Dear all,
Just a short email about our ups and downs in Haiti! This week is already the last week of the course we have given here. The students have one test to do tomorrow afternoon and then they are ready! Well congratulations to all of our 38 students! They have worked terribly hard and had lectures during the last few weeks from half past five in the morning until noon and then from half past two sometimes up to 9 o´clock at night!
Johan just let them choose whether tomorrow they want free time or some last lectures from him, and they chose the classes! Saturday, Christmas day, is the graduation we are all looking forward to. The students hope their parents and families will come, and also all their pastors from the thirty different churches that we are networking with. Everyone tells us how special it is now here in Haiti for a university course to do training in the area of "education and community development”. For the graduation all the students have been outfitted with a very elegant dark blue suit.
One of our happiest and youngest students (19 years) is Esther Pricilla. But last Sunday we had to bring the terrible message that her father, who was the pastor of one of the 30 net work churches, had died in a fatal motorcycle accident. She has seven sisters and one younger brother. As the oldest, it is now expected of her that she will maintain her family financially. In a country where 80% of the population is unemployed and survive on less than $ 2 per day, this is a difficult task. Fortunately with the diploma of the school that we will give her, she has an almost 100% chance to get started with a new job in January. Will you also pray for her and her family?
The political situation here is very unstable. There were elections on November 28, but many people believe it was not a fair election, as lots of fraud happened. The country has had already one week of many revolts, when no one could be on the street, no one could go to work, not even the doctors and nurses in the hospitals, no clean drinking water was being brought to the tent camps, shops were closed, planes did not fly anymore, it was chaos. Then they promised again to count the votes..., that has happened and they will announce the outcome probably after Christmas, December 26th. It is expected that there will once again be major uprisings, or even a civil war. Our flight back to Brazil is scheduled Dec. 28, so we may well be in big trouble. Will you also pray for this situation?
We give thanks for the fact that our health is very good: Johan’s knee is almost healed and I have no problems with my back anymore.
We wish you all a very happy and blessed Christmas Season! Our Savior is born!
Love, Johan and Jeannette
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Grandchildren in Brazil, Christmas in Haiti
We feel so rich when we look at our grandkids. Between two trips to Haiti we are spending some time in Belo Horizonte so we can finish this year in an orderly fashion. Lots of meetings, and I really miss my new laptop, which couldn’t be fixed here and needed to be sent to Holland. It should work as the machine was only 5 months old when it broke down.
Eva, the youngest at 5 months
If we promise them candy they’ll sit still for a few moments so we can take a picture...
But even between all the busyness we try our best to enjoy our grandkids. All six of them are actually here in Brazil right now which is rare to happen. It is great to have grand kids. Tomorrow we are going to have our farewell party, and an early Christmas.
Tuesday we are traveling back to Haiti for another three weeks of lectures in the Education and Community Development Training School. Christmas will be in Haiti, in the Caribbean. Sounds romantic, but the reality is a bit different. We are taking a suitcase full of medicines against Cholera. The number of infected people keeps growing. And because of the election on the 28th of November, the political climate is very tense.
So the 7th of December we plan to arrive in Haiti again. The school continued normally during our absence, with the help of some Brazilian staff. Well, you have to define normality: they passed through a hurricane, were frightened by an aftershock of the earthquake, are in the middle of a Cholera outbreak, and live in a climate of unrest because of the elections. But on the other hand, we are receiving good news about the students, who continue to grow in the knowledge of God, His love and faithfulness and a deeper understanding of His ways and intentions for their lives and country. Yes there is hope for Haiti!
Please pray for our trip and our stay till the 28th of December. Pray for:
• Our health.
• Against the Cholera that already killed many people.
• Against the instability after the elections.
• For the students who will finish the Education and Community Development Training School on Christmas Day.
We wish you all a wonderful Christmas!
Me with Hannah, the oldest at 4 years of age
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Newsletter november 2010
Dear Friends,
Lots of tears were flowing, followed by an even more intense time of praise and deep expressions of gratitude before the Lord. I got goose bumps all over. What a privilege to be in Haiti!
After three days of classes and application on the subject, we went to a local primary school of 15 minutes walking distance. During 2 days the students started putting in practice the principles they had just learned themselves. We were using a little booklet specially written for the very reason of counseling children after the earthquake in Haiti. Every one of them spent a number of hours with 3 to 5 children. Those were very special moments. One boy of 13 years old said that he lost both his parents during the earthquake, but that until now, months after the earthquake, nobody had ever talked to him about it…. We got to hear many similar stories. But what impacted us the most was to see our students being transformed from receivers of blessings to transmitters of hope, comfort and love…Yes, with young people like that, ready to be used by the Lord, there is hope for Haiti!
All this happened three days before we were ready to leave for Haiti! Hundreds of people started to pray. It was so encouraging to receive so many messages through email, blog and facebook. And God started performing some miracles: Johan was cleared to travel one week after our planned date, I was able to borrow another laptop, my back stopped playing up, various people pitched in financially, and we were able to swop our tickets to Haiti for a week later than planned! Thank you Jesus!
The best way to combine the school in Haiti and leading the base in Belo Horizonte was for us to go the month of October to Haiti, come back during the month of November to Brazil and then return to Haiti in December again to be there for the last weeks of the school.
During the month of November we are busy meeting with the leadership of the base including the leaders of the 8 different operation locations here in Belo Horizonte, as well as wrapping up the children at Risk School which is currently running here with a wonderful group of 10 students; 6 foreigners and 4 Brazilians. We are so grateful for the wonderful group of leaders and staff we have here at the base in Belo Horizonte who dedicate themselves in being living examples of the good news to children and families at risk on the streets and in the poor communities around them. We feel so privileged to be able to be part of all this.
Besides all this we are planning to spend a couple of months next year in Holland with family, friends, church, and do a number of presentations in churches to make more Christians in Holland aware of what is going on as well as giving a report.
CHRISTMAS
This year, Johan and I are planning to spend Christmas in Haiti, so we can bring the school in Port au Prince to a closure together with the staff and students.
We all wish you a Christmas full of a deeper understanding of the Love of God in Christ Jesus, and may the new year be full of significant victories for the Kingdom of God!
With lots of love,
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
P.S. For more pictures and regular updates please do visit our facebook.
