Last day of the conference

Today was the last day of the conference and it has been incredible!!! Here is some insight from some of the team:

Michael: today we heard the concluding talks and the Thessalonian legacy. It was awesome to see how it all really fit together so nicely! There was a sense of awe present before the talks today as God's Spirit was just palpable. Tears were flowing from my eyes as I watched these men and women praising our God; what a God we serve who can change the heart of a man!

Also, we did 3 'spur of the moment' med clinics in different areas around Puerto Plata. In total, 4 precious people asked to share our Savior's Salvation. We do worship a God who saves! Only the LORD knows how many patients were seen; I was like the spoke of a wheel surrounded by people and Bernie was handing out meds and Bibles with fury. To see our dear translator, Roosevelt, leading his own people to the LORD was extremely encouraging. Glory to your Name O LORD!

Eugene (our friend from Canada): Greeting again from the Dominican! Today after the pastors' conference, a guy named Miguel came to us and wanted to show us his house...a lot of the people do that here. We couldn't really understand him because he spoke Spanish, so Pepper, a missionary from Tennessee (originally from Southern Cal... was in the Airforce) came to help us share the gospel with him because he speaks fluent Spanish. Miguel didn't seem to have a fertile heart but the Lord soon directed our attention to a young boy named Gabriel, who we have seen hanging around all week. As Pepper began to share the gospel with Gabriel, a whole group of people flocked around him, trying to hear what he had to say.(Pictures attached.) Most of them, including Gabriel, seemed like they have never heard the gospel before. They were all glued to him and walked away with a joyful and curious look on their faces. Gabriel asked me to take the attached picture of him holding his tract. Please pray that he receives Jesus as His Lord and Saviour...we don't know too much about him, but hope that we will before we leave.

More on the Conference in the DR

We are another great day at the conference! We even had more folks show up today. One man named Joseph said he had been praying years for a training conference. Joseph is widely known to be one of the most faithful men in the area.

Here is what our new friends Bill (who is our contact for putting the conference together) and Eugene (who is videoing everything) have to say: Hello from Bill and Eugene from the Dominican!

We miss home very much, but are excited to be here to see the Lord work in the communities of the Haitian people in the Dominican and to experience Him working in our lives. The need is great here and the Lord has opened my eyes to how most of the world lives... in poverty. But it's amazing to see the peace and joy in their lives.

Yesterday was the first day of the pastors' conference (an amazing story within itself!). Haitians from all over the Dominican, and some who even travelled from Haiti, gathered together in Congrejo, which is a Haitian church here in the DR, to receive discipleship training from our brothers from Downline Ministries (from Tennessee) while our friend, Roosevelt translated into their language, Creole. I have to say, the people are HUNGRY for the Word and teaching. We were inside their 'tin' church with no air conditioning, few of their fans were blowing, and the power had to be switched to a generator several times during the day. The temperature without humidity was 96F late in the day, so it was probably around 110F during the seminar. Regardless, they were sitting in their chairs dressed in shirts and ties, captivated by the Word of God, soaking in all the instruction they could on how to lead others to the Lord.

Anyways, I can speak forever, but today is another day (it's going to be hot)so we appreciate your prayers and hope to see you all soon.

the Lord bless,
Bill Stephenson and Eugene Chang

Here is a link to Eugene and Bill's church blog that has many pictures and some more perspective of the conference: http://rockcommunitychurch.blogspot.com/

Conference Day One

Michael: Today (Thursday) we ran a full day medical clinic that was not even a concept just 3 weeks ago. We have enjoyed our Haitian brothers and sisters immensely and it was a rare pleasure to see them receive physical healing along with the dense Spiritual Healing that God is pouring on all of our heads. His Spirit is so concentrated here as there is almost a sense that we are here only to witness the great work He has already done. If only those praying at home could see the work in which they are so vitally participating. And, by the way, we worship a God who saves. Today we saw Francois and Milton – two Haitian refugees -- pray to receive our Savior’s Spirit and, yes, it was sweet. Glory to Him!

Steve: Today (Thursday) was our first day teaching the conference. We had a minimum of 100 folks present at the conference. The church where we taught was HOT with every single seat in the place taken and some folks standing outside. The team did a great job of keeping positive and enduring the heat. More importantly the Haitian brothers and sisters who attended were remarkably attentive. These folks took notes all day and you could see in their faces the eagerness to learn. The community where we are holding the conference is incredible. Haiti is the poorest country in the northern hemisphere and these are Haitian living in the Dominican Republic where they discriminated against and have a very difficult time finding any work. The work they do find is typically very difficult and very low paying. It is truly humbling to see their positive attitudes and desire to learn Jesus strategy. Today only Pepper and I taught – actually we put Paul on the spot and had him teach on evangelism. He did a phenomenal job. Tomorrow the rest of the team will be teaching. Keep us in your prayers!

