Children's Ministries in Africa

sorry, looking for pictures

2011-10-09T22:23:00.001+01:00

I'm looking for the pictures that I posted on this website, and they are in cyberspace somewhere. Blogger says they uploaded, but I don't see them. Sorry.

pictures from camp

2011-10-09T21:49:00.001+01:00

Here's a few more photographs from Camp. Just some candid shots

Camp Games Water baloon toss

2011-10-09T21:22:00.003+01:00

Here's a few photos from our camp. Some games involving water (cool relief for a hot day!) Also, we had some bushmen children at our camp - here's a picture of one of them with Gabi, one of the camp counselors.
These kids are so awesome to work with. We love them - isn't that one of the best smiles?!!!

Post Kids Camp Testimonies

2011-09-19T20:00:00.003+01:00

It’s been great, visiting the churches whose kids were involved in the camps. To see the increase in passion and love for Christ as well as the continuation of being involved in ministry. It’s translated into souls being won for Christ.
Last Sunday morning I listened as children gave testimonies as to how God had used them in ministry during the week. Remembering the words spoken over them at the altar during camp, we had prayed over them the previous Sunday to be used during the week to go out and touch and heal people.
One girl, Opana, told of seeing a woman who had a problem with her eye. The eye was swollen and had all sorts of stuff running down the woman’s face. Opana went to the woman and asked her if she could pray for her and the woman told her to go away, because the doctors couldn’t help her. “What can you, a little girl do for me?!!” She said. “Go away.”
But Opana didn’t give up. She responded to the woman that she couldn’t do anything, but that Jesus was the one that could heal her; and she asked the woman again if she could pray for her. The old lady said, “Ok, fine. Go ahead and pray for me, but if I don’t get healed; don’t be surprised or get disappointed!”
So, Opana bowed her head, placed her hand on the woman and prayed for her to be healed in Jesus name.
The next day as Opana was passing by where the woman was, she saw that the eye had cleared up and was no longer swollen or running. When the old woman saw Opana, she was so happy and thanked her for praying; that now she could travel to Windhoek without any problems. Opana reminded the woman that it wasn’t her that healed, but that it was Jesus who saves and heals.
Then, nine year old Stephen testified about how he went to a soccer game and was watching the men play soccer. One of the men crashed into the goalie and broke the goalie’s leg. He was in a lot of pain and couldn’t stand. Afterwards, as he was lying down off the playing field, Stephen went up and spoke to the man, asking him if he could pray for him. The man said “Yes.” And so Stephen prayed for him.
The next day, instead of seeing the man in a cast or lying down, Stephen saw the man at work and asked him how he was. The man thanked Stephen for praying for him and was so happy that the Lord had healed him so he could still work and earn money for his family.

