World Renewal International

New Church Mexico City Area

2011-09-16T08:46:00.005-05:00

Pastor Ramiro Martinez of Mexico City says:
Dear brothers and friends:

We are so thankful with God because last November 15th we started new meetings of the New Church “Roca de Vida Del Valle”, those attending are 20 people (including two children and one baby!). GLORY TO GOD!. God opened the door for this wonderful facility with a reasonable monthly rent. This church is the fruit of the work of over a year meetings and discipleship with two Bible study. Please pray for:

1) God will bring those that will be saved.

2) For a good testimony before the supervisor of the Local Government.

3) Growing of the new members

4) For a Christmas Evangelistic breakfast on December 13th.

5) Provision to pay the expenses and the needs.

Tele's Father Is Celebrated Today

2011-07-06T09:28:00.016-05:00

I am reminded today of D.L. Moody's words to his daughter as she stood by his death bed weeping, "Don't be sad. This is my coronation day, it is the day I have been waiting for!" Tele Moraes's father graduated to heaven yesterday, the memorial service is today.

Last December we, a World Renewal mission team to Brazil, were included by Tele Morae's family in the 90th birthday celebration for his father. It included not only family and friends but the community and church of his parents. I have been involved in many kinds of events but this one I will always remember.

The tables were decorated in a simple but elegant manner at Tele's parents home. There was music at the party, that is not unusual. However, mostly hymns were sung, that is different than most birthday parties I have attended. The town poet gave a wonderful history of Tele's father and family. There was awesome food and decorations, but that is not unusual. Our Frank Penna sang about Zacheus up in the tree, now that is different. There was lots of laughter, story telling and happiness. Tele's parents were the center of attention with special seats near the microphones and music instruments. The Community Church Pastor was the MC of the birthday event. Most of that seems fairly normal.

But how about that preaching? Preaching? Preaching at a 90th Birthday Party? Who preached? The only son of the birthday celebrator preached. Tele preached, and I mean he really preached. It was powerful, it was persuasive and it was a clear passionate call for family and friends who did not know Jesus Christ as their Savior to seize the moment of opportunity and give their hearts to Jesus. [picture of Tele preaching with his parents seated in front of him]

There were no apologies for doing this at dad's birthday gathering. It seemed the natural thing for this family to do. Tele's sisters and families were all part of this honoring the family patriarch, but Jesus Christ was constantly mentioned, sung about and honored. In many ways it was like a outdoor church service. What is was, was worship and honoring of the one who made it to 90 by a family who had fallen in love with Jesus Christ. It was such a remarkable event I have carried the program with me since just to be reminded of how much their lives mean to me.

Pray for the Moraes family, but pray for your and my families. Few families have embraced and been shaped by Jesus Christ as this one. Thanks for stopping by.

LOVE JOPLIN

2011-05-26T20:20:00.008-05:00

This afternoon on the Welcome Home Broadcast

[http://www.ustream.tv/channel/welcome-home-broadcast]

I interviewed WRI staff member Pastor Wes Davis. He heads up our pastor leadership training in Haiti, from which he just returned. He is the lead Pastor of Riverton Friends Church, Riverton, KS which is about 7-8 miles from the tornado destruction of Joplin, MO. He spoke to me on air while traveling from one family funeral situation to another. Pastor Wes stated that 700-1000 people are still missing! 163 are dead. One young husband married less than a year in the congregation perished. A precious lady of the congregation who served the Lord and cleaned Wes's house is missing. The hospital where 30+ from his congregation work are ministering medical care in tents. They have no idea what their future is at the demolished hospital. Patients were loaded into the backs of pickups after the storm.

When asked what the body of Christ can do to help, Pastor Davis suggested letting people in the area know you are praying, send a note or card. [ Send % of Riverton Friends Church 6484 SE 70th St, Riverton KS 66770] His church is sending out 3-4 work teams a day. They ask families in need to be specific about their situation, then the church goes and buys what they need and deliver it. Pray for these teams, the families who have lost loved ones and the families of those still missing.

We have created Love Joplin, to gather funds for the church to continue to make those specific purchases for families in need. Send to: World Renewal Int'l, PO Box 399, Greenfield, IN 46140 or donate online at http://www.worldrenewal.org/ 100% of the donations will be turned over to this endeaver.

David Wilkerson Memorial Service

2011-05-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

Charisma Magazine Article by Stephen Strang
David Wilkerson Eulogized as Great Man of God
Tuesday, 03 May 2011 05:21 PM EDT Stephen Strang News - Featured News
710
Share It should come as no surprise that David Wilkerson was eulogized as a great man at his funeral Monday in Tyler, Texas, only a few miles from where he was killed in a car accident on April 27, three weeks before what would have been his 80th birthday.

We reported on the funeral itself a few hours after it ended. I wrote my own tribute to him last week about how I’ve attributed my never experimenting with drugs as a teen to my reading The Cross and Switchblade (and being scared about the dangers of drugs). In 1972, I drove to Lakeland, Fla., to attend a David Wilkerson youth rally with some friends. It was that weekend I met my future wife, Joy.

Over the years I’ve attended the funerals or memorial services of some great men such as Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts and Kenneth Hagin Sr. Their funerals may have been bigger in terms of audience size or media coverage, but this one impacted me as much as any.

David Wilkerson was a great man. He impacted millions who read his books, saw the famous movie version of The Cross and the Switchblade or attended his rallies. He also reached countless other millions through the ongoing work of Teen Challenge (now run by the Assemblies of God) and World Challenge, the ministry umbrella he used for many years to cover his multifaceted ministry. In his mid-70s, when most men are slowing down, Wilkerson felt called to start Please Pass the Bread, a ministry to feed the poorest of the poor. In honor of this, Wilkerson’s family has asked for donations to this ministry in lieu of flowers.

Carter Conlon, who worked with Wilkerson for 17 years at Times Square Church in New York City, told the crowd it was hard to honor a great man: “You can honor a good man because you can recount his good works. But you don’t have to speak of great men. Their works go before them.”

He added that Wilkerson never saw himself as a great man and was always shocked that God would use him. “He realized his own frailty,” Conlon said.
Among the dignitaries in attendance were Jim Cymbala, officials from the Assemblies of God, ministry leaders such as Ron Luce, David Shibley and Don Stephens, and leading pastors such as Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Dallas. But none spoke other than Dallas Holm, the singer who traveled with Wilkerson for many years, and Nicky Cruz, Wilkerson’s most famous convert. The other speakers were long-time associates and family members.

Friend, Brother, Father

A common theme held throughout the funeral: People remembered Wilkerson as being consistent. Wilkerson loved Jesus more than anything. He was a prophet and an evangelist. But there was also a tender side that his family regularly experienced that most didn’t get to see. And family, friends and associates all told stories of how giving he was.

Dallas Holm shared about how naive he was when Wilkerson first took him from where he was raised in Minnesota to New York City. He recalled how during an altar call Wilkerson had drug members bring their weapons and drug paraphernalia and throw them on the stage. The crowd laughed as Holm described how he was singing and dodging the things being thrown—including a pillowcase full of marijuana.

Nicky Cruz got a laugh when describing his initial reaction when David Wilkerson wanted him to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. He told Wilkerson he wanted to speak in Italian because he had met a pretty young Italian girl, which made Wilkerson angry that he would be so flippant about something he considered so important.

“I’ve come to say goodbye to my spiritual father,” Cruz said, adding that he never met his own father. “I’ve told people for years that if it weren’t for David Wilkerson, I’d be in the pit of hell today.”

Today Cruz attends The Springs Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., led by Gary Wilkerson, one of David’s two sons born nearly the same day as when Cruz was born again. Cruz concluded his eulogy by saying: “The world lost a true man of God.”

Wilkerson’s younger brother, Don, who ran Teen Challenge for many years, talked about how his famous brother felt called to go to New York City after reading an article in Life magazine about some gang members on trial for murder—and how he created a media sensation when he showed up at the trial. Don said people ask him how he got his own call to go to New York: “It was on the phone,” he said. “David called me and asked me to come to New York to help him.”

As with others, Don told funny stories, such as when Wilkerson told him, “I have an almost-new BMW that I want to give you,” and Don thought he was being given a new car. Instead, his older brother went on to say he was giving it to him so he could in turn sell it and give the money to missions.

Wilkerson’s son, Greg, described his dad as “the greatest example of a loving God,” adding that he “was a great man behind closed doors.” His son-in-law, Roger Hayslip, who is married to Wilkerson’s daughter, Bonnie, said he taught him how to be self less and was the “epitome of a man who’d give and would never blow his own trumpet.” Other family members told of how Wilkerson prayed for his children and grandchildren, spent time with them and answered their questions. Once two of his teenage grandsons, who were going through a time of questioning, asked him, “If there is a God, why is there suffering?” Wilkerson, who obviously had far more life experience than his grandsons, admitted he didn’t know the answer any more than they did, but he noticed that often those who complain the most do the least to help the hurting—and he would rather be busy with helping those who suffer.

‘Impressed by Nothing Except the Holy Spirit’ Wilkerson also avoided publicity, according to those who honored him at the funeral. More than once he turned down invitations to meet with the president. His grandson, David Ashley Wilkerson, made the crowd laugh when describing the look of boredom on Wilkerson’s face when Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City recently presented him a key to the city: “He was impressed by nothing except the Holy Spirit.”

Another grandson, Matt Junker, said he tried to phone his grandfather on April 27. When he couldn’t get through he wrote him a short letter around noon, which he read to the crowd. In it, he said he wanted to tell his granddad how much his life had meant to him, “even if you died today.” The accident that claimed Wilkerson’s life happened on Texas Highway 175 near an artesian well that Wilkerson visited often, around 1:30 p.m. CDT that same day.
Wilkerson’s son, Gary, said Wilkerson predicted the week before his death that his wife Gwen would probably outlive him. Diagnosed with cancer several times over the years, Gwen not only survived those instances, but was also in the car accident with Wilkerson. She is currently in the hospital and did not attend the funeral, but is expected to recover.

Gary said Gwen had no recollection of the crash or that the family gathered around her bed to tell her that her husband had died. He said she turned her face to the wall and began crying, “My baby, my baby,” about her husband of 57 years. As she grieved, Holm arrived at the hospital room and they asked him to sing “Here We Are in Your Presence,” which greatly comforted her. Holm sang that song again at Wilkerson’s funeral.
Gary also quoted Hebrews 11:4, which includes the phrase “though he is dead, he still speaks” (NASB), and referred to Wilkerson’s many books and videos that will continue to minister to people even though he’s gone.

A touching 9-minute video showed a montage of photos throughout Wilkerson’s life and video clips of him ministering under the anointing. Also included was one of the two Charisma covers we ran with Wilkerson, this one from February 1998, which featured him and Nicky Cruz.

There’s much more I could write about Wilkerson. We’ve covered his death aggressively in the past week after being the first news outlet to break the news less than six hours after the tragedy occurred. We’ve also posted reactions from Christian leaders and various tributes as they were sent to us. The response has been incredible with traffic to our website being as much as 10 times normal on certain days.

When I wrote my original tribute to Wilkerson, I mentioned how he was a major part of the weekend in 1972 when I met my wife. What I failed to mention was that I also got to meet David Wilkerson himself. He was on the large motor coach he traveled in. I was barely 21 years old and a University of Florida junior who was on fire for God.

Wilkerson took time to talk to me about how we could use a newspaper he produced as a witnessing tool at my university.

Years later I had the opportunity to attend Times Square Church in New York City. I saw firsthand how vibrant a church it was and how much of an impact it seemed to make not only in people’s lives, but also in the city.

A couple of years ago, while having lunch with a rabbi in my city, he told me that once he was walking around Times Square on a Sunday evening and it started to pour rain. He ducked into the only place nearby that was dry: Times Square Church. As he waited for the rain to subside he noticed the service was starting, so he stayed. It was the only time he’d been to a Pentecostal service. He was impressed with the choir, the testimonies of lives changed during the baptismal service and how people ran to the altar to get saved at the end of the service. He said it was one of the most spiritual experiences of his life.

When he got home he talked about this experience at his synagogue (and he let me read a copy of the sermon). He posed this question to his Jewish audience: “Why do these Christians seem to love our God more than we do?”
I’ve been amazed by how many people have retweeted our stories, shared them on Facebook or made comments to me personally indicating they had read them. I’ve also been amazed at the outpouring of emotion Wilkerson’s death has brought. For example, last Sunday my pastor Bart Malone mentioned the news, which drew an audible gasp from those who hadn’t heard. My 82-year-old mother, Amy Strang, told me at lunch she cried when she heard that he had died.

Last weekend I hired a 23-year student from the Teen Challenge Center in Sanford, Fla., a few miles from where I live to do some yard work. As I drove him back to the center I mentioned to him my plans to fly out to Wilkerson’s funeral. Although he had never met Wilkerson, he said he wished he could have, because this was the man responsible for starting the ministry (Teen Challenge) that had changed his life. Truly, David Wilkerson was a great man.

Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/30890-david-wilkerson-eulogized-as-great-man-of-god#ixzz1LhRU3JiA

David Wilkerson, founder of World Challenge Killed.

2011-04-28T13:40:00.004-05:00

[Charisma Magazine released this article]

(David was one of my most important mentors in my 20-30's. I last saw him in Colorado Springs this last year. Please pray for his wife and family. Thanks--Gary)

David Wilkerson, founder of World Challenge Ministries, was killed Wednesday in a car accident in East Texas.

Charisma News spoke with Dr. Wayde Goodall, founder of World Wide Family, who first verified the news. Goodall was with Wilkerson's son, Gary, when he was informed of the fatal accident.

By late Wednesday night, Times Square Church in New York City announced the death of its founding pastor in a statement from Senior Pastor Carter Conlon: "Pastor David Wilkerson’s was a life fully given for the glory of God and souls of men. He was greatly loved and he will be greatly missed. Our prayers are with the family and we as a church body are committed to standing with them at this time of sorrow."

The Wilkerson family issued a statement after midnight on the World Challenge web site: "We appreciate your prayers and our hearts are sorrowful, yet we rejoice at the joy of knowing David Wilkerson spent his life well. More information will be coming soon. Thank you for your prayers," the statement said.

Additional unconfirmed sources are reporting that Wilkerson was killed in a head-on collision with a tractor trailer while traveling east on U.S. 175. His wife, Gwen, was also involved in the accident and reportedly remains in critical condition at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, Texas.

“Today, the Kingdom of God has lost a giant of the faith. His life touched millions,” says George O. Wood, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God. “The Assemblies of God enjoyed a life-long relationship with David Wilkerson. He was godly, humble and represented everything that is best in a spiritual leader. Our heartfelt sympathy and prayer is extended to his wife, Gwen, and family.”

World Challenge could not be reached for comment at the time of this report. Charisma News also reached out to other Wilkerson-run ministries, including World Challenge Missions, World Challenge Crusades and Mount Zion International School of Ministry. None of these organizations were immediately available for comment.

On February 9, 1958, David Wilkerson felt the Spirit prompting him to spend late evenings praying rather than watching the Late Show. Wilkerson obeyed. At the time he was pastoring a rural Assemblies of God in Pennsylvania.

“Two weeks and two days later, during his late night time of prayer, he felt prompted to pick up the February 24, 1958, edition of Life magazine,” Wood explains. “On pages 30-31, he wept as he looked at an ink sketching of seven members of the Dragon Gang on trial for killing 15-year-old polio victim, Michael Farmer. He felt the Spirit say to him, ‘Go and help those boys’.”

Although Wilkerson had never been to New York City, 350 miles away, Wilkerson found himself three days later in a courtroom where the gang members were on trial. As Wood recalls it, the judge tossed Wilkerson out of the courtroom, but photographers captured his photo and he was later recognized by gang members as he witnessed on the street.

“That late night time of prayer opened up the ministry David Wilkerson founded, Teen Challenge,” Wood says. “He obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and every day approximately 24,000 men and women are experiencing the saving and delivering power of Jesus Christ from life-controlling issues in Teen Challenge Centers all around the world.”

Wilkerson founded Times Square Church in 1987. Since 1999, he traveled around the globe holding conferences for Christian ministers.

For over four decades, Wilkerson's evangelistic ministry included preaching, teaching and writing. He authored more than 30 books, including The Cross and the Switchblade, The Vision, Revival on Broadway, Hungry for More of Jesus, Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?, and The New Covenant Unveiled.

Wilkerson was 79 and lived with his wife in New York City. He had four children and 11 grandchildren.

Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/30794-david-wilkerson-killed-in-car-crash#ixzz1KqPsc6OB

Circle Unbroken Things I want my Children and Grandchildren to Know #14

2011-04-05T09:58:00.011-05:00

Circle Unbroken

by Micah Wright

[Picture of Paul Milner's Baptism by Rev. Helm]

He was in his usual place, the chair by the door.

At a knock, he rose slowly, achingly from his place,

He escaped the chair with springs that would protest, protest in a way the Old Man would never have allowed his battered body to utter.

The bone jarring accident that was long in the past,

Perpetually robbed him of his health,

his ability to walk free of pain,

his means of providing for his family,

yet was not able to breach his abiding Trust.

His bear hug of greeting, never weak or hollow,

seemed to encircle you head to toe,

was only the introduction to the love demonstration to follow.

While the family gathered for stories, for laughs,

for chicken and noodles,

for pie and for presents,

the Old Man took it all in as he presided from his chair.

Steel blue eyes revealed the love and laughter for this his family,

For those who had gathered and those far away,

but most of all for The One. The Child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

After bellies too full from noodles and pie;

after every pot and dish that had considered being dirty

were washed, dried and put away;

the Old Man would reach over to the table chair side,

and take hold of the worn, cracked leather covered tome

that was his constant companion.

Tenderly opening the careworn pages,

As if unwrapping a fragile gift he wished to display for all,

The Old Man would hold us enraptured as he proclaimed

the events of the Virgin Birth

- the journey, the shepherds, the angels and the kings.

The Old Man had spent hours laboring, devotedly preparing the account,

Thus ensuring that the tale unfurled was alive with vigor

And not a mere legend vapid and stale.

Rather, he revealed a true chronicle

of the events from which the Old Man drew strength.

He would unfold before us his love for the promised child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

When the account was closed,

eyes all around would be swimming.

Hands would be held, and a great circle formed;

While words of thanks,

words of praise,

words of promise and deliverance

would be shared by all who were encircled around this seemingly broken man of strength.

Drawing a breathe,

a great pause would fill the air,

As the steel blue eyes,

not cold but flaming with love and devotion,

Would caress each soul gathered.

With passion and care,

the Old Man would issue a command,

one that was unthinkable to not obey.

“I don’t want this circle broken,”

He would speak of his love for all there.

He would speak of how he knew it could be done.

He would speak of his love for the Child.

This Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

The Old Man knew his sand was running thin,

his body worn out, burdoned by a soul that would not be contained.

A rendering would be demanded, an answer to be given…

“Did you tell them of Me?”

The Old Man would not allow those in his care to take leave

Without knowing the only way to be joined to that circle,

To rest assured with the circle unbroken,

Was to join with the One the Old Man loved most of all,

this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

The Old Man is gone, swept away home

by the angels he so loved to share about.

His dust and his words are carried to the ends

on the gale winds of life.

Yet the Old Man and his words stand vigil for all.

In the heart, mind and soul of those who bear witness

to the Old Man’s love,

to his life,

to his circle unbroken.

To this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

And the circle still stands;

despite the members that have gone on.

Unbroken and strong;

It has been beaten, it has been battered, it has been bent.

