December Update 2014

Greetings from North Carolina 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.

Len and Jennifer on Thanksgiving Day

Family: In November, while Len was in Hungary, Jennifer took the children to see the Natural Science Museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, which was free, and they enjoyed it.  They saw many mounted animals that had been taxidermised.  They also saw some live ones, too.  So they all enjoyed seeing and learning about God's creation in nature.

A week after Len returned from Hungary, we all went to the North Carolina History Museum and enjoyed just being together for some family time.  The best part about the museum was that it was free.

More photos.    

We enjoyed a peaceful Thanksgiving Day, and before the meal each of us took time to give thanks to the Lord for His manifold blessings in our lives.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (Js 1:17).

Also in November, the African Children's Choir (ACC) arrived at the other Guest House next door to the one we are living in.  That is their US residence while they are traveling in the States.  These are orphans from Uganda, who have been taken into the care of the ACC ministry, and who go on music tours.  They were only here for about one week, but the children enjoyed meeting them during that short time.

The Children on Thanksgiving Day

We have some good news to report in that we have been given an extension of two more months by King's Park International Church to rent their guest house, so that means we can stay until the end of April. Praise the Lord! However, we have been told that is a firm date, so we need to begin now looking for another place to stay. We're praying the Lord will provide other housing at that time, since currently we are financially not able to return to the mission field and we are waiting on the Lord for direction. The direction we have so far is to be based in the US and make short term trips overseas, while continuing the Christian literature ministry online.  So please pray with us for housing, which is a big need right now, and let us know if you become aware of any opportunities for us to stay as guests temporarily someplace.  We know the Lord will provide as He always has, and we will not be homeless, so we trust in Him to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory.

The children have now finished recording their music albums, which we mentioned last month.  They have also been creating some great, new artwork lately.  Some of the new ones include "Beautiful Jesus", "Sun of Righteousness", "An Ever-Present Help", and "Children of the Lord", all of which are posted on Jesus; as well as "Walking on the Narrow Way" and "The Four Seeds", all of which are posted on Salvation.  Joseph has even made a special contribution called, "Jesus is Coming Soon!" -- a prophetic message he chose on his own, and the artwork is posted on Rapture. Charity has also written some new poems called Heaven's Dweller and Smoldering Flame.

Adam, Domonkos, Eva, Vilmos, and Len in Hungary

Ministry:  In November, Len was away in Budapest to meet with David Vadnai to encourage him and his disciples, and pray together.  The Lord blessed that time, as we reported last month, and there was good fruit from his trip.  Len noticed that it seemed like people in Budapest were more closed to the gospel than we had observed when we were there. However, one young man that Len evangelized to, named Csaba (pronounced "chaw-baw"), responded with many sincere questions about the gospel, which Len answered, and he promised to consider giving his life to Christ. At first he had rejected the gospel tract that Len handed him, but then he pursued Len and called out in Hungarian, "Uram!" ("Sir!"), wanting to speak with Len about the gospel, so that he could know how to be saved. Praise the Lord for his openness.

On another occasion, a man on a bus immediately burst forth with curses and the satanic horns hand signal against Len when he tried to hand the man a gospel tract.  The man didn't even know what the tract said inside, but depicted on the front was Christ Jesus on the cross, bleeding, and the words printed "All This I Did for Thee."  Len just returned his cursing with a blessing and continued to stand right beside him.  Please pray with us that the Lord would get a hold of that man's life and he would become a warrior for Christ.

Len also traveled to Vienna by train with David to meet with another board member there named Dennis Nederveen. They shared a time of prayer, seeking the Lord and discussing the future of this ministry.

At a church service in Vienna, where Dennis was preaching, Len was given the opportunity to share his testimony, which he did and encouraged the saints there.

Mihály "Mike" Merényi

In Budapest, Len met with Vilmos (William), who is an elder he knows in Hungary at the church we once attended.  Len had trained him in the past on evangelism and discipleship, and this was a time of fellowship to encourage one another, eat dinner with him and his family, and pray together.

On another day, Len also met individually with Mihály "Mike" Merényi, (who had interpreted for Len at a recent house meeting), to train him on sharing Jesus in personal evangelism.

We reported last month that Len ministered at a home group meeting that met at David's apartment. We mentioned a elder brother, named Gyuri, who used to be a pastor.  Gyuri knows some of the dark secrets regarding the wicked things happening within the Hungarian government.  He shared some of those things with Len.  He told about all the idolatry in Hungary.  For example, there is something known as the golden Sacred Crown, kept under glass at the Parliament building in Budapest. Gyuri says it is a shaman crown welded together into one with a Catholic Crown, and it is actually considered a "pubic servant" in the constitution.

For those who don't know, "a shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing" (Wikipedia). Hungarians who invaded the Carpathian basin in 895-896 AD were pagans. It has been said that they sacrificed horses, prayed to boulders and streams and participated in shaman drumming rituals. According to Gyuri, not long ago, the Hungarian government also hired a shaman dancer for 50 million Hungarian Forints (over $200,000) to perform a spiritual dance around the crown inside the Parliament.

Gyuri also told about the time when the Dalai Lama visited Budapest in September 2010, and was welcomed by the mayor. At that time, he taught about Tibetan Buddhism in Hungary and consecrated a mandala inside the Parliament building, which was a model of a boat. "A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe" (Wikipedia). Also the Hungarian government sent someone to the Czech Republic to obtain power from the Black Madonna idol and bring that power back to Hungary to help the government be successful.  And each year they rededicate the country to Mary. These are evil practices that some Hungarians do not even know about. As you think of Hungary and pray for the nation, pray that the Lord will bring down all the spiritual strongholds, especially those in the Parliament.