PRAYER POINTS:
• Thank God for restoring our health. Please continue to pray for His protection in every way.
• We give thanks to God for the wonderful students in Haiti and Belo Horizonte. Pray that they will let themselves be mightily used by the Lord.
• Thank God for the leader and teams of staff in Belo Horizonte. Pray that God will continue to bless and use them.
Lots of tears were flowing, followed by an even more intense time of praise and deep expressions of gratitude before the Lord. I got goose bumps all over. What a privilege to be in Haiti!
Rodolpho, one of four staff, praying with a child
During the month of October we were in Haiti running a three month training school, together with four staff , for a group of 38 Haitian young people. We lived in tents just like 1.3 million Haitians. This last week, the subject was post counseling and bereavement, followed by a practical time when the students could teach the same principles to a group of children from a local primary school.
Johan giving classes to our Haitian students.
Most of our students, just like the children, had been trying to cope with their losses by just not talking about the earthquake anymore, acting as if nothing had happened and pretending to be strong. Now they had to learn to recognize and come to grips with their losses and learn to pass through the “valley of the shadow of death” in order to allow God to comfort them. This powerful collective experience brought great unity and strength to the group.
After three days of classes and application on the subject, we went to a local primary school of 15 minutes walking distance. During 2 days the students started putting in practice the principles they had just learned themselves. We were using a little booklet specially written for the very reason of counseling children after the earthquake in Haiti. Every one of them spent a number of hours with 3 to 5 children. Those were very special moments. One boy of 13 years old said that he lost both his parents during the earthquake, but that until now, months after the earthquake, nobody had ever talked to him about it…. We got to hear many similar stories. But what impacted us the most was to see our students being transformed from receivers of blessings to transmitters of hope, comfort and love…Yes, with young people like that, ready to be used by the Lord, there is hope for Haiti!
One of the students praying for one of the kids.
Before we were able to embark for Haiti we had all kinds of setbacks: I had a major crises with my back, my new computer broke down, our finances were tight, and on top of that suddenly Johan’s knee got very thick and developed what the doctors diagnosed as septic arthritis, something quite dangerous that needed a surgery to clean it.
All this happened three days before we were ready to leave for Haiti! Hundreds of people started to pray. It was so encouraging to receive so many messages through email, blog and facebook. And God started performing some miracles: Johan was cleared to travel one week after our planned date, I was able to borrow another laptop, my back stopped playing up, various people pitched in financially, and we were able to swop our tickets to Haiti for a week later than planned! Thank you Jesus!
Haitian student talking to one of the kids.
BACK AND FORTH
The best way to combine the school in Haiti and leading the base in Belo Horizonte was for us to go the month of October to Haiti, come back during the month of November to Brazil and then return to Haiti in December again to be there for the last weeks of the school.
During the month of November we are busy meeting with the leadership of the base including the leaders of the 8 different operation locations here in Belo Horizonte, as well as wrapping up the children at Risk School which is currently running here with a wonderful group of 10 students; 6 foreigners and 4 Brazilians. We are so grateful for the wonderful group of leaders and staff we have here at the base in Belo Horizonte who dedicate themselves in being living examples of the good news to children and families at risk on the streets and in the poor communities around them. We feel so privileged to be able to be part of all this.
Besides all this we are planning to spend a couple of months next year in Holland with family, friends, church, and do a number of presentations in churches to make more Christians in Holland aware of what is going on as well as giving a report.
CHRISTMAS
This year, Johan and I are planning to spend Christmas in Haiti, so we can bring the school in Port au Prince to a closure together with the staff and students.
We all wish you a Christmas full of a deeper understanding of the Love of God in Christ Jesus, and may the new year be full of significant victories for the Kingdom of God!
With lots of love,
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
P.S. For more pictures and regular updates please do visit our facebook.
PRAYER POINTS:
• Thank God for restoring our health. Please continue to pray for His protection in every way.
• We give thanks to God for the wonderful students in Haiti and Belo Horizonte. Pray that they will let themselves be mightily used by the Lord.
• Thank God for the leader and teams of staff in Belo Horizonte. Pray that God will continue to bless and use them.
• Thank God for our time and Holland and thank Him for this opportunity.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Link to our pictures in Haiti
This link goes to the pictures we took last month in Haiti:
Facebook album Haiti october 2010
Facebook album Haiti october 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Cholera in Haiti
Breakfast in front of our tent.
The school is going really well. The students keep surprising us and we are very proud of them. Carla, one of our co-workers who is specialized in bereavement, did a post-trauma counseling with them, and over the last two days the students applied what they learned with more than 100 children of a local primary school. It was so moving to see them in action!
The infection in Johan’s knee and eye are very well under control, and I haven’t even had the slightest pain in my back so far; we are very thankful!
But we do have a special prayer request for the health situation of the people here in Haiti. On Thursday a number of cases of cholera appeared in the St. Marc region some 80 km from Port au Prince. There is a big YWAM base there. The director, Terry Snow, was taking a patient to the hospital that died on the way to the hospital. On the same day 135 people died of cholera, a sickness with heavy diarrhea and vomiting which can cause death in a few hours because of dehydration.
The epidemic did reach the city of Port au Prince yesterday, but we hope and pray that it won’t start spreading although the risks are very high:
• There is a big lack of sanitation systems.
• Everywhere you find little camps with 10-20 tents, mostly without toilet facilities.
• The bigger camps have mostly chemical toilets, but those are difficult to maintain clean, with so many people using them.
• There is almost no running water anywhere.
Some Dutch friends have been assisting in some clinics around St. Marc, but they were telling us about the lack of the most basic things, like IV-fluids, needles, gloves etc…. We hope to be able to help them a little bit through contacts we have with American Doctors, Brazilian army et.
We did buy some extra sanitation hand gel for our students and extra bottles of bleach.
Please pray for protection against cholera, and that the outbreak will be under control very fast.
May God bless you all,
The church and the primary school run by the father of one of our students, collapsed during the earthquake, this is the temporary building.
Our students were busy counseling the kids.
This little girl drew four of her family members who died during the earthquake.
They are having class on the broken pieces of their old church and school.
Johan kept the little ones busy, while some of our students taught the principles of bereavement and trauma counseling to the teachers.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The school in Haiti has started with 40 students, what a blessing!
