“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Phil. 2: 9-11

In all of Haiti’s history, there has always been Carnival.  Haiti is known for its Mardi Gras celebration that last days, costs the government lots of money, and harms many people.  The news will glorify the festival, saying that it is a cultural celebration.  But, they don’t understand the devastation that Carnival leaves in its wake.  Carnival is a voudoo service–it is worshipping Satan.  In the act of worship, practitioners will spend their last dime, harm themselves, or willingly let possession take place.  There are always people that die and many others are injured.  But, the news will only show the dancing and singing and partying.  People come from all over the world to celebrate Carnival in Haiti.  Carnival was to be this week.

But, for the first time, Haiti’s government has cancelled Carnival.  Instead, the president has called for 3 days of national prayer.  That is a miracle, my friends.  That is what we have been praying for since coming to serve in Haiti.  What an opportunity this will be to stand up for the name of Jesus.  The nation of Haiti will be spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in fasting and prayer.  For our community, we will be uniting the local churches to pray and fast together.  The community chose to use our worship center as its meeting place.  They chose our facility without us knowing about  the decision.  We are so glad that we are able to provide the setting for the services. Pray that JeanJean and the other leaders will be able to guide people to Christ for their comfort.  Our prayer has always been that God would fill up the worship center with people who are looking for Him.  The community is encouraging those who go to church and those that don’t to join together to pray.  We hope that many new people will be exposed to the gospel and that people’s faith will be strengthened.  May the whole nation be as the jailer in Acts 16:30 that experienced the earthquake in the prison and called out to Paul, “…what must I do to be saved?”  I have been convicted that God can use a major disaster to become a major turning point for Haiti.  Please consider praying and fasting yourselves on these days.  Haiti is still desperately in need of your prayers.

We have been sending money and supplies to the churches of Pastor TessiChrist, Smith, and Raynold in Port-au-Prince.   They are so grateful for all the help that has been given to their congregations.  We will be sending another load of charcoal on Sunday as that is still a big need.  The pastors do ask for people to pray for the sicknesses that are spreading.  Many, many people suffer from GI problems such as diarrhea due to the lack of good water.  People suffer respiratory problems as well from the stench and dust that still hovers in Port.  Also, the flies and rats are becoming major problems, as well.  The government is not allowing construction to begin since the clean-up is far from over and codes and regulations need to be instigated.

Many of you have told us how you are praying for our full house.  We appreciate that so much.  One of the little girls at our house turned 4 today and had her first birthday party.  Many people here don’t keep track of birthdays as it is difficult to get presents and to celebrate.  But, Tana and Kerri and their friends made a cake, decorated the house, and wrapped up some presents for Judiana.  I don’t know if she’ll settle down to sleep after all the excitement!  I can’t say enough how blessed we are to have such good people with us.  We have sent several of ‘our people’ to Port so that they can salvage what they can from the rubble of their houses.  Many refugees in our area are seriously considering building here.  UCI may have a lot of opportunities to help with construction in the near future.

JeanJean, along with the Haitian board, have been praying diligently about how to transition from relief to development.  They have several ideas on how to help find work for those who have been displaced.  They have been considering training people in agriculture and microfinance along with training on the Bible.  Please pray for these decisions.  We want to be good stewards of the relief money that you have so graciously given.

The pastors from other communities that received relief monies from UCI last week returned with their reports.  I haven’t added up all the families that benefitted but I know that it touched hundreds of people in far-off communities that are often forgotten.

I don’t want to make this update too long but I need to let you know that UCI’s on-going ministries are doing well.  Without our board, we would not have been able to do both the regular ministries and relief.  We are so grateful for the men of the board.  We have been able to start 2 new nutrition centers which brings the total to seven places where kids are nourished physically and spiritually.  I have a couple of pictures to share:

Weighing the kids at the center

First meeting in Labok

I told you in a previous update that our youth group went and prayed with the families who lost sons in the quake.  They brought an offering as well.  From seeing how blessed the people were, the youth group has decided to try to raise money by selling coffee.  They have made 30 lbs. already.  They hope to use this money to bless others who are unable to help themselves.  The group also spent all day Saturday helping a family that lost a son in the quake to rebuild their house.  We are also up to 54 houses that have received cement floors.  Saul, our agricultural specialist, is planning on training 10-20 men/refugees on how to raise crops to make a good profit.

