Open Arms Outreach / Kairos Caribe

Transformations in Palmarejo: Real Lives changed by the Power of God

2011-09-23T11:07:00.003-04:00

Palmarejo: a small former batey of less than two thousand mostly Haitians, huddled on the very edge of Northwest Santo Domingo.

Eleven years ago we planted a stake with scriptures on this corner of Los Alcarrizos to declare this land and people for God and to place on notice the demonic forces that held this people captive to malaria, Aids, prostitution, polio, hepatitis, open sewage, bad water and superstitious malevolent voodoo. Three voodoo priests and no churches maintained a gloom of misery unknown and unseen not only to North American travelers but to most Dominicans, especially the insulated middle and upper class.

Healing over a decade may seem slow and imperceptible but we made an intentional effort to build relationships and return again and again to witness the remarkable changes that have taken place. There are no more voodoo priests to exploit the fears of Palmarejans. There are three churches and most of the village has been evangelized and a great many have received Christ. Prostitution is no longer a visible factor. There have been no cases of malaria for four years. Although desperately poor, there is a UN funded water supply and new roads with curbs leading in and out of Palmarejo. A Catholic school educates the children without birth papers, who by Dominican law cannot go to public school. Many are receiving health care at our nearby Ebenezer Clinic in Pantoja. They benefit from our free medical care which includes medicines they would never access otherwise.

One child stands out as a miracle in progressive healing. His name is Yunior ( pronounced Junior). He is also about eleven years old coincidentally, and we met him in 2005 on a visit to his town. Stricken with polio and encephalitis in his first year, he nearly died. He could not walk or talk. His legs were so thin you could wrap your hand around his thigh in a closed grip. His head is dysmorphic suggesting profound retardation. He drooled incessantly BUT... he smiled as wide as the tropical sun when we came to hold him, love on him and pray for him. He underwent some therapy which we sought funds for in the US, but it was discontinued because of various logistics for the family. God remained our hope that he would thrive and be well. He got new clothes, a new home from some other source, and a wheelchair but his preferred method of travel was to scuttle on his naked buttocks through the alleys of mud and bad water wherever he wanted to go.

Last year, through brother Andy's insistence we prayed for his mind and his speech. He was always non-verbal, though attentive with his eyes. We were bold to ask God for a complete healing and functional life for little Yunior.

On this September's trip we found Yunior walking without assistance for the first time AND... Praise be to God Almighty, as we live and breathe he was talking. Not gibberish but in Spanish, even yelling at his friends down the alley to come on over.
It seemed so right and normal on the one hand that God would continue to honor our prayers but on the other hand we were astonished into silence. How can this happen naturally? Is there any other explanation for a non-verbal ten+ year old to suddenly begin to talk? Take a look at Yunior's picture above. Continue to pray for him. He remains the symbol of real life transformation in Palmarejo. This community is radically different than we found it eleven years ago. And we are witnesses of God's redeeming power, and He deserves all the glory for this. We are only his servants, simply daring to BELIEVE and even that is a gift from God.

Would you join us on one of our short term missions? We will be scheduling four trips in 2012, God willing, beginning on the last Friday in January and every three months thereafter. Begin to communicate with us if you have the desire to go and check our postings here on this blog and on Facebook for further information.

May God continue to bless you to be a blessing to others in His Name. Amen!

Ken Peters

The Implanted Word in the Tropical Forrest

2011-09-19T09:46:00.004-04:00

In the Sierra Cordilleras of the Dominican Republic sits a bowl like valley that is a breadbasket to the Dominicans. It is Constanza and the approach is breath-taking. Soaring volcanic mountains and winding roads double back in a steep ascent colored in every shade of green. The valley floor is nearly 4,000 feet and the highest peaks range up to 10,000 ft above sea level.

Twenty two years ago we made our first trip there with Food For the Hungry, an international NGO serving the extremely poor. It was during this trip, while a newly elected legislator, that I received my call as a missionary, simply saying to the Lord that I would go anywhere anytime to serve His Kingdom and the poor.

During one of our trips in 1990 a North American prophetic team was ministering in a church and called out a young man named Cesar Lebron, a non-descript teenager. The word of the Lord given that day said he would be raised up to be a pastor among God's people and he trembled at the word. Who can fathom how God may use a simple clay vessel to contain His Glory? Over the years, time proved the accuracy of this word as he mixed with faith what was given him and focused his life on serving the Lord.

Today Pastor Cesar Lebron has three churches overflowing with vibrant believers. One of these churches is deep in the tropical mountains. In fact one needs to travel from Constanza by horseback for seven miles (10 km) crossing the same winding river fourteen times to arrive at this little subsistence farm community. God has raised up a church of believers where the gospel had never been preached! Praise God!!! One wonders, if there are not many subsistence farmers dotting the landscape of this vast national forrest. Isn't it marvelous how the Lord points the way to future development?

Next summer, Lord willing, we will send an exploratory team into these mountains to water the church and uncover the treasury of God's hidden people. WOW... what an expedition working alongside the nationals to further His Kingdom. Does it get any better?

At a school in El Chorro, Constanza we set up a clinic and served nearly 1,000 adults and children with medical care and medicines and dental work. We brought a team of doctors and one dentist with $70,000 in donated meds and another donation of medical supplies for the regional hospital. The community rejoiced because most are never able to afford medical and dental care or buy prescription meds such as analgesics, anti-biotics,cold meds,vitamins etc. We shared the gospel with a classroom of two hundred children and parents who ALL prayed to receive Christ, some for the first time. At the evening service on Saturday we worshiped with a standing room only group of Dominicans, while one of our Pastor/Doctors Luis ministered the word in a sermon.

