Last week, on April 27th Renee & I landed on Canadian soil after 6 months away in Africa & England. So many amazing things have happened in our lives & in our ministry; life changing stuff!
We were met by our son Brandon at the Vancouver Int. Airport & taken back to his house where there were 4 very excited grandkids [& of course his lovely wife, Alyssa] waiting for us! What a wonderful welcome home.
Since arriving back in Kamloops, we’ve had an onslaught of friends & more family to see us. Sunday, we returned to the Feast, our home church, with our daughter Jennica & 2 of her kids & enjoyed reuniting with many friends.
I know it’s been a while since sending out our last update, but there were a lot of good reasons for that…..where do I begin?
The last couple of months we spent in Kenya, the Lord really spoke to us about our ministry. We’ve been doing a lot of good ministry, traveling around Kenya & Uganda. We’ve been involved in believer’s & leader’s conferences, school camps & meetings, crusades, door to door evangelism, pastoral time in orphanages, street kids’ outreach centre; all the time, going from place to place. Even though what we’ve been involved in has been good, we’ve really heard the Lord saying to us that we need to focus in on the youth more pastorally – meaning, discipling, developing & mentoring individuals.
As we’ve traveled around Africa, what we have not seen is any decent place for teens & twenties to hang out in. As with young people anywhere, without a positive alternative, they get into drinking, drugs & immorality. Our desire is to open a youth outreach centre in the city of Kisumu, Kenya.
It will be a safe & fun Christian environment for young people to congregate - & where we will minister to them spiritually & practically. We will need a substantial building for the centre, so we can have various games, sports & outreach events. It will be called ‘Integrity Center for Youth’ or ICY – [I see why].
Our mission base has been a rental house located in the village of Butere, Kenya for the past couple of years. When we left at the beginning of April, we gave that up & sold the contents of our place to the neighboring American ministry, RCM {Rainbow Christian Missions} who are doing a great work in the village of Butere. We had prayed that if that sale went thru it was confirmation that the Lord wanted us to move to Kisumu.
As a compliment to the youth outreach center, we will also be opening a trendy coffee shop [Zoostah’s Coffee House]. We’ve all seen the popularity of these venues increase over the past few years in the west & Africa is no different. We’ve visited a couple of them in the city of Nairobi, [which is substantially larger than Kisumu], but there has yet to be one opened in Kisumu. We feel it is timely for us to move forward with this. It is our hope this will help sustain our work in Africa, [making us more self sufficient] & also providing much needed employment for the nationals.
In every part of our vision, we intend to raise up others to take over the work & take it to the next level – so we can move on & replicate the success in other areas of Africa.
Since 2007, Renee & I have been spending six months in Africa & the other six in Canada. God has given us the grace to be in Africa, for being away from kids & grandkids & many other things. As I’ve shared our vision, [at least the beginning stages of it], it has become glaringly obvious that our dedication will have to increase in order for us to accomplish our vision. We have made the decision to move to Kenya in a few months.
Over this next while, we are selling our house in Kamloops, researching the necessary information toward our move & making many preparations for this commitment. Before I could share this information, we had to first share it with our children, hence the delay in a ministry update.
Many great things will happen as a result of this decision. For people who are interested in experiencing African missions, now we can offer any time of the year & any amount of time commitment, meaning anywhere from a week to many months. Because of the full time commitment to our vision, we will see greater fruitfulness for the kingdom of God, as we will be focusing more in a concentrated area in western Kenya & do less traveling around. This will allow us to do more < one on one > discipleship, which is so necessary in Africa.
As we have ‘stepped out of the boat’ – and declared we are doing this, we’ve seen the hand of God opening new doors for us & the windows of heaven. In England, Africa & in Canada, so many Christian leaders & friends have passionately expressed great interest in getting behind this vision in a myriad of ways - practically, spiritually & wanting to participate in missions with us. We thank God for His many confirmations that we are on the right track & keeping in step with Him.
We are making this commitment to make Kenya our home, but will be returning as often as the Lord allows us to Canada & the UK to see our family & friends & to network with other ministries.
I got a word the other day from the Lord – as father Abraham took his son Isaac, [his son of promise] up to the alter to sacrifice him – God saw his willingness & he didn’t have to make the sacrifice. I believe as we’ve laid it all down to the Lord, He is blessing us in much the same way & we won’t have to be separated from our children & grandchildren for too long of an extended time.
We believe February 2010 will be the right time to go back to Kenya. This timing will allow us to spend Christmas in Canada with our kids & grandkids & to make so many preparations.
We appreciate & are eternally thankful to everyone who has stood with us & supported us prayerfully & practically. We cannot [& do not want to] do this alone & know God has divinely networked us with so many amazing people. Words cannot do justice to how overwhelmed we are for what God has done & continues to do in our lives & ministry. We are involved with so many people who inspire us & provoke us to carry on the call of God in our lives.
We love to hear from you – it encourages us so much. God bless you all & we hope to hear from you soon.
In His Service,
Greg & Renee Plunkett
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
First couple weeks back in Kenya
Coming home to Kenya has been quite wonderful. We arrived on Sunday February 8th to our base in Butere, Kenya. Our place was in desperate need of cleansing as it had remained empty for a couple months. Renee worked & fussed over it until she deemed it acceptable.
We had to make a run into the city, Kisumu to have my infected foot examined at the hospital & to get groceries. I got blood tests, x-rays & an examination. The conclusion was a bad infection caused by me pricking my foot on 'something'. It had gone into my heal & made its way up to my knee swelling my calf up like a balloon & eliminating any sign of bones in my foot like ankles & joints. I was put on the strongest antibiotics & cough medicine.
