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Gabriel's Outreach Mission

Hope you have a wonderful summer

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Good evening brothers and sisters in Christ,

This newsletter is sort of late coming out, I wanted to wait until it was close to the time for us to head to the states. I will be leaving on the 21st of this month and Earl and Gabriel will be headed out on the 8th of June. I will be visiting my son Robert and his wife in Bowie, Maryland. I have 3 beautiful grandchildren there waiting for me to play with them. I am looking forward to some bonding time with all of them. First Saturday in June, I will be headed back to Pennsylvania to witness the birth of my last grandchild, Earlene is expecting a little girl on the first of July, she has a beautiful little dark eyed boy, who loves to talk to Grandmom on the telephone. Looking forward to some quality time with our oldest daughter Tammy and her family.

We are hoping to visit some churches while were home, one of them will be at the Oil Creek United Methodist Church, in West Virginia, Pastor Robert Mitchell is a big supporter in our school. Also we will visit Linesville Baptist Church, in Pennsylvania, United Faith Fellowship in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Greenville Baptist Church, in Greenville, Pennsylvania, plus others.

Earl and I have become members of a new church here in Santiago, International Christian Church, the pastor is James White of Sharing the Vision, him and his wife Teresa, are very faithful preachers in teaching from the Bible, we have a new building and Earl felt we needed a pulpit, so when Pastor and his wife went on vacation, Earl began his handy work, it is a beautiful pulpit and we are so grateful to Earl for all his hard work.

The Haitian Christian Education Center will finish up the school year the first week of June, we have had such a great time this year, we had a group of about 20 from the Bible College of Florida, they came and had a complete BIRTHDAY BASH, for all the kids, they said each month and had the children raise their hands if their birthday was in that month, then everyone was clapping, they were each given toys, some juice, a piece of birthday cake. The joy on their faces were well worth it, this was something that I feel they may never have had, thanks to all of you who gave your time, effort and the love of Jesus to each of them.

We will begin the next school year on September 6th, Earl and I will be present for registration, I will begin teaching English in the classroom next year, it should be quite easy, since all the children will be at the same level and we won't have to pay an extra teacher. We would love to complete the divisions in the classroom this next year, we will be putting together a work team for this next year, we will be asking for volunteers to come and help with some of the work that needs done here. We will be putting the information in next months newsletter, if you would like to spend a week here and enjoy visiting the children. We have a place for accommodations and for your meals and very reasonable, Be praying for Gods direction in this adventure.

I would like to leave you with this thought, just be willing to let yourself go, step out of the boat, move away from your comfort zone, this summer do something you have always been afraid of, God will direct you, you will be amazed how God will use you.

God Bless each and everyone of you, All for the love of Jesus, Shirley,Earl, and Gabriel

PS. Just came in, customs have new regulations out !! We can NO longer receive any used clothing or sheets and towels of any kind. Also medications. We have had our shipment from April put on hold, and don't know when we will get it. We had 5 boxes in that shipment, and have no idea whats in them.
Please do not ship anything to us untill we can get more information on this. Thanks Earl

Posted by The Featsents at 5/11/2010 6:58 PM | Add Comment

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Hello Everyone,

It is the time of year to share with someone you love about the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Our family is praying that your Easter will be full of joy and that you will be able to share your holiday with loved ones or someone you don't know very well.

We have 2 more months of school left before the summer holiday, this school year went so fast and we are looking forward to next September. Our class grew from 50 students to 60 students and we have children waiting for the new year to register. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our teacher, Wilbert Darius, he works very hard with the children, not only during the week, but also on Sunday morning during church service. He is very dedicated to Gods calling on his life and we look forward to seeing what God has for him next year. We will have a huge birthday party at the end of the year for all the students, there are too many to celebrate each month, so we will just have one big one. We have made some new plans already for next year, I will be teaching English classes during regular school hours, we hope we will be able to rotate classes with 3 teachers, myself included. Parents are asking us to begin teaching their children some English and that prayer has been answered.

This month we were honored with the presents of Bishop Bob Coulter and Judy Covington, they are from The Missionary Church International, in Columbia, South Carolina. We spent a fun day at the school with Chapel, Judy led the children in a couple songs, and we feed them some lunch and enjoyed each others company. Bishop Coulter and Judy, we thank you so much for sharing with the children.