But it has not been broken, no, not yet.

The Old Man departed far too soon,

but he did not abandon us, no he did not.

nor did he leave us with empty hands.

For those he loved he left a great treasure.

But don’t be confused.

The Old Man left not cash, not land, not sparkling jewels.

This was not the great treasure that the Old Man could provide.

No, the treasure he left us, is far, far more rare.

It is the rarest,

it is the finest,

it is the costliest gift that could ever be.

For there is but just One.

This rare and fine gift,

that cost God His One and Only Son,

Is the circle unbroken, won by Lamb’s precious blood.

This, and only this, is the one and only treasure that the Old Man left.

This treasure of the circle unbroken.

With this Child, this Savior. His Savior. His Jesus.

[This poem written by my oldest son, Micah, is about Paul Alvin Milner my grandfather. All that Micah said was so true. I am so glad Micah knew him.]

Hampton, VA then Pastors Conference Haiti

2011-02-18T12:05:00.004-05:00

I will be preaching at the Hampton First Friends Church, Hampton, VA Sunday Morning @ 11 A.M. then Sunday evening through Wednesday @ 7pm. The church is located 1062 Big Bethel Rd. Hampton, V.A. 23666. Frank and Janet Penna will lead the worship and music for these services.

I will go from there to our Pastors Conference in Haiti. Please be in prayer for this conference. We will have 27 leaders. Leading the conference will be Pastor Wes Davis, Pastor Wayne Stephens, Haiti Field Director, Max Wright, Chris Reason and myself. The conference will be all week. Bill Ferrar of Fountains of Hope will speak in the early part of the week training the pastors how to maintain the water filters for their community. It is our hope to have a water filter at each church. There will be an encouragement to the pastors to minister to the people of their community as they come to draw water.

We will ordain two pastors as well. I will put their pictures here for you to pray for them and the other pastors and leaders from out 10 congregations. Top Picture is Recius Chalemong- Drouin Churfh and then Likenson Etienne- Botso Church

Asbury to Anderson #13 Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to know

2011-02-12T12:09:00.005-05:00

One of the most exciting things about the Asbury Revival was how it spread to other places. It was beyond expectations to see witnessing become such a powerful way to see churches and individuals totally changed by just telling what happened. It seemed at times the least likely to be effective instrument was the most effective. Invitations from other colleges and churches poured into the offices and to the student after the seven days of no classes and all-out revival at Asbury.

My friend Hal Phillips stopped me in the hall of the dorm and said, “Don’t you live near Anderson, Indiana?” He was helping to form a witness team to South Meridian Church of God and invited me to go. As we left the campus heading to Anderson it seemed that a growing boldness became a part of us.

[Pictured is one of the witness teams that I traveled with on a regular basis. James Aycock holds the guitar. He lead our worship and now pastors in his home state of Georgia. Behind him is Edwin Cain who was such a gifted preacher and orator. He pastors in Tacoma, Washington. Harold "Hal" Phillips is on the right. Hal's story "From the doors of the Orphanage" is a wonderful book describing God's rescue of his family from brokenness. His testimony was always a powerful part of our witness in churches. He and his wife Kathy are both pastors in Michigan.]

Readers, you must understand the culture was different. You seldom heard an athlete or well know person come out and talk about the importance of Jesus in their life. Today it seems we have everything just out there to hear, look at and examine. I don’t think I would be overstating that we were part of busting out telling folks of the joy of Jesus that was generational and wide sweeping. It was a day when many were speaking out, mostly in protest of government and the war. It was “in” for college students to be speaking out, but not about Jesus Christ.

We were so excited about Jesus. When we passed cars on the interstate as we headed to Indiana we would hold up signs that said, “Smile God Loves You.” When we stopped at gas stations we talked to everyone we could about Jesus. That may seem trivial or immature now; it was bold and and somewhat unpredicated then. Upon arrival, we scattered across the Anderson College campus dorms inviting everyone we saw. As we went we were even bolder. Everywhere we went we invited all we came in contact with to South Meridian Church of God for Sunday morning service saying, “Jesus Christ is going to be there!” “In person?” some would ask. “Yes, He will be there in person!” In the end, Jesus Christ was there “In Person” for 50 straight days and between estimated 5000-7000 people came to faith in Jesus Christ.

When Sunday morning came, the South Meridian auditorium was packed. There were seven of us from Asbury on the witness team. We did not know each other really. Jim Usher was a seminarian and knew Pastor Charles Tarr of South Meridian. Jim was the leader of our team. One of us, Chris Sanchez Davis , was our only singer. We eventually all gave a testimony in the morning service to what we had experienced at the Asbury revival and how it had affected us. Chris sang “Without Him.” She sang the chorus in Spanish, “Christo, Oh Christo.” Her song melted hearts. I think we invited folks to the altar three different times and each time there were more than we could pray with. Many did not need counsel as they prayed around the altar; God was meeting the needs as they came, at their seats. It was orderly, but not scripted. It was spontaneous but “on earth as it is in heaven” comes to mind.

They asked us to stay for the evening service, then a Monday night service. It was more of the same except we had really said all we knew to say in the morning service. We just tried to say no more no less than what we had on our heart and invite folks to the alar for prayer. Chrisy sang her song a couple more times. The power of God was so strong, people who tried to resist getting right with God found it difficult. It seemed the strength of God’s power was increasing. After the Monday night service , Pastor Tarr said we could go to back to Asbury, they would continue on without us. As I said before, they did continue on, 50 days straight. At times the South Meridian auditorium became too small. People were already standing around the walls of the auditorium and setting in open spots of the platform and in the emptied baptismal. They moved the services to Civic Center.

Everywhere, people would hold up three fingers, Pastor Tarr started it. He said it was a finger sign that missionary E. Stanley Jones used meaning “Jesus is Lord.” Marques downtown Anderson read, “Jesus is Lord! Attend Asbury Revival of Love.” The whole town and region went up in fire, not physical fire, Holy Ghost fire. It was a moment in time for those of us there unlike any other. God reigned. The focus was always the same, people getting rid of sin and receiving forgiveness. The focus was on Jesus, not gifts, some teaching, it was Jesus. It was like riding a wave that overcame everything in its way, a spiritual tsunami. It was so much bigger than man or woman but I think it was just a tiny piece of God.

I couldn't believe it happened to me Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to Know #12

2011-02-11T12:16:00.003-05:00

In my self-centered world of despair, the Lord had mercy on me. It was Wednesday, February 4, 1970 of the 2nd day of the revival at Asbury College. I had stayed up all night in Hughs Auditorium experiencing the most exciting event I had ever been a part of. People were giving their testimonies, asking for prayer for themselves and others, singing praises to God at the top of their lungs. It was just awesome.

Prayers seemed to be answered quickly. In the land of Narnia, Aslan was on the move! We were on the move. We were all swept up in it. The floodgates of heaven were open! It was raining answered prayer as people were coming to Christ on that campus and wherever the witnesses of this God power-driven event could tell it. I am told that witnesses began to broadcast on the short-wave radio to missionaries that revival had broken out on the campus. As the message spread it was overheard by fishermen in the Pacific Ocean on their boats, some came to saving grace of Jesus Christ. It was on! It felt like we were living the pages of the New Testament. No one wanted to miss a report or miracle. It was riveting.

Finally, reluctantly, I headed to my dorm room for some sleep. It had been 24 hrs. I slept about 4 hrs., showered and hurried back to the auditorium. The Head Resident of my dorm was sharing his testimony as I found a seat on the right as I entered. He was not a college student but attended Asbury Seminary across the street.

He said something like this, “God has just done something wonderful for me, he has filled me with his Spirit.” He stated several things he already knew were new and rejoiced at God’s presence in His life. Well, I was glad for him, but it somewhat stole the joy for me.

I had heard all my life, because of my parents and family, the theology that a Christian needs to be “filled with the Spirit.” I think I understood my dad’s preaching on the subject. He said, basically, that after one accepts Christ we have the third person of the Trinity in our life. However, does He really have us? Acts 2 was recited and used to show that believers could have additional power in their lives if they would truly make Him Lord of their life and not just the Savior who forgave us of their sins. The struggle Paul describes in Romans 7 with the “Things I don’t want to do, I do and the things I want to do, I don’t do” are answered in Romans 8 with the Lordship making way for the power of the Spirit to give us strength. I knew this, this had never happened to me, and my daddy had something of God that I did not have when it came to the power and victory of Jesus Christ in my life.

I also was aware of the theological controversy of the Holy Spirit among serious Christ followers. Here was an area where many disagreed and went their various denominational or non-denominational ways. I was aware that some emphasized the spiritual gifts as a sign of this infilling. My daddy used to say, “Seek the giver, not the gifts, let Him take care of the giving.”

As I sat in chapel that Wednesday afternoon I sensed the Lord saying, “Wouldn’t you like to have that power of Me in your life?” “Oh, yes! I said, but not me Lord. It could not happen to me.“ I felt I was too much of a mess up.

I had been filling pulpits of country churches for preaching even before I got my driver’s license. It was like God turned on a video and I started seeing faces of people in the churches where I had preached. My desire was to be used of the Lord but I could not think of one person who had sought the Lord as a result of my preaching. “Wouldn’t you have like to have helped them?” I sensed Him saying. I really sensed Him leading me in that direction, but I thought, “Does this really exist? Is there something He can do to me? I’m a mess.” “If I go to the altar, everyone will think I am a backslidden preacher.” Funny, I had just gone to the altar to pray in front of everyone the day before because I was a backslidden preacher.

I decided I had nothing to lose but my pride. I got up and walked to the altar and knelt and said, “God, I do not know if anything of this "being filled with the Spirit" exists. I don’t know if you can make me different, but if anyone ever needed you to change them, it is me. But Lord, if this (meaning what my dad and others had preached and testified to) does not exist and I just need to try harder to please you and obey you, I will just keep trying.” It was not a great prayer of faith I suppose, but it was totally sincere. I told Him he could do anything He wanted to do with me. I felt such despair about my condition and awareness that I failed Him daily.

In my heart and spirit, I sensed that God had heard me and that He was sending something my way. I felt like a catcher who was waiting for the ball after the pitcher had thrown it. Suddenly, a shot of overwhelming joy and energy went through my inmost being. I jumped to me feet and shouted a yell of victory. I didn’t really mean to, it just came out. A senior from my dorm had knelt next to me to pray with me. He said, “Ought oh! We have a shouting Quaker!”

I felt like and overflowing fountain, such a mixture of joy, peace and strength. I hugged a few people and walked back to a middle aisle seat and sat down. As I walked I kept thinking that what I felt inside was familiar. “Where have I experienced this before?” And then it registered, “This new I felt inside of me was what I had felt around my dad all my life.” He just seemed to have something, a presence. And now, I knew it was in me! Me! Oh, anyone else could have such, but not me!” I wept openly for joy. I weep now as I type. I am so unworthy that He would put Himself in me, …. but he has.

As I sat there in my seat it was if I was a tank being filled with living water. I thought, "Oh, no, I am going to cause a commotion." I really am not sure what a commotion is but I was filling up with joy and it was about to come out. I headed for the door. As I made the front steps of Hughs Auditorium I let out a shout of joy, then another. I was bursting with joy. I ran down the steps and down the sidewalk. It was pure joyful energy and I was overflowing.

As I went, I met a lady on the faculty. I never liked her much, but she seemed fine now. “I said, “God just filled me with the Spirit!” She said, “Yes, I can tell.” I really did not know what to do with myself. I was just walking, praising God and letting out this energy of joy I felt in my heart. I walked down to the IGA grocery store and walked up and down the aisles of can goods. I do not know why I went there. I just kept shouting shots of victory. Whatever, I had, it was Him and I was His and He was mine.

I then headed back to my dorm room. I thought maybe I could settle down a bit. I just lay in bed and every once in a while the joyful energy would overflow and I would shout again. I cried and wept for joy, whatever this was, I knew I could not be the same again. I also knew it was not based on emotions, this came from something other than me.

I did not know that day, it would just get better. I did not know that from that from that day on when I stood before people He would be with me in a way that would change lives. No, the joyful, overwhelming energy is not felt like it was that day, but I wore a new brand. I was not mine, I was His. I love it!

I do not share this hoping someone may have the same or similar experience. If you don't believe it, that is between you and the Lord. I would rather you had a personal, unique experience between you and the Lord that convinced you that God can meet you deepest need and empower you to be all that God has planned for you to be. All I know is that I have never been the same, I am still understanding what He can do in and through me. I do know the less of me and the more of Him the better. We are still working on that. To you who read this I say, "Take what you need from my witness, leave what you don't" Blessings!

Snapshot of a Revival - Asbury College 1970

2011-02-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

Asbury College Revival-Day 1 Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to know #12

2011-02-10T23:52:00.003-05:00

It had all started in the 10 A.M. Tuesday chapel February 3, 1970 in the little village of Wilmore, Kentucky just south of Lexington. I was standing in line to get into chapel that Tuesday and I overheard two guys in front of me talking. “Hey, did you hear about that prayer meeting last night? God told us that revival would break out in chapel today!” In my sarcasm I thought, “Yeah right, we have a prophet running around on campus!” The other guy said, “I heard Dean Reynolds has called for a “Testimony Chapel.” I thought this is going to be boring.

I was not at a good place emotionally, spiritually. I was a depressed freshman who did not have spiritual victory in my heart. I had not accomplished my dreams. I really desired to succeed in sports in high school and had not realized my dreams. I felt like a failure. I was severely depressed every day. I was in love with Carol. We had planned to go to Malone College together. At the last minute I had changed to Asbury because I knew that was where the Lord wanted me to go. Looking back, it is a miracle that I did not go to Malone just to be with Carol. I had visited her often during the first semester riding buses and hitch-hiking to see her. On one of those occasions I had proposed marriage to her and she had accepted. I missed her and that just added to the depression.
Asbury College was also very strict. It seemed full of rules and was much more confining than what I was used to. My parents had trusted me to behave and I don’t think I had disappointed them. I had decided to join Carol at Malone after my freshmen year.

I went up to my assigned seat in the chapel balcony. Sure enough it was a testimony chapel. Dean Reynolds who had been the scheduled speaker instead shared his experience with God. He then asked others to do the same. Students started getting up all over Hughs Auditorium and sharing their faith. It was interspersed with singing and prayer. It soon became apparent to me that the Lord was really there. I sensed His presence.

I also began to feel bad about myself. I knew I had wrong attitudes and actions. I was ready for this chapel to be over. I felt guilty and uncomfortable. It may have been the first time that year that I was eager to go to class. Dr. Hunter, the philosophy professor, made his way to the podium and said something like, “Now, before we go, I believe the Heavenly Father would want us to have an opportunity to pray. Let’s stand and sing and if you would like to come and pray at the altar you are welcome to do so.”

The altar in Hughs Auditorium is a long solid wood rail stretching the width of the room. It was a place for students and all to kneel and pray. Soon, the entire altar was completely lined with students. The bell had sounded for classes to begin, but no one seemed interested. There was a magnetism and pull to be in that auditorium and experience this unusual presence of the Lord.
Soon I found my way to that altar and told the Lord I was sorry for my failures and sin. I had prayed similar prayers so often it was embarrassing to me.

I then began to enjoy the awesome event that was taking place. Lines formed across the platform of students waiting to share their new-found joy in Christ. Students would ask all of us to pray for family members who needed Christ, then they would go call them on the phone and tell their family how Christ had met their need. Time and time again, the doors near the platform would open and a joyful student would rush to the microphone to report how those on the other end of the phone had received Christ. I had never seen or experienced anything like it. Long lines of confessors stood behind the podium and shared their stories. Theft, cheating, jealousy, and lying were just some of the sins being named. People were asking forgiveness of one another. This was often followed by hugs and joyful tears and laughter.

The auditorium was getting fuller as more people were filling the room. The noon hour came and went. Afternoon classes were dismissed. Across the nation college students were marching in protests. Here we were having church like none of us had ever had church before! This was a room full of joy and victory.

I couldn’t leave the Hughs. I was afraid I would miss something. I think that is the way most of the students felt. There was a presence of God in that room that was very Old Testament like. It was almost physical in impression. It lasted all night. I left in the evening just long enough to eat a quick bite of food and hurry back. It was too exciting to miss anything. The place was packed with people, it was midnight, but it was packed. I stayed the night not even wanting to leave for sleep. The hymn “To God be the glory” seemed to be the song of choice. I struggle to find the words and phrases to describe these seven days and nights.

The local television news reporter asked viewers to stop what they were doing and watch his report of the revival sweeping a college campus. Video showed the altar and students praying and testifying to Christ’s forgiveness in their lives. Viewers saw the students singing with raised hands of worship. Soon reports started coming in of other places experiencing revival. We knew we were being caught up in something of heaven and earth. Even then I thought, we will never be the same. It has been my experience that those of us who were on that campus at that time cannot separate ourselves from those moments and those changes in lives. We were witnesses to the presence of the Holy and the Almighty. I wish I had better words.

The Bethel College Revival Things I want My Children and Grandchldren to Know #11

2011-02-08T18:59:00.011-05:00

I have seen similar revivals to Asbury/Anderson in the past 40 years. In 1991, God sent a revival to the Bethel College campus in Mishawaka, Indiana. I had given testimony to the Asbury revival in a Friday morning chapel. The response was immediate as not only were students finding Christ as Savior, but confession of wrongs done and restitution were taking place. I knew it had happened again! When the students and faculty left Bethel campus that weekend the revival went with them! It quickly spread throughout the entire Missionary Church denomination. According to then Missionary Church President Dr. John Moran, the revival had a lasting change on the denomination that has lasted to this day. Bethel College certainly has never been the same. It has tripled in size as students who seek a deep relationship to Christ have recognized the spiritual depth on campus. Chapel services continue to be a place to experience God.

I remember sitting on the front row of Bethel Chapel, which was held in the college cafeteria, waiting to bring the last message of that “Spiritual Emphasis Week.” I was only being given 20 minutes to speak. I had a problem. I sensed God was asking me to share about the Asbury/Anderson Revival including my testimony of being filled with the Holy Spirit. How could I do that in 20 minutes? I prayed “Lord, you know me, I cannot say ‘Hello’ in 20 minutes, this seemed impossible.

As I sat on that front row next to my dear friends, Bob and Marilyn Ham, I also had an old spiritual sensation inside. It took me back 21 years to the Anderson Revival. I felt heaviness in my chest that I remembered feeling as I walked up the steps to the pulpit area on Sunday evening that first day of the Anderson Revival. It is hard to explain that feeling. I regard it as spiritual, yet it feels physical. God seems to have at times allowed me to sense the burden of sin in people’s lives. In its strongest form it seems at times to take your breath away. I thought to myself as I waited to preach, “God is going to do it again.” In the next 20 minutes, He did it again.

People started walking to the altar area of chapel that day before I could finish. They knelt and prayed and wept. Maybe as many as 50-70 people. Soon people were apologizing to each other over one of the microphones. I thought to myself, “This looks and feels real.”

This is how one Bethel writer described it,

The first eight services went well but the Spirit was not moving. Gary remembers being frustrated with the lack of response, the spiritual sleep of the students. Then Friday morning came and Gary felt that God called him to present his testimony and to share about the Asbury revival. Then, with an open invitation, God showed up.

Dr. Rod White-Stevens, a professor of chemistry at Bethel, sat near Dr. Dennis Engbrecht. When the service neared conclusion, Dr. Rod sensed that God was telling him that the service must not end. He scribbled a note to Dr. Engbrecht telling him not to stop chapel.