While in Uganda, I had received an email from a pastor from Winnipeg, Manitoba; someone (Pastor Vince Rattai) who had been on missions to Romania in the 90's with Rev. Mike Jones. He was coming on mission with a team from Canada & the US. We spoke briefly on the phone & made plans for him to hook up with us after arriving in Kenya.
Pastor Vince spent the first week with his team in Eldoret, a city over 4 hours from us in Butere. They did non-stop ministry from the moment they arrived without catching their breath from jet-lag. The team is
Christian International (CI) & they are in Canada & the US.
What was interesting is the leader, Alex Florence is a guy Renee & I met while camping at his campground in Edmonton 4 years ago & for him to be here & connected with Vince was a divine connection.
Full on ministry began on the Thursday. Vince & I went to a village called Shitsitswi, just up the road from Sabatia, the next town from Butere where we live. We began with an afternoon open air crusade in the marketplace where over 30 came forward at the call for salvation. We continued like that for 3 days netting over 150+ souls for Jesus! It was an amazing move of God. Sunday, we planted a new church with Pst. Peter who has been a friend for many years. He was so excited at what God had done in this area as he's been praying over it for some time. He's got a lot of follow up work to do now.
Tuesday, February 17th we met with some pastors & leaders we are working with to lay a good foundation for moving ahead in ministry. I spoke first & then Vince; I pulled some statistics from the internet regarding the religious demographics for Kenya. It says there is 88.5% Christians in Kenya & my view was that if that were true, there wouldn't be the corruption, poverty & problems that there are in this nation. I shared more that once people are saved, foundations of character need to be built into each & every one. I carried on in that vein; Vince added to it with laying good foundations for apostolic ministry teams. We met for lunch & shared for about 3 hours. We heard back from the leaders that it was the most positive & effective leaders' meeting they've been to. We will be continuing to build on that.
On Thursday the 19th we went to Masaba where IMS has planted a church & have been doing more crusades & evening revival meetings. It's been extremely fruitful & enjoyable. There is something really special about this area & we look forward to our continued relationship there.
Tomorrow is Sunday the 22nd & we'll be busy with a service at Butere Boy's school, which is almost next door with a service beginning at 7am. Next is Butere Girls' school at 8am, then Masaba church at 10am with a teaching, then a preach finishing off around 1pm. Then we're darting back to our home in Butere to pick up our suitcases & bus it to Kisumu overnight so Vince Rattai can fly to Nairobi, then back to Canada.
It's very busy here but extremely rewarding. God is utilizing us in a variety of ways & is speaking to us about our focus in ministry.
Things are becoming clearer & always more exciting. We continue to be grateful for all the prayer support we've had & ask that all who pray would continue asking the Lord for protection for us, good health, provision & clear direction. God bless you all so much.
We had to make a run into the city, Kisumu to have my infected foot examined at the hospital & to get groceries. I got blood tests, x-rays & an examination. The conclusion was a bad infection caused by me pricking my foot on 'something'. It had gone into my heal & made its way up to my knee swelling my calf up like a balloon & eliminating any sign of bones in my foot like ankles & joints. I was put on the strongest antibiotics & cough medicine.
While in Uganda, I had received an email from a pastor from Winnipeg, Manitoba; someone (Pastor Vince Rattai) who had been on missions to Romania in the 90's with Rev. Mike Jones. He was coming on mission with a team from Canada & the US. We spoke briefly on the phone & made plans for him to hook up with us after arriving in Kenya.
Pastor Vince spent the first week with his team in Eldoret, a city over 4 hours from us in Butere. They did non-stop ministry from the moment they arrived without catching their breath from jet-lag. The team is
Christian International (CI) & they are in Canada & the US.
What was interesting is the leader, Alex Florence is a guy Renee & I met while camping at his campground in Edmonton 4 years ago & for him to be here & connected with Vince was a divine connection.
Full on ministry began on the Thursday. Vince & I went to a village called Shitsitswi, just up the road from Sabatia, the next town from Butere where we live. We began with an afternoon open air crusade in the marketplace where over 30 came forward at the call for salvation. We continued like that for 3 days netting over 150+ souls for Jesus! It was an amazing move of God. Sunday, we planted a new church with Pst. Peter who has been a friend for many years. He was so excited at what God had done in this area as he's been praying over it for some time. He's got a lot of follow up work to do now.
Tuesday, February 17th we met with some pastors & leaders we are working with to lay a good foundation for moving ahead in ministry. I spoke first & then Vince; I pulled some statistics from the internet regarding the religious demographics for Kenya. It says there is 88.5% Christians in Kenya & my view was that if that were true, there wouldn't be the corruption, poverty & problems that there are in this nation. I shared more that once people are saved, foundations of character need to be built into each & every one. I carried on in that vein; Vince added to it with laying good foundations for apostolic ministry teams. We met for lunch & shared for about 3 hours. We heard back from the leaders that it was the most positive & effective leaders' meeting they've been to. We will be continuing to build on that.
On Thursday the 19th we went to Masaba where IMS has planted a church & have been doing more crusades & evening revival meetings. It's been extremely fruitful & enjoyable. There is something really special about this area & we look forward to our continued relationship there.
Tomorrow is Sunday the 22nd & we'll be busy with a service at Butere Boy's school, which is almost next door with a service beginning at 7am. Next is Butere Girls' school at 8am, then Masaba church at 10am with a teaching, then a preach finishing off around 1pm. Then we're darting back to our home in Butere to pick up our suitcases & bus it to Kisumu overnight so Vince Rattai can fly to Nairobi, then back to Canada.
It's very busy here but extremely rewarding. God is utilizing us in a variety of ways & is speaking to us about our focus in ministry.
