the country. That is our conviction, and those are the goals of the LCH. They are attainable, and we press forward to achieve them.

Why I am saying this? I can see a hunger for the Gospel wherever I go in Haiti, in the mountains and in the valleys. If invited, the Haitian people will come to church. It’s as if they cannot resist the power of the Gospel. This is a sign that the Lord has not forgotten nor forsaken this country. He has a plan to bless and recue poor, dirty Haiti, and make it a beautiful country.

Last week we experienced a clear demonstration of the people’s willingness to receive and embrace the Gospel message. Our Lutheran brother from California, Paul Klenner, brought an evangelism team that put on street crusades in villages where there were no churches. That team of seven people conducted six days of crusades in prominent voodoo areas. The Holy Spirit created faith in many souls to confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and as a result, five churches were planted. The Lutheran Church of Haiti will follow up with instruction and training for the new believers. That makes for a total of 197 congregations in our church body.

That hunger for the Good News of the Gospel is all over Haiti. It is my hope and prayer that one day the government will stop supporting voodoo, that Haiti will be dedicated to Jesus Christ, and that the voodoo temples will be shut down. By the Lord’s mighty power this is possible.

The second reason I think we can bring about change in Haiti is that we have lots of brothers and sisters in the US, Canada and around the world who are committed to helping us rebuild our country. The following are some of our current and ongoing projects:

LCMS World Relief and Human Care approved a grant which allows Star Construction Company , a company owned by the LCH, to remove the rubble from collapsed homes in the city of Leogane, the epicenter of the January 12th earthquake. About 90% of the homes in that city were destroyed or so badly damaged as to make them uninhabitable. To date we have removed the rubble from about 650 houses. The grant will cover the cost of removing the rubble of 7000 destroyed houses in Leogane, Port-au-Prince and Jacmel. Seeing the rubble being removed brings hope to the people, and allows them to begin thinking of rebuilding.

LCMS World Relief and Human Care will establish 4 medical clinics in four strategic places in Haiti where many refugees from the earthquake affected areas have relocated. The cities chosen for these clinics are Gonaives (Poto), Port-au-Prince (Caradeux), Jacmel and the Central Plateau (Thomassique). Each clinic will have a Haitian staff that will provide daily, reliable medical care to the people in these areas. Their salaries will be paid by LCMS World Relief and Human Care for the first year.

The LCH has also been working with the ELCH and World Harvest for Christ to get 100 prefab houses through customs. These will provide temporary housing for Lutheran families. The average Haitian family size is 8 to 10 people. Another 300 prefab houses will be shipped from the U.S. to Port-au-Prince soon. Star Construction Company, working hand in hand with the ELCH and LCMS World Relief and Human Care, can help set up these homes.

The other great project under way is establishing four or five new villages in various locations. All of the homes in these new villages will be new, inexpensive homes based on several possible floor plans. The homes will be available to Lutherans and other Christians.

I also want to report that the Canadian Lutheran World Relief, through Haiti Lutheran Mission Society in Canada, has helped Haiti a great deal. They provided 100 tents that were distributed to larger families in Port-au-Prince, La Saline and Leogane. Haiti Lutheran Mission Society also provided funding for relief supplies that have assisted about 35,000 people. Recently that society sent $5000 to buy Creole Bibles for Lutherans that lost their Bibles in the January earthquake. Also $21,000 was provided to rebuild 7 of the 55 LCH Churches that were destroyed in the January 12 earthquake. And finally, these dear people from Canada have donated $10,000 to rebuild the LCH bakery that was badly damaged in the 2009 flood in the City of Gonaives. Very soon the bakery will be up running again and will again be a source of income for the LCH.

Also Mission: Haiti in Florida has been wonderful in sending 6 teams that have provided medical care and relief supplies to about 11,000 people. They are in the process of planning an orphanage and education center in the City of Leogane. They have been sending teams to Haiti about once a month. In fact a medical team, which will be led by Helen Roenfeld, will be arrive this coming Saturday, August 7th, and will stay in Gonaives for about a week serving the local people and refugees from the areas hardest hit by the January earthquake.

