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Project E.A.R.T.H. International

Nicaragua (December 5 -13) Swaziland (December 13-29) Kenya (December 30 - February 16)

A Welcome Message from Chris Cote

Thanks for joining us on yet another exciting journey. A few months ago I had no idea that GOD was going to answer the many prayers you've prayed for Him to "expand the borders" of PEI so quickly and in this way. This is one of those Ephesians 3:20 moments in my life. This IS . . . "exceeding, abundantly, above ALL I could ask or even THINK (to ask for). Although I am excited about this journey there's a lot of mixed emotions, a few fears and it's challenging me in many ways. There is one thing I am comfident aboout . . . . GOD is in control and I am not. I am used to being the leader on these missions . For most of this one I am not. Pray for me as I submit to the authority of the leaders I will be serving and pray that GOD will give me the power to be an example to other team members. Pastor Lamb, Greg and Mary Rose Dow and Dr. Panicker are amazing people whom GOD is using to bless people around the world. PRAY for them! GOD BLESS YOU! Enjoy the journey and visit often.

Wednesday - November 19

I just called the Dows in Kenya and Greg had just returned from taking their three oldest children to Nairobi to fly home for a family wedding. They are looking forward to me coming and said that I shouldn't worry about the weather as it will be quite bareable! HALLELUJAH. I will find out more about Kenya from the kids when I see them soon. Continue to pray for Greg and Mary Rose and the 18 children that remain with them and lots of extra work without their helpers!

Evangelizing Always - Reaching, Teaching, Helping

Friday - December 5

I was up all night last night with the beginnings a cold and finally packing for the journey to Nicaragua. Though only a few people came to the prayer time last night it was really a blessing and we know that many people were praying for us. With electronic devices charging in several different rooms I got things together by 5:00 a.m. and by 6:30 I was totally packed. I went to WalMart and picked up a couple last minute items and donuts for the team then met them in Lancaster. We had 26 suitcases plus carry-ons. Pastor Lamb and others loaded the trailer and we headed to BWI. Believe it on not the guy who helped with our lugguage piled them ALL onto one cart and

only couple fell off as he brought them into the terminal. I was

quite impressed with Continental Airlines and just how easily and

efficiently they checked in our group of 12 people. The flight to

Houston was pleasant though a bit warm on the plane. They

served a free snack and twice gave us free beverages. YES we

even could have a whole regular size can of soda.

Once in Houston we had dinner at a nice restaurant with good

food. That's all I'll say about that. We met Pastor Doug's sister -

Denise and boarded our flight for Nicaragua early! This plane

was muc h cooler. They are flying 737s. They ac tually served

dinner on this flight (FREE) and again twice served FREE bever-

ages. We got into Managua 20 minuutes early and went through

customs with no problems. They had a bus waiting for us and we

quickly went to thie mission house where we are staying. It's an

awesome place. After room assignments we unpacked and had

an organization meeting before going to bed a little after 1:00

am.

(Photo - Right) One view of our beautiful home away from home.

Quinta Shalom is an oasis for missionaries while they are serving

the LORD in Managua and the surrounding area. It's beautiful,

clean, friendly, and the food is awesome. It was a blessing to get

to know the people who make it such a great place to stay. We

were very blessed by our time there.

Saturday, December 6

Sleeping was nice last night. We have good ceiling fans and ventilation and I actually covered up with a sheet because I was a bit cool. I didn't expect to have such beautiful accomodations. We had a nice breakfast and then a little time to enjoy talking before our bus arrived for a day out enjoying our surroundings. We went to a volcano at MASAYAH (prounced Messiah) and that was very exciting. Then we went to Granada sightseeing and the LORD lead me to two little boys who sniff glue and spend time making

grasshoppers out of grass to try to sell to people to get more money for glue. Ask

me about what happened there. It was amazing what GOD did. I had already

ordered lunch when my encounter with them began, and they ended up with my

lunch and later I got them more. YOU GAVE ME THE ABILITY TO DO THAT!

