VCH News

Hurricane Gustav hit western Cuba with winds of 150 miles per hour damaging or destroying 100,000 homes on Saturday before moving on to the coast of Louisiana.  The disaster struck from Havana to the western city of Pinar del Rio on the main island.  Fidel Castro said the Island of Youth, the country’s second biggest island was hit the worst.  “Hurricane Gustav hit like a nuclear bomb that reminds me of the desolation I saw at Hiroshima,” exclaimed Castro.

This  hurricane knocked out all but two of Cuba’s 16 bakeries that supply the bread for the people on the Isla de Juventud.  Authorities are now struggling to feed its population of 86,000 on this adjoining island.

Hurricane Ike hit massively the following week with 120mph winds roaring from the eastern side of the country.  Ike literally traveled across the entire nation before it wreaked havoc on Texas.  Ike rattled Havana enough to collapse 16 buildings and damage 67 others in the capital city.  Resident Maria Valdez said, “It sounded like Havana had been invaded by an army of ghosts,” referring to the howling winds that blew through the streets littering them with fallen trees, foliage and building debris. Almost 1.25 million people of the 11 million population fled for other shelters across the island.  

According to Victor Ramirez, president of the National Institute of Housing, Ike damaged 200,000 homes as well as nearly 30,000 that were destroyed by the intense winds, torrential rain and high flooding.  Reuters news agency reported the two hurricanes blasted Cuba damaging or destroying 320,000 homes in a country that already had a shortage of 500,000 homes.

In a poor neighborhood along the train tracks, the combined fury of Ike and Gustav left nearly two-thirds of the wooden homes without roofs or completely leveled.  Olga Atiaga, a 53 year old housewife said, “The first one left me something, but this one left me nothing.”  Gustav obliterated her roof and some walls.  Then Ike blew away a mattress and smashed the kitchen sink.  Both of these hurricanes also wiped out the electricity grid,  toppled trees, leveled crops including sugar cane fields, and turned rivers into roaring torrents.

Another divine event took place in El Salvador in the communist colonia of St. John’s Crossing.  We held a 3 day crusade there with Pastor Esteban.  While in this subdivision, we also held Children’s Crusades where we passed out 1,400 pairs of flip flops.  In past trips, we have held medical clinics, distributed food and shoes and ministered to the children, youth and adults.  The Mayor was so impressed with all that the church has been doing for these poor and needy people that he donated land for a new and bigger church to be built close by the town’s community building.  Praise God!

God has orchestrated many divine appointments throughout this year.  One of which was a homeless man named Juan Carlos in Mexico City.  He was ready to commit suicide right there in the park.  He told us, “I have nobody, nowhere to go…it would be better if I was dead!”  Some of the youth and leaders ministered to Juan sharing the message of God’s love with him.  He repeated the prayer of salvation with us and later we took him to get something to eat and blessed him with an offering

The Lord spoke to me that in 2008 there would be a “WIDE OPEN GATE”.  I asked, “a wide open gate for what?”  He said to me: 

v     For more salvation decisions for Christ

v     For more souls to surrender their messed up lives to Him

v     For more restorations, renewals and genuine commitments

v     For more spiritual abundance, anointing and flowing in the Holy Spirit throughout the ministry

v     For more healing, health, miracles, signs & wonders

It is not just an open door; it is an OPEN GATE in 2008 for more of God’s presence in our lives to minister to even more people for Christ.   The Lord told me that we needed to press into His presence like never before so that He would fill us more, in order that there might be more to give as we minister to others.

Here is more good news for you about these “WIDE OPEN GATES”!  Through your faithful prayers and support here is what has happened this year in brief:

v     Through our IHI Bible School graduates who are on the N.E.T. team (National Evangelism Team) in Mexico, 3,734 people have been ministered to this summer and 979 salvations for Christ have been made.  They also trained 804 people in Evangelism Seminars.  Thirty nine people received healing and 118 were baptized in the Spirit.  Glory to God!

v     Through our Mexico, Cuba and El Salvador evangelists and pastors – 14,746 men, women, youth and children have come to the Lord!  They have seen many touched by the hand of God.

v     In Cuba, 297 men and women have been trained through the Evangelism Seminars from 12 different provinces involving 80 towns and cities.  The 5^th Seminar begins September 10^th.

v     A wide open gate to minister in China took place in May.  As we train our IHI students and missionaries to go in to all of the world, VCH also provides opportunities to minister around the world.  Eight of our missionaries and graduates taught and ministered to 250 Chinese in underground churches, cell leader meetings and Bible schools.  We also purchased $1,000 worth of Chinese Bibles and Christian books for these precious believers.

v     During our VCH Mission Trips throughout Mexico and El Salvador this year, we have ministered in churches, plazas, parks, crusades, schools and universities to 46,228 people and of these 11,465 made salvation professions of faith.  Praise God!  Also 259 were baptized in the Spirit and 956 were ministered to and healed by the power of God!  Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!  Heb. 13

v     For the honor and glory of God, to - date VCH through your help has seen a total of 450,597 salvations for Christ and 388,805 Bibles, New Testaments and Gospels given out to these new believers since 1992!  We are going forward towards our goal of ONE MILLION BIBLES FOR ONE MILLION SOULS with your help.  Thank you for your partnership!

September is here and the students are coming back to the International harvesters Institute.  On Saturday, September 6^th we will have our Opening Service and then on Monday, September 8^th we begin classes again.  We believe God has hand picked each of these students and we are looking forward to a great year.

We have a great need at this time.  At the beginning of September we only had $1,385 in our VCH account.  We know that God has and will provide for all of your needs and ours.  We have seen His faithful hand move many times.  To run the IHI, help the 140 evangelists and pastors in Mexico, El Salvador and in communist Cuba, prepare mission trips, purchase and distribute God’s Word, provide our office staff and missionaries offerings, salaries and support, we need $12,000 per week to continue doing what God has put in our hearts to do.  Would you please pray about a special offering at his time?  We appreciate all that God is doing in us, with us and with you and through you to help us to reach our goal.  Together, we will continue to reach the unreached and tell the untold, bringing multitudes into God’s fold!

Keeping Souls in our Goals,

David Blanchard

P.S.  For your special gift, I would like to send you my latest message

entitled “Rise Up Mighty Army of God”.