Things are becoming clearer & always more exciting. We continue to be grateful for all the prayer support we've had & ask that all who pray would continue asking the Lord for protection for us, good health, provision & clear direction. God bless you all so much.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Back from Uganda
Almost 2 months in Uganda (Dec.18th to Feb.8th) was really wonderful & rewarding. Our team consisted of Renee & myself, Sally Omundi (from Kenya) and John Abesiga (Plunkett) from Uganda.
1st Week > with RED (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) ministries in Kampala. First time with Pst. Joel & Pamela. Did a 4 day believers’ conference & finished off with a Sunday service. All in all a very enjoyable time.
2nd Week > headed NW in Uganda to Kaihura for 3 weeks at Bringing Hope to the Family, a ministry we’ve been affiliated with for 5 years. The first part was celebrating Christmas together with about 60+ orphans at the Home Again Orphanage. Renee & I were the original sponsors of the first 2 kids there, so we’re known as Papa & Mama to all the kids. We had the great pleasure of presenting a Nintendo Wii Game system to the kids, (a contribution from Nigel & Julie Rowe & family in the UK). The kids had a blast boxing, playing tennis & the other sports games. There was a youth conference as well that involved about 300+ kids. We also did 2 days of a couples’ conference teaching the 5 love languages to many excited couples.
3rd Week > we went out to Katooke, (a village about a ½ hour from Kaihura) with Pst. Prosper & Jocelyn & my namesake, Greg. We took 6 of the Home Again teenage boys out, along with Sally & everyone participated in ministry. We did a 4 day believers’ conference that had a huge impact on the community & was well attended.
4th Week > SW to Kabale for the first time. We spent over 2 weeks there & were involved with so many churches & ministries. We spent 3 afternoons with Pst. Obed of Word of Faith Church; several days at a street kids drop in centre, (with Eddy, Pam & Ben Ward) where we had the privilege of leading 8 of the kids to the Lord several days at Revival Tabernacle with Pst. Johnson doing services & crusades; many days with Pst. Santu & Pst. Donna of Inward Temple Church having mid-day meetings & a Sunday service; a too short time with Pst. Frank of World Evangelical Ministries, but we’ll make up for that next year. Our host for the entire time was Dr. Mike Osinde who took excellent care of us & looked after our many needs. Our good friend Rev. Richard Zimbalist was the instigator of this visit & coordinated the entire goings on. We were joined by an anointed man of God from Tanzania (originally Uganda) Pst. Fred who we hope to work with more in the future. There were so many highlights during our time in Kabale including a day trip to the deepest (& most beautiful) lake in Africa, with many islands on it (with Donna & Santu Laxman). It reminded me of the gulf coast between Vancouver & Vancouver Island.
Final Week > buses in Africa are truly of the devil – we waited in the afternoon over 3 hours for our reserved seat bus & then watched it whiz by us without stopping. We had to take the late bus that left after 10pm & got into Kampala at 4 am. Our good friend Greg Lempke (a Canadian brother) of Spring of Life Ministries in Kampala picked us up. Sadly, we had to part from John (our Uganda son) as it was time to go back to school. We were thankful for the over 5 weeks we were able to spend with him this time & at the end truly felt like a family. Sally also departed for Kenya, but we will see her very shortly. I barely caught my breath & Renee & I separated as I went off with the SOLMA team to a remote village for believer’s conference & crusades, (another 8 hour journey on top of the all night bus ride). It was extremely fruitful & netted many new souls for the Kingdom of God. Renee went with Greg & Sandy’s daughter Samantha back to the Kienjojo district to a refuge camp of 81 sq. miles with no end of needs. They traveled by boda boda (motorbike taxis) to every corner of the camp. The refugees are from the Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia & a couple other countries. They were on a data compiling mission to evaluate the many needs for the refugees.
During this entire time in Uganda, I have been mostly sick. I began with a convulsive cough Christmas day that required injections to stop it & the sickness continued for 3 weeks. I also got a jigger in my toe which is like a flesh eating parasite. In Kabale, along with Renee & Sally, I got an intestinal infection that came on with a high fever & severe diarrhea for a few days. In Kampala, I arrived with yet another bad cough that continues & the night before we returned to Kenya, I came down with a 39.6c fever which turned out to be malaria. I spent the evening with chills & diarrhea. We got up at 5am to catch the bus & I discovered yet another jigger in my heal. It has developed now into a massive infection in my foot & leg up to my knee that is swollen, red & painful. I spent today at a good hospital in Kisumu City & had prayed for the right doctor & got a very competent & caring Christian doctor. I have been diagnosed with a nasty infection from a prick from ‘something’ I can’t remember happening. I have a bronchial infection & my malaria is cleared up. This has been my sickest year of my life. When I returned to Kenya, the first thing a friend remarked was how much weight I’ve lost; (I call it my African weight loss plan; haw haw). It’s been quite a battle but I thank God who has given me the grace & love for what we do to press on.
We are massively grateful for the prayers that have been petitioned on our behalf. We couldn’t & wouldn’t want to do this without that support.
We look forward to the next 2 months of ministry in Kenya until we return to England on April 7th for 20 days, where we have an outstanding itinerary awaiting us. Our return to Canada is April 27th.
Almost 2 months in Uganda (Dec.18th to Feb.8th) was really wonderful & rewarding. Our team consisted of Renee & myself, Sally Omundi (from Kenya) and John Abesiga (Plunkett) from Uganda.
1st Week > with RED (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) ministries in Kampala. First time with Pst. Joel & Pamela. Did a 4 day believers’ conference & finished off with a Sunday service. All in all a very enjoyable time.
2nd Week > headed NW in Uganda to Kaihura for 3 weeks at Bringing Hope to the Family, a ministry we’ve been affiliated with for 5 years. The first part was celebrating Christmas together with about 60+ orphans at the Home Again Orphanage. Renee & I were the original sponsors of the first 2 kids there, so we’re known as Papa & Mama to all the kids. We had the great pleasure of presenting a Nintendo Wii Game system to the kids, (a contribution from Nigel & Julie Rowe & family in the UK). The kids had a blast boxing, playing tennis & the other sports games. There was a youth conference as well that involved about 300+ kids. We also did 2 days of a couples’ conference teaching the 5 love languages to many excited couples.