The men of our team witnessed the enduring power of God to perform His word and glimpsed the vision of fruitful endeavors for the future. What about you? Will you pray about going yourself? The time frame will be the last Friday in July 2012 for ten days. May God touch your life with a desire to search for eternal worth. You are welcome to inquire of us about this or any other mission trip. We are always looking to engage in conversation that leads to action.

Be blessed to be a blessing!

In Jesus'Name,

Ken Peters

Pray for Divine Appointments in Santo Domingo

2011-08-29T11:11:00.003-04:00

Once again we are preparing for a short term mission to Santo Domingo this Friday, September 2-12,2011. Our medical bags are packed and we still have room for school supplies if anyone is interested in donating items.
On this trip we have several goals that we are asking you to pray about. Our foremost desire is to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom to as many as possible. Our medical clinics, this time in rural, very poor Constanza,DR will be primarily relief to believers but also an opportunity to reach others with the love of Christ so that we might have opportunity to preach. In every trip there are many who pray to receive Christ as Lord and Savior.
Ministry that focuses on the poor has a two-fold purpose. One is to bring relief to God's people, those He says are the least of His brethren. Some would interject that all people are God's children and in one sense that is true, but we are told in the Scriptures to do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith. However, while we minister to the poor of God's people there is often opportunity to reach others who come and are in need. In that case they taste and see that the Lord is good, and then they hear the message. The Scripture says "faith comes by hearing and hearing from the Word of God". How can they repent if they do not hear? How can they hear if one is not sent? It is by the foolishness of preaching that God chooses to reach those elected to eternal life. Central to ministry to the poor is prayer and preaching and healing. This holistic approach is comprehensive and upholds both the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
Seven men are going to be available to the leading of the Lord and we are in need of prayer cover and warfare. We understand that Satan will not stand by and let us exploit his territory without a fight. We are quite used to that. We covet your prayer and trust God will bring fruit that remains from our endeavors.
We will try to remain in touch through Facebook. Just hit the badge OAO/Kairos Caribe on the right side panel to join our real time discussion.
Blessings in His Precious Name,

Ken Peters

Soulfest Outreach

2011-08-01T10:26:00.004-04:00

Greetings,
On this beautiful summer morning as our country steps back from the brink of financial default, we find ourselves merrily preparing for our first ever outreach at SoulFest to spread awareness of our developing missions and to stimulate generosity alongside love and good deeds. It may seem counter-intuitive during stressful economic times to focus on charity and the plight of the poor, but we see many examples in Scripture that our faith is kindled during times of crises.

Remember the widow with Elijah who was instructed to share her last meal with the prophet. Her reward was to have an unceasing supply for her household of oil and flour until the famine was over. He spoke of God's promise of provision for her household, so she obeyed the prophet and made him a muffin first, before her supposed last meal after which she expected she and her son would die from starvation. God's WORD came to her and she mixed it with FAITH that ACTS and the result was a divine intervention of continuous oil and flour during the famine.

I am certainly NOT a health and wealth PROSPERITY preacher, but we must remember that God's ledger does not function by Sum,Zero. It is more like Insufficiency plus Faith yields an Abundance!

So here we are, very Insufficient in ourselves. We have faith to stand in the GAP and God has supplied us annually with more than $400,000 in donated foods and medicine. The food and medicine and clothes and furniture etc have not run out for years. It is a continuous fountain of blessing.

So our testimony might provoke you to believe in God's promises for those who minister to the poor:

Whoever gives to the poor will never lack, but whoever shuts his eyes to their poverty will be cursed.
(Pro 28:27)
To Zion:

I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.
(Psa 132:15)

The righteous person is concerned about the poor; but the wicked don't understand what they need to know.
(Pro 29:7)

Look! This was the sin of your sister Sodom and her daughters: Pride, too much food, undisturbed peace, and failure to help the poor and needy.
(Eze 16:49)

There are hundreds of verses like these in both the Old and New Testaments commanding the righteous to care and give to the needy, to understand their plight and both blessings and curses flow from our reaction to the poverty around us.

We have taken up the cause of the poor and orphan and widow and alien among us here and abroad. We are looking for partners who will stand with us, believing God will place on your heart how to serve, how to give, that you would take your place with us in the GOOD FIGHT!

Come and join us at SoulFest this week at Gunstock, NH if you can, August 3rd- August 6th and prayerfully consider how you may commit your life serving the "least of these". Or contact us at our office right here in Laconia, NH. We have a short term mission team leaving next month to Santo Domingo and we have room for others to come along. Just Pray and Obey! May the Lord bless you with heavenly wisdom for these times,I pray.