We have had a very quiet month, but we praise God for his many blessings that he has given us. Pastor Robert Mitchell, we are grateful to you for the donation, it will be used for something great! Please tell your congregation and the other churches how very much we appreciate all you do for us, you are welcome here anytime of the year. God Bless all of you! We will be offering a mission trip here to La Vega next year, we will be given more details next month as we are preparing the schedules. If you are interested in coming, we have accomodations for each of you, we will let you know the exact month this trip will take place, you will be working with the Haitians and the Dominican communities. We are looking forward to a wonderful time sharing the love of Jesus with them all.

This Easter won't you please read to your children or someone in your family from the bible. In Matthew chapters 26,27,28, is from the beginning of Jesus' death and ends with the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus tells everyone that he will be crucified, he will die, and then he will be risen from the dead. This is amazing, how he would die for you and me! The abuse he took for us, he loves us that much. Fine time to sit down and read this to someone and share his love with someone else.

God Bless all of you, we hope you have a wonderful day in the Lord. We will pray for all of you. Here is our prayer request this month: The Haitian Christian Education Center, the teachers, the children, sponsorships, groups to come, our finances to travel home this summer, the next school year, playground equipment, Gabriel's adoption, our residency.

Posted by The Featsents at 3/31/2010 4:55 PM | Add Comment

God Saying The Time Is Near

Buena's Tarde,

     It has been a busy two weeks, as you may know, our friend and sister in Christ, Kathy Gilliland, was visiting us from the 8th of January to the 21st. We had her hopping with many ministries that we participate in. The Haitian Christian Education Center isn't the only ministry we work with. First of all we would like to thank those who let us come in and share the love of Jesus with them and their congregation, Pastor Raphael and his Mission of Mercy children, Pastor Hector Julio and his choir, Debbie Martinez from the La Vega Christan School and the children of all ages, the Haitian Christian Education Center, his sister-in-Law, Alena from Cutapu, and most of all, Kathy, for her determination to come and do exactly what God has put on her heart.

She was here for only 4 days when the earthquake hit, she decided during the week she wanted to go back to the home of our teacher and visit with his family, as you seen in her blog, they have an unfinished home, Kathy felt they needed some pictures on the wall to make it more homey. We arrived at 5 o'clock in the evening and we took pictures and just sit down to talk and we felt our chairs moving, the children were playing on the floor and Earl said," the kids are bumping into my chair," I felt I was getting light headed and thought maybe I was fainting, but it was quite a long day, and we we started looking at each other, I said, "I think we're having an earthquake, we all turned to look out the front door, and before our eyes, the van was swaying forward then backwards, then forwards and backwards, it felt like minutes, Kathy said it was only seconds, but later on I was talking to one of my friends and they said they thought it was a minute or two. All I can tell you is ,it felt like forever, I really didn't think it was going to quit.
When the quake was done, the teacher and his wife went outside and started talking to one of the neighbors and he came back in laughing, he said, "the neighbors are screaming God is coming! God is coming!

The rest of Kathy's stay was difficult for the schedule I had plan for her, Kathy and her sewing group from Linesville, Pa. made triangle and oblong cloth diapers, receiving blankets, much bigger blankets for the families, they made sanitary pads, money was donated to buy baby lotions, oils, soaps, and Kathy even bought material to make box skirts for the Haitian mommies. Satan had other plans, it rained most of her stay, we had 3 afternoons to make box skirts, each time our day came to sew, the electric went out, every time we were ready to go into the Haitian homes, it rained, when we started to go to the Haitian church services, the Pastors told us that the Haitians have gone to Port Au Prince to track down their loved ones, it was difficult to keep your spirits up, but God taught us, it doesn't matter what she came to do, he wanted us to bond in fellowship with one another. Kathy, Earl, Gabriel and I spent some quality time sharing stories with one another. We were there for each other, when you feel no one cares, then God sends someone to you to help lift you up. Kathy was my angel for those two weeks, maybe she didn't get to do what she had her heart set on doing, but regardless of the rain, the electric, and only a few Haitians, we had a bonding moment, as my family would say. Kathy was the first missionary we had come and see what our daily lives are like, she saw some very stressful times, but we love serving the Haitian community and we had a great time sharing Jesus with others. She is very talented in sewing, speaking, and singing, by the way Kathy, our curtains look gorgeous!

