I didn’t forget you… We hardly have time to catch our breath these days. 

Please continue to pray.  The wisdom, energy and financial obligations necessary to rebuild are enormous!  As we, together, seek Him for His priorities and do what we can, we are confident we will see God’s Plan for a new Haiti come to pass!

Thanks again for holding up our hands!  We honestly couldn’t continue without you.

Cary 

P.S.  Attached is our latest newsletter.  Enjoy catching up…

September 2010

Dear Family,

Where did the summer go?  Every day is so full; one day runs into another with, seemingly, no break!  We honestly couldn’t make it without you… You are helping to sustain us as we rebuild a nation in ruins! 

We signed the final Deed for the first 3.19 acres of mountain land and now wait for the Deed Transfer process to be completed, although we can begin work on the land.  We met with the President of the Architectural Association from the States, along with our Mayor, laying out Carrefour and City of Light.  We are making steady progress! 

The massive gates on the property next to the church are now up, giving us added security. We are leveling the land so we can plumb for toilets and pave it before erecting the large tent for overflow and children’s ministry.  We continue to trust God for finances to fix the church roof, electrical, ceiling and floor tile.  We have been enduring up to 130-degree temperatures inside this tin-roofed building, awaiting the air conditioning.  We must follow a definite order in repairing this structure so we don’t have problems in the future.

Teams continue to come to help. In August, eye doctors helped connect us with the Ophthalmology Association to give us their support to operate a full-service eye clinic in Carrefour!  We have been promised state-of-the-art equipment for exams, lens-grinding and manufacturing lab, as well as a retail eye care center!  Not only will many people be able to see, many will also be trained for full-time jobs! 

Housing is still our Number One challenge.  It is hurricane season and hundreds of thousands are still in tents or on the streets, trying to survive in the wind and downpours!  Our youth team, trained to put up the 12×12 houses Samaritan’s Purse has supplied, has erected over 100 houses. 

This week, we are meeting with the Prime Minister, along with representatives from a corporation desiring to bring 10 self-contained 300-person trailer camps to Haiti.  We are being considered for three of these camps!  One camp includes:  Three 96-person dormitories, a 12-person sleeper, male and female showers/toilets/laundry facilities, a 132-seat diner with commercial kitchen, along with generator, water tanks, fuel tank… move-in ready!  Each camp set-up is worth over two million dollars!  

On this site, we could have not only living space, but ministry and trade school, clinics and small businesses, all serving to be a totally self-sustaining village.  This would enable hundreds of people to have a place to live, be schooled and work a job, all at the same time.   The plan is done; we just need to find favor and work out details for putting it in place! 

Another opportunity dropped in our laps… A church in Wisconsin sent a container to Haiti filled with five 360-sq-ft solid houses, along with non-perishable food.  This container was held up in customs for a $17,000 fee, but had been negotiated down to $6,000.  The camp they sent it to no longer existed, so they contacted us and said if we could pay the $6,000, we could have it!  Cary put an update on our website and, overnight, we had $6,000 (Thank you!) and are now in the process of clearing this 40’ container that we didn’t even look for…    

Now, we are working with the housing developer who sent these termite-proof, hurricane and earthquake-proof houses to Haiti!  When the shipment is cleared, he will come to build them as a model for us, to establish villages of these small cottages. 

Church of Light continues to blossom as we move into another level of power and authority, experiencing miracles and deliverance in every service!  Twelve more received Jesus Christ on Sunday morning   Here is another recent victory: 

For a long time, Louise Angela had severe stomach pain.  Her belly was so large; it looked as though she was pregnant!  She had spent all her money on doctors, even specialists from Haiti, the U.S. and Canada, but no one could find anything wrong.  She was scheduled for exploratory surgery to find out what was wrong. 

Louise lived in the area where many voodoo people have recently been saved.  These new converts insisted she come to the church for prayer.  She agreed to come on Sunday morning.  During the service, Terry had a word of knowledge for someone with her exact problem, and, as the Holy Spirit instructed, she placed her hands on her belly.  As she did, she felt the power of God go through her.  When she returned home, she vomited a whole tub of blood and other matter, until her stomach was flat, and she was completely whole! She came back to church on Wednesday night and, sobbing, she shared her testimony.  She said she had come to be converted!  Right then, she was born again! 