3rd Week > we went out to Katooke, (a village about a ½ hour from Kaihura) with Pst. Prosper & Jocelyn & my namesake, Greg. We took 6 of the Home Again teenage boys out, along with Sally & everyone participated in ministry. We did a 4 day believers’ conference that had a huge impact on the community & was well attended.
4th Week > SW to Kabale for the first time. We spent over 2 weeks there & were involved with so many churches & ministries. We spent 3 afternoons with Pst. Obed of Word of Faith Church; several days at a street kids drop in centre, (with Eddy, Pam & Ben Ward) where we had the privilege of leading 8 of the kids to the Lord several days at Revival Tabernacle with Pst. Johnson doing services & crusades; many days with Pst. Santu & Pst. Donna of Inward Temple Church having mid-day meetings & a Sunday service; a too short time with Pst. Frank of World Evangelical Ministries, but we’ll make up for that next year. Our host for the entire time was Dr. Mike Osinde who took excellent care of us & looked after our many needs. Our good friend Rev. Richard Zimbalist was the instigator of this visit & coordinated the entire goings on. We were joined by an anointed man of God from Tanzania (originally Uganda) Pst. Fred who we hope to work with more in the future. There were so many highlights during our time in Kabale including a day trip to the deepest (& most beautiful) lake in Africa, with many islands on it (with Donna & Santu Laxman). It reminded me of the gulf coast between Vancouver & Vancouver Island.
Final Week > buses in Africa are truly of the devil – we waited in the afternoon over 3 hours for our reserved seat bus & then watched it whiz by us without stopping. We had to take the late bus that left after 10pm & got into Kampala at 4 am. Our good friend Greg Lempke (a Canadian brother) of Spring of Life Ministries in Kampala picked us up. Sadly, we had to part from John (our Uganda son) as it was time to go back to school. We were thankful for the over 5 weeks we were able to spend with him this time & at the end truly felt like a family. Sally also departed for Kenya, but we will see her very shortly. I barely caught my breath & Renee & I separated as I went off with the SOLMA team to a remote village for believer’s conference & crusades, (another 8 hour journey on top of the all night bus ride). It was extremely fruitful & netted many new souls for the Kingdom of God. Renee went with Greg & Sandy’s daughter Samantha back to the Kienjojo district to a refuge camp of 81 sq. miles with no end of needs. They traveled by boda boda (motorbike taxis) to every corner of the camp. The refugees are from the Congo, Rwanda, Ethiopia & a couple other countries. They were on a data compiling mission to evaluate the many needs for the refugees.
During this entire time in Uganda, I have been mostly sick. I began with a convulsive cough Christmas day that required injections to stop it & the sickness continued for 3 weeks. I also got a jigger in my toe which is like a flesh eating parasite. In Kabale, along with Renee & Sally, I got an intestinal infection that came on with a high fever & severe diarrhea for a few days. In Kampala, I arrived with yet another bad cough that continues & the night before we returned to Kenya, I came down with a 39.6c fever which turned out to be malaria. I spent the evening with chills & diarrhea. We got up at 5am to catch the bus & I discovered yet another jigger in my heal. It has developed now into a massive infection in my foot & leg up to my knee that is swollen, red & painful. I spent today at a good hospital in Kisumu City & had prayed for the right doctor & got a very competent & caring Christian doctor. I have been diagnosed with a nasty infection from a prick from ‘something’ I can’t remember happening. I have a bronchial infection & my malaria is cleared up. This has been my sickest year of my life. When I returned to Kenya, the first thing a friend remarked was how much weight I’ve lost; (I call it my African weight loss plan; haw haw). It’s been quite a battle but I thank God who has given me the grace & love for what we do to press on.
We are massively grateful for the prayers that have been petitioned on our behalf. We couldn’t & wouldn’t want to do this without that support.
We look forward to the next 2 months of ministry in Kenya until we return to England on April 7th for 20 days, where we have an outstanding itinerary awaiting us. Our return to Canada is April 27th.
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Year 2009 from Uganda
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
End of 2008 Blog
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
1. As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
2. Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
3. We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
4. Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
5. Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
--
Greg Plunkett
SKYPE me @ 1-251-243-0210
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
End of 2008 Blog
I sit here in the house of our friend, Faith Kunihira of Bringing Hope to the Family in Kaihura, Uganda bringing in the new year, 2009. We love this place so much & have seen God’s hand of blessing upon it in every way.
We have looked after (sponsored) kids here for the past 5 years & love returning to see how they’ve grown & matured. Whenever we come, the kids run out to us & maul us in the most wonderful way, filling us full of love & joy for all of them. The orphanage has increased, so many kids, but God has been faithful & is meeting most of them. We are here with an organization from the U.S. – Global Support Mission, who has done some great work here, such as building the current large ‘Home Again’ house & another new building to house some missionaries from the states for the next year. It’s great to see so much activity happening at Bringing Hope; there are plans for a hospital & school in the future.
Christmas was again challenging in Africa as I picked up a virus or something that gave me a nasty chest infection along with a lot of coughing & convulsing. I went to the clinic for Bringing Hope & they gave me an injection of some kind – actually, 2, which were 6 hours apart & did the trick & allowed me to get some rest.
As for us & IMS, we have been busy in every way, ministering in many areas of Uganda. We had a successful leadership conference in Kampala, with RED ministries (Revival, Evangelism & Discipleship) & will continue to build with them for the future. Pastor Joel & his wife Pamela were lovely hosts with great hearts for their community & are doing all they can to build God’s kingdom.