Arriving in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

We are arrived at in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic around 2:30 pm EST. Bill Stephenson and Eugene Chang met us at the airport. They are both from Canada. Bill is the man who put this trip together and has been coming down to the DR for 6 years. He comes several times a year and plans to eventually move to the DR. Roosevelt is a Haitian who is Bill’s main contact and he has translated the DL material into Creole. After eating a quick late lunch Bill took us to see some of the sights.

First, we went to the church where the conference will be held. It is a small, tin roofed, wooden pewed church with very little ventilation. When the church is filled many folks we anticipate to come to the conference it is going to be very hot! Michael will set up a medical clinic nearby.

Secondly, we went up to the top a mountain where several Haitians live (pictured above are the new houses in the community). The Haitians are treated very poorly by the Dominicans. We saw some of the poorest people I have seen. They lived in little metal roof house with no running water or any form plumbing.

Then we stopped at Roosevelt’s house where we met his family and five orphans who live next door to him. Bill and Roosevelt help to take care of the orphans. There were several Haitians there learning to sing worship songs in English.

Finally, we had good close to the night hearing some of one anothers stories and what the Lord has done in our lives.

Great day and we look forward to the start of the conference on Thursday!

One night late over in Miami

We got into Miami around 4 pm EST. After about 2 hours spent finding a place to store some bags and getting our rental car we made it to our hotel. We had the blessing of staying at one of the Days Inn older, lesser known hotels (definitely not the hotel you see on any commercials). We then headed down to South Beach where we ate at a fabulous Mexican Restaurant. After dinner we broke into groups and spent some time witnessing to people in the area. Below are some of the reports from the team in regards to the evening:

Paul: Last night was a great night! I had a great time fellowshipping with the team as we walked around Miami and dined at an awesome Mexican spot. After dinner we went out and shared the gospel with folks in Miami. What joy it was to bring the good news to two homeless men in Miami. The poor understand so well their depravity and their need for a Savior. I am praying that Dave and Richard would now call on the name of the Lord and be saved!

Pepper: We were talking with a Turkish couple who was on vacation from their PhD work at the University of Illinois. We really connected well, so much so, they invited Gaby and me to visit them in Turkey, (Pack your bags Gaby). We gave them a New Testament and asked them to read through the Gospel of John. You can pray the Lord will reveal Himself to this couple.

Dominican Republic Partner

DownLine Ministries is partnering with Bill Stephenson in the Dominican Republic.

Here is what Bill writes about the upcoming conference, "We are excited about our next adventure to the Dominican Republic. Eugene Chang and Bill Stephenson are leaving on Monday Aug 16 for one week. We will be making final preparations for the arrival of the team from Downline Ministries from Tennessee. The Downline team will be arriving on Wed Aug 18 and will begin a 2 1/2 day Discipleship training conference. We are so thankful for their willingness to give of their time and resources to bring this incredibly valuable training to the Haitian Pastors in the D R. Rosvelt Petit ( our "main man" on the ground in the D R ) has been working hard on translating the Downline Student Guide workbook into Creole. This is currently in the hands of the printers. I am super excited to be having Eugene join me on this trip. He is an absolute answer to prayer. He will be responsible for video taping the entire training sessions. The result of this will be that Downline Ministry will now have a workbook and training DVD's for future use in the Creole language for the Haitian people.

We are anticipating a large attendance for the upcoming training. Rosvelt has told us to expect well over 100 Haitians to be arriving. There will be about 30-40 Haitian Pastors , each bringing 3-5 of their key people. Some will be coming from Haiti, but most will be local Haitian Pastors on the North Shore, Puerto Plata/Sosua areas.
Please be in prayer for this conference and for those leading and all attending. Our prayer is that God will be glorified and that His name would be great among the nations as a result of the training conference next week."

To read more posts from Bill about the upcoming trip check out his blog at: http://theprojectdr.blogspot.com/

Dominican Republic Team & Prayer Request

We are super excited about this unique disciple making opportunity. Steve Winstead (Back-Right), Pepper Horn (Front-Middle), Bernie Housholder (Back-Left), Michael Farmer (Front-Left), and Paul Billings (Front-Right) are going to the Dominican Republic to train Haitian pastors. We will be training 50-75 pastors who will return to Haiti serve. The DownLine curriculum has been translated into Creole and they will be videoing all our sessions for training more Haitian leaders. Also, Michael Farmer will be setting up a small medical clinic for the pastors. The trip dates are August 17-23. Awesome stuff - please pray for the team (see prayer list below)

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16b

Prayer points
➢ Spiritual preparation for us as we get ready for the trip
➢ For the extension of God’s Kingdom in Haiti and the Dominican Republic
➢ For the Holy Spirit’s empowerment as we communicate the message
➢ That God would give illumination and the hearers would become multipliers
➢ For the recording and distribution of the lessons in Creole
➢ For the church leaders as they return to Haiti to minister
Thank you ahead of time for your partnership in prayer. I believe much of what happens on this trip will be a direct result of our steadfast prayer.