Today, we are distributing 100,000 meals – vitamin-packed, high-protein meals shipped to us from Friends and Family, San Diego, CA.  Our new converts are helping distribute the food packets to the most needy from our church and neighborhood.  We saw tears this morning in the eyes of the elderly who have been left to fend for themselves. 

We give food to those who are so desperate, not just physically, but spiritually.  Our teams pray for their needs, encourage them and invite them to church, where they give their lives to Jesus!  Now they know He is real because He met their need! 

There is so much yet to be done but, in rebuilding this nation, we must never lose sight of our purpose in coming to Haiti… to teach and to train the Haitian people in God’s Word. Only then will they have everything they need for life and godliness. 

Thank you for believing in us, for allowing us to represent you in rebuilding a new Haiti.   Please pray that we will continue to experience His joy, for we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength!  Thanks for holding our hands up! We need you and appreciate your support more than you know.

From the frontlines,

Terry and Cary

Every day brings a new challenge and new joy, just connecting the dots to get the job done!  Yesterday, we had the privilege of having two eye doctors come to visit, with a vision to help maintain Haiti’s eyes, literally!

After meetings today with those in charge of Haiti’s eye care, we now know we can develop a full-service eye treatment center in Carrefour, treating the rich and poor alike.   We have the blessing of the Ophthalmology Association to operate a clinic, a lens-grinding lab, retail eye care center, as well as a manufacturing lab.

God is good!  Each day opens another avenue of ministry to the Haitian people, bringing necessary healthcare and jobs to them.  We began the day working on housing and ended tonight with plans to operate an eye clinic…  Can you believe it?  Sometimes we can hardly keep up with ourselves!  At the same time, we know we must deal with things as they come into our hands. 

In rebuilding this nation, we must never lose sight of our purpose in coming to Haiti… to teach and to train the Haitian people in God’s Word for, in that, they will have everything they need for life and godliness.  As they learn to seek Him first and His kingdom, these other things will be added to them because they have learned to walk in His Word!

Thanks for believing in us, for allowing us to represent you in rebuilding a new Haiti, even though much of the world has already forgotten.  We appreciate your support more than you know…

Cary

It’s me again…

Time goes so fast when we are in meetings every day trying to help rebuild Haiti!  It’s an unbelievable undertaking!  Before we can move ahead, we must always fix what is still  broken… walls, roof, electrical, water, computer!  Every day it is something!

Some of our youth have been trained to erect the 12×12 houses I told you about for our Police families.  It took several days before they actually arrived in Carrefour.  To date, we have been involved in building over 45 houses!   

Housing remains a priority for our people.  We flew into Miami for a couple days to meet with people with new housing possibilities. 

We are being considered for an entire housing trailer camp, which sleeps 300.  These trailers were given to a corporation in Canada.  They want to send 10 complete camps to Haiti.  One camp includes:  3 96-person dormitories, a 12-person sleeper, male and female showers/toilets/laundry facilities, a 132-seat diner, a commercial kitchen, along with generator, water tanks, fuel tank… move-in ready.  This would be ideal on the mountain!    We can think of so many ways to use this all-inclusive housing camp as a model for initial housing!  We are still getting details and will let you know what is required of us.  It is worth over Two Million Dollars!  PRAY!

Another opportunity just dropped in our laps… A church in Wisconsin sent a container to Haiti.  In the container are five 360-sq-ft solid houses made of termite-proof treated wood with a steel door and a window, along with non-perishable food.  This container was held up in customs.  They originally wanted $17,000 for the customs fee.  They negotiated that fee down to $6,000.  Now, the camp that they wanted to send it to no longer exists, so they contacted us and told us if we could pay the newly-negotiated price of  $6,000, we can have it!  The builder wants to give them to us to use as a model… We see five more houses for our people… 

Can you help us again, overnight, with $6,000 and we will clear this container?  Just let us know, or you can use PayPal.  It amazes us every day that things are coming our way that we didn’t even look for.  What next?!!  God is SO GOOD!   

Cary

We have been busier than normal, whatever ‘normal’ is these days…  We have a visiting team of youth from Minnesota and they are experiencing God in reality! 

We just finished a 10-hour seminar last weekend on the Motivational Gifts mentioned in Romans 12.  What a great time for our people to recognize what God has equipped them with to do His work!  When everyone finds his place in the Body, we will be so strong!

