Draw near
2024 March Newsletter
You all know that I am always transparent with you concerning the ministry and our personal lives, and from a personal perspective I am humbly asking all of you for prayer. Joy and I want so badly to return to Haiti, but we continually and prayerfully cede our situation to the Sovereignty of our heavenly Father as we say, “yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39). Haiti is currently experiencing warlike conditions that I will more fully explain below, but this has resulted in very dangerous environments that have effectively paralyzed the country. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience ask those we work with to travel within Haiti or to the Dominican Republic to search out living and ministry opportunities for us right now. So, Joy and I are waiting on the Lord to open a door to returning, and until that time comes the ministry continues remotely.
Live a life of radical generosity
2023 October Newsletter
Our summer was very busy with ministry and family. Ministry in Haiti gets more and more demanding and urgent as things just refuse to improve—I will discuss this more thoroughly. Joy and I have also had a full schedule of traveling and meeting with people and churches here in the States, as we continue in our passion to give a voice to the voiceless through raising awareness about the current situation in Haiti and the plight of the Haitian people. Additionally, our family dynamics have been chaotic due to the various schedules and needs of our children. The most exciting thing to happen this summer, if some of you have not yet heard, was that Joy and I became grandparents on August 12th when we welcomed little Koa Evan Riikola into the world!
Be watchful and seek spiritual discernment
2023 May Newsletter
There is so much going on in our world right now. Images of war, sporting events, political debates, social issues, and social media continually bombard our minds and senses. Beyond these daily secular considerations, there are additional events — both current and recent — that claim to be Christian. These include: TV shows, movies, and even revivals. As you all know, I have been called by God to be a foreign missionary, specifically to those who work within the occult where religious practices require frequent ritualistic interactions with demons.
Seeking true joy and happiness
2022 December Newsletter
Joy and I would like to wish you all happy holidays and a blessed Christmas as we embark upon what is surely, for many of us, our favorite time of the year. Thank you all for your prayers and your concern for Haiti that so many of you have expressed to us. Haiti continues to be in a very desperate and unfortunate condition that has only worsened since the writing of our last newsletter.
Proclaim the good news
2022 September Newsletter
I know that many of you have questions due to the horrifying events that are continually unfolding in Haiti this year: the reports of gang takeovers, kidnappings, murders, and our inability to physically be there right now. Many of you have asked about the mental state of the Haitian people as they live in fear, danger, and isolation. We are also asked how we feel about being in the States for such an extended period of time when the ones we love and minister to in Haiti are enduring such suffering.
Surrendered to Christ
2022 May Newsletter
As many of you know, Haiti remains in the grip of crisis as insecurity and instability torment the people. The country remains extremely dangerous as 10 kidnappings a week are occurring on average. Inflation has reached as high as 22.95% in previous months. Gas shortages continue to plague the country. Food and medicine imports have been severely limited due to ports being controlled by powerful gangs.
Everything is from the Lord
2021 December Newsletter
All your prayers and support in response to my letter explaining the situation in Haiti have been both encouraging to us and deeply appreciated by all those in Haiti who are suffering greatly right now. I want to encourage all of you to stay vigilant in this ministry as Haiti continues to fall into a deeper and deeper pit of anarchy, despair, fear, poverty, hunger, and sickness. I know that many of you are aware of the kidnappings in Haiti, especially the 17 missionaries from Ohio who were kidnapped and at the time of this writing are being held for a $17 million ransom. Since January of this year there have been 782 kidnappings making Haiti the current world leader in kidnapping crimes.
Be filled with wisdom and understanding
2021 June Newsletter
Early in January, as Joy and I were preparing to return to Haiti, we had gathered all of our passports and realized that mine was due to expire in June of this year (2021). We were shocked that we had not noticed this earlier as Haiti has a law that states your passport cannot be due to expire within 6 months of the return date on your plane ticket, and unfortunately my passport fell into this category.
Soldiers for Christ
2020 December Newsletter
I know that 2020 has been a difficult and tumultuous year that has left many of us feeling frustrated, uncertain, and even defeated. Failure within our government, failure of our leaders, lack of morality and decency, wavering truths, racial division, political discord, violence in the streets, and a global pandemic have all lead us to a sense of hopelessness. So where does this leave us as Christians? How are we supposed to think?
Raising leaders and evangelists in the Haitian church
2020 September Newsletter
Being in America for the last few months has been incredibly difficult for Joy and I as our hearts and minds continually hurt for our brothers and sisters in Haiti. We initially felt that the devil had secured a small victory in sending us home secondary to the pandemic, but the words of Joseph, found in Genesis, can ring no truer than they have in this situation. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” – Genesis 50:20
It is no longer I who lives, but Christ in me
2020 June Newsletter
We pray that this newsletter finds you, your families and loved ones healthy and provided for as we live through this unprecedented time in our country’s history. Despite the obvious inconveniences and difficulties associated with isolation, distancing, and closed businesses, I cannot think of a time in my life that has offered more opportunities for Christians to share their faith! At a time when people are afraid and uncertain, existential pondering will become prevalent. People, including teens and young adults, are suddenly confronted with considerations of their own mortality and the inescapable certainty of their eventual physical death.