On the last Sunday in October, we shared Jesus with a man named Eddie here in the States, who lived at a old house, down the street from where we live. Although he claimed Jesus as his Lord, he thought God would let him into heaven because he helps people and does good.  Len preached the gospel to him, reminding him that we cannot trust in our own good works to save us, and that it is only by repenting and trusting in His blood, and having a relationship with Him that we can be saved. Len also reminded him that it is a narrow road to heaven and that if we claim He is our Lord, we cannot go on living in sin.  If He is our Lord, we must obey Him. We then prayed for him to be healed of the flu like symptoms he had been having for the past few days prior to that, and prayed for his knees, which were bothering him from all his years as an auto mechanic. It was a good visit, and we had planned to go back at a later time to share the Scriptures with him.

Once Len returned from his trip to Hungary in November, he was thinking about how we need to go back and share the Scriptures with Eddie.  However, during his first week back home, Eddie collapsed dead on his couch before we had another chance to speak with him. He was only sixty years old, and it came as a surprise to his whole family!  We don't know what happened to Eddie. We can only hope he repented fully of all his sins, and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ before his life ended so suddenly.  He died only four weeks and one day after we preached the gospel to him. Len has posted the full story about this man on Now is the Day of Salvation.  Pray that we will be able to reach his wife Melanie with the gospel.

On the flight back from Hungary, Len also had the opportunity to share Jesus with a young American man named Kai, who had been on vacation in Budapest.  Although he was raised in a Christian home by a pastor, he himself is a humanist.  Pray that Kai will come to know Jesus.

In December, Len received an invitation from a pastor in Punkab Pakistan to come and help them there. He specifically invited Len to help him with the upcoming Pastors Leadership Conference and Healing Crusade in Pakistan. He seems to be doing a wonderful work there among the poor, conducting preaching, evangelical meetings, church planting, and leadership conferences in Pakistan, as well as in the Middle East.  But Len advised him that we need to hear from the Lord about such an opportunity.  He also informed him that he is not able financially to do such a missions trip unless the Lord provides for it, and we are still waiting on the Lord about the opportunity in Burma. As you recall, the two Burmese pastors contacted Len separately in 2013 and 2014, asking for help.  We continue to keep in touch with them and pray for direction, as well as the Lord's provision, if indeed He wants Len to walk through that open door for ministry.

Although several financial partners have ended their giving to our ministry this month and last month, we are so blessed for all the years they were able to support us.  And furthermore, we are grateful for the three new partners in England and New England (including one church) that have begun to support us this year without our even asking, as well as those existing partners who have been led to give above and beyond their pledged amount!  That has truly helped us.  We are also grateful for those of you partners that know our situation well, and have continued to give faithfully throughout the years, even since our return to the States.  We continually pray the Lord's blessings upon all of our partners.

Administrative Need: Our volunteer bookkeeper Denis has informed us that he will need to resign in April due to changes in his workload at his job. So we are praying the Lord will provide someone to replace him.  Please join us in praying for this special need, and let us know if you would like us to consider you for this volunteer position.

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest some very important articles Len has recently written called, Michael Shigaba's Encounter with Jesus, A Warning for Married Christian Couples, and Ask for the Ancient Paths. Charity has also written three new poems called A Pleasing Sacrifice, Wait for the Lord, and Smoldering Flame. All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - December 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 the family time we had together when Len returned from Hungary in November.
2. For a wonderful Thanksgiving Day giving thanks to God for His many blessings.
3. For the lives the Lord touched for Jesus through Len in Hungary last month, like Csaba, Martha, "Mike," Marci, Gyuri, and Kai.
4. For the opportunity to train "Mike" in Hungary in sharing Jesus without fear.
5. For the two-month extension we received from King's Park International Church to continue renting the guest house until the end of April.
6. For the face to face meeting and prayer time Len had in Vienna with the European board members.
7. For the new financial partners that have joined in supporting us this year without our even asking, and for all of our existing partners who continue giving faithfully, even above and beyond their pledge.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. That Martha will become a disciple, receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and become a powerful witness for the Lord in Hungary, growing in her new relationship with Christ. 
2. For the Lord to draw to Himself and save the people we have been witnessing to, especially Kai and Csaba, as well as the violently angry man on the bus. 
3. That we will be able to reach Eddie's wife Melanie with the gospel.
4. For the Lord to give Len guidance and provision regarding the open door for short-term work in Burma, which is the next big opportunity.
5. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
6. For the Lord to raise up new faith partners.
7. For the Lord to provide for us, including another place for us to move to at the end of April.
8. For the Lord to provide someone to replace Denis our bookkeeper by April 1.

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

November Update 2014

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

Family: In October, we had some beautiful weather, and one sunny day Jennifer took the children to a playground by the lake.  It was a blessing, because the weather turned cold right after that. They saw a turtle there and moved it off the road to safety.

In October, Len found a large, bumble bee face-down in the gravel driveway and helped the boys rescue it.  They put it in a plastic bowl, where they nursed it with clover flowers, which it sucked on, and it seemed to improve.

Although it was unable to fly, it could eventually buzz its wings and walk around.  There was no need to keep a cover on the bowl, since he could not fly, so that was his open air hospital where he remained alive the whole time.  They refreshed Buzzby's grass and flowers regularly and let him out of his home for exercise each day to walk around on a plastic bowl cover that they placed on the ground.  The children really enjoyed caring for it, and were praying for him to get well, so he could fly again and fulfill his purpose in life.  It was like a pet.

