Sunday’s Message

I spoke to the church today out of Matthew 16:13-20 – “…And also i say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…” 

 

What is a church? Is it the building? Is it the pulpit? No! The church is the people. Before Christ, the church was a mystery. Christ had not yet come to establish the Kingdom of God. So therefore, before Christ the prophets were unaware of the church. The Lord had not revealed it to them because the Messiah had not come to remove the spiritual veil of communication from man to God. Due to the sin of Adam and Eve, there was a disconnection between the Spirit of God and man. But now, Jesus had come and died on the cross for our sins, thus washing us clean of all sin and giving us God’s Holy Spirit so that now man is connected to God through His spirit. No longer does man have to go through priest nor prophet to communicate to the Almighty God. Thus making us the church, the body of Christ, the Kingdom of God. 

The church, as the body of Christ, is called to live in unity!

 

- Pastor Rosinel

Barbie’s experience…

Recently the team from New Life Church in Oxnard, CA spent a week in Haiti working on the office building at the church and loving on orphans. Barbie Wolf on the team wrote a post for our blog, this is her Haiti experience:

Nehemiah 4:14 “After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

When Nehemiah got the call for the Lord to go rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, it was more than a hundred years after the city was destroyed! The Babylonians left nothing standing, and they completely demoralized the people of Jerusalem. When the opposition became the fiercest, Nehemiah spoke to the nation, beginning by reminding the people not of who they were, but of who God is — “the Lord, who is great and awesome.” Nehemiah was able to rally the city, and they were able to rebuild that wall, despite overwhelming opposition, and in an astoundingly short time.

I cannot imagine how much more demoralized Haiti would have been if “we” (and by that I mean, people from all the continents of this earth) had waited more than a hundred years to come help rebuild it! I am so grateful for the heart of those that were already here, in orphanages, churches, and schools, desiring to help build the children of Haiti; but I am even more grateful for those that came as soon as the runways were open! The opposition was fierce. The labor had to have been intense, and the task must have seemed impossible.

Fast forward to February 2012, just over two years since the quake, and there has been such immense progress! Haiti is truly becoming “a beautiful Haiti” right before “our” eyes. Our “team” (and by that I mean, the entire congregation of New Life Community Church, in Oxnard, CA) sent two teams in the spring of 2011, and our third team is currently in Haiti. Half of the team that’s here are returning for a second time, and we’ve been overwhelmed by how much progress has been made, and in such a short time! There was no stopping the tears of joy that poured down our faces as we drove through cleaner streets of Port-Au-Prince, as we stood on the property at Torcelle and gazed at the structures in place, and as we visited the Girl’s Orphanage! It’s been so beautiful to see our team’s hearts as they get a glimpse of God’s heart for the children of Haiti. While I was here in May 2011, I developed a relationship with a young lady named, Geraldine. I left Haiti with her on my mind, and tears in my eyes. A short time after arriving in the United States, I contacted Mark because I wanted to sponsor Geraldine through school. When we arrived last week, I was quite excited to see her again, and to check in on her progress with school. Many of the team members that are here with me have developed such passion for the children here, and want to sponsor more children through school. I can’t express how happy this makes my heart! I truly believe that with education, discipleship and the love of God, dignity will be restored to this nation.

Is the work here finished, or almost done? No, not by a longshot! Nevertheless, God is being made evident to the beautiful nation of Haiti with every brick that’s laid, with every nail that’s driven and every hug or kiss that’s being given with His heart. The teams that are here, and have been here, are proclaiming who God is — “the Lord, who is great and awesome” and the Haitians are being rallied, their spirits revived, their hearts restored — one by one. We are so incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing through Foursquare Haiti, to rebuild His people, and reveal His glory to this nation.

-Barbie Wolf Oxnard, CA

If you are interested in sponsoring a child to go to school, please contact us at Foursquarehaiti@gmail.com

-Thomas

Our firm foundation…

Bon jou!

The team from New Hampshire left a couple of days ago, and a team from Oxnard, CA is here now, working away on the offices. The New Hampshire team held medical clinic at Sarthe that saw over 300 people, and at the same time some of their team was pouring the concrete slab for the future orphanage. Such a blessing to see progress on this dream facility for the beautiful 15 orphan girls and Pastor Renold and his family. Enjoy these pictures of the Haitian workers pouring the concrete! Yay progress!

Blessings

-Thomas

English Class

We have officially started another English class for our congregation. We had our first class yesterday (Tuesday, Feb. 14th 2012) and Pastor Debbie asked me to be one of the teachers! Except for Bible lessons in Kid’s church, I had never taught anything before, and I’ve only been here one week. But seeing how excited and enthusiastic this class was about learning made me feel all the more comfortable. I was ASTOUNDED at the genuine heart and intentionality the class had to learn English. They were all very engaged and asked a lot of questions. And by their questions, you could tell they were listening and taking in every word you said. This class I would consider a teacher’s dream class: Excited to be there, engaging in the lesson, actually making progress, and the most shocking, they ASKED for homework.

We ended up splitting the class into “Beginner” and “Intermediate”; and I was asked to work with the intermediates (the students who are already mostly fluent in the language). I was wondering what I was going to teach them seeing they already knew so much. Fortunately, after speaking with them and asking questions, I was able to find out what it was they were wanting and needing to learn – vocabulary; pronunciation; past, present and future tenses; how to read and write; and sentence structure. I was SO excited because I LOVE teaching those things! And the students are so much fun to teach.