In His Precious Name,

Ken Peters
Director, OAO/KC

Orphan/ Abandoned Children in the DR

2011-05-16T10:07:00.003-04:00

5.13.2011
Greetings:
To our invaluable supporters for orphaned and abandoned children, we wanted to bring some updates to you. Our gratitude for your monthly pledge contribution is immeasureable! You have made the difference in the lives of destitute and abandoned children bringing love and necessities to each one in our care. We invite every reader to consider helping by giving monthly support also. We will share how that may be done.
In the Dominican Republic, there is no foster care. Our strategy is to bring street children into homes, normalizing their lives, living in a natural family setting with house parents. Your pledges make this possible with the payment of rent and food and utilities and clothing, education, and medical /dental. The full support needed for one child is around $200 per month for all of these things. Our pledge money is pooled each month and sent to the household’s caregivers. We visit our Santo Domingo mission quarterly to insure firsthand the quality of care they receive and to check receipts for accountability. We are personally inviting you to travel along with one of our mission teams! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203750336317560 Our schedule is posted here!
When we visit,the huge smiles on their faces tell us a whole lot about their happiness. Children should be safe and secure to grow up as healthy contributors to society when they are adults. I cannot think of a better, more biblically correct strategy to stop sex trafficking, inner city gangs, crime and predation than to rescue children from a life in the streets when they are still young and unhardened by the school of hard knocks. Love invested in a child is one of the most important activities of our lives!
We have, according to UNICEF 130,000 orphaned/ abandoned children in the DR. Our plan is to attract as many as the Lord will give us. Currently we have plans to build a modern earthquake secure, world class facility to house up to 64 children. Land has been donated to us and we have architectural/ engineering plans and final permission to build already in place. We will be initiating a Capital Building Campaign to raise $1 Million USD to complete this building. To read more about this go to our website: http://oaoutreach.org/childrens_home.htm
To read about the municipality approved project narrative pdf, go to this link:
http://oaoutreach.org/OACH_project_narrative.pdf
We need your continued support and Alsion Morel will be directing you with the various ways you can pay. Online donations: www.oaoutreach.org/donate.htm
I am also asking that you consider ways to help us expand our base of orphan care support. We would rather use a grassroots way of dealing with this than to advertise. Many very reputable non-profits spend up to 15% or more of their income on advertising. Since we are small and lean, we can ensure 100% of your funds are spent on direct care, not costly administration. Here are some ideas of how you can help. Get a small group together, like a bible study, Sunday School class, work pod,family or small church to fully sponsor a child ($200 per month). We are recommending ACH deposits for timely and efficent record-keeping! Ask Alison to set this up. Here is a great one for the kids: Start a piggy bank at home to save your change. This is a great lesson for small children and Sunday school classes. We will provide a jar and sleeve to identify who we are and you can cash it in quarterly and add it to your pledge. Come up with some ideas of your own. One woman helps by selling toys and pledging a percentage of her proceeds to help our orphans. Be creative and let’s together thank God for the bounty we all enjoy here in the USA. Again, words cannot sufficently express our gratitude for your selfless and continuos gifts. May God, richly bless you for your generous compassion!
Sincerely,
Ken Peters
Executive Director
Open Arms Outreach/ Kairos Caribe
kpeters@oaoutreach.org

ORPHAN SPOTLIGHT
Dayan is our “poster child” because he loves his photo taken. Abandoned by his Mom who is a drug addicted prostitute, he suffers from malnutrition, specifically rickets. Only 24 pounds at five years old, his bones are so brittle he needs a major nutritional intervention and perhaps surgery so he can walk. He receives intensive care from specialists and is a candidate for the CURE Hospital’s orthopedic surgery. He is currently fully sponsored by Faith Chapel of Newport, NH. A child like this could suffer and die from “failure to thrive” without your compassionate intervention. Dayan is doing well and recently was living with our American mission team this past winter during our ten day trip as our up close and personal campaign continues to put third world children in REAL touch with their sponsors. Check with us about correspondence to any of our children, which we can hand deliver on one of our trips. Currently we are caring for seven orphans that are all boys at this writing.

Santo Domingo Mission: Water for a Thirsty Land

2011-03-16T11:33:00.003-04:00

The USA team of missionaries representing multiple churches and Open Arms Outreach/ Kairos Caribe succeeded in all the primary objectives of this short term trip in late February and early March. Pulling a team together is no small task. I want to personally thank Andy Whitman for laboring with his team from Newport NH for many months of preparation. A large group of 16 set out to serve in multiple arenas. Here is the short list. The Iglesia Cristiana El Redil (formerly Buen Pastor- AG) was without water in an urban street where the city only pumped water for several hours per week. Folks are occupying themselves for a great part of the day fetching water from far away sources in 5 gallon buckets. Water can be bought but for many of the poor that is not feasible. Now that the church owns the land with certifiable paper, we could make the investment in digging a well. We hit water at thirty feet but went down to eighty feet and hit a very ample aquifer. We put in a submersible pump and roof tank holding 500 gallons and plumbed up some sinks and then ran septic lines to a tank underground and then a second filtered well to dissipate the effluent. (Kind of a vertical leech field). We worked alongside hired help and well digging rigs and managed to get all this done for about $4,000 USD. This water will be a blessing not only to the church but to the community as well.
Meanwhile we attended dynamic worship services, walked through the poorest neighborhoods, praying and bringing comfort and cheer. At one outdoor meeting in Palmarejo, a Haitian village and former Batey, many children came to Christ after an invitation to pray and Jonas and Zach presented the gospel using colored beads on bracelets that were given out. Prayer lines were formed for healing and many came to our team, touched by the Presence of God. Wherever we went we invited people to our free medical clinic to be held on our last day. Tom led a group into the schools to do skits and get to know the students. Pastor Victor's church was greatly encouraged that there is now water at the church and we rejoiced with Davidic dance and worship together with our Dominican brothers and sisters. The spiritual implications of a new well dug in dry land spoke of the promise of a well-spring of salvation to occur in their midst as well.

