Update on July Trip

Dear Friends of Mission Surge:

I wanted to follow up last week's newsletter with a quick update if I could.  I mentioned last week an unexpected trip that I need to take in July.  I will be making a dashing trip to the Dominican Republic to meet with our point-man there and discuss the future of our partnership.  This is a critical meeting and will dictate much of our future work there.  I ask you to pray for us both as we seek God’s direction as to the next step.  During this trip, there is also a great opportunity.

I will be preaching in a missions conference in Santo Domingo where 400-500 Haitian pastors will be gathered.  It is my hope that God would raise up a couple from among the Haitians to go to Martinique in order to engage the 3400+ Haitians in that country who have no church, no pastor, and no missionary.  According to the International Mission Board, “The Haitian of Martinique have a population of 3,500. They are part of the Afro-Caribbean, Francophone people cluster. The global population of this people group is 11,248,200. Their primary language is Haitian. The primary religion of theHaitian is Roman Catholicism, the world's largest Christian branch. Their GSEC status is 1, which means this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.”

I plan to go to Martinique on the way to the Dominican in order to see the situation there and verify the reports from the IMB and Joshua project.  I am praying that God would connect me with someone there that can help us get our feet on the ground.  Pray that God would connect us in Martinique with who we need to be connected with.  Pray that God would call out and raise up a Haitian couple to go to Martinique and begin a church planting effort among the Haitians there.  Pray that God’s will would be done.  

Finally, I mentioned last week that there are many expenses that are involved in this conference and trip.  I have had some ask for specific numbers, so I wanted to share with you the budget.   

• Transportation for the Haitian pastors:  $1050.00   

Pastors and some wives will be transported into Santo Domingo from all over the island for this Saturday conference.  These men have to work hard in order to keep a roof over their heads and a little food on the table.  It is literally day to day for them.  There is no way they could travel from Santiago, Monte Cristi, Puerta Plata etc. to the capital where the conference will be held.  This is an opportunity for them to be challenged and encouraged as they serve the Lord.  It is also an opportunity for them to hear the call of the Haitians in Martinique!  

• Lunch for the Haitian pastors while at the conference:  $1450.00

The conference will last all day Saturday so lunch will need to be provided for those in attendance.  We are estimating as many as 500 in attendance so lunch has been provided at a very reasonable rate of less than $3 per person!  

• Travel and Lodging expenses:  $1800-2000

Getting from Mississippi to Martinique has proven challenging.  I will have to purchase a round trip ticket to Santo Domingo.  Exit the airport, return the next day with a round trip ticket from Santo Domingo to Forte de Franc Martinique.  I have searched high and low, called Delta, American Airlines, and our Travel Agent and there seems to be no good way to get there from here.  Total cost of tickets will be between $1300 and $1500.  Lodging will be approximately $500.  

The total budget for this trip to explore Martinique, meet with Wilfrido about the future of our work there, and help with the Haitian conference in Santo Domingo will be $4300-$4500.  If God would utilize these efforts to engage and reach the 3400+ Haitians of Martinique, it will all be worth it.  

In closing:  This past Sunday at Providence we studied Acts 15.  We read in Acts 15:3, “So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.”  What is it that brings us great joy?  For the early church it was news of the Gentiles (the heathen) coming to faith in Christ!  It would be my joy to see souls saved and churches planted in Martinique.  And it would be an even greater joy if we all could say, at the end of the day, that we were privileged to have a part in it!  You can have a part!  Would you commit to pray…to give…and maybe even, in the future to go? 

If God would move you to give to this effort, please feel free to send your check made out to Mission Surge with the code 0001 in the memo line.  You can mail it to 

Mission Surge

1126 Tanyard Road

Crystal Springs, MS 39059

Or you can contribute through paypal by going here:  

http://www.missionsurge.com/new-page/

Thank you so much for your prayers, your financial support, and your words of encouragement.  May God continue to bless and prosper our efforts to carry His gospel from here to the ends of the earth!

In Christ,

Kevin

Heartcry Missionaries to Partner with Mission Surge

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I have sent out two previous emails this week introducing you to our new ministry partners:  Peter Vimalasekaran (Vimal) with Refugee Ministries International in Germay and Pastor Jerry Marcellino with ECCI, a ministry to Italian and Philippine pastors.  I hope you took time to read those reports.  If not you can go to kevinivy.com and read the previous 2 blog posts and get the news.  I want to share two more partners with you today that we are very excited about as well as a couple of other reminders/announcements. 

