ISRAEL VIA NICARAGUA

Early on in the Hurricane relief effort, the Lord blessed me with the privelege of meeting a man named Eric. Eric had a whole lot of people praying for him. He wasn't really in a good place as far as his spiritual condition was concerned. He likes to tell of the time we met. Because of the rules that the relief center had, Eric couldn't stay on the parking lot overnight. The church where I was working had a huge parking lot, but if we let one person stay, then the place would become a refugee camp, and the church didn't want that. I always had a problem with being rigid in those decisions, so sometime I would make an exception, and tell people they could park there for the night just as long as they made sure to find another place tomorrow. People were in a mess, and I saw the relief center as a place where desperate people could go to get relief. Any way, I was the one who was delegated to tell Eric he couldn't park there, and as a result I was the bad guy. In his eyes at that moment I was just like all the other Christians that had given him a sour taste for Christianity. But the Lord wasn't done with Eric. Another ministry that was working with us was feeding about 2-3000 people a day, and Eric would come to eat.

After about a week, he surrendered his life to the Lord, and hung around the relief center for a few months (leaving his camper and dumptruck at the Winn Dixie, and walking about a mile to come and hang out at the prayer tent every day), getting discipled in the things of the Lord. It was wonderful to watch him grow in the Lord. We became friends. Eventually he was baptized in our portable baptismal in front of the tent. Hallelujah! He just bloomed while he was there. His countenance changed, and he was active in the relief center and the prayer tent, and becoming a real man of God.

Well, it turns out that Eric has a mother who loves the Lord. He was on prayer lists across the country. And the Lord used Katrina to get him where he needed to be. GLORY! It is amazing how the Lord works. This past 4th of July, Eric's mother blessed our family by getting us and Eric's family a condo at Gulf Shores Alabama for three days of R & R. In August, I got a call from Eric. "Hey man, how would you like to go to Israel?" I told Eric I would love to go to Israel, but I don't have a passport, and I had been told years ago that I couldn't get a passport because of my pre-Chistian felonious ways. Eric said, "Well, why don't you try? Mom wants to send me and you to Israel at the end of October." He then said that if I have any problems because of my past, she knew some Senators who would probably be able to help me out with that issue of my past. I said, "O.K., bro. I will look into it."

The first thing I discovered was that passports cost about $90.00. Having $90.00 to just spend on something that isn't "essential" to our life isn't a normal aspect of our day to day walk of Faith. But, as He sees fit, the Lord our Provider does bless us with an abundance sometimes so it wasn't in the realm of impossibility that we could get blessed with an extra 90.00. I submitted that to the Lord. And that's where I left it. The walk of Faith the Lord has us on prohibits us from letting people know about our needs, let alone the fact that I had an opportunity to go to Israel, but I couldn't afford a passport. I couldn't even let Eric know that I couldn't afford a passport even if I could get one, because he would tell his mom, and his mom would probably spring for the passport. BUT that wouldn't be a clear indication that the trip was of God.

Then to top it off, I discovered that there were new travel restrictions, that everyone who leaves the country even to go to Mexico needs a passport. Passports normally took six to eight weeks to get, unless you expedited them. But now with this new law, in some cases, it was taking three to six months to get a passport. That meant that I woulld have to expedite the process, and that would cost me 200.00 on one website that I went to, making the prospect of getting a passport even more remote. But, I just gave it to the Lord, and said, if You want me to do this, You will make a Way. Even though ISRAEL would be a wonderful place to experience, I have been a missionary to the United States for 19 years. I now the United States needs it. So I am perfectly content with being restricted to domestic travel, if that is what the Lord wants for me!