Each person who attended the Friday morning service remembers the huge response: people crying, lines to the microphone to confess sins and ask for forgiveness, praying, singing, joy, calling family and friends. Holtgren remembers: “As is often the case when God chooses to move in a mighty way, confession of sin was the catalyst. I remember students walking up to an open microphone, confessing their sin(s) and asking for God’s forgiveness and the community’s forgiveness. There was a genuine sense of remorse, and a determination to turn from sin and embrace holiness.” The service lasted for four hours. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day and a special worship service was planned for later that night, even though the regular Spiritual Emphasis services were finished.

It truly has proven to be real revival. I remember sensing the Lord speak to me. He said, “Your work is finished, do not say another word.” I saw an empty seat that someone had vacated on the back row of the chapel so, without saying another word, I walked off the pulpit area and sat in that seat. Again, I sensed the Lord speaking to me, “I said, you are done, leave now!” I got up and went to one of the campus leaders and explained that I needed to be on my way. I went to the room I had stayed in and packed my bags and left. I did not return until two years had gone by and Christine wanted to visit the campus.

Dr. Dennis Engbrecht sent me reports from time to time about the revival spreading throughout the students churches and wherever that went giving testimony. I must admit I was thrilled when Chris chose Bethel. During her visit as we walked the campus we would be introduced to faculty and students. “Gary was the speaker when the revival came,” they would say. I could tell few remembered me. I thought, “This truly was revival, they don’t remember the messenger. That so encouraged me.

Later my son David wanted to visit Bethel. Before the campus tour the admissions representative took us to a room to introduce us to Bethel. She began, “The center piece of Bethel College is that in 1991 God sent a great revival to this campus.” She explained that she had not been a student there but explained the far reaching spiritual changes. I sat there and listened to this history with tears rolling down my cheeks hoping she would not see or hear my emotional state. Carol reached over squeezing my hand. Later in the day the young lady came back to me and apologized for “not knowing who I was.” I said,” Hon, don’t apologize you just gave me one of the great experiences of my life.”

In true revival, I believe people are not so aware of the messengers, they think of God. This was true of the Anderson, Asbury and Bethel revivals.

It seems that God finds the college campus more fertile for such movements of the spirit in recent centuries in America. This I do know, those who experience it are not the same. True revival lasts at least for the generation that experiences it.

I have given my life’s work to renewal in the existing, older church. I have preached coast-to-coast, border-to-border in churches of all kinds of evangelical theological persuasions. I have known what revival looks and feels like. I occasionally sense revival in varying portions in the local church. But real spiritual renewal should turn the number of conversions into a growing normality in the church. It should last for a whole generation. It must last for at least one more generation. True revival that we evangelicals should seek should not dissipate in weeks and months. Is the intensity seen in new churches only for new churches or can it exist in the older church too? What is it in the newly planted church that makes it the best method of evangelism? What is it that happens to the church over the years that causes it to decline or plateau? Can the plateaued or declining church return to its early success?

Asbury and Anderson Revival Part 1 Things I Want My Children and Granddchildren to Know #10

2011-02-08T17:32:00.004-05:00

I can never remember not wanting to be in ministry. I am sure as a child if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you that I wanted to be an evangelist. I know to some degree I got that from dad. Dad loved doing evangelistic work. He loved preaching revival services. These were situations where he was asked to be a guest speaker/preacher in churches that he did not normally attend. He would preach in a church from Sunday morning, evening then each night of the week, usually ending the second Sunday night. He was successful in stirring the passion of Christians to be more intentional about influencing their friends and family to become followers of Christ.
My ministry started in 1970 when as a freshmen at Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky; I witnessed and experienced, along with the others on that campus, a great revival that moved thousands to receive Christ. Many others, like me, made life changing commitments to God during those seven days and seven nights of spontaneous and continuous revival services. I along with many others experienced a presence of Christ that would be the rudder of direction in our lives. At our class reunions “the revival” is still what most claims as the most important ingredient of their college career.

In the weeks that followed the revival, I was also on a witness team from the college and seminary to South Meridian Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, near my home. God used our team to spark revival fires that not only swept that church, but also the Anderson University campus and the city. Some say as many as 5000-7000 made commitments to Christ during the 50 days of nightly services that out grew the South Meridian Church and moved into the civic auditorium. [The above picture is from the Anderson Hearld Bullitin 2/2010 on the anniversary of the Anderson Revival]
It was a fantastic period to live in. What followed in the weeks and months, and for me years, was amazing. Most of the places I gave a descriptive testimony of what happen to our campus, along with my own story, revival in a similar form or pattern, would take place. This was not just my experience, but almost all students; faculty or college staff was used in a similar way to spread the revival. It was highly contagious!
The conversions were genuine. Over the past 40 years I have met and talked to so many lives that were changed in those days. It was wonderful, and lasting. Many of us who were witnesses, at least in the first few months and years after the Asbury revival have had it shape our lives vocationally.

Down through the years as I have stood on stages and platforms throughout this country and world, and because of those revival experiences, I have felt I understood some of what God wanted to do in existing churches and Christian’s lives. I have seen what can happen when the presence of God comes just like those Mt. Sinai experiences in the Old Testament, or the Holy of Holies, and the book of Acts movements of the Spirit. I have seen God melt hard hearts in seconds during times of His felt presence during these revivals. It became, for others, and me, a measuring instrument, an awareness of what can be done by God in just moments! It became a powerful memory, a hope, even as the tide of revival seemed to dissipate over time. I can honestly say we see a similar number of people respond at the end of such services, but the commitments seem less convicting and lasting. It is also seemingly more in response to the way God uses men and women in ministry than the overwhelming presence of God that changes lives so quickly.

Forced Faith Things I want my Children and Granddchildren to Know #9

2011-02-07T23:08:00.001-05:00

Dad and I were invited to hold a tent meeting in Anderson, Indiana in the early 70’s. It was held on the land of an old ministry school that was no longer functioning. Dad and I would take turns preaching and Carol and I did the music. It was a tough neighborhood. [pictured Dad and I]

One night a gang leader gave his life to Christ. The next night he came and brought his gang. He stood at the end of a row of chairs and pointed for them to set in the row. When the invitation was given, he stood and looked down the row at his gang, then pointed to the altar. One guy in the gang refused to go to the altar. So the gang leader put his arm in a hammer-lock and forced him to the altar. Obviously, this is not a recommended method of evangelistic persuasion if you desire true disciples of Christ.

It was interesting to pray with them at the altar in this forced type situation. Dad thought it was really funny. Several of the kids made serious commitments. The leader of the gang was quite serious about the Lord. Life is so interesting sometimes.

You have to be all shook up to be a Christian! Things I Want My Children and Granddchildren to know #8

2011-02-05T22:12:00.006-05:00

I was 5 years old when dad announced that I was going to memorize scripture. We lived in the parsonage at Oak Ridge Friends Church near Marian, IN. It is now Liberty Friends. The first verse I was asked to memorize was Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.” I do not know how long this lasted and what other verses I memorized but I remember this one. [Dad and I pictured]
It was at this church that I gave my first public testimony. Friend’s congregations had a culture that encouraged what they called a quiet time. This may have actually been a time of silent prayer and meditation; however the congregations I grew up in usually had times of testimony during these regular worship experiences. Again, I was 5 when I decided I wanted to give a testimony. I would set in church during these sessions trying to think of something to say and then not have the nerve to say anything.
Finally, I decided to do it. I thought it might help if I sat on the front pew. I hoped dad would have the traditional time for this activity. I had been trying to think of something to say. On the particular day I gave my first testimony I was thinking of paint. I had on many occasions accompanied my dad to the paint section in the lumber yard stores. I watched as they blended various colors of paint together. They would mix the colors together then put them on a “shaker”. To a child this machine was fascinating, but when finished the paint had blended together in one new fantastic color. My five year old brain was thinking how God had a way of blending our life experiences together and it all comes out in an awesome way. However, in my nervous first time testimony struggle I stood and said, “You have to be all shook up to be a Christian,” and then sat down. Poor dad, he did not know how to respond as he sat in the pulpit.
Unfortunately, I have been confusing audiences ever since with things that make sense to me but not communicating quite what I was thinking.
As I grew into ministry, my dad often had to deal with my faux pas. I remember as a high schooler I was asked on a regular basis to lead the singing in worship. One Sunday morning preached an awesome, passionate sermon that called for a commitment from the congregation. My job was to choose a song of invitation at the end of his message for the congregation to sing. It needed to be a song that challenged listeners to make a step forward in their relationship to Christ. I chose what I thought was an appropriate song. What I did not know was there were two songs in the hymnal of the same title. The song I led the congregation in was most inappropriate. First, no one knew it, second it was a march and not at all an invitation. I was devastated. I had ruined my dad’s Spirit-filled passionate sermon. I destroyed the moment. Many in the congregation found it hilarious. I begged dad for forgiveness. What was his attitude? “Hey, I know you did not mean to make that mistake, it is okay buddy!” I apologized profusely, if it bothered him, he never let me know. Dad was a wonderful mentor. I just wanted you to know these things.

Dad and Prayer "Things I Want My Children and GranddchildrenTo Know #7

2011-02-04T15:26:00.003-05:00

Dad’s Prayer Life
Now for those of you who do not know what I am talking about when I say dad “shouted” while he was praying let me explain. My father usually prayed out loud. Often, this was at a louder volume than normal speaking. Dad seemed to have a goal in praying, and that was to “pray through” to “touch heaven.” That meant he would pray until he received some kind of witness of the Spirit in his heart that indicated victory. Often when that victory came it was like a spiritual shot of adrenalin hit his soul and he would let out a shout of joy. He often would shout several times in a row and that spiritual victory seemed to splash around onto the people in the room. I never knew my dad not to exhibit this behavior. He acted this way all my life. I am a little hesitant to share these things, as I do not want to have readers take dad’s prayer habits as cavalier. Dad’s prayer life was such a positive blessing to most folks who knew him or really loved the Lord. However, to those who did not desire the new birth or were not concerned with the Lordship of Christ, dad’s behavior could be a problem. [Dad and twin sister Jeanie- also a pastor]
If he did not get that spiritual victory during prayer he would pray to discern what he felt in his heart, who, what was God talking to him about? He would pray until he got some spiritual direction or focus in his heart about the object of prayer.
If you went to him and asked him to pray for you, he took you serious. “Now Lord,” I can hear him begin to pray. Most of us felt like dad had a spiritual “hot line” to the Lord. I will never forget when my older two children were talking to Carol and me about a crisis in our family and asked, “Does Papaw know about this?” It was both a question and statement. The statement was we want Papaw praying for us and if he is then we are in a better situation. That never offended me because in tough times I was wondering, “Does Papaw know about this?”
A truly defining moment for me was August 22, 1994, when dad passed away in Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. He had suffered a brainstem stroke during a heart bypass and had been in a coma for several days. My brother Mark and I were with him. All the monitors stopped recording life. I said to Mark, “He has stopped breathing.” Mark leaned forward and kissed dad on the forehead. As we turned to tell the rest of the family that Papaw just “slipped” into heaven as he would say, I reached for the curtain to exit the area of his bed. I thought, “Oh, Oh, my kids just have their mom and me to pray them through now.” It was and still is an overwhelming thought; I have tried to embrace it.
People who knew dad often say to me, “I sure liked to hear your dad pray.” I always give this truthful response, “Me too.”
The last years of my dad’s life were interesting in many ways. Without mom he seemed to lose all inhibitions in prayer for some reason. It was probably just the hours of solitude and grieving. He prayed so much out loud, when you rode with him in the car it was confusing. Was he talking to the Lord or to you? Often, I could not tell. While unsettling, at least to me, it was also wonderful. Jesus Christ was so real to him. If you knew him, this was all genuine and totally his relationship to Christ. There was nothing more real to him in his life than his relationship to Jesus. It was the very essence of who my dad was. I felt the presence of Jesus with him throughout my life. It was real. It is to be desired. When I read the stories of great men of God in the Bible as a boy, I never thought they had anything on my dad. Some things never change. I just wanted you to know, I hope I captured him in these words.

Fairfield and Dad Things I Want My Children and Granddchildren to Know #6

2011-02-03T22:49:00.002-05:00

Fairfield
It’s a little town that no longer exists except in the mind of a few Hoosiers. I am one of them. “Fairfield was a small village in northern Franklin County, Indiana, but it is a town that really no longer exists. In the 1960's the Corps of Engineers built Brookville Lake. Fairfield was the only town in the Whitewater River Valley, so the town was inundated. There were attempts to move the town, but most folks just moved elsewhere. All of the cemeteries were moved to one location east of the former town site,” says Lyndon Irwin on his genealogy page.
Yet it provides a rich memory of my dad. I was about 10-11 years old when my dad was asked to preach services at a new church plant in the little town of Fairfield, In. My dad and I traveled to the church, it was a small garage that had been converted to a church, it was one small room. They had built a platform and an altar out of 2 x 4’s. The lumber had not been covered; it was not finished, just nailed together.
Later, I heard dad say he was taken aback by the small and unfinished facility. My father was a successful revivalist. God used him as a tool to bring spiritual renewal to congregations. As a result, usually unchurched folks would find Christ as a product of the believers in that congregation being fruitful in their new found deeper walk with Christ. However, was there much to work with in this little place? Why was he here?
I remember it was just dad and I as he knelt at the raw framed altar before people gathered for the service. Dad did his usual and prayed out loud. I listened to dad’s prayer as he struggled to pray at first, then, as he often described, heaven opened. The presence of God was there and dad prayed louder with excitement and stopped and shouted a bit.
I observed the Lord working through my dad that week, which I think was extended a second week of services because so many people were being introduced to Christ. There seemed to be a neighborhood group, on the wild and promiscuous side, that was around the little town and church. I am sure there was not much else to do in the little town of Fairfield.
One of the girls from that group came to the services. I think her grandmother was requiring her attendance. She mocked my dad while he was preaching by setting with her legs on the seat in front of her, deliberately exposing more of herself than she should. She would look at my dad while he was preaching and laugh and make fun of him. I heard him describe all this to mom when we would get home. Other friends peaked in the windows making noises and throwing rocks onto the metal roof of the church while dad tried to preach. It was quite entertaining really. These disturbances escalated during the week. Dad’s reaction was one of joyous determination. Instead of being offended he seemed to embrace it all with prayerful enthusiasm
Of course, the highlight of these services was when the teenage girl ran to the altar towards the end of the week, wept loudly, and asked God to forgive her of her sins. She and dad became immediate allies in a mission to win her rowdy friends to Christ. I am talking about the ones that had been throwing the rocks on the metal roof. One by one they gave their lives to Christ. Dad would tell this story for the rest of his life. I believe it was a great lesson to him in prayer and perseverance. My grandfather Milner, came and helped him with the music during this time. Granddad led singing and sang solos with his powerful voice. He experienced great joy with these services too. I wanted you to know what a wonderful man your grandfather was. He only stood 5’6” but he was a spiritual giant. I just wanted you to know.

Grandparents Next Door Was Awesome Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to Know #5

2011-01-28T17:37:00.004-05:00

Growing up next to my grandparents was awesome. Grandmother was a stay-at-home mom and grandmother. Grandmother Milner was the worst checkers player in the world. She always lost. I am not sure when I realized she did this on purpose. It may have been when I realized my cousins always won too. She wanted to encourage us and build us up and that was one thing she did. This was her MO for grandkids. She would listen to your problems and was so encouraging.
[Pictured right are my grandparents Paul and Luella Milner on their 50th Wedding Anniversary November 19,1975]
Grandmother was a sewer. She made a lot of clothes for my female cousins. One of the things she did each year I was in grade school was to make my costumes for Halloween. The school would have contests each year for who had the best costumes. It was a big deal. We would go single file into the gymnasium and be judged in several categories. The school would have a panel of judges who gave prizes for most creative, or most original, etc. There was not the awareness at this time about Halloween’s connections to the occult and such. It was just about dressing up, candy and parties. One year grandmother took a pair of my pants and a long sleeve shirt and sewed the Sunday comics on them. I think I had a hat as well. I was just one big Sunday Comic! I won that year, in fact, I usually won something. My favorite was being a hobo. I do not know what the prize was for being a hobo but I won several.
Our house and grandpa and grandma’s house were only about 25’ apart. There was no air conditioning in the summer when it was hot. We just opened windows and turned on the fans. Often, at night after we were in bed I would sing. I mostly sang songs I learned in church. I always liked singing. Dad sang and whistled all the time. Mom loved music but couldn’t sing. My grandparents’ bathroom was across from the room I was in. Grandma would call out to me, “Gary that sure sounds pretty!” I was an only child for my first nine years. I am pretty sure I had it made. I was well cared for by mom and grandmother and had dad and grandpa for male role models.
For some reason when I was a child, I was scared of the dark. I was certain that there was something crouching in the darkness to get me. Shadows on the ceiling and walking between the two houses after dark were frightening. So my mom taught me to call grandma on the phone and ask her to “Watch me” as I would run between her house and ours. She would “Watch Me” and my mom or dad did the same from our house. Although they tried to explain I had nothing to fear, I was never convinced. They did not make fun of me, the just “watched me” and let me outgrow it. Today, I see this as very loving and kind. I will never forget a night in Haiti when I lay in bed next to my cousin Max and thought about how dark it was in Haiti when there is no electricity for lights. Suddenly I thought about our orphans and how they had once lived on the streets without lights because most had been abandoned. I have never gotten over the awareness of their plight in the darkness. It still drives me on their behalf today.
I know I have been blessed with family who loved me and were so kind. I believe they are a part of that mighty cloud of witnesses cheering us on that Hebrews makes reference. Those four have cheered me on since birth. Why would they stop now? I do live with an awareness of not wanting to disappoint them or failing them and the standard they set. I do not see that as an unhealthy pressure. I am blessed and I just wanted you to know.

"I do not want this circle broken" Grandpa Milner Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to Know #4

2011-01-26T12:49:00.003-05:00

One of the best memories for me about my grandpa Milner was Christmas. Christmas Eve was usually when we would gather with my Aunt Bernice, mom’s sister, her husband Robert Wright who was dad’s oldest brother, my cousins Max, Susan, Joan and Donna. [Granpa Milner handing me a present, Donna watching and sister Joan] We would have Christmas Eve at the Milner’s house in Wilkinson.
The anticipation of this evening had been building for months. I could hardly wait for my cousins to arrive. I loved them dearly and enjoyed being with them. Still do.
The meal was fantastic. We had great cooks. However, the best was the talk and stories around the table. The adults usually told stories about the past and various events. They were usually stories we had heard before however they were told well and with great laughter. I believe it was here I fell in love with storytelling. It was so fun and interesting to me. Of course all three families loved Jesus. Parts of the stories were Him and how our family members walked with Him. Again, overhearing the gospel is so powerful. Here, we children overheard how the life in Christ was lived out and verbally expressed. Daily, back at home we saw it lived. All three families were deeply involved in ministry therefore that was a part of the stories too. It was a wonderful place to be, I think we kids knew it was and even appreciated it at the time.
It was the protocol; no presents could be opened until all the dishes were washed. It seemed to me that our family was cursed with the slowest dishes washers in the world. We children we very anxious to open presents but we had to wait. Finally, the dishes were done, but now grandpa had devotions. He was such a meticulous man and he seemed to work hard to make the Christmas story from the Bible fresh and new each year.
Meanwhile, we kids were ready for presents. Once again there was something else, prayer. After, the Bible was read grandma would ask all of us to get in a circle for prayer. They even asked us to hold hands. I could tell that even the adults didn’t want to do this. Yet we all did what the old people wanted to do. Why? We loved them so much, so we were going to do what they wanted.
I recall that circle the last several times we did it. Grandpa must have sensed that time was bringing it to an end. He looked us all in the eye with his blue eyes and said, “Now I do not want this circle broken, I want us all together in heaven.” He then made sure we knew what it took to get to heaven. Wow! It was powerful then and maybe even more now.
Well, all in that circle walk with the Lord Jesus. We are invested heavily in spreading the Jesus Joy we experienced in that little house in Wilkinson, IN around the world. Several are now in heaven and we miss them but we are trying to widen the circle with our children and grandchildren. I just wanted you to know.

