Prayer Requests – September 18, 2008

Emergency Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund

 

The 2008 Hurricane Season has been especially devastating to the Western Caribbean. Haiti, in particular, is in shambles and the people are without hope. Ministries in Action has established a Relief and Recovery Fund to meet immediate needs in these islands. Our onsite representatives have identified immediate and ongoing needs and are ready to start addressing them as soon as funds are in place.

 

Please pray for and consider offering help to these suffering people. Their misery is palpable. Ministries in Action is well set up to help their local churches bear a more authentic witness to our Lord Jesus Christ by attending to some of their immediate needs.

 

If you would like to donate to the 2008 Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund, please mail a check payable to Ministries in Action at P.O. Box 571357, Miami, Florida, 33257 or contact the office at (305) 234-7855 for instructions.

 

 

A Message from Walford Thompson

 

For the Kingdom-Conscious believer, natural disasters are opportunities to respond in love and compassion to those who are suffering. Once again Ministries in Action looks to God and our ministry partners to help us in our Relief and Recovery effort to the people of Grand Turk, Cuba, and especially Haiti where we have been serving Christ for many years addressing the needs of the “Whole Man”. 

 

Our response is not one that is motivated primarily by pity, but is the continuation of our ministry to a people whose needs have been greatly intensified by this natural disaster. Ministries in Action has the experience, onsite personnel, transportation, and other infrastructure (churches, clinics, schools, trained leaders – especially in Haiti) to ensure that our efforts on behalf of these hurting people are effective and God honoring. While we are thankful to all who are lending a helping hand during this very trying time, our experience in relief and recovery work for the past 20 years, has taught us that most of the initial effort will come to an end shortly. Please join with us in responding in ministering to these needs, for the glory of our great God. 

 

Earlier this year, during the time of the reported Hatian “Food Riots”, MIA responded to the need by sending a team to distribute food to many desperate families. (See article by Roland Joynes, in the August News Reports). Now we are faced with another crisis, and we need you. A generous financial gift to Ministries in Action at this time will be greatly appreciated. Our God is Sovereign and Good. “All that He allows is ultimately for our good, His glory and the advancement of the gospel”.

 

To God’s glory alone,

Walford

 

Devastation in Gonaives, Haiti following Hurricane Ike.

 

A Hatian child stands in front of what used to be his home.

 

Floodwaters have been slow to recede in Haiti following Hurricane Ike.

Prayer Requests – July 2, 2008

Please pray for Roland Joynes as he travels to Haiti today to spend a week with missionary Jean Eneck Desir. They will be distributing food to churches in the villages of Flamands, Guichard, Dariol and Cotin this week. Pray that God would multiply this effort as He occasionally does with loaves and fishes. Pray that the people of these villages would experience the love of Jesus. Please also continue to pray for the entire people of Haiti as they still suffer from the food crisis.

Please pray for the short term missionaries from Westminster Presbyterian Church in South Carolina who are in St. Vincent this week to help with the construction of the Biabou Evangelical Church and participate in evangelistic outreach. Pray that lives would be changed both of the missionaries and those they are ministering to.

Please also join us in lifting up the short term missionary team from First Baptist Church of Tequesta in Jupiter, FL. They are on the way to Jamaica this week to help with the final stages of construction of the Bamboo Missionary Church in Hanover and minister locally. Pray that God will accomplish much through their visit.

Please pray for Onesimo and Marilda de Arruda who are ministering among the Indians in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. They will be hosting a team of seven short term missionaries this week. Pray that they would be able to change their car for one more suitable for the dirt roads there. Pray also that value of the US dollars would rise in relation to the Brazilian Real.

Lloyd and Elaine Cooke’s house has been restored following Hurricane Dean, which claimed their roof last year. They are finally back to normal. Lloyd also suffered a heart attack last year and reports that apart from the aging process he is feeling fine. Praise the Lord! Please continue hold up both Lloyd and Elaine in prayer as they faithfully serve the Lord in Mandeville, Jamaica.

Bresile and Marie Vita report that despite Bresile being afflicted with a cold and fever they were able to see fruit ministry take place last week among Haitians in Dominican Republic. Sixty-three people made first time commitments of their lives to Jesus and over 1,000 total commitments were made that week. Praise God!

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

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Prayer Requests – June 25, 2008

Please continue to pray for the revival services and evangelistic events going on in Jamaica this week. Pray for Walford Thompson and Lloyd Cooke as they serve at this event. Pray that many lives would be impacted and that the Lord would be glorified.

Please pray for Bresile and Marie Vita St. Germain as they minister to Haitians in Dominican Republic this week. They will be participating in a week of revival services. Pray the live will be impacted with the love of Jesus.

Please pray for Carlos in Mexico. Carlos volunteers in Roger and Dianne Smalling’s Vision R.E.A.L. program and does a wonderful job of working with the pastors and churches in his community. Recently two of his family members have experienced health crises. Pray that God would provide healing in these situations and that Carlos would have the strength he needs to continue providing for his family and serving the Lord.