Finally on our last day we gave a free clinic at our Ebenezer Clinic and saw about 1,000 people, mostly women and children who are too poor to afford their prescriptions. One group of families received Baclofen, donated by Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, NH providing more than a six month supply for each disabled child who must live on this drug to control muscle spasms. The problem there is the medicine is cost prohibitive. Our team lavished these families with love. God knows! We had more than $180,000 of donated medicines in all distributed by our doctors with enough left over to give to the Children's Hospital in Santo Domingo. We shared the gospel in the waiting area with successive groups and more than 100 received Christ as Lord and Savior. Bless God!!!

Our next trip is scheduled for June/ July and we encourage you to learn more about how you can participate with us as a missionary or as a financial partner. For details see our link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203750336317560

We thank all who participated sacrificially for going, for financing, for the teamwork it took to keep this group going. Special thanks to Michele for keeping us well fed and laundry cleaned and working hard behind the scenes so the team could be refreshed and in good health. May God bless you each and everyone, good and faithful servants of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In His Eternal Service,

Ken Peters
Director OAO/KC

DR Mission February 25- March 7,2011

2011-02-15T15:54:00.002-05:00

God has placed His hand on fifteen travelers from the US to go on a God-venture for ten days in Santo Domingo, DR. We will be carrying nearly $200,000 in medicines to give out in free clinics and children's hospitals mostly to poor families without access to medical care. Our Ebenezer Clinic with its doctors and nurses will administer the diagnoses, write prescriptions and give out the med's under our supervision while we evangelize and pray for the hundreds who will come to our clinics. We will also visit with our orphans and check on them as we often do. They are loved and cared for, having been rescued from life on the streets at the ages of four,six, seven, ten and twelve. We will begin work on a well for the church property and continue construction work on the church building. There will be opportunities to preach and teach in churches , open air meetings and visitation from house to house praying and loving on the people we meet. Please pray for us to have multiple Divine Appointments throughout our stay.
We ask you partner with us in prayer and look for us on Facebook (the link is above) to communicate with us while we are on the trip with prayer , encouragement and Words from the Lord. If anyone would like to donate for this mission, you may easily do so on our website: http://oaoutreach.org/donate.htm
We are blessed and honored to go as Ambassadors of Christ sharing His love with those precious to Him. Please pray for a great anointing of love, His sweet heavenly fire to burn away the thorny and often-times harsh legalism in that culture that grieves His Presence. Pray humility and love! We covet your prayers and prophetic insight.
In His Precious Name,
Ken Peters

Open Arms Outreach: The Nativity- Hidden in Full View

2010-12-14T06:42:00.000-05:00

Open Arms Outreach: The Nativity- Hidden in Full View: "The Nativity- Hidden in Full View (Pro 25:2) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter..."

The Nativity- Hidden in Full View

2010-12-13T20:17:00.002-05:00

The Nativity- Hidden in Full View

(Pro 25:2) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

It will be forever a marvel that the God who created the universe would stoop to such a lowly place in his condescension. Jesus, the Messiah, the most royal prince who ever drew breath was laid in a manger at birth. He was wrapped lovingly by Mary in swaddling cloths- shreds of material to protect him from the cold night. There was no room at the Inn. Of course the census which occasioned the trip to Bethlehem for Joseph and Mary helped make the lack of room understandable. But we wonder why were there no relatives to bring inside the poor carpenter and the very pregnant Mary. Were people so calloused to her condition? We struggle to understand this behavior on a purely human level, that anyone so vulnerable would be left in the cold.

One consideration is that all of Joseph's relatives were absent through death. Perhaps he was an orphan. Or maybe his relatives were scandalized by Mary's pregnancy. Either they believed that Joseph and Mary were intimate during their betrothal, or Joseph as the proverbial "schlemiel" took her as a wife with another's child. That idea too would be scandalous. If they heard from Joseph the explanation offered by the angel Gabriel, would they have believed the report? In our society people would not blink at such an arrangement, but in the first century and even now in many cultures of the world this little family would be shunned and unwelcomed. Self-respecting folk would keep their distance. Why would Father God invite such misunderstanding? Why would the Lord of Glory be wrapped in ignominy?

There is much conjecture as to the "stable" that sheltered the "first family". Was it a cave, out in the fields as some believe, or was it a shed attached to the Inn like a porch where the guests' animals were tied up and fed? Our humanity, especially in hindsight, recoils that a child would be born in such raw conditions. At Christmastime we all are especially sensitive to others felt needs and we are deeply moved with compassion for those in distress. But in Bethlehem our promised Messiah came hidden as it were- a smuggled secret from the Kingdom of Heaven, frail and vulnerable.

He was placed in a manger- a feeding trough for beasts- as the bread of life to transform our beastliness. In Bethlehem “the house of bread" he voluntarily gave up His Godly prerogatives to become food for us that we might live. We might not find room for God, but He makes room to search us out, and bring us into eternal life. All religions represent a search for God, but Christianity alone displays God's search for us. God the Father hid the Messiah in the simple birth village of the shepherd boy David, not the triumphal City of David at Mt. Zion. Despising the shame, Jesus was ushered in- in the signature way of our God- Hidden in full view. Simple shepherds were told by an angel and sung to by a heavenly host of His nativity, but only a few kings (magi) were wise enough to pay tribute. Rome was at its zenith in terms of the breadth of its empire, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was brought forth as God's hidden wisdom in the midst of mankind's crowning arrogance. (Mat 11:25- At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.)