On September 1, Eric's mom (Karen) sent me an itinerary of the trip. Now the date was for the 7th of October. Even if the Lord gave me two hundred dollars extra, the way the passport crunch was on, it would be a challenge to get the passport in time. But I submitted that to the Lord one more time, and told Him that I just wanted His Will to be done. Then I waited on Him. On Monday the 3rd, I pretty much dismissed it as a good idea, but the fact is, I have things that the Lord has me doing right here, and that's good enough. But the Lord our Provider had other plans. On Tuesday, the 5th of September, I got a phone call from Pastor Dennis Watson from Celebration Church. "Lance, we have missionaries in Nicaragua, and hurricane Felix is about to hit there. I was wondering if you would be interested in going down there with a team to assess the situation and see what Celebration Church could do to assist in recovery." I told Dennis that I would love to do that, but I didn't have a passport. I told him I even had an opportunity to go to israel, but the passport offices are overwhelmed with requests for passports, and it wouldn't be possible for me to go." Dennis said "Lance, I have a friend in the Passport office downtown and I can get you a passport in a day!"

On the sixth of September I walked in and got my passport. Hallelujah! On the 12th we were in Nicaragua, and on the 7th of October I was on my way to Israel. What a delight to see the way the Lord opens doors for His children! He truly is the God of the Impossible! The walk of Faith and trust in the Lord to be our sole (soul) Provider is so exciting!

HURRICANE FELIX RELIEF

On the thirteenth of September Chris and I were in a motel room in Nicaragua. The day was Rosh Ha Shannah, the Jewish New year...for me it is the only new year that counts! Anyway, I commented to Chris. "I am bring in the New year on foreign soil...Maybe that is just the beginning of new things the Lord has for me in the way of foreign missions"... The Lord Knows. Me, well I will just wait on Him and see His Wonderful Works unfold!

I fell in love with the Miskito indians there....they suffered such devastation, yet there are smiles on the faces of everyone you meet...welcoming you and grateful for whatever you can do. When we went down there, we met with a spanish interpreter, LaRue, and a pastor in Managua. We flew from Managua to Puerto Cabezas, where we stayed at Verbo Ministries while we were there. The day after we arrived, LaRue tried to make contacts with various people who might have trucks to hire to take us to the Miskito villages. We tried five different sources, and each one said they were already hired out. LaRue finally told us that there was no one to be found who could take us to the villages. I said "My experience with Jesus isn't like that! There's a truck and guide waiting to meet us someplace. He wouldn't bring us down here for nothing!" Of course, The Lord our Provider knew we would need a guide, and not just any guide, but the best qualified as well as a Christian, and he had already set the Plan in motion.

When we had arrived at the airport the day before, some of our baggage had been left behind, because of weight restrictions. After we struck out trying to locate a driver, we went to the airport to pick up our luggage. While there I noticed a man in a big white pickup. I walked up to him, told him what we were doing, and what we needed. He agreed to be our guide for two days. David Cleban is a Miskito Indian, who speaks English and Spanish. Every village we went to, the people knew him. In the words of one man we met, "David is famous among the Miskito Indians!" We were able to visit 21 villages in two days. I told the judges that we met (judges are the leaders of the villages) that we were there to assess the situation and to see if our churches could help in some way. I told them that I could make no promises, but we WANT to help. In every case, the judge would look me in the eye and say "if you can come and help us, we will be here. If you cannot help us we will still be here."

The Moravian Brethren have made an evident impact in the villages...every village has a Moravian church. Most of the churches have been destroyed. Whie I was there, I saw clearly how effective it would be if Churches, Civic organizations, corporations, or individuals would adopt a village to rebuild, and just concentrate their efforts on that one village. Pastor Earl of Verbo Ministries in Puerto Cabezas estimates that it would cost 75,000 - 120,000 dollars to rebuilld a nearby village of 60 homes!

Since I have been back, I have done a lot of internet work trying to connect with people who might be able to adopt a village. I HAVE EVEN TRIED TO CONTACT ANGELINA JOLIE AND BRAD PITT, AS WELL AS SOME OTHER INFLUENTIAL PERSONALITIES in the hopes that they would be a catalyst to assist the people there. But I don't have the savvy to do that! Of course, I myself am not trying to collect funds or lead a team...but I can connect people who are interested in helping with contacts we made there.

