ccm Cross 0147 Agriculteur Planter, Pignon, Haiti

ccm Cross 0147
Thursday September 28, 2017

Agriculteur Planter
Pignon, Hait
cm Cross 0147

GPS/DMS 19° 20′ 13.26” N 72° 7′ 28.29” W

Additional pictures after testimony:

4440 cdd Time to Go
Cyber Daily Devotion
Volume 18 Number 230

Today’s Author: Pastor Bill

Isaiah 43:18-19a
The Lord says, “Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening” NCV (Bible Paraphrase)

Hello. My name is Mary Anderson and this is my Cross story of how God called me to Haiti to work for HIM.

I grew up a farmer’s daughter in Southern Minnesota. In fact, even my great-grandparents were farmers in the area. I grew up the youngest of two children. Dad was a dairy farmer and mom was a nurse. Growing up we went to church every Sunday and dad was on the church council. Whenever the church was open we were there.

At age 16 God spoke to my spirit. It was the first time He communicated so profoundly and my reaction was less than holy. I heard that I was to be a missionary. Can you believe it — a girl who had never been out of the state of Minnesota was going to be a missionary? I blew it off concentrating on boys, work and schooling.

A few years later at age twenty I married my high school sweetheart. Our life was set. He would be a farmer/carpenter and I started work at a local bank. We had our perfect little family, two children, a boy and a girl.

I always knew Jesus and he had a special place in my heart but it wasn’t until I was 34 years old that my relationship with Him changed from being an acquaintance to being a relationship.

A tent preacher from Mexico became one of my bank customers. Every week he would visit me at the bank and challenge me to know Jesus better. He encouraged me to grow in my relationship with the Lord. I took a short-term mission trip to Africa. Then a mission trip to India, the Dominican Republic and finally to Haiti. Life was beginning to make sense when my husband Ed experienced kidney failure.

Then everything changed. Ed spent most of his time in dialysis. He had to stop all carpentry and worked the farm only when he felt good enough. That left me to shoulder the financial responsibilities and take on greater responsibilities at the bank.

Thirteen and one-half years we struggled in a good way. Our love grew stronger and Ed grew weaker. Our struggles were big mountains in our life that we climbed together. At the very end, the last few words spoken by Ed bring me comfort even today. He said, “There’s Jesus, He’s waiting for me.”

I was forty-eight years old and a widow. I asked Jesus what He wanted me to do. I can still hear the voice in my head say, “It’s time to go.” I knew exactly what it meant. It was time to be the missionary He told me about when I was 16. But the skeptic in me was not ready to give in that easy. I spoke to my Lord and asked Him to provide the money I’d need since I was not in any financial position to become a missionary.

A few weeks passed and a I reminded the Lord about the finances necessary to attend missionary training in Oklahoma. Two weeks later I received an unexpected gift of $5,000. It was clear Jesus was serious.

I spent five months in missionary school. Five weeks were spent in a remote mountain village in Haiti. This was my third missionary trip to Haiti and cemented my desire to move there. After graduation I packed my bags and moved to Haiti. I wanted to tell Jesus stories from village to village. I hired Jhanson (pronounced Johnson), a former translator to come and work for me.

Jhanson provided needed security for a single woman in Haiti and his people skills were helpful all the while I was learning the Creole language.

Today we continue in ministry and have introduced Farming God’s Way. This is a program that reaches out to the small farmers and challenges them to adopt new farming practices. Our goal is to get the farmers and their families saved and teach them sustainable farming practices that will increase their income. Farming God’s Way can, when properly applied, double or triple their annual production of crops. A huge financial jump.

Six months ago, a new class of instruction was begun. Today eighty-four farmers are enrolled.

My favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” NKJV

Through the years the Lord has worked many amazing miracles as I prayed. This all began back in Minnesota when I chose to soak my life in Jesus and Bible. The Holy Spirit showed up and my faith grew by leaps and bounds. Then when praying blind eyes were opened. A three-year-old couldn’t walk and Jesus gave him back his legs. Deliverances from demons. Deaf ears opened. And then there was the lady with a huge growth on her neck. I laid my hand on it and as I prayed it shrunk away and her neck was made normal by the touch from Jesus.

My life has never been the same as Jesus daily leads me.

Hello, my name is Jhanson Fonrose and this is my Cross testimony of how God has spoken to me and directed my path.

I grew up with my grandmother in Port au Prince and Pignon, Haiti. I was the oldest of three children that Granny raised. We attended church every Sunday and we learned about God. I first became a translator when I was 15 years old. A group of missionaries were visiting from Fargo, North Dakota and their assigned translator was sick. As an translator, I learned how to connect the groups from America with the local communities. Mary Anderson’s church hired me as their translator and we connected as she learned about Haiti and I learned about Americans.

When Mary came to live in Haiti as a missionary she asked if I would be security for her and translate. I said, “yes.”

Mary was interested in starting a sustainable farming adventure in Haiti that taught our farmers how to Farm God’s Way. We need this as a country and I was excited to be apart.

We have trained 84 farmers to date. They are hungry to learn how to grow more efficient crops and build a better life for their families. Mary teaches them common sense farming practices and preaches Jesus to them. As the group grows we can feel the excitement. We have hired an agronomist to help insure that all farming practices are up to date and inspiring. We are also calling on the Holy Spirit to refresh their walks with Jesus.

Recently we traveled to a small remote village introducing 22 farmers to Farming God’s Way while preaching Jesus. Their lives were changed by the Lord and an agricultural revolution has begun.

I am a dreamer. Jesus talks to me in dreams. In January 10, 2010, I was twenty-two years old and I woke from my dream. The message was very clear. I must travel to Pignon which is a day’s bus ride from Port au Prince. I told my Granny that I must not go to school that day but the Lord has asked me to travel to Pignon. She was not happy about allowing me to travel but she finally agreed. I left.

Two days later a massive earthquake struck Port au Prince. It Is estimated that more than 3 million people were affected by the quake. More than 300,000 people were injured and over 200,000 died as a direct result of the tremor.

The Vision of Farming God’s Way is to teach practical farming in a sustainable environment. For example, in Haiti everyone cuts down trees for charcoal to use as fuel. Our goal in educating farmers is to require they sow, reap and give just as Jesus taught. If you cut down a tree plant 11 to replace it. If you cut down 2 trees plant 22 to replace it.

This Cross planted today to us is a reminder of what Jesus did for us when He died on the Cross. He defeated death by rising from the grave. All for us to insure thorough Him eternal life.

Our community needs this Cross. It is a beacon to all who walk by that this is a house of Jesus and all are welcome. There is hope in this place.

Prayer: Father thank you for Mary and Jhanson who daily bring your message of love and hope to the nation of Haiti. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!