Kids Camp in August 2011

2011-09-19T19:56:00.001+01:00

When I was praying, God said to me that I must go to other countries to tell them the Good News and to tell them something: You shall never have other gods.” - Frans (12 yrs)
“God said, don’t leave anyone behind – go to them. Preach the Gospel.” - John Lee (12 yrs)
“The Holy Spirit told me that there are a lot of people that still need to know God. So I can start while I’m still small to preach the gospel and when I become older I can travel around the world just to tell them the Good News.” - Shalom (11 yrs old)
“Last night when I went to my room to pray there was a feeling that I had: a feeling that I cannot explain. Such a happy feeling, like something has happened in your life. When I was praying something said to me, ‘Don’t stop praying. Don’t leave those behind who are behind you. Go and pray for others so they also can have the Word of God.”
There were over a hundred and twenty of us kids and counselors gathered, and I had given an opportunity; asking kids if they felt like the Holy Spirit had given them a word or a vision to speak to the other children at the camp. One by one a line formed until over a dozen children came forward, each wanting to share directly and purposefully, addressing the others gathered around.
“God said to me to tell everyone standing around here praying that you are not too small to preach. You are not too small to touch someone and just heal them. God will give you that strength, that Holy Fire to just touch someone and heal him.” (Willem (10 yrs)
In terms of children being called, trained, and equipped for ministry the camp was highly successful. One side that I didn’t even think about was the amazing impact that this also had on adults who helped at the camp. They too have come to me, amazed at how the Holy Spirit could move amongst children, amazed at how the children could respond so deeply, and amazed at things that God had also spoken to them personally with regards to children’s ministry.
What’s also amazing was what I call the “terrible tradeoff.” The trials and tribulations we suffered before, during, and after the camp that came in just too much of a flood to call them “coincidental.”
Right before camp, our dog that we really loved was run over by a car. At camp, we went to set the tent up, and Namibia got hit with a freak weather system causing rains at the coast and heavy winds inland, where we were. Thieves broke into the Bible School office and stole our two computers and my ipod. My sound system failed before camp, my backup sound system got fried by high voltage during camp, and on the last day of camp, the city turned the power off, and when they turned it back on again it spiked; causing the backup to the backup sound system to fail. And there were more trips to bring kids to the emergency room for this camp than any other camp.
In Africa don’t ever say “It can’t get worse!” I wanted to use my backed-up info on my wife’s computer and the powerboard on that computer blew. And my last resort external hard drive also joined the mutiny and stopped working. Ever feel like just going fishing?
Each challenge was met with prayer. Some of the prayers we saw immediate results for – such as the dramatic change in weather, giving us a pleasant camp environment for the whole week. Some of the prayers we are still waiting for answers on. I think that the most important prayers though, the petitions before the throne for a move of God amongst the children – I think those prayers were answered, being demonstrated by the response of the children at the altars and by the continued ministry involvement we are seeing by the children in the churches they have returned to. (see “And These Signs”)
I am deeply grateful for the answer to prayer for the health of Missionary Judy Mensch. She came all the way from Holland to help me do outreaches here in Namibia, the Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp being the foremost outreach.
A couple months before the trip she was having such a battle, especially with Shingles, and we didn’t know if it was going to be possible for her to come. So many people were praying and she pushed through, bringing a team of four short term missionaries from Holland with her. The team members were stellar in their children’s ministry: Rick (18 yrs old), Noa, and Woosjie (girls 9 & 11 yrs old), and the girls’ mother Carolyn. As Camp Director I was so busy resolving all the things we were getting hit with; I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have Pastor Judy and her team. Not only did they write the programs for the services, but they also ran them. What a big answer to prayer!

Good Friday Bad Friday on the Swakopmund River

2011-04-23T14:27:00.006+01:00

Good Friday was yesterday and it was almost Horrible Friday.

The Swakopmund River normally only flows once every 5 or 10 years and has pretty much been just a dry river bed. This year, Namibia has seen more rain than has ever been recorded in history. As a result, the Swakopmund River has been flowing down into the sea and many people are taking advantage of this for fun and recreation. We have done this also, almost to our undoing.

