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What have YOU done now?
Because of YOUR prayer and YOUR support
GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING!
God is Good; all the time!
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Praises
- You are sending 3 teams of experienced and gifted leaders who will be investing in pastors, teachers and church leaders in Haiti (February), Honduras (March) and Cuba (May). These leadership seminars are inspiring new and old leaders on the field, transforming the church, and expanding the kingdom
Canada
- The new Northern Hills church had 104 attend their second service, which is an excellent landing spot for a church in it’s second week. Most importantly, they had 2 baptisms on Wednesday!
 Haiti
- Work continues on the Grand Goave Children’s Home: Two containers of construction materials and supplies have arrived from Canada! The photos (on right) shows the first of 29 trusses built for dormitory building roof system. Electrical and plumbing installations will soon follow. Thank you for your prayer, support and participation!!! Many blessings are coming for the future residents.
- All the sponsor gifts for the January 2013 and July/Christmas 2013 gift deadlines have been distributed in Haiti; pray as we work on identifying and processing the photos.
- The women’s work team was a huge success and many stories of the women’s experiences continue to glorify Christ and show how He was working within this team.
- The 2nd work team of the season is phenomenal too. About 35 of us served together building 6 homes, distributing the January 2013 gifts, painting at the Children’s Home in Port au Prince; cleaning the cast-iron stove in the kitchen there, mechanical work was completed and much more.
- The work is beginning on the fully funded renovations for the Laregal and Deuxieme Plaine Christian Schools, where much work is needed.
- Education Task Force is doing a phenomenal job. (read more below)
 Honduras
- On the 25th, they celebrated Ladies Day. Happy Ladies Day!
- Wow! They’ve done it again. Your Honduran leadership team has led the school children parents to raise more that $4,200 for improvements at the Ocotillo school facility! Look at these photos on the right!
- New school building roof
- Remodeled/updated restrooms
- Roof repairs on library & principals office
- plus, includes purchase of $1000 worth of new chairs
Panama
- Last week we received government approval to “officially” work in Panama! The 3 house churches are doing great and growing each week.
U.S.A.
- More and more leaders in the US are asking about what God is doing among Lifeline’s growing churches in Central America and the Caribbean. Many want to to be a part of developing the next generation of leaders in these developing cultures.
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Prayer Requests
- Pray for the clean-up efforts due to flooding at the Omoa Children’s Home in Honduras. (see photos on right)
- Prayers for all the Lifeline pastors: their marriages, support in the ministry and to be effective in all areas to the Kingdom.
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Rob DeVoe, Bob & Gretchen’s son and Lifeline’s Database Manager, learned he has esophageal cancer. We are praying for healing and that the right treatment will be chosen for him. This cancer doesn’t have a high cure rate so lots of prayers are needed for Rob, his wife Jen and their children.
- A medical team will be in Haiti (a total of 50 of us) working in clinic in Grand Goave and doing mobile clinic at several outpost locations.
- All of our Lifeline supporters. It is our daily prayer for them to be blessed through their involvement in this mission work. And we praise God for their partnership and support.
- Lifeline’s finances. Our staff continues to work diligently to find ways we can reduce expenses without reducing ministry. The real key is to ask God to increase giving/income.
- Pray for breakthrough among the pastors at the upcoming leadership seminars. These leaders are stretching and growing. Pray that they can catch God’s vision for their ministry and allow Him to accomplish more through their lives than they imagine.
- Pray for the focus and resources needed in to keep developing new leaders. The opportunities throughout Central America and the Caribbean are tremendous, so we must commit to multiplying leaders wherever we serve. Jesus called us to make disciples who make disciples. Pray that we NEVER lose that focus.
- Continuing preparations for the upcoming Leadership Training Seminar to be held at the Mahotiere facility (Children’s Home in Port au Prince, Haiti) next month.
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People, Programs or Projects:
Building Up
Education in Haiti
As many of you know, Lifeline has 12 elementary schools in various parts of Haiti, our largest school being in Grand Goave, with over 1,000 students! You can see that we have quite a responsibility on our hands, to care for, educate academically, and raise up spiritually these children. In 2013, Lifeline established an Education Task Force, made up of educators who have been connected to Lifeline for some time and who have had exposure to our school in Grand Goave. The Task Force is tasked with bringing the academics, the spiritual education, and the school facilities to a higher ground, with the ultimate goal of this particular school becoming an exemplary school in the area and a model for our other schools.