We’ve been at Bringing Hope in Kaihura, a village about 3½ hours drive by bullet bus from Kampala. We felt we were riding on 2 wheels, sideways a lot of the way, haha. We’ve ministered locally in the church, at the orphanage in a number of ways & near Fort Portal, about ¾ of an hour away at a new church we thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. The Lord continues to open an abundance of new doors & opportunities. Currently, Renee & I are joint teaching a couples’ seminar along with a local couple heading up the ‘Be Faithful’ program in Uganda. It’s a program encouraging stronger marriages & relationships to alleviate some of the hiv/AIDS problem so prevalent here. It’s in married relationships that hiv/AIDS has taken the greatest toll. Renee & I are teaching a course on the 5 love languages & it’s been well received & a joy for us to teach. We plan on having another teaching in Sabatia, back in Kenya with our friends’ Pst. Enock & Rosemary in February.
We have a busy itinerary that will take us well into February here in Uganda…. A conference in Katooke village for a few days; general 1st day, youth 2nd day, then elders & leaders on the 3rd day. Then we’ll embark on a new journey to Kibale, which is on the Rwandan border. We will take our Ugandan ‘son’ John with us, which will be such a blessing. He’s been in school in Kampala, so his English is excellent now – he ministers with us in a variety of ways, leading worship, sharing testimonies & bringing a word forth; quite a gifted young man. We will drop him at school in Kampala the first week of February.
Prayer Items & Needs
1. As we travel around so much ministering in various areas of Kenya & Uganda, it has become apparent that we will be able to accomplish so much more with a ministry vehicle. We spend so much time waiting for buses, ‘negotiating’ (arguing) with corrupt conductors on buses & taxis as there are prices for locals & a much higher rate for whites. Even coming to Kaihura this time, because it was Christmas, they put the rate up 3 X’s normal, plus tried to charge extra for our luggage. We wasted 4 hours sitting in the bus station waiting for the bus to fill so we could leave. We hope to purchase a Land Rover or Toyota Prada, which is similar.
2. Please pray for us as we consider relocating to another area of Kenya. We have had a rental home in Butere, Kenya, but find we need to be closer to a city, like Kisumu as we go there frequently. For now, we need a rental home, but for the future, we want to purchase our own land & build a guest house to accommodate all the future missionaries the Lord will be bringing us. A guest house would be ideal as we could use the rooms for our team members & then rent out the rooms in between times to generate some income to support what we are doing.
3. We are networking around the world; one of the key places being the UK. Please pray for God’s favor as we minister in various churches & with various ministries there. We have friends who are encouraging others to join with what we are doing in the future. We know that we accomplish so much more with others the Lord will bring along.
4. Pray for our protection & good health. Personally, I’ve been in Africa for about 6 weeks & have been sick twice. This season it’s been colds & flu’s; last season it was typhoid & malaria.
5. Last prayer item for now is the Lord’s provision for all our needs. Everything we do is by faith & for the glory of God. It is beyond us to do it all ourselves & I love that as then God gets all the glory. Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Renee & I are so thankful for all the support we have been given practically & prayerfully. It means so much to us to have such amazing people who stand with us in every way. We would never want to do any of this alone. God bless you all so very much.
--
Greg Plunkett
SKYPE me @ 1-251-243-0210
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Ministering in Africa - Nov 27/08
Matthew 16:24 24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.
I love Jesus’ words – follow me…….follow me & I will make you…….He is so wonderful & gracious.
Renee & I are so blessed to be here once again in Africa serving the Lord in whatever way He leads us to.
First – so many thanks, there are not words adequate to express our love & thanks to all the wonderful souls who contributed to our coming here. There were people who prayed so much for us, others who gave financially, others who looked after us in England like true servants of God, from carting us around to feeding us & looking after so many needs. Being in God’s family is definitely the best! Jesus said (John 10:10) I have come to give you life in ABUNDANCE. We are overwhelmed in His abundance of blessings.
We arrived without incident in Kenya. We shopped in Kisumu for our groceries & got our phones & internet & all that re-hooked up.
We arrived to 2 loving African sons Paul Opanda & Dougie Manyasa helping us coordinate many things & helping us to get back to Butere. We arrived quite tired but had to endure to clean & arrange all our stuff.
We settled in for a couple days, met up with Jim & Cherie Lindsay, 2 friends from the U.S. who have been here a few weeks ealier. We are hopeful to do much ministry together with them.
After a couple days, it was off to Manyalla, a small village with a church that suffered some damage through a pastor who fell away into sin. Our good friend Pastor Enock has taken on the challenge of rebuilding leadership there & has appointed a new dedicated pastor. We went the first day to do a crusade for him & ended up teaching a couple day sessions for believers & then completing the day with a successful crusade with many souls coming to salvation.
The next day we came for the crusade again & saw God’s hand move on the village & more new converts. In the process, I managed to damage my voice – I get so African here & my volume increases with the excitement of what God is doing. I also had picked up a nasty cold in England (thanks Dave! Haha), which created some challenges.
The next day I left Renee in Dougie’s care (he’s a local who lives with us) & went off to a place near Busia which is on the Uganda border for a large youth conference of over 400 attendees.
I was asked if the accommodations & everything would be alright….the conference was at a school & we were accommodated in a large dorm. There were upwards of 50 or so young boys & men staying there. Meals consisted of plain bread & strong tea for breakfast, maize & beans for lunch & ugali (pasty doughy mixture of maize flour & water) & sukumawiki (like pumpkin leaves) for supper. I had no problem with any of it. In the end, one of the ladies in charge said they found me quite unusual, unique in that mzungus (white people) don’t usually take to the food or living conditions. I know that through the challenges I had with sleep deprivation & oversized insects in the pit latrine, that I was fully accepted & made many new friends as a result of not requiring special treatment. Doing as they do & eating as they eat is the best way to friendship here.
