February Newsletter

Raven Outreach Ministries
P.O. Box 113196
Metairie, LA 70011
(504) 304-6535 office
(504) 202-0939 cellular
http://www.biggrace.com/



February 2006 Newsletter: These are awesome times to be serving Jesus!


Dear Friends, Family, Brothers & Sisters in Christ---


It is just not fare! How is it that things could be this way. Surely not everyone's situation is like mine, so how is it that I am the one finding himself in these circumstances?

Before you get excited--this is not a BAD THING! :) I am EXCITED at the opportunities that the Lord Jesus has provided for us in the past five months to share His glorious Gospel with so many lost and hurting people! Tragedy? Try triumph! In the midst of the MADNESS there is a MESSAGE! The message is that Jesus is alive and He sits on a throne in GLORY and He's not about to scoot over for anything...or anyone!

Someone asked me recently, "So, how are things really going in New Orleans?" (I guess half way expecting me to offer up some sob story about how difficult our plight has been.) Instead I offered them the words of Jesus in His message to John the Baptists disciples:

"Tell (them) the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the Gospel is being preached to the poor!"

We are seeing the Lord Jesus do AMAZING things in this hour. In case you haven't heard, these are the last days! These are the times of the harvest! THIS is the hour in which the DESTINY that God has set before us will be made manifest!
Romans 13:11-12 "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."

So many PUT OFF doing the will of God, when it is time to instead PUT OFF the deeds of darkness! (Col 3:9)
Col 4:4-5 "Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Use wisdom in the way your deal with those outside of the faith. Redeem the time and make the most out of every opportunity given to you!"
Eph 5:14-17 "Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (His will is that NONE should perish but that all might have eternal life!)

WE MUST GET AN URGENCY ABOUT REACHING THE LOST FOR HIS KINGDOM. WE DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT TO DO IT>

TESTIMONIES OF GOD POWER, GRACE, AND MERCY:

One of our Raven Evangelists here in New Orleans, Thomas Derrick, had to make an emergency trip to Oklahoma City last week. His father, Charles Derrick, had been take to the hospital unconscious. The preliminary reports were very grave. When he arrived there he found out more details as to what had transpired.

His dad had lapsed into a coma and test revealed he had a cancerous spot on his lung and his brain had swelled as the result of spinal menengitis. They were giving him only an 8% chance of survival--and even then, they said that at best he would remain in a persistant vegetative state. But God....

As we all began to pray with Thomas and his family, Thomas called me and said, "My dad is not going to die until he gets saved!" He and his brother, Pastor Leonard Derrick (who served with me in Texas for seven years), began to go to their father's bedside and lay hands upon him and pray.

Well, I am here to report to you that Charles Derrick was sent home from the hospital today! Not as a vegetable--but as a tesitmony that the dead are raised and the sick are healed through the power of the Blood of Jesus!

ALSO, my nephew, Brandon Romero of Albuquerque, NM, called me the other day following a ministry trip in Colorado. He is the treasurer for a Motorcycle Ministry in his area. As they were there at an event, as woman came up on her "Hog" and was looking to park it where they had set up their ministry site. As they were getting her bike situated she began to talk about how bad that shee was having it when he interjected that all she needed was JESUS. She was suffering from all sorts of maladies including Parkinson's Disease. She allowed him to witness and pray for her---then told him that she was the wife of the president of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Gang! PRAISE JESUS!

Last Week I was advised that a young man that came to Jesus while we were in Northern California last month had been attacked and stabbed seven times by three gang members. The young man, Sergio, had prayed to recieve Jesus as Lord during an outreach conducted with Rudy Gonzales and Pastor Russ Clifford. They take a team out each week and distribute goceries and have "street church" in a high crime area in their city.

Well---God is good! Sergio came out of the attack alive! He was at the outreach the following Thursday and told them that he was still going to serve God no matter what! THEN this week Sergio was the interpreter as they gave instructions to the group of spanish speaking people who came for ministry! "Though he slay me; yet will I trust in Him."

This is such a TREMENDOUS testimony of the transforming power of the CROSS! I know people who have "been in church" for 20 years that end up cursing at God and leaving the faith because "silly" things happened to them--this 17 year old said, "I don't care if they KILL me. I am going to stay with Jesus!"

LOCAL MINISTRY HAPPENINGS:

We continue to "hit the streets" of the French Quarter (Bourbon St) and are seeing the most amazing things happen! It is such a time of harvest and anointing for reaching the lost with a living Word! We'll be back out tonight if you are in the area and would like to join us--call me 504-202-0939 to get involved.

ALSO--- we are now holding services at the "Church on the Streets" every Sunday Morning at 10:30 AM. The location is under the tent at 2001 Airline here in New Orleans. We are seeing so many people that are just hungy----not for mere food---but for the WORD OF TRUTH. We would love to have you come out and join us each week as well.

Todd Bohn, another of our local Raven Evangelist, is conducting discipleship with several guys who are desiring to learn more about the Word and build upon their relationship with Jesus as well.

THIS IS WHERE WE MAKE OUR STAND:

February 24-28 is our annual Mardi Gras Outreach here in New Orleans and we desperately need your help. All indications are that this will be one of the BIGGEST gatherings in many years as people flock back to the city for this wicked annual event that attracts people from all over the world.

The SAD NEWS is that the "Body of Christ" is oblivious to this. I hear so many on the local level talk about restoration and relief, yet turn a blinded eye to the debauchery that occurs night after night in our city. Where is the church? They have become experts at handing out water and cleaning up debris---but few have lifted a finger to grap the proverbial, "Jugular Vein" of the enemy (Bourbon Street & the French Quarter).

If we want to see New Orleans changed---once and for all---we will have to stand firm in the darkest area of this city at the DARKEST TIME (Mardi Gras). We NEED YOUR HELP.

1) Make the necessary sacrifice to join our team Feb 24-28, 2006 for the Raven Outreach during Mardi Gras. You can get details from our website http://www.biggrace.com/ or just call me up on my cell phone 504-202-0939.

2) Help me bring someone else to help. I have a couple of dozen people who would do anything to be here but are facing financial hurdles to get here. Maybe you could help me to help them. Each one can be sponsored for $165. This will cover their place to stay, food, gear, etc while here for the (5) days of ministry. Maybe you could invest $100, $500 or $1000 to help bring in some laborers at this critical time.

God is doing some wondrous things here and across this nation in preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. Let's "redeem the time" and take advantage of the opportunities to bring people into His Kingdom!

We love and appreciate you!

Blessings,

Pastor Troy D. Bohn