March Update 2014

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

Len prepares to blow out twelve candles!

Family: In March we celebrated Len's forty-eighth birthday.  It was a beautiful, sunny day in the seventies, which was exactly the kind of day Len asked the Lord to grant him on his birthday.  It came after a long stretch of cold weather that culminated the day before his birthday when we were hit with a severe ice storm, which knocked out the electrical power of nearly half a million customers in North Carolina.

Thank the Lord, we only lost power for about four hours the day after the storm, on Len's birthday, and it was restored in time for our celebrations.  That, too, was an answer to our prayers, that we would not lose power during the storm, since it had been around thirty-three degrees, and our heat pump runs on electricity.  It was a miracle, since countless trees and limbs were knocked down due to the heavy ice and the waterlogged soil, bringing down many power lines in the process. While others in the towns around us were without power for days after the storm, we experienced only a minimal impact.  Meanwhile, on that warm day after the storm, Len received some homemade cards, lots of love, prayer, and a delicious homemade pumpkin pie, which he shared with the rest of the family.
 
More photos.     

In February, our oldest daughter, Charity, recommitted her life to Christ, and we have seen the Lord doing some wonderful things in her heart.  It's been great to watch her get set free in areas where she had been bound and begin to walk in a new freedom in Christ.  Praise the Lord!  We plan to celebrate with a party, according to Luke 15:24, on the following day after this newsletter is published.  Since this wonderful new change has taken place, she has written a new poem called He Loved Us First, which seems to be very inspired and is a direct result of what has happened within her. 

In home school, all of the children are doing well, so we are very pleased with their progress.  Some of us are fighting spring time head colds to some degree, except for Hope, Len, and Joseph, some with just a light touch of it, and others with more severe symptoms.  In addition, we are trusting the Lord to heal Hope from a small, pea-sized lump in her left ear lobe.  Len has also been experiencing sciatic pain.  Please agree with us for healing in these areas.

Michael Thomas Sambo

Ministry:  In February, we continued producing our new radio program called Preparing the Way, which we mentioned last month.  Len interviewed brother Michael Thomas Sambo, who received divine visitations and revelations while undergoing his course in veterinary medicine at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.  In 2003, he was given these revelations at 23 years of age.  While attending a Christian retreat camp, he died three times in two days, which was confirmed by a doctor, and he was dead for a total of over twenty-four hours.  There were two thousand witnesses to this account, who witnessed all that happened with him, and he had amazing encounters with the Lord during that time.  He saw the Lord Jesus Christ face-to-face at the gates of heaven, and God in His mercy chose to use him to convey this life-changing message to mankind.

He is the same Nigerian preacher that Len has written about, who had a recent, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins.  Last October, during Michael’s ministry travels, he was the target of an assassination attempt by terrorists in Nigeria.  However, the Lord sent the angel Michael to rescue him, and he was miraculously delivered from close range gunfire and from being forced to drink poison.  Not a bullet touched him, and he escaped alive with several witnesses who testified to the incident.  We hope you don't miss the archived recording of his radio interview with Len.  Even though Len encountered unusually bad technical problems that caused choppy audio while airing the program, the recording came out amazingly clear in answer to prayer! Praise the Lord.

Most of you have probably heard by now about the movement of Russian military troops within Ukraine.  Due to the complicated nature of the situation, as well as the misinformation and disinformation surrounding it on all sides, it is difficult to get at the truth of what is really happening on the ground.  Some people have asked us about how this situation could affect its bordering neighbor, Hungary, where we serve as missionaries.  While we do not profess to know the answer to that, we do know that the Cold War is not over.  Beyond that, we prefer not to comment on politics in this newsletter.

However, spiritually speaking, there was a prophecy given in 1974 by Pastor David Wilkerson that the doors of the gospel would open up for a short time in the communist bloc countries, but then they would close again later.

Pastor Wilkerson prophesied: "Those who have lived under terrible, religious persecution will enjoy a limited period of freedom. God's Holy Spirit will split the Iron and Bamboo Curtains and will seek out and find hungry hearts in Russia, China, and Eastern Europe.  God is bringing to pass a temporary truce between the East and the West for the express purpose of getting the gospel into these Communist countries. After a short period of freedom and spiritual awakening among many, the doors will suddenly close, and the persecution madness will begin with intensity and engulf all those nations."

Note that the Lord gave this prophecy fifteen years before the iron curtain came down, and it was fulfilled in 1989, followed immediately by the great spiritual awakening that He foretold.  In that same prophecy that has been accurately fulfilled thus far, He said there would be a limited period of freedom for the sake of the gospel, but that the doors would later close "suddenly." We do not know if the Russian military movements in Ukraine could be the beginning of that closure.  We certainly hope not, but we do know that the initial spiritual awakening in that part of the world has long since waned from its highest peak in the early 90's.

David holding Joseph (file photo)

Len recently asked one of his beloved, Hungarian disciples, David (pictured left), to give us an update on the general feeling among those in Hungary about the Ukrainian situation.  He gave us hope when he indicated that a prophet named Stefan Driess gave a prophecy in Budapest nearly three years ago on April 16, 2011, saying: "The LORD will allow that a threat would reach the borders of Hungary, because there are some who say: 'Here we have peace, what kind of threat could reach us. Europe will help us.'  In these days, I declared: Eastern-Europe will again see the old 'bear', Russia arise. But the prayer warriors in this country, the watchers on the wall, will be able to raise the LORD's flag to defend this country against communism, which wants to rise up again."

David went on to say that some of the Hungarians are afraid, while others are unconcerned. He said, "I trust the LORD. His will be done! But I pray that He would save us from this threat."  Let's agree with David's prayer, for the sake of our beloved brethren in Hungary and Ukraine, and the whole Eastern European region, but especially for the sake of the gospel.

David also indicated some of the good things the Lord has been doing through his life. He described how it began with his own disappointment with the low spiritual condition in his church and in other churches, and he said, "...I just prayed that God would make a change through me. I gave Him my life again as a living sacrifice. He anointed me with the Spirit. I was the leader of the youth group worship team. And I went to lead this team, but God told me not to conduct worship practice that day. So I invited them into a little room, and I started to talk about true repentance and being ready for the coming of Christ. And I encouraged them to pray in the Spirit to God. And I noticed that one guy did not speak in tongues. I stopped them and asked this guy if he would like to get this gift. He said, 'Yes.' And then I asked them if anyone else wanted to get any other gifts of the Holy Spirit, because I would pray and they would get it immediately. One girl said, 'I want to get the gift of healing.' I replied, 'You will get it today. Anyone else?' And there was no other response, so I prayed and prophesied over every one of them, and laid my hands upon them. These two brethren got what they asked. One of them started to speak in tongues, and the other started to minister in healing. Praise God!  In our next meeting, we started to pray, and we felt Heaven coming down in our presence. And later that day we worshiped at church, and it was so powerful that I hardly could open my eyes during my ministry."