Granpa Milner Part 2 Dad's Coversion Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to Know #3

2011-01-23T21:22:00.004-05:00

Part 2
Granddad’s lack of mobility due to his injury had to be difficult for him because he had been a powerful man physically. He played football on a small town team, Wilkinson, in high school that was the state champion his junior and senior years. He was a fullback and linebacker and the punter and kicker. He was 5’10” and weighed about 200 lbs. Yet he ran the 100 in 11 seconds flat in gym shoes, on grass without a starting block. He was fast and good. Butler University offered him a full scholarship but he had to turn it down to support his parents, brothers and sister.
He entertained all of us with great stories about the primitive days of football. He was physically tough. This was a time when they played football with leather helmets, no face guards and shoulder pads that were held together with shoestrings. His only major injury was when one of those shoestrings broke and he took a knee to the collar bone which broke. In the spring of his high school senior year they were invited to play Butler University’s varsity during the latter’s spring practice. Granddad’s team was not in shape and had not been practicing. Nevertheless, they played Butler to a tie. Grandpa said he was so sore he was unable to get out of bed the next day.

He dated my grandmother in a horse and buggy, yet would watch people walk on the moon. No generation had ever seen such change in human mobility. He was a detail man, precise and so organized. Everything had a place. I am sure that he asked God to give him strength to endure and not bring harm to my dad and myself as we were always moving his stuff and losing it. In that way, he and my dad were opposites. Dad was a good improviser and did a lot of adjusting on the go. In spite of their differences they were close in friendship and what the Bible calls fellowship. Dad came from a large family; Grandpa Milner had two daughters and no sons. I saw him treat my dad like a son. I know my dad needed that kind of love. He really embraced it.

I was told that my dad was working on the motor of his car. He got frustrated and angry and threw a wrench at the car. It bounced back and hit dad in the face. Grandpa had been watching this. Soon he walked out and said, “Gene, I’m going to the Hatfield Camp tonight. Would you like to go with me? Surprisingly, dad said yes.

The service was at the John T. Hatfield camp, Cleveland, Indiana. Hatfield was the “Hoosier Evangelist” during the early twentieth century. The camp meeting was held in a summer auditorium, the floor was fresh saw dust and shavings. The camp meeting would invite several evangelists and speakers and musicians. They would hold these services for several weeks of summer. Those services were a favorite of dad’s own maternal grandfather, Frank “Happy” Harris.

Granddad Harris had been a barroom musician and alcoholic. My dad told me many stories of granddad Harris’ drinking. I will not put them on paper. I am told that at the age of 55 he gave his heart to the Lord Jesus. The stories go that bets were made in the before attended bars that three weeks and “Happy will be back!” Those who placed those bets lost, our family won. His influence on my dad was eternal.

I guess granddad Harris [pictured along with my great grandmother Mary Harris] was emotional and passionate. Dad often said to me, “You are very much like Granddad Harris.” After his conversion he attended the Friends Church in Shirley, Indiana. On occasion when blessed while playing his many stringed instruments he would flip the instrument over his shoulder and up through his legs back into playing position saying, “I used to do this for the devil now I do it for the Lord. He also taught dad’s sisters to play and sing harmony.

He would loan his car to dad while dad was dating mom. He would say, “Drop me off at the Hatfield Camp and you can have the car and then pick me up on your way home.” He invited mom and dad to the services but they would go to the movies instead. My dad deeply loved him and I am sure it was mutual. Dad was in Germany at the end of World War II when he heard that his granddad passed away. The sadness of never seeing his granddad again, never left my dad.

I can’t help but believe that all the above influenced my dad to accompany my grandfather to that camp meeting that night. I believe the evangelist was Earl Starnes. Dad said he felt like the guy was just talking to him that night. Dad said he named all the sins that dad had ever done. When the evangelist invited people to come and kneel at the altar and ask forgiveness of their sins my dad did not go. The preacher walked around in the crowd and came right to my dad. He asked my dad if he was a Christian. Dad told him, “No.” “Would you like to be? “the preacher asked. Dad said, “Yes.”
He went and knelt at the altar and began to pray. After a while someone asked him a question inquiring if he had a peace about his sins being forgiven. Grandpa Milner was close by and said to those praying, “I don’t think he’s got it yet, let’s pray some more!” They did. Dad said he heard grandpa praying, “Lord, show him the light!” He thought to himself, “If Dad Milner said I should see a light, I better be looking for one.” So he said he looked up and when he did he saw a light shining through the roof of that building and right into his heart. He immediately felt clean inside and shouted the victory of that moment. Later, as he studied the Bible he read about the light that the Apostle Paul saw on the road to Damascus. He got all excited explaining to my mother that this must have been similar to the light he saw as well.

Leaving the auditorium that night he said he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his Lucky Strike cigarettes and threw them across U.S. 40. He was a three pack-a-day smoker with a pipe in-between. He never smoked again as he felt this was something the Lord did not want him to do.

I have told you the above the best that I can remember. I heard dad share this testimony often. It seemed like he would work it into every time he spoke or preached. It was as if he just had to tell it. It seemed he never got over it. None of us should get over our coming to Christ, Amen?

My grandpa Milner mentored my dad to walk with Jesus. I remember my dad going through a difficult time when someone had cheated my dad in business. It caused my parents severe financial difficulty. Dad did not want to sue them since he was a minister and they were claiming to be Christians. I heard dad discussing it with grandpa, then I saw my grandfather put his arm around my dad and say, “Gene, we are in this together, we will get through it.” We did.

We have had great men in our family. I wish you could have met them all, be sure that you do someday.

The God of Paul Milner Part 1 Things I Want My Children and Grandchildren to Know #2

2011-01-21T15:22:00.003-05:00

I have been reading in the Old Testament and am reminded how important the phrase “from one generation to another,” seems to be. If you believe, as I do, the Bible is the Word of God, and that while he spoke through the personality of the many different writers of the Bible, the finished product we hold in our hands is what He chose for us to have as “His Words.” I figure if He can come up with photosynthesis and hang the planets on nothing, He can make sure we have the right words to look to as His Word.

In the Bible they are always listing that He is the “God of Abraham, Isaac”, etc. I want to remind you as my children that you have that kind of heritage. I could say with all truthfulness that the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the God of my great grandfather Frank “Happy” and Mary Harris, Gerald and Mable Wright and all their children, Paul and Luella Milne and their children, Robert and Bernice Wright and Gene and Barbara Wright, William David Addison. We have a family who has not only had faith in God-Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ has come to the center of all those lives at some point as the foundation of all things, the Source.

Let’s be clear, none of the names above were perfect people. Like us, their lives were filled with wrong choices, actions and words. However, all of them, and I do mean all of them made their choice at some point in their lives to make Jesus Lord. We all get things wrong in life. We all make some bad choices. I am sure you can enumerate some of mine, especially those that may have affected you in a negative way, but I hope you and your children do not get it wrong about Jesus Christ. He has been proven to be the life-source and the eraser of poor choices. My vocab goes bankrupt talking about Him.

It has never been difficult for me to find models to pattern my life after. We have awesome men in our family. I grew up next door to my mother’s parents in Wilkinson, Indiana. I lived there from my birth to the time I was 16. When I was five we lived for a year in the parsonage of Oak Ridge Friends Church, near Marian, Indiana. Dad was pastor of that congregation. It is now Liberty Friends but the house we lived in is still the parsonage.

My parents purchased a lot next to my grandparents, from my grandparents in Wilkinson. They built a small house that was later tuned into the car garage. That was where they lived when I was born June 11, 1951. I was born in the hospital in New Castle, Indiana. By the way, your mother was born in that same hospital and we shared the same family physician, Dr. Scott, who was a good friend of granddad Addison.

My parents later built a larger house on the lot. My first memories are of this newer house. One of those first memories is that I was playing with some dishes in a cement bag. However, by mistake I flipped the fine powder into my eyes causing instant stinging and pain. This may be my first memory as my dad came and picked me up and washed my eyes with water. Both of ]these buildings along with my grandparents’ house are still standing as of this writing.

Living so close to my grandparents all those formative years shaped my life. Grandpa Milner,[pictured as I called him was awesome. He had to retire early because of a hip injury. Almost half of his life, he walked with a cane, crutches or a walker. He was injured going to work in an auto accident. It was a car pool. He was sitting in the back seat where the impact was. He spent most of that second half setting of his life in his recliner or out on his screened-in porch. His lack of mobility at times had to be frustrating to him, but it was my gain. He was always there for me.

He stayed positive, was never bitter, and made the best of a really difficult injury that would cause him great pain, discomfort and inconvenience for the rest of his life. He made it clear that Jesus was the Lord of his life. He could be caught everyday reading and studying the Bible. He was a great teacher of adults at Sunday School. He was also a church vocalist and singer. He was built like our Jonathan. He had a powerful voice when he sang. Most importantly he lived what he taught and sang. He was clearly a man of God.

I wanted you to know these things.

Things I Want My Children And Grandchildren To Know #1

2011-01-20T14:22:00.004-05:00

Things I Want My Children And Grandchildren To Know.
One of my earliest memories is the day I asked the Lord Jesus to forgive me of my sin, and then I asked Him into my heart.
My dad [pictured holding me] pastored Grant City Friends Church north of Knightstown, Indiana. He was making a pastoral call to an elderly lady in the church who was home but dying of some illness. I think her name was Maude Chew. She lived near Shirley, Indiana. It was only about 5 miles from our house in Wilkinson. She lived on a farm and had barnyard animals.
I was four years old. I do not know the date but I think it was a Saturday. Dad was a stone and brick mason during daylight hours of the week. However, since his call to preach, he was always “on” when it came to ministry. I think he was making this ministry call on the weekend. This was dad’s first pastorate. He started the year I was born.

Dad was reading scripture about heaven to the dying woman. She was a believer so it was encouragement to her. My father was good at talking about heaven. I remember, them laughing and talking joyfully about her near future in heaven.

However, the talk was not received with joy by me as I overheard the “gospel”. I was overhearing this as I went in and out of the house, I was interested in the barnyard animals. I found the talk of death and end of life troubling. Soon we were back in the car and headed home.

I remember standing up in the back of the car leaning over the front bench seat as dad drove. No, there were no seat belts then. I was greatly troubled and distressed about what I had overheard. They were rejoicing about her dying and going to heaven. I just felt guilty about my sin. Heaven was not a place I felt I was going.

As we reached the curve on the Shirley-Wilkinson Road I said, “Dad, I want to get saved.” It must have caught him off-guard as he said, “Well, do you think you can wait until we get home?” I said, “Yes,” but I remember dad stopping at the intersection of St. Road 109 and the Shirley Road in Wilkinson and thinking, “Dad don’t pull out in front of anyone, I am not ready to go to heaven!”

We pulled up in front of our house in Wilkinson and we went in. Dad dragged the old gold footstool out and suggested we kneel and pray. I remember with his encouragement, I asked Jesus to forgive my sin and come into my heart. Then dad assured me I had done what God required of me according to the Bible. I remember standing up and thinking, “That was too easy.” Looking back, it is too easy compared to the cost at Calvary. Jesus Christ has made it as easy as possible for us.

Now, you may think, “How could a child of four understand such things?” Let’s, just say that if you were raised by Eugene and Barbara Wright, you were immersed in Jesus talk and expression. I have also come to believe that overhearing the gospel is one of the most effective ways to encounter Jesus Christ.

My dad was just doing his job; he was making a pastoral call. But as was his habit, he took me with him. God truly blesses us when we are doing right things even when it is just what seems required of us. Erwin McManus calls it miracles in the mundane of everyday life. I call it the day my dad influenced me to give my heart to Jesus. My mom had been doing daily devotionals with me. She was a stay-at-home mom who read children’s stories about children who lived for Jesus, “Little Susie and Friends” was just one series she used.

That day, and the good in the days of my life since, are a direct result of these two Jesus passionate people I call mom and dad. I miss them every day. They are just in a “country” [Hebrews 11:14-16]" a prepared place, a heavenly homeland" that does not receive phone calls. I really would like a phone call though.

I just wanted you to know these things.

Lord I lift Your Name on High!

2011-01-01T13:55:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful way to start the New Year! I got a call from Haiti and our children in the orphanage. Pastor Luc and I exchanged New Year's greetings and then the children started singing "Lord I lift your name on high." Wow!

They also called and sang to Joy Clouse who donated the funds to purchase the land for the new dormitories that were built by offerings from Brandywine Community Church and others.

BCC's Pastor Paul Galbraith was given a tour by the children of the new dorms. He said they were so excited as many had their own bed for the first time.

The team, led by WR-Haiti Field Director Max Wright, Pastor Paul and Pastor Wes Ireton who is the grandson of Jesse and Dori Ireton. The Ireton House is the name of the dorms as Jesse and Dori encouraged the first connection between WRI and Pastor Luc Joseph.

The team is installing new water filters purchased by Brandywine Community Church in the orphanage and Luc's house which is also World Renewal-Haiti headquarters.
Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T15:57:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who made the Birthday Party for Jesus possible for children in Brazil, Mexico and Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In this picture Heather Moraes is preparing the gifts for the children of Brazil. Helping her are Dan, Cody Jessup and her mother.

Carol and I were blessed by a Christmas card from my cousin Max and his wife Lea. The card read,

"From His first cry in Bethlehem to his final cry at Calvary he has never stopped His undying love for us."

I can't imagine it being said better. Thank to all and for stopping by.

Benjamin 2

2010-12-14T10:01:00.007-05:00

WITHOUT HOPE…. THEN JESUS CAME
By Gary Wright
I first wrote this story 8 years ago. Now it continues. God gives us such encouraging moments.

I had just spoken to the leaders of the various mission organizations at our first Mission Conference sponsored by our new seminary in Carpina, Brazil. Walking across the lobby of the seminary I was introduced to Benjamin. Benjamin was a casually but neatly dressed Brazilian in his mid-fifties. It was obvious to me from the shaking of his body he had Parkinson’s disease.

Tele Moraes, our World Renewal Brazil President, asked me to talk to him, which I found odd since I can’t speak Portuguese. Nevertheless, with Tele as my translator, Benjamin introduced himself to both of us. He had noticed on several occasions the sign of the seminary and wondered who and what we were.

If ever I met a desperate man who had lost hope, it was Benjamin. Once a prominent math teacher, trained in the best schools and universities, Benjamin had lost his job because of the disease. Not even his prestigious family heritage of famous doctors could keep him from living on a meager pension. Benjamin’s social life with friends had vanished, as friends felt uncomfortable with his shaking body and voice. Unsure of how to relate to Benjamin they stopped associating with him. Benjamin’s face was tense, sad and tearful as he poured out his miserable state in life. This was not a man whining. This was a man in the greatest state of despair. One friend said, “Just put a bullet in your head and end this!” Benjamin said, “I still respect life, I can’t take my life, but what do I do? No one wants to be around me. My daughter and granddaughter live with my wife and I. It is a joy to have them, but it is a financial burden too. I am trapped into deciding between my medicine and milk for the baby.”

Benjamin continually ran his fingers through his hair and over his face as a man does when he is under great stress. He had even gone to a priest and a childhood friend who is a pastor. They provided no answers.

I began to talk to Benjamin and ask him questions. I said, “Peter and John in Acts 4 went up to the temple to pray and found a crippled man begging. I am going to tell you Benjamin what they told him, ‘Silver and Gold, I do not have but what I have I give to you.’ Benjamin I give you Jesus.”

I noticed Benjamin focused his eyes on mine as Tele translated my words. I could tell he was touched and attracted to what I was saying. I could feel the “Jesus Factor” drawing him in. “When I was a boy, I use to listen to an old pastor on the radio talk about Christ, it gives me chills on my arm as I think about it,” he said rubbing his arm.

I shared the plan of salvation with him emphasizing God’s desire to join him in the battle with this disease. I encouraged him that the seminary and our churches were full of people who would not reject him because of his illness, but would join him in overcoming in his battle. Was he ready to pray and receive Christ I asked? “I did that when I was a young boy, he confessed.” I encouraged him to go back and pick up his cross where he had laid it down. He smiled at me and he repeated a simple prayer of repentance through translation.

When Benjamin raised his head and looked at me, I immediately saw the transformation. With each second it seemed desperation and despair were being replaced by joy, peace and hope. Soon a broad smile radiated from Benjamin’s face. Physically he still had Parkinson’s but he was being changed by the sweet spirit of Jesus from the inside out.

He suddenly asked, “Where are you from and who are you?” Tele explained where I was from and that I was only there for a few hours. He had heard of Indianapolis because of the Speedway. Then a thought hit him like a shot. “You are both the Presidents of World Renewal and World Renewal – Brazil and I have both of you.” He glanced around the lobby at all the busy people. I knew God was making Benjamin feel special. He looked at me and said, “And you are here all the way from Indiana in the USA? (about 7000 miles) God sent you to me didn’t he?” Suddenly, Benjamin smiled, then laughed, he realized what God was doing. Then we all cried together tears of joy. Without hope, then Jesus made the “divine intervention.”

Today, December 14, 2010 I was setting in the cafeteria of our school in Brazil. In walked Benjamin. He lives many miles away and had not visited the school for many years. It just happened he stopped today! He told us of his life in Christ. He lives with his daughter and her family and attends church with them.

We reminisced of the moment he accepted Christ, he pointing to the geographical spot, and cried and prayed together. It was an awesome moment for me. “Thank you Jesus for more than I could ask or imagine.” Oh, what a Savior, O Hallelujah!
God pursues those lost children, He does not give up.
Thanks for stopping by.

Picture taken 12/14/2010

Glory Sports

2010-12-13T20:57:00.003-05:00

It was a joy to see Glory Sports Ministry in Brazil, a ministry of soccer our son Jon Wright started this spring. It has grown from a handful to over 140 boys each week. I had prayer with them before they loaded the bus to play a nearby city, their first road trip. The ministry combines sports with Christ and the Bible. Next we hope to add volleyball for girls.

Rejoice...as I think about it, again I say Rejoice!

2010-12-08T13:55:00.004-05:00

"Rejoice, yes, and to really think about it, again I say, 'Rejoice!" I think that is what the Apostle was saying as he closed his letter to the Philippian church. I feel that way. 2010 was a tough year for us earthquakes, cholera, floods, financial down year, loss of security in some sensitive countries, yet look what God has done! New orphanage facility in Haiti, new retreat facility in the Dominican Republic, launching of Recovery ministries in Brazil and Mexico City along with Glory Sports in Brazil. The planting of new churches in Mexico, Haiti and Brazil.

JESUS CHRIST + ALL of These Things + Your Help + MORE OF GOD = Changed Lives=New Christ Followers!!!! GREAT FORMULA, HUH?

RENEWAL the band is 21 years old. Wow! I feel the miles on my body, I thank God for His safety over those miles and the thousands of lives changed. PTL forever!!!!

