Tuesday, September 14, 2021

September Update -- 2021

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

Family
: In September, the boys returned to their homeschool education. Christopher is in his junior year of high school (grade 11), and has applied for a Career and College program. If he is accepted, he will be taking college courses in the IT Technical Support program. Please pray that he will be accepted and be able to begin on October 14th, when the next quarter starts. There is only one seat left in the class he needs to take first. 

The Lord blessed Faith with a job as a hostess at a restaurant. She got the job without ever going for an interview or meeting the manager. It was all done over the telephone without them ever having met her in person! Coincidentally, she is being trained by another hostess whose name is also Faith. She likes the people she is working with, so we thank God for opening this door for her.

In September, as Len was encouraging Charity from the Scriptures at the dinner table, she felt like the Lord was standing right behind her almost as if He had His hand on her shoulder.

On Wednesday, September 15th, Dr. Andrew Stenhouse  transitioned into his heavenly home. As you know he was one of our board members, and Len's best friend, about whom he had recently written a biographical book called A Willing Heart to Please the Father. He will be dearly missed. Please pray for the Lord to comfort Andrew's daughter Andrea.


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 disciples in nine nations including Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, South Sudan, India, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In August we accepted several new students for enrollment, who will begin in September. The new ones include brother Henry (Uganda), brother Isaac (Uganda), sister Rebecca (Uganda), brother Max (Uganda), brother Martin (Uganda), sister Rebecca (South Sudan), sister Linda (South Sudan), brother John (India), brother Patauli (France), and brother Fredrick (South Africa). We are very grateful to God for sending them to us to train them, and we look forward to serving them over the next three years. We would like to highlight the salvation testimonies of a couple of them. 

Brother John from India, a fifty-two year-old pastor, who holds multiple masters degrees, gave this testimony of coming to Christ in 1999:

"I come from a Christian background family. I love God’s Word, because that is the only light for people living in darkness. To save my faith in Christ, I left a secure job. God blessed me with a gift of teaching and preaching and serving. I believed no one in the world could redeem me, except Jesus.

Nothing gives me more satisfaction than preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So I love to preach His life-giving Word. I love Jesus. Jesus is my personal Savior. For my cause He shed His precious blood and redeemed me. I believe this is my responsibility to preach this as many as I come across. This is my burden."

He also said, "His Gospel touched my life and encouraged me to preach to all the needy." His reason for enrolling is that "This course will be helpful to increase my understanding about some of the spiritual truths, so that I can touch many hearts for Christ, and they can be saved."

Here is the salvation testimony of sister Linda from South Sudan, who got saved in 2010:

"It was in a vision while I was asleep that I received a message on my phone, but couldn't read it, because it wasn't English nor my mother tongue. So I gave up on that message. Later I received the same message the second time. While still wondering [about this], [the thought] came to my mind to scroll down, so that I might find the sender and the name written in English. [So I scrolled down], and indeed it was! This is what was written: "SENDER: JESUS". It was a shock to me! I started crying.  JESUS had sent me a message, but how could I understand it?  

But [then] something happened! I saw a strong light from above to the extent [that] I fell with my face down. For that light was too strong to the extent [that] I [could not] stand it. And a strong voice spoke to me with authority saying, 'Linda, you must be born again!' And I woke up! But though I opened my eyes, they were still [hurting from the light].

This is how I gave my life to Christ, [even] though I [had already been a very] religious [person]." 

Praise the Lord for her testimony. She also shared the following about how she received the baptism with the Holy Spirit:  

"The first time I spoke in tongues was on my sick bed after an operation, when a man of God came to visit me early in the morning in the hospital. While he was praying, the doctor entered the ward for the routine morning round. On finding the man God praying, he touched him on his shoulder and said, please go out. You will come and complete your prayer after I finish my ward round. 

According to the man of God, the moment the doctor said these words, he saw the whole ward covered with a cloud! And this was what happened. He rebuked the doctor with authority saying: 

'I did not come here with your permission! Neither do I need permission from you, because I came here by the command from above! You are treating, but the healer is God! When He says YES no one can say NO!'

(On hearing those words I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It was my first time to speak in tongues.)

And slowly without another word, the doctor went and waited [outside the room] till the man of God concluded his prayer. Then he entered and apologised to man of God."

What a powerful testimony that was. Praise the Lord!

Sister Rebecca from South Sudan testified how the Lord saved her soul in 2014:

"I was always not peaceful with the life I used to live, but could do nothing about it until one day I came across a man of God preaching...about Jesus Christ the author of peace. I decided to accept Him and my life [has been] changed to now."

She is enrolling because, "I thirst to know the truth in the Lord and also let others know what I know."

Brother Henry from Uganda, who is thirty-two years old, says this is how he came to Christ in 2012:

"In my life [before Christ] I loved football too much, so in the process of playing I sustained an injury. As I was struggling with treatment, I had a friend who kept on preaching to me, and later she invited me to their church, [which] was a born again church. When I went there I got a word that was encouraging about Jesus Christ. I was touched when they called [for] those who wanted to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savour. I went [up] and gave my life to Christ."