Praise the Lord for what he is doing in David's life!  He also described some attacks and trials that occurred immediately following this great victory, but he seems to be in a very good place with the Lord. He said, "Through these attacks I got closer to the Father, the righteous Judge. I grew in Spirit, praise God, and learned what grace really means." So please join us in praying for David's continued growth, and for the Lord to keep him through his trials.

As we mentioned last month, Len recently wrote an article entitled Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols, which he sent to a large group of pastors, elders, and disciples of Christ that we know across Eastern Europe, asking for their input.  We have since received some good feedback about it.  One of our Hungarian translators, who is the daughter of one of the pastors Len trained, and is now married to a youth pastor, stated:

Greg (file photo)

"Dear Len, I have read your article about idolatry. I agree that so many people are not aware of idolatry. However, as you have written in your testimony that you yourself used to be a Catholic and worshiped idols, [yet] His grace found you, and rescued and set you free (smile).  Glory to The Lord! I know some people in Hungary -- and I believe the number are growing -- who used to be a Catholic who worshiped idols (unconsciously), but they repented from this sin.  So God is moving and convincing the hearts (smile). Our prayers play a very crucial part! Thank you Len! I send my love to the whole family!"

Another one of our Hungarian translators wrote: "Dear Len, Greetings with love in Jesus. I think you touched a very important issue in this message. Catholicism is very strong in Hungary and in the surrounding countries and few Christians know in detail the level of heresies this denomination proclaims. Of course, we Protestants are not perfect in our theology either, but Catholic beliefs can be frighteningly far fetched. It is amazing at the same time there are many among them who are true followers of Christ. The fact that even they can't see the deception they are victims of shows the power of the deception.  Blessings, Csilla."

On a more positive note, another one of Len's Hungarian disciples, Greg (pictured above), is now leading the home group, where he had previously been leading worship.  Praise the Lord for the wonderful growth He is bringing about in Greg's life.

Len and Gábor (file photo)

Another one of Len's disciples, Gábor (pictured left),  recently sent us a wonderful praise report.  He wrote, "I'm happy to hear about your daughter.  Our son David is also repentant, so I can feel your happiness. We're all doing fine, too. Yes, I'm still in Germany although I spent three months at home..."

"I invited Sanyi (the guy who painted your house in Diosd) to help during [our own home] renovations. Sometimes we [had] worked together before, and of course spoke about God [during those times]. He hasn't show much interest, but told [me] a few things about [his personal life and struggles]. Those days [more recently] when we were working together [on my home], we started to talk. I felt that he is really deep down. So each day we spoke for hours. A week later we recognized that he is honestly repentant [for his sins]. Since then he has started to repair his life!"  Praise the Lord!

He then shared about his son, whom Len knows, saying, "David is studying in Vajta, which is the Bible school of Golgotha Church. Two weeks ago, he took three of his fellow [classmates home to see us in] Tököl, and we went to the prison to have a [worship] service together with prisoners.  In the end, seven guys came forward to give their lives to Jesus!! Glory to GOD! That's all for now from Europe. Say 'hello' to everyone who knows me. God bless you all! Gábor."  This is amazing news about Gábor’s son, David, who had aspired to a career in the special police force.  And praise the Lord for all those prisoners who were saved.

Regarding Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ, we have not had any open doors, which resulted in speaking about our ministry at churches, since we moved to North Caroline 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 last June.  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. And please consider posting a link to our Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ invitation on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts that you may have, as a way of helping us let more people know about this ministry.

Please join us in praying for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners.   

Administrative: We have been reaching out to speak personally by phone with all our faith partners (financial supporters), and plan to continue doing so. If you are a faith partner and we have left you a message or have not contacted you yet, please give us a call at your earliest convenience.  Thank you!

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blogs called, God's Supernatural Provision Using People and The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught. Len has also posted some other new articles at Old News That's Still Fresh - March 2014, which we hope you don't miss! Also see his Radio Interview with Michael Thomas Sambo. Len's entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

Note: Some quotes in this newsletter have been edited for clarity without changing the meaning.

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 leading Charity to recommit her life to Christ, and for her new freedom in Him. 
2. For the new poem the Lord gave her.
3. For the fact that we only lost electrical power for four hours the day after the major ice storm, and we only experienced minimal impact.
4. For the beautiful day we had to celebrate Len's birthday.
5. For what God has been doing in the life of Len's disciple, David.
6. For the wonderful growth the Lord is bringing about in Greg's life, and his new role as house group leader.
7. For leading Sanyi to repent, give his life to Jesus, and repair his life.
8. For the seven prisoners who repented and gave their lives to Jesus through the ministry of Gabor and his son, David.
9. For the successful radio interview with Michael Thomas Sambo, in spite of major technical problems.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For the Lord to heal Hope from that lump in her ear lobe, and those who have head colds.
2. For the Lord's will to be done concerning Russia, and to protect both Ukraine and Hungary from the threat.
3. For many in Eastern Europe and around the world to be awakened spiritually before it is too late and they perish in their sin. 
4. For the Lord to help Charity to follow through on her decision and walk in victory in Jesus, overcoming every attack of the enemy.
5. For David's continued spiritual growth and for the Lord to keep him through his trials.
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 successfully accomplish the purposes for which this new radio ministry was established, for God's blessing upon it and provision, along with His anointing and guidance for Len.
8. For the new DMI Infomercial on Youtube and BlogTalkRadio to help raise awareness of this ministry.
9. 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.
10. 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

February Update 2014

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

Family: In February we celebrated Joseph's fifth birthday.  It was a very cold day, after we had been hit with ice and snow from the Pax Storm system.  He received some cards and a gift, after celebrating with some delicious homemade birthday cake.  It's already been five years since he was born in Hungary, shortly after our arrival there.  Now he has to use all the fingers on his hand to show you how old he is!  He is a gift to all of us, and we praise God for his little life.
 
More photos.     