John Lewis asks prayer for the tensions surround the campaigning prior to upcoming elections in Grenada. Pray that there will be no violence before or after the elections being held on July 8th. Continue to pray for John as he builds relationships with pastors and churches and attempts to raise sufficient support for his new ministry in Grenada.

Please pray for a special tea party being held in Miami this weekend at Old Cutler Presbyterian Church. The event will feature Anthony Johnson, the Jamaican Ambassador to the US, and is expected draw many of the Jamaican community in South Florida. Walford Thompson and Billy McKillop will have opportunities to speak and the proceeds from the event will go to the McKillop’s ministry in Jamaica. We are extremely grateful that we were chosen to be the beneficiary of this event and are excited about the opportunity to proclaim God’s Word to Jamaicans in South Florida. Please pray that many will come to faith in Christ on Sunday.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – June 18, 2008

Please keep Walford and Jen Thompson in your prayers as Walford travels to Miami and Jamaica this week. He will be speaking at a friendship evangelism event, a pastors appreciation breakfast and at revival services. Pray also for Lloyd Cooke who is helping to coordinate these events in Jamaica.

Please pray for a young man that is part of a group that Elaine Cooke counsels with in Jamaica. His mother was murdered this week. We do not have many details at this time, but we know he and his family must be hurting. Please pray for comfort in that situation.

Please pray for Charmane Davis a friend of the ministry as she prepares for a Tea Party at Old Cutler Presbyterian Church in Miami on June 29th. This event will serve as a fundraiser and send-off for Billy McKillop, who is relocating to Jamaica to serve in the area of theological training. Anthony Johnson, the Jamaican Ambassador to the US will be the keynote speaker and Walford and Billy will be speaking as well. We expect an audience of many non-churches Jamaicans, so this will be a real opportunity for ministry and evangelism. Please bathe this event in prayer.

Please pray for John and Denise Lewis as they continue to get established in Grenada. Pray that John would be able to build good relationships with the pastors and churches, and that God would provide all that he needs for his ministry there.

Bresile and Marie Vita St. Germain report that many decisions were made fro Christ during their recent ministry trip to Louisiana. Praise God! This week they leave for ten days of ministry in Dominican Republic. Pray that their ministry there will be successful and for Bresile as he battles a cold.

Thank you for your faithfulness in lifting us up in your prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – June 12, 2008

Please pray for Walford and Jen Thompson as they continue to host short term missionaries this week in St. Vincent and throughout the summer. Pray also that a shipment of galvanized sheets for roofing material to be used in the construction of the Biabou Evangelical Church will arrive without complication this week. Pray for Walford as he fulfills a busy travel/speaking schedule in Jamaica and Miami this month.

Please pray for the two short term missionary team we have on the field this week. A team from United Church in Jamaica is in Haiti this week working with Joan Page in Guichard. Pray also for the short term missionaries from Decatur Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Alabama who are working with Silvia Martinez in Hato Nuevo, Dominican Republic. Pray also for Jean Eneck Desir and Chuck Mobley, the field reps accompanying those teams.

Please remember to pray for our three missionary families who are currently raising monthly support to go to Jamaica. Robert and Patricia Skinner and Clive and Hyacinth Stephenson are currently preparing to relocate to Mandeville, Jamaica to work with the Jamaica Bible College and with local churches. Billy and Sherry McKillop are planning to leave for Montego Bay Jamaica next month, where they will be working with pastors and leaders in the area of theological training.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – June 4, 2008

Please pray for Walford and Jen Thompson as they host short term missionaries this week in St. Vincent. They will be working on the construction of the Biabou Evangelical Church. Pray also for the ongoing search for a full time Certified Christian Counselor to serve in MIA’s Christian Counseling program in St. Vincent.

Please pray for the team of short term missionaries from United Church in Jamaica as they travel to Haiti this week to minister with Joan Page in Guichard. Pray for Joan Page and Jean Eneck Desir as they host this mission team. Please continue to remember the people of Haiti in your prayers as they continue to face this terrible food crisis.

Please pray for Lloyd Cooke as he works with pastors in Jamaica this month to prepare for an MIA evangelistic outreach taking place in the next few weeks.

Please pray for Neal Hegeman and Miami International Seminary (MINTS) as they are facing a difficult situation with seminary students in a sensitive part of the world. Up to 500 seminary students may be forced to discontinue their studies in theology.

Please continue to pray for Gordon Woolard as he ministers to pastors in West Africa this week and also pray fro Bresile and Marie Vita St. Germain as they minister to Haitians in Louisiana this week.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – May 28, 2008

Please keep Walford Thompson in your prayers this week as he and Jen head back to St. Vincent to do ministry there. Pray also for Walford as he prepares for a week of ministry in Jamaica in early June. He will be speaking at a pastor’s breakfast and preaching in an evangelistic festival as well. Pray also for Lloyd Cooke in Jamaica as he works hard to prepare things on that end.

Please pray for Gordon Woolard as he is in West Africa this week working with pastors in Ghana and Benin. Pray that God would protect him while he is there and that the pastors he works with will be blessed by the visit.

