FMI - News

Fulness Ministries
International

Home

About FMI

News

Education

Donate

You Can Help

News & Events

2007 - KOTEY ROOF NOW FINISHED! - W AFRICA
For a number of years FMI has been working toward providing a home for Pastor Ben Kotey, his wife, Beatrice, and their children. While the slab and exterior walls had been finished for a couple of years, construction could not move forward without sufficient funds to finish the next step – the roof. We are thrilled to tell you that the roof is now finished! The following is a nessage from Ben which arrived along with the pictures.

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to you for all the love and support you have manifested towards me, my family and Global Touch Ministries. Attached are pictures of the roof of my house under construction. This house, when completed by the grace of God, will be a home for me and my family. I would please like you to know that I am so thankful and I will forever be grateful to the Lord , to you and all who have given in support of this building." - Ben Kotey

2007 - VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL- W AFRICA
The March 2007 mission trip was a tremendous success. This year, volunteers from Florida , conducted a vacation bible school. The event was hosted by Pastor Ben and Beatrice Kotey of the Beautiful Gate Centre in Accra, West Africa . Between 70 and 120 children attended each session for five evenings. Each evening they enjoyed a bible lesson. The children learned songs and memory verses, made crafts, watched puppet shows and played games. Many were from the surrounding neighborhood. Some were homeless children from the streets. The team distributed over 400 pounds of clothing, games and crafts.

One of the most exciting results of this outreach is that five homeless young girls between the age of 8 and 12 who had been living on the streets and surviving through prostitution attended the VBS and have now become residents of Beautiful Gate Centre. There they will be housed, clothed, fed, receive medical attention, and be able to live a healthy lifestyle in a Christ centered environment through the support of FMI contributors like you.

2007 MEDICAL MISSIONS – W AFRICA
In addition to the VBS, approximately 30 volunteers from Alabama, Florida, New York, Maine and Canada participated in what was the largest medical outreach team in FMI’s history. One team, headed by Dr. Charlotte Paolini from Maine, traveled to Benin, W. Africa where they treated 100 children during a five day medical clinic at an orphanage outside Cotonou. From there, they returned to Accra, where they joined a team headed by Dr. Nate Ross of Alabama along with several nurses and a large group of volunteers. During this second week, the combined teams provided medical treatment to approximately 1300 homeless and under-privileged in Accra and several of the outlying villages. Dr. Ron Braswell of Alabama screened over 200 patients for eye disease, gave out 400 pairs of glasses, performed ten eye surgeries, and provided free consultations and training to the local ophthalmologist's clinic. Articles of donated clothing were given to each patient, as well as toys for the children.

2007- Work at Beautiful Gate-Ghana, W Africa
Harold Kendel worked with a team of boys from Beautiful Gate to clear property on the future building site, hung ceiling fans at the Beautiful Gate Centre and built tables for the children’s use for meals and homework.

2007 Pastor’s and Prophet’s Conference – W Africa
Dr. Jimmy Brookins, Dr. Bart Brookins and Rev. Don LeMaster conducted a four day Pastor's and Prophets conference. The conference was attended by seventy-five local pastors and culminated with the ordination of 30 new pastors.

2007 Marriage Seminar, W Africa
Dr. Bart Brookins and Cheryl Ross conducted an evening marriage seminar at one of the areas largest churches which was well attended.

ROOF UNDERWAY ON PASTOR KOTEY’S FUTURE HOME
One of the visions of FMI is to complete a home for Pastor Ben and Beatrice Kotey that is separate from the Beautiful Gate compound in Accra where they minister. The Koteys have made many personal sacrafices over the last 15 years in order to fulfill God's call on them to minister to the "street children". For six years they lived with their own small children in a 10'x10' corner of a relative's compound so that they could go to the streets. They currently reside with their own children and approximately thirty others at Beautiful Gate where they take in and minister to street kids. We are excited to report that although their new home has been a work in progress for several years now, this year the roof trusses have been added.

You too can be involved in this ministry! Pray for Ben and Beatrice Kotey, consider joining FMI's short-term missions in the future, and commit to give each month to the Beautiful Gate Centre in Accra . (Click on the "Donate" link for more information about becoming a Beautiful Gate sponsor.)

A THANK YOU FROM THE ROMAN FAMILY
Jaime and Lucia Roman with their two sons, Juan David and Andres Felipe, sought safety in the U.S. after being kidnapped in their home country of Colombia. Their remarkable story is a testimony of God’s protection and provision. Here is a note from the Roman family to the members of Riverside Christian Fellowship. They are happy to announce that they have received their Green Cards and are anxious to express their gratitude to their brothers and sisters at RCF.

