Ministry Newsletter

Dear Friends:

I’m so grateful for all of our prayer partners. When the enemy attacks, we know we are not alone in the battle. I’m asking you to please pray for Jospephine Wakahasha, who directs our women’s project in Goma, Congo, with her husband, Udjasiri (below). These precious friends are in a serious crisis. Josephine contracted typhoid fever last week and she experienced bleeding in her stomach as a result. She is home from the hospital, but she will require surgery if the bleeding doesn’t stop in a week. Please agree with us for a miracle of healing for her.

Thank you for praying for us, and for the international team of The Mordecai Project. In April I traveled to El Rosario, Guatemala, where we now operate Casa de Estér, our women’s shelter that is serving the Zacapa region. I was so excited to see how God has raised up a strong team of women to serve there. Below you can see some of the women who are volunteering, along with the three women who are the directors—Ana Estér Paz, Mandy Oliva and Delila Oliva. Women are coming to our shelter from different parts of the region after hearing that we provide counseling, emergency care and vocational training at our center.

During my visit, we had a special conference for the women, and I shared with them how Jesus fully healed Mary Magadalene and empowered her to be a witness of the gospel. The women also got a full day of training in how to start a bakery. Below you can see the class, where they were learning how to make cakes and cinnamon rolls. Many women who are either abandoned by their husbands, or struggle as single mothers, are now learning how to start a business so they can feed their families. Recently, a woman who had been a prostitute stayed in our shelter so she could break free from that lifestyle and find the healing of Jesus. Your support of The Mordecai Project is transforming lives!

I took my young friend Karson McCullen with me on the Guatemala trip. He is from a small town in North Carolina, and it was his first trip outside the United States. His world was rocked! I love being able to mentor young leaders like Karson so they can step outside their boxes and discover their spiritual gifts. Karson sang in front of audiences, prophesied and shared his testimony. Below you can see him praying for people during one of the many services we did in El Rosario, Gualán, Saspán, Sunsapote, Tempisque and Pata Galana.

Below you can see the people who came to our service in the village of Saspán, which is a very remote place on top of a mountain. Most people there struggle to make a living by growing corn or raising chickens. Yet the people are so hungry for God. It is always refreshing to see such hunger among those who have very little in terms of material possessions. I have been preaching in this small community for many years. This time, I prophesied over a young man who is called to be a pastor. He was just a young boy the first time I came there!

Also during the month of April I preached in Chicago at Casa de Misericordia (House of Mercy), a wonderful church led by my dear friends Enio and Brenda Bravatty (below). They also are from Guatemala, but they have lived in Chicago for many years and they are building a growing church full of immigrants. I spoke at a special men’s conference they organized, and it was powerful to see how many men repented of mistreating their wives. They came to the altar and openly confessed their abusive behavior—so I know many marriages have been transformed. Men were also freed from pornography and other addictions.

Of course the greatest miracle in any service happens when someone finds Jesus for the first time. Below you can see a moment when some guys experienced salvation during the men’s conference. We hear a lot of bad news these days about the spiritual condition of Chicago, so I was encouraged to see the Holy Spirit moving there! And we will be having a men’s Bold Venture in Chicago in the fall!

We are expanding our outreach in Uganda, and we need your help. Below you can see a group of women from Katwe, a mining community on the western border of Uganda, near Congo. I just sent $5,000 to renovate an existing building there, so we can construct a women’s empowerment center. We need another $2,500 to put a new roof on this building. Once it is ready, we will buy sewing machines and begin a tailoring school. Please pray for this need to be met soon. The women are eager to begin!

We have also launched a new project in Nyiragongo, another city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pastor Mwema Bertin needs only $9,000 to rent the building for a year and purchase the sewing machines to begin our women’s empowerment center there. He and his wife will also provide literacy classes as well as discipleship training for the women. We purchased Bibles for these women recently and they are growing in their faith. Please pray with us for the funds to begin this project.

Last week we sent the $6,700 needed to pay for school fees for 42 girls in Moi’s Bridge, Kenya. In the photo below you can see we also gave the girls bags of school supplies and hygiene products to use during the next semester. Some of these girls were rescued from genital mutilation, and others would have been forced into unwanted marriages if they had not been able to attend school. Thank you for helping us make sure they are safe in a Christian environment at Life Mission School.

Below you can see our new women’s empowerment center in Masindi, Uganda. We are so proud of this state-of-the art facility, which has room to house 28 women who are in crisis. The building is now completed, and vocational classes have started, but we need about $15,000 to purchase all the bunk beds, desks and kitchen supplies. If you know of a Christian business that could help us, please let me know.

We are very excited to announce that our oldest daughter, Margaret (below), passed the bar exam in the state of Georgia, and she can now officially begin her career as a lawyer. Margaret wants to use her legal skills to protect children from human trafficking, particularly children who are in the foster care system. She is currently working for the juvenile court in our county, but she spends a lot of her time running Illuminate Justice, her own non-profit humanitarian organization. You can learn more about it by going to illuminatejustice.com.

Deborah and I celebrated our 40th anniversary last week! We decided that we didn’t want to travel anywhere—we wanted to stay home in LaGrange and relax! We spent one day touring a local Southern mansion known as the Hills and Dales Estate, which has more than 30 acres of beautiful gardens. And we had some precious time with our grandchildren on the actual day of our anniversary. I am so grateful for Deborah, who serves as the financial director for The Mordecai Project, and she is the one who sends out your donation receipts. I could not do this work without her by my side!

Please pray for me in the month of May. Here’s my ministry schedule:

** May 3-5 Lee preaching at The Roads Church, Norris City, Illinois.

** May 18-20 Lee preaching at Arise Church, Deland, Florida.

** May 23-26 Lee speaking at men’s retreat and Sunday service at Grace Church, Erie, Pennsylvania.

We love you! We need your prayers as well as your financial support. To give to our overseas work, just hit the “Donate” button below and follow the prompts. To give by check, mail it to The Mordecai Project, P.O. Box 2781, LaGrange, GA 30241.