AFCI World News

Church Growing in St Vincent

BY: Veral Blake, National Director

Talking about church! This past Sunday was exceptional at Harvest Bible Chapel St. Vincent – an outreach established by AFCI. It was our Friends & Family Sunday. We were overwhelmed at the response of the friends and family who turned out at the invitation of members and friends who attend our church. Normally our attendance on Sunday will be about 160. This Sunday we had 270 in attendance.

In the evening we showed the film "Courageous" and over 500 persons showed up. Most exciting of all is that several persons committed their lives to Christ in the morning and the movie challenged a wide cross section of men who brought their children to view the movie to really make a commitment to raise their children "God's way. Harvest Bible Chapel St. Vincent is one year and 5 months old .

To God's glory! It is the fastest growing church in St. Vincent presently. We are overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord of the bold step we took to evolve our small struggling congregations from a mere rippling brook to a mighty flowing stream. The father/son combination is having a great impact upon the nation. In fact Allister and I are now working on an article to be published soon regarding the efforts and effectiveness of our father/son tag teeming.

Christian School and Seminary Training in Peru

BY: Charlie Hanak, Americas Regional Director

I'm in Chimbote, Peru, with a group from Virginia (USA) who are making improvements to the Kindergarten classroom for the Cristo Redentor School (raising the roof so the room won't be so hot). As the only Christian school in a large barrio, Cristo Redentor is meeting an important need in the area. As an outreach of the Villa Maria Methodist Church, the school also provides outreach and care to the families of the students.

We have spent time with the faculty and students of the seminary training program sponsored by AFCI-Peru in Chimbote.  The pastors use the Cristo Redentor building in the evenings for their classes.  Ricardo Visurraga, National Director of AFCI-Peru, has arranged for the students to receive credit from the Evangelical Seminary in Lima.  The school year begins in March and 25 pastors are signed up.

                Seminary students saying, “Thank You!”

God’s Protection in St. Vincent

BY: Veral Blake, National Director

We want to share with you an experience we had a couple days ago as an encouragement for you to continue praying for us regularly and to show how valuable your prayer of protection is. On Wednesday night we were on our way home after a dinner appointment. As  we got on the outskirts of Kingstown the capital City,suddenly a little boy of about 8-9 years ran from one side of the street to get to the other directly in front of our vehicle. He was hit head on and knocked to the ground. Thankfully I was not driving fast so I was able to stop without running over him. He got some bruises but was not seriously injured.

Obviously it shook us up and sent Norma's pressure skyrocketing. The parents who ran a barber salon were nearby, The father had just left him in the saloon to go get some food at a nearby restaurant when the boy ran after him without him knowing.God had protected us from killing that child.

There was an interesting part to the incident. We took the mother and son to the hospital.When I told her who I was she was excited because since she was a child she listened to my children's program and always thought it was someone from overseas who hosted the program. She was ecstatic to meet me. An incident that could have resulted in distress and sorrow, God turned it into a blessing.

The child is doing well. He has no concussion. Never stop praying for our safety and protection.

New Tent Commissioned for Ministry in Guadeloupe

BY: Hayward Paul

The program was full of welcoming speeches, congratulations for the arrival of “The Tent,” and expressions of the new beginning for evangelism in Guadeloupe. Music filled the air as the three Johnson daughters led the singing backed by an ensemble of musicians that provided a subtle Caribbean beat to the many hymns and worship songs sung. When we sang “These are the days of Elijah…”, I was so stirred listening to the French, the Creole, even English – singing in all these languages with such great enthusiasm!

The congregation was large, filling the chairs – nearly all the 600 seats were full, with others standing inside and around The Tent. Representing AFCI, I lauded Raymond Johnson, his family and his team for pulling all this together, for his leadership in the Church in Guadeloupe, for his heart for the lost, and commissioning him for a strong return to evangelism using “The Tent” as a tool for his work. We gathered around and prayed for this man – for his strength, leadership and greater ministry to come.

When Raymond spoke the people listened – he told of his journey from being born in Dominica and born-again in Guadeloupe! The double entendre was not missed. His heart is for his adopted country and neighboring Francophone countries, where he yearns to bring the true Gospel. He spoke strongly, passionately and thankfully about the help he had received from his Christian countrymen in financing “The Tent,” providing the chairs, obtaining a bus, finding and financing a mobile storage unit – indeed a ship-container to house “The Tent” and supporting equipment. Raymond explained that the next two nights would be crusade-like, full of music and evangelism, an outreach to this area, and welcomed all to come and see again what was to happen.

It was a moving night, and the new journey was now beginning for Raymond Johnson, his family, the evangelicals in Guadeloupe, and perhaps many others who did not yet know the Lord . . . yet. 

         The Voice of Ambassadors for Christ Guadeloupe (AFCG La Voix)

Ministering in the midst of Tragedy in St. Vincent

BY: Veral Blake

We got back home on Saturday morning in time for the funeral of my cousin Ingrid, better known as Lyn, who was shot to death by her husband last week on Tuesday. The funeral was well attended. Those who attended heard a powerful Word from the Lord by Pastor Ormand Alexander who is also a relative of Ingrid. The three year old daughter's expressions to all who talk with her is "My mommy gone to Heaven and the police carry my daddy to jail." She no doubt was already impacted by her mother. The child's name is Sophia.

