KERRVILLE, Texas, /Christian Newswire/ — This summer, Laity Lodge Youth Camp (LLYC) will reach the largest number of campers in its 44-year history. Of the 1700 total campers anticipated this summer, 400 campers will hear the message of Jesus in their own French Creole language 1,788 miles away at Jacob’s Well Youth Camp near Limbe, [...]]]> KERRVILLE, Texas, /Christian Newswire/ — This summer, Laity Lodge Youth Camp (LLYC) will reach the largest number of campers in its 44-year history. Of the 1700 total campers anticipated this summer, 400 campers will hear the message of Jesus in their own French Creole language 1,788 miles away at Jacob’s Well Youth Camp near Limbe, Haiti, from July 4-10. Through a program named Outbound Haiti, this will be the first time LLYC is venturing beyond the borders of the United States to share the great news about God’s extravagant love.

Outbound is a program of LLYC created for older youth campers and designed to reach destinations, cultures, and experiences beyond Texas’ Frio Canyon, the LLYC home base. This summer, 24 high school campers and 13 staff will extend themselves as servant leaders to a remote village of children and teenagers in a beautiful mountain region of northern Haiti.

Ironically, this trip to Haiti has been in the developmental stages for two years, but January’s earthquake only served to hasten LLYC’s desire to minister to this country. For the past 10 years, LLYC has hosted a steady stream of Haitian campers on the H.E. Butt Foundation camp property near Leakey, Texas. Over those years, the organization developed strong relationships with families from Port-au-Prince. Two years ago, Gersan Valcin, a Port-au-Prince pastor, shared his vision for the development of the camp named Jacob’s Well with Kevin Mayne, LLYC Executive Director.

“The LLYC mission in Haiti this summer is grand and adventurous and includes facilitating a four-day camp complete with activities, arts and crafts, worship, food, and a presentation of several powerful stories from the Gospels,” explains Mayne. “Four hundred children are expected to descend on the lush, tropical 40 acres of Jacob’s Well eager to play, make new friends, and escape the routine. Our hope is that they will be fed in multiple ways, both physically and spiritually, and that they may walk away from camp renewed, just like the campers back home in the Frio Canyon.”

While on site in Haiti, the LLYC team also will participate in a variety of work projects such as the completion of a kitchen facility, the planting of mango trees for future harvesting, and the building of a camp entrance that would identify it as a sacred place. In April, Mayne and Angela Aadahl, LLYC Associate Director, visited Jacob’s Well and in their words, “were filled with awe at what God is already doing there among the people in the local village.” Mayne went on to say that Jacob’s Well has the potential to be a place like Laity Lodge Youth Camp where lives are changed, people are renewed, and families are strengthened, and to contribute to the country’s restoration from poverty and devastation. “As we toured the country, we realized truly that Jacob’s Well was the greatest source of hope for a country that now has over a million orphaned children,” he concluded. (View a video of their trip at www.llyc.org/year-round-event.)

Mayne hopes this mission is the first of many at Jacob’s Well for LLYC. It is the only place of its kind in Haiti. Individuals interested in learning more or financially supporting this dynamic Outbound Haiti project may contact Kevin Mayne at 830-792-1226 or Perri Rosheger at 830-792-1204 or visit the website www.LLYC.org.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. /Christian Newswire/ — Proving that space flight is not the highest calling for a pilot, astronaut Patrick Forrester is taking a bit of missionary history onboard space shuttle “Discovery,” which is scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Aug. 25. The aim of [...]]]>

Astronaut Patrick Forrester

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. /Christian Newswire/ — Proving that space flight is not the highest calling for a pilot, astronaut Patrick Forrester is taking a bit of missionary history onboard space shuttle “Discovery,” which is scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in the early morning hours of Aug. 25. The aim of the two-week orbital mission is to equip the International Space Station.

The item comes from martyred missionary pilot Nate Saint’s Piper PA-14, which is on display at the headquarters of MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) in Nampa, Idaho. Saint and four other missionaries were martyred on a sandbar in Ecuador on Jan. 8, 1956, by a tribe of Waodani Indians.

The incident sparked international news coverage and renewed interest in missionary service. Several of the tribesmen that killed Saint and the others were later converted to Christianity by relatives of the slain missionaries.

“Bringing attention to and renewing interest in missions would be a great result of this experience,” said Forrester, who was born in El Paso, Texas, the year after the martyrdoms. “My deepest intent is to honor Nate Saint, the Saint family and all missionaries around the world.”

