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.

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 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.

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!)