TWIST

This Week In Short-Term Missions:

Haiti:

We have a guy at our Haitian Seminary teaching from 10/29-11/12.
We have a team of 19 going into Port-au-Prince to build 2 houses for our Homes For Haiti project from 11/04-11/13.

Colombia:

We have a group in Baranquilla partnering with E3 Partners working on evnagelism and church planting from 10/29-11/05.

Below our some pictures from the most recent team in Port-au-Prince working on our Homes For Haiti project.

Family Time

Perhaps nothing else can make you better appreciate family than an extended time away from them.  I got back from Texas this past Thursday, and I've enjoyed these past couple of days being with Brie and Ali.  This past Saturday, after not having much time with each other, all three of us traveled up to Chicago for the day.  It was a lot of fun.  We drove by Wrigley Field, Navy Pier, and enjoyed walking through their free zoo and along the lake.

This week has been fairly busy too for us.  Currently we have 4 teams out on the field and are already working on trips as far out as April 2012.  It's a true joy to help people participate in the Great Commission overseas and it's always nice to hear how they've been impacted by the trip that (with your help and support) we were able to put together for them.  This weekend is One Weekend.  It gives people from all over the U.S. a chance to come rub shoulders with missionaries and get a feel for what mission life is like and helps them explore if becoming a missionary is something they would like to consider.

Thank you for your prayers while I was out of town.  Brie and Ali felt very well taken care of and prayed for.  Brie is feeling much better and I think Ali is finally getting over her sinus infection.  Luckily, our health insurance kicks in next week, so she can go to the doctor.  Please continue to pray for us, the teams we have out in the field and One Weekend this Friday-Sunday.

His Servants!

Brent, Briyana, and Aliyana

TWIST

This Week In Short-Term Missions

Haiti:

Our Homes For Haiti team hard at work.

We have a Homes For Haiti team of 11 in
Port-au-Prince until October 30.
We have a team of 3 in Mirabelais to work on a downlink site for our Radio Station Radio 4VEH until October 26.
We have a team of 11 from Columbus, IN in Cap Haitian doing radio distribution and evangelism until October 26.
We have 1 guy going into Cap Haitian to teach at Emmaus Seminary October 29-November 12.

Colombia:

We have a prayer team of 7 in Medellin, Colombia to support the ECC Church Multiplication Training event until October 29.
We have an evangelism team joining 49 others in Barranquilla, Colombia October 29-November 5.  They will be using the EvangeCube and I Am Second materials and training along with E3 Partners.

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane...

Here we are supporting the University of Indianapolis
(where Briyana works) with our U-Indy t-shirts. 

It seems as though everytime I fly somewhere, I always get, "I'm leaving on a jet-plane, don't know when I'll be back again." stuck in my head.  Fortunately, I know when I'll be back.  I'm heading to Texas to hopefully finish up raising support for our ministry and visit some friends and supporters. 

While I'm gone, please keep Briyana and Ali in your prayers.  Brie has been under the weather the past couple of days and she fears that she has a sinus infection.  Unfortunately, our insurance doesn't kick into effect until November.  Ali has also not been feeling well.  Infact, yesterday she came to work with me because she was not well enough to go to parents-day-out.

This past week, our church started a new series on money.  It was a fantastic sermon and I feel really challenged each individual to take a hard look at how they view money.

God Bless You!

Brent, Briyana, and Aliyana

This Week In Short Term:

Haiti:

We have a team of 6 in Port-au-Prince finishing a Homes For Haiti project until October 16.

We have a team of 6 going into Port-au-Prince October 15-23 to build a house with the Homes For Haiti project.

We have a team of 3 going to Mirabelais October 18-26 to work on a downlink site for Radio 4VEH.

We have a team of 11 from Columbus, IN going into Cap Haitian October 19-26 to do evangelism and radio distribution.

Weekly Update

This past week went by way too fast.  All week, my parents were in town, and we had a blast showing them around town, headquarters, and sharing baby time with them.  Ali is discovering how to laugh recently and she has been much more expressive.  It's been a hoot to see her interact with people.  Thank you for your prayers concerning my parents saftey and health.  Both of them got back home safely yesterday, and beside the incident I already mentioned in a previous post, both left perfectly healthy.

We had the chance this past Saturday to go to a open house where Brie is teaching.  It was hosted by the Student Nursing Association, and it was really neat to see all the professors and staff she interacts with. 