He is enrolling because he says, "I have a desire to be a disciple of Christ, to win souls to Christ, and also to make disciples for our Lord Jesus Christ."


Brother Max in Uganda, who is thirty-five years old, has this testimony of God's saving grace in his life back on December 25, 2005:

"I was such a religious person who didn't understand salvation. But at the age of twenty, I was shared to about Jesus Christ. And after understanding, I believed and prayed to receive Jesus as my personal Saviour. Now I am so glad that I am 'born again'. And when I turned twenty-three, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and I spoke in other tongues from then up to date. I thank God."

Praise the Lord! He says he is enrolling "To learn more on how to train disciples for Jesus."

Brother Martin in Uganda is another new student who enrolled on September 1. He has an amazing salvation testimony and life story about how he was an orphan, forced to be a child soldier on the front lines of combat in Sudan. It's called Former Child Soldier Delivered from Alcohol. He now has a ministry called Children of the Light through which he and his wife Rita minister to women and children refugees in Uganda. He says he is enrolling in the DTS "to learn more from DTS to help me grow more spiritual in Christ." We hope you will take a moment to read the short article Len has written about him at the link above.

Sister Catherine in the UK gave the following testimony after reading Len's article on the Laying on of Hands:

"This awesome article about the laying on of hands showed me that this wonderful gift for the healing ministry is just as important as when the Church began in the second Chapter of Acts in the New Testament. 

When the laying on of hands is for the healing of the sick, it is also with the anointing of oil. The laying of hands is also used to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit for new Christians. The laying on of hands is also used to bless a qualified leader for a specific Ministry to bless others in the Church. 

But I found that in the Church I was in, when I preached about the laying on of hands and the gift of healing, the elders of the Church rejected this part of the gospel. The Lord showed me Luke 9: 3-5, as for those who do not receive you, shake the dust off your feet and leave. It is so sad that so many Churches in the UK, don't accept the gift of the laying on of hands and healing. 

I went to a conference a few years ago and the Leader taught of the power of the laying on of hands and the gift of healing. The Leader asked me to pray over his thumb that was cut to the bone by accident. I know very little about the healing ministry, but I decided to just obey the Lord, so I put my hand on his thumb and prayed for Jesus to heal it, 'in Jesus name,' and it was healed. 

Then a lady came up to me to pray over her as she had stomach cancer and only three months to live. So I put my hand on her stomach and prayed in tongues in the Holy Spirit and afterwards she said, "I didn't know you could speak Spanish," I said, " I don't speak Spanish, the Lord spoke through me, so what did he say to you in Spanish?" She said, "Jesus said, "Now is the time for you to accept me into your heart and be saved and I will heal you." So I prayed over her for her salvation then I prayed again over her stomach and she was completely healed. [Afterward] I gave testimony about the healings on stage before the conference ended. 

So our Lord heals today, as the scripture goes, Hebrews. 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." The laying on of hands is so valuable for the Church today. I only wish the Churches in the UK would accept it and teach it. Maybe they will in the future.

Thank you.
Bless you.
From Sister Catherine Atherton"


In August, Len received the following testimony from sister Juliet in Uganda:

"Praise the Lord brother Len.
Greetings to Jennifer and the entire family. I am...sending in my testimony of what the Lord has done for me during my DTS first quarter. I've had phone problems, [but] I've just got my new phone today!

I bless the Lord for DTS that has opened me up to living a new life. A life of faith. The Lord saved me from covid19. My roommate was first diagnosed with covid, and I too got sick with a heavy chest, difficulty in breathing, and cough. But within two weeks the Lord healed me!

I was later given two days to leave the house where I was staying. The little money that I had [in my possession] had also been stolen, the phone was taken, and I was left at a crossroads. But thanks to God that at such a time I had gone through the topic of Foundations I [and had studied the four-part series] By Faith Alone! I am happy that God blessed me with a very beautiful house where I am staying. 

So happy that my LTG produced two more LTGs that are active in street evangelism, [as well as] door-to-door evangelism, and souls are being won every week since we began this. Some of the members would love to join DTS. 

Thank you."

Praise the Lord! What an amazing testimony. And the multiplication of disciples like she is doing is exactly what our goal is through the DTS and is the vision we are seeking to impart. 

Brother Tom, one of our students in Uganda who is a pastor, sent the following amazing testimony to Len in August:

Dear brother Leonard,

My third year in this great Bible school is not in vain. My testimony goes like this:

Immediately once I was enrolled in my third year, everything about me changed, especially my communication of the gospel. Within the shortest time of the lockdown, I managed to form five different home cell fellowships. They study scriptures together, meditate, pray for one another and the nation(s).

One greatest testimony that kept everyone in total surprise was when all the five cells wrote down the prayer request of what they want God to do for them, and one Christian by the name of Dan, who was struggling financially, appeared last Sunday with a new car to be dedicated to God.

