Trying to return soon!

Greetings,

We have been busy doing what we can while we have been herein Trinidad, but we really need your prayers for the ministry here. We desperately need laborers for the harvest in Trinidad and Tobago! There just aren?t enough workers for all of the needs. Due to some situations there is a lack of ministers, and we have taken on a variety of roles that now have no one to fill. One of our main roles is pastoring a Church in the southern part of Trinidad, in a town called Diamond Village. We will be leaving here in October to go back to the States, because our work visa is up and we will soon be out of our budget money. We have been taking two local saints from another Church down to help the Church we pastor. They will continue to go to that Church while we are gone, but we are hoping to be back by January 2009 to continue our unfinished work not only in the Church in Diamond Village, but in all of Trinidad. That only gives us three months to save the money to come back. We are writing to you, because you were so gracious in helping us come down for the past eight months, but now that we are here we can see there is much more that needs to be done.
There is a real need and so we are asking that you and your Church partner with us to fill the gap. We do plan to apply to become appointed Missionaries in the future, however the need for us to return to the field is now, and we are therefore asking for your help.

We need:
10 people/churches to give $1000
10 people/churches to give $500
10 people/churches to give $250

This would give us the funds needed to return right away. Please be in prayer about this. We understand that this would be a great sacrifice, and we will be grateful for any support you can give, both financial and in prayer.
Thank you for everything you have done for us already. We are believing for great things, knowing that ?all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose?!

God Bless you
Your AIM workers in Trinidad and Tobago,
Joseph and Cassandra Landaw

If you are able to help our Mailing address is :
2590 W. Erickson Rd.
Rhodes, MI 48652

Look at the sky!

VBS

Hello Everyone...

I hope all is well with you,
I'm sitting here in the office thinking about how VBS went.
It was called the Great Treasure Hunt, and we tried to make it as much fun as we could.
Kimberly Whily, form Louisiana, came down and helped us.
It was 15 days of full of crafts, lessons and songs that are now burnt into my head.

We sang one song almost everyday... not a new song, one you might have heard of, "Theres a Hole in the Bottom of the sea"... its on a Veggy Tales VBS cd and we sang that thing a lot!!! In case you did not know; "There is a flea on the wing of a fly on a frog on a bump on a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea", thankfully we were informed that "the flea is clean..." You should see us trying to do the motions to the song, as it get faster and faster. The kids loved it, hence the singing it 100 times.

We also taught them some useful songs. One song goes to the words of Proverbs 3:3-6, Psalms 121:3 and 145:18

"Trust in the LORD with all our heart;
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct your paths."

"He will not allow your foot to be moved:
he that keepes you will not slumber."
"The LORD is near unto all them that call upon him,
to all that call upon him in truth."

We really tried to focus on the fact that we can trust Jesus.

I taught a lesson in Tobago I called the Story of Two Treasures.
I tried to show the kids that Jesus sees us as a treasure worth enough to die for.
Not only that but I told them that He is our treasure, and his cross marks the spot...

We will be having a Children's Crusade this coming week, and we are hoping that many of the VBS kids will come out and get a blessing.

Please keep the Churches in Trinidad and Tobago in your prayers.

Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

God Bless you.

Joseph Landaw

Preparing for VBS

Since our last post we have been focusing a lot of our attention on the church in south. There is currently one family attending and in efforts to help the church grow we have started going down every saturday passing out flyers inviting people out to services. The community the church is in is a largely hindu community. This Saturday we are planning on having a street service. When we went to the Debe area to find a location for the service we found this parking lot outside of a grocery store and off to the corner is a large space which is right across from a lot of the food vendors. The building is for sale so we called the number of the owner and asked him if we would be able to have a service in his parking lot and he was fine with it and is even going to come out to make sure we can get hooked up with some electricity inside one of the buildings. That just doesn't happen in a Hindu community like that. We could really use your prayers for this service. People from all of the other U.P.C. churches in Trinidad are coming out for this service to help us. I am so excited to see what God has in store.
In just a few weeks we start VBS. It is a lot of work Joseph and I and a girl named Kim ,who was down here on YOM last year, will be working at every church running their VBS Program. I am more than willing to help and do my best to come up with ideas, but I have never ran or even been directly involved in VBS. This will be a very new and interesting experience. The theme is The Great Treasure hunt. I have been working on songs, games, and crafts. Kim has a book with the different lessons, Joseph has been doing the promotion. He has made flyers that look like treasure maps. Joseph and I have also started a rather large project of making a treasure chest pinata for each VBS and there are 5 possibly 6 in total. I will be sure to put some pictures up so you can see what I am talking about. I am sure it will be a great time for the kids.
We have been praying for everyone back home. I have been keeping up to date with Pentecostal Temple and Life Connections from their websites and I hope and pray for great revivals there.

Wow, Its Been to long since we updated this blog!!!