Now let us consider how it is when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. He searched us out and we received Him, just like Mary who humbly uttered to the angel (Luk 1:38) "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." Her faith received the seed of Christ in humble submission to the will of God. She birthed the incarnate Son of God; we also are born anew in the likeness of Christ, hidden with Him until the Day of His revealing. (Col 3:3-4)

Our beginnings in Christ are hidden, wrapped in ignominy just like he was. The work of God and the Holy Spirit is evidenced by those who can "see", but we are nothing but simple fishermen, tax collectors, former prostitutes, some who are educated et.al, transformed by a power that doesn't show off, but demonstrates the utter wisdom of God. The Scripture says not to despise small beginnings. Our frailty, our poverty, our shame and weakness are but temporary conditions as role modeled for us by our older brother Jesus. Our glorious destiny in Christ is beyond our imagination. 1Co 2:9 But as it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," nor has it entered into the heart of man, "the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

We need to learn like Mary the mother of Jesus of Nazareth, the value of patient endurance while pondering the imponderables of God's promises. She was afflicted like no other mother, living through the horror of His crucifixion knowing that by His death the world would be saved. From birth through death she witnessed all the fury of Satan thrown at her son, and through His resurrection and ascension all the magnificence of God's unfailing promises. May we rejoice like she did through all the trials and hardships we endure. For here lies our hope-Phi 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Brethren let our hearts sing His praise this Christmas season as we rejoice in this wonderful hope of glory- Christ in us!

Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest “Rock of Ages,”
I’m hiding in Thee.

Ken Peters 12/2005

Ruth-full Nation... Immigration on the Front Burner

2010-07-29T06:56:00.003-04:00

As our nation wrangles with trying to work out a clear, fair and less complicated policy of immigration reform, allow me to comment from the biblical perspective and from the viewpoint of the lowly, seeing this issue through the eyes of the world's poor who are still streaming to our country centuries after our founding. To be clear, I am a Christian first before I am a US citizen. I also have a responsibility worldwide as a member of the Body of Christ for the well being of "the least of these". I have a command to love my neighbors, which according to the parable of the Good Samaritan includes cross cultural benevolence. Secondly, as a US Citizen, I must respect the rule of law and uphold our nation's need for security in a fallen world. Christians are instructed to be upstanding citizens and through the salt and light become an agent of transformation to the surrounding culture.

Given that Tony Blair said, when asked about the greatness of the United States , during his tenure as Britain's Prime Minister, that ( to paraphrase) as long as people were seeking to get in and not out, that fact clearly demonstrates the greatness of the United States. It is an honor that we are a magnet for the nations. Immigration makes our history unique and admirable and the management of the flow of people into our country who want to be here creates a complex system of procedures and laws. As with every bureaucracy, streamlining and allowing for common sense to rule the day can be a daunting task.

Since I work very closely with refugees and asylees here at Joseph House and here in Laconia, NH, I thought I would relate one story to give you a glimpse of the pitfalls of our system.

Guli is a Russian, Turkish immigrant, mother of three and wife to her husband of ten years. She worked at McDonald's in Manchester and transferred her job to move to Laconia where she lived with us at Joseph House for a year and a half before moving to Kentucky. I helped this family maintain their paperwork with the State Department. They came as political refugees, with legal status, so they had social security cards, first year immigrant visas as refugees and I-94 cards for the adults to work. Within one year they had to apply for permanent residency. The burden is on them to apply and it is very expensive, costing hundreds of dollars for each family member . They also had to pay back their airfare in a timely fashion that was borrowed for them to arrive in the USA. We filed all the necessary paperwork and their status was "pending". The INS has an online mechanism to check the status but they warned about a nine month waiting period. Meanwhile she had no Green Card documentation for her job, since her original I-94 card was expired. McDonald's waited and waited. She was warned about her situation from her manager at McD's but they were patient. If McDonald's were audited by some organization , she would have been classified as "undocumented" in her work status because she was not issued any paperwork in her pending status. I called on their behalf a number of times to be advised as to what to do, but had no satisfactory answer. She eventually got her status of permanent residency and the necessary Green Card about 1 and 1/4 years into the process.

This is why I am warning all my Law and Order friends, and I have many of them, that once again our Federal bureaucracy creates conditions that even the most earnest and diligent would find daunting. The visceral and xenophobic fear of new immigrants has also been a shadow over our centuries of immigration. Each new wave was considered vile and counter productive , even dangerous to our American way of life. I am looking to bring light and not more heat to this discussion. I have more to say but would like to pause and engage readers in some thoughtful discussion. After all that is what blogs are for, rather than mere bloviation. We get enough of that from the "talking heads" of info-tainment.

Doers of the Word

2009-04-13T13:48:00.004-04:00

James 1:22-27 But become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (23) For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man studying his natural face in a mirror. (24) For he studied himself and went his way, and immediately he forgot what he was like. (25) But whoever looks into the perfect Law of liberty and continues in it, he is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. This one shall be blessed in his doing. (26) If anyone thinks to be religious among you, yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is vain. (27) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Blessed Saints of the Living God, Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord

It is our hope that you and your families had a blessed Resurrection Day celebration. We are pleased to be offering our first E-News for Open Arms Outreach and Kairos Caribe, the name of our projects in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We are looking to accomplish several things here in our monthly communication:

We desire to edify believers of every level of maturity by offering devotional material for study and,
From that teaching we desire to stimulate action that is strategic, purposeful and fruitful for the Kingdom of God.
Assist you in carrying out the ministry God has called you to so that you are a “workman that needs not be ashamed.”
Coordinate with a vast company of saints who live missionally both here and abroad. We will bring all the news we can of our mission both here in NH and abroad.

Please feel free to circulate this newsletter amongst your family, friends and congregation and to anyone who might benefit.

Now let’s consider the quoted scripture from James for our instruction.