"Bonjour, bonjour!" We hear all around us. We're in Haiti! What a privilege to be here!
The country and the city reminds me a bit of Angola: really very, very little infrastructure, and wonderful friendly people.
We have 40 students; young people who are enthusiastic and very eager to learn. Every pastor of the 30 churches we work with was asked to choose one or two young people from their church to do this school. After the earthquake there are lots of young people who still cannot go back to their schools or universities, as most of those buildings collapsed, and lots of their teachers died. So we had a very large group of youth (120!) who applied to do our school, but we could only accept 40 students, because we do not (yet) have such good facilities and each student costs approximately $ 500 in food and housing for those three months. They cannot pay this themselves, so for the most part (25 students) they are sponsored by Brazilian churches.
We all live in tents with covers of plastic sheeting, which unfortunately is not watertight during the tropical rains that we have here almost every night. The church / school seems a bit like a large tent; the walls are made of blue plastic with a roof from corrugated iron.
There is no running water. Water is purchased from a truck that announces his arrival with a cheerful music of the Titanic (!) Only one or two hours a day we have electricity when the generator is turned on. The bricklayers are still building the toilets for the students to use; hopefully they will put in the doors today! Showering they do outside, with their clothes on (which are also immediately washed) with a bucket and cup ...
Some students lived in nice houses before the earthquake, others were already poor. For all it's a big adjustment to now live very primitively in leaky tents. We have great respect for their positive attitudes. There is not much food, most must be imported, and usually there is only enough for two meals a day: for breakfast a bit of spaghetti with a dash of ketchup, and then for the combined lunch / dinner a large plate of rice with a little beanwater . A sad reality, not only in our school, but all throughout the country.
It is very special to see the hope, resilience, willpower, and happiness of the students. They start each day at half past five in the morning with one and a half hour of prayer and worship. Than at 8 o’clock in the morning until 6 o'clock in the afternoon they have classes.
Johan is teaching these first weeks. His knee has healed well, but he cannot stand yet for a long time, or walk a long way. His eye infection is also slowly healing and he is reducing his medication. At night we rest very well, as we go to bed very early, like most people do here.
We are starting to hear some of the personal stories of pain and sorrow. Yesterday a pastor visited us, the father of one of the students. He told us about the earthquake and about his family. We cannot even start to imagine what they have gone through. In about ten days we will give special classes about trauma and bereavement. Will you pray with us for the students? We hope to train the students in this area, so that they in turn will help others, especially children in the many tent camps around the city.
Please, could you keep on praying for the students and for Johan and me? It's very special to be in Haiti at this time and to work with these young people. We thank God for his faithfulness, and also all of you who have sent us emails to encourage us, who have prayed for us and who have given us financial gifts. We feel very fortunate to have such wonderful compassionate family and friends. Thank you! We wish you God's abundant blessings!
The country and the city reminds me a bit of Angola: really very, very little infrastructure, and wonderful friendly people.
We have 40 students; young people who are enthusiastic and very eager to learn. Every pastor of the 30 churches we work with was asked to choose one or two young people from their church to do this school. After the earthquake there are lots of young people who still cannot go back to their schools or universities, as most of those buildings collapsed, and lots of their teachers died. So we had a very large group of youth (120!) who applied to do our school, but we could only accept 40 students, because we do not (yet) have such good facilities and each student costs approximately $ 500 in food and housing for those three months. They cannot pay this themselves, so for the most part (25 students) they are sponsored by Brazilian churches.
We all live in tents with covers of plastic sheeting, which unfortunately is not watertight during the tropical rains that we have here almost every night. The church / school seems a bit like a large tent; the walls are made of blue plastic with a roof from corrugated iron.
There is no running water. Water is purchased from a truck that announces his arrival with a cheerful music of the Titanic (!) Only one or two hours a day we have electricity when the generator is turned on. The bricklayers are still building the toilets for the students to use; hopefully they will put in the doors today! Showering they do outside, with their clothes on (which are also immediately washed) with a bucket and cup ...
Some students lived in nice houses before the earthquake, others were already poor. For all it's a big adjustment to now live very primitively in leaky tents. We have great respect for their positive attitudes. There is not much food, most must be imported, and usually there is only enough for two meals a day: for breakfast a bit of spaghetti with a dash of ketchup, and then for the combined lunch / dinner a large plate of rice with a little beanwater . A sad reality, not only in our school, but all throughout the country.
It is very special to see the hope, resilience, willpower, and happiness of the students. They start each day at half past five in the morning with one and a half hour of prayer and worship. Than at 8 o’clock in the morning until 6 o'clock in the afternoon they have classes.
Johan is teaching these first weeks. His knee has healed well, but he cannot stand yet for a long time, or walk a long way. His eye infection is also slowly healing and he is reducing his medication. At night we rest very well, as we go to bed very early, like most people do here.
We are starting to hear some of the personal stories of pain and sorrow. Yesterday a pastor visited us, the father of one of the students. He told us about the earthquake and about his family. We cannot even start to imagine what they have gone through. In about ten days we will give special classes about trauma and bereavement. Will you pray with us for the students? We hope to train the students in this area, so that they in turn will help others, especially children in the many tent camps around the city.
Please, could you keep on praying for the students and for Johan and me? It's very special to be in Haiti at this time and to work with these young people. We thank God for his faithfulness, and also all of you who have sent us emails to encourage us, who have prayed for us and who have given us financial gifts. We feel very fortunate to have such wonderful compassionate family and friends. Thank you! We wish you God's abundant blessings!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Struggles and victories
Many thanks to everyone who has sent us e-mails last week; it encouraged us so much that you stand with us. Yes, we had to change our plans drastically and unexpectedly. After all the setbacks of the past weeks Johan all of a sudden woke up with a big knee. According to the doctors it could be a bacterial arthritis, a serious condition if it is not treated appropriately and quickly. So last Saturday he was rushed to the operating room, where the inside of the joint of his knee was cleaned. For the next few days he had to stay in the hospital and was on strong intravenous antibiotics.
So our trip to Haiti had to be postponed; we couldn’t go last Monday. Then to top it off, on Tuesday Johan woke up with a severe eye infection. He has ankylosing spondylitis, so that flared up as well. Wednesday he was released from the hospital with lots of medicines and with blood tests, and doctor’s visits marked for Thursday and Friday. We really hoped and prayed to be able to travel to Haiti on the next Monday, but also understood it depended now on the health of Johan, which we put in God's hands. We told each other, “He knows what is best for us, our life is dedicated to Him. If He wants us to go to Haiti he will also make it possible”.