Again I say rejoice!!!!!
Thanks for stopping by. I am on my way to see the wonderful people of Brazil.

Two Church Buildings Lost in Hurricane Along With A Brother

2010-11-08T21:49:00.008-05:00

We learned today that two of our Pastors in Haiti lost the church structures where their churches meet. Pastor Arnold in Botso and Pastor Imfranc are without a place for their congregations to meet because of huricane Tomas. More importantly, Pastor Arnold's brother was killed by the storm. We will need about $2000 per structure to rebuild. Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti. Pastor Imfranc is familiar to many because of his picture kissing his red Bible. Pastor Arnold picture hugging Field Director Max Wright is a joyous image as well. The structures were simple tin roof buildings but served the purpose. Thanks for stopping by.

Haiti Hurican Tomas

2010-11-06T22:37:00.002-05:00

Check out the Haiti blog, link at left, our orphans and Luc are fine!

Haviland KS

2010-11-02T19:21:00.002-05:00

Haviland Invite

.Here is the announcement from Sunday if you would like to see it! Remember:
FRANK
and JANET PENNA INVITE YOU to meet
and hear World Renewal Brazil missionaries Tele and Heather Moraes here in the
HFC fellowship hall Thursday, Nov 4. They will share about the vision and
exciting opportunities for church planting in northeast Brazil. Recently
Evangelical Friends Church - Eastern Region, WRB and World Renewal
International have partnered together to start planting Friends churches.
Frank (former HFC Minister of Music) has been to Brazil 3 times this
year. You will hear updates and information about how you can be
involved. Refreshments will be served at 7:00 p.m., followed by an
uplifting presentation from 7:15-8:00..

God is Moving in Brazil

2010-10-26T14:34:00.004-05:00

BRAZIL'S FIRST EVANGELICAL FRIENDS CHURCH

Frank Penna says, "You can sense the excitement in Valmir's report today about the meeting last Saturday night. To have 30 adults from the community is amazing. It shows they have been doing a lot of personal contact. The rest of the sentence means that most all of the Community Church of Carpina were also there as support and to lead the worship.
Another person comes to Christ, and another Bible study is started!"

Cholera Takes One of Our Best for the Children

2010-10-26T12:16:00.004-05:00

Rosanna's mother,Concilla Constant Carlemont, was hospitalized for treatment for Cholera but passed away last night. She gave loving care to our orphans. She was the main caregiver. Max Wright , our Haiti Field Director could hardly hear Luc on the phone for all the grieving in the background. We can pray and provide funds for water and medical hydration. Funds sent thus far to WRI have already been wired. Thanks for stopping by.

Cholera Sweeps Hait and Claims Pastor Luc's Father

2010-10-23T20:14:00.001-05:00

Please take a moment and pray for our dear one's in Haiti. Cholera has claimed the life of Pastor Luc's father, Verilus, last night in Haiti. Cholera is mainly spread through unclean drinking water. It is a serious outbreak and over 200 are already dead. Luc sent 1000 gallons to his village yesterday. Please go to our blog: http://worldrenewalhaiti.blogspot.com/ for more information. Thanks

Cholera Outbreak Claims Pastor Luc's Father

2010-10-23T13:17:00.007-05:00

We need your help in prayer. Cholera is sweeping the nation of Haiti and last night claimed the life of Verilus Joseph, Luc Joseph's father[Pastor Luc's mother and father above right]. Please check out the story at the Haiti blog listed below. The epidemic is in the area where our folks live. Mr. Joseph's village, Droin, [seen right with Frank Penna] where our first church was planted by Luc has never had the best water source. You will read that Luc sent clean water to his village. This is a serious threat. Clean water is essential. Please pray. Thanks for stopping by.

For more information read the following blog:

http://worldrenewalhaiti.blogspot.com/

prayforme@worldrenewal.org

2010-10-21T10:07:00.004-05:00

We are inviting anyone who wants Pastor Jack to pray for them on the Welcome Home Broadcast to send prayer requests to

prayforme@worldrenewal.com

We will just mention first names or the need. This provides a way for thousands to unite in prayer in a simple way three times in a single weekend. Just email your prayer request to included site by Thursday 1pm. Blessings!

Listen and watch online: http://www.welcomehomebroadcast.com/

Thursday 5-7pm, Saturday 9-11am, Sunday 8-10 pm FM 88.1 The Jesus First Network

Thanks for Riley Days Blessing

2010-10-12T08:03:00.010-05:00

We are grateful lfor all who stopped by the World Renewal booth [above] at the Riley Days Festival. We were able to see our friends and make new friends as thousands passed by. We really appreciated the help we received from those who came to assist with the setup and hosting the weekend events. Thanks to Marty and Jennifer Hensley for the airtime on the Jesus First Network across Indiana. Please check out online http://www.welcomehomebroadcast.com/ including achived broadcasts to watch and hear or listen on WJCF FM 88.1 each Thursday from 5-7pm, Saturday 0-11am and Sunday 8-10pm.

Pictures: Above McKayla McPherson, Randy's daughter, joined Gary on the broadcast and introduced her favorite song, "Free to be me" by Francesca then rocks out as it is played. Below-Steve Turner, World Renewal-Brazil Field Director, discusses an upcoming visit to Indiana and the USA by World Renewal-Brazil President Tele and Heather Moraes. Gary is joined by Martin Hensley, founder of the Jesus First Network, Randy McPherson, The Welcome Home Broadcast announcer. Bill Reed is always there to serve our ministry or that of his church. Thanks Bill and all who helped. Thanks for stopping by.

God Gave Me The "New Song"

2010-08-11T12:22:00.008-05:00

The young man argued with his dad about the church music. "These ugly hymns" were just not cutting it for the 18 year-old. His dad was the song leader at church. His reaction was predictible. "If you cannot be reverent, you should keep your mouth shut about things which do not concern you."

The young man explained that he not only did not like many of the hymns that he perceived to lack biblical depth, but that he and his brother were writing their own songs for church and they hoped to publish them. The father laughed and sarcastically said, "That old hymnal was good enough for your grandfather, and your father, so I reckon it will be good enough for you!" [Photo by Jeri Perry Reichanadter]

Then the dad said, "If you don't like our hymns, then let me hear one you have written which is better." The young Isaac jumped at the opportunity, "Father, I have one which is better. Will you listen to it?" "Well, read it!" the father barked. When the young man had read five stanzas of his first song to his father, his daddy put his arms around his son and apologized for his closed mind. He asked for a copy of his son's song.

They sang the song the next Sunday at church. People loved it! They asked for more songs to be written. It swept through the churches across the nation. In fact he prepared songs that were sung new every Sunday for the next 222 Sundays. One he wrote was the following:

When I survey the wondrous cross,

On which the Prince of Glory died;

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

These lyrics from Isaac Watts's 1712 hymn are considered the "perfect hymn" by some and so loved by the generations of the church since it is written.

Isn't it interesting that each generation of the church struggles with the tension between new and older generations over worship music. Oh, that we would listen like Isaac's father did, who from then on was his sons greatest supporter. Balance, mixing the "New Songs" the Lord promised to give in the Psalms, with the older songs of the previous generations must be the goal. Each generation seems to need to express their love, feeling and faith in Christ in the style of music of their generation. Yes, tension is part of the transition. I believe we who are gray must "listen" as Isaac's dad did. We have opportunity for guidance and mentoring when we do. We lose the opportunity for such when we are just into what we want and need.

[Living Stories of Famous Hymns by Earnest K. Emurian was a resource.]

I love the church don't you? Thanks for stopping by.

2010-08-06T15:35:00.002-05:00

Two wealthy Christians, a lawyer and a merchant, who traveled with a group that was going around the world. As they were visiting in Korea, they saw by the side of the road, a field in which a boy was pulling a crude plow and an old man held the plow handles and guided it.

The lawyer was amused and took a snapshot of the scene. He turned to the missionary, who served as their interpreter and guide, and he said, "That’s a curious picture. I suppose they are very poor." The missionary replied, "Yes, that is the family of Chi Noue. When the place of worship was being built, they were eager to give something to it, but they had no money, so they sold their only ox and gave the money to the church. This spring, they are pulling the plow themselves."

The men were silent for several moments, then the businessman replied, "That must have been a real sacrifice." The missionary said, "They do not call it that. They thought it was fortunate that they had an ox to sell." Lord, that I would love you like these.

Thanks for stopping by.

Renewal Band Live Video

2010-07-21T13:36:00.001-05:00

Live from Brandywine Community Church

Haiti Shipment Arrives!!!

2010-07-08T09:08:00.005-05:00

Word came last evening that the shipment arrived for Pastor Luc and the Christ Compassion Orphanage. The children were thrilled to get the 31 mattresses. It was the largest shipment for World Renewal. It seemed to take forever for the actual shipment however we are just glad it arrived. Pictures show the shipment outside the World Renewal Warehouse. Thanks for stopping by. Jesus is Lord.

Renewal at Brandywine July 4

2010-07-03T14:22:00.005-05:00

Gary and Renewal will minister at the Brandywine Community Church July 4, 10AM. I love doing ministry with these men. They have one purpose, do their best for Christ in order to introduce folks to Jesus Christ. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Haiti Ophanage Walls Going Up!

2010-05-18T10:33:00.003-05:00

Thanks to all and to Brandywine Community Church for the construction offering for the Orphanage. We are still in need of about $15,000 to finish the dormitory because of the extreme raising of material costs after the earthquake. Pray for us. Thanks to all and for stopping in. Check out the Haiti, Brazil and Mexico blogs that are on the left of this blogs for the latest pictures and news.

Let me proclaim Your power to this generation.

2010-04-17T21:59:00.004-05:00

18 Now that I am old and gray,do not abandon me, O God.Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,your mighty miracles to all who come after me. Psalm 71:18 NLT
This has become my life verse in recent years. I love the new generations and believe they have what it takes to meet the challenges of our day. I love mentoring and bringing along those who are younger or younger in the Lord.

I am excited about my own children. Micah is in seminary at St.Vincents and looks forward to being a pastor, David presented his paper at a philosophy conference in Atlanta today. He desires to continue to teach at the collegiate level. Jonathan is doing mission work in Brazil with our good friends Tele and Heather Moraes. Christine and Family serve Jesus at an Evangelical Free Church in Colorado Springs. She is a leader in MOPS and leads young mothers to Jesus. Today my wife had a birthday. Physical pain kept her at home but she worked on her class work for her masters in Spiritual Formation. I am proud of them all and hope I am an encouragement to each one of them and those they have chosen in life.
Thanks for stopping by.

Haiti Picture Exhibit and Sale at Brandywine Community Church

2010-04-07T21:59:00.002-05:00

There will be a picture exhibit and sale at Brandywine Community Church Saturday from 6-8pm. Jeri and Perry Reichanadter's pictures from "Where Love Dwells" Haiti will be shown and sold for funds for Haiti. These are awesome pictures. I hope you will stop by if you live in the area. It will be a blessing! Brandywine is at the corner of New and Blue Road. Thanks for stopping by.

Max Wright In Haiti- Is the World's Concern Waning?

2010-02-19T13:40:00.003-05:00

Thursday of this week Myself and Herve Louis are headed to Haiti. At last we're able to get a commercial flight into Port au Prince. Until this week if you were not flying in relief supplies, or a member of a medical or rescue team it was very difficult to get authorization for a flight, one of the few options was a Private or Charter flight into Haiti, not in our budget!!
Our need to be in the country were not that critical since we were able to get relief funds into the country.

The needs are still tremendous but I hope to be able to give a better assessment 3 weeks from now.

I would request that you pray that God will give us wisdom and insight of how we will best help in the future.

Only 4 weeks after the earthquake, the world is now turning to new news, to fill the 24hr news cycles. The report is more than 215,000 people lost their lives, and yet the reporting is waning, were it not for the return of CNN's Anderson Cooper I don't know if there would be any International TV reporting at this time.
The news reported that they were having a national prayer vigil in Port au Prince.

However a Friend of mine living in Port au Prince told me last night that for 3 days the country has been in Revival. She indicated God is moving in the hearts of the people. Pray that this continues.
by Max Wright World Renewal-Haiti Field Director [check out Haiti Blog on left]
Thanks for Stopping by

Haiti Bound This Week

2010-02-16T20:15:00.003-05:00

Max Wright the Field Director for World Renewal-Haiti will leave at the end of this week for Haiti. Let us remember him in prayer. Max has been to Haiti over 35 times in spite of some difficult physical challenges. He just battled through pneumonia once again. Please pray for his safety as he travels and success as he meets with Pastor Luc to evaluate and plan the construction of the Ireton House dormitory for Christ Compassion Orphanage and the construction of the school/church on the same property. Max will also be preparing the ministry of A.B.E.L. or the goats and chickens project.
"Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news."
Thanks for stopping by.

Love One Another As I Have Loved You

2010-02-12T14:34:00.004-05:00

Recently a friend wrote and described to me their hurt and frustration. Illness had changed their ability to go to the church they had attended for almost two decades. No one from the church called or checked to see what had happened. Loss of ministry opportunity also added to feeling a lack of purpose. They were asking me "Where is the 'family' aspect of the body of Christ?" This is how I responded to my friend:
[Tele Moraes, Gary and a Brazilian radio broadcaster at breakfast, just talking.]
I do not doubt for one moment that your experiences are true and just as you described. I believe it is part of our fast paced culture and win at all costs mentality that causes even church people and we leaders to overlook those we love and care for. I have done this as a pastor and leader. I fail people too.

I recommend turning the energy and passion of your hurt against the devil. Go the second mile in how you treat people like family. That is what I try to do. I love long term, family type relationships. I work at trying to extend them. I feel I must be an initiator of treating people "as I would want to be treated." It takes the long term but often there are even some short-term victories.

I believe God blesses our effort. I try to treat people as if they are what I think they can be, even if they are not there yet. It allows potential to become hope, hope to become a manifested reality. It does not always work out that way. But even a small percentage creates such powerful change with Christ.

Jesus told his followers to "Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12 NIV Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry when talking to folks. I do not think people feel that way about me. Lord help me, please!
Thanks for stopping by.

Hope for Haiti

2010-02-11T01:09:00.003-05:00

HOPE for HAITI

It has been a challenging month. I will never forget the moment our Office Administrator, Peggy Kingery, called me and said, “Gary there has been a earthquake in Haiti.” We have ministered over 10 years in Haiti. We have had many sad and difficult situations. You do not get used to disastrous news, but when you know a country and its people are on the edge, your expectations are in a different set of readiness. Nevertheless, an earthquake? I quickly began reading the news reports on my computer.. “This is really devastating,” I knew immediately. You know the rest.
Praying and evaluating our situation in Haiti with our staff began. Almost all of our work was about 90 miles or more from the epicenter of the quake. After several days we learned that our facilities in the second largest city of Haiti, Gonaives, are fine. We also knew that the resilience of the Haitian people would put them on the move to flee to our city for help. They have arrived by the thousands most with just the clothes on their backs. We have tried to be as ready as possible. Remember, our city and ministry are still rebuilding and recovering from the devastating hurricanes and flooding from September 2008 and before. Our first step was to open a Haiti Relief Fund. I knew we need to help ourselves, others or both. Here is our plan:

· Haiti Relief Fund [100% of donations goes to Haitian needs] The response has been so encouraging! $22,000 so far. Food and supplies have tripled in cost. Our challenge is to meet the long-term needs as well as the immediate. We hope folks will not forget Haiti as time goes by. We need this fund to continue to grow.
· Christ Compassion Orphanage is an essential to provide for “orphans in their distress” as James wrote. In the past months we purchased land, and have the funds for the dormitory, The Ireton House, to be built. We will need another $50,000 for the school/church facility on that same land.
· Orphan Sponsorship [$30/Month] will allow us to care for more orphans that we created in just a few seconds of earthquake. We must first get complete sponsorship of the 27 orphans we have allowing us to care for more. At this point most of our children have little chance of adoption. They were found on the streets abandoned and without family. They are being educated, fed, loved and cared for in a Christian environment. We believe they can be key leaders in the future.
· Church Planting is still our first and imperative goal. Why? Raising up a Great Commission Church in any community or neighborhood is the best act of love humans can offer. Great Commission Churches fulfill the Great Commandment in offering the body of Christ to human beings. These churches will meet the many needs of a community and people. We have 11 congregations and 9 pastors, 5 of those churches have schools. A functioning School of Ministry to train pastors and leaders is scheduled by fall of 2010.
· A.B.E.L. Agricultural Businesses Enriching Lives is about chickens and goats, at least for now.[We hope to add other ways in the future.] A female goat-$75 or brood of chickens-$25 will provide a business and milk and eggs every day to a Haitian family.

Please join us in prayer and support of these long and short-term plans of Hope for Haiti. If you have questions, please call me 317-513-9042 or our Haiti Field Director Max Wright 317-590-6099. Max, according to his wife, has made over 35 trips to Haiti. He is just one of our extremely effective volunteers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Haiti Update: Running out of food

2010-01-25T16:00:00.005-05:00

This report from Max Wright or Haiti Field Director:

I hadn't been able to talk to Luc since Monday, but he called tonight[ Saturday January 23]. He said food is drying up in Gonaives area, and he is leaving Monday to find larger amounts of food. His family is OK as well as the children. He ask that we pray for Pastor Michel of Petite River church,[pictured] I did not understand if he was injured in the earthquake or if it was his family. But God knows. Pray for safe travel for him and that he will be able to locate relief food to help the people that have migrated to the Gonaives area.

Over $7500 has been given to the World Renewal Haiti Relief Fund so far. As the WRI Treasurer Dean Cobbs said, "For every dollar donated I am sure there is a thousand dollar need."

Thanks for stopping by.

Indiana Yearly Meeting Pastors Retreat

2010-01-20T19:54:00.004-05:00

I had the pleasure of speaking three times last weekend at the Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends Pastors at the Essenhaus Conference Center in Middlebury, IN. This is the group of churches that I grew up in as a boy and young man. It was these folks that I was first recorded as ordained of the Lord to be an evangelist and pastor. Doug Shoemaker is the Superintendent of these churches scattered across Indiana, Michigan and a few in Ohio. What a joy it was to minister to these pastors and their spouses. I preached about the Apostle John and how he was "the disciple Jesus kept on loving,' Jeremiah who was chosen in his youth do a tough calling and finally the women who bleed for 12 years before touching the clothing of Jesus. Thanks for stopping by.

Haiti Fund Raiser

2010-01-20T18:17:00.003-05:00

Buchanon Unity-Ministering in Praise and Worship-will be performing at the First Baptist Church, 709 S. Memorial Dr., New Castle, IN. on Fri.-Jan. 22nd- 7pm. All proceeds will go to benefit Haiti.

Listen to W.J.C.F. radio-88.1 fm -Welcome Home Broadcast -Thurs. 5-7pm to hear Gary interview Daniel Buchanon about the bands music, motives and thier love for Christ.
Thanks for stopping by.

Hait Relief Fund and Update

2010-01-19T15:19:00.004-05:00

Haiti Relief News Release
January 19, 2010 1p.m.
World Renewal Int’l
Greenfield, IN 46140

Pastor Luc Joseph, President of World Renewal-Haiti reports that his city of Gonaives, Haiti is filing up with people fleeing from the ravaged Port Au Prince and beyond earthquake damaged areas. He states they are arriving with nothing but the clothes on their backs needing food, water and medical care. Gonaives is about 90 miles from the Port Au Prince capital city.

