Our Mission Is Possible

	*Latest News* University of Toledo Article on January Mission Team Special - New DR Classroom Building Report Kurt Bishop - January 26th radio interview on WFIN (MPG3 file) Upcoming Team's TV Interview MP gets "Thumbs Up" in Editorial December Pastor Seminar in the news January Haiti Team in the news Pastors Herve and Moise Share About the Earthquake Pastors Herve and Moise Speak in South Carolina Pastors Herve and Moise Give Thanks to South Carolina Students 2010 Haiti Earthquake News

	____________________________________________________________________________ January 2012 2011 was a GREAT year for Mission Possible in so many ways. We have more students, more donors, and a brand-new nursing school. Of course, we also have a bigger budget to meet to keep it all happening. With God’s help and our ministry partners, we’re making progress in meeting our increased financial needs. I want to thank you for doing your part in making effective ministry happen. It takes all of us, working together, to be God’s instruments on earth. Some give. Some go. Some pray. Some volunteer. Some administrate. Some oversee. ALL of us are important. See 1 Corinthians 12:12-30. God has given you a special role in His plan. ALL of our roles are critical. May God show you your unique and important role in partnering with Mission Possible in 2012! Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ December 2011 Mission Possible has three short-term mission teams traveling to Haiti and the Dominican Republic this month. They will separately host a seminar for 200+ pastors, provide important medical care, teach community health education, and take pictures of many of our students for their school pictures. Please pray for these teams and their impact on the communities. I want to thank you for making 2011 a GREAT year for Mission Possible. It is my privilege to be part of Mission Possible’s leadership and to be associated with our fine Board and staff in the United States, Canada, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. And, it is my honor to partner with all the people who make this ministry possible. May God bless you abundantly as you celebrate the Christmas Season and reflect on God’s gift to us, his Son Jesus. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ November 2011 The October medical team to Haiti made a trip to the mountain community of Lahatte and reported a significant improvement in the health of the people. That was an incredible relief to me. In January 2011, I accompanied a medical team to Lahatte where we discovered children with orange hair (a sign of malnutrition), a baby with severe burns from falling into boiling water, underweight kids, etc. One woman reported her kids had not eaten in two or three days because she just didn’t have enough food. Pastor Herve organized a short-term relief program for the people of Lahatte. Mission Possible distributed rice, beans, and cooking oil to each family that signed up for the program. One of our concerned donors also took a team to Lahatte to set up a nutrition program where underweight kids were put on a peanut butter-based supplement (with oils, vitamins, and Moringa powder) that gives them an immediate boost. Many of the medical team members from January were also there in October. They reported a major improvement in the health and outlook of the people. We thank God for that. Thank you for helping to make it all happen. Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ October 2011 This month, Mission Possible has a short-term medical team in Haiti, ministering to our school students, parents, staff, and teachers. Cholera is making a comeback with the fall rainy season. It’s a problem that is spread through improper sewage treatment so wet conditions help transmission. Cholera can kill it’s victims in hours. So, in addition to medical treatment, our medical team is giving education classes on cholera prevention and treatment, hand hygiene, water treatment, and proper latrine digging. We are interested in the physical health of our people in Haiti, in addition to their spiritual development, their education, food for their stomachs, and leadership training. I am glad you are with us as we continue our “mission” together. Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ September 2011 The Mission Possible Board of Trustees will meet this month at the headquarters in Findlay, Ohio. Our administration and field leaders will present reports of progress and challenges to the Board. Last month we again subjected the ministry to the annual audit by our Certified Public Accountants. Both of these events take time and money. However, we take accountability seriously. We are accountable to God. We are accountable to our Board of Trustees. We are accountable to the auditors. We are accountable to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and the Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC). And, we are accountable to you, our donors. Thank you for your trust, and thank you for partnering with us in ministry. Kurt Bishop President ____________________________________________________________________________ August 2011 Mission Possible is known as a “hand-up” and not a “hand-out” ministry. We make sure our relief efforts are short-term and designed to encourage the people to get back onto their feet without promoting an ongoing reliance on our support. In LaHatte Haiti, we recently recognized a serious problem with health and malnutrition. We organized a census and short-term relief effort to provide rice, beans, and cooking oil to the people in an organized way. Pastor Herve sent us this report: “Joyfully they received the food. When we finished, they all said thank you and told us they had something for us. To our great surprise, they gave watermelons, charcoal, and about 23 gallons of cow milk. They said they wanted to give back for what we have done. It was nice to see the people wanting to give back and not just wanting to receive.” This is an amazing affirmation of Mission Possible’s approach to ministry. The people of LaHatte gave back out of their local produce and they are coming through this hard time with their God-given dignity intact. Thank you for helping us minister to the people of Lahatte. Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ July 2011 Mission Possible is in a growth phase right now. In the last three years, our student count has gone from about 2,300 to about 3,500 today. That’s more than 50% growth. We are ministering to more and more people. We have completed several major construction projects recently: a new school building in the Dominican Republic, a new Bible School in Haiti, and a rebuilt school and church in LaHatte (Haiti) that were heavily damaged by the earthquake. In the Dominican Republic, we recently purchased a good piece of land to build another church. This land will house a new church building for the Haitian people of the area who speak Haitian Creole. We already have a Creole congregation that currently meets in a humble shack. The Creole church members have determined to raise the construction funding from within the congregation and not rely on North American money. (See pictures of the new land below.) Mission Possible will be partnering with them by sending many short-term mission teams from the U.S. and Canada to work alongside them and finish their church building. If you are a supporter of Mission Possible, you are a big part of our growth. Your donations and partnership with us help fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to us (Matthew 28:18-20) and help minister to many thousands of Haitians and Dominicans. We couldn’t increase our ministry impact without you. Thank you for your part in making ministry possible. Kurt Bishop In these pictures, Pastor Moise Sam describes the plans to a visiting short-term mission team of Liberty-Benton High School Spanish students and parents. The new land abuts the local public university. ____________________________________________________________________________ June 2011 I was in Haiti this month with a short-term team of people who are interested in making an investment of time and finances into Mission Possible’s work. While there we inspected several of the schools. Here are some observations: Our students look healthy and are being fed lunch every school day. Our national leaders are working very well together. Our students are hearing the gospel. We saw students demonstrate incredible leadership. The construction to rebuild LaHatte schools after the earthquake has been completed. The new Bible School building is being used to train ministry leaders. We have opportunities for more growth. The people I was with felt good about the ministry and a future partnership. This work is something we should all be proud of because together, with God’s help, we are making a difference. Thank you for your part. Below are some LaHatte school earthquake "before" "during" and "after" pictures. THANK YOU to everyone who gave and went to provide a safe school for our kids. A second building was also heavily damaged and it was fixed up too. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ April 2011 We are happy to report the completion of Mission Possible’s new Bible School building in Haiti. In only six weeks this building shell was transformed into an excellent facility for the training of pastors and lay leaders. These “before” and “after” pictures will give you an idea. THANK YOU to all those who gave to make this project possible. We are trusting God for many trained Christian leaders in the future as a return for your stewardship and investment. There are currently about 120 adult students enrolled in the Bible School. THANK YOU to the many North Americans who went on short-term mission teams to labor along with Haitians on this project. Your efforts are a testimony to your giving spirit and desire to help. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ March 2011 In February, Mission Possible sent a team, led by Lisa Gratz from Project Respect in N.W. Ohio, to Haiti to teach our older students about abstinence and sexually transmitted diseases. Another team followed that up with treatment for STDs. Unfortunately this whole area is a big concern for Haitian young people. The culture can be sexually permissive, and many times young girls are used in this manner for voodoo ceremonies. From Lisa: “We spoke to 250 students and also members of the community for 4 hours. We talked with the students about abstinence and God’s design for saving sex for marriage. There were many questions about sexually transmitted diseases. One boy asked, “Do people in America know about this? Why did it take this long for us to find out?” We challenged the students at the end of our time to make a commitment to purity. Many came to the front of the class as a promise to save sex for marriage. We prayed with them and then gave them a white wristband as a reminder of their promise. More projects and another school tomorrow.” From another team member: “One powerful moment came as Lisa spoke. A girl of about 15 had been sitting with her head down as Lisa spoke of their need to be pure. She would not look up and seemed uncomfortable. Lisa then told the girls that even if they had made mistakes in the past, they could still choose to be pure from that point forward. Almost immediately the girl’s face lifted and her eyes met Lisa’s and a smile appeared where she had once worn a frown. God can heal!” THANK YOU for partnering with us to help make this message possible. Kurt ____________________________________________________________________________ February 2011 Do you ever wonder if your partnership with Mission Possible is doing anything positive for Haiti and the Dominican Republic? Here is what is happening right now. In February our short-term mission teams started construction on the new Bible School facility. In February our teams planted over 100 Moringa trees and provided training on this tree that will give many nutrition and health benefits to Haitians. In January we noticed a problem with malnutrition and lack of adequate water at a remote mountain community called LaHatte. Our Haitian leaders surveyed the community and developed a plan to provide clean drinking water and weekly rice & bean rations. Another group of ours is working on a long-term plan to provide agriculture training so the people can garden plants that will thrive in that area’s arid climate. In February our teams provided Abstinence & S.T.D. prevention education for the older students at each of our schools. In January we accepted another school (our 8^th) for our organization (about 270 more students) and in March we will consider a 9^th school (about 335 more students). Here are two pictures from the recently completed new school building at the Ebenezer school in the Dominican Republic. The first shows the completed building, the second is the Kindergarten class enjoying their brand-new room. Thank you to all who gave for this project, and all who served with your backs and hands. Our student enrollment is growing and this new building will help us keep up. THANK YOU for partnering with us to help make all this possible. Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ January 2011 I joined a short-term mission team of 24 Americans and Canadians the first week of January to minister to Haitians. We were blessed with medical professionals who treated 649 students and community members. Some of our Haitian communities have reasonably good health, while in others we saw serious and chronic medical conditions. Many Haitians have no access to healthcare whatsoever. Some of the parents reported their children had not eaten in 2-3 days (these are children too young for our schools). We also saw other heartbreaking things--a baby with bad burns because she walked into a pot of boiling water . . . a 1-yr-old who seemed to have no brain function or reaction to stimuli . . . lots of small kids with orange hair (an indication of malnutrition) . . . the list goes on and on. The people in the area are also terrified of the cholera epidemic. They know very little about germs or bacteria, but they have heard that cholera is killing their fellow countrymen. In fact, 149,000 have been infected with cholera and almost 4,000 have perished. The education part of our team gave classes on cholera prevention and treatment, the importance of washing your hands, using clean water for drinking and cooking, and proper latrine construction. We have six more short-term mission teams going to Haiti in the next six weeks. Please pray for the safety and effectiveness of our groups. Thank you for all your support for the work of Mission Possible. Many Haitians benefit from our partnership with you. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ December 2010 Mission Possible has registered another record level of students this school year: 2,875 in Haiti and 577 in the Dominican Republic for a total of 3,452. The cholera outbreak continues to grow in Haiti and a few cases have also been discovered in the Dominican Republic. The government is reporting 81,000 people infected and 2,000 now dead. There is speculation that 400,000 could become sick before it runs it’s course. Thankfully we still have no reports of our students or staff being sickened. Fortunately, cholera is both preventable and treatable with the right education and tools. Mission Possible is sending teams to Haiti to give community health seminars at each of our schools to teach the people the importance of hand and latrine sanitation, clean water and food, and cholera prevention and treatment. Please pray that none of our precious kids or staff will lose their lives to this terrible outbreak. Thank you for all you are doing for Mission Possible and the people we minister to. May God continue to bless you this Christmas season. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ November 2010 Haiti has been in the news a lot lately. First, cholera has struck Haiti for the first time in 50 years. Thousands are sickened and over 500 have perished. Despite our proximity to the outbreak, we thank God that none of our staff or students have been affected yet. Second, hurricane Tomas was predicted to be a direct hit on Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. Fortunately, it turned slightly at the last minute and largely spared Haiti. Although up to 15 inches of rain was reported, Haiti did not suffer the effects of a direct hit. Again, we have no reports of Mission Possible’s buildings, staff, or students being harmed during the storm. ____________________________________________________________________________ October 2010 I was in Haiti this month with a short-term mission team doing construction work. We got a lot of work done. We also saw the devastation of the earthquake. We saw the collapsed national palace. We saw the thousands of tents and tarps that 1.3 million Haitians are still living under. More importantly, we saw the great ministry the Mission Possible Haitian leaders are doing. We met many of the young students in class who are getting an education. We visited the Bible School and saw dozens of pastors getting training. We attended church with the joyous faithful. We prayed with a man in his humble hut. Thank you for your stewardship and investment. It is needed and worthwhile and very effective. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ September 2010 At the start of the school year in our Ebenezer school (Dominican Republic), our staff took Friday to pray and fast for the new school year. On the following Sunday, the Ebenezer church dedicated the school year to the Lord. Isn’t it great to have a staff that not only wants to teach students, but to have a staff that dedicates itself and the school to the Lord? The staff in Haiti just completed a training seminar on the discipleship materials to be used in the upcoming school year. The materials are used in each of the classes to teach the students more in their relationship with God. Isn’t it great to be part of a ministry that disciples over 3000 students each year? Your support makes you part of this ministry in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Thank you. Kurt Bishop ____________________________________________________________________________ August 2010 Thank you so much for your faithful support. School in Haiti recently ended and we are awaiting the dates from the Haitian government for when it will start this fall. Our leaders are thinking it will start in October. This was due to the fact that the