Buzzby immediately before flying away

After nine days, on one warm, sunny afternoon, they were outside checking on him, and Len advised them to move him out of the shade into the sunshine.  Then he decided to take a photo of him.  Just as soon as Len snapped the photo, Buzzby began to buzz his wings and lifted off into flight for the first time in over a week.  He flew two or three large circles away from us and back toward us, so we could see that he was perfectly fine, and then he flew up and away into some pine trees about thirty feet away.  It was an amazing sight to see him fly again, after being grounded for so long, and we praised God for answering our prayers and restoring him back to health again.  Afterward Joseph said, "It's a miracle!" It just goes to show how God cares about even the little things we pray for.  If He cares so much about the bees, how much more does He care for us!

More photos.    

In November we celebrated Hope's fourteenth birthday with a little party, at which she received some gifts and cards.  We also enjoyed homemade pumpkin cake that Jennifer made.

Among the gifts Hope received were two prints of artwork by Danny Hahlbohm, both of which she picked out herself.  One was the "Wise and Foolish Builders," which depicts a sandcastle at the ocean water's edge about to be destroyed in the surf, and another home built on the rock located high up on a cliff.  The other print was "All God's Children," depicting the Lord Jesus holding a little child while surrounded by other children, as well as one in the womb of an expectant mother.

The girls have formed an a Capella singing group called Harmony Girlz, and begun to record several albums.  They have already completed Shouts of Joy, Hungarian Songs (of worship), and Evening Melody.  Their upcoming albums are Song of the Bride, and a special collection of Christmas hymns called Celebrate the Messiah, featuring a solo by Hope in Latin.

Naturally the boys decided to form their own group called Little Lambs and plan to make a children's worship album called Sing to the Lord.

Charity continues to study French with the help of her tutor, Denise, in Belgium via Skype. In November, she received some encouraging feedback from Denise, who was able to understand her when she read sentences that were in her French language book.  Denise told her, "If you were to talk with someone who only speaks French, they would understand you." She was really surprised how Charity had progressed so much in only a few months, saying she is very satisfied with her pronunciation.

Ministry:  In October we received an email from a young, college graduate in Wisconsin named Jeffrey.  He said, "After reading many of brother Len's blogs and watching many christian DVDs, I want to give my life to Christ."  After Len spoke with him and explained how to repent and give his life to Christ, he did so. Afterward he wrote back to let Len know what happened, saying, "After I prayed and confessed all my sins, a wonderful feeling of peace of mind came over me. The room seemed brighter too. This confession was definitely the right move. I used to be a christian before, but I was completely phony."  Praise the Lord for saving Jeffrey!

We also received a comment in October from a preacher in the Democratic Republic of Congo, named Mapindu, whom we've mentioned before.  He wrote, "Dear Leonard Lacroix, My greetings in Jesus Name. Please, I  would like to inform you that your tools are useful and I am very happy for that because is the encouragement. It is a big help. May God bless you."

Pastor Dave and Beth Wenrich

We would like to mention that Len met again by phone in October with the board of directors for Doulos Missions International, and the board voted unanimously to appoint pastor David Wenrich from Boston, Massachusetts to serve on the board. Pastor Dave and his wife Beth have been in full time ministry since 1984.  Their ministry has included 18 years of pastoral ministry here in the U.S. in New Hampshire and currently in Boston. They have also directed a ministry to malnourished children & planted churches in the Philippines from 1996 – 2005.  In 2005 they returned to the US to work with the Convoy of Hope as International Directors, responding to disasters such as the tsunami in Indonesia, floods in Nicaragua, the Pakistan earthquake, and hurricane Katrina. During their time with Convoy of Hope, Dave was actively involved in the implementation of water filtration in several areas of the world. Since fall of 2006, they have been in Boston at Boston Harbor Community Church. Dave just recently returned from a ministry trip to Romania in October.  We are excited to have Dave join the team, since he shares our vision for multiplication, and brings a lot of ministry experience from which to contribute.

L to R: Gyuri, Marc, Anna, Mike, Livia, and David

During this month of November, Len is away in Budapest to meet with David Vadnai to encourage him and his disciples, and pray together.  He is also traveling to Vienna with David to meet with another board member there named Dennis Nederveen.   In Hungary, Len ministered to David and his disciples in a home group meeting, and the Lord confirmed His Word through the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. After the worship and preaching, those who wanted to receive an impartation of the holy fire of God did so, and the Lord moved gloriously.  As the Scripture says, “So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.” (2 Chr 5:14).

The testimonies afterward were all positive.  For example, one man named Mike, Len’s interpreter at the meeting, who is twenty five years old, said his life was changed forever by that experience with the Lord, and he will never be the same.  Also an elder man, named Gyuri, who had once pastored a church for several years in another town, said he came especially to receive the fire of God, and he was visibly overwhelmed when he received. He said it was similar to when he received impartations from the Holy Spirit in the past, one of which had resulted in the medically-documented, total healing of a lady in the church who had end-stage Muscular Sclerosis.  All glory goes to God!  Let no flesh glory in His presence.  Apart from Christ we can do nothing.

On another day, Len also met individually with Greg, who is one of Len’s Hungarian disciples.  Len has also been conducting evangelism to the lost in Hungary during the course of this trip, and one lady named Martha has made a decision for Christ.  Praise the Lord!  Please pray for Len during the remainder of his trip there that he will be most effectively used for God's kingdom and glory.