Speaking of that – a local church leader invited us out one of those days to bless us with a meal in their home & visit at their church with a few ladies in their congregation. As I was served up my meal, the lady placed a UFO (unidentified food object) on my plate. I asked my close companion, Pst. Alex Miheso what it was & he said it was the gizzard of the chicken which is a great honor they bestow on a guest. I stared at this unique looking piece of anatomy I’ve never seen on a plate before & contemplated shoveling it down my throat. I ate around it & anticipated what this might be like – It almost resembled the Olympic rings minus 2 & the consistency was like a rubber gasket. I did my best & managed 2 bites but my gag reflex kicked in & I failed to consume it in entirety. Hopefully I didn’t insult my hosts too badly.
The youth conference was an amazing success with many salvations, much deliverance & souls being filled with the Spirit of God & enabled, educated & richer for coming. I made many new friends & look forward to the next event with all concerned.
This week, we have only a couple obligations – meetings with locals to help through some issues tomorrow (Friday) & a 1 day youth conference at a university not far from here Saturday. Sunday, I’ll preach in my friend Pst. Enock’s Church, Word of Life in Sabatia. Next Wednesday Renee & I are off to a yet undiscovered area for us called Sondu which is 100Km from Kisumu. We live 50Km from Kisumu & it can take 1½ to 3 or 4 hours to get there some days. Our host Pst. Malaki Dacha is meeting us in Kisumu to escort us to Sondu. We are participating in another youth conference there. We met Malaki at a conference last year. He is a body builder pastor who before salvation used to intimidate & beat up people for their money. Now he uses his body building skills as an outreach to youth, helping them to not only build up their bodies & feel good about themselves, but to build up their faith in Jesus Christ.
We hope to help build up his congregation & the youth in the word of God.
That’s our update to date - Please continue to pray for our health & protection. We are now over our colds, but while at the youth conference I was eaten alive by nasty mosquitos. Malaria is always a concern, as well as typhoid. Some missionary friends, Jim & Doris Lapka who spent 38 years serving in Malawi in Africa told us about an Indian herbal remedy, sardeshan, that helps prevent malaria. We took our rations & it will now be put to the test.
We thank God for you all & look forward to many joining us in the future on the mission field. We would love to get emails from you as it’s so wonderful to hear from friends & family in the west.
I love Jesus’ words – follow me…….follow me & I will make you…….He is so wonderful & gracious.
Renee & I are so blessed to be here once again in Africa serving the Lord in whatever way He leads us to.
First – so many thanks, there are not words adequate to express our love & thanks to all the wonderful souls who contributed to our coming here. There were people who prayed so much for us, others who gave financially, others who looked after us in England like true servants of God, from carting us around to feeding us & looking after so many needs. Being in God’s family is definitely the best! Jesus said (John 10:10) I have come to give you life in ABUNDANCE. We are overwhelmed in His abundance of blessings.
We arrived without incident in Kenya. We shopped in Kisumu for our groceries & got our phones & internet & all that re-hooked up.
We arrived to 2 loving African sons Paul Opanda & Dougie Manyasa helping us coordinate many things & helping us to get back to Butere. We arrived quite tired but had to endure to clean & arrange all our stuff.
We settled in for a couple days, met up with Jim & Cherie Lindsay, 2 friends from the U.S. who have been here a few weeks ealier. We are hopeful to do much ministry together with them.
After a couple days, it was off to Manyalla, a small village with a church that suffered some damage through a pastor who fell away into sin. Our good friend Pastor Enock has taken on the challenge of rebuilding leadership there & has appointed a new dedicated pastor. We went the first day to do a crusade for him & ended up teaching a couple day sessions for believers & then completing the day with a successful crusade with many souls coming to salvation.
The next day we came for the crusade again & saw God’s hand move on the village & more new converts. In the process, I managed to damage my voice – I get so African here & my volume increases with the excitement of what God is doing. I also had picked up a nasty cold in England (thanks Dave! Haha), which created some challenges.
The next day I left Renee in Dougie’s care (he’s a local who lives with us) & went off to a place near Busia which is on the Uganda border for a large youth conference of over 400 attendees.
I was asked if the accommodations & everything would be alright….the conference was at a school & we were accommodated in a large dorm. There were upwards of 50 or so young boys & men staying there. Meals consisted of plain bread & strong tea for breakfast, maize & beans for lunch & ugali (pasty doughy mixture of maize flour & water) & sukumawiki (like pumpkin leaves) for supper. I had no problem with any of it. In the end, one of the ladies in charge said they found me quite unusual, unique in that mzungus (white people) don’t usually take to the food or living conditions. I know that through the challenges I had with sleep deprivation & oversized insects in the pit latrine, that I was fully accepted & made many new friends as a result of not requiring special treatment. Doing as they do & eating as they eat is the best way to friendship here.
Speaking of that – a local church leader invited us out one of those days to bless us with a meal in their home & visit at their church with a few ladies in their congregation. As I was served up my meal, the lady placed a UFO (unidentified food object) on my plate. I asked my close companion, Pst. Alex Miheso what it was & he said it was the gizzard of the chicken which is a great honor they bestow on a guest. I stared at this unique looking piece of anatomy I’ve never seen on a plate before & contemplated shoveling it down my throat. I ate around it & anticipated what this might be like – It almost resembled the Olympic rings minus 2 & the consistency was like a rubber gasket. I did my best & managed 2 bites but my gag reflex kicked in & I failed to consume it in entirety. Hopefully I didn’t insult my hosts too badly.
The youth conference was an amazing success with many salvations, much deliverance & souls being filled with the Spirit of God & enabled, educated & richer for coming. I made many new friends & look forward to the next event with all concerned.
