Monthly Ministry Updates
April 2021TOUGH TIMES, BUT GOD IS GOOD!
When we first made the commitment to support Jehovah Rapha House, our special needs orphanage in Haiti, a businessman/investor committed to help us by sending us $2,000 per month. What a miracle it was at the time. He even sent enough to pay the rent for an entire year for JRH. Suddenly last year he stopped. A few months later we learned he had been indicted on charges of organizing a Ponzi scheme. Then the unbelievable happened. We were served legal papers demanding we pay back every dollar we received within 21 days. After seeking legal counsel we discovered that this was indeed very serious and that the law does not protect an innocent receiver. We negotiated a settlement from $72,000 down to $50,000. OUCH!!! You can imagine what this has done to us financially.
Gideon, in Judges 7, also found himself in a very scary position. God had diminished his army from thousands to a mere 300. Gideon handed the 300 men trumpets (I like that part) and they blew them and shouted “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon.” They won the battle over thousands in the enemy camp. But God had put Gideon’s army in such an impossible position so that in victory God received all the glory! In some ways I feel we are in a similar position. In the months ahead we must make our final payment toward the purchase of Our House of Hope in Haiti, continue to feed over 600 orphans and widows and now pay back the $50,000 which was spent long ago on the children at Jehovah Rapha House. Here is what we know: God has this! Just as He provided the victory to Gideon, He will give us victory over a situation we could not have anticipated or controlled. Yes, we are praying for a miracle. God is faithful. We know we can trust Him in tough times, not just when things are going well. And God will get the glory!!! Thank you to all of you who are standing with us, and for being a part of our ongoing miracles! MATCHING GIFT MATCHED!!!
PRAISE THE LORD! We had 2 donors asking you to match their gifts that totaled $12,000. We are thrilled to report that $12,869.32 was donated for our final payment for Our House of Hope in Haiti. We are especially thrilled to report that we are now $24,869.32 closer to our goal thanks to your generous gifts. Thank you!!! God be praised!!!
March 2021FAITH OF ABRAHAM:
About 24 years ago, I remember praying: “Lord, please give me the faith of Abraham.” What was I thinking! The next thing I knew I was leaving my job and Kathy and I were moving from Illinois to Wisconsin not knowing exactly how or where God would lead us in ministry. Abraham was told to “Go to the land that I will show you.” He went and God blessed! I often wonder what his wife and family thought about that move. I am so grateful to have a wife that was and is willing to “go” with me. We have seen God work in ways that we could never have imagined. In many ways, it seems like our journey has just begun. Now, as our Lord directs us from Wisconsin to Virginia we look forward to seeing God’s continued blessing with new opportunities to serve him. We will still return to Wisconsin several months each year but the home base will soon be Virginia. Would you please pray for us as we pack up and prepare for a move in May? Pray for us as the stress of building a home at times seems overwhelming. We know we are not doing this alone, and we are grateful for the encouraging words from you, our friends! MISSION TRIP:
Our “Faith In Action” team is recruiting volunteers for a mission trip to Virginia. Yes, this time the benefactors of this special team will be Don and Kathy Shire. May 6-15 the team will put the finishing touches on our home and the new office for DSM International. For anyone interested, please write Mark Jeske at info@fiamissions.com for details.
February 2021
January 2021
"Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced." - 1 Chronicles 16:11-12 (NIV)
Ellianna (bottom right) was our Christmas Eve blessing at Jehovah Rapha House in Haiti. Deborah (bottom left) was our New Year’s Eve gift. Our Lord continues to bless us with children. If you would like to know and pray for a specific child, please visit our Haiti Sponsorship page under the Sponsorships tab and sign up to sponsor one of our children. 100% goes to Haiti.
