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Fall Newsletter!
Dear FGIM Family,
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement since our last update. As many of you know, we are no longer serving as full-time missionaries in the country of Haiti. We have transitioned from missionary service to military service. Since our last update, we were blown away by the number of people who personally reached out and prayed over us and encouraged us for the next assignment that God has given to us.
Moments like this show us how blessed we are to have every one of you in our lives. Thank you for your constant love, care, and appreciation of this ministry and our family. We also wanted to share with you some exciting news! If you recall from our last update, I was restricted by the military from returning to or even visiting Haiti. The state department denied my travel attempts on numerous occasions due to ongoing protests and riots in Haiti. I was unsure when I'd be able to return to Haiti to see my foster children, Elna and Michael; my church family; my amazing girls at Faith House Orphanage; and my beloved students at New Perspective Academy.
As the Lord works all things in His timing and for our good, He made it possible for me to submit an Exception to Policy waiver with the help of my new leadership team at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, and they pushed my request up the chain of command. After two weeks of waiting, I was beyond excited that, even in the midst of the pandemic, they approved my waiver to travel to Haiti before I officially began my duties on the base. Thus the planning was underway to travel back to Haiti and visit the community that I had longed to see for over a year and a half.
Once I got the base approval, I submitted another request to the state department in Haiti, and to my utter amazement, it did not get denied! On August 28, Lorphine and I were at the Raleigh-Durham Airport, ready to fly to Jacmel, Haiti. We were very blessed and fortunate to have the Cruise family in Alabama caring for and loving our 3 children while we were in Haiti.
Once we arrived, it was a dream come true and a shock to my entire church family and Haiti staff. I did not tell anyone except Chase and Kimmey that I was coming. Seeing the Barbrey family and the kids at Faith House was an incredible joy! We got to spend 14 days total in Haiti. We spent some time walking the property and seeing the remarkable progress that Chase and his construction crew have been making. We saw the future home of Faith House, the temporary school, the maintenance building, the church office, and the incredible landscaping job throughout the property. We were simply in tears seeing all that the Lord has done through the Barbrey family and our community.
While we would love to share even more, we pray that the pictures can give you an idea of our experience and the joy Lorphine and I had during our trip. Our family is currently in the Goldsboro, North Carolina, area and settling in well. We profoundly miss Haiti and our community but accept God's plan for our family during this season. We invite you to continue to pray for us and our ministry in Haiti.
Lorphine and I would love to visit your church in 2021 to share more about this life-changing trip and to update you on the orphanage and our plans for its future, the status of the church, and several other exciting new programs that are on the horizon. If you would like us to visit, please email us directly at pierre@fgimwitness.org. We'd be more than happy to set up a time to share about the ministry.
In Christ,
The St Louis Family
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Thank you to all the sponsors and donors who have recently donated toward the Faith House Christmas Fund. The girls are truly blessed to have such wonderful supporters. Thanks to this fund, they will be receiving gifts they will need for their move to the new Faith House and things to enjoy together, like card games.
Exciting things have taken place since the start of summer.
- Our Transition Home girls are once again going out to learn a trade.
- Karine and Marie Daniel are taking Piano lessons. Christelle is taking Violin.
- Weslene, Roseberline, and Daphcarline are attending beautician school.
- Christella has been working part time with FGIM doing translating and was selected as the Transition Home House Leader. She is responsible for programming activities for the Transition Home girls, including birthdays, making sure chores are completed, leading daily devotionals, making sure everyone is in bed, and doors are locked. She has been doing a great job.
- Transition Home girls are attending money management classes.
- Three more girls will be added to the Transition Home soon, which will make a total of 12 girls.
- Christella, Daphcarline, and Roseberline serve with the church worship team. Landy and Marie Danielle usher at church. Karine helps with powerpoint. Christelle helps serve in the children's ministry.
- A Beach Day event was held for Faith House and Transition Home girls
- All the girls worked hard to finish the 2019/2020 school year just in time to be able to start the new school year in November.
- Landy and Weslene were given tutoring to prepare for their 9th grade exams, which they have just taken.
- 97 percent of our girls are moving forward to their next school grade.
- Birthday parties have been held. Christella has been making the cakes.
- The little kids are very involved with helping cook and clean.
Some more GREAT news in 2020 is that 8 of our girls have accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Naomie surrendered her life to Christ during last month’s revival, while Daniella, Danie, Clara, Laisselie, Gracie, Sarafina, and Micherlande made the decision earlier this year. We praise God for His love for these children and for saving their lives.
Pray that they will continue to grow in the way of the Lord and for them to continue to do good in their school work.
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The children have been having Zoom calls with their sponsors over the past few months. Two of our older girls, Christell and Karine, have been translating for the calls.
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The children have been having weekly Bible study with Lorphine over the internet.
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The girls have enjoyed baking with our missionary, Kimmey.