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest two important articles Len has recently written called, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations and The Judgment Seat of Christ. All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - November 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 the celebration of Hope’s birthday.
2. For the beautiful fall day that Jennifer and the children had at the lake.
3. For the feedback from Belgium on Charity’s excellent progress with French.
4. For the way He restored the bee so that it could fly again after nearly dying, and especially for His even greater care for the righteous.
5. For helping our children to record their music “albums” to the glory of God, and putting it in their hearts to do so.
6. For the time that Len is spending with David and his disciples in Hungary this month, and the glorious way the Lord has already moved. 
7. For the addition of Pastor Dave Wenrich to the DMI board.
8. For the help and encouragement that Mapindu and others like him continue to receive from Len’s online written training tools.
9. For the salvation of Jeffrey in Wisconsin and Martha in Budapest, Hungary.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. That Jeffrey and Martha will receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and become powerful witnesses for the Lord, growing in their new relationship with Christ. 
2. For the Lord to draw to Himself and save the people we have been witnessing to.
3. For Len during the remainder of his trip to Hungary and Austria that he will be most effectively used for God's kingdom and glory, and for the Lord to guide him and provide for the trip.
4. For the Lord to give Len guidance and provision regarding the open door for short-term work in Burma.
5. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
6. 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.
7. For the church to allow us to stay at least until the summer, so we wouldn't have to move during the school year.   Or else that He would provide another place for us to move to in February.

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

October Update 2014

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

Family: In September, we received a preplanned visit from Jennifer's parents, who had come down from West Virginia for two days. The children especially enjoy seeing their grandparents.

We have mentioned previously that Charity is studying French.  In September, one of our friends in Belgium, a dear sister in Christ named Denise, has agreed to help Charity learn French by doing a weekly Skype call with her.  During one of the times that we have visited with Denise and her husband in Belgium, she had once offered to have Charity come and stay with them for three months and learn French.  So that is why we asked if she would be willing to do this weekly call, and she agreed to it. This gives Charity some good interaction with a native French speaker, so that she can learn proper pronunciation. She herself is learning to speak English, and we had advised Charity offer to spend half the weekly call helping Denise learn English. However, after praying about it and discussing it with her husband, Denise felt that she would like to spend the whole time helping Charity, and she is happy to do it. Praise the Lord for her kindness and helpfulness.

More photos.    

In October the Lord gave us a beautiful afternoon to celebrate Jennifer's birthday with a little party, at which she received some gifts and cards.

We reported last month that Len's brother Paul had suffered a major stroke and was in the hospital in a coma.  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:  The barber that Len and the boys go to, who is a Korean lady named Sarah, had invited Len to visit her church.  That led to Len speaking by phone with her pastor, Arnold, and all of us subsequently visiting that church.  They have two congregations, one of which is Korean speaking adults, and the other is young people of various nationalities, who are typically in their twenties. 

Later that week, Arnold invited Len to out to a Korean restaurant for dinner, where Len got to try eating some traditional Korean food with chop sticks.  There he met a waiter, named Daniel, to whom pastor Arnold wanted to introduce him.  Interestingly Daniel was perhaps the only waiter there who was not Korean.  When Len spoke with him, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was from Hungary.  Although pastor Arnold said he had mentioned that to Len beforehand, Len did not recall him saying that. Pastor Arnold thought that perhaps Len could help him reach this young, Hungarian waiter with the gospel.  Len and Daniel hit it off well immediately, and naturally Daniel was quite surprised to meet someone who had lived in Hungary for nearly five years.  That night Len left a business card with Daniel and invited him to get together for lunch soon.

A couple weeks later, Daniel came to our home for a visit.  The children all introduced themselves in Hungarian and we shared a few sentences with him in Hungarian.  We also talked about Hungary, which we all enjoyed, and had a few laughs about some of our experiences there.  Then we sang some worship songs in the Hungarian language while he was here, but we did not expect the response we received from him afterward.  He said he was speechless.  He also said, "This was perhaps -- no, this was THE most memorable moment of my life."  The expression on his face told us he really meant it.  And he told us that if he didn't know we were Americans, he would have thought we were native Hungarian speakers.  That was a big encouragement to us, for which we praise the Lord.  We are mostly conscious of our inability with Hungarian, yet here was this man being touched by the Lord through these praise and worship songs we had sung.

Later during our visit, Len shared Jesus with him using the Hungarian-English Bible.  Afterward Daniel repented and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  Praise the Lord!!  To God be the glory.  We were so excited about his salvation, which happened to occur just before the sixth anniversary of our departure for Hungary on October 15, 2008.

The Lord has also led us to evangelize to our local community, which includes the homes along the rural road where we live, as well as a mobile home park about a mile down the road from us.  The outreach has been going well, and we are finding a number of people who are open.  One man named Steve is backslidden and wants to return to the Lord with his family. A young Mexican lady, named Annamaria, considered herself a Christian, but did not even know the way to be saved according to the gospel.  She seemed surprised when she heard the gospel. Another backslidden man, named George, was very open to our message, and indicated he knows he needs to return to the Lord.  His wife Doris also seemed to open up to the Word of God, whereas she did not seem that way when we first met her.  Amazingly, the first time we went to her mobile home, she did not answer the door.  But when we were there in that trailer park a couple weeks later, she had been locked out of her home, and it gave us an opportunity to speak with her and her George. The Lord divinely arranged that meeting!  George said he would like to come to our home next Sunday for worship and Bible study.  There is another backslidden man named Jesse that we reached out to.  These are just a few of the people we would like to highlight. Please pray that the Lord would touch each of these precious people, and bring them into right standing with Himself, so that they would be truly saved.

Len has remained in touch with David in Hungary, as well as the pastors in Southeast Asia.  He held a Skype call in October with one of the Asian pastors and did some teaching, which was well received and appreciated by the pastor, whom we will call Nigel.

We thank the Lord for each of these opportunities here in North Carolina and abroad, and ask that you join us in praying that the Lord would bring forth good fruit for His glory that would last.