This past Sunday we went to Common Ground Church and they were talking about their strategy for staying effective in reaching the community of Indianapolis and being a biblical model of a church.  Rather than growing larger and become less intimate, we are going to grow smaller by spreading out and develop more churches, so we can be more intimate and effective sharing the love of Christ with those we live around in our community.  To many this doesn't make sense.  At first, it took me a little while to understand, but now I do and I can't wait to see the results.

This week, please pray that Brie and I would find time for each other, pray that we would find time to be in the Word, and that we would be delibrate in the conversations we have with our co-workers and sphere of influence.

God Bless!

Brent, Briyana, and Aliyana

TWIST

This Week In Short Term:

Haiti:

We have a work team of 6 in Cap Haitian, Haiti September 10 - October 5. This team is a family from Nebraska who is working at our medical clinic.  Please pray for their safe travel and transition back into U.S. culture.  Pray that in the coming weeks they will be able to digest what they saw God do overseas, and hear what the Lord wanted to teach them.

We have a team of 6 going to Port-au-Prince, Haiti October 3-10 to work on a Homes For Haiti project. 

2011 U.S. Ministry Team Summary

As of September 30, 2011 Men For Missions has helped lead 77 teams to 12 countries with 529 people participating.  Countries include Bulgaria, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Russia, Rwanda, Thailand, and Ukraine.

We estimate that we still have another 15 teams and nearly 100 more participants going out into the world before years end. 



Statistics don't mean a lot, but they sure help an individual see how God is working throughout the world.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

Brent, Briyana, and Aliyana

Urgent Prayer Request from Haiti

Friends,
The note below is about the Haitian doctor who runs Bethesda Medical Clinic on the OMS missionary campus near Cap Haitian, Haiti.
Please pray for Dr. Rodney and his family during this time.

Dear Haiti friends,

Early last Friday morning Dr. Rodney Baptiste was taken to Milot Hospital with
severe abdominal pains. Sunday morning they performed surgery to remove his
appendix which had ruptured. He is in very serious condition.

Dr. Rodney is the administrator and primary doctor of the Bethesda Medical
Clinic at Vaudreuil.

Pray also for his wife, Vedane, his three small children and extended
family during this crisis.

Ecuador Medical Team Update

Here is a quick note I received about our team that just got back from a medical trip to Ecuador:

Greeting from Ecuador!

Thank you so much for the prayers these past two weeks and more.  The medical team in Susudel went very well, many were helped physically and spiritually.  We were a great team composed of four practitioners, Dr. Douce, Dr. Kime, Anaclare and Lila, both nurse practitioners.  The nurses from the Indiana Wesleyan bachelor program were a great encouragement to us all as they helped in so many ways.  The people we served work mostly in making bricks or in agriculture.  One way we could really help them was by cleaning out ears.  All ages were found to have ears packed with all kinds of "gunk".  The nurses carefully cleaned them and they were able to help so many hear better.  Nancy Kime fitted about 140 people with reading glasses.  Many couldn’t read but were so grateful for glasses to do daily tasks.   We treated a lot of elderly people who haven’t seen a doctor in years.  We saw pastor Nevio’s father who is 99 years old and in pretty good health!  The team brought more toothbrushes than we could even distribute which made me happy.  One man with terrible teeth said he never had his own toothbrush.  It was maybe a little too late for him but some of the younger people were very thankful.

People from the church were encouraged by the evangelism and outreach to unsaved neighbors and we need to pray that they will attend the church and receive Christ as Savior.  Pray for pastor Carlos and others at the church as they do follow up.

We traveled up to Quito to see the team off and also to attend the 34^th anniversary of the Ecuadorian Association of Churches celebrated in the central district which is Quito and surrounding cities and villages.  The church in Yachil was the host church this year.  They shared about the intense persecution against the gospel in the 80's and 90's.  Now the church is strong and growing.  The visiting churches presented songs, dances, and dramas.  Here are a few pictures. 

One special blessing and testimony was the participation of a family from Puyo who are indigenous Shuar people.  The husband was a witch doctor and drunk, but he came to know Jesus only about a month ago!  He and his family sang new songs they have learned about Jesus and testified about how He had transformed their lives.  PRAY THAT THEY WILL REMAIN STRONG AND GROWING IN FAITH.

Have a great week as you follow Him.

Brent, Briyana, and Aliyana