This is what he said with tears rolling down his cheek: "I didn't expect anything like this in my life, since I have been surviving on begging and almost left the church because of great Poverty." He sold his land that has taken years for the buyers to surface. [He then bought a car with the money, as well as another big piece of land for his residence]. [After he was] given time to express his emotion, he concluded by dedicating his vehicle to the church for any ministry service like evangelism, crusade, prison ministry, hospital ministry, and pastoral work.

This should be a very big lesson to us: When we have taken a step of faith to serve God, that is when God begins moving in a very special way to meet our needs (Mathew 6:33).   

I encourage all our students all over the world to reach every community for Christ. May God prosper us in our ministries as we gather knowledge from DTS.

Be blessed."

Praise the Lord! We give all the glory to God for what He has done in brother Tom's life, transforming his ministry and helping him establish five house church groups. It's truly amazing!

In Nigeria, a married couple in our DTS by the name of Stephen and his wife Daniel, are doing very well with their training. Not only are they progressing well with their coursework, but they have both grown their LTGs to the point where they have both multiplied their original groups into two groups. So brother Stephen's original LTG is now two groups and sister Daniel's LTG is now two groups. You may recall that before they moved to the village recently to begin pastoring a church, they had likewise been multiplying LTGs in their previous location where they had lived before. So the Lord is truly using them to multiply disciples. Praise the Lord for the growth! Pray that He will continue to use them that way and that all of our students will catch the same vision and follow suit.

In September, brother John from Uganda sent the following testimony to Len:

"I am so grateful to God for the opportunity to be in this DTS! For sure I am no longer that one who can be tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine! Now I can handle some serious doctrinal truths better than before! And it has helped me to pose questions on our WhatsApp platforms that have made the group excited more than before. Every time they see my post on the platform, many become active in participating in the Bible discussion. This has really lifted my spirit and capacity! I can't thank enough. The joy and blessings [I have] gotten, have [led] me to bring more [students] on board to this DTS. I would like to thank Len and wife, my facilitator, brother Grace, who tirelessly checks on my progress, all the partners supporting this program, and all the students and others praying for this DTS program! God bless you all abundantly in Christ Jesus.

Brother John"

Moreover, one of our newest students in Uganda, brother Isaac, is twenty-seven years old, was saved at age twelve in 2006, and loves to sing. He wrote to Len with this testimony only thirteen days into his training:

"Good morning. My life testimony since I began my DTS: My spiritual life has changed and this training has helped me to time myself on a daily reading of the word. It's also helped to learn that we should not take the glory to ourselves but [give it] unto the Lord. It has changed my prayer life daily. It's taught me how to live the life of a minister of the gospel."

We give God all the glory for the work He has already begun. Brother Isaac has already identified three prospective LTG partners and is praying for them to join him.

Len received the following email from brother Humphrey in Uganda:

"Hello Brother Len,

Greetings, I hope the Lord has kept you and the entire family well. We bless God for this far he has brought us amidst unprecedented times occasioned by COVID19. It has been and is still great being part of DTS. I have learnt a lot.

[I] am perfectly sure [the DTS] offers me a lifetime opportunity as a minister of the Gospel to review, upgrade and correct views previously held in false or partial understanding due to lack of correct teachings. I am glad I am able to rightly divide the word of truth now.

Thank you for allowing this to happen through you .

Brother Humphrey" 

Praise the Lord!

Resources: We would like to remind you that 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 providing Faith with a job so quickly and easily.
  2. For giving the boys a great summer vacation and helping them to resume their home school education.
  3. For the Lord's tangible hand upon Charity while Len was encouraging her.
  4. For all the new students from around the world who enrolled in the DTS and began training in September, and for helping brother John to refer most of them to us.
  5. For brother Grace and sister Florence's help in referring new students to us.
  6. For the wonderful salvation testimonies of the new students.
  7. For sister Catherine's testimony of healing through laying on of hands, for healing sister Juliet from covid, for using brother Tom to start five home fellowships, and the amazing story of the Lord's provision for a man named Dan in one of those fellowships.
  8. For the way He is multiplying disciples through brother Stephen and his wife Daniel in Nigeria, as well as the work He is doing in the lives of brothers John and Humphrey.
  9. For the opportunity to assist each of our students in becoming disciples of Christ and fulfilling their callings. 
  10. For the Lord's leading, guidance, wisdom, and help administering the Doulos Training School (DTS), and for the progress the students are making.
Next steps and prayer needs:
  1. For the Lord to enable Christopher's enrollment application to the college be accepted, so he can begin training in October.
  2. For the Lord to help Faith learn her new job and become proficient in it.
  3. For the Lord to comfort our brother Dr. Andrew Stenhouse's daughter Andrea in her loss of him.
  4. For the Lord to provide for all the needs of our DTS students in the hardships they're experiencing due to the lockdown, especially those in dire need in Uganda. 
  5. For the Lord to assist all our DTS students in any life challenges they may be experiencing.
  6. 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. 
  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), and help them finish all their course work for the current quarter by the end of this month. 
  8. For the Lord to fulfill His purposes for us and our ministry.
  9. For the Lord 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.
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


Donate Online