Mission Possible

condensed from a letter by Lenny Funtecha

In volume 1, 1993, BIMI WORLD, an article by missionary Rick Martin reported the story of a young Filippino family headed to the island of Haiti as missionaries. The following article updates you on the progress of Leny Funtecha.

Several months after we arrived in Haiti, back in July of 1992, we heard in the news that the United States had a new President. Obviously, the majority of the Haitians liked him so much. They were hoping that now true democracy would be established in the country. A few months after he took office, a large number of observers from the U.S. came to monitor the situation. We heard they tried everything to save Haiti out of various problems such as political instability but the mission ended in failure and disappointment. The countries that promised to help turned to sanctions so that food and fuel couldn’t come in.

Haiti now is facing a terrible problem but I do believe that saving lives out of darkness and death is the basic, proper and best solution to this problem. Evangelism is the only remedy. The preaching of God’s Word will never return to Him void. Therefore, we have laboured and we have seen some results.

IN THE BEGINNING

We began the ministry last summer July 12, 1993, a little less than a year after arriving in Haiti. Although I couldn’t speak the language well, I never considered this as an excuse not to begin the work. I hired a few people to work with me. They were not well-trained and they wondered how to do it.

In the morning, we conducted children’s classes and in the afternoon, house-to-house Bible studies. We gave tracts and witnessed anytime, anywhere. Our children's classes grew from 14-16 classes per week. We had 700 in attendance. The Home Bible studies reached 30 houses per week. Both children and adults were saved.

THE MIRACLE

We were praying to have 60 children and adults in our first Sunday service. The Lord gave us 102. Is it not a miracle? Five accepted Christ as their Saviour. The following Sunday our attendance increased. We had an average of 136 each week in the month of September.

The following month, our theme was “Pute Fuui Pun Boundie” (Bearing Fruits For God). For the whole month we had 68 first-time visitors. Twenty-three of them were saved.

While the country is in the midst of trouble, our evening service is doing fine. Some said that it is hard to hold an evening service because of the danger. I persuaded the people and talked to them about dedication and faithfulness in the Lord’s work. Since we began, we only had one Sunday service with less than 25 in attendance. Thank God for this miracle.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Sowing the precious seed (the Word of God) in the hearts of men produces life that never ends. Six people have followed in believer's baptism. As I performed the ceremony, I cried within my heart looking at these candidates. I pray the Lord will use them to lead others to Christ.

Last December 26, we had our Christmas program in the church. We were praying to have 150 children and adults come. We prepared 200 little gifts. Some of these came from a lady who was led to the Lord by my wife two months ago. Some came from our Filipino friends who attended the church. On that day we had 235 people. Seven adults were saved. Our gifts were insufficient, but although some did not receive a gift, most of them understood that the best gift in life is the Lord Jesus Christ.

My wife and I enjoyed our second Christmas in Haiti so much. God gave us new friends and new people with whom to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.

SPECIAL REPORT

The embargo has caused a major problem to the majority of the 6.5 million people who live in Haiti. Right now, there is a serious fuel shortage. People are lining up their cars once a week for gas. Some buy gas at the black market which costs three times more than the regular price. The fare and water have also gone up. There is a lot of talk that some people are making money out of these problems. Some said, “The rich become richer, and the poor become poorer.”

As we go on house-to-house visitation around the villages, we always meet people asking for money and medicine. There are times I help them but often I can’t. Some of them murmur saying, “You are sent by God to help.” They desperately need help but except these people be born again they will never find hope.