Sunday was so powerful!   As we entered into praise and worship, God began to move!  Everyone was affected by His presence!  It was like a river flowing from God was cleansing every one from all their past and giving them a preview of where they were going.  As they stepped into the ‘river’, some were crying, demons were screaming, people were being set free, never to be the same.  People came running to get saved, crying for their sin and worshipping Jesus. 

Several testified that they have been visited by angels, have had dreams and visions of what God is doing and were given a preview by the Spirit on Saturday night of what He would do in the morning service.  When it happened, they were so excited because they now knew they were sensitive to the Spirit of God!  When they come to church, they hear confirmations from each other, proving His power and presence in their lives!  When they hear God’s Word, there is their answer!  It’s so great to experience their growth and we grow too!   

Many curious people passing by the church Sunday morning poked their heads into the building.  Immediately, demons began to manifest and our Honor Guard carried them upstairs and cast the devils out of them! People on the outside don’t understand the supernatural things happening at Church of Light and judge us severely, but we know Who is in charge of our services and, one by one, our accusers come, give their lives to Jesus and grow with us.

One young man, Carlo, was tired of hearing comments about our church.  He said, ‘Come and see for yourself!   The day I leave that church will be the day I die because the Holy Spirit is so strong in that church you will feel him for yourself when you come.’   Last Sunday, several of his friends came to church and found themselves in awe of the Holy Spirit, frozen in their seats, crying and repenting and leaving the church changed… and with a whole new understanding of what goes on at Church of Light!

Continue to pray for us.  We are seeing something few churches have experienced in our day, but we believe this should be ‘normal’ in churches all over the world.  We don’t even like to be gone one day because each service is greater than the one before.  We as a church must remain humble, so God can continue to use us to set Haiti free!  That is His purpose for having us here.

Cary

This morning we received two more watermelon with a ‘Happy Birthday, Pasteur!’ sign attached.  God is good!  Terry received so many birthday greetings from all over the world and was so shocked.  Thank you!!!  That blessed me as much as him! 

Tonight,  Mayor Yvon Jerome came to our house for dinner.  He turned off his three constantly-ringing phones, which allowed us time to visit and to discuss the overall plan to rebuild Carrefour.  We also talked about the horrible abuse we know is taking place in the tent cities… 

Just around the corner from us is a tent camp of about 200 families.  This morning I learned there are now 14 young girls pregnant and many are testing positive with AIDS.  These young people were given individual tents and are no longer answering to parents, thinking they are now independent.  The ages of these pregnant girls?  14-16!  It breaks my heart to know that this is only one camp out of thousands where rape is a way of life.  Our Mayor was appalled to hear our statistics.  Please pray for this most-troubling situation!  

Mayor Yvon is currently in the process of breaking up some of the camps because owners need their land back.  Many are being sent back to families in the countryside who can’t handle the extra burden of more mouths to feed either.  He is overwhelmed!  Pray for our Mayor.  He needs the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  He came to church yesterday and tonight was repeating Terry’s sermon!  He said He will be back, maybe to play the drums!  (He used to be a professional drummer).  God has given us favor with this man, and we know we are part of God’s plan to invest in his life.    

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support.  As we have the funds, we will finish the church and begin to develop the mountain!  On Thursday, we will meet again with the mayor and a city planner to begin the actual planning of a new Carrefour.  Pray for us that we will have God’s Plan, for that is the only plan that will work!

Every day brings new challenges, but God assures us we are well able to take the land, so we move forward.  Continue to pray!  We need you.

Cary   

It’s so exciting to see our people come to church with such expectancy!  Many were ministered to who were fighting discouragement because their lives are not getting back to normal fast enough. 

Eight more were born again!  Among them was a woman, Alise, deeply involved in voodoo.  Her son, Randol, was saved after the earthquake and was so transformed that she knew she wanted to serve Jesus too. 

Alise has come to the church for about two months, checking to see if God is real.  Week after week, she has seen His anointing and His power.  Today, she was the first one to step forward to give her heart to Jesus.  With her whole heart and such boldness, she prayed to receive Jesus into her life!  Immediately, her face was transformed!  Then she said, ‘Pastor, can you come later today to my house and take all my voodoo stuff out and burn it?’  