Pastor Luc first made contact with World Renewal, Haiti Field Director Max Wright on Friday night January 15 by going to a phone office in his city. Since then his cell phone service has been restored and daily contact between Pastor Luc and Max is taking place. Pastor Luc reported that he and his family and our orphan children are all fine. Praise the Lord!

While we are glad that people are reaching this city where little earthquake damage occurred, it presents a huge challenge for Pastor Luc, our staff and the people of that city who are still recovering from the hurricanes and floods that killed thousands in September of 2008 and 2004.

Here is how we can help immediately: Pastor Luc needs funds to purchase food and water and other supplies. Most of the relief supplies are in the Port Au Prince area 90 miles away. As you have seen in the media reports the Haitian leadership and relief workers are struggling with an organized approach. An example is that all the banks are closed and have not reopened so people cannot get funds to help each other. We do not know when or if these supplies will reach Gonaives where these folks are fleeing. We wired Pastor Luc funds yesterday and today and will continue to do so until the banks reopen. All funds received for Haiti Relief will be given 100% without any operational funds being subtracted. That is our commitment. Donations can be sent to:

World Renewal Haiti Relief
Haiti Relief Star Banks (Anywhere in Indiana)
PO Box 399
Greenfield, IN 46140 Online: www.worldwenewal.org
Call our office for a check over the phone: 317-467-9899

Max Wright, World Renewal-Haiti Field Director, and other WRI staff will go to Haiti when it is permitted in the coming days. Max’s cell number is 317-590-6099
or email: maxrwright@sprint.blackberry.net

We also have missionaries Doug and Lois Lehn in the Dominican Republic who work with Haiti refugees which will be increasing in populations as people flee the country.

Please feel free to contact me at 317-513-9042 or gwright@worldrenewal.org Thank you for your prayer and generosity.

Finally, Some Good News!!!!

2010-01-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

Finally, we have good news! Pastor Luc called World Renewal-Haiti Field Director Max Wright from a telephone office. This is Max's report:

I just received a phone call from Luc. He said that his family and the children are fine.
The Hospitals are full, people coming in from all the areas around Gonaives to the hospitals. He described the situation a very serious for the people of Haiti. The needs are great for those who have been injured, and many of the needs are in short supply.

We need to thank God for sparing them from harm.

We have promised him we would raise funds for him to help the people of Haiti. Let's do it folks! We are putting 100% of what is given to Luc to distribute. We put it in Luc's ministry account the same day we recieve it. World Renewal Int'l, PO Box 399, Greenfield, IN 46140

Max and Wes Davis will leave in the next few days to give direction and oversight with Pastor Luc.
Thanks for stopping by.

Hait Relief Fund and Update

2010-01-13T15:07:00.003-05:00

I just received an update from Ray Renner whose son, Luke Renner, who has been reporting to most of the media sources from Haiti.
Gary,

Luke drove through/past Gonaive on his way to Port from OKAP a little while ago and he says there is no major damage in that area. Everything looks fine. Chances are that your folks are fine though the phone service is still down all over the country.

Blessing,

Ray
World Renewal Int'l is receiving Haiti Relief Funds at all Star Banks or online at: www.worldrenewal.org Go to the "Give" page and type "Haiti Relief" in the recipient or memo box.
Thanks

Hait Relief Fund and Update

2010-01-13T10:24:00.012-05:00

Our blogs will be the latest of what we know in Haiti. [Above the children of Christ Compassion Orphanage with our team from Brandywine Community Church including Pastor Mark Wright and World Renewal-Haiti Field Director Max Wright]. We believe all should be fine for Pastor Luc and the Orphans. However, we have had no direct contact. We have set up a Haiti Relief Fund where you can donate for Pastor Luc to distribute where needed. You will find that fund at www.w World Renewal is accepting Haiti Relief Funds at any Star Bank.

orldrenewal.org on "Give" page just type in "Haiti Relief" as "Gift Recipient" or in the "Memo". Luc will have quick access to these funds.

[This photo, left, provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres shows wounded people gathered at the office of Medecins Sans Fr ontieres in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010.}

You can also see the

World

Renewal-Haiti blog by our Haiti Field Director Max Wright. [Link to your left]

Here is the latest from Ass ociated Press:
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

President Rene Preval said he be

lieves thousands of people were dead from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake.

"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Preval told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools tha

t have a lot of dead people in them."

Even the main prison in the capital fell, "and there are reports of escaped inmates," U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was among the dead, and the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing.

The international Red Cross said a third of Haiti's 9 million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

No phones are working in Haiti at this time only satellite sites. Thanks for yo

ur prayer. Luc is about 100 miles from the epicenter of the quake. All reports of that distance from the quake list hard shakes and aftershocks (24 at last count) but little damage. Thanks for your prayer.

Haiti Earthquake

2010-01-12T19:08:00.005-05:00

We appreciate those of you who have called to ask about Pastor Luc and our children and families in Haiti after the 7. earthquake today. The center is reported to be 10 miles west of Port Au Prince which puts it about 80 miles from our Pastor Luc, who is in the base of yellow banana end looking area of map straight up from Port Au Prince.
Map by Associated Press.
No communications are working at the present as most of the towers for phones would be in the Port Au Prince area. We will post any news that we get but right now we have no communications.
The Associated Press states, "Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in the capital of Port-au-Prince, told U.S. colleagues before phone service failed that "there must be thousands of people dead," according to a spokeswoman for the aid group, Sara Fajardo."

We have set up the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund as we know funds are needed. Donate online at www.worldrenewal.org

Thanks for your prayers.

2010-01-06T20:20:00.005-05:00

We were blessed to have 2 photo journalist, Jeri and Perry Reichanadter, with us on the October 2009 trip to Haiti. For me after many trips and so much information, knowing what has happen in World Renewal International Haiti over the last few years it's great to have a fresh perspective, on what others see, and most importantly a veteran journalist writing her perception. The Star Press in Muncie, Indiana allowed her to share this in 4 articles, along with some of the pictures that she and her husband took on this trip.

the link below will take you to her articles.

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/99999999/NEWS01/91229016&template=theme&theme=HAITI

The good news for you is they told me Sunday they would like to return this summer.
Max Wright
World Renewal-Haiti Field Director

Brazil Youth Congress 2009

2009-11-22T19:33:00.004-05:00

Today I preached at the Youth Congress 2009. There were those who recieved Christ. Pastor Ricardo was my translater again. It was a great joy to be here.

Pictured is the Northeastern Seminary and International School and the World Renewal-Brazil headquarters.

Tele is feeling better. Jeff Turner ill as well. God is good!

Thanks for stopping by.

Gary Preaches at Brazil Celebrating 10th Anniversary of Seminary

2009-11-21T14:36:00.000-05:00

They gathered in at about 7pm for the 10th Anniversary of Northeastern Bible Seminary in Carpina, Brazil, about one hour inland from the large coastal city of Recife'. The auditorium was full, the worship enthsiastic. There was cake and strong coffee afterwards. What a joy to preach at this event of celebration and to challenge the seminary leaders, staff and students to make sure they are fisherman of men and not just those who talk and study about introducing people to Christ.

I used the story of Matthew to remind all that Jesus walked in as grace to the banquet that Matthew gave for his friends with Jesus as the guest of honor.

Pastor Tele Moraes is the founder of the seminary but he is quite ill from chest congestion and running a fever. Pastor Ricardo was my translater instead. He is one of the sweetest men God ever created. What a joy to minister with him.

Thanks for stopping by.

New Evangelical Friends Churches in Brazil 2010

2009-11-21T14:09:00.004-05:00

Evangelical Friends Churches and World Renewal International announced a new step in their partnership and will plant new churches in Brazil. Dr. John Williams, head of Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region sent a message to me saying, "Let's Go! That was both the spirit and action of the EFC-ER World Mission Board..as we enthusiastically endorsed the the plan to plant "Day One" churches in Brazil, starting January 1, 2010." WRI staff Frank Penna, Wichita, Kansas will serve as the Field Cordinator of this project.

[Pictured is Tele Moraes, Gary Wright and Frank Penna}
This is not the first project for Evangelical Friends and World Renewal. As a result of a similar partnership and project there are 50 plus Evangelical Friends Churches in Hungary and Romania.

Tele Moraes is the President of World Renewal-Brazil and invitated Evangelical Friends to plant new churches in Brazil. Carol and I rejoice at this opportunity to bring World Renewal's two partners, Community Churches and Evangelical Friends, together for such a partnership.
[Check out Brazil website and blog on left for more details]
Thanks for stopping by.

Gary In Brazil Celebrating 10th Anniversary of Seminary

2009-11-21T11:28:00.002-05:00

What a joy to be in Brazil to Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of our Northeastern Seminary and Bible College. I first stayed at this facility when it was a full service hotel. Never did we dream until the hotel went up for sale that it could become the headquarters for World Renewal-Brazil and the Northeastern Seminary. [Pictured-Gary and Tele preach and teach at the Seminary] We have about 40 students who are training as church leaders, pastors and church planters. During the day it is the International School, preschoolers thru 9th grade. The school teaches and English core and the message of the Bible. On Sundays the facility is a Community Church. That is maximizing the use of facilities. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Thanks for stopping by.

The Ireton House and Christ Compassion Orphanage

2009-09-25T09:06:00.004-05:00

What a wonderful creation the family of God is. I love how it works. Yes, I know we mess it up once in a while but oh the joy when we get it right.

[Pictures are of Pastor Jesse Ireton baptizing new Christians in Haiti and with Pastor Luc and Rosanna.]

The hurricanes that hit Haiti during the summer and fall of 2008 destroyed lives, homes, businesses and hopes and dreams. Christ Compassion Orphanage that Pastor Luc Joseph had started along with the church and school in Gonaive, Haiti were destroyed. Pastor Luc, his wife and daughter Rose Luci had gathered on the roof of their house with the 25 orphans and told each other goodbye and we will see one another in heaven. However, God had another plan. Climbing to a newly constructed but unfinished house with a third floor next door, all survived. They made their way through flood waters to the house we were constructing for our headquarters and the Joseph family. Many of the children and adults became ill but all survived. They all went without food and clean water. But all of the children, Luc's family and the adults who care for them survived.

There, at the new but unfinished house, they have remained for almost a year. Luc's old house was cleaned and has served as a make-shift orphanage during the non-hurricane season. It has been a year of crowded quarters, and some of the children living in the homes of church people. A few times we have brought Pastor Luc and Rosanna to the USA just to rest.

The plan has been to build a new church/school near Luc's new home which is out of the flood zone. On this same property a dormitory for the orphanage has been planned. However, this required the purchase of property. The cost has been in the $10,000 range.

In the middle of this crisis has been the USA economic depression. During the past 12 months our main goal has been to be sure the children of Christ's Compassion Orphanage are safe, feed, clean, cared for, educated and spiritually encouraged. We need 100 sponsors for the orphans, we have 38 at $30/month. The children have been well cared for, education has been challenging. Thanks to all of you who have sponsored a child or given emergency funds to keep them all safe.

Last month as Field Director Max Wright and my assistant Frank Penna were going to Haiti, someone called and said, "How much do you need to buy the property for the orphanage in Haiti?" I told them we had $2000 and we needed $8000 more. She said, "I just sent you a check for $10,000." We purchased the property that week. Kiowa United Methodist Church, Kiowa Kansas, where Frank and Janet Penna and I ministered last year raised the funds for a large electric generator for the orphanage. This is the only electricity available.

Brandywine Community Church, Greenfield, Indiana has been a great partner in the ministry of Haiti. It was through this congregation we first met Pastor Luc and Rosanna. Pastor Jesse Ireton and wife Dori have served on the pastoral staff of Brandywine Communty Church, had known Luc even before that. We are grateful for the encouragement they gave to come along side of Pastor Luc. Pastor Jesse went to be with the Lord this past year. Huge numbers of people tried to convey to his family how their lives had been changed by he and Dori's love, teaching and caring. It is only fitting that we call the new dormitory for Christ Compassion Orphanage, The Ireton House.

In October, Brandywine will take and offering to construct The Ireton House. They are sending Senior Pastor Mark Wright, my brother, and several elders the week after the offering. We will need help with the construction of a facility to be used for a new church/ school on the same property. The children have been sleeping on blankets and some mattresses on the floor. We have a lot of purchasing to do. However, we feel that God is helping us to help those in distress.

Thanks for stopping by.

Friends Worship Center Columbus, Ohio

2009-08-15T08:16:00.003-05:00

I am preaching Sunday, August 16, at Friends Worship Center on the southwest side of Columbus, Ohio, 3030 Clime Road. 614-279-6706. Pastor Bruce and wife Judy Bell are long time friends.

My goal this week has been to keep my eyes on Jesus Christ and not on the storm around me. I have read several times Paul's admonition to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again:Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7. I confess I have not been able to avoid the "anxious" all week. I am tying the not on the end of the rope and trusting Him.

Thanks for stopping by.

Damascus and Hungary

2009-07-16T10:17:00.004-05:00

So much of Carol and my ministry had some kind of connection or beginning during the time she served Damascus Evangelical Friends Church, Damascus, Ohio as Youth Pastor (1990-1993)and I did training of believers for outreach. 1990 is when we made our first international ministry trip to Eastern Europe. We were there as the Russian soldiers were getting ready to leave. We returned the next summer with over 100 short-term missionaries who spread out across Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Germany. It was awesome.

Today the Evangelical Friends Churches are spread out across Hungary, Romania and Albania. What a blessing! We are thrilled to be a small part of the beginning of that movement of the Holy Spirit.

This Sunday I will preach at Damascus. The services are 8:30, 9:45, 11:00 AM. I am told that the Hungarian choir will be there. I am amazed at how God works. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20.
Thanks for stopping by.

Barclay College In Indiana

2009-07-11T20:59:00.003-05:00

There is new Barclay College Extension in Greenfield, IN. on Brandywine Community Church Campus. We are offering the Christian Ministry Leadership Bachelors Degree in accelerated 18 months. Dr. Royce Frazier and Carolyn were in town Wednesday July 8 to initiate this new opportunity. It was a fun day, Jack Holliday introduced Royce. Robby Clark offered to introduce Royce but seemed to have a different goal than I did. Pastor Mark Wright welcomed Royce to Indiana. Kathy and Carol Wright made tasty and pretty food for the reception. Thanks all it was fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

Gift of God

2009-05-22T15:30:00.004-05:00

What a disappointment Levi must have been to his family, a long line of Jewish teachers/preachers from the tribe of Levites. He gave up the ministry profession for money. He would have had to bid to become a tax collector. How shameful. How embarrassing.
Edersheim points our that the Talmud lists two kinds of “publicans” (usually stated with “sinners” meaning immoral and pointing to prostitution) one was the general tax collector. Matthew was the second level which was a [ “douanier”] customs house officer, a higher rank and often by the ports where there was greater opportunity for more intake. Those in his position sometimes put others in the booth for collection, Matthew liked doing it himself. This was considered an act of greater greed. He had many opportunities to make much money. Here are some of the taxes he charged:

• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop
.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.
• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.
• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.
You can see why tax-collectors were not liked. And they didn’t help their image problem by deliberately cheating the system and creating many ways to extract money from people. We think we pay a lot of tax today; but it has always been like this. The list of taxes included:-• Production tax … which was one tenth of the crop.• Income tax … which was one percent of a man’s wage.• Poll tax … that’s a tax for being alive … one denarii a year.• Purchase tax … basically the ancient equivalent of a good’s and services tax.• Road use tax … even back then you had to pay a road toll.

Then there were the under-the-table expenses such as extortion money and bribes. These were the taxes which were imposed by the tax-collector. You can see why they were hated, and some of that frustration was justified.

However, this well educated man who spoke several languages was in a great position to hear the teachings of Jesus. His rabbinic background would have prepared him to understand the Messianic implications from Jesus life and teachings. He was able to hear the stories of his ministry and probably saw the power of the Christ. His custom house may have been close to where Jesus taught by the sea side.

Therefore it was most likely after several encounters with Jesus’ teaching and life that he experienced the scene recorded by himself, Mark and Luke where Jesus came to his toll booth and the simple invitation, “Follow Me.” Luke states the Levi got up and left everything and followed Jesus.

In his own recounting he calls himself “Matthew” which scholars believe was given to him by Jesus after this day, it meant “Gift of God.” God has always liked giving people new names. What is that about? While I enjoy the detail of Luke’s Gospel and Marks brevity and to the point version, and the passion of John, Matthew gives us the longest description of Christ’s life.

The publicans and sinners were not allowed in the synagogue nor were they allowed to offer sacrifice for their sin. When Jesus attended the banquet where Matthew made him the guest of honor, Luke described a “large banquet” with a great or large crowd. The crowd was made up of “publicans and sinners”. Jesus walked into the banquet offering forgiveness to those
who had run out of options! It was probably on a Monday or Thursday when the Pharisees and John’s disciples were fasting as was tradition thus the question, “Why are you guys eating and we are fasting?”

While the gospel was written by Matthew to encourage the Jewish readers or hearers to understand that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies and Kingdom he is the only one of the four writers to include the “Great Commision” to all nations. He really understood, he got what Jesus was about. I have no way of knowing if his family still found this “Christ Follower” disappointing or embarrassing. However, to those of us “sinners” his description of a Messiah offering forgiveness to all seekers is what we hope for.

Thanks for stopping by.

2009-05-15T16:25:00.005-05:00

It started with a challenge over 25 years ago to be sure to take your family to heaven. The messages spoke of heaven and hell. Renewal sang “Why didn’t I Repent?”Jesus’ story of two men who died. Then came some specifics. A challenge to husbands and dads to “Build A Hedge” ( again Doug Newnum wrote the song and Renewal sang the message in song) a call to spiritual righteousness, modeling, protection and prayer for the family. “Chain of Grace” and “Three Chairs” was a continued message and challenge to men to be leaders of their families, church and community. Pass the faith along to those who God has given you and are coming behind you. Now, a new chapter. “Spoken Blessing” a message based on the Heavenly Father’s words about his own Son. Doug’s new song. “Where would I be without Jesus In My Life” describes some personal history of God’s faithfulness to him and his family.

When I started this challenge my children were at home and some quite young. I was always concerned about how I modeled what I preached. My imperfections, failures and wrong choices seemed glaring to me at times as we ministered these themes in preaching and song. When I started preaching these challenges there were few “How to books” for men in the Christian book stores. When “Promise Keepers” came along I felt, “Well, I must have heard the Lord correctly!” It encouraged me in the direction our ministry had taken.

Now it seems we have at times become so overloaded in good information in the church that men still need encouragement to be the best husbands, fathers, grandfathers and sons that they can be.

This past year I had the privilege to be part of the teaching team of Men’s Fraternity at Brandywine Community Church where my brother Mark is senior pastor. They worked with my travel schedule and this allowed me to grow as a teacher of the men and as a husband and father. I have learned that men want to be good fathers and husbands. They respond to God’s word and want practical “HOW TO”S”. I grew up with good and Godly parents and grandparents. However, I have found it is easy to stand still when as a man one needs to act and take responsibility. My heart aches for men who have not had the models and words from dad or grandpa. We hope to encourage those in your congregation.
Thanks for stopping by.

Grand Saline Pastor Madam Anthony

2009-03-24T10:31:00.006-05:00

It is always a precious event when saints go to be with Jesus. Our dear pastor Madam Anthony Coreus of our church in Grand Saline, Haiti walked though the gates of heaven Saturday evening. I have mixed emotions about her going. I am thrilled for her, she has finished the race and did it well. I have always been so proud of her and tried to tell her so. In the village of Grand Saline her pastor died. No one was willing to assume that role. She stepped up to the need as many women have done in church history and filled that role. She was under a bit of pressure lately as the land the church was on was not owned by the church and was rented. The fact that she was a woman had made her and ministry more difficult.

