Monday, September 15, 2014

September Update 2014

Greetings from North Carolina!  We're pleased to share with you what the Lord has been doing in our lives and ministry.

Our family "back-to-school" picnic at the lake
Family: In August, during bedtime devotions, as we were all seated around the living room coffee table, praying, the large glass globe of the ceiling light fixture fell off and crashed on the coffee table in the middle of the room.  When it hit the coffee table, it exploded and extremely hot glass flew in every direction. The shattered glass pieces ranged from tiny fragments as small as dust and splinters all the way up to large, jagged pieces.  Miraculously nobody was even slightly injured or touched by the glass.  Thank the Lord! Len was sitting right next to the coffee table, leaning forward in the direction of the end of the table where the glass exploded.  Joseph was sitting on a sofa directly in front of the spot, only about 36 inches from where it hit.  He could have been hit in the eyes or face with fragments, but not a scratch was found on him.  Afterward during cleanup, Len discovered a piece of broken glass about four or five inches long located behind the pillow beside the spot where Joseph had been sitting. When we realized how bad this could have been and how the Lord protected us, we overflowed with gratitude.

More photos.    

In August we had an end-of-summer picnic together at the Jordan Lake Dam (pictured above). The children all resumed home school in September, and are doing well.  Charity our oldest is now a sophomore in High School and Joseph has begun kindergarten. All of the children except Charity went for a field trip to the local fire station, which was fun and interesting.  They got to meet the firemen, see their fire trucks, and even go inside them and blow the horn.  The firemen pulled their ladder truck out of the station, ran the siren, put the ladder all the way up, and sprayed water to demonstrate for the children the long range it could spray.  They all enjoyed their trip and came home with goodie bags that they received. 

We have finally settled into the Guest House we are renting from the church here in North Carolina, where we are allowed to stay until the end of February. We are praying that the church would allow us to stay at least until the summer, so we wouldn't have to move during the school year.   We have been blessed on a couple occasions with visits from a couple peacocks walking around in our yard, and around the other home next door to us, which is on the same property.  You can find pictures of the peacocks at our "More photos" link above.

Len & Paul before our departure to Hungary, Oct 2008
Len's brother Paul, who is 61 years old, had a major stroke earlier this month in September, which was twenty times worse than the one he had in 2001.  This left him in a comatose state.  Len had the opportunity to call him there in the intensive care unit and speak to him, as well as pray for him. As we publish this newsletter, he was taken off all artificial life support three days ago, per his living will, and is not being given assistance, but has remained alive since then. [Update: Sadly, Paul passed away in the hospital on September 17, at 5:36 AM. One of his adult daughters was present with him at the time. His funeral was held on September 20, and you may view his obituary here., as well as the associated Guest Book online.]

Ministry:  One of Len's disciples in Hungary, named David, returned from his missions trip to Romania in August with a good report.  He was in Romania for four days, in the Hungarian region, known as Transylvania. God did miracles through him. His team of seven people ministered to both gypsies and Hungarians there in Transylvania, and many people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus. The first day there were more than twenty people who made decisions for Christ, and after that he didn’t count, but it was between thirty and forty.

Then later in September he went on another trip within Hungary on a Saturday. Then in October, he plans to go to Albania and Kosovo on another trip.

In August, David also held a weekend camp for his disciples and some other people at his grandmother’s weekend house, which is on a mountain in Budakeszi, Hungary.  They slept in tents and used the indoor kitchen as well as campfire to cook. There were five brothers, including David, and three sisters in Christ.  The disciples got baptized with the Holy Spirit and power, and God touched them. A brother, whom David invited, taught about the character of Christ, and the new man being formed in us. David preached the full gospel of Jesus, including the holiness of God and how to be submersed into the Spirit.  One of David's disciples, named Marci (pronounced "MAUR-tsee" and is short for Marton), has started to care for a brother in Christ, Ágoston, and Marci is teaching him the Truth.  So we praise the Lord for the good fruit coming forth from David's life.

We mentioned previously and asked you to pray for him to pass his insurance exams required to sell for Alliance in his new job, and the Lord answered our prayers.  He has passed all the exams and began work at his new job the first week of September.  Thank the Lord for helping him pass his exams, and take this important step to provide for his mother and sister.