Because of my trip to Windhoek I had so much work to yesterday (Good Friday). Breanna and her friends wanted to go tubing down the swakopmund river which is now flowing into the sea. I had been a couple weeks ago and it was a nice, comfortable ride, so I gave her permission. She went out with 5 of her friends and they took inner tubes with them. Kim dropped them off at the place where the road goes to Walvis Bay.
The road was closed because the river was flowing over the bridge. That should have told us right then and there that the current was too dangerous. I should have really been with them, or at least insisted on life jackets, but I was so busy,having just returned from Windhoek and now having to catch up on emails and other things. I was too busy, and so I didn't give it much thought. I had only thought about the river as it had been when I was on it.
A few hours went by and I received a call from Kim saying that Breanna had almost drowned. They had been going down the river by the pumping station and there is a man made drop off there. When they went over it, they lost their tubes and the water coming over the wall caused a backflow that if you were to get caught in it would be pretty catastrophic. Well, the teenagers did get caught in it. Breanna told me that she couldn't get out and she yelled for help a couple times before going down. She said the force of the water coming down was just too much for her and she couldn't escape. She had actually come to the place where she didn't have any more strength left and had given up and she really thought she was going to die. And then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
When the teens went down the river, there were two rather large Afrikaans guys that had decided to float down the river as well, and they decided to all go together. If it weren't for those two guys, the teens that got stuck in this backflow would have drowned. It was indeed a very, very scary experience, and when I heard about it, I was so upset with myself that I had let them go tubing without actually checking the flow rate or the level of the water myself. Even a couple weeks previous when the river was low and we had come to the pumping station, we decided to get out of the tubes and climb down, instead of going over that man made wall. It was just too dangerous. If I had been there, and had decided that it would be ok to go down the river, I would have never allowed them to go over that pumping station wall.
Sometimes as parents we make mistakes. Huge mistakes. It's a wonder that our kids survive and turn out the way they do in spite of us. It's the grace of God. We can't be there all the time, and sometimes when we are there we make foolish decisions. If it weren't for the grace of God, what a mess our lives would be. It is very important I see then, that we keep a humility about us and maintain a God-fearing, repentant attitude so we can walk in the fullness of this grace.
This will be a very special Easter. I woke up this morning, walked downstairs, and looked at my daughter who was peacefully asleep.

O thank you God.

When dreams turn to nightmares - My Avis Adventure - Windhoek Trip II

2011-04-23T14:24:00.003+01:00

I took Marshall with me and we hiked the Avis Dam. When the dam is full of water, the hike is so, so much longer. I didn't realize how long it would take to get around the place with all that water, and three quarters of the way around we took a wrong trail that led us into no man's land. It was starting to get dark, and the clouds were moving in. We could see rain in the distance, heading our way, and with that rain, lightning and then sounds of thunder. We had to get off that koppie we were on and make it back to the truck. However, the further we went on the trail, the more spider webs crossed the trail. Big spider webs with big spiders. We would get a stick and break through the webs so we could proceed, but now it was starting to get difficult to see the spider webs in the twilight. I actually walked through one large web. At first I didn't know what it was. I walked into it head first and because I had a hat on didn't feel it against my face. All I could feel was the tension on my head of pushing through something, and I could hear the stretching and snapping. As I said, these were humongous spiders, and so you could actually feel the tension and hear the webs as they broke. When I had already pushed through and broken webbing fell across my shoulders and arms I kind of panicked. I realized what I had just walked through, and knew what the owner looked like. As I was pulling webbing off my arms and head I yelled to Marshal, "Marshal!! Look, quick! Is there anything crawling on me?!!!" It was quite unnerving. As we continued on, we came across bigger spiders until we reached one web that was just enormous with a very, very large arachnid in it. I was so frustrated. We had bog on one side of us that we couldn't escape through lest we sink, we had storms coming in from the other side, and now we had these giant spiders in front of us that made it impassable. I cried out at the top of my lungs, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Just an emotional outburst of frustration. Unbeknownst to me, there was a herd of baboons about 40 yards up the trail on the other side of the spiders. And they responded, "ONNNNNNKKKKK." Now, if you are totally unaware that there is a herd of baboons next to you, and all of the sudden, you hear that loud noise, it can be quite startling. And it was. I guess they thought maybe I was challenging them, and they just responded. I told Marshal, "Uhhh, I think we better pick up a couple rocks to defend ourselves."
I asked Marshal, "Bro, have you ever felt like you were in a nightmare." You're trying to escape the bogs and quicksand with a storm bearing down on you, and then you have giant spiders to deal with; and right when you don't think it could get any worse, you come across a herd of barking baboons as it's getting dark." Lovely.
A trail that leads into arachnitopia cannot have been a trail used by many hikers, and therefore it was logical that we were on a trail leading us to somewhere we didn't want to go. So, we turned around and started running with our rocks, keeping our eyes on the lookout for those babboons.. After about 2o minutes of backtracking we found another trail that we followed and it took us down towards our vehicle. But alas, it was not to be without further incident. When we were almost to the parking lot there was only one more obstacle. A very ominous obstacle. The trail had now become a tunnel. A tunnel of spider webs. There was no way out to the right - it was all mud bog and water. To the left was all impassable bushes. We couldn't turn around because it was getting dark and the thunderstorm was almost upon us. We had to go through. Marshal said, "No way, Pastor."
"Just put your head down and hang on to the back of my shirt, Marshal." It's like bungee jumping. Even when everything inside is screaming, "DON'T!", you just go forward. As we went through the tunnel with spiders on every side and above, I just started quoting Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of spiders, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me....."
Well, here I am, writing this, so I did not die. What started as a dream-walk in the beautiful Avis Dam turned into a nightmare with baboons and spiders; but praise God, we came out of it. A couple years ago when I took Kim on a hike around Avis Dam, she asked, "Are you trying to kill me?!!!" As we were running up the hill through spider territory, trying to get back to the truck before it got dark I could hear Marshal huffing and puffing, trying to keep up, and I wonder if he was asking the same thing.