The town where we are staying is the home of the Tunica Biloxi Indian tribe. The tribe owns a large casino here, and on the way back from the airport, Michelle suggested that I talk to the chairman of the tribe about sending help down there. Chairman Earl Barbry and I met on the 26th of November, and he asked me to connect him with a representative of the Miskito Indians down there. In February, a council of 38 tribes from the Southeast will meet, and he will get this representative before the tribe, if I can line that out. I just spoke on the phone last week with brother David Cleban, our guide in Nicaragua, and he said he would be interested in representing his people. HALLELUJAH! Please lift this whole thing up in prayer. I have even tried to contact leaders of other American Indian councils. I thought wouldn't that be neat if the Native Americans of the U.S. could help the Native Americans of Nicaragua! Please pray that the Lord will open doors for that needed help. I posted a video on Youtube about the Miskito Indians. If you have internet access, you can find the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeWH_VwFzeM

SHEMA, ISRAEL, ADONAI, ELOHENU, ADONAI, ECHAD!

israel!

Praise the Lord! ISRAEL. The Country in which my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, and called of God to minister to and redeem the people that He had chosen to be set apart for His Glory among the nations. Somewhere along the line, those people had lost their way, and Jesus came to call them to repentance. I spent a week there, being blessed to take in the sights and sounds of this Land that practically every Christian and Jew wants to experience. I am blessed to have gone, but I will tell you a week is like touching a piece of gourmet food to your tongue, and not being able to fully savor the exquisite taste!

Maybe someday the Lord our Provider will send me there again for a longer period of time. But, if not, I was blessed to taste what I tasted! I got to wander around the ruins of Caesarea, the place where Paul received sanctuary as a new convert from the disciples, and later where he was brought before Herod to be judged by him, and where Cornelius the centurion and his friends received the Holy Spirit! I got to see an ancient Roman theater, and sat on the seats of that theater, imagining how many citizens of that once great nation would gather by the multitudes and take in the performing arts. There is a preserved piece of a seat inscribed with the words "Pontius Pilate" on it. Just on the other side of the theater, there was a hippodrome, a place where sports events like chariot races and gladiator fights took place, and where even Christians may have been persecuted, tortured, and fed to the lions. There was a well where what was believed to be Herod's palace sat, and where Paul may have appeared before Felix and Festus, governors of Caesarea. Lead tablets were found inside the well, with inscriptions to various gods of spells of blessings and protection on whoever drank the water of the well! They didn't know of lead poisoning back then, so their blessings were actually curses. Even today people heap curses on themselves as they seek blessings from gods other than the One True God.

Paul stayed for two years in Caesarea after which he appeared before Herod Agrippa himself, and the chances were good that I stood in the very places where Paul himself and some of the disciples stood! As I read Acts 24-26, the Word comes more alive now as I envision the Mediterranean Sea and the sound of the waves that pound incessantly at the shore.

I got to see Mount Carmel where Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a contest to see whose God was the One True God.

I stood on Tel Megiddo and got to look over the valley known as Har Megiddo, a place that the Bible tells us the kings of the earth who have been deceived by the unclean spirits that came forth from the dragon, the beast and the false prophet will gather against Israel. I got to view the Syrian border, and got to hear a lot about the six day war.

I got to spend two nights in a kibbutz, a Jewish settlement, and got to learn about the structure and function of the kibbutz. We rode a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and went to Capernaum, in the area where Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. I even got to baptize one of our group in the Jordan River.

We visited Old Jerusalem, and I prayed at the wailing wall. We visited the Holocaust museum, where I saw displays that speak of the injustices the Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church (for many, "Catholic and Christian" are synonymous with each other) through the centuries. The gospel was to the Jew first, and then the Gentile, but so many of the Gentiles excluded the Jewish people from the Truth that is in Jesus Christ because of their anti-Semitism or their accusations throughout time that the Jews killed Jesus.

Jews were accused of sacrificing gentile babies and drinking their blood by officials in the Catholic Church, which led to them being persecuted and being forced to convert or die during the Spanish inquisition. Hitler was a Catholic, and the Pope at that time was for the most part silent about the atrocities that were happening at the hands of the Nazis. At the Holocaust museum I wept as I saw pictures and films and read personal accounts of the atrocities that were done to the Jewish people, and how, for the most part, the Church remained silent. In 1939, the Pope obtained visas for 3,000 Jews to enter Brazil, but those Jews had been baptized and converted to Catholicism.

