Ministry Newsletter

Dear Friends:

A few days ago I was blocked from visiting a country I’ve visited many times. This nation closed the door because they don’t want Christianity growing there. I was disappointed because I wanted to see my disciples. They are heartbroken. But I won’t despair. When Paul was arrested for preaching, he told Timothy: “The Word of God is not imprisoned” (2 Tim. 2:8). Paul knew that people can’t stop the gospel.

Ministry includes hardships, obstacles, persecution, tears and spiritual warfare, and we must be flexible in the face of setbacks. Sometimes doors close. Sometimes the devil hinders us, but God is in control! When Paul was sailing to Rome, a shipwreck took him “off course” to Malta—but many people came to Jesus there. God is in the detours! I’m learning to walk in God’s peace no matter what happens. And your prayers help me do this!

I am so grateful that the work of The Mordecai Project doesn’t depend on me being somewhere physically. In the country where I was supposed to fly last week, our work continues. God has given me the best people to work with. Below you can see a group of women in Goma, Congo. They are refugees from the Kivu region who came to our center because rebel soldiers raped and traumatized them. They are standing on land where we are going to build a women’s shelter, empowerment center, counseling office and school—and we just paid half the price for the property. We only need $14,000 to complete the sale.

Below you can see women who are enrolled in our hairstyling classes in Katwe, Uganda. In this salt-mining town, so many women are mistreated and abused by their husbands and then abandoned. Our classes are helping them to start small businesses. They are also learning how to sew clothes and make soap, and soon we will start a chicken business so they can sell eggs. We need $2,000 to begin the chicken business.

Every month at The Mordecai Project’s women’s center in Rio Hondo, Guatemala, women have special seminars on baking, cooking, sewing and other skills. Below you can see the women who attended last month’s all-day event, which includes discipleship and an opportunity for prayer ministry.

It may not seem like anything significant, but I was struck by this photo of the simple cakes the women are making at Casa de Ester (“House of Esther”), our women’s empowerment center in Guatemala. Jesus noticed simple things like this. In fact, He told us that the kingdom of God is compared to a woman who put yeast in the flour during her cooking routine (Matthew 13:33). He said the leaven quietly spreads until all the dough is leavened. This reminds me that even though our work might seem small, or take longer than we expected, He is doing His supernatural work! I believe that one day, all nations will open their doors to the gospel, many will be saved, and the abused and marginalized will find healing!

Last year when I traveled to Zanzibar, in Tanzania, I ministered to a group of prostitutes who had given their lives to Jesus. The American missionary who leads that ministry, Lana Wadsworth, has been discipling those women to become prayer counselors and powerful leaders. This month she is taking four of her disciples to our women’s empowerment center in Mbeya, Tanzania. This is one of our first events connecting two of our projects. The Zanzibar team will lead four days of seminars on emotional healing so they can help the Mbeya women who are coming out of sex trafficking. I love seeing victims of abuse growing in Christ so they can help other victims! Your support made this possible!

The face of the Sri Lankan girl in the photo below really blessed me. She is one of 300 girl students we are helping each month offering feminine hygiene supplies and other toiletries. This girl is happy because she didn’t have to drop out of school just because her parents couldn’t provide her with sanitary pads. So many Sri Lankan girls struggle academically because of this. This project has been fully funded by our donors and I am very grateful.

Several years ago I began working with a pastor in El Salvador, Maribel de la Rosa (next to me in the photo below). We now are building a women’s empowerment center and vegetable farm there, in the town of San Marcos. Maribel kept telling me about her friends in Toronto, Canada, Francis and Any Canizales, who lead a growing Spanish-speaking church in Toronto. They invited me to preach there in October, and it was a powerful weekend! I did conferences for young adults, men and women – and then I preached on Sunday at their regular service. I have new Salvadoran friends now.

Below you can see the women who came to the women’s conference in Toronto. So many Hispanic women, even in Canada, are struggling with the effects of abuse because of the macho attitudes in the men. This was a day of healing and deliverance. And, in a separate meeting, the men also received deep healing from the wounds they received from their fathers.

Later in October I traveled to New Jersey to perform the wedding of this Ukrainian couple (below), Daniel and Abby Rachkelyuk. I have been discipling Daniel for about three years, and I did the premarital counseling for him and Abby as we prepared for the big day. It was a typical Ukrainian wedding, with 200 guests and food for 400 people! It was a beautiful day and I am so happy for them.

While in New Jersey I visited a few of my other disciples there. Some attend the Ukrainian church and others go to a Hispanic church in the same area. One of them, Jason Savarese (below, far left), is like a son to me—and I celebrated his birthday with some of the other guys while I was in town.

Also while I was in New Jersey, the pastor of the Hispanic church asked if I would be willing to speak at a late-night prayer meeting he was hosting at the church. A group of about 50 young adults gathered for the prayer vigil, which started at 9:30 p.m. Most of the people were in their 20s. They prayed for more than two hours for the upcoming election, and they also prayed for every state in the U.S. by name. When it was time to end, no one wanted to leave and I was still there with them at 12:40 am. Prayer is the hope of our nation, and these young people set the pace for all of us!

I also traveled to Tennessee in October to speak at a marriage and leadership retreat sponsored by my friends at Cumberland Worship Center in Crossville. Pastor Chris and Desirae Palmer have been dear friends for at least 14 years, and I usually go to this church once a year because I serve as one of their apostolic elders. Below you can see the people who came to the retreat, which was held at a gorgeous conference center in the Smoky Mountains. I did a lot of prophetic ministry so the people were very encouraged.

The weekend in Tennessee was extra special because I took my grandson Hananiah with me while my wife babysat our other two grandkids back home. I love discipling my grandchildren! Hananiah is a spiritually sensitive boy who loves Jesus. He remembered people from Crossville because he had visited there with me before. And he was able to repeat points from my Sunday sermon!

My last trip in October was to Prineville, Oregon, a city in the central part of the state. This was my second trip to Eastside Foursquare Church, where Pastor Brian Carmack is building a congregation that believes in discipleship. You can see him in the photo below (far right) with his son Nathan (far left), who is the young adult pastor, and Yoni Michael, an Ethiopian-American disciple of mine from Seattle. Yoni drove six hours to spend that weekend with me and the Eastside folks. I did special meetings on Friday and Saturday and a Sunday morning Pentecost service. Many people were filled with the Holy Spirit that day!

One of the highlights of the Oregon trip was meeting Will Bradley, below, who serves and the men’s pastor at Eastside Foursquare. Will has been involved in discipling men for a few years, and he has been using my books “Follow Me’ and “Let’s Go Deeper” to engage with men in small groups. Every now and then you meet someone who seems to be on the same page of ministry with you. That is Will Bradley! He really has a passion to be a father and mentor to younger guys so they can make more disciples.

Finally – it was such a blessing to return to Emmanuel University in Franklin Springs, Georgia, in October to speak to the students. My friend Chris Maxwell (below) has been the campus pastor there for almost two decades. He took that position when two of my daughters attended the school. Since 2004 I have been speaking at student chapels at Emmanuel. This time, when I gave a message about the epidemic of anxiety in America, many students came to the altar for prayer because they are dealing with severe anxiety, panic and trauma. It was powerful moment of healing.