July Update 2018

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!  We're pleased to share with you what the Lord has been doing in our lives and ministry.  

Charity on her twentieth birthday

Family: In June we celebrated Charity's twentieth birthday with cake, cards, gifts, and prayer for the Lord's blessings on her life. The Lord gave us a beautiful, sunny day for the party. On the morning of her birthday, while she was eating breakfast, a doe stood right outside the kitchen window where she was sitting. That has never happened before. Amazingly, right after the party we had for her in the afternoon, as she was talking with her grandparents on the phone, a doe (perhaps the same one) stood very close to our home in our backyard for a long time. The children took photos of it, which you can find at the link below, along with the party pictures. Enjoy!

In July, Jennifer took the children to a historical site where a Moravian woman told them some of the history of the Moravians. They also got to walk around and see the foundations of structures that were around in the mid 1700s. They saw the foundations from The Single Brothers' House (1755), the Tailor's Shop (1762), and many other places. They also got to see the outside of a log cabin (1834) and the inside of a calf barn. Along the way, they saw a medicine garden, the community garden, and the sleeping hall. Pictures of these are included in the album at the link below.

More photos.    

Ministry: As we continue to administer our discipleship training school (DTS), we'd like to update you on the good things that God is doing with it. By the grace of God, we currently have nineteen disciples in five nations including Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, and now India. Altogether these students speak a total of sixteen different languages, including Hindi, Malayalam, Igbo, Idoma, Hausa, Teso, Yoruba, Darkarchi, Bette, French, Kiswahili, Lubukusu, Ngakarimojong, Bambara and Luo. All of them speak English.

Most of you are probably aware of the volatile situation in Nigeria, since we have reported before that there is hostility toward Christians there and persecution. In June, we received messages from our DTS students there about the terrible bloodshed taking place in Plateau State, where many of our students are attending the University of Jos. Here were a couple of those messages:

Brothers David and Christian in Nigeria

David (pictured left) who is in medical school wrote, "There have been so much unrest and tension in Plateau State. Since Saturday, over 200 people has been killed. Some villages in Barkin Ladi LGA (Local Government Area) were massacred. For about 2 days now, we have not been able to go to school because of the situation.

Praying that the Lord will restore peace in this State.

In Christ."

Meanwhile another medical student named Christian (pictured above) wrote, "Dear Brother Len, I trust your family is fine.  Concerning the present state of Nigeria, [it] is really nothing to write home about. Last Sunday, two villages in Plateau state were attacked by Fulani Herdsmen and over 300 people were killed in cold blood. The contacts of the Security chiefs were all switched off during the attacks and soldiers were even spotted assisting the Islamic herders.

"My school, University of Jos is also situated in a Muslim-dominated part of Plateau state, and going to school has become synonymous with entering a room filled with highly inflammable gas such that the slightest spark might be disastrous. We in this part of the world really need your prayers, Sir."

When Len asked him to clarify what he meant, he stated: "I meant that the campus is situated in one of the most volatile and Muslim-dominated areas such that any spark of violence would put students in danger. We are relatively safe within the confines of the campus walls...However, in recent times, students have been killed on their way to or out of campus, irrespective of the fact that military checkpoints are in close proximity."

We hope you will join us in praying for the safety of our Nigerian brethren.

In July, brother Christian also informed us that he was baptized by water immersion and that he prays for the grace to continue abiding in the Lord's will. Praise the Lord! We congratulate him and pray that he will fulfill that desire.

Sister Hannah in Nigeria

On another note, the fiancée of Deji, one of our new DTS students in Nigeria, has enrolled in our training program. Her name is sister Hannah, and she commented about the impact that the DTS has had on Deji. She said, "I have heard a lot about you. Thank you for giving to the Lord! There was a life that was built up by this DTS (Bro Ayodeji). May God bless you abundantly and I pray that you won't lose you reward here on earth and in heaven." Praise the Lord for what He has accomplished in Deji's life through the training. It has been our pleasure to serve him and watch him grow in the Lord over the past three years.

Hannah shared a brief testimony of how she came to Christ: "Though I was born in a Christian home, this didn't bring deliverance from the power of sin. I still found myself being slave to sin. During a special program in my church for youth, September 2005, I totally surrendered all to Jesus and invited Him into my heart. Since then God has been helping me to please Him." Praise the Lord! She stated her reason for joining is this: "I want to enroll in DTS because I have a strong impression to develop myself spiritually so I can be a better, influential believer to the glory of God." We are pleased to have the chance to serve Hannah over the next three years and look forward to seeing the Lord transform her life.

Please click here to see the full DTS Photo Album.

Len sent out his monthly edition of Old News That's Still Fresh in July to pastors, elders, and laborers in the harvest in the US, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Although we are not based overseas any more, we are still missionaries and still need your financial and prayer support of our ministry. Please pray and ask the Father if He would have you give.

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

Resources:  This month we would like to suggest some articles Len has recently written called Walking by Faith, Our God is an Awesome God, and Life by the Spirit, Not Under the Law. Len's latest articles are all available at Old News That's Still Fresh -- July 2018. His 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 giving Charity a wonderful birthday.
2. For the beautiful field day the Lord gave Jennifer and the children. 
3. For Christian's recent baptism. 
4. For the enrollment of Sister Hannah in our DTS. 
5. For the opportunity to assist each of our students in becoming disciples of Christ and fulfilling their callings. 
6. For the Lord's leading, guidance, and help administering the Doulos Training School (DTS), and for the progress the students are making.
7. For the lives being touched for Christ around the world through our writing ministry.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to heal Len's knee, as well as the lower back and sciatic pain that seems to be coming from his spine.
2. For the Lord to heal Faith and Len from eczema.
3. For the Lord to protect our brethren in Plateau State, Nigeria, especially our DTS students who are attending the University of Jos. For the Lord to restore peace to this area. 
4. For the Lord to bring about a mighty revival among the students at the University of Jos, Nigeria, and to help those who are in our DTS to pass their final exams at the university. 
5. For the Lord to assist us with the administration of the Doulos Training School (DTS), as well as develop through it many disciples who multiply disciples. 
6. For the Lord to help Hannah develop herself spiritually so she can be a better, influential believer to the glory of God.
7. For the Lord to help all of our DTS students to find LTG partners (another Christian to meet with weekly for discipleship in a Life Transformation Group). 
8. For the Lord to fulfill His purposes for us and our ministry.
9. For the Lord to send His angels with Len’s written messages to those who need them, and for an open heaven over them when they receive his messages. 
10. For the Lord to move mountains to raise up new faith partners, and for Him to provide for all our needs -- not only ours personally, but also those of the ministry -- as He releases a financial miracle.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

with love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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Doulos Missions International
PO Box 5526
Manchester, NH 03108-5526

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