Listening and understanding are the first necessities of our walk with God. These are fixed firmly on the bedrock of our faith in Jesus. The disciples were immersed in teaching. But James warns us of the static and fruitless position we find ourselves in when we listen but fail to obey. Jesus himself emphasized this point in the parable of the house built on sand versus the one built on the rock. (Matt 7:24- 27) He closed the Sermon on the Mount with this final admonition to be doers of the word, and James here is driving the point home to us in very clear terms.

We all know of believers who soak up teaching week after week but seldom change within themselves and in the world they are a dim light and as tasteless salt. This blight is caused by little faith, slowness of heart and dullness of hearing. It is the virulent inattentiveness to the clear trumpet call to action and it affects many of us with torpor of vision, energy or resources to do the work of ministry.

What is the remedy, we ask? Preach harder, rebuke more stridently or should we look into the perfect law of liberty and continue in it!

This is an interesting spiritual phrase, choice words implicit with meaning. “Look” in the Greek is parakupto: to lean over, bend down, draw near and peer into. This gives us the picture of active and keen attention to the point of changing your body posture to a humbler, more interested and inquisitive search, actively looking into the matter, like an investigator looking for clues. The Western model of education requires thoughtful and critical analysis to absorb facts and develop cerebral skills. However we are to learn in every dimension of our faculties this new way of life. We love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! Disciples are doers, the world the classroom and active learning and actionable doing flow naturally. The clear sense we get from looking into this perfect law that liberates us is that we are on a journey, living a narrative that is recorded in heaven and we continue in an adventure that propels us forward with the promise of blessedness and fruitful endeavor.

Doing the word requires acts of omission and commission. Righteousness is about both refraining from evil, as in the restless tongue that can destroy our testimony and render our religion worthless, and about doing justice and loving mercy. At the close of the passage James sums up a description of pure religion that challenges all of us as to the reality of our religiosity. Yes, he states clearly that we should keep ourselves pure, but before that mentions the other dimension of mercy-doing that gives a holistic picture of piety. Here it is. To visit the orphans and widows in their affliction. Now, visit does not mean to pop in and check them out momentarily like a spiritual tourist. Neither does it mean to survey dispassionately and develop a program. The Greek word episképtomai means to inspect, examine carefully and relieve. It is close and personal, costly and engaged. It is with love and mercy and with the intention of strategically improving their circumstances.

This is my passion and compassion. We are actively learning how to care for the downtrodden. There are enough books on the subject to keep you learning about this for the rest of your life. But I am calling for “doers of the word” who will cast off their selfish agendas and follow the calling to wherever God might lead. Let us together “look into this perfect law of liberty” that liberates us from fear and worry and activates us to care for our neighbors in true Christian love. Let us carry the Great Commission and the Great Commandment to the nearest and furthest reaches of our world. And let us proceed with courage and joy, to His Glory, Amen!

The cure for your apathy is to take action, and may God grant you through godly sorrow the grace to follow through: REPENT- that is the first action to be taken!

If anyone desires prayer along this line seek out someone mature whom you trust to walk with you in your repentance. We would also love the opportunity to pray with you and walk with you in your pursuit of God. May God bless you richly as you follow after Him.

Peace and Blessings,

Ken Peters

Faith Expectant

2009-01-12T17:19:00.000-05:00

2008 -New Beginnings

2009-01-02T12:21:00.001-05:00

During this last year some amazing developments took place, all the more remarkable because this year 2008 will also be an historical marker for one of the darkest periods in US financial history.

The number eight in biblical numerology represents change and new beginnings. We began our work in the year 2000 in Pantoja, Santo Domingo, DR with a prophetic mandate to put stakes in the ground and build a long term and sustainable kingdom mission. We made our faith declarations and followed through with obedience. Laboring with our brothers and sisters in Santo Domingo, DR, the Ebenezer Clinic was begun, a 24/7 clinic serving the local population of more than 60,000 people with 14 doctors and two dentists. We brought down in excess of $500,000 USD worth of prescription and over the counter meds these last eight years. About a dozen teams from the US have brought good news in word and deed, not just proclaiming the gospel but living it in a powerful display of authentic Christianity. We have seen many saved, hundreds, and even thousands. We have taught in the churches, seen the sick healed, helped to strengthen the leadership and caught the attention of the municipal government.

But in this year, 2008 we have finished the process of obtaining land donated to us by the government worth about $160,000. This is the site where, by God's grace, we will build a world class orphanage and strengthen vulnerable families. We have also brought in this year alone $160,000 USD in medicines and equipment to the Ebenezer Clinic. Four teams have traveled to Pantoja this year. Last February we brought orphans off the street by renting a home which is the beginning of our orphan care. Visit www.oaoutreach.org to learn more. We are delighted beyond words at how this makes a difference in the lives of these youngsters. Pastor Paulino and his wife are living sacrificially raising five to eight children besides their own son Jefferson in this home. We have pledges now of $500 USD per month for their support with the expectation of increase.

In November, as our flights were delayed returning home and seeking the Lord in the purpose of that delay we came across a website Dr. Francisco showed us of the American Medical Resource Foundation. We have applied and have been accepted to receive refurbished medical equipment to be shipped in containers to the DR. Should our OAO board decide we will raise the handling fees of $25,000 and more to have a half million dollars of medical equipment installed in the Ebenezer Clinic.

With our international presence established legally in Santo Domingo we are also developing a relationship with churches who are asking to relate to us in a new pattern outside of the denominational mold. Our hope is to water these churches so that fruitful multiplication will occur throughout the DR, eventually Haiti and the Caribbean.