Windhoek trip

2011-04-23T14:14:00.002+01:00

Have been very involved in trying to sell two missions houses, and get a place here in Swakopmund to live in. It seems like things have gone through very well for the house in Otjiwarongo, but there have been a few hiccups with the house in Windhoek. The gate was giving problems, the electricity in the house kept shutting off when it rained, the flat lost power to half of it, and the pool didn't stay full. It drained - turned out that there were cracks in it and the water that was used to fill the pool drained out through the cracks. So, a lot of work was involved to get everything going the way it is supposed to be going, and we will have to put in a new pool.
One of the hiccups was also that there is a tree on the property line that is busting through the wall. The purchaser asked that I would deal with the owner of the property next door to take care of that tree and fix the wall. At first it just seemed like one more thing to deal with, but then as I was praying, asking the Lord to give me favor with the neighbor, I sensed that the Lord knew that tree when it was just a seed, and was using it for me to have a witnessing opportunity.
So, I went to talk to the neighbor 3 times, and each time I missed him. Finally, one morning when I looked over the wall and saw his car in the driveway, I parked my truck in front of his gate so he couldn't get out. When the gate opened and he was blocked in, I went over and greeted him. He told me that he had a meeting at 8, but that we could talk for 5 minutes. So, I moved my truck, and got in his Mercedes to talk, and he drove off with me into the city. We talked a little bit in the car, and then he pulled up to a construction site where about 40 workers were waiting for him. He's the owner of a big construction company that was constructing a building.
After he finished speaking to his workers, he introduced me to "Ali," his foreman. This guy has quite a past and was originally from Germany, but then spent time in Rhodesia and South Africa before moving into Namibia. He used to be Pentecostal, but as I spoke to him, I found him to be, let's say, somewhat removed from pentecost.
I had a really good time sharing with him and exhorting him to get his relationship with God in the right place so he can start fulfilling God's purposes in his life. Then when it was time to go, I had another opportunity to talk to the owner, Mr. Yambo. I showed him Song of Solomon where God is saying,
Son 2:10 My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself.
Son 2:12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
Son 2:13 the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:16 My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies.

I told him that he had reached the point in his life where his soul was wanting to turn to God. The Winter is past, the rains are gone, and now God was really calling him to follow Him. I spoke with him and told him that God isn't looking at him, waiting for him to die so he can cast him into hell, but instead, God is calling him "his love," and "his beautiful one." That only God can see us this way, for we certainly don't. Mr. Yambo and I then prayed right there in front of his construction site out in the open. We put our heads together and prayed and sought the Lord, to follow in His ways and not in our own anymore. It was a really good meeting and prayer time and I look forward to seeing him again and continuing in this. He is a man who has lived a pretty sinful life, but he is also a man who does not hide that, but is very transparent.