Please pray for Bresile and Marie Vita St. Germain as they head to Louisiana for a week of ministry this week. Pray that the Lord would minister through them.

Finally, please remember two of our MIA family members in prayer as they deal with physical ailments. Missionary Marc Mailloux is suffering from an infection in his elbow. He has been treating it with antibiotics, but there has been no noticeable effect. And Gerrie Darrell, one of the friendly Caribbean voices you hear on the phone when calling the MIA office in Miami, was the victim a hit and run car accident this week. She is experiencing soreness and back spasm and has been ordered by her doctor to a few days of bed rest. Please pray for God to provide swift healing in both of these situations.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

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Prayer Requests – May 21, 2008

Please keep Walford and Jen Thompson in your prayers as they are traveling this week. Walford is in Jackson, MS for meetings and ministry. Please also keep the counseling ministry in St. Vincent in your prayers as it is very close to Walford’s heart and is in a position to meet a great need in that country. We are praying that God would provide a certified Christian counselor to minister to people through counseling and also to teach in MIA’s educational program for counselors.

Please pray for Lloyd and Elaine Cooke as they faithfully minister in Mandeville, Jamaica in the areas of Evangelism and Theological Training. Elaine has been teaming up with students from the Jamaica Bible College to teach absence in the area high schools. She reports that this week 60 teenagers made decisions for Christ. Praise God!

Please pray for Nicolas in Bolivia, who works with Roger and Dianne Smalling to manage Vision REAL centers in Cochabamba. He reports that there are currently 70 students enrolled in the program. Please pray for him as he mentors these students. Nicolas also reports there is some violence in the area due to political unrest. Please pray that the Lord would protect Nicolas and his family and also the families of the students.

Please pray for Bresile and Marie Vita St. Germain as they minister and Bresile preaches in revival services with Haitians in Miami, FL this week. Pray that the Lord would minister through them.

Please pray for our new missionary candidates. Paul Duncan has been approved by MIA to serve in St. Vincent in the area of Theological Training and Clive and Hyacinth Stephenson has been approved to serve in Jamaica and will work with churches and the Jamaica Bible College. They now must begin the task of raising their support. Please also pray for two other couples raising support to serve the Lord in Jamaica. Billy and Sherry McKillop hope to be in Jamaica by June and Robert and Patricia Skinner hope to be in Jamaica by September.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – May 14, 2008

Please pray for John Lewis as he begins setting up a new ministry for pastors in Grenada. Pray that he will be able to build Godly relationships with the pastors in that country and that their churches will be strengthened as a result.

Please pray for Lloyd and Elaine Cooke who are faithfully serving the Lord in Mandeville, Jamaica. Recently they help prepare churches for the Luis Palau Festival that was held in Jamaica last week. Now they are working with those churches to help follow up the thousands of decisions that were made for Christ. Lloyd is also helping to organize friendship evangelism events in preparation for next month’s Friendship-Evangelism Breakfast in the town of Lucea.

Onesimo and Marilda de Arruda started new Bible classes this week with a new indigenous Indian group in Brazil. Pray for Onesimo who is struggling to communicate due to a language barrier. Please also pray for Marilda as she starts a new opportunity to teach the Book of Proverbs to high school students.

Please pray for Bresile and Marie-Vita St. Germain as the minister to Haitians at revival services in Pompano Beach this week. Please also continue to keep the St. Germain family in prayer as they are grieving the passing of Bresile’s sister Rosa in Haiti last week.

Please join us in lifting up the people of Sichuan Province in China who are recovering from a massive earthquake and the people of Myanmar in the wake of the typhoon. These people are not located in our current ministry area, but we wish to lift them up in prayer and pray for the ministries that God is using to responding to those disasters.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.

Prayer Requests – May 7, 2008

Please pray for Bresile St. Germain and his family. His younger sister Rosa passed away unexpectedly this week in Haiti. Please pray that the Lord would comfort the St. Germain family during this difficult time.

Please pray for Carlos in Villa Hermosa, Mexico who serves as a coordinator for twelve Vision REAL theological training centers there. Carlos supports himself and his family with an auto body business and serves with Ministries In Action as a volunteer. He is an extremely hardworking and spiritually mature man. Roger and Dianne Smalling just returned from Via Hermosa and report that the area is completely unrecognizable following last year’s flooding. Several of the Vision REAL centers are struggling as a result of the flooding. Pray that the Lord will sustain the ministry in Via Hermosa.

Please pray for Onesimo and Marilda de Arruda in Brazil. They have been ministering to the Terena Indians in Matto Grosso do Sul in the area of theological training. But they are receiving a lot more interest in the training from another Indian group, whose language they do not speak. Please pray for guidance regarding this matter and that the Lord would encourage them. Please also pray that God would stretch their incoming support to cover their finances. The falling dollar is beginning to affect a lot of missionaries who have raised support in the US.

Please pray for Ministries In Action’s counseling program in St. Vincent and for the nurse training opportunity in Haiti. We are asking the Lord to provide a certified counselor who is able to train other counselors and an experienced nurse qualified to train nurses for these two opportunities respectively.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. When God’s people are faithful to pray He answers.