There are so many other things to report but we’ll leave you there.  God bless you!

JeanJean, Kristie, Tana and Kerri Mompremier

Defend the cause of the fatherless is the statement that has run around in my heart for El Salvador. Along with the key words in the verse, STOP, LEARN, SEEK, ENCOURAGE and PLEAD! As I had the amazing privilege to spend a week with leadership from Compassion International and see their heart for these kids…it was amazing! I had the chance to see with my own eyes how Jesus is changing lives all over the world through the local church.

We saw a couple of the Projects that CI is involved with and immediately saw the hand of God moving in their community. Actually, we didn’t even see the name Compassion International at any of the Projects. They made the local church the heroes and champions!

So back to the fatherless, I had many chances to see, hug, cry and pray with kids that didn’t have fathers. It breaks my heart to see these kids without a man in their lives to STOP them from making bad decisions, help them LEARN to be a man of God, play hide and go SEEK, ENCOURAGE them to do their best and take risks, and PLEAD with them to eat their veggies! Me, as a dad, didn’t even stop to think about those simple things I do for my boys but seeing these kids without that, broke my heart.

FATHERS: as you sit with your children, soak up every minute of those moments. Life flies by and we need to pray about the kids living without loving hugs from people that care and adore them.

Be a father to the fatherless! YES, be Jesus and show them that they with always have a Heavenly Father and He cares deeply for them but if you know of kids that need a hug…HUG THEM!

You ask what C2C is, well let me tell you. CI and Willow Creek have teamed up to start this new pilot program. It’s celebrating the local churches and everything that they are doing. So it’s a partnership with a U.S. Church and an Overseas Church. The goal is to encourage, love, help, share stories, build bonds, respond in love, laugh together, cry together…so basically build a relationship with Christ as the center!

CI is coming along side the local church here in ES to help bring Jesus in a real and powerful way. They care about the whole child and not just giving food.

Kids are kids EVERYWHERE! They love to play games and love to eat! It was amazing how giving a kid a little hug would bond you for the rest of the day and probably for the rest of your life.

Most of ES is living in homes that are made of mud and sticks. As yourself, “How Do I Stop Poverty?”…I’ll tell you how! It what we were moving the church towards in Advent Conspiracy…Giving Presence! Yes, building relationships that are built on Christ is where it starts! When someone you love loses everything…you will run as fast as you can to help.

The boy above was watching me like a hawk when I walked in his class. His name is Gustavo and he is about 15 months old. This is a new program that CI has started called CSP…Child Survival Program…it care for babies and moms. They also care for the babies as they are forming in the oven:)

Babies have a chance to LIVE because CI is helping the local church care for their community.

Pray as we share cups of coffee with amazing men and women of God here in El Salvador. The local church is loving on their community and bringing Jesus is so many ways.

Pray for the Peru Team as  they are leaving tonight!!!

Keep up to date with The WestGate To Peru BLOG!

“Going In/Staying In” training is required for security clearances. It covers the policies and procedures when ministering inside Department of Corrections (the jails) or Probation Facilities (Juvenile Hall and Juvenile Ranches).  If you are a veteran volunteer and due to attend a yearly training, you will be receiving a blue postcard in the mail.  But if you know it has been over a year since your last training, please plan to attend this one so that your security clearance will not be jeopardized.

This meeting is open to all who are interested in jail ministry in the Santa Clara County adults jails and juvenile detention facilities.  Please make plans to stay for the entire training.

