September Update 2013

Greetings from lovely North Carolina!  We’re delighted to give you the latest update.

Family: In August, the children enjoyed the rest of their summer vacation before returning to home school.   That's been going well for them as they get started with another school year.  Christopher is already in third grade and Charity is now in her freshman year of high school, while Faith is in fifth and Hope is in seventh.  It's hard to believe they are growing up so fast!  They've enjoyed their many new friends here, which are other missionary kids from other parts of the world, living in our community.  They've also enjoyed visiting the animals on the little farm here in this community where we are living out in the country. 

We've been busy with administrative tasks like registering for home school in North Carolina, fixing the laptop, getting new driver's licenses in this state, and getting our van inspected and registered.  Thank the Lord the major issues with the laptop have finally been resolved after a many hours on the phone with Dell technical support in India, and the machine is ready for us once again in our ministry.  We also failed the state emissions inspection, and consulted multiple mechanics about the need for a catalytic converter.  Then after all that, we discovered that we get a one-year grace period before we need to get the vehicle inspected.  That will give us more time to get that work done, and prioritize other more urgently needed repairs, including an engine oil leak. Praise the Lord!

Faith, Hope and Joseph with their friends from the village

We were interviewed on a Christian radio program in September, which is hosted by the founders of the missionary community where we live.  We discussed with them our ministry to Eastern Europe on their weekly program, "A Place Missionaries Call Home," which is broadcast on The Truth Network that can be heard on Christian talk radio stations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Utah, and Iowa.  If you would like to listen to the interview via podcast, it is available online by clicking this link. 

Charity has been trying her hand at photography, and took almost all of the photos in this newsletter, as well as the attached photos.  If you have time, please take a minute to check out the album at the link below.

More photos.     

Ministry:  In August, Greg called Len from Hungary.  You will probably recall that he is one of Len's disciples.  We had previously asked for prayer for Greg that he and his friend Gyula would begin meeting for discipleship together.  When Greg called Len, he said that in July he attended an annual worship conference with Gyula.  On the final day when it ended, they and some other attendees accepted an invitation to stay one more day.  During that extra day, they experienced times of refreshing in the presence of the Lord with the others, as the Holy Spirit moved in wonderful way.  This led Greg, Gyula, and the others with them to continue gathering together for worship after returning from the conference.  Although they attend five different churches, they are experiencing the move of God together in these meetings, and others want to join them.  In fact, the home group has grown so large that they need to subdivide into smaller groups.  Greg is enjoying it, and plans to introduce them to "Life Transformation Groups" as a means of becoming disciples of Christ.  Praise the Lord for what he is doing in their midst.

Greg meeting with Len for discipleship (file photo 2012)

A few days after Len received that call, Greg emailed Len on a Sunday, asking for prayer for his father, Zsolt.  His father was extremely sick with stomach pain and high fever.  He was scheduled to work two shifts the following day for an entire week in his role as a physician, covering for another doctor who was out on vacation.  We prayed for Zsolt, and Len also wrote back instructing Greg how to lay hands on his father for healing.  A few days later we learned from Greg what happened right after he sent us the email, asking for prayer.  He said, "Last Sunday as I wrote to you to ask for prayer, some of my friends came by and we prayed for Dad, to be healed and be able to work two shifts all week. Dad had 38.5 (101.3 F) fever, and due to the pain, he was only able to lay in bed. It was very frightening.  Then we went to church, Dad tried to sleep."

Greg continued, "Monday morning when I woke up, he had gone to work. (I knew he would have done so, even with high fever and with pain, so I was very worried, but tried to believe for his healing.  It was then that I first read your email, and it was an encouragement for me. Thank you!) I wrote several text messages to my father that day to find out how he was doing, but I didn't receive an answer. Finally we met late in the evening, and he just said he had no fever all day with just a little pain sometimes (although it has come back since then, but not as strong as it was). So Dad was able to work all week without the fever or strong pain! Thank God!!!"   Praise the Lord for what He did in Greg's father! Len has since spoken with Greg, and his father's miraculous healing continues to be a great blessing to him, as well as his family and friends.

In September, Len spent time with a local pastor here, building relationship, sharing testimonies, and praying with him.  This is the pastor we wrote about last month, named Roger, who felt the Lord sent us in answer to prayer.  After receiving prayer and laying on of hands, the Holy Spirit came upon the pastor, baptizing and enduing him with power.   He felt a wonderful blessing at that time, and reported afterward that he continues to experience the awesome power and presence of the Lord in his personal life and ministry.  To God be all the glory!  We praise the Lord for what He has done to encouraged and equip this brother, who has been serving as a pastor for forty years.  Len is making arrangements to provide him with further training.

Regarding other opportunities to serve, 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 join us in praying 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. 

Fulfilled Administrative Need:  We are pleased to announce that we have found a new bookkeeper, who will be taking over for Emily in January.  Emily has been a tremendous help behind the scenes, ensuring your gifts are properly recorded and that you receive a timely receipt, including your year-end giving statement.  We are so grateful for her service as she transitions off the team.  Denis will soon be joining our volunteer, New Hampshire office staff, assuming this important role.  We feel like the Lord has truly answered prayer in this regard, and we're looking forward to having him on the team. 

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's latest blogs called, You're Better Off Following Jesus and The Eternal Firstborn of All Creation, as well as Charity's latest poems Take Me Away, Praise for Our King, and God Will Meet You There. You're sure to be encouraged!  Other recent article of Len's may be found at Old News That's Still Fresh - September 2013.  Len's entire collection of his 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 the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit that He has given to the local pastor here.
2. For helping us get our computers repaired and up to full speed again.
3. For helping us get our NC drivers' licenses and our van registered here.
4. For healing Greg's father once again from pain and fever, after hands were laid on him in Jesus name.
5. For the radio interview we did that was aired on the Truth Radio Network.
6. For providing a reliable and trustworthy new bookkeeper to take over for Emily in January.

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 further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new partners, who will sponsor us.
4. For the Lord to continue to move powerfully through the Word, our testimonies, and our ministry to those who come to hear us.
5. For the Lord to help Greg and Gyula to finally start meeting in a Life Transformation Group for discipleship. 
6. For our financial blessing. 

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

with love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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