Haitian unrest
2019 April Newsletter
Well, it has been a very turbulent last few months for Joy and I secondary to the violence, protests, and political unrest in Haiti. I am sure that many of you are aware of the recent events, but for those of you who aren’t, allow me to inform you. The Haitian people feel that their President is not doing his job and are demanding that he leave office. Accusations of corruption, misuse of money, and a flagrant disregard for the people he made a promise to serve, have plagued the Haitian President for the last two years, but in recent months very real problems have materialized. The response has been an overt and understandable anger amongst the Haitian population.
Church opening in jacmel and Pastor abony
2018 December Newsletter
We have great news from the outskirts of Jacmel— our new church has finally opened! Construction, as most things in Haiti, took a lot longer to complete then originally projected, but God’s timing is perfect and the church opened its doors on Sunday September 23rd! I also wanted to highlight pastor Denervil Abony, an inspirational man of God who God placed in our organization the very first year we were in Haiti.
Building the church in Jacmel
2018 July Newsletter
The new church that is being constructed in Deba’s community in Jacmel is near completion as the foundation, floor, walls, roof, doors, and windows are all in place. The construction crew, made up almost solely of local members of this body of Christ, are currently smoothing the walls and finishing the bathroom and small office behind the church.
Church planting in Haiti
2018 April Newsletter
The ministry is going very well! God continues to pour His Holy Spirit into the hearts of new Haitian believers that have surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. The greatest example of this, that we are currently experiencing, is occurring in Deba’s former vodou camp. I have shared Deba’s story in past newsletters, so I won’t expound again, but for those of you who don’t know, Deba was a vodou priestess who was married to a demon when I met her. She had a radical response to the gospel that resulted in her burning all her vodou materials and giving me her ‘marriage’ ring to destroy.
Voudou liberation
2018 January Newsletter
Joy and I hope that you all had a blessed Christmas and New Year and were able to spend special time with your families and brothers and sisters in Christ. It is hard to believe that yet another year has come and gone. The fleeting time reminds me of the brevity of our earthly existence and the very short time we have been given to glorify God’s name with our lives. Our ephemeral existence, rather than frustrate and depress us, should serve to heighten our awareness of the colossal job found in the great commission that our Savior has so graciously assigned to us. The immensity of this work demands a sense of urgency that should be possessed by every Christian who desires to display efficacy in God’s Kingdom expanding work on this earth.
2017 Winter Newsletter
Joy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who so generously responded to the Haitian needs that we made known to you a few months ago. Your love for the people of Haiti and willingness to help them in their time of profound struggle greatly encourages Joy and I. We felt so blessed to be supported and surrounded by such dedicated and dependable brothers and sisters in Christ! You all enable this ministry to continue functioning in a complete and efficient way. Thank You for your ongoing faithfulness to God’s Kingdom expanding work in Haiti!
2017 Summer Newsletter
Many of you have expressed interest in knowing what’s occurring in Haiti with individuals, families and communities, so I thought that I would start highlighting various stories that fall within these categories. This update will relate the story of Juliet, who many of you have had the pleasure of meeting on short term mission trips. Juliet’s story is an inspiring one as it contains evidence of what persistence, hard work, and faith can accomplish even in difficult of situations.
2017 Spring Newsletter
Greetings from Haiti! I want to apologize for not having communicated with all of you for the past few months. The combination of health issues (that are greatly improving – thank you for your prayers!), a mountain of work (literally!), and continual trials have made it somewhat difficult to get a newsletter out. We just finished hosting three mission teams and there is a small hiatus before the next team arrives, so I took a day to write to you all and provide you with the details of the unbelievable miracles of salvation that we are witnessing! This newsletter’s length would be excessive if I wrote all that is occurring right now in the ministry, thus I ask you to never assume that a late newsletter correlates with a lack of activity in the ministry. I want to briefly highlight 5 individuals whom I feel will inspire you with their stories.
2016 Fall Newsletter
We have been led by the Holy Spirit to direct a strategic attack against the powers of darkness in SudEst – the state in which we reside. After teaching and doing an in-depth study on the power of prayer with our Tuesday night Intensive Discipleship Training class, Malcolm was led by the Holy Spirit to have all 20+ students pray together, on their knees, that the power of each of the priest/priestesses in their neighborhood/village would be pulled down to the glory of God!