Greetings!
First, thank you all for your prayers and support! We've truly been blessed and though we do not have everything, God is providing day by day!
We have some great news! Our friend and partner, Armando Roca just returned a few weeks ago from a trip to Cuba! During this trip they held a youth camp and 10 people were filled with the Holy Ghost! Revival is happening in Cuba! It is amazing!
We are thankful for Rev. Roca and believe in him and are glad to be a partner with him in the revival in Cuba!
We've recently been traveling on weekends to churches that have heard about Cuba and have asked us to visit. We'd like to thank all of the pastors and churches that have had us come and share our burden for the nation of Cuba. We are very grateful for your prayers and support!
Rev. Joe David Wampler - Monticello, IN
Rev. Todd Woods - LaPorte, IN
Rev. Mason - Central City, KY
Rev. Clement - Henderson, KY
Rev. Frederick - Madisonville, KY
Rev. Davis - Evansville, IN
Thank you again, we pray that God will bless you and all of your efforts!
Keep on praying for us, our October trip is coming up quickly and we are still in need of some key items for documenting and preparing for greater revival in Cuba! If you have questions about our ministry or would like to partner with us, please feel free to e-mail us at info@cubaforchrist.net!
God bless!
James, Rachael, and Ava
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Upcoming Trip Costs
I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support. It has been wonderful to have an outpouring of support from people who we care about so much.
I just received great news! The two Cuban pastors, Bro. Barizonte and Bro. Barbaro, are approved to visit the US in November! Praise the Lord! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for God to open this door. It is not an simple undertaking to try to gain permission for Cubans to travel to the US, and I know God had a hand in it happening.
Many of you have asked about specific financial needs we have right now. I want everyone to know exactly what we are raising money for, and where all of the money is going. So, here are some specific financial needs:
October Trip:
1. Flights $2100
2. Lodging $500
3. Food $600
4. Transportation $300
5. Misc. $400
This is a total of $3900! (a little overwhelming!)
Other people have asked about any items that we may need. We have quite a few expenses coming up associated with a large display we need to have and misc. travel necessities. These include:
1. 2 large, heavy duty suitcases for Jimmie and Ava (both need wheels)
2. Display board $350
3. HDD camcorder (30 GB hard drive or greater)
4. LCD screen for display $300
5. Printing costs for display $250
6. Misc. printing costs $400
7. Around $100 for calling cards
8. Giftcards for travel items
As you can see, the need is great, but we're trusting in God. We know He is sending us and that He will provide. Please help us pray that these needs will be met. If any of you are interested in contributing to Cuba missions through Faith Apostolic Church, you can donate online at http://www.faithapostolic.us/ (make sure you select "Cuba-Rennard family) or you can send checks to Faith Apostolic Church (Cuba-Rennard in memo) at PO Box 235, Carmel IN 46082.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time! We welcome your feedback!
God Bless.
I just received great news! The two Cuban pastors, Bro. Barizonte and Bro. Barbaro, are approved to visit the US in November! Praise the Lord! Thank you to all of you who have been praying for God to open this door. It is not an simple undertaking to try to gain permission for Cubans to travel to the US, and I know God had a hand in it happening.
Many of you have asked about specific financial needs we have right now. I want everyone to know exactly what we are raising money for, and where all of the money is going. So, here are some specific financial needs:
October Trip:
1. Flights $2100
2. Lodging $500
3. Food $600
4. Transportation $300
5. Misc. $400
This is a total of $3900! (a little overwhelming!)
Other people have asked about any items that we may need. We have quite a few expenses coming up associated with a large display we need to have and misc. travel necessities. These include:
1. 2 large, heavy duty suitcases for Jimmie and Ava (both need wheels)
2. Display board $350
3. HDD camcorder (30 GB hard drive or greater)
4. LCD screen for display $300
5. Printing costs for display $250
6. Misc. printing costs $400
7. Around $100 for calling cards
8. Giftcards for travel items
As you can see, the need is great, but we're trusting in God. We know He is sending us and that He will provide. Please help us pray that these needs will be met. If any of you are interested in contributing to Cuba missions through Faith Apostolic Church, you can donate online at http://www.faithapostolic.us/ (make sure you select "Cuba-Rennard family) or you can send checks to Faith Apostolic Church (Cuba-Rennard in memo) at PO Box 235, Carmel IN 46082.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time! We welcome your feedback!
God Bless.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Prayer Requests
I hope this blog finds you all well and busy with the work of God. I think God is preparing us for the weather in Cuba with an extra hot summer! I keep track of the weather in Indiana and in Cuba, and many days in the past few weeks it has been hotter here! Right now we are tied - 88 degrees in Indianapolis and Havana.
I'm happy to report that Bro. Armando Roca made it back from his 3 week trip to Cuba safe and sound. He has great reports of exciting things God is doing in his church in Havana. I will have further reports of his trip as I learn more details.