As we reported last month, our children started a blog called "A Brush with Life," which is managed and maintained by our daughter, Charity.  We have received some good feedback on it. Some friends of ours, artist Danny Hahlbohm and his wife Diana reviewed the art gallery.  Upon Diana's first moments reading the "Why This Blog" page, she commented, "I am absolutely overwhelmed by the anointing I am feeling from the blog entries and beautiful artwork by your children. I look forward to exploring each and every entry. Bless you all for bringing such glory to our King." And you can see her husband Danny's world-renowned art at Inspired Art.  Len uses a lot of his art on his blogs, and also interviewed him recently as a guest on our radio program in January.

Another sister we correspond with, named Faith Hetrick, liked our children's art so much, she requested permission to use some of it in a video production of her own music that she is publishing.  She stated, "Dear Len, I was just looking and marveling at the amazing pictures drawn by your children. They are truly anointed and precious (both children and pictures). I have a request that I would ask you, your wife and children to pray about...After seeing the beautiful pictures drawn by your children, it would be wonderful if I could use some of them. I would credit your children and mention their blog. The videos are not for sale, I would not be profiting from their work. It would just give them a broader range of people who would be blessed by their work."  We invite you to watch the video of this lovely prophetic song, called Walk with Me, written and sung by Faith Hetrick. We were all so encouraged, especially the children, to get such good initial feedback on the art galleries. Faith Hetrick is the webmaster for www.LoisHetrick.com, which has some excellent free reading material.

Regarding A Brush with Life, we'd like to make a correction to a statement that Len initially made on that blog, in which he indicated that our children have had "no formal art training."  It is more accurate to say they have had "no formal art training, except a semester of elementary school instruction in drawing and one in painting."  The intent was to say that they are not professionally trained. Please continue to visit A Brush with Life from time to time as they continue to add new artwork to their galleries and new art rooms to the galleries.  For example, Charity has added new art to the Jesus and The Bridegroom rooms.

Ministry:  In January, we launched our new radio program called Preparing the Way, which we mentioned last month.  It's a worldwide radio broadcast via the Internet dedicated to preparing the way for the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ in repentance, preaching holiness, righteous, and truth. If you would like to listen to one of those broadcasts, you may find them at Preparing the Way.  So far, Len has aired the following live programs: New Radio Program Launch with Denis Lacroix; an Interview with Brother Danny Hahlbohm, the artist who created the "Footprints in the Sand" painting, and that program included an interview with DMI President, Dr. Andrew Stenhouse; a very encouraging and edifying Interview with Dennis Nederveen, who is one of the DMI Board Directors.   Please pray that this radio ministry will successfully accomplish the purposes for which it was established, for God's blessing upon it and provision, along with His anointing and guidance for Len.

We have produced an infomercial to expand awareness of the ministry of Doulos Missions International.  This new infomercial is now being aired around the world on our internet radio program through BlogTalkRadio, as well as being broadcast on Youtube.



We have been keeping you updated on the spiritual progress of Christopher (pictured below), our neighbor across the street.  In January, Len presented the gospel of salvation to his son Noah, using the Evangecube, and he gave his life to Jesus Christ.  Praise the Lord!

Christopher and Noah

Chris also accepted Len's invitation to begin a discipleship relationship. However, he has not yet followed through on that as planned.  Pray that he won't run from the very thing he needs, and that he will embrace the process of becoming a disciple of Christ.

You may recall a brother with lung cancer, named Bob R., whom we told you about in our August Update 2013.  At that time, Bob said the pain left his back when hands were laid on and the prayer of faith was offered in Jesus' name.  However, he recently told Len in January that he had continued to suffer from this disease since then.  He was not in a lot of pain, and mainly took pain medication at bedtime for the pain in his back, where the cancer was in his spine.  This was a difficult battle for him and his wife, Doris, and he held onto his faith in Jesus to complete the healing. However, he passed peacefully into eternity at age 74 in February, trusting in His Savior, and was not in any pain when he died.

As the apostle Paul said, "According to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better." (Php 1:20-23).  And as the psalmist said, "Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones." (Psa 116:15)

Len's brother-in-law, Randy, who was married to Len's sister, also died in February, after succumbing to injuries sustained from an accident.  He was only 57 years old.  We were unable to travel to New Hampshire for the funeral.

Len has finished meeting with pastor Roger here locally, and helping him through training, as we prayerfully seek to find more open doors to serve. He got a note from Roger in January, which said in part, "I have been meeting with you since September, and I feel that I have really grown spiritually because of our times together. However I feel God is telling me that it is time for me to put into practice what we have been discussing, especially sharing my faith without fear, and the LTG’s [Life Transformation Groups for discipleship]...Our times together have been a blessing and you have touched my life.  God bless you, Roger."  Since he has stopped meeting with Len, he has led a lady in his congregation to Christ, named Betty.  Praise the Lord for this new life.

Len recently wrote an article entitled Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols, which sounds a warning to anyone worshiping idols in any way, especially the precious Catholic people.  It also documents Len's deliverance from this bondage twenty-eight years ago.  He has sent this to a large group of pastors, elders, and disciples of Christ that we know across Eastern Europe, asking for their input.  Our desire is to expand the audience for this message, since Hungary and other countries in Eastern Europe are full of idolatry.  Our hope and prayer is that many in Eastern Europe and around the world would be awakened to repentance before it is too late and they perish in their sin.

Regarding other Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ, 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. And please consider posting a link to our Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ invitation on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts that you may have, as a way of helping us let more people know about this ministry.

Please join us in praying for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners.  

Denis Lacroix

Administrative: We would like to welcome Denis Lacroix to our volunteer support team, and give God the praise for sending him to be our new Lead Financial Assistant (Bookkeeper) in December.  He is now functioning fully in his new role, after completing his training with Emily Pritchett of Edifying Ministries, who had been serving us faithfully for three years.  We could not do what we do without important support roles like this one being fulfilled.  We are confident that he will be a great blessing to us, and we look forward to serving with him. Denis was the first person the Lord brought into the Kingdom of God through Len's testimony when he gave his life to Christ in 1986, and we're very thankful for him.  If you would like to read his testimony of God's mercy and grace in his life, please see my article, The Lord Healed My Backsliding.

