Caribbean Islands

Answered Prayer

Steve writes:

Things went great out at Cienfuegos. I spoke Sat night, testimony on Sunday while Curtis spoke completely annointed in Spanish. Then Mon I spoke in English out in a mission up in the hills under a tin roof shack church which we accessed by motorbikes. Michelle (guy my age who invited us) translated and then I prayed for people one by one as they responded stright for the next 45 minutes. I know God used me to encourage these people and I physically felt his power go through my hands on at least one occasion. Lots of incredible testimonies in the group of people who were instantly healed and then gave their lives over.

Tom writes:

Steve may not know this yet but a call came through from England this morning. It was customer service from Thomas Cook saying they have reversed their decision and are going to refund Steve for all the travellers checks that were missing. We see now how this whole situation since Jan 5 could have distracted and kept the boys from the ministry of the above mentioned retreat. We are so grateful that our God delivered them as we prayed against the strongholds of that island.

Praise the Lord for both answers

Dear Friends and Family of Steve Vincent January 18, 2004

(Island Update #5)
Hello there. Once again greetings from the island. Things are
great here(especially the 60 degree temperature change I experienced coming from Canada to here after Christmas). Lot's to tell you about.

Well I was very thankful for the opportunity (thanks for the
air-miles dad) to go home for Christmas and spend two weeks with my family and my fiancée Jamie.
It was sooo good. I mean I enjoyed the time with my parents,
but let's be honest, I am getting married this summer and it is not easy being apart from Jamie. Christmas was great to spend some time together and to go over what she needed to do for wedding plans (I am helping out too by the way - just so you know).

I came back here on the 5th and I have got right back into life
here. Spanish was a little painful coming back on, but it's going
again. Classes are great. The culture class started out not being so exciting and we even caught ourselves complaining, but we remembered "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (Phil 2:14). So we changed our attitudes and gave thanks instead and
then the next day things completely turned around. After watching a movie that painted a dismal picture of the current situation here, our professor asked us "Where do we put our hope? And what are our dreams?" Well I didn't hold back a word, nor did Curtis and seeing how there was only one other girl in the class, we made up for a good percentage of the class population. We even had a good ending with our professor, giving her some candies and a Spanish/English Bible for her to read, for which she was very grateful. Please join with us in praying for Isela.

We've also had some good interaction with some of the house churches. I was very excited to hear that on Christmas day the house church of 40 people, where we first went and spoke and ate the pig's head - yeah that one - well they had an outreach service and 22 people came forward. Wow.
For those of you who were involved with IVCF at the University of Regina this is the same house church that you helped rebuild after it got knocked over by a hurricane. Pretty neat to see how God is using your gift. Thank you so much. You are a part of that. Amen.

Also we went to one of the house churches within the city here.
They asked me to prepare a testimony or something so I did and Curtis came armed with his trumpet. He played, I spoke for 5 minutes and sat down. Then they asked me if I could give a message. Right.
Of course. I forgot to pack a go-to sermon so there I was
standing at the pulpit, saying "Dios ayudame ahorita." Translation: "God help me now". The leaders had heard me speak a year ago and asked me to talk about that. That did me good for about 3 minutes. Now what? From there the youth asked me questions and we had an informal interview sermon. Pretty cool. They asked a lot of questions about my relationship with Jamie and memorizing verses and the people were blessed. Curtis was laughing at me until the leader leaned over and whispered, "You're next." That'll teach him. Even more amazing was that after we spoke, the youth were given a chance to speakand for the first time they got up and shared. God used our humility and our non-eloquent tongues to pave the way for every one of the youth to be able to share about their lives. The pastors were really encouraged by this.

One other major item here. This weekend we need your prayers. We were invited out to a youth conference out in the country in which we later found out we are the speakers. The dates got changed, therefore giving us a week notice. So the goal is to each have two messages, a testimony, and some word studies ready to go by Saturday. Furthermore, we need protection. Even our professor in class on Friday mentioned that this town in the country where we are having these services is the strongest presence of witchcraft on the island. This is real stuff and we need real prayers. We need to be covered in prayer. Our prayers are not enough. Please be deliberate about praying for us this Sat - Wed(Jan 24 - 28). Thank you. God is working in this town. For instance, the couple we are staying with were called out of the capital city to over there.
They went and moved into a one-room shack without a kitchen or
a bathroom and began a church from scratch. Now, including the
cells, there about 600 believers regularly meeting together - and
this all took place within the last 3 years ago. Amen? Amen!

Ah, one more little thing, please pray that the company would
reimburse me the money ($3000 USD - ouch!) of my travelers checks that "went missing" from my suitcase when I flew back to the island after Christmas. The company for some reason denied my claim and this puts me out a little bit on my budget expense money for this semester - as in all of it. Pray that they would accept my claim and return the money soon. Thanks.

Thanks so much for all your support and prayers. I know I could
not be having the opportunities I am having without your prayers. Thankyou so much for sending me here and investing in my life. May your own lives be richly blessed.

In Him,
Stephen Vincent

Thank you also to those who wrote encouragement notes to the quizzing director Ernesto who has his surgery on January 29. He was deeply touched by your notes and verses. There is still opportunity to send some more for those who didn't get a chance earlier. Just replyto this email with your message.

Oh yes and some observations:
- You know you're ready to be married if you accidentally bump
Curtis in the kitchen and apologize saying, "Oh sorry hun." Honestly, the first time I had that throwing-up feeling.
- Suspicious that we weren't being honest about telling the truth
about the quality of food he had cooked us, our landlord remarked "Vamos a ver,el bano dic todo." Which when translated means, "We'll see, the bathroom tells all." This, this is true.