First, I want to ask you to pray for an unreached and unengaged group of more than 3400 Haitians on the small island country of Martinique.  These people have no church and no gospel witness.  We are praying that God would raise up one of the Haitian pastors/church planters that we worked with over the last two weeks to go to them as a missionary/church planter on Martinique.  This will take God calling a pastor and his family to go.  It will require the Haitian churches in the Dominican Republic pooling their resources together in order to help send and support this couple.  And it will require us helping to fund, administrate, and assist the effort in Martinique.  There is a very tentative plan for Gene and I to incorporate a brief visit to Martinique the next time we teach in the Dominican.  We are praying for God’s guidance and providential hand to work out His perfect will in this endeavor.  Please pray with us.

Second, I want to remind you that I will soon be posting quotes and notes from John Paton’s 500 page autobiography.  I have read through the entire autobiography notating those things that really hit me.  I want to share those insights with you and hopefully encourage myself and others to be more of a missionary in our own families, communities, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.  I will be posting these notes and quotes at kevinivy.com and I hope you will make it a point to keep up with them as I post them.  If they are of half the benefit to you that they have been to me, I know you will be encouraged.

Finally, I want to introduce you to our newest partners in our effort to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Meet Andrea Artioli and Giacomo Lerici. They are the founding members of Coram Deo Ministry and are planting a church (Chiesa Sola Grazia – Grace Alone Church) in Porto Mantovano.  (learn more at www.chiesasolagrazia.it ) The province of Mantova boasts a population of approximately 417,000 people, but there is little evangelical presence.  At the present, HeartCry Missionary Society is providing partial support to these two church-planting pastors.  Mission Surge will be partnering with HeartCry to support Andrea and Giacomo by handling the remainder of their support.  

You can learn more about this work and Coram Deo at:

http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/italy

We, at Mission Surge are excited to partner with Vimal (RMI), Jerry (ECCI), and now Andrea and Giacomo (Coram Deo)!  We will be helping to promote their ministries, raise awareness for their work, encourage prayer support, and financial support for their works. 

You can learn more about Andrea at:  http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/andrea-artioli

You can learn more about Giacomo at:  http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/giacomo-lerici

Please keep praying for us!  We are working through details with two other potential partners with Mission Surge and could use all of the prayer support that we can get.  

We are in the process of building a brand new website at Mission Surge where you can easily read updates about RMI, ECCI, and Andrea and Giacomo’s work.  You will also be able to donate online through paypal and/or secure instructions on mailing your donations.  We are excited to be a part of what God is doing around the world, and to be able to share it with you!  We covet your prayers.  Please pray for the work, and spread the word.  

If there is anyone that you think would benefit from receiving our email updates, please send me their email addresses!  I would love to keep the informed.  

In Christ,

Mission Surge Dominican Republic Update

Hello from the Dominican Republic,

I arrived here Monday night at 11:45 p.m. and was up and running with our first session of pastor/church planter training Tuesday morning.  We met in Cuatro de Agosto at a local church in order to teach a group of Haitian pastors and potential church planters from the area. Here is a pic of some of these young men and a few of their wives who were in attendance.  Pray for them!

Here is a picture of the church's pastor and his wife!  From his humble congregation he has raised up four leaders who have planted 4 churches, some of which are stronger and larger than his own!  He ended Tuesday's time together asking who was going to be the next one to leave and go begin a new work.

We finished up this afternoon and will speak at a prayer and fasting service tomorrow before repeating the training in Sabana Perdida on Friday and Saturday.  We are defining the biblical gospel and teaching them how to call for a biblical response to the gospel.  We are also teaching them how the gospel should impact the lives of individuals, families, churches, and communities as they live in obedience to God's Word.  Inter-twined in this teaching we are doing a brief exposition and overview of Titus.  The pastors and church planters seemed to benefit from the time together and I appreciate your prayers and gifts that have made this effort possible.  I hope to continue periodically updating as I am able.  Please continue to pray.  God is working in the lives of the Haitians here in the Dominican Republic.  Every training session we do will be for Haitian pastors and church planters!  They are working hard and have planted over 100 Haitian churches in the DR since the earthquake!!

I want to conclude this post by giving you a taste of the worship of this small group of Haitians we have had the privilege of working with over these last 2 days.  Pray for them, share this update, and enjoy.