During the week of the earthquake, there was only 7 children in school, the schools are suffering also with the devastation in their country. Our support is down, those of you who support children please keep you support coming, if you read the blog created by Kathy Gilliland, she wrote a day by day experience of her stay here, but Kathy was telling you of a couple of things about the school, the teacher Wilbert for example, the parents of the school kids are suppose to help their child by paying 200 pesos a month, those parents aren't doing that, so the teacher only gets paid by the children who have American sponsors, we only have 21 sponsors and not all pay their support each month, it is a hit and miss situation, we are grateful to those of you who do. She also said the teacher gives the students money to buy a snack each day, well, when the parent has money to give the students to buy a snack, they go over at break time and buy something, but some of the families don't have that kind of money, Wilbert feels sorry for some of the kids like we do, so he will give one or two students a couple of pesos to buy something.  There are 50 students that attend our school now, only 21 have American sponsors, who don't always pay, there isn't enough funds to buy food, taxi's, water, school supplies, bookshelves, tables, and uniforms. When their support comes in, the teacher is paid from that, then whatever is left we try to buy them the things to get them their education. We did buy three 8 foot tables several months ago, but our need was for a taxi at the time, we were paying over the amount of our bank account, our own personal funds were going towards the taxi.  There is so much more needed to keep this school going. God has given us his goodness and his mercy toward this school, we feel we need to do much more but right now it's not affordable, now the earthquake, the Haitians are leaving their country and headed in different places, we may end up with more kids looking for an education then we ever expected. Please be in prayer for this situation.
If you would like to spend a week with us, please, don't hesitate! God is calling all of us to finish his work. My home is open to anyone of you who would love to come.

This morning in our church service, Pastor White shared with us in 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, Paul's hardships, our love for our brothers and sisters in Haiti is felt everywhere, it is our time to share with those who have lost loved ones in the terrible earthquake, we need to have HOPE, it's our hope that we can share with others, that he gave us. I'm not asking you to come to a third or fourth world country, I'm asking you to PRAY!   It doesn't take money to pray, the best thing you can do now for the Haitian community and the country of Haiti, is pray. He answers in numbers, let's keep those people in our prayers daily, it will be a long road ahead of them. With God all things are possible. God Bless each and everyone of you.  All for the love of Jesus, Shirley,Earl, and Gabriel

Posted by The Featsents at 1/24/2010 2:44 PM | Add Comment

OUR FRIEND CAME TO VISIT

Hi all, Wanted to let everybody know that on Jan. 8, 2010, our friend and supporter Kathy Gilliland came to work with us for two weeks. She has helped us with her group of ladys from Linesville Pa ( our home town ). Her group is a sewing group and they have made a lot of clothing for our children in our school. She will be bloging on her trip everyday and if you would like to follow her adventures go to her blog at:
lavegamissiontrip.blogspot.com This way you will see what we do down here on a daily basis God Bless you all, Earl, Shirley and Gabriel

Posted by The Featsents at 1/10/2010 2:54 PM | Add Comment

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas,

     It's that time of year again, it is my favorite time of all. I enjoy everything about the holiday season. I am so grateful for the baby that was created to give me eternal life.

     The Haitian Christian Education Center had it's Christmas party yesterday, December 21,2009. We had 67 children in attendance. We played games, sang songs, ate, and was even able to hand out a present to every child.  There is nothing more rewarding than to see the smiles on their faces when we came in to celebrate. These children are taught the real meaning of Christmas with the story on the birth of Jesus.

    We would like to thank many people who helped make this possible, first of all, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we have JoAnn Borger of Cambridge Springs, Pa. who donated the Christmas gifts to give a party, we have, Mary Tenny, from Linesville, Pa., who donated a lot of time and money in the gifts also, she also donated the funding to buy dinners for each child and teachers of the school. We had the help of Oil Creek United Methodist Chruch, in West Virginia, who donated 100 stuffed animals to pass out to each child. Our teacher, Wilbert Darius, who has spent many hours in preparing for this event and teaching the children for the past 3 years. We want to give a very special Thank you to Kathy Gilliland, from Linesville, Pa. who has a womens sewing group, " Needles and Stitches", who has put lots of time and money in the projects that the women have sent us. Our thanks also go out to two women in Greenville, Pa., from the Greenville First Baptist Chruch, Mary Thomas and Ardath Dawes, who have donated their time and efforts in making dresses, blouses, and shorts for the children. We appreciate all you women for everything you've done for us here to make the children have a wonderful Christmas. Your churches should be very proud of your accomplishments this season. Last but not least, our supporters, without you there would be no school.