When:

Sunday

Feb 7, 2010

1:30-5:30 pm.
Where:

Comunidad Cristiana De Fe Y Amor  (Christian Community of Faith and Love)
2371 Ringwood Ave., San Jose, 95131

For more information call:

CIC Ministries – 408-957-5853

Dear friends,

This will be my final update from Ghana as I am leaving in less than a week for the states. This does not mean that my work will end; it just means that the scenery will be different. It has been a wild experience and the situations have been a little unconventional at times. But as long as I continue to love the Lord and love the folks around me, I think I have completed what I set out to do. With that said, most of the people around me recently have been orphaned children from the human trafficked area around Lake Volta.

Five of the eight rescued children were enrolled in a local private school a few weeks ago. The other three children that were not enrolled have been staying at the house to be tutored by us. The goal is to get them to a level where a classroom atmosphere will best benefit them. The amount that these children have learned since they have been here has been tremendous. When they arrived I could not communicate with them at all. There was a lot of miming and blank stares going on. But just last week during the nightly English lesson Micheal, the five year old, said to his chattering friends, “Hey, stop talking!” This event also reminded me that much of what they are learning here at the house is not what we are trying to formally teach them. Rather, they are seeing our actions and hearing our words. In a discussion with someone about the mission of this ministry I explained to them that although the formal education is a large part of the accomplishments at City of Refuge, it is not the only one. These children have been learning lessons out of the Bible three times a week (which is very new to most of them), crash courses in conflict resolution, naturally progressing social skills, positive interactions with intentional play, and numerous other life lessons which probably go right over my head.

These children have been gleaning many things from their experience at the house and it’s a huge encouragement to see the children put them into practice. It is still culturally acceptable to strike your child with a “cane” here in Ghana and is prevalent in most schools as well.

When they first arrived, most of the children would flinch whenever they were addressed as though they were expecting a lashing. Robert and Evlyn were both very resistant to speak up during lessons (even when their answers were plainly correct) and after we inquired about it they told us that they were afraid that they would be caned if they gave an answer that was incorrect. However, at the house we have committed to using alternative methods for discipline – not the cane.

My method of choice has been hugs and quality time. If I see a fight brewing I will run over and hug the children involved. They thought this was ridiculous at first, and it does look pretty funny I’m sure, but it continues to defuse situations pretty fast. It is especially effective if they are already throwing punches at each other because sometimes I get hit in the face and the children are able to see the unnecessary hurt that their actions may cause. If the children are still slinging insults at each other (which I can only gather from their tone since they yell at each other in their native language of

Nchumuru) then I will bring them aside for some quality time. If they are old enough to understand me, we will talk about the responsibility they have to love their brothers and sisters in the house. If not, I will attempt something constructive like drawing pictures. Or, if I’m in a setting which does not lend itself to peace and quiet, I will hold the child in my arms like a baby. They all get a kick out of this and it is a big deterrent for the older children (a fourteen year old being cradled?) I have seen a couple of the older children replicate this type of conflict resolution with huge smiles on their faces as they run over and hug their friends or hold a stubborn Micheal in their arms and it’s beautiful. I’m not a child therapist or anything like that, so the method may be way off. But to see children diffusing fights among themselves with hugs and giggles reminds me of many teachings of Christ and just radiates hope.

I ate a goat-kabob and it was delicious. Goats are everywhere, too.

Most of the livestock here just sort of wander around or they are occasionally tied to a tree or a bush. It’s also hard to tell which animals are livestock and which are pets. But regardless of the owner’s initial intentions for keeping the animal I have found one absolute in the matter: if the owner is hungry enough, the animal has just graduated from pet to livestock – this includes housecats.

Robert, the same friend who bought a goat-kabob for me, told me that he raises cats to eat. I didn’t believe him at first, but he kept insisting that he would cook a cat for me to taste before I leave.

While I was weighing the pros and cons with friends on facebook, Jory, my friend from home in California, made a very convincing argument. He said if I try the cat and don’t like it – no big deal, I never have to do it again. But if I try it and I like it, there is a whole country full of cats waiting for me at home. Whelp, I just ate a cat… and I liked it.