Last month we hosted two mission teams at Our House of Hope in Haiti, and two more teams are scheduled for this month. We are so thankful that mission teams are beginning to come back to Haiti! It is a huge blessing to Haiti and to DSM International when you choose to stay with us at Our House of Hope. Our newest ministry, “Venture”, began this month as interns arrived in Haiti to begin an intensive time of discipleship and missionary outreach. In India our widows and orphans remain COVID-19 free! Thank you for your prayers! Most of our children in India continue to study online. Thank you to those that donated so we could purchase a computer and video projector for their online classes. We also started construction of a church in a remote tribal community. Last month we were promised $20,000 in matching gifts as a challenge to raise funds towards the final payment for Our House of Hope. You responded and your $20,000 became $40,000. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! WOW!!! (I’m so glad you can’t see me doing my “happy dance”!) Let’s fasten our seatbelts! God was faithful at every turn in 2020, and we can’t wait to serve Him as His plan for 2021 unfolds! December 2020
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INDIA/HAITI COVID UPDATE:
As we go into September, we are thrilled to report that although COVID-19 surrounds our ministries in India and Haiti, not one of them has been infected. Thank you for your prayers and please continue. Children in both countries will soon move from studying at home to physically attending school. Please pray for their protection against COVID-19 as bringing it home to the widows and to the special needs children could be serious. |
ONE YEAR AGO a terrible storm wreaked havoc on our home in Wisconsin. Hundreds of trees came down in our neighborhood, there was no electricity for days and damage was extensive. As we worked to clean up the mess, we thanked God for His protection, and trusted Him to provide what was needed. God was faithful! The storm is now a distant memory. This year there seems to be a different kind of storm wreaking havoc around us. We will not be afraid! We remain focused on loving the Lord and trust His perfect plan to unfold as we serve Him.
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COUNTDOWN TO SEPTEMBER PAYMENT: Despite difficult times, we are pleased to say that God is providing toward our next payment for the purchase of Our House of Hope. We still need an additional $75,000 by September. After that we have only one more payment!!! Praise God for what He has provided! Thank you to all who have helped us get this far!!
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BLESSED IN SO MANY WAYS!
Our House of Hope DSM Haiti Ministry Center and Jehovah Rapha House were blessed in January by a visit from Mission Bible Church in Minooka, IL. They were led by our awesome DSM Haiti Director, Julie McFadden. One of their many accomplishments was to build an outdoor kitchen at JRH. This keeps the heat outside as our cooks prepare meals for our JRH family. Michael and Reese Spencer (our full time hosts at Our House of Hope) hosted the team and did an outstanding job! We still have some weeks available in 2020 if your church would like to take a mission trip to Haiti. We can help you plan your trip or simply host your team. Write Julie at haiti@dsminternational.org to ask about available weeks. |
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR TEAM IN HAITI
A team of 30 from Mission Bible Church in Minooka, IL, led by Julie McFadden, is serving in Haiti until January 10. They will serve at local orphanages and clinics and at our Jehovah Rapha House. They will meet our newest child, Alexis who was brought to us by Haiti social welfare. Notice the clean sheets, nice outfit and diaper? Those were not available before we adopted this orphanage. Thank you so much for helping us to care them! |
NEW CHILDREN AT JEHOVAH RAPHA HOUSE
Bianca (top) was born without eyes, with a cleft pallet, and a small brain. Philsma (bottom) was born with hydrocephalus. Both were abandoned by their parents at the hospital. The hospital tried several orphanages, trying to find them a home. All refused. We took them. They deserve to be held and loved. Both are responding well to their new home. Please pray for our caregivers as these little girls require a lot of special care. |
INDIA: Sumulamma, one of our widows, died in July from severe burns when her clothes caught fire near an outdoor cooking fire. She was 85. She is now with the Lord! Thank you for making it possible for us to show her the way to eternity with Christ!
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WOW!! Our neighbors, Silver Birch Ranch, had about 400 young people on its grounds during the storm. Hundreds of trees were uprooted. Praise God! They were well prepared and had no injuries. If you are familiar with their ministry please pray for them and possibly send a special gift to help them through this difficult time of cleanup and repair. www.silverbirchranch.org
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Do you remember Pastor Bendji? He was the child at our Faith in Action House in Haiti that prayed for all of us when we spent time at the orphanage. His grandfather now has employment and came for Bendji and his siblings, Chinailove and Job . We cried many tears to see them go but at the same time we are very happy they will be with their loving grandfather.
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This girl, Deepika, is one of our orphans. She lives with her grandmother. She has scoliosis and is severely disabled. Doctors tell us that with surgery there is a possibility to correct the paralysis so she can sit on her own and even use the toilet which she currently cannot do. Her grandma is overwhelmed. The surgery will cost $13,000. We will help as God provides.