Thank You!

What took place next wasawesome. God is at work. The rest of the group was

split up other places having lunch and shopping. Some of the others also had

GOD ENCOUNTERS. From there we went back to the town of MASAYAH shop-

ping at a big market. We got back at our place by 5:00 and had dinner at 6:00.

After dinner we inventoried all the toys, candy and other things we brought to

bless the children. We then planned a sports day we will do with the kids on

Monday. AWESOME. Some people went out for a walk, others for a ride

around town and the rest stayed here at our base to do whatever they wanted.

Here I am working on the ONLINE JOURNAL & email. GOD bless you

(Photo-Right) Julio stiffs glue while Juan is passed out on the sidewalk.

Sunday, Decem ber 7

What an amazing day this has been. It's hard for me to try and put it into words (briefly) but, I will make an effort. I didn't sleep well as I was too excited about what I felt the day would hold. This is a special day here. It's a day when they celebrate Mary. Since we arrived there have been fireworks going off. (I can't imagine just how much it would cost for them to set off firecrackers around the clock for days but they do it.) We got up early and had a nice breakfast. Then we had a brief time of worship and a devotion lead by Poastor Doug. It was a powerful time. We are looking at what it means to have "Te favor of GOD" on our lives. Also, how we position ourselves to receive God's favor. Maybe you can take a moment to think about that in your own life and the life of your church.

We went to Oasis of Love for their service. 1) I was overwelmed with the warmth of love of their people. It was like I was a dear friend they haven't seen for a long time. Their hugs were like a bear hugs. The worship was FABULOUS! The musicans are all youth of the church. The worship leader has such enthusiasm and is truely the lead worshipper. You can't help but be drawn into the worship of GOD. Most of the service I was reduced to tears. The Spirit was so strong through the whole service and I recieved over an over again from the LORD. More than once I was driven to my knees in worship. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is what kept running through my mind and heart during the service. What litttle I slept last night I had a dream about being in the ocean. Way out there! Alone. I was swim down deep into the water. I needed to come up for air but couldn't. I just kept going deeper. Finally I thought I would not survive for lack of air. Suddenly I reach a beautiful place and I could breath under water. I woke up. The scriptue during the service was about DEEP WATER! WOW!

From there I can't explain the rest of the service. It's

just too much but, please ask me about it sometime.

Only if you really want to know though, because there

is so much to say.

I must tell you however that the message was given

by a guest pastor. He is from Oasis of Love's sister

church over on the coast. Amazing to me is that one of

my long time disciples who was responsible for me

going to Arkansas so many times had just returned to

the USA with his wife, from nearly two months with this

pastor. I found out about that just before we came here.

When I mentioned that to the Pastor of Oasis of Love he

told me about the guest pastor. From there it's more

amazing but you'll have to ask me to find out the rest!

In the afternoon I rested and it's a good thing because

the evening service was "over the top". It too would

take volumes to describe. Again the worship was so

awesome and then - Pastor Doug asked me to share my

testimony and he gave a brief message. Then he gave

me the opportunity to invite people to receive JESUS as

Savior. There were many people in the church who were

there because someone they love was returning from the

mens retreat. This was a huge celebration that again I

can't put into words. I HAV# VIDEO. You won't believe

what the church did to receive these men home from the

retreat. I will not speak on any more retreats unless the

sponsoring church will agree to have a special service

to receive the retreat goers home and celebrate what

the LORD has done during the retreat. IT WAS AMAZING.

NOTE: I know most of you will never read these long

journal entries (even though I make them "breif" but, the

LORD is doing amazing things) and I want you to be

encouraged and JESUS to receive GLORY and HONOR

for what HE is doing.

After church we went out to eat and had an awesome

time. We ivited the bus driver to join us for dinner. We

are praying he will cone to know the LORD. He's been

blessed by our love for him. When we got home, the 24

hours of fireworks came to a head about 11:30 and it

sounded like popcorn in a steel drum for the next hour.

