Rivas update

https://www.scribd.com/doc/293543380/Edition-2


MBO News -  Rivas update.

Merry Christmas to you and your families.  Please read the new updates form Haiti.  May this be a great season celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Please visit us at Mbohaiti.org

Please read new updates and pictures.

Rivas Newsletter (click on "Rivas Newsletter")

washing at the well!

Hi Everyone,

It is with great joy we write this letter, simply because He Lives!  The creator of the universe looks at all of us with pleasure and not only God Himself does this, but His son Jesus Christ is our advocate and petitions the Father on our behalf. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope".  Lets rejoice in this great promise that we can trust in with confidence.

By Gods grace we have been able to finish some projects;

1. The community center is 90% complete and the people in the village love it!  Many of the Haitians spend most of the day there choosing to relax on the concrete vs their dirt floors and the kids love it as they play soccer and chase each other.
2. We have fenced in one section of the land and have dug out 17 terraces to plant fruit trees and the bottom section will be for crops.  The next step is a water tank with drip irrigation (coming soon)
3. Just started the construction of a small cistern for rain water collection off the roof of the community center, this should be complete by the end of next week Lord willing (gutters after the cistern).
4. The big news is that we have just acquired an elementary school K-6!  This school borders our property and the Nun who managed the school can no longer manage the school (80 yrs old).  It is a school that was built in 2013 and one building needs to be finished.  The school has 5 buildings, a water cistern, 5 outhouses, each classroom has desks, and it is wired for electricity. This places us at a great advantage and propels us forward to provide a christ centered education for up to 180 kids five days a week!  There are some immediate needs however: a generator, repair the road so the kids can get to school, solar panels with batteries, a large truck to transport water to the cistern from the well, support, school supplies, books, uniforms, and food.  This will help us get started. 

Other needs;

1. Personal support, we are at $2810 a month, which is 48% of what we need.  This is important as none of this happens without us being here with your help.
2. A second vehicle.  We are looking to buy a used Kia 4x4 work truck for Djefny and I.  Amy and the kids will be taking the other vehicle to school each day.
3. We need to begin raising funds for housing on the property.  We currently rent a house in a larger village that is 8 miles away.

Please Pray;

1. Papito, a man in upper Bercy, believes he has a "Mystical Curse" on him.  Wisdom as we battle against the forces of darkness.
2. We will be sharing the Gospel with the local voodoo priest this coming week, pray for spiritual guidance as we share with him true salvation and power through Christ.
3. Health and safety.  Amy and the kids begin traveling back and forth each day to Port Au Prince (PAP) to go to school.
4. And finally pray for the Asso family and Kenlove family (2 families new believers), Jean Claude (new believer), and a family in lower Bercy who rededicated their lives to Christ.

I praise God for all of you and we cannot do any of this without your help, prayer and support.  May God bless each of you for His Glory and Honor.

Thank you 

Mike & Amy Rivas

Cole loving on some Kids

Zach enjoying the community center

Group picture! Haitian and Americans working together.  This is after a long day of work on the fields.

Start of the community center.  A team from Oklahoma made this place happen.  This village has never had anything permanent like this structure and also a place to offer shade and relief.  What a great blessing.

This is my fourth attempt, thanks for being patient.  The internet has been a big challenge here so far.  We praise God for all He has done thus far here in Haiti through MBO.  We are grateful for His intervention and guidance as we strive to serve Him.  

In a short month we have been blessed to see a lot transpire through MBO;

• God provided a well that produces 7 gallons a minute on the property
• By God grace the community center is 70% complete
• we have excavated the land to plant 70 trees and start a crop of zucchini 
• God has moved in the hearts of many through door to door evangelism
• God brought along a family who's house burnt down for us to intervene and help 

Thanks for all of your support and prayers.  We continue to see the Lord at work here in Haiti in the midst of some dark areas, and we all know He pierces the darkness.

