Our Mission Is Possible

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	January 2010 For earthquake news, click on the link on the Home page. ____________________________________________________________________________ December 2009 I trust you had a good Thanksgiving with your family. It is rapidly becoming one of my favorite holidays. The longer we work in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the more I realize how much I have to be thankful for. I have a warm bed, a roof over my head, and I rarely miss a meal. My medical needs have always been met. I am truly blessed. Hopefully you feel the same way about your life. What we have is rare in this world, and is certainly not the case in Haiti and the DR. This month we celebrate Christ’s birth. It is a joyous season when we remember God’s gift to all of us. In North America, we have a tendency to go all-out with food, travel, parties, and countless presents. Again, our abundance is almost overwhelming. May we never take our blessings for granted, and may we always share with others out of our abundance. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ November 2009 Ever wonder why we are so concerned about the students in Haiti and the Dominican Republic? This account, related to us in October by our Haitian leader Pastor Herve Pierre, will help you understand our concern. Feguens Fleurosenat (see his picture below) was a student at Mission Possible Christian Academy (MPCA). He was a kind young boy of 16 years—a 5th grader. His father passed away 15 months ago, so he lived with his mother and four siblings. On October 1st, Feguens was attacked by a mental disease and began saying strange things such as, “The snake comes to take me. Let me go. I can’t stay…” He stopped eating. After 15 days of suffering, Feguens died. His family is inconsolable. A rumor has attributed his death to a “devil’s touch” brought on by his uncle’s dealings with a voodoo priest in order to win the lottery. Did this young man die from a chemical imbalance? A mental illness? Demonic oppression? We may never know. Even though our students hear the gospel at school, many of their parents and families are still involved in voodoo, making it hard for their kids to embrace a relationship with Christ without family support and approval. We hope this gives you some insight into the realities of life on the island. It serves as a reminder of the importance of impacting lives such as Feguens’. Over 3,000 are being impacted in our schools right now. ____________________________________________________________________________ October 2009 Our field leaders from Haiti and the Dominican Republic have reported the exciting news that our student enrollment has, for the first time, exceeded 3,000 students. At this point we have added about 400 students compared to last year. This means that you, through your partnership with Mission Possible, are educating, feeding, evangelizing, and discipling more young people than ever before. Praise God for that! One of the challenges we will face together in the future is to ramp up all the necessary support (financial and otherwise) to continue this kind of growth. Please start to pray with me, that God will supply all the needed resources for the “mission” He has given us. Thank you for your partnership and your desire to help those less fortunate. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ September 2009 Two discussions this month reminded me WHY we are working in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. One man questioned why we are working in other countries, when there are poor children living in our own community. That is a legitimate question. In another conversation, a different man, who grew up in South America, stated that poverty here in North America is NOTHING like poverty in third world countries. In fact, if you lived at the poverty line in North America, you would be considered quite wealthy in Haiti. Our instructions to minister beyond our borders come from Jesus himself, in what is known as the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Thank you for partnering with us as together we obey our Lord’s instructions and minister to some of the world’s poorest children. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ August 2009 This month we are going through our annual audit. As I write this, our auditors are spending a week looking into all our financial details for the past year. The audit costs money and it consumes a substantial amount of our energy and time. Why would we voluntarily subject ourselves to an audit every year? We are committed to the highest standards of financial accountability. Our membership in the ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) and CCCC (Canadian Council of Christian Charities) is evidence of this fact. The audit ensures the money you contribute is handled in a proper, efficient, and secure manner. God has given each of us finances to manage and invest for His kingdom. We are merely stewards of all the things He owns. THANK YOU for partnering with Mission Possible as part of your stewardship plan. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop President ____________________________________________________________________________ July 2009 Discipleship in Haiti is intentional and being practiced. Each of Mission Possible’s Haitian schools has a group of 12 boys that are being discipled as leaders (some pictured below, with their mentors). During the recent community health seminars at each school, the discipleship group of the school opened the seminar with a spiritual program. The boys led in prayer, songs, and scripture reading and then gave a message through drama. One of the boys was chosen to preach a short message. THANK YOU for partnering with us to enable the spiritual and leadership development of 72 boys in Haiti. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ June 2009 A few weeks ago I read the news that one of North America’s largest child sponsorship organizations was dropping the word “Christian” from its name. According to the report, they no longer are an evangelical organization and focus on “good works” instead. There is nothing wrong with “good works”, and Mission Possible is certainly involved in many of them (feeding programs, hurricane relief, and clean water as a few examples). But at the same time, Mission Possible is still and always will be a Christian mission that emphasizes evangelism and discipleship with all our programs. We know the eternity of our students depends upon it. THANK YOU for partnering with us to continue meeting needs (especially spiritual needs). Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ May 2009 This month we have a special program. A Non-Governmental Organization was able to provide us with some additional food supplies. Each of the students at our largest school, MPCA (close to 1,000 children), received a 55 pound bag of rice, a bag of beans, and a jug of cooking oil to take home for their families (see the accompanying picture). This unusual contribution will help families during the Summer months while school is out. Distribution is scheduled for the Dupin school soon. We know that for many of our students, the meal they receive at the Mission Possible school is the only meal they will get during the day. Knowing that, we thank God for the blessing this extra food will be for the needy families. THANK YOU for partnering with us to continue meeting needs. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ April 2009 Ministry in Haiti and the Dominican Republic is difficult. Let me share some good news that reminds us WHY we go to these efforts. Senthia, 13 years old, (pictured below) is one of our 4^th grade students who lives with her mother (her father is dead). One day her teacher discovered some disturbing demonic drawings in her school work. Upon inquiry, Senthia confided she has been communicating with a voodoo spirit that gave her a ring that allows her to predict winning lottery numbers for people. As part of the ritual, men could take advantage of her sexually. Two weeks ago Mission Possible’s Spiritual Director, Herve Pierre, counseled Senthia who turned from voodoo and accepted Jesus. Senthia is now in our discipleship program and Herve has asked us to continue to pray for her. THANK YOU for partnering with us as together we reach young lives like Senthia. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ March 2009 GREAT NEWS! Our reports from the field indicate 108 kids accepted Jesus as their Savior through the ministries of Mission Possible in Haiti in 2008. 61 people accepted Jesus in the Dominican Republic in 2008. We praise God that He allows us to be a part of such an effective ministry. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Give Julie a call at our office, 800-621-9731, and she will send you a DVD that explains how the program works. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ February 2009 This is a picture of the first day of classes at Mission Possible’s new Haiti Vocational School that opened in February 2009. The area has available jobs for people with computer and accounting training. To meet this need, we have opened the Vocational School and we already have 103 adult students enrolled in the programs. Courses in electricity and masonry will start soon. Your support helps all the people impacted by Mission Possible. On behalf of those who benefit from our programs, THANK YOU for your support. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ January 2009 We appreciate all our supporters who keep the ministry working effectively. Here are a few examples of effective results from the last 6 weeks: ● Five short-term mission teams have gone to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The Haiti vocational school was built (it’s close to completion now), the computer training room was finished and all the computers installed, and over 1,000 of our students, parents, and community members were seen by two medical teams. ● The Bible Training Center in Haiti held its first graduation ceremony on January 18. Those graduates are now equipped to be pastors and lay leaders in their community. ● Jochy, one of our 10^th grade students at Ebenezer school, passed away from cancer, but he accepted Jesus as his Savior just days before his death. Your support helped make all this possible for Jochy and the other people impacted by Mission Possible. Thank you for partnering with us to meet all these needs. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ December 2008 We are thankful that none of our students were killed in this fall’s three hurricanes that slammed Haiti. It is estimated about 70% of Haiti’s crops were ruined which has really contributed to the increased cost of food for the students’ families. Nonetheless, we are continuing to provide a daily school lunch to all of our 2,500 students on the island. We have also divided up the acreage of our property at the main school in Haiti and “rented” it to about 30 gardeners who have planted crops. Their “rent” is to give a tithe of their crops back to the school to help feed the kids. In this way, both the gardeners’ families and the students will benefit. Your continued support helps make all this possible. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ October 2008 Here is an update on the tropical storm and 3 hurricanes that devastated parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic last month. 850,000 to 1,000,000 people were displaced. Many have lost their homes, their livestock, and/or their gardens. Food and fuel prices have escalated dramatically. The Haitian government delayed the start of school until October 6 because of the turmoil and all the refugees taking shelter in the schools. What is Mission Possible doing? We are feeding hundreds and hundreds of refugees. We are helping people purchase construction materials to repair their homes. Our church members in Haiti are donating their own clothing and shoes to give to their fellow citizens in need. (Can you imagine, people who own so little, giving to others who have even less.) Mission Possible is not primarily about physical needs or relief projects, but it is truly humbling to be part of this effort to help the students, staff, teachers, and community members who are most affected. Thank you for partnering with us to meet these needs. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ September 2008 Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in the news again. Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike have pummeled the island with punishing amounts of wind and rain. Pastor Herve Pierre, Mission Possible's Haiti Spiritual Director, reports much devastation. The bridge at Montrouis is washed out, so transportation is very difficult. Many people have lost their homes and everything they owned. Here is one example. One of Pastor Herve’s friends, also a pastor, was flooded out of his home. He and his wife and children escaped the surging water and waited on the top of their roof for two days, in the wind and rain, with no food, water, or shelter. There were no boats or helicopters for rescue. God only knows how many homes have been destroyed, how many gardens ruined, and how many lives lost. Mission Possible is putting together a relief effort so Pastor Herve and the Mission Possible churches can help the students, staff, teachers, and community members who are most affected. We will provide emergency food, water, clothes, and shelter. To contribute online, click on the Online Donations button on our Home page. Please continue to pray for our affected friends in Haiti. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ August 2008 Time is running out. Like the sands of an hourglass, time is marching steadily forward. In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, time can run out before anyone expects. We regularly receive reports of our students who are killed after being run over by cars, after a wall of their house falls on them, after they get sick, or for other circumstances that would be extremely rare in North America. One of our Kindergarten students went missing after traveling a long distance on his own. The little boy’s body was found fifteen days later, with a broken head, after he had wandered into a river. Time ended too fast for that boy. Jesus is coming back. Will it be soon, or 100 years from now? We don’t know for sure, but we know our time to minister on this earth grows shorter every hour. We need to plan as if we’ll continue working for another 100 years, but with an urgency as if our time will run out tomorrow. Students need educated, children need fed, and leaders need trained. People need to learn about Jesus; they need a Savior that brings hope. Thank you for partnering with us to meet these needs before time runs out. Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ July 2008 We are pleased to introduce Yvrose Gena Gedon who has recently been hired as the school nurse for Mission Possible’s six schools in Haiti. As a qualified nurse, she is treating problems the students commonly suffer from, including malnutrition, various skin diseases, and injuries. She also administers de-worming parasite medicine to all the students. In this picture she is standing beside one of the medicine cabinets each school has received. We are currently raising funds for her salary and to equip her with sufficient medicines and supplies. Our main focus is on the education and training of future leaders. The health of the students is an important component of that, and your contributions help make it all possible. Thank you for the sacrifice you make to give to this ministry. Yours and His, Kurt Bishop, President ____________________________________________________________________________ June 2008 You may have seen the recent news reports about the food riots in Haiti. Many Haitian towns have experienced social unrest as people protest the rising costs of food. Roadblocks were erected, tires burned, the Presidential palace was stormed, many were injured and killed, businesses shut down, the national schools were closed, and tap-taps (public taxi transportation) didn’t run. Thankfully there is no harm to report about our schools, students, or staff. In recent months food prices have risen 25-50%. The reasons are many. The Haitian government has restricted importation of chickens and eggs. More global corn is being diverted to ethanol instead of food. The Indians and Chinese are getting a taste for beef which turns crop land into cattle graze. Major rice producing countries are prohibiting exports of rice so they can feed their own citizens. The fuel to transport food costs more. Added together, these factors have resulted in a worldwide shortage of food, and the end of this shortage is not apparent. We truly live in a global economy. Mission Possible currently has food for the schools and we are able to order more as needed. Of course, we are paying the higher rates just like everyone else. Please pray with us that as time goes on we will receive the needed contributions and continue to be able to purchase food for the students who are the most at-risk. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --Food Crisis Update-- People have been asking how the food crisis is affecting Mission Possible. Prices for the school lunches for the students continue to rise. While these increases have been a big inconvenience to us in North America, they hit the average Haitian and Dominican family much harder because the majority of their income goes for daily food. This makes our school feeding program even more critical. Although future costs are impossible to know in these unpredictable times, we are expecting (and planning for) a $60,000 increase next year in our cost of feeding approximately 2,400 students each school day. Thanks to God, and the generous gifts of many of our supporters, we have raised over $51,000 towards this so far. Be assured we are committed to continue feeding these children. Appeals are being made to supporters, foundations, churches, and Vacation Bible Schools, and God’s people are responding to this critical need.