This week, we have only a couple obligations – meetings with locals to help through some issues tomorrow (Friday) & a 1 day youth conference at a university not far from here Saturday. Sunday, I’ll preach in my friend Pst. Enock’s Church, Word of Life in Sabatia. Next Wednesday Renee & I are off to a yet undiscovered area for us called Sondu which is 100Km from Kisumu. We live 50Km from Kisumu & it can take 1½ to 3 or 4 hours to get there some days. Our host Pst. Malaki Dacha is meeting us in Kisumu to escort us to Sondu. We are participating in another youth conference there. We met Malaki at a conference last year. He is a body builder pastor who before salvation used to intimidate & beat up people for their money. Now he uses his body building skills as an outreach to youth, helping them to not only build up their bodies & feel good about themselves, but to build up their faith in Jesus Christ.
We hope to help build up his congregation & the youth in the word of God.
That’s our update to date - Please continue to pray for our health & protection. We are now over our colds, but while at the youth conference I was eaten alive by nasty mosquitos. Malaria is always a concern, as well as typhoid. Some missionary friends, Jim & Doris Lapka who spent 38 years serving in Malawi in Africa told us about an Indian herbal remedy, sardeshan, that helps prevent malaria. We took our rations & it will now be put to the test.
We thank God for you all & look forward to many joining us in the future on the mission field. We would love to get emails from you as it’s so wonderful to hear from friends & family in the west.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
SIGNS & WONDERS
Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
We thank the Lord for the gift of faith. Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude to all who have supported us prayerfully & financially. We can’t do any of this alone & God proves His love daily through so many of you.
We are especially thankful for our director (of IMS), leader, mentor & spiritual father, the Rev. Mike Jones who stands with us, has blessed us & encouraged us in every way & has been instrumental in our success in ministry.
PRAYER REQUESTS: In the coming months, we will be ministering in countless ways >>> youth, believer’s & leadership conferences & seminars, church & school meetings, crusades, home groups, orphanages, one on one & in the streets. Please PRAY >>>
1 - For the Lord’s anointing, favour, blessing & provision in all that we do for Him.
2 - For salvations, healings, soft hearts & freedom in Christ for the people we are ministering to in Africa & England. (The Lord has given us a heart for forgotten, hurting & broken people.)
3 - For wisdom & direction in all areas.
4 - For God’s protection & covering. When we were last there, we had bouts of malaria, typhoid & intestinal infections. We also endured many trying circumstances as a result of the political crisis that ensued after the rigged election in Kenya.
5 - For the Lord to raise up men & women of God to join together with us to build the kingdom of God. (We had 3 wonderful young men of God with us last mission – it’s Renee & me this time, but we believe next mission in Oct/Nov 09, for an abundance of missionaries who want to make a difference in this world!)
We believe in a God who speaks to us through confirmation…….accompanying signs.
As Renee & I have talked, prayed & visioned for the future – our mission & purpose serving God; we believe the Lord wants us in Africa half of each year for this season in our lives. We fully believe that God confirms what He puts on our hearts in a myriad of ways. Psalm 37:4-5 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
We have seen His confirmation of this call through many open doors & favour on our lives. We came through England this April & continue networking there with so many ministries; wonderful men & women of God we are anxious to build the kingdom of God with. Some there are involved in raising up & preparing others to join us on the mission field in Africa. Many have welcomed us (& continue to) into their homes, churches & ministries there & in Africa. Our itinerary is full well into February.
We also believe it is not faith unless it is spoken. I spoke & wrote in faith in a past newsletter & blog that was posted on our website in September >>> “We still have quite a way to go to get the full support we need for these upcoming 6 months in Africa - but we are confident that the Lord will finish what He has started. I said to someone recently, He isn't just teasing us - He has a plan to complete this - He wants us in Africa!” Indeed He has completed this & does want us there!
In the past few years, we’ve taken many short term mission trips to Africa, which were a huge blessing but very costly. We have never been out of pocket for any of it. Once the Lord confirmed in our hearts we were to go, we prayed & believed for provision. It has always come (& not all up front) & the way the Lord provides is unique each time. In Matthew 17:27 (Jesus said) 27 "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."
Renee & I have been praying (& believing) pretty much since we were in Africa this past March 08, for the Lord to supply what we need to go back to Africa. Months went by without anything happening for us financially toward this goal. The windows of heaven opened the first Friday in September, when Renee & I returned home after a tough & grueling week of hard work to find an anonymous financial blessing waiting for us. That’s when & where it began >>> we have received many subsequent gifts from friends, relatives, acquaintances & people we barely know since. We were able to book our plane tickets 2 weeks back (for Nov.12th) when a personal debt from many years ago was repaid. It provided enough for our entire airfare & a bit more. When the Lord opens the door, we feel obliged to walk through. God has been completely glorified in providing our way as in our own abilities, it was not possible.
During our months in Canada, Renee & I have worked at a variety of interesting & sometimes challenging jobs. Our work has included serving coffee & donuts, digging ditches, landscaping, renovating, cleaning chicken coops, houses & chemical plants, merchandising plants & products, as well as tailoring & designing. All these things have provided for us while living in Kamloops, but falls short of meeting our ministry needs in Africa. We are confident the Lord will continue His abundant provision for our subsequent expenses while living & ministering overseas. Please continue to pray into that.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We cannot thank our friends & family enough for their prayers & financial support for us & who continue to lift us up to our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ.