"OUR GOD IS GOOD – ALL THE TIME !
March 12, 2002 was a date to start a new life. A new Country. Leaving the former place of residence in Colombia. Leaving a church, leaving a history of more than 15 years in the ministry, to face the unknown. Starting to speak a new language for the family. New habits, new laws, new perspective of things. Different culture. Paying the price of the unknown is not an easy step to follow and only with and through Jesus, all things are possible. He has all the resources, and He placed us with special people, friends and family in Christ. For us, as a family and individually, Riverside Christian Fellowship was the friends, the family and the special place. Since our first day in the U.S., we have experienced and witnessed an unending stream of blessings from each and every one of the brothers in Christ at RCF: letters to present to the U.S. government for the visa requirements, a car to survive, the furniture for the place to live, a covering for visa requirements, photocopies, food, shelter, a place to arrive, wise counsel, books, luggage to travel, financial help, arms for moving, and the support of the RCF prayer group every Tuesday (the list goes on and on). The Green Card came as a real answer to the prayers on Tuesday nights at Riverside. Praise God for His answers!

But in addition to that, the real issue is the expression of the greatest commandment of all, the meaning of what a real church in Christ is and should be, as RCF really is. “Love the Lord thy God and thy neighbor as thyself”, this is what we have experienced- the measure of the stature of Christ- the love we received. Thank you family of Riverside. Thank you Pastors Jimmy and Brian Brookins. Thank God for your lives and your obedience to His calling to establish a church in North Lauderdale that is a real light and a blessing to so many immigrants, like us, that come to the U.S."

Jaime, Lucia, Juan David and Andres Felipe Roman

November 2, 2005 Coral Springs, Florida USA

HAITI UPDATE
          Greetings to you who have been standing alongside Life Changing Ministries of Haiti even when things do not appear to be promising in Haiti. I really want to thank you for helping us to reach the level we are at now. I sincerely feel in my spirit that a spiritual move is about to take place in Haiti anytime. I think that I see a sprinkling of hope in the darkness. A few months ago, I felt led to concentrate on a few churches in order to build them strong so they can stand in the gap, to really stand for Jesus. Since then, I have started to train leaders from 3 different churches. I am still in relationship and giving support to the old churches that we supported in the past, but I am focusing on developing 3 churches from which their pastors are willing to take the next step. Praise God! These churches are moving forward, and people are being added to them. Great things are happening. One of these churches, led by lay pastor Elicien Alcena, is only 7 months old and is growing extremely fast with 700 members already! We are praying for finances to build this church. We presently need 500 metal folding chairs, used or new, since the people are sitting on the floor. The second church is about 2 years old and is running 250 members and it too is growing very fast. The pastor’s name is Garry Alcine; he is a trained pastor. The third church, which is about 11 years old, is running 100 members and is finally moving forward. The pastor’s name is Eliance Bastien. Please, pray for these pastors and churches so they can intercept a solid Christian concept in order to be the models for the other churches.
          The second week of July I went to Haiti with a dual purpose:
                   1)      To take care of personal business.
                   2)      To train church leaders.
           Thanks to Pastor Brian from Riverside Christian Fellowship who provided me with a book on small groups, I was able to train and certify 118 small group leaders. I am telling you this material is anointed. People are blessed and changed. It’s been a life changing experience for both the church leaders and me. The teaching brought into the churches a dynamic that changed their Christian perception for good. Many times, we stopped the session to pray for C.J. MAHANEY, the author of the book.
          Another blessing that I received from that trip was to participate in a local mission trip with a group of 18 other Haitians to a remote place up in the mountains called Grosse Roche. It took 7 hours one way: 4 hours driving and 3 hours walking. I saw with my own eyes on that mountain extreme poverty, malnutrition, demonic influence, etc. We had to stay in a person’s yard. We evangelized during the daytime and did open services in the evenings. Forty people came to know the Lord as their personal savior. A great number of slid back Christians came back to the Lord. Some existing Christians were confused about where their security really is-- in Jesus or in the demons. Most of them would have a piece of cactus on the top of their roof in order to prevent demons to visit them at night. We had to minister to them. Only about 10% of the children go to school. I had 4 children handed out to me to take to the Hope Center in order to care for them. However, I could only accept one because of finances. Her name is Nadida Montrevil. She is 7 years old and presently at the Hope Center getting ready to start school. At the Hope Center, things are moving forward. Children are growing fast, and they are getting ready for school. The other half of the house is being filled, which is a blessing.
          Please continue to pray for the ministry. Please pray while I am going to interview two couples in order to find one to replace Pastor and Mrs. Joseph Augustin, who need more time for their church.
          May the blessings of the Lord rain upon you.