Many people wrote us to say that they believed we were encountering a great spiritual resistance because of our plans to go to Haiti. It is a fact that 200 years ago in Haiti, some mighty men high up in the government, made public pacts with demonic forces. But Johan was personally present in Haiti this year, when exactly one month after the earthquake, a 3 day service was held on the square before the presidential palace. Hundreds of thousands of people came together to fast and pray, to break the demonic bonds, and to enter into a new time where Haiti will be dedicated to the Lord.
Yes there is spiritual warfare going on and there is lots I don’t understand, but one scripture comes to my mind. It is where the Lord Jesus tells Peter (Simon) about his prayer in Luke 22:31: “Simon Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith might not fail.” It surprises me that Jesus did not pray that Simon would be spared from the attack; He did not tell satan to stop. No, He prayed so Simon’s faith might not fail. So that’s how we want people to pray for us, and how we pray ourselves: “Help us Lord so our faith might not fail.”
And yes, when we came back for the doctors consult yesterday, one of them told us he had never seen somebody recuperate so fast! Thank you Jesus and thanks to all of you who prayed! We will be travelling on Monday to train young Haitian people in the course that will start the 4th of October!
I do not think it will be easy to send emails when we are in Haiti, but if you want to stay informed you can fill in the box on the right, which says: "Subscribe to this blog." Then every time when I post a new message on our blog, you get it automatically in your email.
Thank you all so very much for your love, care, gifts and prayers! May God richly bless you!
So our trip to Haiti had to be postponed; we couldn’t go last Monday. Then to top it off, on Tuesday Johan woke up with a severe eye infection. He has ankylosing spondylitis, so that flared up as well. Wednesday he was released from the hospital with lots of medicines and with blood tests, and doctor’s visits marked for Thursday and Friday. We really hoped and prayed to be able to travel to Haiti on the next Monday, but also understood it depended now on the health of Johan, which we put in God's hands. We told each other, “He knows what is best for us, our life is dedicated to Him. If He wants us to go to Haiti he will also make it possible”.
Many people wrote us to say that they believed we were encountering a great spiritual resistance because of our plans to go to Haiti. It is a fact that 200 years ago in Haiti, some mighty men high up in the government, made public pacts with demonic forces. But Johan was personally present in Haiti this year, when exactly one month after the earthquake, a 3 day service was held on the square before the presidential palace. Hundreds of thousands of people came together to fast and pray, to break the demonic bonds, and to enter into a new time where Haiti will be dedicated to the Lord.
Yes there is spiritual warfare going on and there is lots I don’t understand, but one scripture comes to my mind. It is where the Lord Jesus tells Peter (Simon) about his prayer in Luke 22:31: “Simon Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you Simon, that your faith might not fail.” It surprises me that Jesus did not pray that Simon would be spared from the attack; He did not tell satan to stop. No, He prayed so Simon’s faith might not fail. So that’s how we want people to pray for us, and how we pray ourselves: “Help us Lord so our faith might not fail.”
And yes, when we came back for the doctors consult yesterday, one of them told us he had never seen somebody recuperate so fast! Thank you Jesus and thanks to all of you who prayed! We will be travelling on Monday to train young Haitian people in the course that will start the 4th of October!
I do not think it will be easy to send emails when we are in Haiti, but if you want to stay informed you can fill in the box on the right, which says: "Subscribe to this blog." Then every time when I post a new message on our blog, you get it automatically in your email.
Thank you all so very much for your love, care, gifts and prayers! May God richly bless you!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Revolution of love
This video was made on the site where we will run the course. It is the area where there was a church before the earthquake. Several young people from different local churches and some staff from YWAM Port au Prince helped to make this video.
And those pictures were taken a little bit later, still cleaning up all the fallen walls.
And the church/university that is being built right now and where we will run the course.
And those pictures were taken a little bit later, still cleaning up all the fallen walls.
And the church/university that is being built right now and where we will run the course.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Help, we need help!
In 5 days we will leave for Haiti and suddenly we have a lot more adversity than usual: we need prayer!
Last week I had to stay in bed all week with sever back ache. I have this often and have had two operations on my back already, but this time it was heavier than the last couple of times. We even had to call the doctor for additional prescriptions for medicines to be prescribed.
Johan, who is always strong and full of energy, was battling a severe bout of diarrhea. Each day this week he became more tired, the conversations became shorter, and we were both physically so drained. We rarely get diarrhea; I think we have really built up a vast resistance against all kinds of bacteria and viruses, but his diarrhea is still not over and eats his energy.
Then also as a bonus my beautiful new Lenovo laptop crashed with everything on it that we will need in Haiti. It's a new laptop! I bought it five months ago in the Netherlands! Friday I was on the phone all day to get it fixed.
It seemed the problem was the built in ventilator, which did not work anymore so the laptop was overheating and crashed. Friday afternoon, just before closing time, we managed to get the notebook to the store. The young man who helped us was so happy when he saw my notebook: "Wow you have the new Lenovo, which we do not have in Brazil yet! Did you know that it is also used by NASA? They never break down, the best laptops in the world together with Sony ...”
"Uhmmm well, this is broken ..."
"Well that's a miracle that we never really see here. We sell many brands here, but all the people working in this store buy themselves a Lenovo because it really is the best, superior quality, does not break down…”
"OK, when can we get it back?"
"Well, if the fan is really broken it will take about 2 weeks!”
"What? We need it to take with us to Haiti!”
"Well, no, that's impossible. If it really is broken and we need to order new parts, those parts need to come from China... we do not have them in stock."
Oh no.
I have wonderful material in French and Creole for our students, like a little booklet specially written for the children in Haiti to help them overcome the trauma. Phyllis Kilbourn sent it to me, a famous WEC missionary who has a whole series of books to her name, all about children in need. It is really beautiful. I certainly can see how the students could start using it with the children in the camps; I would like to have at least 1000. For my classes I have handouts how cholera is preventable, and we also want certain parts of the book series "Where There is No Doctor," in French and Creole printed. Johan has already sent all the handouts of his classes for the French translation. Everything was supposed to be printed in Haiti but now we just heard that the print shop in Haiti, who would do it at a very reasonable price, cannot do it anymore. We now have to do it all this week in Brazil! Oops...
