Fun in The Son Festival, Haiti

Mike is off once again to the 2nd Annual Fun in The Son Festival in Port-au-Prince, Haiti with the Luis Palau Association.  He leaves Saturday, March 24th and will return Sunday, April 1st.  Please pray for Mike and his family as well as for the week-long events ministering to the people of that country. The festival week will include a medical team, an eye glass clinic, children's ministry and VBS's, and evangelism in various locations. Mike has been asked to serve as Team Chaplain and Evangelist.  There are several teams coming from various churches around the U.S. for this event - about 80 people! Mike is helping the larger teams.  Please join us in praying for the name of Jesus to be heard, believed in and for salvation to come to 1,000s this week.  Prayer is also needed for the safety of the team and wisdom as they minister in a culture still recovering from the devastating effects of the earthquake two years ago.  And please be praying for Andrew Palau he shares the Good News at the main Festival  Additionally, Jamaica Broilers has begun to bring micro and macro job creation through broiler chickens.  The Gospel and job creation is powerful in a devastated economy.  Also, please pray for God to open doors to share Christ which are currently closed.  The prison is one area the teams had planned on going to but a week ago there was rioting and visitors were injured.  So the prison is closed to all visitors at this time.  Please pray for this door to be re-opened for Andrew and Mike.

We encourage you to visit the LPA website for further details.  Mike will have updates to share through out the week so don't forget to check back!!
http://www.palau.org/news/story/bringing_hope_and_help_to_haiti_372

Scattered, Gathered and Sent

Scattered:

The story of the Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal is very sad.  They are largely a forgotten people.  These refugees fled to Nepal almost 20 years ago.  They were an ethnic and religious minority living in the southwestern part of Bhutan.  They are ethnically of Nepalese descent several hundred years ago.  They are also Hindus in a land that is religiously Tibetan Bhuddist.   In the early 1980's they began to experience losses;   loss of land, loss of their language in schools, loss of legal rights, and eventually even loss of citzenship.  They were beaten, imprisoned, raped, and forced out of Bhutan.  As a people, most had never heard the name Jesus.  They were unreached as a people with no exposure to the Gospel living in a land where Christianity is illegal.  Over 100,000 were "scattered" to the South Eastern corner of Nepal and set up in United Nations refugee camps.  

Gathered:

As a result of severe trials, persecution and eventual relocation in refugee camps, God has created a longing in their hearts for "true citizenship and belonging".  Because they have been in U.N. camps,  religious freedom is allowable.  Over their 18 years of unsettledness, God has brought the Gospel of hope and freedom in Jesus Christ to them through relief workers.  Slowly they have been responding to the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Small churches have begun to spring up.  Hearts and lives have been transformed.  God has been preparing  hearts to hear about Jesus through their first ever Evangelistic festival.  As we spoke to them about Jesus Christ, as the pastors and churches prayed, the Holy Spirit moved in power to convict of sin and draw hearts to Jesus.  Thousands responded to the Good News of Jesus Christ.  God is "gathering" the lost.  They are no longer without hope in the world.