Another very encouraging testimony that he shared was that six months ago he had a vision while meditating on Scripture. He saw a room in heaven with a long table and chairs. The tablecloth was glowing white and its edges were made of pure gold. There were two flags made of fire upon the table and a great bowl full of wine. The Lord was standing beside him, and spoke with a powerful voice. He said, “Everything is prepared. I'm coming soon.” His voice was so holy. David was trembling. This is yet another one of many visions the Lord is giving His people in these last days about His imminent return.

As you know, we went to Hungary to help make disciples who multiply disciples and to develop leaders who multiply leaders, and we give God all glory for the way He is fulfilling that vision through David.  He has caught the vision and is running with it, obediently fulfilling the Lord's mandate to go and make disciples.  As you can see from the reports, he is definitely multiplying.  Please lift him up in prayer, as he experiences hardships for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Len has been in contact with the pastors in Southeast Asia via email, Skype, and phone, planning for a visit.  But we still lack the funding for Len to make to make such a visit.  Len's desire is to travel to Budapest soon to meet with David Vadnai as well as one of our board members in Vienna.  As with the plans for travel to Southeast Asia, we are praying for the Lord to provide the funding to do this. Would you please pray and ask the Lord how you could help make these important trips possible by giving financially?

We occasionally receive positive feedback from Christians around the world who are benefiting from Len's blogs.  In September, we received an email from a medical doctor in Nigeria who stated: “Well done for the good works you are doing by the grace of God in your ministry. I will like to be part of this ministry. Please kindly inform me how I can be a part. Thanks. Dr Theophilus Ayodele.” When Len advised him he could help by praying for us, especially for the Lord to provide funding for our ministry, he responded by saying, “Thanks so much, sir. I will like to help by financial donation.”  He explained his desire to give saying, "It is the Lord. The world will be a better place to live with widespread of the knowledge of the Bible and the message of the Lord. That is the motivation. God bless."

We also received a comment from a sister in Kenya, named Carol L.  She stated: "Dear brother, Pray for me. I need to know God more. I just do not know where to start. I am born again, but I need to feel the Holy Spirit in me. Pray for me brother. God bless you. God bless your ministry. Kind regards, Carol."

In Len's response to her, he shared his article on being Baptized with the Spirit.  She responded saying she had read it and that "it was particularly helpful." When Len asked her how she had found us, she said, "A sister forwarded to me a link with a testimony from Zipporah (Mushala) about a visit to hell. Once there, I decided to go through some of the articles, and I immediately felt blessed."  Let's pray that sister Carol L receives the gift of the Holy Spirit she longs for.

We also received an invitation for Len to visit a church in the Northeast and minister there in the coming weeks, which the elders there and we are prayerfully planning at this time.   We'd ask that you please join us in praying for the Lord to guide us in all the plans for that visit.

*Note: Comments from foreign nationals are sometimes edited for clarity. 

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest two important articles Len has recently written called, Here I Am, Send Me and What Then Must We Observe? All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - September 2014. Len's entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

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:
  1. For protecting us all from the exploding glass light fixture.
  2. For the children's blessed summer vacation and return to home school.
  3. For Carol L.'s desire for a move of the Holy Spirit in her life.
  4. For the benefit that others like Carol L. and Dr. Ayodele are receiving in the far corners of the world from our teaching and training materials.
  5. For David's missions trip to Romania, and the souls that were saved, the miracles the Lord did, and those who received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.
  6. For the vision David received of the wedding supper table prepared in heaven.
  7. For the wonderful things the Lord did in the lives of David's disciples at the weekend camp he held for them.
  8. For helping David pass all of his insurance exams and begin his new job.
  9. For the invitation we received for Len to minister at a church in the Northeast in the coming weeks.
Next steps and prayer needs:
  1. That Carol L. will know the Lord more intimately. receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and be a powerful witness for the Lord in Kenya, bringing many to Christ.
  2. For the Lord to help David successfully complete the missions trip that he plans to do in Albania and Kosovo in October.
  3. For the Lord to supernaturally guide all aspects of the planning for Len's upcoming ministry trip in the Northeast.
  4. For the Lord to guide and provide for Len to go to Budapest and Vienna for prayer and ministry.
  5. For the Lord to give Len guidance and provision regarding the open door in Myanmar.
  6. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
  7. For the Lord to further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new faith partners, who will sponsor us.
  8. For the church to allow us to stay at least until the summer, so we wouldn't have to move during the school year.   
  9. 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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