We had a great time with the freedom crusade, which happened about three weeks ago. It was a time of refreshing, with Bro. Shearer doing a great job preaching, and leading us as a whole back in the direction He(God) wants us to go. He preached a message on the Thursday night pre-conference seminar about Manasseh. The name means to forget, and Bro. Shearer showed us how Joseph had to choose to forget about the hurts and pains he had received in his fathers house before (Ephraim) Blessings would come. We likewise need to be willing to forgive our brothers and sisters in the Lord when they hurt us, otherwise we will be forfeiting many blessings.
God moved in the services, and a lot of spiritual healing was done.

After that we went right back into Bible School, and we also started helping (Temporarily Pastoring) the church in Diamond Village, the Souther part of Trinidad. It is a church that has gone through many things, and we could use your prayer, as we attempt to make some headway in a area that seems reluctant to receive the truth. The people that are in the Church are great. They are some of the most humble and generous people I have ever meet, and it really is a honor to help them in their time of need.

We have really had a burden lately to reach more people. We have been here in Trinidad for three months, and we are ready to see more people coming to the churches, and attending Bible School. I(Joseph) really want to get the Bible School students involved a lot more.

Pray for us that we can balance all the responsibilities we have been given and do a job that God would be pleased with.

We love all of you back in the States, and HOPE all is well in your life: That hope is not based on anything less then faith that God will work mightily in your life to help you be the person He wants you to be... I did some lessons on HOPE the other day, and its stuck in my head.

Anyway...take care,
pray for us whenever you can,
and Thank you so much If you have been praying!!!

Love Joseph and Cassandra
Your AIMers to Trinidad and Tobago
(we don't get to go to Tobago that much though...)

Preparing for Freedom Crusade

Hello everyone this is Cassandra writing this time. Since the last post we have been busy preparing for the Freedom Crusade which is going to be April 11-13. We have gotten together with the Bible school students and passed out flyers and have went to various neighborhoods inviting people out to the event. We have already had people interested in coming to it.

We have been helping out in the St James church which is right now running about 15 faithful members. In the past the church had more people as well as visitors. This week I have went through the guest book and mailed out invitations to the crusade to each of them as well as called to invited them out to service in St James once again. Please pray with us that we will see more souls come to the house of God in St James. There are three couples that are working together to minister in the St. James church. There is us, Philbert and Petrina, and Urie and Kristin. We are all new to this type of ministry, but have a burden for the lost. If you could pray also that we would learn how to organize all of the responsibilities without loosing our focus on the people.

The youth choir has been preparing for the last few weeks for the crusade and have been working very hard have really made some progress. The music department is still growing and developing and I am trying to find my place in it to help without pushing myself in. I want to be effective in helping them learn more about music ministry. We are singing three songs " We Speak To Nations", " I'm Gonna Lift You Up", and another, which I can't remember the name of right now. Sis. Kristin from St. James is teaching and leading the youth choir.

I am organizing the praise team for the first night of the conference. I have a group of musicians, but I am kind of intimidated to really be a leader. I really need some more confidence in that area. I am going to be singing with the singers and helping them. I am teaching two new songs for the worship service and then Bro. Jefferey, who is the music leader in Tunapuna church is going to pick our the rest of the songs in which most people will be more familiar with. I am going to be teaching them " I Am Free" and " Magnify Jesus" both are really simple choruses which we will be able to learn fairly quickly. Sis. Petrina and I from St. James are going to be singing a duet one of the nights and we are going to be singing " You Are God Alone"

I have really enjoyed getting to know Sis. Petrina and her husband Philbert. Joseph and I really click well with them. I only hope we will be able to find time to "lime" with them as everyone here would say, or "hang out" as I would say:) With all of the busy schedules and being on different sides of town it is hard to get together.

I am really enjoying being down here. I have my days already when I am sad, but I also have days when I am really happy and excited. Life is the same no matter where you are and your feelings are always changing..or at least mine, because I am so emotional. I can say I feel like I have grown a lot just in the few months that I have been here. I know musically I have been pushed to play, which back home I probably would have always shyed away from, but I can tell how much I have improved in that area, but not only that, but I feel like I have just really begun living my life and that I have so much to look forward to in my future. When Sis. Shirley came down for the ladies seminar I loved just spending time with her and listening to her stories about being in ministry and in the Caribbean ex specially. I really love listening to my elders and trying to learn life lessons through their lives. I have realized how much they really do know and I would much rather take my time and listen to their advice and then to learn the hard way.

Youth Seminar

Hello again,

Hope all is going well.