Tonight, we went to her house and loaded up the truck with voodoo stuff,  drove to a remote area and had a ‘Holy Ghost bonfire!’  We prayed through her house, anointing it with oil; the peace of God settled in the house and the neighbors rejoiced that ‘another one of satan’s generals has surrendered…’  Alise then received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and began to pray in her new heavenly language.  I wish you could have seen her face.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such joy! 

Tomorrow will be a challenge for her as she deals with her old clients coming to her for services.  Pray that Alise will be a bold witness for Jesus.  She will be in the New Converts class tomorrow night.  Pray that the eyes of her understanding will be opened and her life will be established on a solid foundation of God’s Word. 

We were ready to close the service this morning, but the church wanted to acknowledge Terry’s Birthday, which is tomorrow (August 2).  Wow!  What a celebration!  Few people have any money for a nice gift, but they thought about something that everyone could do that would bless Terry (and me).  Guess what they did… 

They came out of their seats with big smiles and fruit – watermelon, mangoes, grenadine, grenadia, bananas, apples, grapes, papaya, abreco, kenep, pineapple, oranges – Everyone with something in their hands!  Soon the steps to the platform were full – with fruit!  Then came hugs and kisses from everyone!!!  Terry was in shock, with tears in his eyes!   Then several said ‘Thank You’ to Pastor Terry for what he means to them.  We were amazed at their testimonies of the impact he has had in their lives!  We praise God that His Word is falling on good soil!

Tonight, our house smells like a fruit market!  We are so blessed!  On Thursday, we have a team coming and we will be able to celebrate Terry’s birthday every day with fresh fruit!  These people love us so much!

If you get a chance to drop a note to Terry on Monday, to wish him a Happy Birthday, he would be shocked… and blessed!  Send it to lighthaiti@yahoo.com and he will pick it up.  Thanks.

Cary

God is so exciting!  If we tried to figure out what His next move would be, our heads would spin!  There are so many angles to consider in seeing a new Haiti emerge from the rubble… so many avenues to help Haiti’s desperate people, at the same time to open doors to live the Gospel!  Let me explain… 

A Haitian doctor who returned from the States to Haiti is now working with Samaritan’s Purse, and has a limited amount of temporary housing designated for those who make applications and are pre-approved. 

He contacted his friend, who has been watching what Light Ministries is doing with medical clinics, eye clinics, feeding and caring for the needy.  He has been amazed at the favor Pastor Terry has had with those in authority. 

These two men have been working on a solution to a great problem:  Many of our local policemen lost everything during the earthquake.  They will help, but they want Light Ministries to distribute the houses to these desperate families.  The Police Commissioner heard so many good things about us and said ‘I know if those people at Light Ministries can help us, the job will get done!  We can trust them.  Look at what they have done for our people.’ 

They asked if we could help them.  We said YES!   Why?   Because we know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to touch the hearts of the Police Department in our area with the love of Jesus.  This isn’t just about delivering homes; it is about delivering the Good News of Jesus to those who otherwise may never hear!   

We will begin this project in the coming weeks, bringing the houses from Leogane to Carrefour, approximately 30 miles, and use volunteers from our church to help do the job:  Bring them a home and bring them the Gospel!   We praise God for the big flatbed and other trucks that are already on the ground, ready to go! 

God’s Word says, “Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven!”  Here is another opportunity…  Pray!

Cary

The service today was amazing!  God is dealing with “little things” in our lives that are not right, and many are responding.  This morning, about 200 people came forward to get clean before God.  Three people were saved.  That always is such a great joy for the whole church! 

Church of Light is becoming a beacon to the nation, just as God said it would be!  

Guess what else… Sherly’s father received Jesus Christ as his Savior today, too!  Sherly is one of our worship leaders, whose mother went home to heaven last week.  (Her funeral was yesterday). We  have prayed for her father for a long time.  He didn’t live with Sherly’s mom.  He did not treat her well and was not faithful to her.  He did not know Jesus. 

After the funeral, he began to think about his own condition.  He said he always made it difficult for her, but yesterday, he was so shocked to see how many people knew and loved her.  She really had a big family he didn’t even know!  He recognized who she really was, and that what she had in Christ was what he needed.  He said, “I was very wrong.  Now, I want to follow in the way she knew…” and today, he committed his life to Christ! 