They found a list of at least 16 persons who were targeted to be killed. Our son Devon was very close to the family. It was the Saturday night before the shooting on Tuesday they had a social at their house. They were both in church on Sunday. The thing is he was not saved. Please continue to pray for little Sophia and the rest of the family. As God calls us to minister in the midst of evil, we pray for His strength and wisdom.

Church Planting Ministry in St. Vincent

For many years, Veral Blake, National Director for St. Vincent, has been involved in planting churches in his nation. Recently, Veral conferred the church planting role of AFCI to his son Allister and his wife, Debbie.

The Bible Churches that Veral started have all been consolidated into this new church venture that started last year and is quickly developing into a very dynamic and growing church body, called Harvest Bible Chapel.

Harvest Bible Chapel has already exerted a very strong spiritual impact upon the nation after just one year. People have been very favorable to a father/son combination due to the long and outstanding impact of Veral Blake’s ministry in his nation.

Harvest Bible Chapel was officially launched on September 4, 2010, at the Aquatic Club which was a popular night club. At first people were very skeptical of church being held in a night club. After one year that place has been changed from a night club to a Worship Center where lives are being transformed.

Canada Establishes Pastors’ Training Institute in D.R.

In the spring of this year a dream was finally realized regarding the ministry in the Dominican Republic. Canadian National Director, Brian Hamilton, and his wife Linda had been praying for several years about the need for good pastoral training in the Dominican. In March, 2011, a Diploma Program was announced and officially launched for pastors in the Puerto Plata area. This program has been fully translated into Spanish and was met with an enthusiastic endorsement by the pastors’ association.

The diploma will consist of 12 core courses:

1. Biblical Interpretation & Study Techniques
2. Genesis (Welcome to the God of History)
3. Old Testament Survey
4. New Testament Survey
5. Biblical Theology I
6. Biblical Theology II
7. The Gospels and the Life of Christ
8. Acts The Epistle of Church Growth
9. Romans (Transformation Made Real)
10. First John (Genuine Christianity)
11. Church History (Biblical Roots and Heritage)
12. Nehemiah (Biblical Leadership)

AFCI Canada has partnered with a sister Canadian ministry, Project L.A.M.B.S., to offer the training over a three year period. Please join us in praying that God will use this to enhance the extension of His Kingdom in the Dominican Republic.

Pictured here are a few of the pastors and spouses enjoying a traditional Dominican meal at the “launching” event.

Canada helps the Dominican Republic with Bibles

A reality in many of the developing countries of the world is that many national believers cannot afford or have no access to a Bible. This is an ongoing concern to AFCI Canada team as they minister in various countries throughout Latin America. One way they are addressing this need in the Dominican Republic is through Bible month.

The book stores in the Dominican Republic declare each September, “Bible Month,” and they discount Spanish bibles by 30%. This is still unaffordable for most Dominican believers. The AFCI Canada team raise money throughout the year so that each September their point person in the Dominican can purchase a quantity of Bibles to distribute to needy churches, especially those in remote mountain communities. The pastors of these churches have to submit names of those in their congregation who can read and need a Bible. The Bibles are then distributed based on the greatest need.

Pictured is pastor Cristian and his wife with a batch of newly acquired Bibles. If you would like to participate in this vital ministry, your designated gifts can be sent to AFCI International office or the AFCI Canada office.

Reaching out Through Radio in St. Vincent

Veral Blake, National Director for St. Vincent, has been on the radio in the Caribbean for many years.  This year they celebrated 30 years on radio! There are three radio programs that air on a regular basis:

• ViewPoint
• Children's Bible Club
• Ambassadors for Christ Broadcast

ViewPoint is a 5 minute Christian commentary that generates a lot of discussion in the community. The “Children’s Bible Club” has a vast listening audience of children in St. Vincent.  And the “AFC Broadcast” is heard on 15 stations across the region, focused on Bible teaching and evangelism.

Veral just wrote to say, “Our plan this year is to expand the radio outreach to another 3 stations. Presently I am preaching a series of messages on ‘eternal security.’ I got a call from a listener in St. Lucia who felt that he was rejected by God because he had failed the Lord so many times even though in his heart there was a voice telling him God still loves him. The program gave him a great sense of reassurance of God's love for him.”

Tent Ministry in Guadeloupe

Raymond Johnson, National Director for Guadeloupe, has quite an extensive evangelism ministry across the nation.  Several times each year they rent a tent to hold evangelistic services, and many have come to know the Lord though these tent meetings.  Now, the AFCI Guadeloupe ministry is seeking to purchase a tent of their own, so they can expand the number of meetings and reach more people.  To rent a tent for one week costs over $4,000, but they can purchase one of their own for $35,000 to $40,000.  If they use it only 10 times, it will have already paid for itself.  Because of the French laws in Guadeloupe, any mass evangelism work outside has to be conducted under a tent, not in the open air.  An amount of $15,000 has already been contributed in Guadeloupe.  Now they are looking for others to help reach the goal of purchasing a new tent that would be owned by AFCI.