We would like to mention that Len met by phone in October with the board of directors for Doulos Missions International, and the board voted unanimously to appoint David Vadnai from Hungary to serve on the board.  As you know, he is one of Len's disciples, who has really matured, caught the vision for multiplication of disciples, and is running with it.  He is actively serving the Lord, taking missions trips to other countries in Eastern Europe, leading people to Christ, and making disciples.

As we have prayed, we feel that Len should return to Budapest short-term to meet with David before the end of the year, to encourage him and his disciples, and pray together.  Would you pray about being a part of this by giving to support such a trip?  Please pray also that the Lord would raise up partners whom the Lord would use to provide financially for such a trip.

Lastly, the church in the Northeast that was interested in having Len for a visit has decided to wait indefinitely until a later time to do so.

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest two important articles Len has recently written called, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness and Separation from the World. All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - October 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 the celebration of Jennifer's birthday.
2. For the visit from Jennifer's parents.
3. For Denise in Belgium agreeing to tutor Charity in French.
4. For the new connection with the Korean pastor, named Arnold.
5. For the fact that Daniel, the Hungarian waiter, gave his life to the Lord Jesus.
6. For the ways He has enabled us to touch lives that are in need of him through outreach.
7. For the opportunity to serve Nigel in Southeast Asia through encouragement and teaching.
8. For David's decision and appointment to serve on the DMI board.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. That Daniel the Hungarian waiter will receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and become a powerful witness for the Lord, growing in his new relationship with Christ. 
2. For the Lord to draw to Himself and save the people we have been witnessing to.
3. For the Lord to guide and provide for Len to go to Budapest and Vienna for prayer and ministry.
4. For the Lord to bless the Skype teaching and training with the pastors in Southeast Asia.
5. For the Lord to give Len guidance and provision regarding the open door for short-term work in Southeast Asia.
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.   Or else that He would provide another place for us to move to in February.
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

Donate Online

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

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

August Update 2014

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

The Family at the Zoo

Family: At the end of July, we moved to another rented home in North Carolina.  Although we have faced some challenges with this endeavor, making it more difficult, God is in control and He is seeing us through. At one point during the move, in which we traveled nearly 70 miles, the odometer on the moving truck we used showed mileage of 77707.77 miles.  We praised God, because we believe that even in this small thing, the Lord was saying He was with us.

We were grateful for the help we had loading the moving van at our point of departure and for the help we received setting up beds upon our arrival at the guest house where we are staying.  It belongs to a church, where we have been given permission to stay for at least seven months.  Thank the Lord for providing this dwelling, which gives us a little more time for us to find out what the Lord's next step is for us.

In the midst of preparing to move, we managed to go to the North Carolina Zoo, since we knew we would be moving much farther away from it, and had not yet seen it. We had a wonderful time there exploring animals from Africa and America.

We also celebrated Faith's twelfth birthday in August with homemade cake and cards, but are still waiting for her gifts to arrive by mail order, since the move delayed our order.  We had a party just the same.  Faith is a precious young lady, who loves the Lord with all her heart, and is on fire for Jesus.  She shines with the light of heaven, and has the joy of the Lord.  Praise the Lord for her life.

Charity continues to learn calligraphy and has already produced some very pretty lettering even while she is practicing her techniques.

More photos.     

Ministry:   As you know, our goal in being back here on furlough is to develop new sponsorship to continue with our mission in Eastern Europe to help complete the Great Commission.  However, we have not had any open doors, which resulted in speaking about our ministry at churches, since we moved to North Carolina last July.  Therefore, we are not any closer to being able to return to the mission field now than we were when we first began our furlough in June 2013.  Our desire would be to come to your church or Bible Study group to preach and minister to you, while we are in the States.  If you would like us to do so, we can also make a presentation of our work in Eastern Europe.  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.  So give us a call if you would like us to come to speak to your group.

One of Len's disciples in Hungary, named David, is in Romania on a missions trip as we write this letter.  We are praying that the Lord will use him to bring many souls into the kingdom, set the captives free, heal the sick, and endue them with power from the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses.

Last month we reported on the salvation of a young man in Zimbabwe, Africa, named Rufaro K., who came to Christ while reading the testimonies on Len's blogs, and the article, Do You Want to Know Jesus?  Len has been in touch with him, and here is Rufaro's own testimony: "I was always backsliding when I tried to make a turn, I came across the Divine Revelations site where I [found] testimonies of Bill Wiese, Angelica Zambrano, etc. that gave me a sense of purpose here on earth.  I realised time is running out. I then [found] this article [about] holiness that you posted, and it gave me a mighty push."  When Len asked which article on holiness, he indicated it was Godly Attire & Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, especially Linda Ngaujah's testimony. He said one thing that really influenced him was "Ngaujah's testimony on winning souls for Christ as our goal, so that our crown attains more pearls."  Praise the Lord!  He has recently returned to the university, where he is studying software engineering.  Please pray that Rufaro will stand firm in all the will of God, mature, and fully assured.

It's not surprising that it was the testimonies that the Lord used, because we have found through data analysis that statistically a large part (perhaps the majority) of the internet traffic to Len's article Do You Want to Know Jesus? is coming from the testimonies on his Eternal Destinations blog. The Lord seems to be using those to rescue souls more than any of Len's other blogs.

In August, Len received a message from someone, named Deon L, who had read another one of his blogs, called Revelation of Hell to Seven Colombian Youths, which is about seven young Christian people from Colombia who encountered heaven and hell.  He wrote: "God Bless you, brother Len. My name is Deon L., and I am a born again Christian who went back to the ways of the world. I am trying to find my way to the Lord again, wrestling with my spirit and flesh, but the flesh is just too rebellious. Can [you] please advise? God bless you."*

Praise the Lord for what He is doing drawing people to Himself.  Let's pray that Deon makes his way back to the Lord successfully. 