And financially we are also struggling; we still need more money to pay for all our costs!
Will you pray for us? So much opposition at once is not normal. Like the Lenovo salesman said: "This really never happens!"
We are going to Haiti because we believe that God is leading us there. We are going so that we may teach young people to let their light of Christ shine forth in their camps and neighborhoods. We hope to give many practical lessons so they will grow in their faith and knowledge of God, but also that they will be able to reach out to children in need in a practical way. I believe we now are in a spiritual battle and we need more prayer. Will you stand in prayer for us?
Last week I had to stay in bed all week with sever back ache. I have this often and have had two operations on my back already, but this time it was heavier than the last couple of times. We even had to call the doctor for additional prescriptions for medicines to be prescribed.
Johan, who is always strong and full of energy, was battling a severe bout of diarrhea. Each day this week he became more tired, the conversations became shorter, and we were both physically so drained. We rarely get diarrhea; I think we have really built up a vast resistance against all kinds of bacteria and viruses, but his diarrhea is still not over and eats his energy.
Then also as a bonus my beautiful new Lenovo laptop crashed with everything on it that we will need in Haiti. It's a new laptop! I bought it five months ago in the Netherlands! Friday I was on the phone all day to get it fixed.
It seemed the problem was the built in ventilator, which did not work anymore so the laptop was overheating and crashed. Friday afternoon, just before closing time, we managed to get the notebook to the store. The young man who helped us was so happy when he saw my notebook: "Wow you have the new Lenovo, which we do not have in Brazil yet! Did you know that it is also used by NASA? They never break down, the best laptops in the world together with Sony ...”
"Uhmmm well, this is broken ..."
"Well that's a miracle that we never really see here. We sell many brands here, but all the people working in this store buy themselves a Lenovo because it really is the best, superior quality, does not break down…”
"OK, when can we get it back?"
"Well, if the fan is really broken it will take about 2 weeks!”
"What? We need it to take with us to Haiti!”
"Well, no, that's impossible. If it really is broken and we need to order new parts, those parts need to come from China... we do not have them in stock."
Oh no.
I have wonderful material in French and Creole for our students, like a little booklet specially written for the children in Haiti to help them overcome the trauma. Phyllis Kilbourn sent it to me, a famous WEC missionary who has a whole series of books to her name, all about children in need. It is really beautiful. I certainly can see how the students could start using it with the children in the camps; I would like to have at least 1000. For my classes I have handouts how cholera is preventable, and we also want certain parts of the book series "Where There is No Doctor," in French and Creole printed. Johan has already sent all the handouts of his classes for the French translation. Everything was supposed to be printed in Haiti but now we just heard that the print shop in Haiti, who would do it at a very reasonable price, cannot do it anymore. We now have to do it all this week in Brazil! Oops...
And financially we are also struggling; we still need more money to pay for all our costs!
Will you pray for us? So much opposition at once is not normal. Like the Lenovo salesman said: "This really never happens!"
We are going to Haiti because we believe that God is leading us there. We are going so that we may teach young people to let their light of Christ shine forth in their camps and neighborhoods. We hope to give many practical lessons so they will grow in their faith and knowledge of God, but also that they will be able to reach out to children in need in a practical way. I believe we now are in a spiritual battle and we need more prayer. Will you stand in prayer for us?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Mountainbikes!
Just a little fun video of Johan with Jonathan, our son in law, and some more staff, who love to ride their mountainbikes on their free saturdaymornings. They go high over the mountains and sometimes even through the mountains, using old mining tunnels!
Look where they arrive, it looks like paradise!
Look where they arrive, it looks like paradise!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Haiti Training Program, Empowering Local Communities for Transformation
This is a letter to explain a little bit more of the school we are planning to run in Haiti:
Introduction
YWAM (Youth With A Mission) is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization. It has existed for 50 years and currently has a staff of over 16,000 people from more than 150 different nationalities, operating in 171 nations worldwide. YWAM trains over 25,000 short-term mission volunteers annually, and is involved in educational training, church planting, business missions, and relief and development services.
YWAM Belo Horizonte (Brazil) has existed for 24 years, focusing on working with children at risk, as well as training and inspiring others to do so. We, Johan & Jeannette Lukasse founded this work in Belo Horizonte, and continue to lead these efforts to this day.
In January 2010, a small team of YWAM staff from Brazil (including Johan) spent 3 weeks in Haiti to help in the post-earthquake relief efforts. Our goal was to assess the situation in order to provide long-term support to Haiti, particularly in the area of children in need. They were stationed in the National Police Headquarters, and served with Misión Rescate ( led by YWAM Santo Domingo) in the medical clinic set up there, besides distributing food in orphanages and other “tent cities.” They also participated in Unicef and Unesco meetings on Education and Child Protection.
At the same time, Pr. Mario from Brazil, working with the NGO M.A.I.S. was in Haiti, developing a network with 30 local pastors who were not receiving any other sort of assistance. The network formed is led locally by Pr. Vijonet. Pr. Mario is working with Brazilian churches to offer relief-type assistance to these pastors and the populations they serve. He has taken several teams to Haiti to provide food, water, shelter for these contacts during the past few months. He has also developed a plan for long-term support of these church communities, and realizes the importance of training as an essential component of building strong, self-sustaining communities.
The following is a proposal for a training program in Haiti, emanating from the needs seen during the 3-week visit to Haiti, and from networking with other leaders and organizations.
Purpose
The purpose of this program is to train about 50 key community members from regions affected by the January 2010 earthquake in the areas of Child Protection, Leadership/Discipleship and Community Development, so they may, in turn, work to rebuild their communities in these areas, focusing especially on children and youth.
Format
The training includes theoretical and practical components. Students and staff will live and study on site. Classes are held Monday through Friday (mornings and evenings). Morning classes are on Child Protection & Community Development. Evening classes focus on Leadership/Discipleship. In the afternoons students work with the population in the camps, applying the strategies and principles acquired during the lectures.
Content
This course is a combination of 4 distinct YWAM courses:
1. Discipleship Training School (DTS) – basic training in missions, focusing on relational aspects of Christianity and Biblical principles for living. This training is provided by YWAM around the world as basic staff training.