I went adventuring in Accra last week. I had to go to Accra to pick up my newly extended visa and passport; a task which was surprisingly quick, easy, and bribery-free. I rode there on a “tro-tro” which is a privately owned bus made out of an old converted van. Tro-tros are fun because I never really know for sure exactly where mine is headed.

They are also prone to breaking down, hitting animals, and making wrong turns. This one actually made it to the destination I was hoping for. Since the passport errand was so painless, I used the day to explore Ghana’s capital city. I walked all over the city and naturally wound up at the beach. Walking along the beach I got to help some fishermen pull in their boat, meet tons of kids who were stoked out of their gourds to see a white guy, and saw the confirming evidence of the hunch I had and the reason why I have chosen to stay out the ocean

here: a septic and garbage company dumping their refuse into the Atlantic. Gross. It’s too bad too, because I’ve seen some nice waves and heard of a surf shop ran by a Californian. No thanks, dude.

Walking back into downtown Accra I met two brothers; Emmanuel and Dennis. Dennis was pretty excited to show me his “I [heart] America”

tattoo (photo definitely included) while Emmanuel was trying to convince me to write a letter for him requesting a visa for the U.S. I kept telling him that I would be lying if I vouched for him because I didn’t know what he was all about or his character or anything. I also don’t have a place for him to stay or a business for him to work at.

Emmanuel’s case was based on “I am suffering here, America is better.”

As it turned out they were both followers of Christ so the conversation went towards the Gospel. I explained to them an idea that has been haunting me the majority of my time here in Ghana. Jesus repeatedly tells his disciples that it is not the physical things of this world one should worry about; rather it is the matter of the soul with which one should be concerned. I introduced Emmanuel to the notion that though Ghana may be a dangerous place for his body, it may be (relatively) safe for his soul. In Ghana it may be hard to get food, shelter, clothing, or anything of value but there are more than enough churches to choose from, community is regarded as necessary, and one would have to try very hard to have more “stuff” than needed.

Conversely, America’s abundance of “stuff” makes it easier to eat, have shelter, clothe yourself, and basically survive. But it also makes it easier to get carried away with any of these necessities and to turn them into selfish ambition which is then very dangerous for the soul. We talked about these ideas and went through scripture a little bit before I beat feet towards the tro-tro station.

Before I could reach the station I passed a huge monument nestled in a walled-in park. There was a large obvious sign which read, “No photos behind this wall”. So I started taking photos. A man came running up to me yelling about how I can’t take photos and asking if I saw the sign. I said, “I’ve seen the sign, have you seen it?” He continued yelling at me and telling me that I cannot take photos from behind the wall. I said, “Sir, YOU are behind the wall, I am in front of the wall… where according to the sign I can take all of the pictures I want.” More yelling. I told him to change his sign and he told me he was calling the police. Coincidentally we were across the street from the Supreme Court house and I remembered passing a police station only a few blocks back so I left. I got on my tro-tro which didn’t go where I thought it would but was close enough to home for me to walk there.

I got home for the evening with my blistered feet, sunburnt skin, and an empty stomach. Dangerous for my body but safe for my soul, right?

Even so, I was well taken care of with some fried yam and fish, lotion for my skin, and I got to relax for the night.

There are many things that I have grown accustomed to at home but have been without for my three months here in Ghana. Some things I am happy to have abandoned, others I miss dearly. No shoes – I have worn my beloved Rainbow sandals every day and have a pretty righteous sandal-tan. I have not eaten a burrito for the longest time since I can remember. I haven’t had as many unnecessary distractions as I do at home so I have been able to read a ridiculous amount. I haven’t ridden a bicycle the whole time I’ve been here, which is stranger for me than the fact that I haven’t driven a car either. And though I have found the folks that I work with here to be very welcoming, hospitable, and loving, I miss my community a lot. So I am excited to be home and I am excited to continue to love the folks around me the best way I know how. I will also continue to go on adventures like this one, especially if I am motivated by Christ. If you would like to help serve City of Refuge in Ghana or are interested in finding out more information about the child trafficking on Lake Volta, please visit www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com. Thank you for being such a huge part of this. And if you don’t receive word of similar adventures in the future, please spur me on and encourage me in my boldness. Peace out.