We have previously reported that a pastor in a particular restricted access country in Southeast Asia has been in contact with Len since June 2013, who has asked for Len to come and help him.  We previously used his full name, but when Len asked if he would prefer to remain anonymous on this public domain, he indicated that would be best due to the fact that he is in a sensitive / restricted access country.  So we will refer to him simply as Paul.  In July, we also received a letter via email from another pastor in that same country named Nigel, asking for our help.  His email subject was "'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' (Acts 16: 9)! It is from [name of country redacted, South East Asia!"  He, too, like Pastor Paul, is inviting us to extend our work into that country.

His letter was a heartfelt, passionate, four-page plea for help, in which he stated: "The churches we run are non-denominational house churches. And then, we plant non-denominational house churches...We preach and teach the word of God to the believers and share the good news of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the whole world, to the unbelievers in all weathers. Now, I have established a big project on the orphanage ministry from 2013. This year, the orphans reach to 16. I run this orphanage ministry with such a faith in God that He will sit down for the next meal when there is no food in the house because I know that God will surely provide."

He described the hardships and trials they face, saying, "When we share the Word of God to my people, we face many hindrances or blockages because they always try to hinder the Gospel with various ways such as authority, violence, mock, attack, etc., especially in rural villages. Through facing those trails, our thoughts and our feelings of sharing the Gospel will endure until we take our last breath. Although we are treated differently on account of believing in God and sharing the Gospel of Christ, we are ever ready to overcome the time, day and everything that happened through the strength given by the Holy Spirit.

"We know that as long as [our country's] people don't agree on turning to and believing in God, and accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, there will be few who can really be saved (get into heaven), but most be thrown into the lake of fire. That's why we explain that they will be thrown into the lake of fire, not because they are sinners, but they haven't accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour while living on earth. By this fact, we share the Gospel to them as much as we can because we can't look on their being thrown into the lake of fire, and we attribute that sharing the Gospel is our tremendous responsibility."

He described the many civil wars there and religious persecution, as well as the fact that it has historically been a sensitive/restricted-access country for the gospel up until now. He stated: "Although we face many tremendous hardships or blockages to sharing the Word of God to [our nation's] people, we will never withdraw, but move forward in faith for the Lord until we take our last breath. In our country, assembling and sharing the Gospel in public (especially in rural villages) was never before allowed by the Government. But, I believe that we are about to be allowed to share in public and can make change for Christ in the future."  Then he closed with this warm invitation: "If you want to extend your ministry in [name of country] or have a desire to encourage all of us and to train us to be more effective, you are warmly invited. We are in need of great help indeed such as spiritual encouragements, adequate trainings, etc. I am looking forward to hear from you. God bless you abundantly! In His service, Pastor Nigel"

The fact that we now have invitations from two pastors from the same country, requesting help, seems like it could be from the Lord.  We are praying about Len taking a missions trip there near the end of the year.  One thing we lack is the funding, but if the Lord is in it, then He will provide for all our needs according to His glorious riches. 

We are also prayerfully pondering the following prophetic word Len received from a pastor in NH named Mark Paul Sanchez, while we were visiting his church.  He did not even know Len when he gave this word, and this is just an excerpt:

"...But what I see the Lord doing is the Lord is actually going to bring you into a place where you are more productive for greater regions in the area in which He places you, where you’ll actually be training men and fathering men in the gospel as Paul even said to Timothy, ‘I became a father to you in the gospel. I begot you through the gospel.’ And what the Lord’s saying is that as you father and as you literally bring forth order in their life and bring forth structure in their life, they’re going to go out and their going to bring greater harvest, literally like a tree being grafted in to produce greater fruit.  The Lord is gonna quicken the season of production in your ministry and in your life. And there are gonna be seasons where you feel like literally your just corresponding with people and your just sitting with leaders. And I feel like the Lord is bringing radicals into your life. He’s gonna bring people that don’t fit your paradigm and don’t fit your box, but they’re gonna be drawn to the strength and the depth of your walk with God over long periods of time.  I feel like some of the places that He’s sent you, there’s been like quick springing ups of works but they don’t last and there’s not longevity.  And the Lord says that the longevity…as Paul said in the Scripture, ‘I was obedient unto the heavenly vision.’ As you’re obedient unto the vision of the Lord in your life, He’s gonna draw others to you to be able to be discipled by you and through your life.  And He’s gonna bring not only preachers, but He’s actually gonna bring ‘sent ones’ to you – ones that have had Macedonian calls, ones that have had encounters with  the Lord, but they are coming with an encounter, but with no grounding to the encounter.  They’re running, but they’re running the race in a way in which they would make the marathon.  And what I feel like the Lord is doing is He’s working – even in seasons in your life of inactivity – He is working a far greater weight of glory upon your life and upon your ministry.  And I declare that even as the Lord called you to Eastern Europe, He’s going to begin to open your heart to other places that you wouldn’t even think of going. I actually heard the word ‘Southeast Asia’ and I feel that the Lord is not gonna bring you there necessarily for the people, but for divine connections with other leaders that the Lord would bring in even to your region.  The Lord says, ‘Awaken to the calling of being a gatekeeper in your region. Awaken to being one who stands at the courts and a city gate and your letting things in and you’re keeping things out.’ And the Lord says, ‘Because you’ve heard My voice, and because you’ve walked in My presence, and because you’ve said, “Yes” to me, I will move and do all these things through you, and through your family, and those that I bring alongside of you.’  For the Lord says that ‘You are not a man that would build to be seen by men, but you’re a man that would labor to not be seen by man and be a foundation,’ says the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Rachel Mushala

In addition to receiving correspondence from people getting saved like Rufaro and Deon, whom we've already mentioned, we occasionally receive positive feedback from Christians around the world who are benefiting from Len's blogs.  One such comment came recently from sister Rachael Mushala, a Christian journalist in Zambia, whom Len has written about in Rachael Mushala Testimony of Hell.  After reading Len's article, The Need for Accountability, she wrote, "Hello brother, This is a very sobering study.  So often we take failure to warn people who perish in sin so lightly. But this article clearly proves from the Bible that its not a light matter to GOD. I've been blessed by it. Thanks!"