[Right- Here is Madam Pastor Anthony on her bike for our pastors donated by Brandywine Community Church. One new she really enjoyed this new addition to her ministry.]

Would you join me in several prayer requests for her ministry and legacy? First, lets thank God for her courageous ministry. She did what was needed and no one else would do. We are setting up the Madam Anthony Memorial Fund to purchase land for her church and to care for some of her final needs. Pray for her family, her church and the replacement for her. Take and moment wherever you are and thank God for this willing servant and ask him to raise up more with the Madam Anthony courage and faith.

Thanks for stopping by.

WHAT A STORY!

2009-03-20T10:23:00.006-05:00

This blog article first appeared in December of 2007 here. I thought some of you might like to read it again or for the first time.

GARY & RENEWAL AT WILLOUGHBY HILLS EVANGELICAL FRIENDS CHURCH, WILLOUGHBY HILLS, OHIO, THIS SATURDAY 5PM AND SUNDAY MORNING 9:30 AND 11 AM.

They all attended the Tangier School then Turkey Run High School. As boys they all had attended VBS at the little country Rush Creek Friends Church north of Rockville, IN. They all remember attending revival services that Carol and I led when they were children. However, the paths they chose in life were quite different. Steve and Mike Cruse along with Steve Lindley formed the Cruse Brothers Band.to experience this on a weekend, they would come to Christ!” I am sure they were right. Doug even invited Steve Cruse to a couple of events in 1991 and also in recent years, but it did not happen. God still had a plan. In November 2002, Mike Cruse alone in his parents bedroom, under house arrest for his second DWI, knelt by his bed and invited Christ into his heart. “Fire shot into my body,” Mike tells. Mike has never turned back from following Christ.In 2005, Doug asked Mike to join Renewal. Mike’s high energy expertise on the keyboards and testimony have propelled the ministry of Renewal to a different place. Doug, Steve Lindley and Mike Cruse also over the years have returned to the little country church, Rush Creek Friends and lead the worship team when not on the road with Renewal and Gary. Several months ago, Steve Cruse walked through the door of the little country church. Soon he joined the worship team and is walking with the Christ he heard and knew about from his youth.Doug Newnum says that he remembers "when I prayed with my little boys before they went to sleep that the Cruse brothers would know Christ. Now they are all part of our church and Renewal! My boys are now all adults and were there that Sunday morning we played together for the first time. It is really something special!” said a smiling, teary-eyed Doug Newnum.Hey, Guys! It is time for the new CD!“Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth to all!

[PICTURE ON RIGHT IS AFTER PLAYING THAT FIRST SUNDAY TOGETHER AT THEIR HOME CHURCH, RUSH CREEK FRIENDS, WHERE THEY ALL ATTENDED AS CHILDREN.]

Thanks for stopping by.

Willoughby Hills Evangelical Friends Church

2009-03-19T12:28:00.007-05:00

RENWAL & GARY WRIGHT

Gary and Renewal are at Willoughby Hills Evangelical Friends Church this Saturday night, March 21, at 5PM and then again on Sunday morning March 22, 9:30 and 11 AM services.

The church is located on Som Center Rd. of Willoughby Hills, Ohio. We hope to see you there. We hope to see you Ohio folks, there!

Need a shot of Spiritual Adrenaline?

2009-02-20T13:29:00.002-05:00

Over 100 years ago Loius Klopsch decided to publish a Bible where the words of Jesus used red lettered fonts. For most of us in the English world this has become a part of our Christian vocabulary. We say, "When in trouble, read the red!" I am glad old Louis paved the way for us to be reminded that the words of Jesus need special attention. [Picture is Carol with our new princess Calli. She is our first granddaughter.]

1800 years before Louis, the writer of Hebrews suggested the same. "Keep your eyes on Jesus..study how he did it...go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls." Going over the Jesus story item by item requires reading the red. The writer of Hebrews is telling us how to "Keep our eyes on Jesus!" Read the red.

Hebrews 12: 1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Thanks for stopping by.

He's No Couch Potato!

2009-01-15T22:05:00.008-05:00

Today is a day I ask for prayer for one who is serving our Lord Jesus. I am talking about WR-Haiti Representative Max Wright. { left, with me baptizing on an early trip in Haiti. Below and right with my brother Mark in a Haiti village} Max is near Atlanta, Georgia, tonight. He packed his SUV at the WRI office in zero degree weather, 9 crates of supplys you have given for delivery to Pastor Luc of Haiti. He will meet Pastor Luc and his wife Rosana in Miami. They will spend some of the dollars you have given to replenish their loses from the hurricanes of last summer and fall. Few people would ever know that my double-first cousin (our parents, 2 Wright brothers married 2 Milner sisters) Max has enough physical ailments to send a slow day pharmacist into jubilant celebration when he walks into the store.

He has serious digestive problems that would put anyone on the couch and desirous of staying near your home restroom, never mind 30+ trips to clean porcelain impoverished Haiti. He has worked hard learning about his body and medications so that he can travel in the most primitive parts of Haiti, almost the whole country by the way. Instead of not going to Haiti, he explained to me, he has learned to "manage" his problems and discomforts.

[seen at right praying with our children at Christ's Compassion Orphanage which he helped to found.]

He has a bad back yet often sleeps on the floor or benches of churches in Haiti. He has traveled thousands of miles over horrible roads and bumpy air flights. I could tell you how I accompanied him on a trip over Haiti and I noticed the pilots guidance stick kept coming unattached and he kept putting a piece of cardboard over the hole in the side window of the 15 passenger plane that months later went down. On his last trip he visited some of our most impoverished churches. He had to sleep on the ground. He left the USA with severe back pain. He did ask all of us to pray for his condition. The only time his back did not hurt on that trip in Haiti, he said, was when he was out in the mountains sleeping in the worst conditions. I won't tell you about that other problem he has just setting down sometimes.

Today he loaded the crates alone because the President of World Renewal did not communicate to a helper to be there on time. Oh yeah, that was me, my fault. Don't you wish you could trust family?

Max loaded in the cold despite constant bouts with pneumonia. He is a man's man but has puny lungs. He can get pneumonia anytime of the year. Its a skill he has. I hear him cough a lot. He is one of the few men I know that always carries a handkerchief. Well, you know he is a 60 year old guy. He doesn't complain, just prays, takes his meds and "manages the discomforts."

Max and his sisters own a real estate company. These are not great times for such businesses. As usual, he refused traveling money from World Renewal. I think one of the sisters slipped him some cash. Shh! They are like that. He is trusting the Lord for his business, yet is serving the Lord in Florida. Some might question his business plan, not Max or his sisters.

Max is a tough guy, always was. He lost his first wife from a complication from childbirth of their second son Eric. Eric later died as a young teenager in an accident. Max married Lea who has joined him at times in Haiti and is such great support. He has experienced a broken heart.

His heart is soft, Haitians love him. He has not built a dependant group of Haitians leaders, they ask for prayer but do not ask ask us for money or things. He seems to know when to say "YES!" or "NO!" at the right times.

I am really proud of him and yes feeling quite guilty I let him down today. Max's response,"Hey Gary, do not come out here to load the crates. It's too cold, you should not be out here." He had them all loaded by the time I realized he was here and loading anyway.

After we had prayer together, he went out the door asking about Heather Moraes in Brazil who is suffering from an apparent spider bite. That brought up laughter about the spider bite he suffered in a Haitian outhouse. But that's another family story I better not detail.

The point is, pray for this wonderful man. I secretly know he really likes his recliner even though he only spends lots of time their when he is really, really sick.

Thanks for stopping by, Max deserves people praying for and I am sure you will. Thanks! Well, I feel a little better.

Mexico City Parties

2009-01-12T16:00:00.003-05:00

I am grateful for our staff. Jim Flood our Mexico Representative and Frank Penna my assistant traveled to Mexico City for the Birthday Party for Jesus events. I could not go as planned because of a ruptured disc and a couple of bulging discs in my neck. I am grateful for these men who go and I can trust to carry out the work. The pictures tell it all. Americans fill shopping bags full of toys, school supplies and personal items. Churches such as these in Mexico City invite the poor and unchurched children to this event. The Gospel is given, a party celebrates the birth of Christ. In Mexico City the people open their gifts January 6 celebrating the visit of the wise men to Christ. Go to the Mexico blog at the side of this site to get the whole story. Thanks to all who helped!

Perplexed? Beaten down?

2008-12-12T21:04:00.005-05:00

Do you ever wonder how people pick themselves up after being struck by tragedy? One evening Pastor Luc Joseph, our leader in Haiti, sensed that he should bring the orphans from Christ's Compassion Orphanage to his small house.

The city was without electricity or communication. No one but the outside world knew that a third hurricane was about to strike the already devastated island. By the next afternoon flood waters began to come over the roof of Luc’s house where Luc, his family and household and the orphans had taken refuge. Thankfully a building behind was being built that had a second floor. All 35+ scrambled onto the roof of that structure where they would attempt to wait out the storm. The flood waters were pushing down houses and strong walls all around them. They all wondered if they would survive this time as 3000+ perished just four years before in this town of Gonaive.
Luc called our USA staff on his cell phone that was rapidly losing battery power. All he said was “Pray for us, trying to save the orphans and family.” However, Luc then gathered his wife, Rosana, and daughter Rose Luci. They did not think they would make it through this storm. They said goodbye to one another and promised to meet in Heaven.

Here, we set off prayer chains of concern using emails, web and blog sites.
After 3-4 days without water and food the waters receded. The streets had not only become filled with water and debris but several feet of mud had pushed in from erosion from mountains outside the city making movement almost impossible. Open sewers, now not visible to sight in the flooded city made the exodus of Luc and his family along with the orphans extremely dangerous as they headed three miles for higher ground at the new unfinished mission house we had been building outside of the flood zone. They made it even though more rain was coming down.
They all were safe from the flood waters but there was no food and water. All financial institutions and means of help from the outside world were unavailable. Bridges had been destroyed cutting off the city from those inside Haiti who could help. Airstrips were all under 6-8 feet of water. Even the port was damaged to the point it had to be repaired before international aid could enter. Again, using the last of his cell phone battery, Luc called our staff and all he asked was for us to “pray”.

We used the same avenue of communications to ask people to pray and start a fund to help financially. Soon we had funds to help as Americans responded to this awful dilemma. However, there was not one single method available for help except prayer. Luc’s family and the orphans went several periods of 3-4 days without food and water. Some became sick and ran fevers. The new mission house was not finished and had little to offer but safe walls. Everything was wet. They found some boards left by the construction and slept on them for a dryer sleep. Finally, we on the outside world made gains in getting resources of help to them. Entrances to the city were found.
Everyone had lost everything. Luc’s house, the orphanage, church and school were completely destroyed and cannot be used at this point. All clothes, households items, school supplies are gone.

I saw this picture of Luc in his house trying to clean it up. The look on his face is one I have never seen before. It is the face of a man feeling too much pain, too much has gone wrong. 2004 they started over, now this again, even worse!

We brought Luc to the USA. He needed to be here and rest and be encouraged. Look at this next picture of him when he has been around Christian brothers and sisters for just a few hours. Christ has given him a new face, a new energy. Isn't that amazing! How did it happen?

This is how the Apostle Paul described this process. 2 Cor. 4:

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

This is how it is done. It is the resurrection power of Christ in ourselves and the brothers and sisters around us that pick us up when "knocked down" we will not be destroyed.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joy To The World

2008-12-11T15:31:00.003-05:00

The writer of Genesis tells us that God named the long awaited son of Abraham and Sarah "Isaac" meaning "laughter." It was God who named him. Abraham and Sarah had already offered their inappropriate laughs. God laughed last.

God seems to care about names. He changed peoples names like the two old people mentioned and then Jacob had his name changed from "liar, cheater, deceiver" to Isreal. I have a friend who seems to have been given the right name from the start. Her name is Joy. She,88, lives by herself on a farm in Kansas. One of her favorite expressions is "God seems to be doing a new thing here!" I have heard her say it over and over about various things since her husband died. She seems to see Him when others only find the gloom. She really lives in the constant state of anticipation of what will do next.

I met Joy and Clint at the altar of their little country Church. Clint had never made a pubic confession of his faith until that day. It was a call, as usual over these last 25 years, for men to make a commitment to be a leader in their home and a challenge for their wives to join them. We have had a great relationship down through the years since then.

I remember not seeing them for a long while, and then dropping in to see them. Clint told me he had Alzheimers disease. It took his life. I traveled to Kansas and preached his funeral. They were a great love story. They had their challenges in marriage, but they had really grown in their love for Christ and each other. When Clint went to heaven, Joy felt uncertain what to do. She had been a care giver to Clint and before his illness they had been a team going everywhere together.

Joy has a wonderful way of seeing the world. It is opportunity she sees and that is in the lives of the people God sends her way.

Several years ago she approached me about our work in Haiti. She decided to sponsor our Pastor & Leader Conference. She has now sponsored four, one postponed by the flood. It has made a huge difference for Pastor Luc in Haiti. The meetings together helped him form a team of leaders and we have planted more churches because of this. Funny thing though, Joy had never met Luc. That ended November 6 of this year. When Luc flew into the USA, he landed in Kansas. Max Wright-WR Haiti Director, Frank Penna and myself met Luc and took him to Joy's farm.

Luc and the people of Haiti had always told us to tell Joy how thankful they were. However, when Luc and Joy met for the first time it was a moving event. Joy said, "I am an 88 year old woman making a difference in Haiti. " Yes, she is.

Makes me wish there was more Joy in this world.

Thanks for stopping by.

World Renewal 2008 Annual Banquet and Worship Service

2008-11-21T18:09:00.023-05:00

World Renwal Int'l had its annual banquet Saturday, November 15 at Brookville Road Community Church, New Palestine, Indiana. I really enjoyed it. The music was very diverse. Rowena Holliday played great songs and hymns of the church while people got their food and ate. During the banquet Frank and Janet Penna sang one of my favorite songs, "Sarah Laughed" it has one of my favorite lyrics "old lady gonna have a baby." This is followed by writer Maury Macy's ending, "And I've got a feeling, yes I do, God was laughing too!" I love the Bible story songs. Later the Penna's sang a Ken Medema song about Mary and Martha. [Janet Penna pictured singing the part of Martha as I watch] I am sure the crowd attending this mission banquet was a crowd of "doers", so such a song that points to the merits of sitting at the feet of Jesus seemed right on target.

Brian Hanneken gave a testimony describing the night he accepted Christ. He accepted Christ the night of the day my mother died. I was preaching in Paonia, Colorado, January 1991 when news came that mom had made her entrance to heaven. I preached that night on, as Brian describes, "a miserable little old man named Zacheas, and there I sat back there a miserable old man." Although a practicing Zen Buddhist, Brian joined me at the front of the church to receive Christ. He says his life has never been the same. He followed up his decision by going to seminary and receiving a degree in Biblical Literature-New Testament. He is presently the an associate dean in the academic office of Barclay College, Haviland, Kansas where I once taught. I had always felt guilty that I was not with mom when she died. It was at her insistence that I kept the schedule in Colorado that weekend. "Oooh no you are not!" (going to see her), mom had said sternly to me on the phone. "You go to Colorado and do what I raised you to do, preach the Gospel!" Well, I went and when she died I felt I had failed her, my dad my brother Mark and his wife Kathy. Sixteen years went by without me knowing that my preaching with a grieving heart that night was part of what moved Brian to open his life to Christ. Having Brian and wife Twila at our annual celebration allowed me to share with the folks God's faithfulness. I have stopped feeling guilty and instead feel such joy that mom's death was marked by what mom and dad had given their lives for, introducing people to Jesus the Christ. [Brian being interviewed during service.]

What a switch in music styles to the Contemporary Christian music sound with Doug Newnum and Renewal's "Let the worshipers arise" and "How great is our God" followed by Renewal's bluesy sound from the newly recorded CD Mike Cruse's title song"Get Ready." Then things turned plain country as Renewal's Steve Cruse played his fiddle and lead worship with the stand by "I'll fly away." Renewal's new country rock sound "Gonna' Give Him Praise" , written by Doug Newnum and Mike Cruse, usually brings even quiet audiences to their feet praising the Lord, closed Renewal's time of leading worship in jubilant joy and honor to our Lord. One of the songs lyrics "honor you (God) with every breath I take" summed it up best.

"Celebration of Community Church" was the next part of the worship service. This began with a video, produced by Ned Arthur, of the history of our partner Community Churches under the leadership of Dr. Charles Lake and Pastor Hubert Nolen. Hubert Nolen thanked Dr. Lake for his leadership and offered a prayer of thanks to God for the vision we have all joined. Over 50+ Community Churches have been planted in the USA, Brazil, Haiti, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Although I narrated some of the video, I wept as I saw the way Ned chose pictures showing the beginning of Community Church of Greenwood in 1977, then Brookville Road Community Church 1981, then Brandywine where my brother pastors and on to the international churches that we have been a part of. It closed with pictures of the newest USA church plant that includes Greg Ruble as lead pastor and Ned's son Shane leading worship and assisting. I love the passing of church planting leadership from one generation to the next. Pastor Brad Davis, Shelbyville Community Church gave a clear witness to Christ's leading in planting the congregation birthed by Brookville Road making it a granddaughter church of Greenwood. My brother Mark and wife Kathy closed this portion of worship singing "Holy! My God! You are worthy of all my praise!" Wow! It was glorious!

We also saw the new video showing WRI's work around the world. This was produced by Dan Downer. Dan was in my youth group when we planted a new church in Traverse City, Michigan, in 1975. Dan, now in his 50's did a fine job of defining the challenge we face as well as WRI's efforts of taking Christ in many forms to those needs.[Seen in one of their more serious moments]

Wayne Phelps, Cleveland, Ohio, was commissioned as the Director of Recovery Ministries International for World Renewal Int'l. His role is to help with the equipping of leaders in other countries with recovery ministries to those with alcohol and other addictions. [Seen here with Frank Penna]

World Renewal-Brazil President Tele Moraes gave the evening message. His challenge was not to lay down the vision God has given us. Renewal's revision of the old hymn "Where could I go but to the Lord." He also introduced Pastor Anselmo who is the pastor of the church we just raised funds for the facility of his church this summer and fall.

I wish you all had been there. Jesus was certainly the guest of honor. We also celebrated the rescue of our Haitian orphans and our friends by Pastor Luc and wife Rosana. Luc was hugged and cherished by all.

Jim Dawson did a great job with our food. Check him out on the web in New Palestine, IN. He is a member of Brookville Road Community Church and showed he cared about the banquet attenders. Thanks Jim! Donating grandma's furnished the deserts. Wow! Thank you!

Thanks for stopping by.

God's People Care!

2008-11-17T22:33:00.005-05:00

Frank Penna is a wonderful servant of the Lord Jesus and World Renewal. He spends a great deal of time with our international leaders in Haiti, Brazil and Mexico. He recently had this experience. God is good and so are His people. [pictured Frank and Luc holding donation].