After many planning sessions in the USA and visits to Haiti since its inception, the Task Force has achieved many of its initial goals for the year, including:
- Introducing new spiritual Core Values of the Lifeline schools, under the leadership of Andy Sims
- Hiring and training 2 intervention teachers
- Performing teacher observations & evaluations
- Presenting teacher development workshops in October 2013 and February 2014
- Enhancing the interview and teacher selection process
- Preparing the new library for a winter grand opening
- Purchasing a variety of classroom supplemental resources and ancillary materials
Many other ideas have been discussed for future projects, but all projects and plans are funds-dependent; two current and urgent funding needs are:
- Building the library inventory with more French and Haitian Creole books
- Additional funds to help cover the salary for an additional intervention teacher ($4,500 over 3 years, or $7,500 over 5 years)
The Lifeline Board approved a general $20,000 budget to cover Education Task Force projects/expenses, but it is on a “dedicated funds available” basis. If you have a heart for education, prayerfully consider contributing to this general task force budget or earmark your contributions for either of the two urgent needs above. Gretchen DeVoe, Lifeline’s CMO, will ensure that your contributions are fully directed, 100%, into this fund.
The Education Task Force, Lifeline, and the teachers and staff at Grand Goave Christian School thank you!
Julia Keener, Education Task Force Chairperson, BA French Education
Deena Collins, BA Psychology, MA Applied Behavioral Science
Jennifer Combs, Assoc. degree, Early Childhood Education; preschool teacher
Ralph Gardner, PhD Special Education
Denny Hartman, BA Math Education, MA Athletic Administration
Karen Lydick, librarian, teacher, and gifted education specialist
Martha Menefee-Walker, M.Ed. Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Leadership
Andy Sims, Lifeline Leadership Development Director
Debbie Steiner, educator and reading specialist
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learn more!
Contact Julia Keener,
Education Task Force Chairperson,
about the Education Task Force.
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Impact these students!
Simply notate “Haiti ETF”
on your donation;
if you have questions.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5 & 6
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I remember as a kid playing a game in school called “Trust.” There are probably several variations of this game, but the one I recall is where one person is blind folded and they permit a partner to lead and guide them. As the one being blindfolded I had to completely trust my guide to lead me around obstacles to get to the other side of the yard. As long as I trusted my guide I was fine. If I tried to pull away and strike out on my own, things didn’t turn out so well.
The same is true in regard to our trust in God. As long as we trust him, He provides guidance and direction as we go through life. But when we pull away and try to go it alone the going gets rough.
There is a passage in Proverbs 3:5 & 6 that is familiar to many and this passage provides some powerful insights about trusting God:
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart.
There is no shortcut in trusting God. We find evidence to trust God as we read the biblical record of his trustworthy behavior throughout history. But there is also a personal dimension that we need to give attention to. Just as we develop trust over time in developing friendships, building marriages, etc. by engaging deeply and genuinely in everyday situations over a long period of time, the same is true in how we trust God. The deeper our relationship with Him grows, the deeper our trust in Him grows.
Lean not on your own understanding. This doesn’t mean we can’t rely on past experience to make decisions. But human perspective is always limited. We need God’s input in the decision making process of life. No matter how smart we are or how many life experiences we have under our belts, our human judgment needs to lean on the deeper insights of God.
In all your ways acknowledge Him. Any area of life that we decide to manage without the benefit of God’s wisdom, insight and understanding is going to end up creating a problem. It doesn’t take many holes to sink a ship; just one. And, it doesn’t have to be a big one.
Perhaps there is a place (or places) in our lives where we have put up the “No Trespassing” sign that tells God we can handle this part on our own. We need to take those signs down and acknowledge God in all areas of our lives. You will never meet a person who has regretted the decision to totally lean on God in all areas of their life.
And He will make your paths straight. When we trust God completely, He will give our lives direction, purpose, fulfillment and focus. He will work to transform our hearts and souls. When we die He will lead us straight to heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I love to reflect on this verse. God has a plan for my life! He has a plan for your life! God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our capabilities and limitations. He has his sights set high for us, and is willing to give us every form of assistance to live out His plan in our lives.
We don’t have to “go it alone.” God’s desire is to provide leadership and guidance for us. Take His arm and allow Him to lead you in His path.
by Keith Dimbath, Lifeline’s Work Team Co-Director
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