As Renee & I have talked, prayed & visioned for the future – our mission & purpose serving God; we believe the Lord wants us in Africa half of each year for this season in our lives. We fully believe that God confirms what He puts on our hearts in a myriad of ways. Psalm 37:4-5 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
We have seen His confirmation of this call through many open doors & favour on our lives. We came through England this April & continue networking there with so many ministries; wonderful men & women of God we are anxious to build the kingdom of God with. Some there are involved in raising up & preparing others to join us on the mission field in Africa. Many have welcomed us (& continue to) into their homes, churches & ministries there & in Africa. Our itinerary is full well into February.
We also believe it is not faith unless it is spoken. I spoke & wrote in faith in a past newsletter & blog that was posted on our website in September >>> “We still have quite a way to go to get the full support we need for these upcoming 6 months in Africa - but we are confident that the Lord will finish what He has started. I said to someone recently, He isn't just teasing us - He has a plan to complete this - He wants us in Africa!” Indeed He has completed this & does want us there!
In the past few years, we’ve taken many short term mission trips to Africa, which were a huge blessing but very costly. We have never been out of pocket for any of it. Once the Lord confirmed in our hearts we were to go, we prayed & believed for provision. It has always come (& not all up front) & the way the Lord provides is unique each time. In Matthew 17:27 (Jesus said) 27 "Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."
Renee & I have been praying (& believing) pretty much since we were in Africa this past March 08, for the Lord to supply what we need to go back to Africa. Months went by without anything happening for us financially toward this goal. The windows of heaven opened the first Friday in September, when Renee & I returned home after a tough & grueling week of hard work to find an anonymous financial blessing waiting for us. That’s when & where it began >>> we have received many subsequent gifts from friends, relatives, acquaintances & people we barely know since. We were able to book our plane tickets 2 weeks back (for Nov.12th) when a personal debt from many years ago was repaid. It provided enough for our entire airfare & a bit more. When the Lord opens the door, we feel obliged to walk through. God has been completely glorified in providing our way as in our own abilities, it was not possible.
During our months in Canada, Renee & I have worked at a variety of interesting & sometimes challenging jobs. Our work has included serving coffee & donuts, digging ditches, landscaping, renovating, cleaning chicken coops, houses & chemical plants, merchandising plants & products, as well as tailoring & designing. All these things have provided for us while living in Kamloops, but falls short of meeting our ministry needs in Africa. We are confident the Lord will continue His abundant provision for our subsequent expenses while living & ministering overseas. Please continue to pray into that.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We cannot thank our friends & family enough for their prayers & financial support for us & who continue to lift us up to our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ.
We thank the Lord for the gift of faith. Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude to all who have supported us prayerfully & financially. We can’t do any of this alone & God proves His love daily through so many of you.
We are especially thankful for our director (of IMS), leader, mentor & spiritual father, the Rev. Mike Jones who stands with us, has blessed us & encouraged us in every way & has been instrumental in our success in ministry.
PRAYER REQUESTS: In the coming months, we will be ministering in countless ways >>> youth, believer’s & leadership conferences & seminars, church & school meetings, crusades, home groups, orphanages, one on one & in the streets. Please PRAY >>>
1 - For the Lord’s anointing, favour, blessing & provision in all that we do for Him.
2 - For salvations, healings, soft hearts & freedom in Christ for the people we are ministering to in Africa & England. (The Lord has given us a heart for forgotten, hurting & broken people.)
3 - For wisdom & direction in all areas.
4 - For God’s protection & covering. When we were last there, we had bouts of malaria, typhoid & intestinal infections. We also endured many trying circumstances as a result of the political crisis that ensued after the rigged election in Kenya.
5 - For the Lord to raise up men & women of God to join together with us to build the kingdom of God. (We had 3 wonderful young men of God with us last mission – it’s Renee & me this time, but we believe next mission in Oct/Nov 09, for an abundance of missionaries who want to make a difference in this world!)
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
AFRICA - IS GETTING CLOSER!!!!!
Those happy faces you see here are that way because God has put so many amazing & generous people in the world.Renee & I have been praying for months - actually since we were last in Africa for the Lord to provide our way back to Africa. As you can well imagine, it is an expensive venture. Just to travel there & back is well over $5000Can. Added to that is extended medical, food, rent & overhead for our rented home in Kenya, travel expenses as we visit areas of Kenya & Uganda for ministry, assorted other costs - plus maintaining our home in Kamloops.
When we went last year, we had some financial gifts that helped a great deal, from our church & several individuals. For the most part, we subsidized our ministry out of our personal finances. This year, we haven't had that option as our pt jobs have not been lucrative enough.
Months went by - we prayed - no finances. We completely believe God wants us in Africa; we have a full itinerary through February 09 in Africa & many ministry opportunities in the UK as well on the way there & back. So much has happened pointing to the Lord wanting us there.
We - I say we - had set a date as a deadline to commit to going to Africa....that was the last Wednesday of August. The day came & went without any funds coming in & we had to let our flight tickets be cancelled.
I wondered what the heck the Lord was up to - with that date coming & going & it seeming as if we might have to spend the winter.....brrrr........in Canada working our secular jobs. We kept praying & believing & not wanting to accept this as the final answer.
The first Friday of September, we returned home after a week of very challenging work to find an anonymous blessing at our home. It lifted up our faith & excitement levels - thank you Jesus! The following week, we were invited to share at a Woman's Aglow meeting & we blessed again. The next Friday, an email from a couple we barely know blessing us again. Then, last night another email from someone else we don't know really well commiting to support us with a financial gift!
God is so very good & faithful & loving & giving & providing - our faith has escalated even more & our hearts are so full of gratitude for all these outstanding people who have given so selflessly to support our ministry.
We still have quite a way to go to get the full support we need for these upcoming 6 months in Africa - but we are confident that the Lord will finish what He has started. I said to someone recently, He isn't just teasing us - He has a plan to complete this - He wants us in Africa!
Our hearts are already there - we have so much to do. Please pray & believe with us!
Mungu akubarike sana! (God bless you so much!)
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