I am so entirely grateful for all your support financially and
prayerfully in regards to my mission trip in Haiti. It was both a
beautiful, and a terrible experience. Beautiful in that the people and
the land have so much potential for greatness, but terrible in that
the land is stricken with abject poverty, and now the aftermath of the
earthquake. As it is with any third-world nation, so it is with Haiti.
The need for support is great. I am unspeakably grateful for your
support of me, and the Lord's mission in Haiti. And I can say first
hand that hundreds of Haitians are thankful as well.
While in Haiti we split our ministry time into two separate halves.
The fist half of our trip was spent in the shanty seaside town of Cite
Soleil. This is where our missionary on the ground Pastor Vincent had
his compound. Pastor Vincent's compound consists of his local church,
and school. Before the earthquake on January 12, the compound held
over 800 students. Now it holds less than half that amount. Since the
earthquake people have been living inside of the compound in tents
that they received by government aid. Our time in Cite Soleil was a
time marked by God's love. We spent 4 days co-hosting a youth
conference with Pastor Vincent's team. On the second day I preached on
Psalm 46:7 and the river that makes glad the city of our God. Most of
our ministry at the conference was spent guiding them toward freedom
in worship, and the many different expressions thereof. It was a
beautiful time of freedom, and deliverance. There are many different
testimonies of God's love being expressed during the youth conference
but I will attempt to tell just one.
I, on the second day of the conference met two lovely young girls.
These young girls would proceed in stealing my heart. Which wasn't to
hard for them to do since I gave it to them freely. Emma, age 7, and
her sister, Vanessa age 3, both instantly stuck out to me. The two of
them, however similar to the rest of the children on the compound,
were intrinsically different. These two beautiful girls had a deep joy
inside them that caused them to shine brighter than the brightest
star. I met them on the 2nd day of the conference and introduced
myself as Francois, which means Francis in Creole. Francois was much
easier for them to understand and pronounce than Chuck. :) I quickly
became their Francois, and they quickly realized that a white man from
way far away came to tell them that Jesus loved them. ( in Creole it's
''Jesu remme ou'') So if I said it once I said it a thousand times,
''Jesu remme ou!'', and ''Moi remme ou'' which means I Love you. So I
would hug them, dance with them, and tell them that Jesus loved them,
and that I loved them too! If I hadn't done anything else in Haiti my
time with them was worth it. But God had planned much more. We were
not finished because after the youth conference it was off to the
Mountains. That is, by the way, where Haiti gets her name.
Ayiti/Haiti- Land of the Mountains.
On our second half of the trip we found ourselves in a near 10ft tall
truck headed up the Jacmel Mountains. This drive was epic in every
way. The drive it's self was a nine hour twisting and turning
adventure into the heart of the Haitian Mountains. While in Jacmel we
held Church services, ran a medical clinic, and also went on
evangelistic hikes through out the mountains where we saw many
miracles. God was certainly present. In Jacmel we saw many Haitian
people give their lives to the Lord. We also saw many Healing's, and
deliverance's. Most case's of healing happened through very simple
prayers. We would pray something like, ''God the boy has pain in his
leg. We command healing in his leg in Jesus name'', the boy would
check to see if the pain had left, and then simply say, ''I am
better''. I found myself many times explaining that only through the
love, and healing power of Jesus could this have happened, and that
God made the impossible, possible. Hallelujah!
The same day that my team went out evangelizing in Jacmel we held a
Church service early that morning. That morning a Voodoo disciple, a
rather old man, had been present at the service. Our leader Doug Lee
spoke at the service, and ended up leading that man to the Lord.
Later, as we began our hike the same man, now an ex-Voodoo disciple
would be the first man to be healed.
My friend Elaine Rinsink came to me as I was sitting on a rock waiting
to begin our hike and said, '' Hey Chuck, would you like to come pray
with me for this man's knee to be healed?'' As I followed her through
a small crowed that had gathered I instantly noticed that the man she
wanted to pray for was the same Voodoo disciple that had given his
life to Christ earlier that day! We began to pray. I bent down put my
hand on his knee and said something to the effect of, ''I speak to
this knee, and body in the Name of Jesus, be healed.'' We asked the
man to check his knee to see if he still had pain. As he checked we
found out that some of the pain had gone but it was not a complete
healing. So Elaine began to speak to the little children that gathered
around us, and said, ''I'll bet that there's a brave little boy, or
girl here with enough faith in God to see this man's knee healed!''
The little kids were so cute. They looked at each other half
embarrassed, not knowing what to do. As the children giggled, and
thought about the idea of helping us, we saw one little boy come
forward. He was a brave little boy indeed. I had him put his hand
on the man's knee, and repeat after me. Again we commanded healing
into the man's body. This time we saw a complete healing. God is truly
amazing!
We had many testimonies of God's faithfulness and love while in Haiti,
but none of them would have been possible without the love, and
faithful support of you guys at Destiny Community Church. I love you
all so much! You have truly been a launching pad for me, and now for
many more through me in Haiti. Jesus Christ has shown Himself through
us, and is continuing to do so as He releases revival fire through out
the globe.
God bless you Tim, and Dawn Cole! You are truly Apostles of Change,
and I can't wait to watch the fire spread though out your lives and
ministry!
God bless Destiny Community Church! Let another great wave of His
power, and presence fall in your hearts, and soul's.
''Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of
these is love.''
Love you always,
Charles F. Horning III
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