Just about every place where the Bible mentions that Jesus walked, you can be almost sure to find a Catholic church erected. There is the Church of the Multiplication where Jesus is believed to have fed the 5,000. There is a Church where Peter's wife's mother lived! The ancient ruins of Capernaum are spread out in the shadow of a 2nd century synagogue. The structure of a first century house is enshrined by a huge building that sits over the house, with a glass floor where you can view the place "where Peter slept"! There is the Church of the mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. There is the Church of the Annunciation, and in Jerusalem, there is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Church of the Ascension. At every one of these sites, there are souvenir shops where you can buy Holy water, Holy oil, and Holy sand. At the Church of the Multiplication, the souvenir booth there was selling Smirnoff vodka in addition to the wine and the olive oil!

Our guide was Jewish. He was a secular Jew. He had been raised in the Orthodox religion, and he was very knowledgeable concerning the history of Israel. But while he was very polite, and a very good guide, he was generally resistant to the Gospel. He told me several times during our days together that he believes in God and that he respects everyone's religion, but there was always a wall that came up when I began to get personal about his relationship with God. Nonetheless I had many good one on one conversations with him, and the opportunity to plant some seeds of my personal testimony in his heart. He reminded me of the many Jews who come from Israel that I have had the opportunity to witness to at Mardi Gras; a large number of them are either agnostic or atheistic. Every time he would begin his speech about a biblical spot, he would say "and tradition says that this is the spot where Jesus"... How many times has he stopped at the same places, gave the same spiels, and watched the same scenes replayed over and over as the "pilgrims" would put their hand in a spot where "tradition" says that Jesus rested his hand against the wall as he climbed the upgrade along the via Dolorosa, or as they would buy the holy water, holy sand, or holy oil from the various sites along the way?

How many times did he take groups to the shrine of the Holy Sepulcher and watch them as they stood in line to touch a spot that was purported to be the "center of the universe"!? That spot in the church of the Holy Sepulchre reminded me of how we humans have the mentalitiy that we are the center of the universe, so centered on the self, that we fail to give God the priority in our lives!

The streets of each town that we went to were filled with souvenir shops that sold religious items, both Jewish and Christian. As you grow up in that environment, seeing people market Jesus, Catholicism and Judaism, and the foolishness that accompanies the religious mindset, your heart will get desensitized to the things that are holy, because you have seen so much of what the Bible defines as Holy profaned and that which is defined by the Bible as profane being sanctioned by tradition as "Holy". As it happens to Israel, any one who has eyes to see can see that same type of religious desensitization is what is happening to the people of the United States.

Christianity is being marketed daily through the media and from the pulpit, and people are seeing the sham that it has become, and are rejecting the Truth that is in Jesus Christ. To the Jew first and then the Gentile. When we were at the Mount of Olives, I stood and looked over the old city, and I believe that I felt some of the sadness that Jesus felt as He looked over the city, and wept over it.

Luk 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

The reason those things were hid from the Jewish people was because of the traditions, the hypocrisy and the compromise of the Religious leaders, who, through their vain traditions had made the Word of God of none effect. To the Jews first. And then the Gentiles. How the religious leaders of that day had done so much in the way of vain tradition and the pursuit of money and compromise of the faith and contributed to causing the Truth that is in Jesus Christ to be hid from the eyes of the people that God had chosen to be His! And I could see it for what it was that day as I looked over the city. As is the case for so many in Israel, the Truth was hidden from the eyes of our guide because of the marketing of Jesus and Judaism, and the vain traditions in each religion that were so prevalent every where we went.

Jesus Christ Himself declared that NO ONE can come to the Father but through Him. But due to the mockery and the cheapening of the Gospel that we (not just the Catholics) who profess to be Christians have made of Christianity through our commercialism, materialism, covetousness, compromise, hypocrisy, and the anti-Semitic attitude that so many Christians hold, the Jewish people are kept from realizing that the Messiah has already come and will be coming back soon for those who are His.

