September 2017 Update

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

Family: In August Charity landed her first job, and she did get the one she originally wanted at Chick-fil-A, so thank you for praying for her. Praise the Lord. She has already begun and her initial training is in progress. So far she is enjoying it. She also took the college entrance SAT test at the end of August and is awaiting the results.

Meanwhile the rest of the children had a good summer break and started back to school in September. Joseph is in the second grade, Christopher in the seventh, Faith in her Freshman Year of High School, and Hope is a Junior.

More photos.    

Ministry:  As we continue to administer our discipleship training school (DTS), we'd like to update you on the good things that God is doing with it. Currently we have nine students in six nations including Nigeria, Kenya, United Kingdom, Mali, Liberia, and Rwanda.

One of our students in Rwanda, Jean Baptiste (pictured below), wrote to Len in September:

Jean Baptiste in Rwanda and Sherry in Kenya

"Dear Leonard, Please, let me tell you how it is good to learn your lessons. It is very wonderful, and when you began to read, it is not easy to leave the course according to the attachment of my heart to it. It shows the reality in life, for example, keeping a prayer journal. I can not explain how I get immediate change, which I have to tell others. We speak with God through our Bible and we get answers in the same way. We have to write each vision and...realization, then you verify the date you received the message....Please I am enjoying with courses and [the] Holy spirit supports me. May God bless you. Jean Baptiste." Praise the Lord. All the glory goes to God for what He is doing in this brother's life through our ministry. Hallelujah! Please pray for Jean Baptiste, as he disciples others there in Kigali City, Rwanda and holds weekly Bible studies.

Len received the following message from sister Sherry (pictured above), one of our students in Kenya:

"Hallo brother Len,  I am doing alright and I certify that I have indeed finished my 3rd quarter. And proudly moving to the next. I didn't have a smart phone before and it was difficult for me to study. But by God's mercy and Grace in July a neighbor brought me a smart phone just like that and told me to pay her slowly, bit by bit till am finished. The Lord knew my need and was able to supply. Now I have no problem.  I am also embarking on door to door Evangelism. And the Lord has confirmed that He is with me, that I should focus on Him alone, that my focus should only be on Him and nothing else (not even myself), or I will not make it.  Thank you too, brother Len. When I read your email I felt really encouraged and not condemned. I felt strong and ready to be on my feet. I praise His holy Name.

"I am also no longer working with the insurance company. I have started a small business of selling curtains and duvet and other things like shawls and African clothe material.  The Lord bless you. I have been reading your other articles too, and I feel blessed." Praise the Lord for this wonderful report from sister Sherry. You may recall that she had been in Lebanon for a year working as a maid and is now back in her home country. It has not been easy for her as a single mother, but the Lord is helping her. Please remember her in your prayers as the Lord leads you.

Deji in Nigeria and Tilia in Liberia

Sister Tilia in Liberia (pictured left) testified to a wonderful miracle in answer to persistent prayer. The Lord brought her young daughter from the US, who does not really know her, to spend a year with her in Liberia. Glory to God. She also reported that her phone was stolen and her laptop is down, so she is managing little by little to use her husband's laptop to complete her coursework when he comes home. Let's pray that the Lord will bless her time with her daughter, and provide a new phone, as well as the needed laptop repairs.

In our last update, we mentioned that brother Deji in Nigeria (pictured above) needed a new cell phone, in order to continue with his discipleship training in our DTS. He wrote to Len in September with the following praise report:

"Dear Brother Len, The Lord has provided a new phone last Monday. It's been delivered, as I will complete payment in two weeks time by God's grace. I will continue my studies in DTS as soon as possible. Something makes me feel that the issues I had concerning smartphone this year might not be natural...The Lord bless you sir. With love in Christ, Deji." Praise the Lord for providing Deji with a new phone, and enabling him to complete his second quarter of his second year in the DTS this month, in spite of all the challenges he has faced in doing so.

Len also received the following testimony from sister Collete in Mali, who is another one our DTS students also in her second year of training:

Sister Collete in Mali

"Dear Leonard, I thank God for the gift of life and abundant grace.

When I look back to over a year ago before I started the DTS and look at my life today.  Spiritually I am not the same person.

I used to be what can be called a religious person meaning I believed in self righteousness involving myself in most church activities and believing by doing so God was pleased with me. What we were taught in church was only blessings and happiness.

Since joining DTS there has been a tremendous transformation in me. I have learnt to have personal relationship with God, besides the true doctrine  of Christianity. Christ dying for our redemption, repentance , salvation and eternity.

This has changed me to be more focused on more of the things of the Kingdom of God than worldly matters.  This is the greatest miracle that has happened to  me. To Him alone be all the glory.

N.B. God has at long last answered my prayers  by directing me to a church that preaches holiness and women respect godly attire. These are all his doings and they are marvelous!!!! Stay blessed. Sister Collete"

Praise the Lord! We give God all the glory for what He has done in sister Collete's life through the DTS.