On the home front here in Laconia at Joseph House we have a ministry of hospitality to our new friends, refugees from Burundi, Central Africa, Kenya and Bhutan. We have received and given freely more than 100,000 lbs of fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese and bread to the poor of our community.

What a year! I thank God that his light brightens as the world around us darkens! Consider these scriptures from which we derive our mission. Let's meditate on these tremendous promises as we thank God for this wonderful year and eagerly await His promises to be fulfilled in this coming year of 2009.

(Isa 58:6) "Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds

of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the

oppressed go free And break every yoke?

(Isa 58:7) "Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring

the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to

cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

(Isa 58:8) "Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your

recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go

before you; The glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

(Isa 58:9) "Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; You will

cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' If you remove the yoke from your

midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

(Isa 58:10) And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the

desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And

your gloom will become like midday.

(Isa 58:11) "And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy

your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water

whose waters do not fail.

(Isa 58:12) "Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called

the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to

dwell.

Loving Jesus,

Ken Peters, Executive Director

Are We Friends?

2008-11-30T18:31:00.003-05:00

We want to link to our friends. If you read this blog or are a contributor in any way to Open Arms Outreach, please send us a request to include your web link or blog link in this page. Send your request with name, phone number, and link/URL to your site to:

Thanks, and God bless you.

West Side Story

2008-07-01T09:47:00.007-04:00

By Ken Peters

A classic and beautifully done musical, arguably one of the best ever made, was filmed in the early sixties of Latinos in New York’s West Side of Manhattan rivaling a Hell’s Kitchen gang for turf and respect. It was a cross cultural collision, overlaid with the theme of romantic love in the style of Romeo and Juliet’s bittersweet tragedy. As a musical and a story it embodied all the timeless elements of human struggle so common to mankind.

Recently I reflected, here we are working on the “west side” of Santo Domingo in a reverse cross cultural situation, this time with a Kingdom-Love overlay which burns through all the barriers to His glory, without tragedy- at least as far as relationships go. Thank you Jesus! The tragic piece is found in the extremes of poverty of poor Dominicans and alienated Haitians who are the poorest people in the Western hemisphere. The oppression of poverty and its twin “ignorance” are deeply tragic and we find ourselves in a “turf” war with the enemy of all souls- the Devil himself. Children made in the image of God twisted by disease, hunger and neglect, and instead of cool music and intense choreography there is only the hollow laughter of a cruel principality delighting in the ravages of his destruction.

On this August trip with a team from Cross Life Church in El Dorado, Arkansas we refreshed the saints in the churches, distributed medicines through the clinic, evangelized, and loved on the least of the Lord’s brethren. We found our friend, Junior, once again navigating in the mud without clothes from the waist down, crippled from polio. He is a seven year old boy and it seemed all heaven opened up for him as we prayed. We got him to his feet and walked him home to his shanty on the western edge of the Haitian town of Palmerejo. We arranged for him to begin therapy, gave his mom money for clothes and shoes, and the Pastor was given funds for his braces and doctor visits. Junior smiles as wide as the sky, his eyes are bright with delight at being loved and given attention. His mom, dad and grandmother are greatly relieved he will have a chance to be “upright” in every aspect of that word. Jesus is smiling! Being a disciple and making disciples is carried out only one way according to the scripture-with LOVE.

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Mat 6:33

DR Mission Schedule / Update

2008-06-27T09:22:00.002-04:00

Greetings all you Saints of God,

I hope you are blessed as we enter into the summer season. Life is very hectic here and intense. It seems whenever there are breakthroughs to advance the kingdom, the enemy responds with “pressure” and tactics to discourage. This is a necessary dynamic which God uses to prune and refine, and the enemy uses to rob, kill and destroy. We must choose to keep our eyes on the Lord and surrender to the process of His wise dealings. We choose to become better not bitter, to increase our faith which is proven in “fire”. My hope is that you are facing your daily struggles with the knowledge of His Presence in the midst of us.

So my prayer for us is the prayer of Paul:

Col 1:9-12 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (10) so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; (11) strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously (12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

Here are some updates for the Dominican Republic-

Adjusted trip dates for the upcoming short term mission trip. August 1^st- August 11^th, 2008

We currently have six to eight people interested or committed to this trip. We shifted the dates ahead a week to help some who had scheduling conflicts.

I believe there will be a particular anointing on this trip of watering by the Holy Spirit. This would mean prophetic ministry in the churches and small gatherings. This is a time of greater clarification of God’s purposes.

Ministry in the clinic and in the neighborhoods.

Groundbreaking in the natural and in the Spirit, sowing seed for future ministry and generally encouraging the saints.

We are soon purchasing airline tickets, and for those going who are local we will have our first meeting June 29^th, Sunday afternoon at 3pm at NCCC. If anyone wants to send supplies for the orphans we have limited space, and in some cases money is a better choice because we can buy things down there. Gifts of money can be sent to Open Arms Outreach directly or to NCCC. There are some orphans already sponsored (check out our website: www.oaoutreach.org) to find out more. The orphan home needs supplies like mattresses, cooking utensils, school supplies and other household items. Food is always an issue! We would like to buy some sacks of grain while we are there.

We are asking for your prayer cover and financial gifts at this time. Consider if this is not your trip, helping someone on our team with the cost of travel- $1100 in total. And stay in love with Jesus. Praise Him for all your circumstances!

Any questions call or write back. I’d love to hear from you. You folks are precious to both Michele and I and we thank you so much for your heart of concern and love.