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blogs called, The Apostasy Parables and All Things Are New! Len has posted several other new articles at Old News That's Still Fresh - February 2014, which we hope you don't miss! 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 bringing Noah into His kingdom when he prayed the sinner's prayer to give his life to Jesus.
2. For bringing this lady named Betty into the kingdom through pastor Roger.
3. For the good feedback on "A Brush with Life," and Faith Hetrick's use of their pictures in her video.
4. For the decision of our neighbor, Christopher P., to participate in discipleship in an LTG.
5. For the successful launch of the radio program, Preparing the Way, and the programs already aired.
6. For sending Denis Lacroix to be our new Lead Financial Assistant (Bookkeeper) in December.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For Noah & Betty to grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord in their new relationships with Jesus. 
2. For "A Brush with Life," the children's blog, to spread God's Word, and the word about DMI.
3. For the Lord to successfully accomplish the purposes for which this new radio ministry was established, for God's blessing upon it and provision, along with His anointing and guidance for Len.
4. For many in Eastern Europe and around the world to be awakened spiritually before it is too late and they perish in their sin.
5. For Christopher P. to continue to grow as a disciple and embrace the LTG discipleship process.
6. For the Lord to open new doors of opportunity for ministry for us, and that we would be fruitful.
7. For the new DMI Infomercial on Youtube and BlogTalkRadio to help raise awareness of this ministry.
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

January Update 2014

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

The girls at Jesus' birthday party

Family: In December, we held a birthday party for Jesus.  Jennifer baked a cake, which we presented to Him with eight candles in a circle, representing eternity.  The children all presented gifts to the Lord that they had made, including poems and a drawing.  And we sang old time Christmas carols based on Scripture, like Silent Night, O Come All Ye faithful, Joy to the World, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.  It was a really enjoyable time of fun and worship.

One Sunday afternoon at the end of December, Len was sitting in the living room alone, waiting for the family to join him for a worship meeting.  He decided to pick up the Evangecube and look at it.  And although there was no way Joseph could have known Len was going to do so at that moment, it was as if he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to come walking quickly, all the way from the dining room saying, "Can I watch?"  He had seen Len place it on the table beside himself earlier, and he seemed to know what Len was going to do before he did it.  So Len went through the entire Evangecube gospel presentation with him, and when it was finished, Joseph prayed the sinner's prayer to give his life to Jesus.  Then we prayed for him to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire, and had a time of joyful thanksgiving to God for what He had done.  Praise the Lord for bringing Joseph into His kingdom!  And please pray that he will grow in His love and knowledge of Jesus now. If you are interested in knowing more about Evangecube, you can check out e3Resources, where they have children's and adult's versions.
 
More photos.     

One evening, the day after New Year's Day, we decided to go out to eat as a family to celebrate the completion of the children's first semester of school. Before we left home, we prayed for protection for ourselves on the journey. It was dark and rainy, as we made our way into the city, down a two-lane state highway out in the country.  We were traveling nearly 50 miles per hour, and so was the car coming toward us.  As we were just about to pass by the oncoming car, and only had what seemed like six feet between the front of our two vehicles going in opposite directions in our separate lanes, a deer jumped out from our left hand side of the road.  It dashed in front of the other car and in front of our van.  We did not even see it, except for a split second as it leaped across to the right side of the road in front of our passenger's side headlight.  All we caught was that quick flash image of it in front of the headlight and it was gone.  We all thanked the Lord profusely for saving us from what could have been a serious accident.  We never even had time to touch the brakes and probably the other car didn't either.

Had we been going one mile per hour faster or arrived at that spot a millisecond sooner, we would have collided with the deer.  Had the other vehicle hit the deer with his driver's side front end, it could have thrown the deer into our windshield.  Or another scenario could have caused that car to swerve into us.  There were any number of ways it could have resulted in great injury or loss of life, and damage to our vehicle.  But the Lord truly protected us.  We marveled at how fast that deer would have had to go!  The combined speed of our vehicle and the oncoming one was about 100 miles per hour, and the deer had only enough space to run between the two vehicles, but he made it through unscathed.  We don't know how the Lord did it, or if an angel yanked him out of our way at light speed, but we do know it was truly a miracle. Praise the Lord!

Speaking of close encounters, that same night our children started a blog called "A Brush with Life," which Len had spoken of with some of them earlier in the day.  We coined the name after the expression, "a brush with death," except that this refers to the artist's brush depicting scenes that glorify the Creator, who is Life Himself.  Len has put our fifteen-year old daughter, Charity in charge of it.

As part of Charity's home-based Christian education, she manages and maintains that blog, "A Brush with Life," under Len's training, direction, and guidance with a bit of assistance occasionally.  She collaborates with her siblings (her fellow artists), then she creates digital representations of the art – through scanning or photography, crops it, organizes it, uploads it, creates the gallery rooms, organizes them, adds accompanying text (including Scriptures that she and her siblings have selected for their art), and publishes them to the web.  She is learning responsibility, teamwork, administrative skills, and computer skills -- including some HTML (HyperText Markup Language) programming, a bit of graphic design, photography, website development, and website publishing.  In addition, this is a ministry that allows our children to lovingly share their artistic talents and the Scriptures with others, bringing glory to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Most importantly it leads them to meditate more on the Word of God. So we hope you browse their blog and enjoy it!  Feel free to share it with others, too.  Please pray that it will spread God's Word and the word about the ministry of DMI, which is mentioned in the footnote of the blog.

Ministry: We are continuing to watch the Lord bring about spiritual growth in the life of Christopher, our neighbor across the street.  He has stayed off the cigarettes, and is drawing close to God!  Praise the Lord!  Our interactions with him have been very encouraging, and mutually edifying.  We have not yet been successful at having his unchurched parents over for a visit.

In December, we established a new radio program called Preparing the Way, which is a worldwide radio broadcast via the Internet dedicated to preparing the way for the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ in repentance, preaching holiness, righteous, and truth.  As the Scripture says:

"A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.'" (Isa 40:3-5)

“And all flesh will see the salvation of God.'" (Luk 3:6)

"Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!' Behold, the Lord GOD will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him."  (Isa 40:9-10)

“Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.  The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.”’ They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.” (Isa 62:10-12)

"'Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the LORD of hosts. 'But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.'" (Mal 3:1-3)

This will initially be a weekly or bi-weekly broadcast, but could increase in frequency as the Lord leads. Our target audience includes pastors, elders, and disciples laboring for the Lord in all nations, as well as those who are lost. In Jesus' Mighty Name and with God's help, we pray that this radio broadcast will reach the nations.