Most of our students are young adults ages 18-25, however in the intermediate group I am working with four men in their 30′s and 40′s. All of the people here are so nice and friendly. I am amazed to see that even through the poverty and hardship, the Haitians always greet you with a smile. And being an American, I am taken by their gratitude and genuine joy. The things that I take for granted, they are SO thankful for. Such as this English class, where I come from, a school and classes are required, and many times seen as a burden and inconvenience. But here, it is a privilege! A pleasure! I will never be the same after my time here.

 

~Alexa

Partnership

We’re so thankful for everyone who has been working on the orphanage in Torcelle for Pastor Bellande and his Children of Promise. We’re excited to say, a couple days after Pastor Mark’s departure, the Haitian workers finished the roof of the building! The next tasks are plumbing and electrical. We’re so excited that the project is this close to completion and that the kids will be able to move into their new home soon.

A team from New Hampshire, CN is here at base camp right now. The last couple days they have been out at the Sarthe church. Half have been holding a medical clinic, which in the last two days has seen over 300 people including the orphan girls at the church building, kids from the school and members of the church, and the general public. It’s such an amazing honor to be a part of providing for people’s basic physical needs. While the medical clinic is going on, the rest of the team and the Haitian workers have been preparing the side property next to the church to pour a concrete foundation for the orphanage! Exciting times!

A new year, a new season…

It’s 2012, and things at Foursquare Haiti base camp hit the ground running. We have new staff and returning staff, and we are all excited about what the Lord’s going to do in us and through us as we come together to see a nation redeemed and transformed.

We are working on building a two-story orphanage in Torcell for Pastor Bellande’s family and the orphans under his care. The site is located behind the church.

A team of 6 from Beaverton, OR, and a team of 12 from Grace Foursquare Church in Camas, WA had been here working 12 hour days 6 days a week to get the building up in record time. A team of four from Medford, OR also came and served at the orphanage site. The teams left with the roof nearly done, a major accomplishment, and Pastor Mark Lawrence from the Camas team has stayed behind to oversee the roof being finished. The entire roof should be finished within the next couple days! PRAISE GOD!

Another team has arrived from Oak Harbor, WA and jumped right into the mix of whats been happening at Torcelle, various projects around the base camp grounds, along with VBS type classes for the national church school and kids at other sites such as Sarthe and Torcelle.  With them they’ve brought Sean Welch who is joining the Foursquare Haiti team for a year, and we are excited to have him.

Thank you for all your prayerful support while the building in Torcelle is going up! It’s an excited time for us all! Blessings on Mark Lawrence and the the rest of the other teams that have poured their time and strength into the orphanage!

- Foursquare Haiti Team

PS Chris Martin, a member of the Camas team documented their trip in professional quality photos… Here’s some highlights!

Foursquare Haiti Building Dedication

We had a wonderful service on Sunday, as it was the official dedication of our new Foursquare Haiti Church building. Flowers and balloons decorated every doorway and each seat was filled with a smiling church member as stories were shared, founding members & Missionaries were honored, and choir after choir sang about the goodness of the Lord. It was a beautiful service in the lovely new building.

Church Ladies Preparing the Beautiful Flowers

Preparing the Lovely Pots

“The Worshipers” Choir Practicing

Cleaning the Church in Preparation for the Dedication Service

Foursquare Haiti Leaders

Pastor Guy and Pastor Rosinel

Pastor Poppe Praying Over the Church

Guest Choir

Honoring the Poppes

Honoring Pastors John and Debbie Booker

Honoring Pastor Rosinel and His Wife

Foursquare Pastors from around Haiti

Guest Choir

Well Projects are Underway

Great news! We now have two well projects in progress! The first, at an all-girls orphanage that Foursquare is involved with. The second, at Miguel’s school, a local school located near the church. The well housing is currently being built on both properties and within the next two weeks, we plan to have fresh and clean drinking water available at each of these sites. What a blessing!

Jeremie

Three of our staff members, along with a team from the Washington D.C. area, were recently able to spend a week ministering to and working with our Foursquare church out in Jeremie.  Much time was spent on the church property between the building of a chicken coop, the working toward completion of the bathroom facilities, the building of some additional benches and chalkboards for the church/school, as well as the painting of the church building- all while a number of volunteers from the Jeremie Foursquare Church did their part in building a wall around the property.  This group was also able to spend time with the kids from Pastor Cassamajour’s Orphanage, who will soon be able to move into their new facilities on the church property! The week was a much a gift to the team as it was to the locals, as they were able to work and interact with many of the neighbors and church members during this trip. What a joy to be able to serve the Lord’s people all over Haiti!

Painting the Church

The Kids “Helping Out”

The Sweet Neighbor Kids

Working on the Bathroom Facilities

Working with the Kids

Jeremie Foursquare Church, Freshly Painted

Building the Wall

Building a Chalkboard

The Chicken Coop

 

Torcelle Update

The new canal, built to divert a small river running through the center of our Torcelle property, is now finished! This will serve well in a number of ways to aid in the prevention of flooding on the property as well as free up precious land space for Pastor Bellande’s church. Now one step closer to having a fully functional property, we are very excited to have this project finished!  It is the first of many that will be completed at this site.