Our Mission Is Possible

	*Latest News--2009*

	____________________________________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________________________________