Secondarily, we also plan to use the broadcast to increase awareness of the ministry of Doulos Missions International, its "parent ministry," helping to make disciples in Eastern Europe. This is another means of proclaiming what God is doing in Eastern Europe and other regions of the world. Eventually, as the Lord provides, we hope to upgrade the program to a premium level that is free of any worldly ads, which do not glorify God. Please pray that this radio ministry will successfully accomplish the purposes for which it was established, for God's blessing upon it and provision, along with His anointing and guidance for Len.

The Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary

Some of you may be aware that Hungary has a large population of Jews. Today, the population of Jews living in Hungary is around 120,000,with 110,000 mostly concentrated in Budapest.  In fact, the Jewish synagogue in Budapest, known as the Dohány Street Synagogue, is Europe's largest.  Next to the nation of Israel itself, the countries with the highest population of Jews are first and foremost the United States, then France, Canada, Russia, Argentina, Germany, Brazil, Australia, and Ukraine.  Hungary is fairly high in the ranking beneath those countries.

We know from Scripture that the apostle Paul always preached the gospel first to the Jews when he entered a city.  And he wrote, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." Therefore, since Len's visit with Charity to that synagogue in Budapest in June of 2012, Len has had an outreach to Jews in Hungary and throughout the world.

The primary tool for this outreach has been his blog called Yeshua the Messiah.  On this blog, Len shares his testimony, Why I Trust in Yeshua, and writes various evangelistic articles that help to show from Scripture that Jesus Christ is the Jewish Messiah.  Some example are Yeshua Ha'Maschiah in the Tanakh, The Brit Chadashah is Jewish, YHWH as Both Father and Husband to the Hebrews, Is the Trinity Originally a Hebrew or Christian Concept?, Yeshua is Yahweh, HaShem - The Name, and The Amazing Sign of Yonah. Although Len has tried to develop the blog in a way that is somewhat culturally relevant for Jews, using some of their linguistic expressions and preferred ways of writing the name of God, we would like to clarify that we ourselves have not become Messianic Jews.

Len and Charity at The Dohány Street Synagogue, June 2012

When interacting with Jews, Len is now able to refer them to this blog, which has already received a significant amount of traffic from people in approximately sixteen nations around the world, who are viewing it.  The countries with the highest traffic to the blog are the United States and Hungary, and then the other countries listed above, which we mentioned as having the world's largest populations of Jews.  Therefore, this outreach of ours seems to be reaching our target audience, and we assume Messianic Jews are probably reading it, too. Unfortunately there has been little traffic to the blog from within the nation of Israel itself.

Len has discovered that Jews are accustomed to antisemitism from Gentile people, which is racial prejudice against them.  In fact, Len was surprised to learn that antisemitism is quite common among Christians! Jews often seem surprised when Christians treat them with love and respect.  Yet that should not be! God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew, so why should we?  As the apostle Paul said, "For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen." (Rom 9:3-5).  The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Hebrew patriarchs. And of course, Jesus Himself is a Jew!  He loves the precious Jewish people and wants to save them, too.  For Paul also said, "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus." (Eph 3:6).

Please pray that the Lord will use this evangelistic outreach for His glory and honor to bring many Jews to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of the Jewish people.  And please join us by using the Yeshua the Messiah blog yourself, as you share Jesus with your Jewish friends and loved ones.

One of Len's disciples in Hungary, Greg, has recently given us an update us on his life.  He is well, healthy and busy with projects. He continues to serve in his house group as a worship leader.   And beginning in January, he will also join the worship team at the same church where David (another of Len's disciples) serves, called Élő Ige or Living Word Church. Greg has now met a very nice Christian young lady named Fanni, who is part of the house group.  Please pray for the Lord to bless Greg, use him to multiply disciples, lead the people of God into the Lord's presence, and for His will to be done concerning Fanni.

Elizabeth (left) and her mother, Elizabeth (file photo)

Len spoke with Elizabeth (another of our Hungarian disciples, pictured left) by phone in January.  You may recall that she gave her life to the Lord Jesus in December 2012, while we were in Hungary, and received prayer for healing. She says that although the cancerous tumors on her body are smaller, she is not doing well.  She is taking a different and much stronger chemotherapy medicine at home, is in a lot of pain, and cannot eat or sleep.  Needless to say, she seems discouraged.  Please remember her in your prayers.

Len is still meeting with pastor Roger here locally, and helping him through training, as we prayerfully seek to find more open doors to serve. Regarding other Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ, 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. And please consider posting a link to our Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ invitation on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts that you may have, as a way of helping us let more people know about this ministry.

Please join us in praying for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners.  

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blog called, Partaking of the Divine Nature. Len has posted several other new articles at Old News That's Still Fresh - January 2014, which we hope you don't miss! That includes A Brush with Life, the children's new art gallery. Len's entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

We mentioned previously that we were interviewed on a Christian radio program in September. If you have not yet heard it, and would like to listen to the interview via podcast, it is available online by clicking this link.  We welcome your comments regarding this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

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 bringing Joseph into His kingdom when he prayed the sinner's prayer to give his life to Jesus
2. For our enabling us to miraculously avoid hitting a deer at high speed.
3. For the new, children's blog, "A Brush with Life."
4. For the way the Lord is bringing about spiritual growth in the life of our neighbor, Christopher P.
5. For the new radio program, Preparing the Way.
6. For the lives of precious Jewish people being reached through the Yeshua Messiah blog.
7. For the testimony of Sarah B. and how the Holy Spirit fell so heavily on her, as she was reading.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For Joseph to grow in His love and knowledge of the Lord in his new relationship with Jesus.
2. For "A Brush with Life," the children's blog, to spread God's Word, and the word about DMI.
3. For the Lord to successfully accomplish the purposes for which this new radio ministry was established, for God's blessing upon it and provision, along with His anointing and guidance for Len.
4. For Christopher P. to maintain his deliverance from cigarettes and grow as a disciple.
5. For the Lord to help us make disciples of Christopher P.'s unchurched parents, Ron and Brenda, and his six-year old son, Noah.
6. For the Lord to bring salvation to thousands of Jews around the world through the Yeshua Messiah blog.
7. For the Lord to bless Greg, as well as use him to multiply disciples, lead the people of God into the Lord's presence, and for His will to be done concerning Fanni.
8. For the Lord to complete the healing work He started in Elizabeth over a year ago.
9. For the Lord to open doors of opportunity for ministry.
10. For the Lord to further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new partners, who will sponsor us.
11. 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

December Update 2013

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

Family: In November, we baptized Christopher in water.  He had already made a definite commitment to Christ three years ago, and was baptized with the Holy Spirit in January 2012.  Then when we recently spoke to him about being water baptized into Christ, he reaffirmed his desire to do so. Immediately afterward, he was actually able to fully participate in celebrating the Lord's Supper with us.  So that was one of the highlights of the month for us.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving together, and each had so many things to personally thank God for.  It was a very happy time around the table, feasting and giving God glory for all He has done and continues to do in our lives.  We've taken some other photos of the holiday, beside the one shown here, and you can find those at the link below.