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“Dear Don Tataya (Grandfather Don) Thank you so much for your prayers. Today my 10th grade results were released. I found that I got first in class. I was so happy. My pastor Dad and family are so much happy. I cried with happiness because of you Don Tataya. Because of you now I am having this life and family. I am thankful ever. And also I want to go further studies. Thank you for prayers.
Your son, K. Suresh”
ROATAN: Last month, Don took a team of 12 to Roatan, Honduras where they focused on building walls, running electric wires, and spending quality time with the children at the “Greenfield Home for Children” run by Sandy Bay Lighthouse Ministries where Don Shire is president of the board. We had a great week and fell in love with the children. More info can be found at their website: www.sblmroatan.net
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I feel frustrated,” president and CEO Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado told CT.
That’s because Compassion has worked every angle to try to stay open in India since last February, when India’s Ministry of Home Affairs put it on a list of organizations needing prior approval before transferring funds into the country. Then the government refused to grant such approval.
The government’s move can be traced back to 2011, when it changed its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act so that it could regulate NGOs it disagrees with philosophically, Mellado said. The move was seen by many as another step toward Hindu nationalism since 2014. India is now No. 15 on Open Doors’ list of countries where it’s hardest to be a Christian, up from No. 31 in 2013.
Compassion channels about $45 million into the country every year, more than any other charity.
Almost 40 percent of the local Indian churches that Compassion partnered with are still working with the children, albeit without the financial support.
“The local church is not going away,” he said. “They were there before us; they’ll be there after us.”
After all, this isn’t the first time Compassion has been forced to leave a country. In 1985, after 17 years serving children in Indonesia, Compassion pulled out “in order to maintain its commitment to financial integrity.” But by 1988 it was back, and “some of the children in the programs were pastors of the churches that helped bring us back,” Mellado said.
My husband Matt and I live near New Holstein, WI where we raised our two sons. I first heard of Don Shire Ministries when Don played a concert at our church, but the most significant "contact" came through a woman who attends our church. She asked if we would be willing to financially sponsor an Indian orphan so the child could be adopted by a Christian pastor. We agreed to sponsor two boys feeling this was how God wanted us to use His money and excited to be able to make a difference.
The sponsorship program was fairly new and I felt led to contact Don to offer to help coordinate this sponsorship program in some way-if he needed help. His reply was that he really needed help coordinating mission trips and the rest is history! I will only add that it is very fulfilling to be involved in work that is so clearly God's work. It is a joy to partner with Him.
Current Needs and Prayer Requests:
· We desire to provide a Christmas present for each orphan and widow in our care. Please consider a gift to our Christmas fund. · We are now scheduling concerts for Don in 2017. Is your church or group interested? Write concerts@donshire.com. Ruth is waiting to hear from you! · Continue to pray for Hema, our girl with leukemia in India. · We are still looking for property in Haiti to build a new orphanage. Please pray for God’s leading. |
![]() Colton is back in Haiti for a few months. Please pray for him as he is leading a church Bible study and counseling. He is also making plans for teams that will be visiting in the months to come. They will be building homes for widows.
Colton put together a very nice video report on the earth-block business we helped to launch while in Zambia. The business will help to support the Zambia national AWANA program. Here is a link if you would like to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMdi-wzWeU |
Crystal DeLong
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I moved back to Virginia in 2012 after serving overseas for six years. Teaching in Turkey and Morocco had forever changed me and a passion for missions was still there when Don visited our church, Trinity Baptist, early in the spring of 2013. I had been looking for ways to serve now that I was back in the states. Don had visited our church several times before, but this time he mentioned a specific need; someone to send out his newsletter electronically. I knew this was a way that I could help serve. I love how God answered both of our prayers; God is good!
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*NEW* Ministry addressBeginning Oct. 2020, DSM International will have a new mailing address. Please send contributions to the following address:
DSM INTERNATIONAL P.O. Box 826 Bedford, VA 24523 As we begin to phase out our White Lake address, both addresses will remain valid for approximately one more year. |
Phone715.484.2017
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