But it is not just the Jewish people who are being turned off by the cheapening of the Gospel at the hands of the Church; It's the world in general. Worshipping the Almighty God has become for many an entertainment industry. Churches that have talented musicians and wonderful orators are what draws the crowds. Talent and oratorial skills do not neccesarily equate with the anointing from the Holy Spirit, yet it seems that many behave as if they do. Talent and speaking skills are good things, but when Christians use that criteria to determine where they are going to spend their two hours a week, it's wrong!

True disciples will end up being ministers of the gospel. That is the purpose of the five fold ministry, to train Christians to be ministers. Most churches just have a few who minister on a regular basis. That is wrong. As I stood on the mount, overlooking Jerusalem, I realized just what it means "to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles".

The world laughs at what Christianity has become, and slips further into Hell as Ministers preach against covetousness, and then market the gospel, peddling sanctified prayer cloths, or miracle water, books or cds and making millions through slick orations and entertainment in the Name of "Jesus".

The world laughs and slips further into Hell as Ministers preach about Faith, and then rely on their own understanding and their ability to make things happen, like many smooth talking con artists whose conniving ways are supposed to be sanctified because they use the Word of God to fatten their wallet.

The world laughs and slips further into Hell as the fat gluttonous t.v. preacher preaches against the sins of the world, while it is obvious that his god is his belly.

When I stand before God as a minister of the gospel, I pray that I will not be found guilty of compromising His Word for my gain, whether that would be in the area of recognition, my family, finances, or the size of the ministry the Lord entrusted me with. I have lost some "friendships" because I have spoken the truth at the risk of losing support or even opportunities to minister. I am not perfect. I am flawed more than some. I am not the best father. I am not the ideal husband. I am not the best example of a Christian. THAT IS WHY I NEED JESUS! But the only goal that I have is to hear my Lord say "well done, thou good and faithful servant! enter into the joy of your Lord."

There are a lot of times when I am on my prayer walk that I weep over the Church in the United States. There have been times when I looked into the eyes of ministers I respected and wept because they have been blinded to the compromise they have sold themselves to.

As I looked over the old city Jerusalem, I understood that now I will even weep a lot more, being more aware of Jesus' words. They apply so much to us as the Church today:

Luke 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?

O.k. so I will step off my soap box now and tell you about the family.

Talitha is 21 now, and thank You, Jesus, she is still living with us! She is a great help around here. Like I said, she and Michelle did most of the cleaning up of the vehicles, and she helps keep the family front in line as well, as far as keeping the fifth wheel tidy. She is working at Blockbuster while we are here. The pay is pretty lousy, but puts some change in her pocket anyway. Like I said, we have had a challenge with getting her 1973 Volkswagen Fastback up and running.

Feather has been in Nevada, Pennsylvnia and South Carolina since last year, with a 2 month stay with us recently before going to South Carolina, and yesterday she called to tell us that her boyfriend is now her fiance! Will (her fiance) called me and asked for permission to marry her. Will is a Christian and comes from a Christian family, so what could I say? I appreciate the fact that he called and asked.They are thinking about next November.

Elijah is 15, and taller than me. He helps me with some mechanical work when I can get him away from the computer. Grace is 13, and likes to cook, Noah is 9 years old and full of mischief, Abby is 6 and likes to dress up , and Hoshea's 3 and runs the house. He is quite a worker. I love my children.

And Michelle? She's got a hand full just keeping all of her kids in line, including me! I thank God that He blessed me with my wife.

Not too long ago I had a kidney stone attack, and while I was in complete agny, she was led of the Lord to get her dulcimer and started to play and sing "Are You Washed In the Blood". As she sang, the pain subsided and I began to praise the Lord! I believe it was directly related to the music! Please pray for her that she would be bold enough to step out and utilize this gift of hers. She has a beautiful voice, but she is also shy as well!

Please pray for all of us that we would continue to walk in His Will, and not swerve to the right or the left. Also, please remember to pray for every person and ministry that I mentioned in this newsletter, that the Lord would bless them and keep them, and cause them to prosper in His Ways.

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