My nephew Louine, that was buried under his school, still suffers from the shakes. He can’t sleep through the night. But, his story is a story of grace. He was on the second story of a 3-story building. His class room faced the street. He was sitting in his desk when he felt the earthquake start. He stood up immediately. It didn’t take long for the building to collapse. He fell onto his desk instead of being crushed in it like others of his classmates were. But, when the quake ended his head was resting on the folding chair and one arm was under his desk and the ceiling of the 3rd floor was less than a foot above his head. He couldn’t even sit up or turn his body at all. For a long time, the students didn’t even know that it was a earthquake, they thought that only their building had fallen. But, after a lot of time had passed and no one arrived to help, they believed it had to be a quake and the whole city was affected. They knew they had to help themselves. It was already dark by this time and they only had the light from their phones. They couldn’t call anyone. The ones that were still living encouraged each other not to cry or loose hope. They touched hands or feet or any part of the body, if possible, and sang hymns to keep their courage up. At around 9:00 PM, their professor, who was talking up to that point, passed away. He was ‘sitting’ right behind Louine. Then the students nearest the door were able to move the broken chalkboard to clear a hole near the doorway. It took a lot of painstaking work with their bare hands to clear even a small space. As each person was freed, it opened a small route to reach the others. Louine was one of the last. He is a tall young man and the hole wasn’t big enough for him. He had to take the rubble and make the hole larger. By this time, there were people that were helping from the outside. And he made it out. One of the things that struck me the most is when he talks about the period of time when he was waiting for the others to get out. The cement ceiling was less than a foot away but it kept descending. Louine says that he kept passing his hand over his head to see how close the ceiling was to him. When his turn came, the ceiling was resting on his forehead. When he got out, the first people he saw were his dad and our cousin. They had arrived at the same moment that Louine left the building. Praise the Lord! Louine attributes his class being saved because they prayed together. The class next to his had many who survived the initial collapse but they panicked. Louine said his class mates tried to help them to be calm and pray and not to scream but they couldn’t seem to stop. After a couple of hours, these students succumbed to shock and their injuries. No one was able to leave. Louine also prays that his professor was able to turn to God in his last moments because he cursed and mocked his students efforts to pray. But, Louine emphasizes that God can change hearts, even at the last moment. When one of his fellow classmates broke down, the rest of the class was able to sing and pray for them. In this way, they were able to stay encouraged and united. Louine thinks that 12-13 students were able to walk out of the rubble and 8-9 had to carried out of the building. Three students died instantly and the professor died after several hours. In all the classes, Louine’s had the most survivors. Again, he attributes it to God’s grace. The earthquake was at 4:45PM and Louine left the building at 10:30PM. Others followed him until into the early morning hours. Louine didn’t leave the scene right away. He knew how the shock left so many tremendously thirsty. He and others went to find water and lowered it to the trapped students below. He believes that saved many others.

Louine wants me to say this to you: I want to tell my story because I didn’t know for a long time whether I would die or not. I checked the time on my phone often so as to know the time of my death. But, there came a moment when God spoke to me. He said, ‘You will not die, I want to show you my greatness.’ Louine says it is for this reason that he not only wants to tell his story, but is able. I can attest to that as he is sitting beside me shaking. I pray that remembering God’s grace and love in the midst of all the horror will heal him as nothing else can. He pleads with you to never stop praying because God does not allow anything to happen for nothing. God gives VICTORY.