In December, the organization that runs the missionary community we live in held a Christmas event.  People came from local churches in the area to experience the event.  The whole property was lit up, and the weather was very warm.  It was around 72 degrees or so, and some people were outdoors wearing short sleeve shirts at the evening event (although the next day the daytime temperature dropped to 46 degrees outside, and the day after that it was down to 35 degrees). Jennifer served food to the hungry visitors, while Faith and Hope were outside in front of the recreation center singing carols to others.  They had picked out some old time, Scriptural carols to sing, and had rehearsed them throughout the week without anyone telling them to do so.  All of this was on their own initiative, and the Lord blessed their efforts. They sang beautifully a Capella, and since it was amplified, others said they could be heard all across the community.  We got at least one cell phone photo of them, which is in the album at the link below.
 
More photos.     

Michael Thomas Sambo

Ministry: In late October, Len was notified by one of our foreign contacts overseas of the supernatural, angelic rescue of a preacher in Africa, about whom he had previously published an article. The brother's name is Michael Thomas Sambo from Nigeria.  Although he was kidnapped, shot numerous times by terrorist assassins, and made to drink poison, he suffered no harm, and survived the ordeal by the mighty power of Jesus' Name. Len has subsequently contacted and spoken with brother Michael, and verified his story, before publishing the testimony of his miraculous escape from the shadow of death.  Len also called pastor Paul Rika in Nigeria, the International Director of Holiness Revival Movement, in order to verify Michael Sambo's character.  Pastor Rika considers Michael his spiritual son in the faith, and was involved in getting help to Michael after he was rescued by angels. His testimony about that involvement is also included in Len's article about Michael's miraculous escape.  He had an edifying phone conversation with Len, so we feel confident to share this true story with you.  Please be sure and read about it in Len's article, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins

In November, Len also received an email from a gospel preacher in The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), who apparently discovered our ministry through the our website. He stated:

Mapindu (left, holding the Bible)

"Dear Len and Jennifer, I am greeting you in Jesus' Name. I would like to inform that I am very happy to get your  e-mail address and God bless you.  I am a reverend of 'Church of Faith in Congo' in DR Congo. With war in our country, and displacement of thousands of people in eastern DRC, people here have suffered in refugees camp. But the Word of God says that every circumstance we go through is to glorify the Lord.  Today I would like to inform you that in answer to prayer, peace is taking place and allowing the return of the entire population to their village. The vision of our church  is to preach to people that only God can give peace, and to teach people that when you receive Jesus as your Savor, you get peace in your heart and you forgot all your problems. Please can you pray for us to succeed.  And if possible, can I be connected with your ministry? I thank you for your support in prayers."

In a later email he continued, "We  have returned in our families to our villages after a long period in refugee camps near Goma City. We live around 30 km from Goma City.  For internet I have to go into town. I got  your name from your  website.  Now I have resumed my work in the church in village; We are  preaching and evangelizing the people. The pictures I send you, I'm the left one with Bible in my hand with my pastors and the other picture I was visiting with Christians to help a blind man.  Please pray for this work and peace.  Mapindu J.P."

Would you please lift up brother Mapindu J.P. in your prayers this month, along with Church of Faith in Congo, where he serves?  As he requested, please pray for this work and peace.

A middle-aged neighbor of ours across the street, named Christopher P., came over to our home for a visit recently.  Len had talked with him a few times in the neighborhood during the summer, and shared Jesus with him.  He had told Len that he has been a Christian since he was a little boy, but Len sensed that perhaps he had never become a disciple.  So the Lord led Len to invite him over to our house in December.  While he was visiting, he said that since this summer, he has been drawn to read the Bible consistently, and recently began attending church.  Ever since he met Len this summer, he has been feeling that he should get together with him, but he has run away from it.  And once Len scheduled the first visit with him, the enemy tried to keep him from coming, but he resisted the enemy and came anyway.  Then once he got here, he felt like the Lord really led him to come.

During their visit, Len testified how he had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and explained these things from Scripture.  Len also testified how he had gotten powerfully delivered from cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol as a new believer over twenty-five years ago.  Christopher indicated he wanted to be set free from cigarettes, and desired the gift of the Holy Spirit.  So as he and Len prayed together later on, he received deliverance from cigarettes, and felt the power of God go through him.  He then received the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  He spoke in tongues, felt heat going through his body, and felt even more power.  To God be all the glory!!  Hallelujah.  At the end of the visit, Len told him they could plan to talk next time he comes about becoming a disciple, and how to do that.  Praise God. We also have a burden to reach his unchurched parents, Ron and Brenda, whom he lives with, and his six-year old son, Noah.

David and Len (file photo)

In December, Len also got an email from David, one of his disciples in Hungary.  He stated:  "A girl I once met in church gave her life to Jesus through me yesterday. To God be the glory! She asked how and when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. And I sent her my blog, Just Me and Daddy.  I wrote down the process how I finally gave my whole heart to Jesus.  I also mentioned you and wrote about Life Transformation Groups (LTG). And through it I explained the statuses I got from the Lord: chosen, disciple, and son. Then I asked at the end of it, if you want to know Him, repent and ask Jesus with these words... to come in your life, etc. And she repented and told me that this would never have happened to her if I hadn't shown her this blog. Praise God!!! And I will help her in the beginning of her walk with Jesus, but I just introduced her to a sister in Christ who could be a perfect mentor to her."

I asked him to tell me more about the girl who got saved, and he replied, "This new sister is young, 15 years old. Her name is Brigitta F.  She came to our church with her friend, who is a sister of my brother in Christ. She too got saved two weeks ago. So I met them three weeks ago." Please join us in praising the Lord for our new sister Brigitta, another soul saved from the fires of hell, another reborn child of God, and more good fruit coming from David's life. 

In December, Len published an article about the testimony of Zipora Bitrus, in which supernatural activity of what appears to be angels was actually recorded on video. We believe this is an important message from the Lord marked by signs and wonders.  You can see some of these images in the article, Zipora Bitrus Testimony of Heaven and Hell. But the best way to observe them is while they are moving in the video itself.  The activity increases tremendously in the second half of the video.