I went to the Dallas area this past weekend to pick up my mother who had been visiting my brother there. On Sunday we went to a small church where my brother Bob preached. Sparrow's Way is a church plant in a daycare building. The lay pastor and wife run the daycare and are planting this church made up of what appear to be several "down and out" folks. Most every person (there were 30-40) just looked like they had an interesting life story to tell if you know what I mean. I loved it. It reminded me of our church plant in Xochimilco (Mexico City, made up mostly of recovering alcoholics).We were greeted at the door by half a dozen tatooed people smoking and laughing together. The singing was "lively" with lots of clapping and amens...not the kind of church my brother typically frequents. His connection was through the daycare business. Anyway, just being there with him in that setting was, let me say "unique," especially if you knew our history.

That is another story.Bob only introduced me and Janet and then briefly mentioned what I do, and said maybe two sentences about what is happening in Haiti. At the end of the service, the pastor got up and explained that they don't usually take offerings (they have the plate in the back). He talked a little bit about sowing good seeds, and then said they were going to take a love offering and give it to (pointing to me), "that gentleman and the ministry he is doing in Haiti." He mentioned wanting to give some to my brother , too. They took it up, and after the service handed me two seperate envelopes. Even after the service, two little boys ran up to our car and said they wanted to help, too. They gave us a few quarters. Bob told me to just take it all.I did not open any envelopes until 8 hours later when I got home.

I told Janet there was probably $50-100 just from what I had seen. I opened the smaller envelope first, and to my amazement found 2 $100 bills and 2 $50's. All together, there was $451.50! My brother joked earlier that all I did was show up, he did all the work, and I got all the money! Little did he know how generous that little group of people had been (I haven't told him yet).

I told that story to a cousin of mine yesterday, one I rarely see who ate lunch with us because mom is in town. Right as she left us, she handed me a check for $200.

I know this kind of stuff happens all the time in our ministries, but sometimes it just comes out of nowhere. God blesses, and then we can pray that He will in turn bless the givers. The folks at Sparrow's Way (good name, don't you think?) really got a excited when I told them that our primary ministry is planting churches and that much of the money they gave would go to feed orphans. I got all the info I needed to report back to them about the results.

Thanks for stopping by.

Indiana Wesleyan Students Make A Difference

2008-11-17T22:01:00.005-05:00

Pastor Luc Joseph holds a $1000 check from Indiana Wesleyan University for the relief from damage of the 3 hurricanes that devastated his city, house, church, school and orphanage in Gonaives. The University allowed students to take up an offering for the orphans and people of Haiti who are suffering. Student Sarah Tabb organized the fund raising effort. Sarah has gone on WRI mission trips to Brazil and Mexico City. She is a member of Brandywine Community Church.
We have launched Project Joseph to purchase land, build a new church and school and orphanage near Luc's new home and our mission house. This area is out of the flood zone that saw a similar flood in 2004. A donor has already committed to the purchase of the land needed.

Way to go Sarah!!!!! Thanks for stopping by.

Delays! Who Needs Them? We Do!

2008-10-31T16:45:00.006-05:00

Delays! Delays! Delays! We all hate delays, right? The last week of July we sent the Birthday Party for Jesus gifts to Haiti so they would have them in time for Christmas. The staff at Wayne Phelps's Bulaforge Industry in Cleveland, Ohio helped us send 16 crates to Florida where they were loaded on a ship and sent on to Haiti. We were disappointed with the length of time it took We have so many more supplies that need to be shipped to a very needy group of people, especially children. Some of the shipment was much needed supplies to be used right away. Max Wright, our director for World Renewal-Haiti had visited a few months ago but back problems prevented him from taking much because he could not carry much without hurting his back. We had wanted to send much with him. Delays, I hate delays don't you?

I have been teaching at Brandywine Community Church on Abraham and Jacob in a Wednesday night Bible study. Abraham and Sarah had so many delays in their lives. As one of my favorite lyrics of Maury Macy song says about Sarah, "Old lady, going to have a baby, long past her time, old lady going to sing her lullaby." I am sure they thought that 70-80 years was a little long to wait for their first child. Talk about delay! But our Lord had a reason for the delay. He waited until it was so obvious that these two had dead bodies in the sense of reproduction abilities. Isaac would be an absolute miracle that all would have to admit. Of course, along the way the Lord used the delay to teach these two and us the ends and outs of trusting the Lord and his promises. Delay equaled grace building. Sometimes it still does.

If the crates had arrived in Haiti on time we would have lost it all when the floods from the 4 hurricanes destroyed all of our property there. Instead when the children and adults had survived by Pastor Luc relying on the guidance of the Lord, the crates were delivered when they had gone days without anything! I am sure from the pictures I am including that it at least brought some joy and supplies to adults and our orphan children after going through terrible displacement and suffering. Oh ,Yes! If Max had been able to carry more supplies several months ago we would have lost it all in the flood. After he got to Haiti his back quite hurting and he was able to visit some of our most remote villages. We humans have a lot to learn about trusting and walking with an all knowing and all loving God. Amen?

Thanks for stopping by.

Jonathan's First - On A Difficult Day

2008-10-24T13:41:00.007-05:00

Our youngest son, Jonathan, preached his first sermon today. One of his closest friends in high school was Brandon Wickliff who is stationed in Afghanistan in our military. Brandon had to fly home this week because his 18 year old brother, Kyle, was killed in an auto accident. Kyle's mom asked Jonathan to do the funeral since he knew them and Kyle. Jon felt it to be a great honor that they asked him and his mom and I felt the same.

Jonathan, was a close friend of this family. It has only been in the last few months that Jon settled the ministry issue of his being called by God to preach and pastor. He has done the radio show for me several times as has Micah when I was unavailable. Carol and I had never talked to him about going into ministry although it seemed that most people who really knew Jon, knew he would someday go in that direction. He seemed to be the only one who did not know.

Carol and I could not help but be a little overwhelmed by God's faithfulness and grace as we set with a grieving congregation of over 700+ people and listened to this young man share from his heart his first sermon. He said to the crowd, "I do not know why God allowed this to happen... but this is what I do know....Heaven is real, Heaven is there and heaven is waiting." Those exact words come from one of my dad's favorite sermons. Mark and I seldom preach a funeral without using those promises. I did not know Jon knew them. Now to set an hear Jon, the third generation, repeat them was very moving. It is what we believe to be true. Carol and I feel so blessed by the Lord. Jon asked if he could practice his sermon on us last night. It was the same room where we have often prayed with Jon and for him through some difficult days the last four or five years. "His love endures forever." God is so faithful. We are thanking Him for answered prayer in our family.

Our hearts go out to Kyle's family, his mom is Anna and dad is Jeff. Please pray for them. They are a part of my brother's congregation at Brandywine Community Church. Kyle was a fun person and full of charisma.
Thanks for stopping by.

Gary & Frank Penna in Kiowa Kansas

2008-10-16T22:50:00.003-05:00

Frank Penna and I will be holding services at the Kiowa United Methodist Church, Kiowa, Kansas this weekend. If you are near I encourage you to join us. Frank will sing his Bible story songs and lead worship. We would love to see some of our Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas friends. The services are as follows:

Saturday October 18 @ 7pm Worship Service

Sunday October 19 @ 10:30am Worship Service

Sunday October 19 @ 5:30pm Youth Session Grades 6-12

Sunday October 19 @ 7pm Worship Service

Monday October 20 @ 7pm Worship Service

Anderson Revival Show

2008-09-11T14:12:00.003-05:00

FOR HAITI UPDATE GO TO WORLD RENEWAL HAITI BLOG LINK AT THE LEFT OF THIS SCREEN

On Thursday Oct. 2 we will be featuring a special presentation of the Welcome Home Broadcast. It will highlight the revival that swept the Asbury College Campus in February of 1970 and spread to Anderson, Indiana starting at the South Meridian Church of God, then moving on to the Anderson Civic Center. The Anderson revival lasted 50 days and an estimated 5000-7000 people make decisions for Christ. On the program we will have Pastor Hal Phillips who was on the Asbury team, along with myself, to the Anderson University and South Meridian Church to spread the news of the revival. Ray Renner re-committed his life to Christ during that time as did Lawrence Chewning. They later formed the band the Fishermen and had the privilege of introducing Ray Bolz to Christ in one of their concerts. Ray and Lawrence will join us on this broadcast.

Here is a list of the stations in Indiana and Illinois on the

JESUS FIRST NETWORK

Every Thurs. 5-7 PM
Sat. 9-11 AM
The Jesus First Network
990 AM WENS Muncie
88.1 FM Morristown
90.1 WENS Wadesville 93.9 New Castle
93.9 Mt. Carmel, IL
98.3 Milroy
101.5 Muncie
102.3 Norristown
102.9 Mt. Comfort
103.5 Greensburg
103.7 Rushville
104.3 Greensburg
104.5 Connorsville
104.9 Rushville
105.3 Anderson
106.9 Fort Branch
107.1 Connorsville
107.3 Arcadia

More Rain But Contact Made on Sunday PTL

2008-09-08T12:25:00.003-05:00

Max Wright Reports "I talked to Luc Joseph at 2:30pm today. He said hurrican Ike was causing more flooding, even at his new house construction site. At the time his family and the Orphans were on the roof of the house, the wind was blowing hard causing the phone connection to be difficult. However he did say he was able to buy some food for the children."

[Pastors of our Haiti Churches this past March]

For more information and pictures on World Renewal-Haiti please double click on the World Renewal-Haiti Blog link on the left of this screen.

We have been given $9276 for the LOVED ONES IN HAITI RELIEF FUND 100% will be given to the emergency relief of Haiti.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mission News Network on Haiti

2008-09-05T07:46:00.003-05:00

I am including a news article from Mission News Network today, it also features and Mission Aviation Fellowship and the picture from them. We are grateful for their work.

Haiti (MNN) ― The death toll is climbing as Haiti tropical storm Hanna pours more rain on that Caribbean nation. The disaster is affecting Haitians as well as those trying to help them.
Mission Aviation Fellowship serves Haiti with vital aviation, radio communications and distance education services to enable and maximize the work of Christian missions, Haitian church leaders, and non-government organizations (NGOs) ministering in Haiti.
MAF's Will White speaking from Haiti says, "We've already been drenched with Hurricane Gustav, and the land's already very wet. When Hanna hit, it just dumped more water, and in many areas it caused a lot of flooding."
According to White, MAF was able to conduct survey flights in the low-lying areas. He says Gonaives was especially hard hit. "There are about 110,000 people living there, and that town is completely flooded--from knee deep to 10 feet of water. A lot of people have moved to the top of their houses. The town is completely cut off by water."
White says this year's flooding is worse than the flooding Gonaives experienced in 2004.
The MAF program has also been affected by this week's flooding. "[Our] Gonaives airstrip is under about eight feet of water. Our other airstrips around the country report that they are fine -- just a bit muddy, but they haven't been flooded."
The torrential rains have also affected the day-to-day MAF operations. "We've basically been shut down from our normal operations for a couple of days now, " says White. "We were able to get a special permit to do the survey flights. [Thursday was] the first day authorities are actually letting us file flight plans to get to our other air strips."
White says missionaries have been stuck. He says, "Our main problem is in the Gonaives area, where even the missionaries who minister there are stuck -- they're on top of their houses also."
The difficulties aren't over. "More problems are expected in 7-10 days when we start seeing waterborne illnesses. The biggest threat is to infants and the elderly."
White is asking you to pray for the victims as well as for those trying to help. "We're flying a lot of non-Christian relief personnel from organizations like the Red Cross and government officials. We slap a headset on them so we can talk while we're flying them out and witness to them about Christ. We might not get that opportunity in other ways."

PRAISE THE LORD and KEEP PRAYING

2008-09-04T10:37:00.003-05:00

We are praising our Lord! Today Max Wright, World Renewal-Haiti Director, spoke with Pastor Luc Joseph. Pastor Luc is the President of World Renewal-Haiti. He was able to get his family and household along with the twenty-five children from our Christ Compassion Orphanage to safety at the new house we have constructed for him and World Renewal-Haiti headquarters. It was a 3 mile distance between the orphanage and the new house in flooded streets.

[ PICTURED-PASTOR LUC & ROSANA]

The house, which is outside the city and on higher ground is not yet completed and is unfurnished. However it is a safe walled complex. We are estimating that there are about 40 people at least. The city is under water. All banks and financial systems are down. There are two more storms on the way.

Luc was able to get them food last night. However, they have no food and water today!

Join us in prayer:
· Praising God for all their safety.
· Food and safe drinking water.
· Wisdom on how we can best respond to help them in getting resources to them.
· Their continued safety with more storms approaching.

PRAY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF HAITI!

We do need cash relief funds.

WORLD RENEWAL INTL
PO BOX 399, GREENFIELD, IN 46140.

LOVED ONES IN HAITI is the relief fund.

The quickest method is check by phone. We can receive Master and Visa cards however there is a delay in receiving those funds from the card service.

All funds received will be used without WRI taking any administration fees. 100% will be used for relief for Haiti.

Please call our toll free number is:
800-248-6512 317-467-9899

Maybe Tonight

2008-09-03T16:23:00.003-05:00

Update: Today Max Wright, our WR-Haiti Director made contact with the wife of Pastor Luc's closet friend in Haiti. His friend is a pastor with WYAM. He has a different kind of cell phone than Pastor Luc. Unfortunately, the wife did not speak any English. Her husband was not there but Max feels he communicated that he would call back tonight. I am sure that Pastor Luc's friend will know about Luc, his family and our children. I wish I could report more and will as soon as we hear. Keep praying, as you know two more storms are headed towards Haiti.

Thanks for stopping by.

Rueters report on Haiti

2008-09-02T14:24:00.004-05:00

Rueters posted this report today on Gonaives situation.

[Christ Compassion Orphanage Picture is ours not Rueters]
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Heavy rains triggered by Tropical Storm Hanna triggered severe flooding and killed at least 10 people in the Haitian city of Gonaives, where thousands died four years ago during a similar catastrophe, officials said.
"The city is flooded and there are parts where the water gets to 2 meters (6.5 feet)," said Alta Jean-Baptiste, the head of the Caribbean country's civil protection agency.
"A lot of people have been climbing onto the tops of their houses since last night to escape the flooding."
Gonaives police commissioner Ernst Dorfeulle said much of the population of the city -- thought to be Haiti's fourth largest -- had been forced to climb onto their rooftops.
"The police have seen 10 bodies but the death toll must be much heavier," Dorfeulle told Reuters by telephone.
"It is a very serious situation. Those people on the top of their roofs are being lashed by rain and cannot be rescued."
Eyewitnesses in Gonaives, a northern port city, said roads there were completely impassable.
Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is extremely vulnerable to disastrous flash floods because most of its hillsides have been stripped of trees by people desperate for charcoal to use as cooking fuel.Mudslides and flooding caused by Tropical Storm Jeanne in 2004 killed around 3,000 people in Gonaives. Spring floods earlier that year were blamed for another 2,000 deaths near the border with the Dominican Republic.
The passage last week of Hurricane Gustav left at least 76 people dead in Haiti while Tropical Storm Fay in August killed more than 50, most of them when a crowded bus was swept away as it tried to cross a rain-swollen river.
Haitian Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime was on the way to Gonaives to supervise rescue operations, Jean-Baptiste said.
"The hospital in Gonaives is completely flooded," she said. "We are now evacuating the patients. For now we are taking them to a higher place in the hospital but they cannot stay there."
Jean-Baptiste said the government had asked United Nations peacekeepers in the country to organize a flight to Gonaives to carry firefighters capable of carrying out search and rescue operations.
Tropical Storm Hanna was located some distance away from Haiti over the southeastern Bahamas on Tuesday. But it was a large, messy storm and Haitian meteorologists said heavy rains falling over the country were an indirect result of Hanna.
(Writing by Michael Christie, Editing by Jane Sutton)

Prayer for our "LOVED ONES IN HAITI"

2008-09-02T09:40:00.007-05:00

As of 3:00 PM we have no other contact with Pastor Luc. He does not answer his cell or home phone.

We have added some reports at the bottom of this site since first posting the original. You can also look at the Worldrenewal-Haiti blog but we will have the latest right here.

Children of Christ Compassion Orphanage in Gonaive, Haiti.

Pastor Luc called this morning at 7:30 AM Eastern Time and was at the orphanage which was flooding and he was evacuating our 25 children to higher ground. He was hoping to take them to his new house we have constructed for Luc and his family and all those who live with him. The new house is on higher ground but a good distance of walking. None of our staff there own a car or truck, only motorcycles. It is dangerous walking in flooded streets because you cannot see the open sewers. The tropical storm Hanna has flooded the streets of Gonaive which is right on the coast and the location of Christ Compassion Orphanage, our church and school in Gonaive.

Please pray for them all as Pastor Luc was very concerned. It is a desperate situation. We will update this site as we have news.

We know we have damage, it is just how much.

We have set up an emergency fund: LOVED ONES IN HAITI Donations can be done online or sent to our office PO Box 399 Greenfield, IN 46140

I am including the email Max Wright has sent out since I wrote the above:

Dear friends

I received a desperate call for prayer, from Haiti this morning from my friend and National Pastor Luc Joseph living in Gonaives Haiti. At the time 7:50am, he was at our Orphanage trying to get 25 children to safety from flood waters.

Gonaives is located in a runoff area and in 2004 when Hurricane Jean hit 3000 people died as a result of the flooding.

Would you please pray that God will bring the Children and Luc’s family to safety. And help them to minister to those who may be devastated by this Hurricane.

If you look at the news channels, you will find little if any of this information, partially due to the isolation but partly due to or narcissism of our society, so concerned about our own situation that we rarely see people reach beyond our own concerns.

Don’t let this be only a blip on your radar screen. The prayers of the richious availeth much.

I H S,
Max R Wright
World Renewal International –Haiti

This afternoon another ministry posted this letter, what would be true for them and their teachers and children would be the same for us:

Dear Friends:
Four years ago Gonaives was severely hit by Hurricane Jeanne and more than 3000 were killed. About midnight this morning a friend of us received a call from someone in Gonaives saying that the city is going under water. That person was trying to reach us to share this news with us but it was not till 6:30 when she finally got thru.
My wife made a few phone calls to know what the situation was like there. the news are not good. Water has gotten to the ceiling of the houses and people are on the house tops. One Pastor we talked to said that he survived Jeanne but he has very little hope to survive this one because Jeanne at this time the water was receding but now it is just the opposite.
I am not able to reach anybody in Lacroix yet. Most of our teachers live in Gonaives and I worry for their survivance. The people we spoke with were on their house top.
Covet your prayers. I will keep you posted if I have any more news.
PP

Thanks for stopping by.

Real Pressure

2008-08-30T10:07:00.003-05:00

Pastor Luc in kitchen.

I wanted to let you know that our dear ones in Haiti are fine after the storm passed through. Max Wright, the directer of World Renewal-Haiti was finally able to contact Pastor Luc after many unsuccessful tries. Luc says they are a little wet but fine We are grateful to Jesus.

Max recently visited Haiti and our new church. We are praising the Lord for so many who came to Christ at this new church on the first Sunday.

We were all concern when Luc reported to us several weeks ago that his daughter Rose Luci had high fervor from malaria. His wife, Rosana had a fever and so did our young leader McDonald who lives them.

After days of praying for them we got the next report. They were well. Luc and a friend had led a time of prayer and fasting in their churches. The sick were well and revival had broke out in both churches with several finding Christ.

Tim Tiboe, last year's college football Heisman winner is a Christ follower. He went on mission trips this summer. This week he was asked about the pressure of a new year after such an award filled year last year. He explained that people in third world countries who are just try to find food and survive are the ones under pressure. "This is just football." He has it right.

Thanks for stopping by.