     On January 8th of 2010, Kathy Gilliland will be traveling here to stay with us for 13 days, we have many things for her to do and see, Kathy and her womens sewing group have been sewing diapers and receiving blankets made from flannel, she has created a wonderful opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the Haitian and Dominican women and their babies, Kathy will be sharing in several churches with her testimony and God has truly called her to witness to these ladies.  She will be speaking to Haitian and Dominican woman alike. Please be in prayer for Kathy as she travels and her safety here, pray for God to use her even more than he has already.

     Earl, Gabriel, and I are beginning our 5th year on January 1, 2010. We are grateful that Jesus called us here and we have been able to work for him and his kingdom.  We pray that he continues to bless us, we pray our adoption of Gabriel is finished this year, and we watched him yesterday at the Christmas party, he was passing out the gifts and you can see the joy on his face, one day he will be our future missionary. Your never to young to be a missionary.

     In 1 Timothy 5:3-8, Paul urges us to take care of the people in our immediate family, God comes first, then our family second.
     Most of you knew that I went to the states to do the funeral of my aunt, this wasn't just my aunt, but she was my favorite aunt, she was 80 years old and she wouldn't let nothing take her down, she fought to the bitter end.  She was the sweetest and funniest lady ever, but I wasn't sure about her faith, I talked to her several times about the end of her life, she was always asking me, "why doesn't the good man upstairs just take me", this lead to several conversations. I was told she was found on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, she could have been laying there for hours, she wasn't heard or seen in 24 hours. My aunt suffered from many things, one of them was Damenia, she felt everyone was against her, no one loved her, not even her family, that sickness made her feel that way, but one thing I can tell you, we ALL LOVED HER, no matter what she must of thought and no matter how many times we tried to tell her. I had the opportunity to tell her about Jesus, he will never leave us nor forsake us, he was always with her.
     I was very upset at the funeral, none of her friends were there, no one came for the viewing either, I couldn't image why people were so cruel, then the morning of the funeral, God pointed out to me, that this funeral wasn't for them or for her family, but for her, he had her looking down on us, he showed her that the funeral that was given in honor of her, was to show her that her family LOVED her, just like he loves us. He gave her the one thing she always wanted.
     Where is your family today? Do you have the opportunity to make things right with a family member?  Could you tell your family member that you love them as much as Jesus loves each one of us. Give them the gift of a life time.  God Bless each one of you and have a wonderful Christmas celebration with your families.

                                                              All for the love of Jesus,
                                                              Earl, Shirley, and Gabriel Featsent

Posted by The Featsents at 12/22/2009 6:24 PM | Add Comment

Shirleys aunt went home to be with the Lord

Wanted to let everyone know that on Tue.,Nov. 24, 2009 Shirley's aunt passed away. On wed. Shirley went to USA to be with family and friends. She will be doing the funeral of her aunt on Sat. 28Th. Please keep her lifted up in prayer, and also me and Gabriel at home.
On Dec. 18Th. we are having a Christmas party at the school. We will be serving a full meal and have many holiday treats. We have small gifts for the children and each child will get a teddy bear ( thanks to a group from Oil Creek United Methodist Church ) We are very grateful for all of our sponsor's. They all made this a special holiday for the children. We will try and send photos of the party, and our Dec. newsletter after the 18Th.

Posted by The Featsents at 11/28/2009 2:32 PM | Add Comment

New School photo

Monday morning we were busy passing out new clothing that was hand made by a group of ladies in our home town, Linesville Pa. We also took many pictures of all the children. We will be emailing out new photo's of sponsored children. We have 70 children enrolled in school this year and only have 21 sponsored children. We are having a hard time making it on the money we take in. We pray for more people to step up and sponsor a child. Most of our money now goes for taxi's picking up children. Please pray about sponsoring a child. It is only $20 dollars a month, and it is fully tax deductible.
Look forward to more photos and your sponsored childs photo and all the information on the child, Thanks and God Bless Earl

Posted by The Featsents at 11/18/2009 5:47 AM | Add Comment

Welcome

Welcome to our Newsletter Page. Be sure to sign up so you will be notified of the latest entries.

We are Independent Missionaries serving in the city of La Vega, Dominican Republic

Letters and boxes may be sent to :
Earl & Shirley Featsent
c/o Agape flights SGO 16249
100 Airport Ave
Venice, FL. 34285

To Send support donations or sponsorship:
Earl & Shirley Featsent
c/o The Missionary Church International (TMCI )
PO. box 1761
Columbia, S.C. 29202

Posted by The Featsents at 1/17/2009 9:45 AM | Add Comment

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