Outreach to Ondangwa with Mark and Jimmy

2010-11-24T17:14:00.002+01:00

A couple weeks ago I took a young man with me to go to Ondangwa to do some outreaches there. I met this guy about 1 ½ years ago in a poor settlement area outside of Swakopmund (one of the coastal towns of Namibia). This was a man who had owned a bar, and was involved in all the immoral trappings that go along with owning an establishment like that here in Sub-sahara Africa.
One day this man, Jimmy started feeling sick. As the week progressed the sickness became worse to the point where he was so dizzy he could hardly stand. He went to the hospital and they ran all sorts of tests on him. From one of those tests, he found out that he was HIV+ and that the sickness he was having was a result of that. This scared Jimmy, and so the next week found him in church. Jimmy heard the story of Jesus and His love for sinners, and learned that if he turned from his wicked ways and sought Christ, that he could find forgiveness through the cross.
On that day, Jimmy accepted Christ as his savior. The following week, I was in that church, preaching about the power of the Holy Spirit, and how, if we confess our sins how God not only forgives us, but cleanses us as well. I challenged the people that if anyone were to confess that they were HIV+ and ask God for healing and forgiveness, that God would forgive and heal them. Jimmy was one of the people that came forward to confess and to pray.

November update - TV ministry

2010-11-24T16:47:00.004+01:00

The Lord has continued to open doors for us throughout the country and Kiko and I have been privileged to speak in high schools, elementary schools, and everything in between. And we are sharing solid Bible teachings in both public and private school assemblies in creative ways, and capturing everything on digital video so we can use it for discipling children across the country via television
AFRICA’S CHILDREN (A department of A/G World Missions) has been a tremendous help to us with equipment and with the software to do these tv programs. It’s a lot of work, but each time I get frustrated and feel like quitting, I think of the 50 thousand children who live in school hostels. Many of them have just heard an introduction to the gospel, but have never really been discipled.
The T.V. Program that we’re doing also gives the kids who went to camp a ministry outlet as well. We have so many children who were trained at Camp to do ministry who have returned to their homes and churches and they are wanting to use what they learned. So I’ve been taking many of these children around to different churches and outreaches and giving them opportunities to preach, do gospel hip hop, do street evangelism, and pray for people! It’s been great, but what has been the best is seeing this happening in the lives of the kids and other leaders who attended our camp.
As I speak with children’s workers from the different churches, they tell me of how the children still want to do dramas and ministry in the churches and at the outreaches, even months after the camp has been over. And the best part is: these leaders have caught a vision that God uses Kids in ministry, and the churches are providing outlets for the children to minister both on Sundays in church, and at the community outreaches.

November 2010 Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp Update

2010-11-24T16:37:00.004+01:00

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp 2010
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE KIDS CAMP was once again an awesome camp experience this year. What first amazed me is the response from the adults to come help out at the camp. There was such a strong desire from both the kids and the adults to come back for this experience again.
When you look at Namibia, you see that the population is so small relative to the land mass which is so extensive. It’s because of the lack of water. Wherever you find an abundance of water supply, you will find a more concentrated populace. I believe this is what we are seeing in the Spirit here. Because of the outpourings of the Heavenly rivers and abundance of the move of the Spirit at the Kids Camp, people wanted to come. Thirsty souls are drawn to living water.
This year as we encouraged the children to seek at the altars for the Holy Spirit, one of the words I spoke to the kids was that being filled with the Holy Spirit was like getting a hug from Heaven. I shouldn’t have been surprised then, when at testimony time we heard several of the children responding that as they were seeking God that someone came up from behind and gave them a hug. Thinking that it was a counselor, they turned around to see who it was and there was nobody (visibly) standing there.
We also heard testimonies of children who were seeking God and they said that someone would come by and lay hands on their heads and the children said, “a wonderful feeling swept through my body from my head to my toes” and when they opened their eyes to see who was praying for them, once again, nobody (visibly) was standing there.
In this prayer-charged environment there were also so many visions of heaven, children who testified of seeing Jesus, and seeing angels, and of forgiveness of sins.
We are so grateful for the vastness of the mercy of God, who with such blazing holiness; chooses to walk amongst us even with all of our faults and shortcomings. As a father has pity on his children, so the Lord has pity upon those who fear Him, for He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust (psalm 103).