Steve and Curtis back into student ministry routine on the island. We arrived back last week with all our supplies. No problem thru customs . Thank you for your prayers.

Steve V. Christmas 2003 Island Update

Here's a copy of my most recent prayer update.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dear Family and Friends, December, 2003

Hello once again. I hope all is well with you. All is well with me. Alas I am coming home in two days for 2 weeks over Christmas. I thought I would send one last update this year to wish you all a Merry Christmas and to share how your prayers have been making a difference here on the island.

If you recall, and it's okay if you can't because I had to look it up too, but I closed off the last letter asking for prayer for two services one where I was speaking in Spanish and the other one on November 30 where I was speaking in English. Gloria a Dios. Glory to God. Both services were incredible. Curtis' mom and aunt were able to be at the service in Spanish as well and between trumpet playing, testimonies and butchered (yet usable) Spanish the people were blessed and even two people gave their lives over to him for the first time that night. Even more exciting I went to visit my friend of that church today, Ernesto the quizzing man, and he told me both of those people were continuing and growing in the church. AMEN.

And the other service. Curtis and I were asked to plan a youth outreach service. Well I thought this would be easy as it was in English. But God wanted to show me that I needed to rely on him Spanish or English. I was seeking him for the message for this service and God really taught me to wait on him for the message. It was tough. The day before I still didn't have the message and I had spent several hours each day for the previous week and a half in prayer. Plus by this time I had invited people from classes where I study and from the Monday night English class where I help out. But he is faithful and on the day of the service he was there in a powerful way. The attendance doubled to 100 people and even some of the people I invited showed up. Every part of the service fit together. Between the worship, the drama, the verses Curtis and I proclaimed from memory, and the message God spoke to the people. Some of my friends from the university came and from the English class as well. I was surprized even my Muslim friend Alli from my class came and praise God he said he really liked the service. Two other guys from the English class came and they both said they were seeking and they felt the presence of God at the service. So you can pray for Elizandro and Jose-Luis as we continue to meet with them.

Also from that same service, Oswaldo, the English professor, absolutely loved when Curtis and I proclaimed the salvation message from a selection of verses from the Word. He lamented to me that he didn't have a video camera to show it in his English class so I suggested we come and do it in person the next day. So on Monday away we went and shared the same verses with the English class of about 60 people. It was well received and after we announced that if anyone wanted we had free Spanish/English books to give them during the break. We came back at the break and before I could set my bag on the ground all 24 books were gone and there we at least another 20 people who wanted one. So a new order is on its way for after Christmas. Wow, things you never thought you would have had the opportunity to do here. Only by him and through much prayer.

We also have started going to an early morning prayer service at one of the churches we attend. Most days it is just us and one other lady Miriam, but this is no small thing. Miriam is the most faithful person I have met in prayer. She is there 5 - 7:30 am almost everyday. Incredible. And she has faith that moves mountains. She takes on the biggest strongholds here and faithfully day in and day out prays them down.
It hasn't been always easy to pray in Spanish for this long (we usually get there a bit after 6) but it has been good. Plus we are still continuing with our second hour of prayer at night. I need it drilled into my head over and over again - pray more, do less. It has been really good for me to place a priority on prayer. What a difference.

Classes are not always the most exciting thing in the world, but they are nonetheless necessary to legally stay here and they do provide good opportunities to meet other people. I am not disappointed however, that today was my last day of classes and I get a break for Christmas.

Well we have been doing many other things as well but I will save you the details. Thank you so much for your prayers. I know beyond a doubt that God has used them. Please continue to pray. Thank you.


And now some random observations:
- The good news - a huge, beautiful, golden ripe pineapple for only 40 cents.
- The bad news - After eating it one day, I ended up spending more money on the cost of the resulting necessary toilet paper than the pineapple.
- Ever feel like you have ants in your pants? Apparently, unbeknown to me my towel was crawling with ants one morning as I dried myself off with it. Nothing quite like having ants crawling on your body all day and biting you at inopportune times.

Classical Spanish blunders:

Also I was joking with Curtis that you know your Spanish is brutal if you are apologizing in front of a congregation for your poor Spanish and you can't even get the apology right. Nothing like self-fulfilling prophecy. On Thursday, November 21 this was fulfilled as I was speaking in front of a church apologizing for my poor Spanish (I even had the apology memorized) and I told them the equivalent of "One day, with his help, I will speak much more better." It was at this point that I saw people bow their heads and fervently pray for the Spanish message they were about to endure.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I have tasted and seen that they are making a difference here. Thank you. Have a Merry Christmas.

In Him,
Steve V.

For you quizzers and those involved in quizzing. The quizzing director here, Ernesto is very sick. He has stomach problems and needs surgery right away. It would be a huge encouragement to him to hear from some of you. This is how it can work:
1. You send a short note of encouragement to my email vincents@uregina.ca . Included could be your name, a verse, and a note of encouragement. Also I challenge you to pick one day of the week and commit to praying for Ernesto and his wife Mildrey and the quizzing program here on that day of the week for the next year. You can also pray for Feb 20-21 is the next quizmeeet with all 9 churches on the whole book of John. Also my parents and small group will be coming down that seem week.
2. Then I take your notes to him (he can read some English), translate them and make a list with the names of people that are praying for him on each day of the week.
3. Just because people need incentive, the deadline for this is January 10th when I will return to the island.

Thanks a lot. A little encouragement makes an eternal difference.