Now and then, Len also receives messages from people in various places who read his blogs.  He read one recently from a lady named Sarah B.  After she had read Len's blog called Rapture Dream State of Watch 2013, she wrote: "This is amazing!!!! When I was reading...your testimony...The Holy Spirit fell on me so heavy I thought the Lord had walked in the room!!!! I stopped reading and praised Jesus and said, ‘Lord are you here?’  I am not exaggerating!!”  Praise the Lord!  To God be the glory!

Len is still meeting with pastor Roger here locally, and helping him through training, as we prayerfully seek to find more open doors to serve. Regarding other Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ, 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. And please consider posting a link to our Opportunities to Serve the Body of Christ invitation on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media accounts that you may have, as a way of helping us let more people know about this ministry.

Please join us in praying for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners.  

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blogs called, Zipora Bitrus Testimony of Heaven and Hell and Rapture Dream: State of Watch - December 2013.  Len has posted several other new articles at Old News That's Still Fresh - December 2013, which we hope you don't miss! That includes the testimony of Michael Sambo's miraculous escape from assassination, and some prophetic end-time warnings, as well as Charity's new poem, The Midnight Hour.  Also check out David's testimony at My Life Was Built on the Wrong Foundation. Len's entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

We mentioned previously that we were interviewed on a Christian radio program in September. If you have not yet heard it, and would like to listen to the interview via podcast, it is available online by clicking this link.  We welcome your comments regarding this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

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 using brother David V. to lead Brigitta F. to the Lord Jesus Christ, and for her salvation.
2. For our son Christopher's water baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. For the way the Lord miraculously rescued brother Michael Sambo from terrorist assassins.
4. For the way the Lord touched and blessed Christopher P., delivering him from bondage to cigarettes, baptizing him with the Holy Spirit and fire.
5. For restoring peace in the DR Congo and allowing the return of the entire population to their village.
6. For confirming the amazing testimony of Zipora Bitrus with signs and wonders.
7. For the testimony of Sarah B. and how the Holy Spirit fell so heavily on her, as she was reading.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For our ministry to Roger C. and the church he pastors, that the Lord would pour out His Spirit and revive them..
2. For pastor Mapindu J.P. and the Church of Faith in Congo to successfully fulfill their vision to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of their nation.  And pray for continued peace there.
3. For Brigitta F. to get baptized in the Holy Spirit, and become a disciple who multiplies more disciples.
4. For Christopher P. to maintain his deliverance from cigarettes and become a disciple.
5. For the Lord to bring salvation to Christopher P.'s unchurched parents, Ron and Brenda, and his six-year old son, Noah.
6. For the Lord to continue to move powerfully in those to whom we minister.
7. For the Lord to provide all that we need to make our Stateside furlough possible.
8. For the Lord to open doors of opportunity for ministry.
9. For the Lord to further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new partners, who will sponsor us.
10. 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

November Update 2013

Greetings from lovely North Carolina, where it's getting cooler with the arrival of fall, mixed with some very mild days here and there!  We're pleased to share with you what the Lord has been doing in our lives and ministry.

Family: In October, we celebrated Jennifer's birthday! Then in November, we celebrated Hope's thirteenth birthday! So now we have two teenagers, and only a few years left to raise them, before they become adults. We took plenty of photos of the celebrations, which are available in our web album below, if you're interested.

Len took a trip to Tennessee in October to meet some of our faith partners and other brethren, whom he has been getting to know in the Nashville area.  The van ran great during the entire trip, which lasted eight hours each way.  However, after returning, Jennifer experienced trouble with it, while she was out shopping. There was a "major malfunction" (as they called it) inside the engine that required it be towed.

Initially we had it towed to the dealer, since it was the closest.  But the estimate they gave us was very high, around $800, so we prayed and sought a second opinion.  We also asked our prayer partners to pray as well.  The Lord led us to have it towed to a second garage, where an independent mechanic was able to repair it for $253, which included the towing.  So the repair itself was about a fourth of the cost the dealer was going to charge us, and we trust the Lord to provide.  God is so awesome!  Praise the Lord!  What a wonderful answer to prayer.

In October, we also had an accidental and limited release of mercury in the children's bedroom, when a floor lamp toppled, breaking two compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Mistakes were made in the initial cleanup, but we eventually succeeded in getting the room and the equipment decontaminated.  We prayed and claimed the promises of God concerning the health and safety of the family.  A subsequent test that we conducted on the carpet revealed that there is no longer any detectable level of mercury. Thank the Lord for protecting the children from the harmful effects of this toxic, heavy metal.

Charity also experienced some significant health issues related to asthma since we last wrote, and the Lord has since restored her in answer to prayer. Praise the Lord!  As we publish this newsletter, all of us except Charity are fighting a cold, some of us more so than others, but the worst of it is behind us now. And it's written that we are healed in Jesus' name. So as you can see, in all of our difficulties this past month, we have complete victory through Him Who loved us and continues to love us.

Jennifer's mother came to visit us from West Virginia for a few days in November. This was still only the second time she has seen Jennifer and the children in five years, so it was an enjoyable and memorable time for us.

More photos.     

Ministry: In late October, Len was invited to preach at a local church here in North Carolina by one of the pastors he has been meeting with, named pastor Wayne.  After praying about it, Len accepted the invitation and preached there one Sunday morning, while the pastor was out of town.  We also prayed for the sick and afterward received good feedback from people.  In fact, the pastor wrote the following note when he returned home from his travels:

"I want to thank you so much for filling in for me on Sunday and I have heard nothing but great things since coming back.   I have started to put out the word about praying for a healing service in the near future. Do I ask you and your wife, and your prayer partners to begin praying as well?   I believe this must be bathed in prayer before we move forward.  My congregation was well pleased with how you handled the service and the time you took to pray over those who wanted to be prayed over. Thank you so much.   Tell Jennifer I said thank you for her part in the service as well."

"I want you to know personally that I believe God has sent you to us here...and I am praying asking God for his mighty hand to move among us.  Please help me pray this prayer as we become what I hope to be good friends and godly witnesses for each other.   Thank you again.   I said to my prayer group this morning that I felt more alive spiritually than in a long time.   I believe it is my prayer life thanks to your encouragement when we met the on the 20th.  I will close, as I could go on and on about what God has and is doing for me and my church.  I feel as if I can see the light at the end of a long dark tunnel that this fellowship of believers has been through in the last 20 to 30 yrs.   I pray that I can embrace this light, and that you are the light God is sending.   In Christ Love Pastor Wayne."