2. Children at Risk Course (CAR) – training for working with children in need: street children, orphans, abused/neglected youth, children with special needs.
3. Foundations of Community Development (FCD) – training on working with communities in impoverished or adversely affected areas.
4. Teacher Training – preparation for teachers in basic principles of Education.
The goal is to adapt these courses to the reality of post-earthquake Haiti.
Some of the classes are: Understanding Community Development, Community Health, Strategies for Working with Children at Risk, Project Planning, Communication & Leadership, HIV, Bereavement, Creativity with Children, Child Development, Curriculum Development, Classroom Dynamics, Storytelling, Trauma Counseling, Foster Care, Discipleship Training.
Speakers
YWAM has an international network of lecturers on these subjects, in addition to local staff and partnerships who will provide speakers on specific subjects. YWAM Belo is responsible all arrangements with speakers.
DurationThe training is from October 4th – December 25th, 2010. Total: 3 months.
Location
This course is to take place in Port-au-Prince. Arrangements for a location are under way. Students and staff will live and work/study within close distance of internally displaced population sites, so they may serve those communities as part of the training.
Finances
YWAM staff is responsible for their own finances through private donors. The cost per student is currently being studied. The current estimate is that the approximate cost will be US$250 per student per month. There is a possibility of Brazilian churches sponsoring the students of the course.
Needs:
- Water
- Food
- Bathrooms
- Printing
- Books
- Classroom materials
- Internet/Projection system
- Sound sytem
- Chairs
- Transportation for the students
If you would like to participate and give financially towards those needs, please get in contact with us through our email.
If you would like to help us personally you can find in our contact info on the right, how to give to us if you live in the USA, UK or in Australia. For other countries, please get in contact with us.
Please pray for this school!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Newsletter 136, August 2010
Dear family and friends,
"Is God asking the impossible of you?" asked the English pastor during our weekly Thursday evening service on our YWAM base in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The question touched me. Yes, it actually felt as if God asked too much... I looked around me. The hall was crowded with staff and children from all our eight different homes, with volunteers who had given up their holidays to come and help us, and with guests from the local churches.
Johan was not in the service, as he had gone to Haiti this week to prepare for a school we will be running from October 2 to December 25 to train local young people and empower local communities for transformation. And that was what was troubling me a little; I had no doubt that God had led us together to offer help after the earthquake in Haiti, especially to train people to reach out to the children in need. But even after seeing God do so many miracles, directing us to the right people, opening doors, confirming it over and over again that these were His plans for us, we were still worried how to combine this with leading the YWAM base in Belo Horizonte, with around 100 full time staff, plus leading the Children at Risk School in Belo, which will start late August. How could we do all of this? Was God asking the impossible? Well, yes, it sure felt like it!
Impossible to do in our own strength, impossible to do with our own resources, impossible to manage everything... but then I found out that this is exactly the place where God wants me, where He says: "Trust me, with me it is possible!” We are going to do this together with God; scary and exciting at the same time! Will you pray for us?
Naiomi, Eva and Davi
In early April, our granddaughter Naiomi was born. She is the sister of Iara and the daughter of Johanneke and Jonathan, who are on staff here on the base. What a wonderful experience to be at her birth, and what a darling little child with long, dark blond hair and big blue eyes. And then in June, our sixth grandchild, Eva, was born on the day we returned from our trip to India and Australia. So I went directly from the airport to the hospital. She is the sister of Igor and the daughter of Michele and Romeu, who are also missionaries, living and working one hour away from Belo Horizonte. She has pitch black hair and a complexion as if she has been sunbathing; a lovely child. What a joy and what a blessing! To top it off Davi came to visit us for a month. He is our youngest son, who is physically and mentally challenged and lives in a Christian residential community in Holland. What a wonderful family time we had!
We want to thank you all who support us through prayer, encouragements by email, and financial gifts. Without such support we could not do all the work we are doing!
We wish you God's abundant blessings!
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
Prayer Point :
• Thank God for His faithfulness; He can be trusted with all our needs. Pray that in all impossible situations, we will hold onto Him.
"Is God asking the impossible of you?" asked the English pastor during our weekly Thursday evening service on our YWAM base in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The question touched me. Yes, it actually felt as if God asked too much... I looked around me. The hall was crowded with staff and children from all our eight different homes, with volunteers who had given up their holidays to come and help us, and with guests from the local churches.
Johan was not in the service, as he had gone to Haiti this week to prepare for a school we will be running from October 2 to December 25 to train local young people and empower local communities for transformation. And that was what was troubling me a little; I had no doubt that God had led us together to offer help after the earthquake in Haiti, especially to train people to reach out to the children in need. But even after seeing God do so many miracles, directing us to the right people, opening doors, confirming it over and over again that these were His plans for us, we were still worried how to combine this with leading the YWAM base in Belo Horizonte, with around 100 full time staff, plus leading the Children at Risk School in Belo, which will start late August. How could we do all of this? Was God asking the impossible? Well, yes, it sure felt like it!
Naiomi, Eva and Davi
In early April, our granddaughter Naiomi was born. She is the sister of Iara and the daughter of Johanneke and Jonathan, who are on staff here on the base. What a wonderful experience to be at her birth, and what a darling little child with long, dark blond hair and big blue eyes. And then in June, our sixth grandchild, Eva, was born on the day we returned from our trip to India and Australia. So I went directly from the airport to the hospital. She is the sister of Igor and the daughter of Michele and Romeu, who are also missionaries, living and working one hour away from Belo Horizonte. She has pitch black hair and a complexion as if she has been sunbathing; a lovely child. What a joy and what a blessing! To top it off Davi came to visit us for a month. He is our youngest son, who is physically and mentally challenged and lives in a Christian residential community in Holland. What a wonderful family time we had!
Iara, Jonathan, Johanneke and Naiomi
Igor, Romeu, Michele and Eva
Davi, busy with handicraft.
We wish you God's abundant blessings!