Through the night there was still continued firecrackers.

Monday, December 8

The firecrackers continued today. It's a holiday as part of the celebration that has elements of halloween (as folks dress up for the celebration and go from door to door to receive candy. (No, I didn't go and YES I wanted to!) At midnight, Mary flies over and blesses the people! Now on with more important reports. After breakfast we were off on the bus to Oasis of Love to pick up some of the youth to join us for a fun day, at Hogar de Fe orphanage. "FIELD DAY". We organized games and other things during the morning. After an awesome lunch we were greeted by hundreds of children who showed up for the day. YES, I said hundreds.

Once the kids were splits into three age groups

the fun began. Everyone had a great time and also

learned about the love of JESUS. I was the photo-

grapher for the day. It was sunny and hot but i

maanged to avoid a sunburn. Thank GOD for shade.

All the children were so excited. There were lots

of prizes and candy though - no more Hot Tamales

candy for these children. Hahaha. That didn't go

over well. Too hot!

I'm experiencing some problems with pain as

always but, your prayers are bringing me through.

Thanks for your faithfulness. An hour of rest when

we got back to our base, was a great blessing.

In the evening we went back to Oasis of Love to

present a training on EVANGELISM. Pastor Doug

taught about Spiritual Welfare and laid the foundation

and then gave me opportunity to teach about pract-

ical ways we can effectively evangelize.. This is

in preparation for a night of evangelism in a park

in Managua Tues. evening. PRAY!

Our all night prayer vigil for the night of evangelism

has begun! I have the 3-4am shift.

(Photo-right) a small portion of the kids at Hogar de Fe

field day activity.

Tuesday, December 9

The day began with my 3 a.m. shift for the prayer vigil. It went by so quickly I actually went over by a half hour. I decided to stay up and do some organizing for the trip to Africa, pray some more and work on the web-page. I came here with a cold and it's hovered over me during the whole journey. Now a sore throat. My foot has been doing really well until this trip. It began to take a turn for the worst the day we arrived and today it was looking so bad I stayed home and prayed for the team while in bed with my foot elevated and medicated. Please pray for me as I have been doing less walking here than I will have to do in Africa. I need a total healing. Don't pray for my foot to be healed. Pray for ALL of me to be healed. Speaking of healing. The pastor's sister is with us and she is a huge blessing! After our training on evangelism I knew an attack would come. About 5:30 a.m. Denise came and told me she was sick. She also had to spend the day in bed trying to recover. She must leave Thurs. so pray she feels better tomorrow so she can enjoy her last day here.

Today was the team worked on two different contruction projects. One at Hogar de Fe and the other at Oasis of Love. Both were challenging as they went from place to place trying to obtain the tools and supplies needed. Renting a skid steer loader for some of the work was a task. It wasn't as hot as it was humid today. The team came back looking like they worked hard. All needing showers but, not enough time for that. We had to be on our way to meet the youth for evangelism at the park.

We had about 12 show us to do evangelism. With our team and theirs the bus was packed. It was exciting to watch GOD work as we went through the park talking to people in our small groups and seeing the teenagers share the Gospel with these folks. Some prayed to receive Christ and others were thinking carefully about what they heard. One guy my group talked to was under such conviction he looked like he was going to punch one of us. Part of the team, including Pastor Doug joined in a basketball game with some young men who were there when we arrived. This drew a crowd and gave opportunity for us also.

It was a successful event.

The team as a part of the fee for this trip, gave an

amount that would cover us taking the youth out to

eat after evangelism. We went to a great place

called: "The Farm". It's owned by some Christians

and the food was outstanding and the service was

excellent. They even had my favorite desert flan de

coco. (like a coconut custard with carmel syrup). It

was AWESOME. The bus driver joined us as our

guest. He is really touched by our love for him and

is close to giving his life to Christ.