At the end of October, Pastor Wayne invited us to go and pray for a young lady with cancer.  Her name is Taylor, and she had bone cancer as a child, then after treatment she went into remission.  However, it recently came back aggressively into her lungs, and the doctors told her she had four months to a year to live.  When we went to her home and met her, we discovered she is a believer.  She explained her illness, and how twenty tumors had grown inside her lungs, as well as on the outside of her lungs. 

So Len explained to her what the Word says about healing.  After receiving prayer, she was overwhelmed, and felt wonderful.  She said she was experiencing tingling all over her body.  We rejoiced with her and explained that was the presence of the Lord, and to go ahead and enjoy it. 

She also said that prior to our visit, she had been having extreme difficulty breathing.  In fact, just the night before, she had been experiencing such short, tight breathing that thought she was going to need an oxygen mask to help her.  But after prayer, she said she was amazed at how she could now breath so deeply and freely.  She kept taking deep breaths and was thrilled.  Hallelujah!

As you just read in Pastor Wayne's letter above, he has invited us to come and conduct a healing service at his church, which we have agreed to do.  But this is still being bathed in prayer, before a date is chosen for it.  We invite you to pray for this, too.  It's quite amazing since this pastor has not yet been baptized in the Spirit, and has never embraced any of this until now.  Likewise, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are something new that he and his denomination have not experienced yet.

Meanwhile, Len continues to meet with the other pastor, named Roger, to encourage and train him.  That continues to go well also.  Please pray for our ministry to these two pastors and their churches, that the Lord would pour out His Spirit and revive them, and that He would release healing to the sick whom we pray for, as well as deliver those who are bound.

As we mentioned already, Len traveled to Tennessee in October, which was a fruitful time of both ministry and fellowship, and he received positive feedback from those he met with.

Now and then, Len also receives messages from people in various places who read his blogs.  He read one recently from a lady named Vera A., who commented on his blog called, "Do You Want to Know Jesus."  This blog appears at the end of each blog Len writes, and each week there are several people viewing it.  Vera said, "Please, sir, how do I contact you?  I really want to serve God for the rest of my life.  I need guidance.  Please help me, man of God.  I want to maintain my relationship with God."  Praise the Lord for the way He continues to touch lives around the world through these blogs.  Please pray for Vera to maintain her relationship with God and serve Him for the rest of her life.

Rachael Mushala

Len recently received a comment from a sister in Christ named Rachael Mushala, from Zambia, in Southern Africa, regarding an article he wrote about an Armenian pastor he knows, who was raised from the dead.  She said, "God bless you, brother, for the work you are doing. Please how can I contact you. There are very important messages from The Lord, which I want to email to you."

Later she sent us her testimony of hell and her personal encounters with the Lord Jesus Christ.  After reading her testimony, Len asked her if he could post it online.  She wrote: "Yes that would be great. Please share it in any way you can for the glory of The Lord. That's what He wants.  I've been praying to God on where He wants me to share this online. Then the morning I emailed you, I dreamed I met some one who told me they were from Eternaldestinations.com.  Although I had seen the name of that site before, I hadn't checked what it contained.  So when I woke up, I checked your website and found that you share testimonies. I knew God wanted me to send this to you. God bless you."

Zipporah Mushala

Later Len spoke to her and checked on her references, who verified her godly character.  Now that he has done so, and published her amazing testimony online, we would like to encourage you to review it yourself, as well as the other articles it links to. We have also published her sister Zipporah's testimony, which itself is powerful. In fact, Zipporah's testimony was subsequently reposted on a Zambian News and Entertainment site called Tumfweko (see here).

Then in late October, Len was notified by one of our foreign contacts overseas of the supernatural rescue of a preacher in Africa, about whom he had previously published an article. He escaped an assassination attempt, and the story is amazing.  Since it is still being edited and is not ready in time to share with you in this current newsletter, we should have that for you next month, Lord willing.  So please don't miss it, because it's nothing short of miraculous, like Peter's escape from prison in the book of Acts.

Regarding other opportunities to serve, 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. 

Please join us in praying for the Lord to open doors of opportunity for us, that we would be fruitful for Christ, and that the Lord would raise up additional partners. Also pray that the Lord will provide the many things we need, in order to make this furlough possible, as well as the necessary finances. 

Resources:  This month we would also like to suggest Len's blog called, The Three Elijahs.  If you have not read this yet, we highly recommend it, since it defines the times we live in.  And if you have read it before, please see the newly added update in the "After-Word" section of this article.  Len has posted several new articles at Old News That's Still Fresh - November 2013, which we consider very important and we hope you don't miss! That includes the testimonies of the Zambian sisters and some prophetic end-time warnings.  Len's entire collection of his most popular blogs are at Writing for the Master.

We mentioned previously that we were interviewed on a Christian radio program in September. If you have not yet heard it, and would like to listen to the interview via podcast, it is available online by clicking this link.  We welcome your comments regarding this newsletter, so feel free to leave those below.

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:

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

1. For the way the Lord is ministering to and equipping the local pastors here with whom Len is meeting.
2. For the way the Lord touched and blessed the local church we ministered at, while the pastor was away.
3. For healing Taylor from cancer. 
4. For healing Charity from the significant health issues she recently encountered.
5. For protecting the children from the accidental release of mercury, and helping us decontaminate.
6. For helping us get our van repaired for a fourth of the cost that was initially estimated. 
7. For the amazing testimony of the Mushala sisters and connecting us with them.

Next steps and prayer needs:

1. For our ministry to these two pastors (Roger and Wayne) and their respective churches, that the Lord would pour out His Spirit and revive them, and that He would release healing to the sick whom we pray for in the upcoming services, as well as deliver those who are bound.
2. For Taylor to keep her healing from cancer that she received so powerfully from the Lord.
3. For Vera A. to maintain her relationship with God and serve Him for the rest of her life. 
4. For the Lord to provide all that we need to make our Stateside furlough possible.
5. For the Lord to open doors of opportunity for ministry, and give us safe travels as we travel around the States.
6. For the Lord to further expand the awareness of this ministry throughout the US, and raise up many new partners, who will sponsor us.
7. For the Lord to continue to move powerfully through the Word, our testimonies, and our ministry to those who come to hear us.
8. 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

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