Johan and Jeannette Lukasse
Prayer Point :
• Thank God for His faithfulness; He can be trusted with all our needs. Pray that in all impossible situations, we will hold onto Him.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Last week Johan went back to Haiti to speak and participate in a conference for 150 Haitian pastors and leaders. He writes:
On February 12, one month after the earthquake in Haiti, I was sleeping in the open air in downtown Port-au-Prince near the collapsed government palace, when all of a sudden at 5:30 in the morning I woke up. Someone shouted very loudly “Halleluuuuuujah”: they were testing a very powerful sound system right in front of the palace!
That was the beginning of three days of worship, praise and declarations of hundreds of thousands of Haitians that Haiti belongs to Jesus Christ. Until that moment I had felt little hope for the future of Haiti, but when I witnessed these revival services, I began to believe, that because of the church, Haiti can have a better future.
Last week this belief was reinforced when I was back in Haiti for a conference of pastors and leaders in Port au Prince. Being among them during worship seemed to be a foretaste of heaven. Their hunger and thirst for the Word of God was so refreshing to see! Receiving their hugs and gratitude simply because we had taken the trouble to be with them, filled me with a feeling of great gratitude and a better understanding of how privileged we are to serve the Lord Jesus among the nations.
Our bedroom in Haiti. This pic was taken at 5.30 in the morning, quiet time...
In October we plan to go back to Haiti again, myself and Jeannette and some other missionaries, to conduct a school of three months for approximately 50-100 young Haitians and to train them to become agents of change in their communities. The school will focus on community development, protection of children in situations of risk and education.
We believe that God will primarily use the church use to change the reality in Haiti. Pray with us for this nation.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The world cup is a very special time in Brazil, and also here in YWAM Belo Horizonte the staff, students and the kids are watching the games with lots of excitement, especially if our favorites (Holland and Brazil) win the games ! These pics were taken during and after the game of Holland, with all the dutchies in their orange outfits…
Eva`s first world cup, she was not very interested...
Proud grandma!
Thankful!
The last two weeks of our two months teaching trip were in Australia. I had never been in Australia before, and what a special time we had! We want to thank a few special people:
• Jillie, who gave us such a special first two days in Australia, she really pampered us, it made our start unforgettable, we enjoyed it so much!
• Cloe and Niki who gave themselves 24/7 to make the Children at Risk School a great success, who helped each of the students in a personal way so they would be equipped for their various ministries, who took care of us in all the little details and way beyond, and who are living to make God happy with their obedience and commitment.
• The students, it was a privilege to get to know you and to be able to invest a little bit in your lives and your work with children, (in Australia, Thailand, and other places where He will take you), by teaching some of the lessons we have learned ourselves over the years.
• Rick and Lynne, who offered us their warm hospitality on our long journey back to Brazil for a day and a night at their home in England. What a wonderful friendship, already for decades!
Thank you all! We are so blessed! And above all we thank God for the great people and friendships that He brought our way, for His care for us throughout this long journey and for His blessings.
And there was still another blessing when we arrived back in Brazil: Eva, the daughter of Michele and Romeu was born, which is already our sixth grandchild. What a wealth! It is a beautiful little doll with lots of black hair. There were some complications with the birth, so she ended up having a cesarean. But fortunately mother and daughter are both in good health, and Michele and Romeu with Igor and Eva are staying now a couple of weeks with us in Belo Horizonte. Double fun!
We wish you all God's abundant blessings,
Johan and Jeannette
• Jillie, who gave us such a special first two days in Australia, she really pampered us, it made our start unforgettable, we enjoyed it so much!
• Cloe and Niki who gave themselves 24/7 to make the Children at Risk School a great success, who helped each of the students in a personal way so they would be equipped for their various ministries, who took care of us in all the little details and way beyond, and who are living to make God happy with their obedience and commitment.
• The students, it was a privilege to get to know you and to be able to invest a little bit in your lives and your work with children, (in Australia, Thailand, and other places where He will take you), by teaching some of the lessons we have learned ourselves over the years.
• Rick and Lynne, who offered us their warm hospitality on our long journey back to Brazil for a day and a night at their home in England. What a wonderful friendship, already for decades!
Thank you all! We are so blessed! And above all we thank God for the great people and friendships that He brought our way, for His care for us throughout this long journey and for His blessings.
And there was still another blessing when we arrived back in Brazil: Eva, the daughter of Michele and Romeu was born, which is already our sixth grandchild. What a wealth! It is a beautiful little doll with lots of black hair. There were some complications with the birth, so she ended up having a cesarean. But fortunately mother and daughter are both in good health, and Michele and Romeu with Igor and Eva are staying now a couple of weeks with us in Belo Horizonte. Double fun!
We wish you all God's abundant blessings,
Johan and Jeannette
The Children at Risk School in Australie.
Cloe and Niki
Yes, we were really in Australie!
Eva!
Michele, proud mom!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
India, street kids, red light district...
After a whole month of teaching in India we arrived last week in Perth, a city on the west coast of Australia.
We have had a tremendously good time in India. We worked intensively with the students for this month, taught them every day, had our meals together, and every week we had two afternoons of practical applications, where we went together to visit the street kids down town Mumbai, or where we went together to the red light district.
Wow, that was pretty heavy stuff! To get to the center of the city of Mumbai we had to take the train, which by itself is already a great adventure. I've never seen such crowded trains! One day there wasn`t even enough space on the floor to put both my feet down, so there I was, hanging from one of the dozens of handles, attached to the ceiling of the compartment, caught between hundreds of fellow passengers! It was very funny! The street children live in the center of the city, close to the famous Victoria Station. It was nice to see how good friendships already were built up between the long term staff and the children, and of course we had to play a game of cricket!
The red light district is one large slum where 15,000 girls and women are forced to work as prostitutes. They built large lines of small rooms without windows and with a curtain in the doorway. The alleys between these rooms were usually no more than three feet wide, with a deep groove of one feet for the open sewer in the middle. At the beginning of the alleys were dozens of girls waiting for their customers, heavily made up with pink, red or purple lipstick, and wearing the most colorful saris and salwaars. It should actually be a very happy view, all those colors, but I tried to get a glimpse of their faces and their eyes and saw fear, depression and apathy. These girls share a small single room with 6 or 7, divided by curtains into small little places. There they each receive eight to twenty clients per night for 50 rupees at a time, a little more than a dollar…
We went with a local staff member of YWAM walking through the slum, offering to pray for the girls. This gave us the whole afternoon open doors everywhere, or better, open curtains. We prayed for a 16 year old girl with her three months old baby who was dying of AIDS, and with a 38 years old woman, who looked much older, who suffered from rheumatic pains. Then we were invited by a group of older women and young girls from Nepal. The older women had been trafficked into the red light district a long time ago, when they were young girls,( there's just so much human trafficking from Nepalese girls!), and now, to survive as older women, they set up their own business out of a group of younger girls. One of the girls said she worked there for nine years and would like to leave, but where to? Another young woman said she had quarreled with her husband, and as revenge he had sold her to a pimp for 70,000 rupees. She would only be released if she had earned this debt back. But she was also caring for her two children, who were playing in the streets, so the chance that she will ever save enough to free herself is minimal.