Our cooks at the mission house are amazing.

While I was home all day I got to minister to them

and the handyman and their little boy (Nesto). He's

8 and very smart. I got one of the coloring book and

a pack of crayons from our donations and gave it to

him. I sat with him while he colored and it was fun

seeing him choose the colors for each picture and

watch how proud he was of each one. We sat just

a few feet from his mother and the other cook as

they prepared the evening meal for another team

that is staying here.

I think they've finally run out of fireworks here.

(Sorry I am jumping back and forth in my day.) One

final thing. There's a song I learned while in Swazi-

land that I enjoy teaching people and they always

like learning it. To hear the Nicaraguan team sing in

SiSwati was nice. I hope to video tape them sing-

ing it. I'm already praying about a return to this

country to do a youth revival and retreat. Pray with

me about that. The pastor here is very interested in

that.

Wednesday - December 10

Work projects continued today after a few stops to try and get some of the things needed for the projects. It's been difficult getting some of that together but it's always exciting to see how GOD works it all out. The teens from the church have been showing up to help with the work and they are a blessing. Daniel has been among that group that is showing up to work. I've been trying to stay off my food and so I have been in the office working or communic-

ations and try to get things together for the mission to Africa. I've enjoyed getting to know

the people at Oasis of Love. They are a very friendly group. We came back and everyone

got cleaned up and we prepared for a special evening with the leadership of Oasis of Love. We had

a special dinner for them. I played guitar and we sang Christmas carols with the group

before dinner. The team sereved the food and I also helped do dishes. It was a good

evening. Everyone was pretty tired so it was amazing to see everyone so up beat. Some of

us have been sick and that has made it interesting to keep going. It's always amazing to

watch how GOD gives us the ability to do what we couldn't do otherwise. We can really tell

that people are praying for us. Without your prayers we would be in a bad situation but now

we are simply "blessed in every way" <Dave Meyer> PLEASE CONTINUE to PRAY for

us! We need your prayers for safety, good health and open doors & open hearts!

(Every day we have devotions as a team. <Photo - Right> Pastor Doug is sharing with

the team about having "God's Favor". We want the "Favor of God" in everything that

we do.)

Meet TEAM NICARAGUA

Back Row: John (Juanito) Fidel (Poppy), Josh, Robin, Chris

Front Row: Ryan, Pastor Doug (Yogi), Karen, Justin, Daniel, Steph

Pastor Doug makes one final check of our bags before leaving

for BWI. Next stop: Baltimore, Houston, Managua, Nicaragua.

A visit to an active volcano at Masaya National Park

Above: Our team looks on during worship at Oasis of Love on Sunday a.m. The

worship team is made up of the youth of the church.

Above: Homecoming celebration for men back from Encounter Retreat.

Above: Me with my "Son" Daniel at La Finca (The Farm). The team treated the youth to dinner after our evening of evangelism. La Finca is owned by Christians and they put on a wonderful special meal for us.

Thursday - December 11

This morning one of our team members was headed back to Texas but her flight was cancelled due to icy conditions in Houston that kept the place from being able to come to Nicaragua. So, she is with us for one more day. The work projects are coming along well. This was going to be a half work day today but it ended up running till late afternoon. We came home and got

cleaned up to return for the evening service at Oasia of Love.

Pastor Lamb

Before we left for church Fidel came in with Tony (the bus driver) to

tell me that he was ready to accept the Lord so several of us gathered

in our room and we had Pastor Lamb lead him in the prayer of Salvation.

It was an awesome moment.

Pastor Lamb was preaching tonight and it was a powerful message.