Please pray for;

• continued health and energy during the very hot months ahead
• Gods intervention in the heart of Pierre Claud who said He wants to receive Christ
• for money to buy solar panels $339 each and we need eight
• for the teams coming in for the next two weeks from the USA, strength and hearts right for ministry to the Haitian people.

Be blessed today and step out of the boat in faith to serve a God who is always faithful.

This is a picture of the new well on the property/village that has never had water.  The only means for them to receive any water is to walk to a well at the very least a mile away.

God is great!!

2 Timothy 1:9 "Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began."


We are so Excited for our next step as a family.  On June 10 we will be heading to Haiti for a permanent move on to the mission field.  As God has placed on our hearts to serve the people and country of Haiti and to work in a small village "Bercy"  We ask for your continued prayers and support as we make this transition.  We will keep you updated as the move takes place.

Thank you to friends and family who have provided the support, encouragement and most important prayers to send us off on our way.  We cherish the relationships that have been developed and look forward to the time we can show you this beautiful country and the Ministry.

vist us at mbohaiti.org

Mike, Amy, Cole, Taylor and Zach

By God's Grace

By God's Grace

Because of this Great God we serve, his grace and mercy, our past trip to Haiti was a great blessing. We had the opportunity to meet with the people of the village of Bercy.  With the students of MVCS, we served the families of upper Bercy food and provided them with rice, beans, and oil to feed them for the next month.  

Also delivered dresses and clothing for the boys from an organization called "Dress a Girl" and "Dress a Dude".  They were so excited to receive new clothing. Thank you to all who helped make this happen.

We will be drilling two wells on April 11, please pray for clean, unsalted water.  And now as we prepare for our last 7 weeks here in the states, please pray for our transition to Haiti and to serve full time on the Mission Field.  God is faithful and our Great provider, thank you for all your prayers and support

Thank you to the "They are one" board for supporting our minstry by supplying the funds to drill water wells in Bercy!  From left to right; Kristin, Jackie, Myself, Michele, and Ginger.

Thanks Henning for the new roto-hammer.  We will be putting this to use a lot in Haiti.  We are at the construction phase of the ministry.  The property needs a fence around it and we hope to build our house this year as well.  Praise God for people like Henning as he met me at Home Depot and paid for the roto-hammer and four drilling bits to go along with it.

Phillipians 4:19 "And my God will supply all my needs according to His Riches in glory in Christ Jesus"
What an astounding verse and promise for such a time as this.  I believe our vision is clouded by our first response to this amazing and glorious promise, which is usually; God give me money to supply my needs!  And yet usually money is the very reason we have need.  Wouldn't it be much to our advantage if God restored your marriage, if God instead improved your relationship with your children, if God brought that special person along who became your spouse?  "He will supply all our needs" embodies the people in Haiti and more, because they all have these needs as mentioned above and more.  When you support our ministry you are becoming the hands and feet of Christ to supply all we can for the people of Haiti and give them a future.

January feeding program for the people of upper Bercy; Rice, Spaghetti, and cooking oil.  This program feeds about 120 people who are in extreme poverty.

Our ministry leader Atthist is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to the people God has brought before him.  The people said this was the first time someone has shared with them who Jesus is and that He loves them.  Praise God for His Spirit.

Atthist praying for them and with them!  We appreciate his service and willingness to do Gods work as a volunteer.

Atthist sharing a bible story with the people

A photo of the food God has provided through kind donors for the people of Haiti.  Haitian like to eat spahgetti for breakfast, the oil is to cook the rice in and to use for other cooking needs and the rice is a stable for them.

God has inspired some great people to sponsor the tree planting program.  We have planted 35 fruit trees to date and have 40 more waiting to be planted once our well is drilled.

God has provided much for the people of Bercy with a food program that occurs the first Saturday of each month. 

Jozwe' taking care of the trees.

A few lovely young ladies waiting for some clothes sent to them from some very kind people.

The fruit of the land that God has graciously provided for His people.

God has instilled a vision in our hearts to serve the Haitian people with food and clothing. 

Our Haitian Ministry Partners

Laurician Djefny, our future land manager, and his family