September 2020 Prayer Letter
COVID-19 • Hurricane Laura • Government
Praise God COVID-19 cases are down — but Hurricane Laura came rushing through — and demonstrations against the president seem to be starting up again. We are asking for much prayer, because we would hate to see schools close down again! Please pray against school closings!!
Hurricane Laura devastated Haiti – but thank God it was a brief flood! Since mountains have been deforested, the rain gushes down the mountains and into the villages. Many gardens and animals were washed away. Tin roofs came off some houses, and small grass huts were demolished. However, praise and thanks to God for His protection over Camp Bossier!! God placed His hand in such a way that the floods and strong winds were blocked from our camp!! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true, and our hearts are rejoicing over and over again!!
Camp Bossier Successes and Heartaches
The week of camp was enjoyed by 326 young people and God blessed with 44 professions of faith. Pastor Salomon and Pastor Frere prepared “God and I” booklets that dealt with desiring godliness. There were three national speakers each day: Pastor Nesly Alexis, who dealt with sexual immorality; medical doctors Jean Marie Brissault and Claude Ernest Occelas, who dealt with abortion; and attorney Emmanuel Michel, who dealt with understanding the impact of ungodly government decrees if they are approved.
The thing that broke our heart was when we realized how many of these young people had fallen into many sins of the flesh in a relatively short time. Not having school because of political unrest and COVID (only 4 months of school over a period of 10 school months) opened so many doors for the enemy of our soul to seduce the young people into all kinds of immorality. Seeing this evil is moving us to make plans during every school break to gather these young people again and build on what we did last month. The next opportunity will be the first two weeks of October. We would like to raise funds ($3000) to solidify godly principles with convictions into their hearts. We so earnestly covet your prayers and will appreciate financial help to make this happen. Our deep thanks to each of you!
Josue Laguerre
Another watchman for Hosanna
“. . . I have made you a watchman . . . .” (Ezekiel 3:17a)
This month we introduce to you Josue Laguerre. God sent Josue to the ministry at a most strategic time! Pastor Dieupie was preparing to go into the Haitian Parliament and I (Sarah) was fit to be tied!! “Who was I going to work with as financial overseer of Hosanna Ministries?” I cried out to the Lord – and He heard me! It’s a long story, but I will summarize.
Josue crossed our path following his graduation from the University of Notre Dame d’Haiti, as he was attending Hosanna Baptist Church. Upon his graduation, the University hired him as their financial/administrative manager, and to teach an accounting class on the side. Then the 2010 earthquake took place and schools were shut down for a season. During this time, many NGOs moved into Haiti, and Josue was hired as senior accountant for Save the Children. As soon as the University started up again, they asked Josue to return and sent him to France to study administrative management for six months. Following his return from France and still being employed by the University, he was asked by Save the Children to return to them. Consequently, he worked two full-time jobs for over two years! It was truly amazing, especially because he found time to advise Hosanna on their finances – all of which caught our attention!
Tom and I felt the Spirit of God drawing us to Josue as CFO/administrator for MFH/Hosanna. God worked miraculously, and the pieces fell into place. Josue has kept the ministry running in the most efficient way! He is a miracle to the ministry. Two years ago he became extremely ill, lying almost lifeless in the hospital. Realizing that we were going to lose him, we medevacked him to Cuba. After five weeks of different antibiotics every five days, blood transfusions, and daily shots to increase his white blood count, Josue was given back to us by God as a watchman for Hosanna!! Hallelujah!!
With gratitude and thanks to God for you,
Tom and Sarah Bennett