Samuel (one of the youth) has been such a blessing and tonight he

translated for the the people and he did a great job. It was fun to watch

him try to keep up with all the Pastor had to share and do it with the same

fire and enthusiasm. "Living" the Christian life and allowing GOD to have

authority over us so that HE can use us it not easy. We want His glory, and

we want the blessings but, when it comes to His discipline, or coming under

His authority that is something else. Pastor Doug delivered a message

that brought 85% or more of the people in attendanc e to the alter for us

to pray for them. It was an invitation that related directly to the message

and a desire to "LIVE" as God as called us to live. VICTORIOUS lives

that will change our world. That will change the "church".

Daniel brought his mother and sister over to introduce them to me after

church and we had a nice talk about me being his Spiritual father. His

mother told me that his family was excited about that and support it. That

made Daniel very happy. She told me that they would be coming to the

airport on Saturday morning to see me off even though it will mean them

getting up very early to come. I was touched by that.

It'a hard to believe that tomorrow is our last full day here.

Friday - December 12

It's outreach day. We spent some time preparing some gifts for the kids at a nearby orphanage where we would go in the afternoon and then we loaded everything else on the bus and headed to the church for our outreach in a nearby

neighborhood where one of the cell groups meets. We spent about an hour filling

hundred bags with candy and toys for the children we would meet. Then we got

on the bus and headed over there. It's hard for me to put into words all that

happened but we ended up with a huge crowd of kids at we made visits to many

homes to share Christ with them. We split up in to four teams for the visits and

our team had a great time meeting and praying for the families of the kids. Our

last house we had the honor of praying with the mother to receive Christ.

Everyone came back to the house where we started and the team put on a

skit about creation. It was awesome. Then about what JESUS did on the cross.

Over 100 children and people of all ages now crowed around the house to see

what they might be given since word had traveled quickly that we are there with

gifts for the children. We ended up having to undo the 100 bags we made up

so that we could give a little to each child.

From there we went to a very poor area near the church to minister to some

men who struggle with addictions. We weren't allowed to wear any jewelry or

take wallets etc. with us there. We came with tracts and gospels of John and

had an awesome time sharing with them. They appreciated us coming.

We had lunch back at the church and then went to a market where we could

shop for some gifts. People were interested in buying hammocks and rocking

chairs. The organizer of the the trip treated us to ice cream on our way back

home. Some people later went to orphanage. After dinner I went with John

to the Nicaragua WalMart to get a few things and then cam back to pack. I

can't believe our time here is done. It was hard saying goodbye to the cooks

and the little boy I got to know so well (Nestito).

(ABOVE) Pastor Lamb and Denise <his

sister> before one of our days of ministry.

(LEFT) Tony <our bus driver> at the vol-

cano on our first full day in Nicaragua.

I took this picture while having my first

conversation with Tony. I knew that

early in the trip that GOD was going to

do something special for Tony and that

HE was going to use our group in the

process. It was exciting watching GOD

do that!.

(ABOVE) Our two sisters-in-Christ who served us in many ways. They keep our rooms and bathrooms super clean and the food they prepared for us was awesome!. I enjoyed many conver-

sations with them during our stay. It was a blessing to see them so happy serving the LORD in this way. Pray for them.

SWAZILAND

SWAZILAND

Dow's KENYA

Dow's KENYA

PART 1 PART 2 PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5

DEC 16 - 21 DEC 22 - 29 DEC 30 - JAN 13 JAN 14 - 20 JAN 21 - 27 JAN 28 - FEB 8 FEB 9 - 16

Saturday -December 13

Getting up at 4:00 a.m. didn't seem to be a problem for any of the team. By 5:15 we had the bus loaded and headed to the airport. When we arrived just after 6:00 there way Daniel waiting with his mom and dad. I can't believe they got up so early and came all that way to see me off. They gave me a nice gift to remember them. I also had something for them since they told me they were planning to come. It was a bit disappinting that we had some problems getting checked in so I was one of the last ones to be cleared to go to security to board my flight. I had about 5 minutes to say goodbye to Danieland his family. They stood at the gate waving until I was out of sight. Therewere a few tears during this time.