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The Transition Home girls attended a financial responsibility training class with Chase, Kimmy, Lorphine, and Pierre.
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Lorphine teaching the girls a few Taekwondo techniques in self defense.
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Construction with Chase
Chase has been very busy with construction over the past several months. We are 60 percent finished with phase one of the new Faith House Orphanage to get the building ready for the girls to move in by 2021. We are still in need of funds to complete phase one of the project.
***We have a donor willing to MATCH up $50,000 towards the building projects for FGIM in the next 39 days. That means every dollar given to the building fund in the next 39 days will be matched up to $50K which would bring us to $100K to help us build. This is a huge blessing. If you would like to contribute to help us get the children into their new home, please click the "Faith House Building Fund" link below.
PRAISE: Thank you to all those who have donated towards the "Turn the Lights on at Faith House Orphanage" fund. ALL THE FUNDS WERE DONATED AND WE CAN TURN THE LIGHTS ON. We have been raising funds through social media and church partners to buy solar panels, batteries, and inverters to help provide power for the new orphanage. In Haiti, city power is sporadic and unreliable. It might be sent out every other day for a few hours, or it might not be given for weeks at a time. It is important that we provide a reliable solar and battery system to keep their lights on!
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Chase has been doing a great job leading the team.
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New church office building
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Building 1st floor of new Faith House
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Putting the roof on the new Faith House
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| Thank You to our Church Partners
We are beyond blessed to have such great church partners who support our ministry. We want to thank some of our church partners who have stepped up to help provide funds for the building of the new Faith House Orphanage and for the solar panels.
Thank you FIrst Baptist Opelika, Hill Crest Baptist Church, Hulen Street, ESPWA Ministries, New Prospect Baptist Church, Resurrection Church, Providence Church, and New Canaan Baptist Church.
We are so grateful for all our supporters. You are helping to make an impact.
Thank you for helping us build for generations to come!
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Revival in Jacmel
The Lord placed it on our hearts to host a week of revival during our time in Jacmel. Family, God showed up! From Sunday, August 30, to Friday, September 4, we had local preachers proclaim God's Word on the following theme: Seek God! Each speaker spoke from the Old Testament text found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Every night from 6-8 pm, over 200 people came from the community to worship the Lord with us and to hear the Word of God. People came under heavy rain to listen to the Gospel. We had several young women set free from the bondage of evil spirits, and as a result, the Lord saved 31 people, and we got to witness them surrender their lives to Jesus Christ!
On Sunday, September 6, I (Pierre) had the incredible opportunity to conduct an ordination ceremony to affirm three pastors and three deacons into leadership roles for the first time in our church! We had 336 people present from our community and surrounding churches to witness this historical milestone in our church.
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The ordination of 3 pastors and 3 deacons was supported by a full house of 336 people.
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With the church consistently growing, we've added some additional temporary coverings.
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Newly ordained pastors and deacons eldership training Saturdays at 6am.
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The students have been finishing up their 2019/2020 school year due to COVID-19 and will start their new school year November 3.
This summer our construction team gathered all the usable supplies from the old school buildings and moved them to the FGIM property, where they were reassembled for the new school location. They also made repairs and built some additional classrooms. We now have 15 classrooms that will educate and equip over 100 children, from kindergarten through 11th grade.
We are so thankful for those who have donated to help fund the school.
Prayer requests:
-For financial provision of the remaining balance of $10,000 to complete phase one of the school. This will allow us to add 3 more kindergarten classrooms, 3 additional classrooms, paint, fans, electrical, desks, benches, and school supplies.
-For the teachers and students as they begin the new school year.
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Temporary School was ready in August
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We have 15 classrooms this year
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 | We salvaged as much material as possible from the old school and reused it for the new school location.
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We had a generous donor donate the funds for a generator to help provide power for the school.
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| Prayer Request for FGIM
This year has been a challenging one for everyone globally, and unfortunately even more challenging for our ministry and neighbors in Haiti lately because of the devaluing of the dollar. In August, the exchange rate was 120 gourdes to the US dollar. It has now dropped to 60 gourdes per USD. With everything still inflated, this means ALL of FGIM’s expenses have increased by almost 50 percent. We obviously did not budget for our staff’s pay to increase by 50 percent almost overnight.
Please prayerfully consider donating to help meet our staff's payroll and other ministry expenses that have doubled.
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| WAYS TO GIVE
Your generosity enables us to do effective ministry in our community. Without your prayers and support, we would not be able to do the things that we do.
Your gift allows us to advance the work of Jesus Christ to the current and future generation in this country. Future Generation International Missions Inc., is a registered 501(c)3. 100% of charitable gifts are tax-deductible.
If you would like to give a gift, click on the link below or you can mail a check to the following address:
Future Generation International Missions Inc., P.O. Box 934, Cowpens, SC 29330
Thank you for your love and support!
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