I am thankful for your prayers, interest and support in all that our family is doing. It's such a blessing to be surrounded by people who are sharing this burden with us and uplifting us every day. We are anxiously anticipating our trip in October. It looks like we will be leaving around October 3rd and returning around October 22nd. We are excited to see what awesome things God will do at the Caribbean Conference. Please be in prayer for the safety of our group, and please pray that God will pour out His Spirit at this Conference.
For those of you who praying for our family and helping us pray for revival in Cuba, we have some specific needs. If you would like a card with these prayer requests for your Bible, please contact me and I will mail you a copy.
1.Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Cuba - many are being baptized, but few are receiving the Holy Spirit.
2. Unity in vision and doctrine among Cuban pastors - we are praying that God will give all the pastors a vision of great revival in Cuba and that they will be unified in preaching Apostolic doctrine
3. Financial provision for Cuban pastors - if they are blessed financially, they will be free to focus all their efforts on growing their churches.
4. Open door for Cuban pastors to travel to the U.S. We are working on the arrangements for two pastors to visit for two months at the end of the year. It is a very difficult process, so please pray that everything goes smoothly.
5. US embargo to be lifted. Right now the US has an embargo against Cuba. It is very difficult to travel freely to the country, and it is very difficult to offer assistance to our Cuban brothers and sisters. We believe God can move in our government and cause them to lift the embargo.
6. Financial support for the Rennards. We are trusting in God to provide the finances necessary for our upcoming trips and living expenses.
7. God's will with the ALJC foreign mission's department. We have a meeting with the foreign mission's board at NYC. We would love to be official ALJC missionaries, and are praying that God will direct our steps in this process.
8. Protection and smooth transition for Ava. This is a huge change in her young life. We need God to help.
9. Protection and health for Rennards. We all need to stay healthy, as we will not have health benefits in Cuba. We need God's hand of safety on our lives.
10. Living arrangements for Rennards. We are going to try to work out all the details of our living arrangements in October. We need God's direction.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me at: raquelpelota@yahoo.com
God Bless.
Rachael Rennard
I'm happy to report that Bro. Armando Roca made it back from his 3 week trip to Cuba safe and sound. He has great reports of exciting things God is doing in his church in Havana. I will have further reports of his trip as I learn more details.
I am thankful for your prayers, interest and support in all that our family is doing. It's such a blessing to be surrounded by people who are sharing this burden with us and uplifting us every day. We are anxiously anticipating our trip in October. It looks like we will be leaving around October 3rd and returning around October 22nd. We are excited to see what awesome things God will do at the Caribbean Conference. Please be in prayer for the safety of our group, and please pray that God will pour out His Spirit at this Conference.
For those of you who praying for our family and helping us pray for revival in Cuba, we have some specific needs. If you would like a card with these prayer requests for your Bible, please contact me and I will mail you a copy.
1.Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Cuba - many are being baptized, but few are receiving the Holy Spirit.
2. Unity in vision and doctrine among Cuban pastors - we are praying that God will give all the pastors a vision of great revival in Cuba and that they will be unified in preaching Apostolic doctrine
3. Financial provision for Cuban pastors - if they are blessed financially, they will be free to focus all their efforts on growing their churches.
4. Open door for Cuban pastors to travel to the U.S. We are working on the arrangements for two pastors to visit for two months at the end of the year. It is a very difficult process, so please pray that everything goes smoothly.
5. US embargo to be lifted. Right now the US has an embargo against Cuba. It is very difficult to travel freely to the country, and it is very difficult to offer assistance to our Cuban brothers and sisters. We believe God can move in our government and cause them to lift the embargo.
6. Financial support for the Rennards. We are trusting in God to provide the finances necessary for our upcoming trips and living expenses.
7. God's will with the ALJC foreign mission's department. We have a meeting with the foreign mission's board at NYC. We would love to be official ALJC missionaries, and are praying that God will direct our steps in this process.
8. Protection and smooth transition for Ava. This is a huge change in her young life. We need God to help.
9. Protection and health for Rennards. We all need to stay healthy, as we will not have health benefits in Cuba. We need God's hand of safety on our lives.
10. Living arrangements for Rennards. We are going to try to work out all the details of our living arrangements in October. We need God's direction.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me at: raquelpelota@yahoo.com
God Bless.
Rachael Rennard
Monday, August 13, 2007
Cuba Apostolic Conference and Training Center!
Hello again! I just posted, but forgot to mention an important aspect of what God is doing in Cuba! I believe we have mentioned this before, but I wanted to provide a little more information so you can pray and seek God for what He is doing in Cuba!