On another occasion, regarding Len's article, False Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, she wrote "Hi, brother! I feel so happy right now because the article you wrote about false blasphemy has been such a blessing to me today! A sister who is really trying to get right with God and live in holiness wrote to me saying she is having blasphemous thoughts uncontrollably flush in her head and was really worried she had committed the unforgivable sin. Immediately I knew she is experiencing an attack that satan once tried on Zipporah...and me, so I referred her to your article.  It made things really easy!  Praise God. Now I am realising there must be so many Christians experiencing this attack and are despairing.  I've also realised satan targets those really trying to get close to the Lord so they'll give up.  Thank God who used you to write the article!"

Then in August, in response to Old News That's Still Fresh - August 2014, which Len sends each month to pastors, elders and laborers in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, she replied, "I've really been blessed by these articles.  I very much needed to hear the message in Give Me Children or I'll Die!  It was such a blessing to me and inspiring. I was also especially blessed by the article about thanksgiving.  It's so very true! May God continue to use you to reach His people."  Praise the Lord for the positive feedback and the things He is doing with these articles!  We encourage you to read the recent articles Len has written about the Mushala sisters, called Rachael Mushala Second Testimony of Hell and Zipporah Mushala’s Third Testimony of Hell.

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

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blogs called, Rachael Mushala Second Testimony of Hell, Zipporah Mushala’s Third Testimony of Hell and Give Me Children or I'll Die!  All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - August 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 the open door for effectual ministry in a particular restricted access country in Southeast Asia.
2. For Deon L.'s return to the Lord.
3. For the benefit that others like Rachael Mushala are receiving in the far corners of the mission field from our teaching and training materials.
4. For David's missions trip to Romania.
5. For this twelfth year the Lord has given to Faith. 
6. For helping us to complete all preparations for the move and helping us successfully make the move.
7. For the big and small ways the Lord revealed His presence with us on the move, like the 77707.77 mile odometer reading.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. That Rufaro K. and Deon L. will stand firm in all the will of God, mature, and fully assured.
2. For the Lord to help David successfully complete the missions trip that he is on in Romania.
3. For David to successfully complete his insurance training by the end of August, so that he’ll be certified to sell everything.
4. For the Lord to give Len guidance regarding invitations to other countries, especially in the Southeast Asian country Len has been invited to.
5. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
6. 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.
7. 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

Donate Online

July 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 little girl ready to blow out 16 candles

Family: In June, we celebrated Charity's sixteenth birthday, as well as the graduation of our four oldest children into the next academic grade.  We went for a picnic at a local park, where we ate dinner and played ball together.

On a separate occasion, we also went for dinner to a local barbeque chicken restaurant in July.  After we finished eating and were preparing to pay the bill, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that our bill was already paid.  A group of older folks, that had sat at the table next to us and left before we did, had gone to the check out counter at the front and paid our bill forward when they paid their own.  They even tipped our waitress for us with a generous twenty percent tip! Praise the Lord!

On another occasion in July, a youth group from a church in Indiana came to visit the missionary housing community where we are living, so that they could do some work to help out here. On the last day of their visit, they came to our door to introduce themselves and give us a bag of food and other items, along with a card with fifty dollars in it!  Praise the Lord!  These are just some of the wonderful experiences we get to enjoy, living by faith.

We also began preparing for the move coming up at the end of July, which included some cleaning and packing.  Thank the Lord, we had help from Roger, the local pastor whom Len had trained last fall.  Our packing and cleaning continues for the rest of July until our moving day on the 31st.  We don't have much to move, but it's enough to require a small moving van.  Please pray that we would have all preparations completed by then, and that our move would go smoothly.

More photos.     

Len at Charity's 16th birthday party

Meanwhile, back in Hungary, Gabor successfully moved our things into storage at his father's home in Tokol.  He did this single-handedly on a Saturday during the only weekend of his short, one-week stay in Hungary, before returning to Germany.  We are thankful to God for his help and that everything went smoothly.

The girls have written several new poems, three of which are Jesus, Bitter or Better, Who is Judge?, Our Sympathizer, Die or Deny, and Sin's Price.  The first one they wrote together, and the others were written by Charity.  We invite you to check those out on their blog, Verses to the King.

Ministry:   As you know, our goal in being back here on furlough is to develop new sponsorship to continue with our mission in Eastern Europe to help complete the Great Commission.  However, we have not had any open doors, which resulted in speaking about our ministry at churches, since we moved to North Carolina last July.  Therefore, we are not any closer to being able to return to the mission field now than we were when we first began our furlough in June 2013.  Our desire would be to come to your church or Bible Study group to preach and minister to you, while we are in the States.  If you would like us to do so, we can also make a presentation of our work in Eastern Europe.  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.  So give us a call if you would like us to come to speak to your group.