YWAM rented a room in the middle of the slum and uses it for church planting. Many wonderful things happen, and God's love shines there in a very special and practical way. Will you pray for them? Especially for their safety.
The last morning in the Children at Risk School it was touching to hear all the students one by one thanking us. Sathyia, a young man, who for the last four years had lead the ministry among street children in Mumbai, told us that he had learned more in this one month of teaching, than in the entire four years of working with the boys on the streets. Sonya, who took the school together with her husband, thanked us crying. Sonya grew up in a leper colony because her father had leprosy and this was the first time they met foreigners. She was surprised that we ate the same food as the students, while taking time for them to listen to their stories and to pray for them... And so I could say something about each of our students, but in short: it was a great group of wonderful students and we have enjoyed thoroughly to teach them and to help them a little further on their way in their work with children in need.
It was physically hard for us especially in the last week, when we had diarrhea that only stopped when we got medicated by a doctor in Australia. Anyway, everything is back under control now!
Here in Australia we again have a great group of students in yet another “Children at Risk School” who hope to work with children at risk in various countries in Asia.
Will you pray for these students, for those in India and those here in Australia, that they may understand and obey God's plan for their lives and many children at risk will be reached with God’s love?
And thank God with us for our health and for all the wonderful opportunities to help the students to get started in their visions and work among the children. Street children, girls in red light districts, kids in prisons, slums ... That the work of God's love in these children may be multiplied!
Lots of love and God bless,
Johan and Jeannette
Teaching in the "Katapult", a training course in Holland for workers with children at risk.
We have had a tremendously good time in India. We worked intensively with the students for this month, taught them every day, had our meals together, and every week we had two afternoons of practical applications, where we went together to visit the street kids down town Mumbai, or where we went together to the red light district.
Wow, that was pretty heavy stuff! To get to the center of the city of Mumbai we had to take the train, which by itself is already a great adventure. I've never seen such crowded trains! One day there wasn`t even enough space on the floor to put both my feet down, so there I was, hanging from one of the dozens of handles, attached to the ceiling of the compartment, caught between hundreds of fellow passengers! It was very funny! The street children live in the center of the city, close to the famous Victoria Station. It was nice to see how good friendships already were built up between the long term staff and the children, and of course we had to play a game of cricket!
The red light district is one large slum where 15,000 girls and women are forced to work as prostitutes. They built large lines of small rooms without windows and with a curtain in the doorway. The alleys between these rooms were usually no more than three feet wide, with a deep groove of one feet for the open sewer in the middle. At the beginning of the alleys were dozens of girls waiting for their customers, heavily made up with pink, red or purple lipstick, and wearing the most colorful saris and salwaars. It should actually be a very happy view, all those colors, but I tried to get a glimpse of their faces and their eyes and saw fear, depression and apathy. These girls share a small single room with 6 or 7, divided by curtains into small little places. There they each receive eight to twenty clients per night for 50 rupees at a time, a little more than a dollar…
We went with a local staff member of YWAM walking through the slum, offering to pray for the girls. This gave us the whole afternoon open doors everywhere, or better, open curtains. We prayed for a 16 year old girl with her three months old baby who was dying of AIDS, and with a 38 years old woman, who looked much older, who suffered from rheumatic pains. Then we were invited by a group of older women and young girls from Nepal. The older women had been trafficked into the red light district a long time ago, when they were young girls,( there's just so much human trafficking from Nepalese girls!), and now, to survive as older women, they set up their own business out of a group of younger girls. One of the girls said she worked there for nine years and would like to leave, but where to? Another young woman said she had quarreled with her husband, and as revenge he had sold her to a pimp for 70,000 rupees. She would only be released if she had earned this debt back. But she was also caring for her two children, who were playing in the streets, so the chance that she will ever save enough to free herself is minimal.
YWAM rented a room in the middle of the slum and uses it for church planting. Many wonderful things happen, and God's love shines there in a very special and practical way. Will you pray for them? Especially for their safety.
The last morning in the Children at Risk School it was touching to hear all the students one by one thanking us. Sathyia, a young man, who for the last four years had lead the ministry among street children in Mumbai, told us that he had learned more in this one month of teaching, than in the entire four years of working with the boys on the streets. Sonya, who took the school together with her husband, thanked us crying. Sonya grew up in a leper colony because her father had leprosy and this was the first time they met foreigners. She was surprised that we ate the same food as the students, while taking time for them to listen to their stories and to pray for them... And so I could say something about each of our students, but in short: it was a great group of wonderful students and we have enjoyed thoroughly to teach them and to help them a little further on their way in their work with children in need.
It was physically hard for us especially in the last week, when we had diarrhea that only stopped when we got medicated by a doctor in Australia. Anyway, everything is back under control now!
Here in Australia we again have a great group of students in yet another “Children at Risk School” who hope to work with children at risk in various countries in Asia.
Will you pray for these students, for those in India and those here in Australia, that they may understand and obey God's plan for their lives and many children at risk will be reached with God’s love?
And thank God with us for our health and for all the wonderful opportunities to help the students to get started in their visions and work among the children. Street children, girls in red light districts, kids in prisons, slums ... That the work of God's love in these children may be multiplied!
Lots of love and God bless,
Johan and Jeannette
Hannah waters the one flower in our garden.
"Opa, (grandpa) I get so tired from biking..."
The Children at Risk School in India
Teaching and eating, sitting on the floor.
Little street boy.
With the students going by train to Mumbai central.
Street boys like Armani shirts too!
The all love to get their picture taken.
After the cricket game with the street kids, we had some time to sing, the students did some funny sketches and the good news was explained. Afterwards we had a nice meal with them.
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