Tuesday, October 15, 2024

October Update -- 2024

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
: We celebrated Jennifer's birthday in October with dinner out, cards, homemade dessert with candles, and prayer for her.

We mentioned previously that Joseph is taking a course in carpentry. He and his instructor Derrick finished building a set of shelves, which they installed in someone's home (photos at link below). Their current project now is building a small house.

Regarding the work-related injury to Christopher's fingers that we previously reported, please continue to pray for a full restoration with no pain or loss of feeling, as the fingers are about like they were last month. 


Ministry: In October, Len traveled to Berlin, Germany on ministry for eight days. Len used to be stationed there in the 1980's while serving in the Army as a Reconnaissance Scout on the Berlin Wall, and later as a driver for a Lieutenant Colonel serving as a Battalion Commander. This was his first time back in Berlin in thirty-seven years, and he prepared himself for months to go there, including some serious language study to refresh himself and improve his German language skills. 

On his flight into Berlin, a veteran sitting behind him was going there to attend a reunion of veterans of the Berlin Brigade, which Len had once served with. Len was not aware of this reunion when he planned the trip, and when he learned of it, he had hoped to connect with some of his fellow veterans, even if only briefly, but his schedule did not permit it. Here is Len's testimony of the trip:

"
I traveled to Germany on an apostolic mission this month, where I preached the gospel in German in the open air on the streets and in the subway, prayed, handed out gospel tracts, and witnessed to people. The goal was to preach, witness for Christ, and do prayer walks around key areas of the city of Berlin, where many atrocities had been committed and innocent blood had been shed, or where people had lost their lives due to the oppressive communist regime. I also intended to prayer walk around some former POW camps inside and outside of Berlin, including the one that my father had been at, and which was later used by the Russians to imprison thousands of people unjustly, many of whom died. I also intended to prayer walk around a former concentration camp in Sachsenhausen, where many people were murdered, tortured, and suffered at the hands of cruel men. The prayer walks were intended to bring about a spiritual release in the heavenly realms from the curses caused by all the innocent blood shed, so that the Holy Spirit could be poured out and people’s hearts could be opened to receive the gospel.

There was a lot of spiritual warfare during the trip, as the enemy did not want me to be there, but the devil did not succeed. There were a number of highlights of the trip to Germany, and just a few of them are included below.

While preaching on the Kurfürstendamm street in Berlin on Sunday, which is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin, two young men came and stood in front of me, looking at me with a pleasant expression, and listened closely to what I was saying. Many people heard me preaching that day with my megaphone on the street corners, the sidewalks, in the subway, and in a park.

On another occasion, in front of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church in the center of Berlin, I witnessed to three young men, named Max, Tomas, and Jonas (pictured above), who were all drinking from the same bottle of wine. They were open to the gospel, listened well, and dialogued with me, asking lots of questions. One of them, Jonas (pictured far right in photo above), said he started praying to God two months ago, and the Lord has been giving him signs since then, and he believes that my witnessing to them is one of those signs. He accepted my advice to repent and give his life to Jesus.

Another time, while riding on the subway train in Berlin, I witnessed to an apparently poor man in shabby clothes named Frederick from Slovakia, who was very open and receptive to the gospel. He, too, received what I told him, when I urged him to repent and ask Jesus into his heart to be his Lord and Savior."

Praise the Lord for a successful trip to Germany, and thanks to all those who prayed! Please pray for the Lord to water the seeds of the gospel Len planted in Berlin, and to bring salvation to all of those who heard him preach, especially those mentioned above like Frederick, Jonas, Max, and Tomas.  

As we continue to administer our discipleship training school (DTS), now in its ninth year, 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 two nations including Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Sister Catherine, who is one of our third-year DTS students in England, sent the following email to Len in early October: 

"Three of us went street witnessing this afternoon, and four Muslim students got saved, and a lady with twin toddlers got saved. I gave my testimony to a Muslim man who was very scared about the war in Israel, and he got saved. The leaders led a few people to our Lord too."

On another occasion she wrote: "Three of us went to the street, witnessing this afternoon. Three ladies and two men got saved today. Thank and praise our Lord."

Praise the Lord for saving these people through the street ministry that Catherine is a part of.

Last month we mentioned that two of our students had finished their three-year training with us at the end of August, namely Rebecca in Uganda and Henry in South Sudan. In September, we held a graduation ceremony for them by conference call, and presented them with their certificates of completion, at which time we also prayed for them after they each shared testimonies of what the Lord did in their lives through the DTS. The best part of the ceremony was the Lord's presence that was with us in a tangible way, which was so wonderful.

Sister Rebecca came to Christ in 2001 and began her DTS studies on September 1, 2021. Over the past three years, with the Lord’s help, she has successfully maintained her studies and her LTG meetings despite many challenges including sickness, technical issues, remote travels, and ministry responsibilities, all while being a wife and mother with her responsibilities at home. That is commendable and we give God the praise for helping her to successfully complete her intensive DTS training despite all of those challenges and responsibilities.

Brother Henry came to Christ in 2012 and began his DTS training on September 1, 2021, the same day as sister Rebecca. He is a Ugandan, who is married with children, and spends most of his time in South Sudan for ministry.

Over the past three years, with the Lord’s help, he has successfully maintained his studies and his LTG meetings despite many challenges including sickness, armed revolution, kidnapping, technical issues, severe weather, nearly being swept away and drowned in a flood, remote travels, and ministry responsibilities, all while maintaining his domestic responsibilities as a husband and father. He also planted a church called Christ The Foundation Pentecostal Church, in Juba South Sudan. And he multiplied disciples for Christ by establishing five LTG groups. That is commendable and we give God the praise for helping him successfully complete his intensive DTS training despite all of those challenges and responsibilities.

Praise the Lord for helping them both successfully complete their three years of intensive discipleship training. And thank the Lord for His presence with us as we celebrated this accomplishment of theirs.

Len also sent out the Old News That's Still Fresh in October to pastors, elders, disciples, and laborers in the harvest in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We encourage you to read it also.  
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 blessing Len's trip to Berlin, Germany, for all the gospel seeds planted, and for touching the lives of those he ministered to.
  2. For blessing us with a wonderful celebration of Jennifer's birthday.
  3. For blessing us with His presence during our graduation ceremony for Henry and Rebecca, and for helping them successfully complete their three-year training.
  4. For the amazing testimonies of the souls saved through sister Catherine's ministry and the team she went out with. 
  5. For the opportunity to assist each of our students in becoming disciples of Christ and fulfilling their callings. 
  6. For the Lord's leading, guidance, wisdom, and help administering the Doulos Training School (DTS), and for the progress the students are making.
Prayer needs:
  1. For the Lord to save Jonas ("YO'-nus"), Max, Tomas, and Frederick, whom Len witnessed to, and all those who heard him preaching in the open air and subway.
  2. For the Lord to answer Len's prayers that he prayed during his walks around key sites, and that the Lord would open the heavens and pour out His Spirit upon Germany, bringing in a great harvest of souls for His glory.
  3. For the Lord to help Christopher to find an excellent, well-paying job in the IT field, as well as help him with all of his many responsibilities.
  4. For the Lord to heal Christopher's fingers completely with no pain or loss of feeling, form or functionality.
  5. For the Lord to provide for all the needs of our DTS students.
  6. For the Lord to give us wisdom and 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 fulfill His purposes for us and our 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


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