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"Preach the Gospel to all creation" Mark 16:15

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Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
(from team leader SH)

Upon arrival in Trinidad I was told we would be working with Evangel Temple and Pastor Banister..."by the way you'll be preaching in the morning and next Sunday as well."  We had on the first visit talked about my giving an introduction and sharing GNI's mission statement. Paint me green and call me Gumby.  Sunday morning when I met Pastor Banister for the first time I found out that since April they had been praying one hour each morning from 05:00 to 06:00.  They were praying for an evangelistic move in their church.  They had made attempts but without the on-the-job-training (OJT), they still did not have an ongoing weekly visitation program in place. 

While this was taking place the Baptist church with which we were to work had made plans for a Christmas program that was to start the during the time we were to be there.  Which diverted us to the Evangel Temple.

Evangel Temple did have plans for a big youth service the first Sunday we were to be there; however that and everything else that week, Pastor Banister canceled to participate in this crusade.  This was for them an answer to prayer.  They had been using the basic outline of EE for their Sunday School lessons.  This week they were on Christ. 

Although it rained the first Sunday we had a good service and many were excited about the upcoming week.  On Monday morning Pastor Banister was the only one that showed up.  Others were expected but didn't show up.   Pastor Banister enjoyed the chance to see the EE outline demonstrated all day.   We saw nine people pray to receive Christ that day.  Our evening session I was pleased to see 16 people show up for evangelism training.  EE was demonstrated as well as tract evangelism.  From here we went straight to the Airport to pick up TH and now we had a team of two for the rest of the week. 

On Tuesday we had some Church members show up to see the Gospel shared utilizing the EE outline.  TH went with Pastor Banister to demonstrate the Faith method of sharing the Gospel.  I was surprised to find that at lunch Pastor Banister already had the basic Faith outline down.  That evening TH taught the session on sharing the Gospel using the Faith method, she even had memory cards for all 15 of the Church members in attendance plus for the pastor and myself.  We then encouraged the members to choose a method and to make witnessing a way of life.  

On Thursday and Friday we did some evening visits as well as our daytime visitation in order to give the opportunity to some of the other members to go out with us on visits.  Many of the members did share parts of the Gospel and this was especially encouraging. 

Saturday we spent the day in Tobago where we went out on a glass bottom boat over the Coral reefs and then did some snorkeling getting an up close look as some of the Tropical fish and the Coral reefs, followed by some bathing on a sandbar about a mile or so from the shoreline.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and enjoying some of the local foods. 

Sunday we had a great service where we also showed a video musical of some children from Metropolitan Baptist Church (Houston) share Jesus using the Faith method. We had four times the number of people in service than we had the first Sunday. The church had a dinner for us and we saw an additional 5 people pray to receive Christ.  Pastor Banister shared with me his vision for the community of Diego Martin.  With an active weekly visitation program the plan is to have 5 churches in the area all working together as one body.  It was obvious to all that God had truly moved this week and infused the body by putting Gods plan into action.  They are excited and committed to continuing with follow up on the decisions as well as weekly visitation sharing the Gospel. 

We saw 86 decisions out of 167 people contacted.   We had 16 people at the first training and 15 at the second.  Pastor Banister was the only one that went with us every time we went out on visits.  There were a total of 20 church members that went on visits with us for at least 3hrs each.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip in which I both felt and saw the Spirit moving the entire trip. 

TH

Praise God for using me in His Kingdom work!   We serve a mighty God who is Omnipotent and Omnipresent. This mission trip to Diego Martin was totally orchestrated by God.  He has a Church, Evangel Temple, that felt led by God to pray for a spiritual awakening in their church and community.  God has Missions International actively bringing together evangelists in churches in need.   God has GoodNews International and Steve Heglmeier responding to the invitation and promoting the trip.  God has me returning from my first mission trip and on fire to take the next step-a longer trip, strictly doing street & home evangelism & training.  Oh how God blessed us.  We saw 86 come to saving faith in Christ and saw the joy in 86 lives as they learned to share the Gospel.  Pastor Banister is a shepherd who loves his flock and desires to care for them.  He is also a fisher of men and has a heart for seeing lost souls come to the Lord.  The youth really touched my heart with their response to encouragement & their commitment to evangelism.   I have an expectant heart for what God is doing in the lives of those dear saints on Rich Plains Rd. and the many people who are searching for Him!  God's Holy Spirit is ever present in this community and I will be praying in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. (Eph. 6:18)

SH

In the beautiful twin Islands of Trinidad and Tobago, I truly felt God's hand as He touched a community and infused a church with His Power and Love.  Ricky is a young man that ran away from home and was heading in the wrong direction.  Beginning a relationship with Christ he now is living in a room at this Church.  Pastor Banister and other church members help him, not only in his new life with Christ but also with taking care of him and helping him continue with schooling.   Ricky could have been out playing with his friends all week, but instead he chose to go out visiting with us sharing the Gospel to those in the community.  He is a living example of what God is doing in Trinidad, as God works through the local church spreading His love through those in the church to the community.  As I saw first hand, Ricky has come full circle through an experience with the Love of God.

It's a wonderful blessing to be in the middle of what God is doing in the
world.