schools were shut down for a long time after the earthquake. We are looking forward to many new and exciting things this year. We will be adding 11^th and 12^th grade to now have complete education available to many of our students. This has been a long time dream for Mission Possible and we praise God that we are able to see this through. Each year we are also adding many new students and continuing to grow. Praise God as we are now reaching over 3000 students with food, education and the love of Christ! Thank you for partnering with us to train and educate future *Christian* leaders of Haiti! For the Children, Lindsay Clevidence Director of Child Sponsorship ____________________________________________________________________________ July 2010 The following is from the report “Haiti At A Crossroads” presented to the United States Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations on June 22, 2010: “The earthquake destroyed an estimated 4,228 schools as well as the Ministry of Education building itself, leading to the deaths of around 38,000 students, 1,347 teachers, and 180 education personnel. One of the principal challenges in the education sector in Haiti is that 85% of the schools are private and unregulated, with little or no oversight by the Government of Haiti. The vast majority of schools are ineffective, have no money to pay for teachers, few teaching materials and an unstructured curriculum. Approximately 80-90% of university facilities in Haiti were demolished by the earthquake. The lack of higher education, vocational, and professional training is a huge and widening gap for Haiti.” We are happy to report Mission Possible is part of the solution in Haitian education. One of our six schools was destroyed, but a temporary structure was erected to finish out the year and we plan to rebuild the school soon. Our schools are certified by the Haitian government and we are paying our teachers every month. Our vocational school is operating normally and we are on schedule to add additional programs this fall (nursing and cooking). Thank you for helping us continue our mission during difficult times. ____________________________________________________________________________ June 2010 Five months after the big earthquake, things are slowly returning to “normal” for many Haitians. For tens of thousands more, their homes are destroyed, they are living under a tarp, they are depending on others for food and water, and “normal” is far away. After the earthquake, Mission Possible committed to feed and look after the medical needs of 110 displaced refugees. After several months they left our camp to re-establish a “normal” life. Unfortunately, 6 boys, most around 5-10 years old, did not leave. We found out they were true orphans, with both parents deceased. Pastor Herve has purchased a 3-room house for the boys and is rotating church members to stay with and care for them. Other orphans have been identified and we’re now up to 22 boys. I ask you to pray that God will show us the best plan for the boys and how their lives can become “normal” again. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ May 2010 At a time when Haiti and the Dominican Republic desperately need good leaders, Mission Possible is coming through. Out of the misery of the January earthquake, the hearts of many Haitians have been open to the gospel message. The Mission Possible staff and student leaders have been trained and are in place for “such a time as this”. In February and April our leaders organized and conducted three local crusades with over 16,000 people in attendance. By the grace of God, we thankfully announce 596 decisions for Jesus at the first event, 100 at the second, and 35 at the third. We believe these and other souls will be with us in heaven someday because of equipped and ready leaders with hearts for their people. Evangelism. Discipleship. Bible School. Vocational School. Each of these Mission Possible programs are developing and equipping leaders and are helping us realize such great results. --------------------------------------- When we partner together in mission work, we are participating in what is known as the “Great Commission”, as found in Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.“ This is precisely what Mission Possible does through evangelism and discipleship at our schools. We are also training Haitians to minister to their own people at our Bible School. When you support mission work through Mission Possible, you are obeying Jesus’ Great Commission and meeting needs in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Thank you for partnering with us. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ April 2010 This year, let Mission Possible help you introduce an interactive, fun and meaningful mission project in your community with “School Lunches For Haiti”. It’s a low-maintenance, do-it-yourself project for anyone with a heart to help feed kids in Haiti. This project is set up to coordinate with and enhance your Sunday School curriculum, youth group, Pioneer Club, Vacation Bible School, adult Bible Study, etc. Call our office, 800-621-9731, and we will send you a DVD that explains how the program works. ____________________________________________________________________________ March 2010 Haiti’s President Preval cancelled the 3-day event known as Carnival (similar to our Mardi Gras) and instead told his country to pray to God. Mission Possible’s Pastor Herve took the opportunity to organize 300 pastors in his community to call all the people for the same 3 days (February 12-14) to fast, pray, confess, and ask God to heal their land. They fasted from 6am to 6pm each day. Herve's staff counted over 16,000 people attending on the 3rd day (besides those who came the first two days), and 596 accepted Jesus! Many people came for all 3 days and refused to go home at night. There is a real sense that this earthquake may be just the thing needed to turn the Haitian people away from their problems and back to God. Keep praying for Haiti and especially for its leadership. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ 2009 News ____________________________________________________________________________ 2008 News