In His Eternal Service,

Ken Peters

Shelter from the Storm

2008-05-22T19:32:00.003-04:00

November’s DR Mission Report
Isa 61:11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.

The Scriptures of Isaiah 61 begin with the stated mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ as He quoted it in the Gospel of Luke. His target audience- the poor and afflicted. But this is no mere sentimentality towards the downtrodden. It crescendo’s into a full blown promise of a righteousness that transforms the nations. It supersedes all political paradigms and gets to the heart of the promise- transformation of the individual and society to the glory of God. We live in an exciting time of great opportunity for those willing to press into the heart of tragedy and face the utter devastation that is present in this world due to sin since Adam’s fall.

On this November’s trip we became a Rapid Response Disaster Team as God equipped us with more medicine than we needed to bring relief after Tropical Storm Noel dumped up to twenty inches of rain in the Dominican Republic. Torrential rivers wiped out neighborhoods and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Rivers rose 30 feet high and surpassed the floodplains just days before we arrived. It was providential that we received a bounty of medicines (over 500 lbs. worth $40,000) and also that our trip was postponed a week. Had we gone on our initial schedule we would have been in the storm unable to help. God is amazing!

We saw about two hundred (mostly children) come to Christ on our medical evangelism outreaches, and we saw a profound healing of an elderly woman with cancer. As a result of her healing three members of her household also came to Christ in awe of the power of God and with repentance of heart. All glory to God, Hallelujah!

Also, the municipality granted approval for our orphanage project and gave us a governmental Resolution to partner with us to help orphans and single mothers who live in life threatening poverty. An architect has been retained to develop the site plan. We expect to begin site preparation in the spring of 2008.

Please pray and see if the Lord will release you to help as a short term missionary.

Any questions, please call Ken Peters 603-520-1413

May God continue to shine His face upon you,

Ken

Photos

2008-03-19T08:16:00.000-04:00

Some of you already have this link to Open Arms photo gallery on Picasaweb. We have just updated photos on the children’s home including our first pictures of orphans we are now taking care of. This is very exciting to us as God is moving this project along rapidly. Follow the link below and bookmark it to see from time to time the development of things in the DR. Please pray for us and pray how you might be involved. Feel free to view any of the albums in this gallery.

Photo link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/oaoutrea/OrphanageArchitecturalDrawingsAndMore

Blessings,

Ken Peters

Fire in Palmarejo takes 48 homes, displaces 137 families

2008-03-18T18:09:00.000-04:00

DR News Update February 29, 2008- Palmarejo, Santo Domingo

Greetings Saints:

The scripture teaches us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, and sometimes we are jolted from a place of joy to sorrow suddenly. I have a prayer request and a praise report, and I believe the tragedy I will share with you indeed has a silver lining.

One of the most contested areas of spiritual ground I have ever visited as a missionary is the Haitian town of Palmarejo in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We have seen God move powerfully there in this town of two thousand with no church, teen prostitution, drunkenness, HIV, malaria and oppressive squalor steeped in spiritism, namely a virulent form of voodoo called by the locals “echiseria”. We have witnessed to the witch doctors and although they serve Satan, have conceded our God is more powerful than theirs. We have prayed for this town and now three new churches have been added in the past seven years. Pastor Victor has more than 25 people who travel to Pantoja each week from this village to his church. Hundreds have been saved, outreach medical clinics have been held, and we have many friends in this village. One old woman who is 104 years old remembers when the infamous dictator Trujillo was first in power in the 1930’s. Our friend Yunior who is seven years old and stricken with polio lives on the very edge of this town where in the year 2000 we first put stakes around Pantoja declaring this ground for the Kingdom of God.

On February 29^th, 2008 a boy ran from his home after a candle caught fire, yelling to his neighbors. In this squatters’ village of shanty homes of wood and rusty zinc roofs, this fire swept through and destroyed 48 homes displacing 137 families in an afternoon. The fire truck, when it arrived had no water and as it pumped water from a local cistern the fire raged from house to house. The fire left complete destruction in its path. We thank God in His mercy that there were no fatalities and the only injuries were to neighbors trying to beat down the fire as it spread.

I heard this news just the other day, after also consoling Dr. Francisco and Pastor Victor on the passing into glory of Papa Lebron, Francisco’s father, Antonia’s husband. We also just had two funerals here in our church at New Covenant in Laconia NH. Many years ago the Lord gave me this proverb, “Sorrow carves into our hearts a greater capacity for joy”. It was said of Jesus, “He learned obedience through the things He suffered.” Also, “He endured the cross because of the joy set before Him.”

It is true that we, who love our neighbor with purpose, open our hearts to a great deal of grief! And our sadness is in keeping with the deep consolation that love brings. But! We are enduring in this fallen world the effects of sin that one day will be brought to nothing! One day we will live in mansions that cannot burn and our treasure will be in the very Presence of God where moth and rust cannot corrupt. One day our hope will be realized as sickness and death are not outcomes any longer. Redemption in all its glory will catch us up into the fulfilled promises of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!!! It is against this great backdrop of Christ within, the hope of Glory that we persevere with great energy and purpose, undaunted by the grind of disappointment and the setbacks of tragedy.

As to our dear friends in Palmarejo, let’s for the moment simply pray with gratefulness that all that burned was that which is perishable. Let’s pray that this will bring a deeper awareness of God’s presence in their midst, and that saints from the four corners of the world and nearby neighbors will pour out in compassion to this precious, impoverished people.

In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
Ken Peters

PS--- Please pass this on to your prayer teams!