In July, we received correspondence from a man in Zimbabwe, Africa, named Rufaro K., who testified that he was reading the testimonies on Len's blogs, then went to the article, Do You Want to Know Jesus? and prayed to give his life to Jesus!  He wrote, "I was moved by the testimonies and your info on entering the kingdom. I want to serve The Lord and work for Him." As Len followed up with him, he was delighted to learn that Rufaro has since been baptized with water. What a joy it is each time someone gives their life to the Lord, and another lost sheep is found, another soul rescued from darkness.  Praise the Lord!  Please pray that Rufaro will stand firm in all the will of God, mature, and fully assured.

David with Len (file photo)

In July, Len spoke with his spiritual son in Christ, David in Hungary.  He has begun a new job with a major insurance company, and is  in training before he can sell insurance. Once he has completed his training in July or by the end of August, he’ll be certified to sell everything. He is hopeful this will enable him to support his mother and twin sister.

He spoke about a burden the Lord has placed in his heart, because of the wickedness taking place in Hungary.  For example, there is a mythical, black, iron bird at the Royal Castle in Budapest, called the Turul bird with a sword in its mouth. Another Turul bird with a wingspan of about 45 feet stands on a mountain near Tatabánya, Hungary.  According to David, some people in Hungary actually worship the Turul bird.

There has also been a lot of innocent blood shed in Hungary by other nations, which never asked for forgiveness. And we know that God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Pr 6:17), which brings a curse on the land. Therefore, there are some major strongholds in Budapest that need to be broken.

Jennifer and the family at Heroes Square

There is a museum in Budapest called the House of Terror, which was once an actual torture house.  People were kept captive, beaten, starved, tortured and killed in this building, by members of two of Hungary's most frightening regimes - the Nazis in the early 1940's, and the Soviets, until 1956.  It is a place that you really don't want to go into just to satisfy curiosity, because to this day it is oppressed by the sense of a heavy, evil spirit.

Another noteworthy site in Budapest is the famous Heroes' Square, where David says that hundreds of people were once slaughtered. We were not aware of that background.

According to David, the Hungarians have committed atrocities worse than the Nazis, in fact they were faithful to them.  They killed Jews and homosexuals, and hated them. They persecuted them, and even today there is still anti-Semitism in Hungary. 

In addition to that, there is also wickedness in high places within the Parliament. Every year on August 20th, the entire nation is re-dedicated to Mary.  This too is a great sin before God.  As a result of all these things, the hearts of the Hungarians are broken, depressed, and adulterous. Pray for these strongholds to come down, for curses to be broken, for the Lord to have mercy, for His glory to be released in Hungary, and for the light of the gospel to shine in the hearts of the Hungarians.  Pray for the Lord to help David as he fulfills the important mission the Lord has given him with regard to these things.

Pr. Hai Chuong

Last month we mentioned a Vietnamese pastor named Hai Chuong, who had re-posted one of Len's articles on his Vietnamese evangelistic website, and how we later discovered that the church where he serves is right in Charlotte, North Carolina -- just two hours away.  In July, Len and Hai met together for the first time in person in Lexington, and began to build a relationship.  Hai has graciously extended an invitation to Len to come and preach at the church in Charlotte. Please pray that the Lord's will be done on earth as it is in heaven regarding their relationship and this opportunity.

We occasionally receive positive feedback from those around the world who are benefiting from Len's blogs.  One such comment came recently from sister Rachael Mushala, a Christian journalist in Zambia, whom Len has written about in Rachael Mushala Testimony of Hell.  After reading Len's article, The Need for Accountability, she wrote, "Hello brother, This is a very sobering study.  So often we take failure to warn people who perish in sin so lightly. But this article clearly proves from the bible that its not a light matter to GOD. I've been blessed by it. Thanks!"

On another occasion, regarding Len's article, False Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, she wrote "Hi, brother! I feel so happy right now because the article you wrote about false blasphemy has been such a blessing to me today! A sister who is really trying to get right with God and live in holiness wrote to me saying she is having blasphemous thoughts uncontrollably flush in her head and was really worried she had committed the unforgivable sin. Immediately I knew she is experiencing an attack that satan once tried on Zipporah...and me, so I referred her to your article.  It made things really easy!  Praise God. Now I am realising there must be so many Christians experiencing this attack and are despairing.  I've also realised satan targets those really trying to get close to the Lord so they'll give up.  Thank God who used you to write the article!"  Praise the Lord for the positive feedback and the things He is doing with these articles.

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blogs called, Compelled by Love and Grace, Mercy, and Peace.  You may also enjoy Noah's Ark a Type of Christ.  All of Len's latest articles are available at Old News That's Still Fresh - July 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 the salvation of Rufaro K. in Zimbabwe and that he has already been water baptized.
2. For the random act of kindness done by the people who paid our bill at the restaurant.
3. For the food and offering we received from the youth group from Indiana.
4. For the moving help we received from Gabor in Hungary and Pastor Roger in North Carolina.
5. For this sixteenth year the Lord has given to Charity.
6. For the poems the Lord has given to Charity and the other girls recently.
7. For the benefit that others are receiving in the far corners of the mission field from our teaching and training materials.
8. For the burden the Lord has placed in David's heart for his native country of Hungary.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. That we would have all preparations completed by July 31, and that our move would go smoothly.
2. That Rufaro will stand firm in all the will of God, mature, and fully assured.
3. For the Lord to help David carry our the mission He has placed in his heart regarding the strongholds.
4. For David to successfully complete his insurance training by the end of August, so that he’ll be certified to sell everything.
5. For the Lord's will to be done regarding Len's relationship with Hai and this invitation to preach.
6. For the Lord to give Len guidance regarding invitations to other countries.
7. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
8. 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.
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

Donate Online