God bless you, Kristie

P.S. I just got back from youth group. The kids are going to go and pray and visit with as many families who have lost sons or daughters as they can. They are going to offer to wash clothes or clean the yard or whatever. They are also taking up an offering themselves. Many of them will be lucky to offer $.25 but it will be a beautiful and rich offering in God’s sight.

Dear friends;

Thank you so much for all the prayers, letters, support, and donations that you have been giving us.  We appreciate it very much.

Right now, we have over 24 staying with us.  That is in addition to the family that we have living with us all the time.  Sometimes it is hard to be responsible for so many but we are so thankful that these people are not in Port anymore.  People still have to sleep in the street because of the instability of the houses.  Just yesterday, there was another aftershock.  Unfortunately, there are many thieves in the streets of Port-au-Prince.  We are very glad that our house is full and that there are 24 people that have a roof and food to eat.  We are happy that the Lord can use us in this way.  We will take in more, if need be.

JeanJean has been busy organizing the community leaders into a response committee.   Our relief efforts are basically the same as we had envisioned at the onset of this disaster.   With the community, UCI will be continuing to send trucks into Port to evacuate people.  We will not only be retrieving people from our area but also offering the trucks to take people to other parts of the country where their family is.  We had taken 5 young women out of Port on Sunday.  We didn’t know where they were from and they were scared that they wouldn’t get a ride if they said they were from Ranquitte–a community behind our own mountains.  People are desperate to get out of Port, and they will get on any truck they can, no matter where its destination.  They don’t bring anything with them except the clothes on their back.  They just want to get out.  We thought that we would be taking in these 5 girls into our house.  However, when they got to our place, were fed and given a place to sleep, they felt comfortable enough to tell us the real story.  Luckily, they had family only an hour away from us.  We found transportation for them and got them to loved ones.  We would like to offer that to others.  UCI’s board met together this afternoon and decided to make every effort to reunite families.  Pray for the 3 trucks that will travel to Port to transport more refugees.

Another area that UCI’s relief funds will go to is to supply food for the families that are receiving people.  There are families that have taken in as many as we have.  These families will give and give, but sooner or later, their stores will be depleted.  We are glad that we are able to help this way.  We hope to offer money to people in the near future so they can get back on their feet.  Most of them have viable skills and just need help to start over.  We don’t want to be caught giving food indefinitely and never letting the families take control of their own lives.  The Mompremier family has land on the mountain that can be worked and we will offer this as well to the families that have no land.

It has been wonderful to see how the community is banding together and giving generously.  So many people have offered food, money, and their homes.  They may only have a space on the ground to offer someone, but it is so much better than sleeping in the streets.  Our youth group prayed with the families who lost sons or daughters today.  They sang, read the Bible and prayed with the families.  Then we gave an offering that we gathered and soap for the family to wash their clothes.  Lastly, the youth offered to come and do laundry or help in their yards.  I was really proud of the group.   Jacqueline and Rosenie did a great job of leading the youth and it was a privilege to be with them.

It has also been a busy afternoon for me with my nursing skills.  I have sent a lot of supplies to our local doctor but I also have been seeing a lot of people myself.  There are many cuts, bruises, sprains, and other external problems.  But, more often, we see many people that are still in shock.  A young man came to me that just left Port this morning.  He is from our area but was living in Port, making sandals for a living.  His good friends were the young men from our area that died.  He spent days trying to find the bodies.  He has slept out on the streets every night since last Tuesday–which means he hardly slept at all.  He is a young man but he looked old and he had no strength left.  He kept talking about the aftershocks and how each one made him relive the earthquake.  His problem is the same for many.  In our house, every single night someone screams in their sleep.  Each one that I talk to has said that it is still hard to sleep at night and eat during the day.

Keep your prayers coming!!  Pray for JeanJean as he counsels many that suffer from the shock.  They were still pulling people out of the rubble yesterday!  Praise the Lord!  There are still many good people helping their fellow man.  There are so many stories of God’s grace.

Thank you again for all your support.

God bless you,

Kristie and JeanJean Mompremier