July Update 2013

Greetings from beautiful New Hampshire!  We’re delighted to give you the latest update.

Family: In June, we spent two weeks in Manchester, NH, visited with family, and took care of a number of administrative matters, including getting our recently purchased van on the road.

The children hiking atop Canon Mountain in NH

At the end of those two weeks, we moved to Charlestown, NH, near the border of Vermont, where we stayed at the home of some friends in Christ for three weeks.  We were so grateful to have that place to stay! God is good!

At one point, Christopher was bitten by a mosquito on his forehead and it swelled up into a big, ugly welt.  His whole forehead was swollen, including the bridge of his nose and eyelids.  It temporarily deformed his face horribly.  We prayed for him and treated it, administering benedryl, black tea, and cold tea-bag compresses, and within a couple days, the Lord restored him to perfect health. He's fine now.  Praise the Lord!

One night as we were traveling back home from a long trip across the state, a thunderstorm and torrential downpour suddenly hit the specific area were were driving through.  We were on the interstate highway and did not experience flooding, but driving conditions were treacherous.  And we found out later that the weather service had issued a flash flood warning for that exact area we were driving through.  The fastest we could go was around 40 mph, because visibility was very poor.  We prayed through the storm as we continued along for perhaps 30 minutes, and the Lord safely got us back to the home where we were staying.  Thank the Lord for His protection over us.

Although our stay in NH has been a busy one, we took some time to do fun things together as a family.  One of them was to go to Canon Mountain and ride the aerial tram to a spot near the summit.  Then we hiked to the summit and climbed the observation tower.  It was a time filled with beholding the wonders of God's beautiful creation.  Praise the Lord!

We also found time to visit a reconstruction of Fort Number 4, a colonial-era fort.  The original fort was located on the property of the home where we stayed with friends in Charlestown, NH.  So that was very interesting and educational.  Thank the Lord for some family fun.

More photos.   

Zsolt with his grand daughter

Ministry:  In early May, before we left Hungary, Len ate dinner at the home of one of his disciples, Greg, at the home of his parents.  In Hungary it is very common for single people to live with their parents until they get married.  After dinner, Len laid hands for healing on Greg's father, Zsolt, who is a Christian medical doctor.  There were two issues: his pancreas was diseased and so were the discs in his spinal column, which had both been causing chronic pain.  About a week or two later, Len inquired with Greg about his father's well-being, and his father wrote the following email:

"Dear Len,
Thank you so much for the prayer you said for me. I felt the power of God swelling (flushing) over me while you were praying. My back was without any pain for a long time after your prayer but the recent days I loaded it a lot, and now I have pain again. 

I don't know what happened to my belly but it started to hurt a second time today, and this disturbs (bothers) me a lot.

It is so great and wonderful that Jesus went up to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. Thank you for being with us, (during) your visit!

May our God give you strength and encouragement in your ministry and mission.

love,
Zsolt"

Praise the Lord for what He did when hands were laid on Zsolt!  Please pray for Zsolt's healing to be complete and all residual pain to leave his body.

Greg

Greg has indicated to Len that he would like to start a Life Transformation Group with his friend Gyula (pronounced DYOO'-la).  He says they have wanted to do so for quite some time, but have have only talked about it and procrastinated.  He requested prayer that they would actually begin to have discipleship meetings together like he used to have with Len, as he and Gyula really sense a definite and urgent need to do so. 

During our time in New Hampshire, we have been visiting churches in the region, preaching, giving thanks, sharing our story, ministering to people, and building relationships.  Now we are back in Manchester, staying at the apartment of a sister in the Lord, and preparing to move to the southern part of the US.  We plan to be led by the Holy Spirit, as long as the Lord opens doors for us at churches around the country.

After Len shared our testimonies in one NH church of what God has been doing in Eastern Europe, we ministered to the sick. One young lady had just seen her doctor before the meeting, because of chronic neck pain that she had been having for a period of weeks.  He recommended physical therapy.  However, when we laid hands on her, the Lord healed her and the neck pain left immediately.  As a result, she was fit to go on a planned ministry trip to the street people of Boston later that week.  Her little sister had asthma, and at bedtime her mother would usually hear her breathing, but when we laid hands on her, the Lord healed her.  When her mother put her to bed that night, she was concerned when she did not hear her breathing, but when she checked on her, everything was fine.

Len presenting at a New Life Community home group in NH

 Another lady repented of past involvement in witchcraft and participation in the occult, and once the curse was broken, she felt "a peace like she hadn’t felt in long time."  One man was unable to walk briskly due to difficulty breathing and a heart problem due to his many years of smoking, even though he has since quit.  As we laid hands on him for healing, he felt "something like waves going through his chest."  Another lady who minsters to children asked for prayer for strength. And when we imparted the fire of the Holy Spirit to her, she was overwhelmed with joy, which was very obvious. Another sister in the Lord received prayer for her thyroid gland, which was swollen and visibly protruding from her throat.  Since then she has reported a decrease in the inflammation and she trusts the Lord to complete the healing.