The Cuban church has an awesome vision for Cuba. They feel that with the help of God they can plant 100 new churches every year! Local Cuban churches are normally held in neighborhoods since travel is difficult. So, they plan on having multiple churches in every neighborhood, serving 20-40 people in each church! It is an amazing plan!
For this to happen though, they are in need of training facilities and a central headquarters. Whenever the leadership wants to hold a conference or have all of the Cuban pastors come for training they have to find various places for them to stay and often have to rent facilities, which is a high cost.
During our last two trips we made plans to help them build a conference/training center at a central location. This center will be three stories tall and will have enough space to house many ministers' families, training rooms, a sanctuary, and all the amenities needed for long-term training seminars. This facility would be an amazing blessing for them as well as for us! We would be able to stay there and hold trainings as needed!
The cost of this building is staggering for Cubans, but overall costs are approximately $80,000.
They have already had the design and blueprints drafted by an architect and are currently working on obtaining the appropriate licensing and permits to begin construction. This would be a tremendous blessing, so please agree with us and pray that God will provide the funding and that the process for building will be quick and unhindered!
We'll post more about this as we get updates and news!
James
The Cuban church has an awesome vision for Cuba. They feel that with the help of God they can plant 100 new churches every year! Local Cuban churches are normally held in neighborhoods since travel is difficult. So, they plan on having multiple churches in every neighborhood, serving 20-40 people in each church! It is an amazing plan!
For this to happen though, they are in need of training facilities and a central headquarters. Whenever the leadership wants to hold a conference or have all of the Cuban pastors come for training they have to find various places for them to stay and often have to rent facilities, which is a high cost.
During our last two trips we made plans to help them build a conference/training center at a central location. This center will be three stories tall and will have enough space to house many ministers' families, training rooms, a sanctuary, and all the amenities needed for long-term training seminars. This facility would be an amazing blessing for them as well as for us! We would be able to stay there and hold trainings as needed!
The cost of this building is staggering for Cubans, but overall costs are approximately $80,000.
They have already had the design and blueprints drafted by an architect and are currently working on obtaining the appropriate licensing and permits to begin construction. This would be a tremendous blessing, so please agree with us and pray that God will provide the funding and that the process for building will be quick and unhindered!
We'll post more about this as we get updates and news!
James
Upcoming Trip - Preparations and Updates!
Greetings! This is James posting today!We've had a few weeks of breaks from news and updates for you, but are pleased to provide some new information about what God is doing in Cuba and the status of our ventures there!
As many of you know, we will be taking our whole family, Ava included, to Cuba in October for an extended stay. This will be Ava's first time for a lot of things, first time on an airplane, first time on foreign soil, first time in a non-English speaking area. So, please be praying for her and that she adapts and has a great experience!
In October our friends in Cuba will be hosting a Caribbean conference! The conference will be attended by many Apostolic ministers throughout the Caribbean and will be a great time of fellowship and communion with fellow laborers in Christ. We are anticipating a great move of the spirit of God and expect many to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost!
Because of our connection with the Cuban Apostolic church, our brother and pastor, Matthew Ball will be one of the premier ministers at the conference. Along with Pastor Ball, many others from the States will be attending the conference, including our niece Chelsea and the Foreign Missions Director of the ALJC, Rev. M.L. Walls.
This is an exciting time for the Cuban church as well as for us. We'll be staying for around a month and the group from the US will be coming for about a week for the conference.
During our stay we will be making preparations for our three month stay in January as well as teaching about the receiving of the Holy Ghost and just encouraging the pastors and ministers in Cuba. We've already made some great friends, so we are looking forward to returning and spending time with them as well.
We know that God is in control of all situations and that He wants to do a great work in Cuba, please pray for all the Cuban pastors and ministers and the leadership as well as for the many other people throughout the nation. God has a lot planned for Cuba, we are glad to be servants and are glad to be a part of what God is doing.
Though we know He is in charge, we also know that we have to do our part in preparing ourselves for His purpose. For this reason, we've started visiting churches to raise awareness of what God is doing in Cuba as well as to raise funds for our trips and expenses in doing God's work.
We were greatly blessed by Apostolic Tabernacle in South Bend, IN earlier this month. They truly have a heart for missions and their outpouring of prayers and financial support was an amazing answer to prayer. So, we'd like to thank them for all that they are doing in supporting God's work locally and abroad.
If you would like to help out in any way, whether it be through prayer support or financial support, please contact us and let us know. Just so you are aware, all financial support will be channeled through Faith Apostolic Church, our local church. We want to make sure that all financial support is accounted for and appropriately distributed and will make financial accountability a top priority.
We want to make options for donating to God's purpose in Cuba simple. You can safely and securely contribute online at http://www.faithapostolicofcarmel.org/ by clicking on the Donate banner at the bottom of the page. This will allow one-time contributions or weekly, monthly, or quarterly recurring contributions from your checking account or debit/credit card. Just be sure to select Cuba - Rennard Family from the donation list when you make your contribution.