In August we went as a family downtown into the city of Winston-Salem, NC one Sunday afternoon to do some old-fashioned, open air preaching. We set up across the street from a bus stop (pictured left) full of people sitting around drinking alcohol. There on the sidewalk (the one on the right side of the photo), we began to sing the hymns of old that tell the gospel story. Although they didn't pay much attention while we were singing, they did applaud after we finished each song. But then when Len began to preach the gospel and share his testimony, they carried on talking very loudly among themselves and mostly ignoring us.

Meanwhile, we were next door to a place called the Salvation Army Center for Hope. Two ladies who seemed to be in charge of that center came outside to the edge of their parking lot and stood very close beside where we were on the sidewalk. One of the ladies, who was wearing a T-shirt bearing the name of Christ, stared at Len coldly. As he preached, he looked over occasionally and smiled at her, but she just remained stone-faced, and seemed to be opposed to what we were doing. Then the other lady who was with her began video recording us on her phone. At one point during the preaching, some of the people at the bus stop appeared to be smoking dope. A couple people appeared to give at least some attention to what Len was saying.

Soon the police arrived, and we thought they might arrest us, when the cruiser stopped a few feet in front of us, between us and the bus stop across the narrow street. The female officer briefly spoke with the people from inside her vehicle, and they seemed to be quite familiar with her, even calling her "baby." But she left without saying a word to us.

Len finished his message and gave an invitation for salvation, but nobody responded. Then we sang a couple more songs and ended. A man named Christopher came over and spoke with us afterward, who seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and maybe also drugs. He said that he attends a Baptist church and is backslidden. He said he is an alcoholic, but did not have any interest in being set free, and walked away from us before we were finished talking.

In our previous newsletter, we mentioned a sister "M" (name withheld for privacy) from the Republic of Moldova that felt she had blasphemed the Holy Spirit, whom we asked you to pray for. We reported in August how she was doing much better afterward. Len checked with her in September to ask if she was making progress, and she replied, "Yes, of course! God is good! I was working hard two weeks ago, and I had back pain three days in a row. I prayed on the third day for healing and I was healed right then. I trust Jesus! Thanks for your prayers." She also stated, "[The Lord] answered not just that prayer, but many others. Nothing is impossible for our God. Without faith we can do nothing. It is so important...Say thanks to your prayer partners. I'm so grateful to God [that] I have help from where I did not think." Praise the Lord.

We mentioned in our last two updates a fifteen year-old girl in South Africa named Thelma, who lives in an area that she claims is dominated by satanism. We received another praise report from her this month. She wrote: Hi Mr. Len, ...I'm fine and doing well. I feel better. l'm doing better, and some heavy things have gone, and l feel better than the last time I talked to you. So yes, l have progressed. I'm better." Glory to God! We give all the praise to Him for what He has done in Thelma's life. Thank you for joining us in prayer for her.

In all the years we have been publishing our monthly newsletters we have never asked for money. However, we would like to ask you to please pray and ask the Father if He would have you give to support this ministry financially, so that we can continue to do what we are doing, reaching the nations for Christ. Doulos Missions International relies on the Lord to provide through the generous charitable support of those who give to this ministry. Won't you prayerfully consider being part of that in some way? Any amount the Lord leads you to give would help and be appreciated. After praying about it, if you decide to give, please see our Donate page for directions on how to do so.

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

Resources:  This month we would like to suggest some articles Len has recently written called The Woes of Christ, Ignorance is Not Bliss, God's View of Public Bathing, and In the Yolk of Christianity.  Len's latest articles are all available at Old News That's Still Fresh -- September 2017. His entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

In closing, we have much to praise God for, and many opportunities for you to join us in prayer.

Praise the Lord with us for the many answers to prayer:

1. For providing Charity with her first job at Chick-fil-A, where she really wanted to work.
2. For the opportunity to assist each of our students in becoming disciples of Christ and fulfilling their callings. 
3. For providing brother Deji with a new cell phone, so he can continue his training in our DTS.
4. For the life transformation that sister Collete has experienced since enrolling in our DTS and for directing her to a church that preaches the Bible.
5. For helping sister Sherry start her own business in Kenya.
6. For the Lord's leading, guidance, and help administering the Doulos Training School (DTS), and for the progress the students are making.
7. For the wonderful answer to prayer for sister "M" in Moldova.
8. For the good report we received from sister Thelma in South Africa.
9. For the lives being touched for Christ around the world through our writing ministry.
10. For the words of encouragement we have received from the people being touched. 

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to grant brother Denis our bookkeeper a miraculous healing in his kidney.
2. 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. 
3. For the Lord to increase the enrollment in our DTS according to His will.
4. 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).
5. For the Lord to fulfill His purposes for us and our ministry.
6. For the Lord to send His angels with Len’s written messages to those who need them, and for an open heaven over them when they receive his messages. 
7. For the Lord to move mountains to raise up new faith partners, including those who would sponsor our students, and for Him to provide for all our needs -- not only ours personally, but also those of the ministry -- as He releases a financial miracle.

Thank you so much for your partnership in this ministry.

with love from all of us,

The Lacroixs

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

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