So it’s a blessing to see how eager our brothers and sisters in the US and Canada are to help us. We praise the Lord and are sure that these resources will make a difference in the country of Haiti. The Lord used 5 small loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 people. I am sure He will use the efforts of our brothers and sisters in Christ to bring about change in Haiti.

Thank you! May the Lord continue to bless all of you as we partner in His ministry!

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Revenel Benoit,
President, Lutheran Church of Haiti

June/July 2010

Emergency Appeal to Rebuild Churches!

Twenty churches, destroyed by the massive earthquake in Haiti, need to be rebuilt right away. Because of daily rains now in the rainy season, the congregations have no shelter to meet.

Rev. Revenel Benoit, President of the Lutheran Church of Haiti (LCH),
has appealed to his friends in Canada to raise $60,000 quickly.

To kickoff this campaign, the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society (HLMS) has already sent $22,500, which will rebuild seven churches.    But, 13 more still need to be funded.

Each church can be built at a total cost of $4,000, but the LCH will donate the concrete blocks worth $1,000 to construct the walls, so that only $3,000 will build a church!

Yes: “Build a Church for only $3,000!”

Individuals, church groups and congregations are herby challenged to rebuild a church:

“Every Church Build a Church!”

Of course, smaller donations are most welcome, too, for many of them will combine to enable rebuilding a church.    If you are unable to donate at this time, consider doing so later, for 55 churches in all of the LCH were destroyed in January, so 35 others will also need to be rebuilt.

Please, designate such donations “for rebuilding churches”.

HLMS always welcomes donations to the Operating Fund and goods to be shipped.

• $5,000 was just approved to purchase Bibles for Lutherans who lost theirs in the earthquake.
• Also, $10,000 was approved to rebuild the LCH’s bakery in Gonaives, which was severely damaged by the hurricanes and flooding in 2008. This will provide bread for the orphanage and the home for the aged.
• The LCH is subsidized with $2,500 monthly to help pay the salaries of the 200 lay pastors.
• Because of a shortfall from other supporters, HLMS sent $3,000 extra to the LCH in June.
• At about $11,000 each, at least two 40’ containers of goods are sent annually to the LCH.

Donations are also gladly received for the school feeding programme (“Kids Feeding Kids”).

Our fellow Lutherans in Haiti thank you for your prayerful and kind consideration!

(HLMS is the only Canadian organization that channels gifts and goods to Haitian Lutherans.)

Send donations to:
Haiti Lutheran Mission Society,   400 Glenridge Ave.,   St. Catharines ON,   L2T 3N2.

For further information, you may contact John Wilch, Chairman,
at 905-688-6211, jwilch@brocku.ca,
or,
regarding goods to be shipped:
Howard Bogusat, at 905-468-3566, hobo@cogeco.ca

If you wish to contribute to the work in Haiti, please, mail your cheque to:

Haiti Lutheran Mission Society
400 Glenridge Avenue
St. Catharines, Ont. L2T 3L2

Receipts will be issued at the beginning of the new year unless you indicate your wish to receive a receipt immediately.

INTERNATIONAL MISSION OPPORTUNITIES

www.clwr.org

Please, click on this link below to receive current and previous information.

http://www.clwr.org/Resources/CLWRNewsBriefs.cfm

Donations can be made in the following ways:
Through our local Lutheran Church Canada (LLC) congregation: phone E.K. Lutheran Parish at 426-7564 or toll free at 1-866-426-7564
At www.clwr.org (credit cards accepted)
Toll free at 1.800.661.2597 (CLWR)
By cheque or money order to:
Canadian Lutheran World Relief
1080 Kingsbury Avenue
Winnipeg MB R2P 1W5

Click MOST Ministries if you are interested in joining
other Lutheran Christians on a 'Short Term Mission Outreach'.

Here, you will find super opportunities to serve our LORD!

"MOST Ministries is Committed to Impacting the World for Jesus Christ through Short Term Teams by Empowering the Found in Reaching the Lost."