If you would prefer to mail a check or contribution, please mail it to...
PO Box 235
Carmel, IN 46082
Carmel, IN 46082
and make the check payable to Faith Apostolic Church - Cuba Missions.
More than anything though, we need and appreciate your prayers and encouragement.
In the coming months we'll have a website setup where you can sign-up to be a Partner in Missions and gain access to further information about Cuba and what God is doing!
This is an exciting time, thank you for being a part of Cuba and a part of our lives!
James
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
President Osvaldo Barizonte
Bro. Barizonte with his wife, MelbaBro. Barizonte is the President of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in Cuba. He was recently elected, and has already made great strides in their organization. No ministers had been licensed in ten years in their organization. When we visited in February, around 15 ministers were licensed! This gives them the freedom to preach and teach legally in Cuba.
Bro. Barizonte is extremely organized in the carrying out of the vision for his organization. He has a set number of church plants they would like to accomplish in a year. He oversees a monthly meeting with all 18 pastors in Havana. He is involved with leadership training and carrying out new ideas in church structure.
Rachael, Jimmie, Bro. Barizonte, Melba, Estrella, and Bro. Barbaro under a tree by the beach
Bro. Matthew Ball and Bro. Barizonte
Rachael with the Barizontes. They treat us like family.
Bro. Barizonte and Bro. Barbaro inside the Office they are building. This will facilitate communication with the Apostolic Church in the US. They hope to have a phone line and e-mail access on site.
I belive God has ordained Bro. Barizonte as the leader of their organization "for such a time as this." He is passionate about spreading the gospel to the island of Cuba. He is a committed and selfless leader. Please pray that he will have wisdom and direction from God in all the decisions he makes. Also pray that God will work out the details for him to visit the ALJC National Youth Convention. I am thankful to be connected with the great leader of their great organizaion. May God Bless all their efforts.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
July Update
I hope that everyone reading this has had a blessed week! I'm so thankful for your generosity in prayers, encouragement, and support for God's Church in Cuba. It means so much to us to have so many great people backing everything we do.
We have a lot of exciting news! Jimmie quit his job this week. We are going to spend the next 3-4 months preparing spiritually for our role in Cuba (praying, studying, etc.) With that said, we still have to pay our bills, so please pray that God sends web design and graphic design work Jimmie's way! Last week we met with Bro. M.L. Walls to discuss the possibility of becoming officially appointed missionaries to Cuba with the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful that he is interested and excited about what God is doing in Cuba! We will be officially applying and having our interview at National Youth Convention this year, so please keep us in your prayers, that God's will will be done in this situation.
The Cuban pastors were not able to attend General Conference due to complications with passports and visas. We hope and believe that instead they will be coming for National Youth Convention in November. Please be praying that God opens this door for them to travel to the U.S. A group from our church, along with the Rocas and a group from Bro. Logue's church will be visiting Cuba in October for a Caribbean Conference. Brandon Mocas, Jimmie, Ava and I will be staying for an extended trip (3-4 weeks.) I believe that God is going to pour His Spirit out on many people during this time. Please pray with us that we will see many come to know and serve God.
I will be posting more blogs soon introducing you to more of the Cuban pastors and church officials. If you would like the name of one of these pastors to include in your daily prayer time, please e-mail me to let me know. I have 18 names of pastors and churches who could use your prayers.
God Bless.
Rachael
We have a lot of exciting news! Jimmie quit his job this week. We are going to spend the next 3-4 months preparing spiritually for our role in Cuba (praying, studying, etc.) With that said, we still have to pay our bills, so please pray that God sends web design and graphic design work Jimmie's way! Last week we met with Bro. M.L. Walls to discuss the possibility of becoming officially appointed missionaries to Cuba with the Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful that he is interested and excited about what God is doing in Cuba! We will be officially applying and having our interview at National Youth Convention this year, so please keep us in your prayers, that God's will will be done in this situation.
The Cuban pastors were not able to attend General Conference due to complications with passports and visas. We hope and believe that instead they will be coming for National Youth Convention in November. Please be praying that God opens this door for them to travel to the U.S. A group from our church, along with the Rocas and a group from Bro. Logue's church will be visiting Cuba in October for a Caribbean Conference. Brandon Mocas, Jimmie, Ava and I will be staying for an extended trip (3-4 weeks.) I believe that God is going to pour His Spirit out on many people during this time. Please pray with us that we will see many come to know and serve God.
I will be posting more blogs soon introducing you to more of the Cuban pastors and church officials. If you would like the name of one of these pastors to include in your daily prayer time, please e-mail me to let me know. I have 18 names of pastors and churches who could use your prayers.
God Bless.
Rachael
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