The piece is from the Piper’s battery box and has received approval for the flight from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after conforming to strict size and weight restrictions.

Forrester, who will be making his third shuttle flight, has logged more than 4,500 hours in more than 50 different aircraft and has been with NASA 16 years. In addition to his time at NASA, he spent over 26 years as an Army aviator. Yet his dream has been to assist with the high calling of missionary aviation.

“I’ve always had a heart for missions,” Forrester said. “When I visualize what I might do after I end my career at NASA, always in the back of my mind is going into the mission field in some way. If I could go tomorrow and be a pilot with an organization like MAF, I think that’s what I’d do.”

Whether you are an astronaut, a missionary or something else, Forrester has a simple approach to discovering what career journey you should take. “There are so many needs out there,” Forrester said. “People need to figure out where their passion and their talents intersect with God’s plan for the world.”

Forrester heard about Saint and the other four missionary martyrs while attending a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. “He told the story of the missionaries who had gone down and had lost their lives,” Forrester recalled. “That story just fascinated me, and through that I heard of the book ‘Through the Gates of Splendor.’ That’s when I really first understood about MAF.”

Forrester asked MAF to provide a part of Saint’s plane for the shuttle mission. When the mission is completed, Forrester will return the piece to MAF, providing a certificate confirming its presence on the space flight. MAF plans to display the battery box part and certificate at its headquarters. Forrester noted that Saint “could have never imagined that we would have the opportunity to take it to a space station.”

As for himself, Forrester sees missions in his career flight plan. “We are all called to serve God in some manner,” Forrester said. “I have had the opportunity to participate in several short-term mission trips to Uganda, Canada, Puerto Rico and South Africa. Each time I have developed a heart for the people we served. I believe my wife and I will continue to serve in the mission field for the rest of our lives – whether it is at home or overseas, short-term or full-time.”

Founded in the U.S. in 1945, MAF (www.maf.org) missionary teams of aviation, communications, technology and education specialists overcome barriers in remote areas, transform lives and build God’s Kingdom by enabling the work of more than 1,000 organizations in isolated areas of the world. With its fleet of 130 bush aircraft, MAF serves in 55 countries, with an average of 242 flights daily across Africa, Asia, Eurasia and Latin America. MAF pilots transport missionaries, medical personnel, medicines and relief supplies, as well as conduct thousands of emergency medical evacuations in remote areas. MAF also provides telecommunications services, such as satellite Internet access, high frequency radios, electronic mail and other wireless systems.

Faith Comes By Hearing, the world’s foremost Audio Bible ministry, was called upon by the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) to provide the Audio Bibles for the Texas Hope 2010 campaign. Texas Hope 2010 [...]]]> ALBUQUERQUE, NM /Christian Newswire/ — Sharing the Christian message with every Texas home by Easter–that’s the goal of one statewide outreach.

Faith Comes By Hearing, the world’s foremost Audio Bible ministry, was called upon by the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) to provide the Audio Bibles for the Texas Hope 2010 campaign. Texas Hope 2010 is a BGCT outreach to more than 8.8 million homes in Texas.

Recently, Faith Comes By Hearing shipped more than 250,000 Audio Bibles to the El Paso Baptist Association for area households. El Paso is serving as the pilot community for this statewide outreach.

“The Audio Bibles are in a word-for-word, dramatized format–complete with sound effects and music,” said Troy Carl, Faith Comes By Hearing’s national director. “These Audio Bibles are easy to listen to and people can listen to the Bible while getting ready for their day, while driving to work or while doing household chores.”

“We want to give everyone the opportunity to hear the Bible in their own language.” said Carl. “And with more than 200 languages spoken in Texas, we are providing the Audio Bible in more than 350 languages to the BGCT for their outreach.”

Faith Comes By Hearing records and uses heart- language Audio Bibles to bring His church together and make disciples from every nation, tribe, language and people.

All in all, Faith Comes By Hearing, a non-sectarian, Christian non-profit, has worked with many denominations and organizations on Bible listening projects. In just the last two years, more than 11,000 churches across the country have conducted Bible listening projects using Faith Comes By Hearing Audio Bibles.

Faith Comes By Hearing’s mission is to record the New Testament in 2,000 languages and to implement two million Bible listening groups by 2016 to reach the 50% of the world who cannot read and are poor. Currently, the ministry now has 442 Audio Scripture recordings in 377 languages.

To learn more about Faith Comes By Hearing or download your own free Audio Bible visit www.FaithComesByHearing.com.