At another NH church, after Len shared our testimonies, we once again saw the Lord move in power. One lady, had suffered from scoliosis since age fourteen, and also had arthritis.  We laid hands on her for healing.  One leg was longer than the other by ¼ to ½ inch and we saw it grow out within seconds to become the same length as the other leg. Afterward she was able to walk around without pain. She later said she felt "a gentleness" and had a vision of grapes when we prayed for her healing.  Two or three people also received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire, according to Matthew 3:11.  We were so blessed by the way the Lord moved and touched people with healing, power, and deliverance.  Praise the Lord!

Pr. Rob Haynes and others from New Life praying for us

After we shared our testimonies at a home group in Charlestown, NH, there was a time of ministry for one particular sister, named Felicia.  The Lord moved again powerfully.  She was set free, healed, and baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit.  Afterward she was bright-eyed and full of hope.  The next day she wrote to us saying, "I am so thankful and overjoyed at the healing/ministering work the Lord blessed me with through you both last night!!!!  I have not encountered faith  and the power of the Holy Spirit like that in a very long time, so I felt refreshed, invigorated and revived with hope, healing, and faith." She added, "I was inspired by the testimonies you shared about people's lives [in Eastern Europe] changing through discipleship."  Praise the Lord for what He did in Felicia's life! We know she will never be the same.

From time to time, people who read Len's blogs contact him.  He recently received the following remarks from a pastor in Myanmar (a country in Southeast Asia, formerly called Burma):  "I am Pastor [name redacted for security] from Myanmar New Life Evangelical Ministries (MNLEM). I am also a Lecturer at Bible schools and translator of Christian books and also a Church Planter in a remote area...As I read your e-mails and articles, you are so special and an encouragement to me indeed." Praise the Lord for the way He is encouraging this pastor, and reaching people through us that we don't even know yet!

Our desire would be to come to your church or Bible Study group to make a presentation of our work in Eastern Europe, while we are in the States.  Please pray about this.  It's a chance for us to encourage people to greater evangelism and commitment to completing the Great Commission globally, and we would be honored to come speak. The uniqueness of our presentation is that we present how the Lord has changed the lives of people in Eastern Europe, highlighted by our children singing a special worship song live in Hungarian.  We know you will enjoy the presentation.   So give us a call if we can come to speak to your group.

Please pray for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners. Also pray that the Lord will provide the many things we need, in order to make this furlough possible, as well as the necessary finances. 

Some of the quotes in this newsletter have been edited and paraphrased from the original sources for clarity.

Administrative Needs:  Our current bookkeeper, Emily, has notified us that her services to this ministry will end next January.  We really appreciate her giving us this notice, since it can take a long time to find the right person for this volunteer position.  Since this is a role that requires a high level of trust and integrity, we are prayerfully seeking the right person to fill it, whom the Lord has chosen. 

The position involves entering data pertaining to gifts into a user-friendly, accounting software, called QuickBooks, and printing out receipts to mail to our partners.  It also involves balancing the account, as well as generating monthly and annual reports, and sending annual giving summaries to our partners. If you or someone you know would be interested, please contact us.  The start date would be January 2, 2014, but we would like to identify the right person as soon as possible.

Resources:  This month we would also like to encourage you to read The Role of the Trinity in Drawing People to God.  As always, Len's entire collection of most popular blogs are at "Writing for the Master".  We welcome your comments on this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

In closing, we have much to praise God for, and many opportunities for you to join us in prayer.

Praise the Lord with us for the many answers to prayer:

"Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." (Ps 115:1)

1. For opening doors for us at churches in NH.
2. For brothers and sisters in Christ in NH who opened their homes for us to stay there.
3. For protecting us during our travels, especially the nighttime torrential downpour.
4. For the opportunities to share at churches and the amazing way He touched and healed so many people.
5. For the way He touched Zsolt during Len's visit to his home, relieving his pain.
6. For using Len's blogs to train and encourage leaders, including the pastor in Myanmar.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to provide all that we need to make our Stateside furlough possible.
2. For the Lord to open doors of opportunity and give us safe travels as we travel around the States.
3. For the Lord to complete the healing in Greg's father, Zsolt, and others we have prayed for.
4. For the Lord to further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new partners, who will sponsor us.
5. For the Lord to continue to move powerfully through the Word, our testimonies, and our ministry to those who come to hear us.
6. For the Lord to continue to multiply disciples through Dávid V. and the others in his church. 
7. For the Lord to help Greg and Gyula to finally start meeting in a Life Transformation Group for discipleship. 
8. For the Lord to provide a new bookkeeper in time for next January, who will be faithful, reliable, and trustworthy, as Emily has been. 
9. For our financial blessing. 

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

with love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

There are two ways to donate to Doulos Missions International. You may either send a check or money order by mail to:
Doulos Missions International
PO Box 5526
Manchester, NH 03108-5526

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