Our flight to Houston seemed quick. We didn't have much time to claim our bags and get through customs to get to our gate for Baltimore. As we came through customs everything went fine till Josh (our youngest team member got pulled aside and detained. They do this randomly but it took

so much time they almost missed the flight home and it meant that the bag

he had with him would not make it until later. It was very close. Another 3

minutes and they would have had to take another flight.

We had enough time for some of the team to stop and buy some food

in the airport. Fidel and I ended up sitting next to each other again and he

had gotten a burger, fries and chicken nuggets. He shared them with me!

I really was happy about that. We were blessed to get good service on all

our flights with Continental Airlines. I was very impressed with them. There

was no charge for our drinks or food.

We got into Baltimore about 5:30 and by 9:00 p.m. I was home and

enjoying stretching out on the couch watching "It's A Wonderful Life" while

checking email. I will be going to Shiloh for church tomorrow and then

pack in the afternoon and evening. I can't believe I'm leaving for Swazi-

land day after tomorrow.

Sunday -December 14

It is good to be home if only for a day. I slept pretty well last night but I am still thinking in Spanish. It was nice to get to us the little bit of Spanish I know and it has sparked me to get interested in the language again. I got up early to prepare for church and I packed two of the four bags I will be taking with me on this journey. I am taking one bag each for Fika and Bo with things they will be happy to see again. My prayer is that South African Air will let me bring the bags for free when I explain to them the circumstances. I will be flying "handicapped" this time due to continued problems with my foot. This will give me help with all of my bags and help me avoid all that walking and standing. A friend who is a doctor wrote a letter to assist me with this.

Church was awesome today. It was so good to see everyone. I had an

opportunity to share with the youth during their Sunday school class and

I brought candy from Nicaragua to share with them. I've invited 10 youth

and 2 leaders to join me for my next mission to Nicaragua which will be

in late July/early August (Lord willing). The plan will be to do a youth

conference for Oasis of Love and their sister church - Rhama. Please

pray that we can organize this trip and be a blessing to them. I've also

asked Pastor Brett to pray about coming and brining the band for part

of the journey. They would be a part of the conference and some out-

door evangelism. PRAY! Our trip would be 10 days.

Tonight I packed and packed and packed and I've finally run about

of steam. It's now after midnight so I will finish in the morning. I will

then drive to Quarryville and Pastor Brett will take me to JFK.

Monday -December 15 - 16

This morning was crazy. Getting ready to leave is always stressful for me. I am so forgetful so I have lists upon lists to try and remember everything. I was very concerned about the amount and weight of my bags. Just for I ready to go meet Brett I realized I couldn't find the new ATM cards for my account at Wachovia which i opened special for this trip. I freaked out and called Brett to tell him to please come and get me so I would have more time to look for them. Moo (my room mate prayed for me and I also prayed again and I found them. After a quick stop at both banks I went to Quarryville.

Pastor Brett and Tom brought me to JFK. We went to Red Lobster

near the airport for lunch. Tom went to get someone with a wheel-

chair for me and they took good care of me. They also agreed to let

the bags for Fika and Bo go for free! Hallelujah. No problems with

all my bags even though I should have had to pay exess baggage

for a couple of them. I also was way over my limit for carry ons. My

helper wheeled me directly to my flight without much problem. At

security there was a bit of a problem because of the electronic stuff

but it worked out ok.

The flight to South Afirca seemed shorter this time. They gave me

two nice attendants to help me in Joburg with my bags and we went

right through customs with no problems. Nothing in my bags was

damaged! Faith was waiting with the private combi for me and we

were on our way. We made it to the border 5 minutes before it

closed. Fog and rain made the journey long. When we got to Fika's

house everyone was waiting for me. What a joyful reunion. Now I

am looking foward to a wonderful time here. So much ministry, so

little time. Thanks for your prayers. Tomorrow begins a very busy

schedule. GOD bless you all.

(File Photo) Shiloh Youth

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