We are doing pretty well down here. We just had our Youth Seminar. It was great!! Pastor Greg Bowman, the Youth President of Indiana, came down and did the Whole thing. He did an excellent job, there is no doubt that He let the Lord use him, he hit a few nails right on the head, and helped the rest of us to understand that Gods plan for us is not always ours. In one on the sessions he spoke about Jonah, and how the unbelieving captain had to tell Jonah to pray. This reminded me of how many of us who go to Church all the time and think we have it all together are many times oblivious to that fact that we are very much not walking in the Lords will…
After Brother Bowman spoke 8 times we went out on a jet ski… but that was a fiasco, one did not work, and the other ran out of gas… in the ocean…. An I (Joseph) was on it… some people partying in a catamaran leant me a paddle… it was fun.
That was Sunday afternoon. Monday we went out snorkeling, and that worked out just fine. All in all we had fun. We saw a lot of cool fish.
I pray that everything is great in your lives,

Joseph Landaw

Joseph and Cassandra Landaw, AIM workers in Trinidad

Greeting to all!!!

First of all we would like to say that we hope all is going well back home.
We miss everyone and can't wait for those of you who plan to come visit!

We have been here in Trinidad for about three (3) weeks and we are having a great time. It’s not that much of a change for me (Joseph) coming down here, since I did live here a third of my life. However it has been a bit of a transition for Cassandra. Everything has improved since I last lived here, but a lot is still very different that the good ol USA. When you go to another country for a while, you realize all the things you take for granted. It’s not like the country is backward or impoverished. Trinidad is actually doing very well for a small nation, partly due to the oil industry. Yes, Trinidad has oil. The economy is booming, and everyone has a job. Believe it or not, most people have a cell phone, many have two or three. The same is true with cars, there are too many for the roads, creating horrible traffic. All of the gadgets and gizmos however have not changed the people. They may have some technology, yet they live very simple lives, and do not think like Americans.

Some differences are:
They drive on the left hand side; the steering wheel is on the right…
They speak English… well a cool dialect of English anyway…
Their money is all different colours<--- that the “proper” spelling…
The exchange rate is hard to get use to… $120TT is close to $20US
They have great food!!! (It’s cheaper to eat out sometimes than to cook…)
The list goes on…

Customer service is horrible down here. Most of you know I worked a Chick-fil-A, and I can tell you, we would have fired all the people in the restaurants I’ve been to… All of the American based restaurants. On the other hand, the Trini places are not that bad. I guess they take pride in their stuff. Anyway, one of the things we get to eat is called doubles. That is the singular and plural for the name of the food. It is like two small soft pita flaps, with a chick pea soup sloped inside. Believe it or not, Cassandra loves them, and we have to go to town to get them. You can get them to go, or stand up outside on the street (that’s the only place you can get them, on the side of the road…) and eat them right there. It’s great.

Well that’s all nice you might say, but what about Church, have you even gone yet?

Well yes we have actually, thank you for asking!

We are helping in a Church in the town of St. James (there are only two Cities in Trnidad: Port of Spain, which is the capital, and San Fernando, everything else is like little towns, which go on one right after the other.
I am helping Pastor the Church, so pray for me. The Pastor recently relocated to another area, and we are helping fill the gap. Helping us is the interim Pastor, Bro. Urie Bejhue, a Trinidadian bibles school graduate as well as an interim assistant pastor, Bro. Philbert George.
I am also helping in the bible school, teaching the Session on Tue and Wed. We are currently going through the Epistles and a class on communication (Just finished I Corinthians… I seem to always forget how carnal that Church was… sort of reminds me of many of the problems that arise in our Churches today…).
Anyway… as part of the Bible School the Students are to be a part of what is called, “Bible School in Action” herein called BSIA. We go to a church and the students have to testify, sing, exort (which means Preach a 5 min sermon… at least that’s what it means here…) as well as Preach… Most of the time however, I am the one stuck (or blessed) Preaching. It is fun having special services, which is what the BSIA services are.

The First week we went to Valencia, which is on the North Eastern side of the country. It is in the “country” lots of trees and so on. The services are currently held at Bro. Ron Griffiths house, in the back yard. He has a lot of children and youth that come to the services. When we were there a young person asked if she could get baptized!!! Her sister also wants to get baptized, and they wanted to do it on the first girls Birthday, which is coming up soon. Pray for the Griffiths. They are a wonderful couple, working hard for God.

The Next week we had the BSIA in St. James where we are working. I had Bro. Griffith come and Preach, and he did a great job.
The Next night we had a street/parking lot meeting at a housing project. There were not many peoples (ok I won’t lie there were only two that I know for sure that were out side listening to us) but we could fell God in the service. We had a speakersystem set up, and it did look like a lot of people were listening though their windows.

We also made a Trip to Tobago, which was a lot of fun. We spent some time with the pastor over there, and had a great time talking… We even talked about the US elections… anyway…

I’m glad we are here, it’s been along time in the making, this trip, and I think God has great thing in store for us.

Pray for us whenever you can… And think very much if you do, or already have.

We Pray that everything is Going well in you life, and that God will help you get close to Him.

Love,

Joseph and Cassandra Landaw
AIM workers to Trinidad and Tobago