One of Sherly’s brothers, living in the Dominican Republic, came home for the funeral.  He said he used to hear bad things about our church, but… “now I know what I heard is not true.”  He said “It is very powerful at that church!  The Pastor doesn’t even use notes…  He speaks the Bible without ever reading the Bible!  It’s like it’s in his head!” 

Yes, lives are changed because Terry has ‘knowledge’ of the Word because he has hidden God’s Word in his heart but the fact is, Terry knows the Author of the Word and when the Holy Spirit speaks through him, things happen… lives are changed!  It is God confirming HIS Word!

God is good!  Thanks for praying.  This is just the beginning of the harvest from yesterday’s funeral ‘celebration’.

Cary    

The funeral today for Sherly’s mother was powerful!  Sherly was strong and even helped lead Praise and Worship.  No one could believe she did that, but she said she knew God wanted her to sing!  Thank you for praying for her! 

Sherly’s Mom wanted to have a celebration, not a grief-filled, sorrowful get together!  Many people didn’t know how to handle this since they are used to the religious churches where you can’t lift your hands or praise God freely. At a funeral, the spirit of grief takes over and there is wailing and carrying-on for hours.  At our church, there is freedom no matter what the occasion, because WE are free! 

Some of the family shared about their mother’s influence on them.  When one of the young men was sharing, those in the audience began to wail uncontrollably. Terry asked them to stop.  She is in heaven!  This is not what she would have wanted.  We are not to sorrow as those who have no hope!  

Terry took the microphone and talked with the family, now all young adults.  The Bible says to ‘train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’  She taught you in the best way she knew.  Don’t shame your mother, but rather carry out her legacy; go with the Gospel! 

He preached an anointed message of the days we are living in and talked about salvation and life in the Spirit, challenging the packed-out crowd to not only reflect on the one whose life we remember today, but to examine their own hearts and be ready to meet the King!  There really is a heaven and there really is a hell!  There was silence.  He then gave an altar call for those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus Christ.  They had never been in a funeral like this before!  Many were thinking; no one responded, but we know the seed was sown and we expect a harvest in the morning.  Haitians often come to church for the express purpose of being converted.  A funeral, to them, is not the time… Continue to pray! 

Thank you for standing with us in these daily challenges.  Thank you for allowing us to represent you in this precious land!

Cary

We continue to host teams from every walk of life.  In two weeks, we will have a team of teenagers again.  Just to see how the Spirit of God speaks into their lives during their stay is really exciting for us!    

Recently, we had a team from Somebody Cares.  This is a little of what they experienced the few days we had together: 

Somebody Cares took a team of pastors and leaders to Haiti for a Leadership Conference to a network of about 700 Haitian pastors led by Doug (Stringer) and attended by Pastor Terry Nelson and several of the leaders from Church of Light.

Several on the team were thoroughly impressed with the makeshift hospital that they (Light Ministries) had created on the fly after the earthquake.  We witnessed a spirit of excellence in every area.   They may not have had a lot, but they were willing to share out of what they did have. 

We witnessed that first-hand as Light Ministries graciously and lavishly hosted our team Saturday night before Doug Stringer was to preach at the church on Sunday…  (When asked if they needed a miracle during the service, over 300 responded to the altar call.)

Pastor Marti Owens, team member from Houston, Texas said she was impressed with the way Pastor Terry is teaching members to give out of their need- the way out of poverty is not dependent on others, but on their giving in obedience and the Lord’s faithfulness. At Church of Light, the Haitian people are learning that God is their source and they will break out of poverty by giving!

Light Ministries has a vision and a plan for the future.  The Word says that without a vision the people perish.  Pastor Terry has both a vision and a plan to assist the Haitians to fulfill that vision.  He took us to the mountaintop and shared his vision for City of Light…

While in the natural, Haiti has seen much adversity, God is using this church as a standard for the nation.  The people at Church of Light are becoming the Pearl of the Caribbean – expressing the beauty of the Lord – borne out of the adversity they have endured.

Continue to pray for us that, as we host teams, we can impart vision to them for this nation.  God is not done with Haiti!  In fact, we are just beginning to see His hand free to do what He has promised!  It is a joy to be a part of His plan for a new Haiti.

Thank you for believing in us.  Thank you for supporting us in prayer and finances.  Thanks for coming to visit us, to see first-hand what God is up to!

Cary