One of the Children, McG open air evangelism

2010-05-27T22:40:00.002+01:00

For the Love of Christ

2010-05-27T20:50:00.000+01:00

There really has been a lot going on here. Training of Children’s Workers, School Assemblies, and now Missy Garvey from Reading, PA is here helping me produce this National Children’s Weekly TV program to reach out to the kids in the school hostels. I have chosen this last bit of space in my newsletter, however, to share with you something else that really touched my heart (and I’m sure God’s heart) last week.
It was during our Kids Choir Outreach. There was a communications fail with the school we use, and the hall was locked. It was very cold that day, but we still decided to have praise and worship - outside. The kids didn’t come prepared for the cold weather, but wanted to worship anyways. We had our new choir t-shirts, so I just told some of them to put on two or three t-shirts each to stay warm.
As we were outside worshiping, kids from the neighborhood started throwing rocks at us from behind a wall. We couldn’t really do anything to stop them.
I looked at the shivering kids and said, “Y’know, you can read about in the Bible where the Christians in the early church were persecuted. Now here’s your chance; here’s your opportunity. Are you still going to worship Jesus even though people are throwing rocks at you?
Those kids responded, “YES!” and we stayed out in the cold, singing that song, “He loves us, oh, How He loves us, Oh, . how He loves us, Oh, How He loves us ALL.”

These Signs Shall Follow

2010-05-27T20:46:00.000+01:00

I am consistently amazed by the grace that we are seeing over here. Word of knowledge, healing, visions; it’s all grace. But the most amazing grace is the wonderful touch of the love of the Holy Spirit, showing His longsuffering, faithful love and forgiveness.
Here’s just some tidbits of what I’m writing about. In the Kids Choir community outreach I’m doing, I had heard about one of the children who was having some real physical problems. Along with severe abdominal pains, this young boy was vomiting blood and the doctors at the hospital were not able to help him. This condition was causing him to miss church, school, and kids’ choir.
One day as I drove through his neighborhood, I saw him by his house and I told him to come to the next choir practice so we could pray over him for healing.
The day that this boy came to choir, we had a wonderful worship experience and the kids laid hands on him and prayed over him. Two of them had visions and gave prophetic words and there was just a wonderful anointing in the place. The young boy, Mcdonald knew that the Lord had healed him and has not had a problem with the ailment since.
One of those kids who had a vision and prayed for the healing also had another vision at last night’s prayer meeting. He said that he felt like within two weeks that there is going to be an earthquake here in Namibia along the coast. Several other Christians have also had this same vision, so we’re expecting the ground to be shaking around here pretty soon. Pentecost Sunday is right around the corner, so it’ll be right on time. Ummm, maybe a prayer for God’s protection and grace on our lives over the next couple weeks should be in order?!!! Thanks. : - )
It’s not often when I get to be used in a Word of Knowledge, but when it happens, it sure is fun. On that Easter outreach I met some guy who was out on the street trying to sell his guitar. I told him I was on the way to a crusade and to get into the truck with me. When he got in I said, “Jabulani, This is your day to stop going your own way and give your heart to the Lord.”
He said, “Hey, how do you know my name?”
Now, I had no idea “Jabulani” was the guy’s name; I just felt like I should say that. So I told him, “I didn’t’ know your name, but God does, and when a stranger who doesn’t know you comes up to you and calls you by name and tells you it’s time to follow Jesus, I think you should listen.”
He responded, “You must have heard me playing in Germany while I was touring there. Are you German?”
“Never been to Germany in my life.” I told him, “and don’t even speak German. This is your day of Salvation, man.”
Jabulani accompanied us to the evangelistic film outreach we were doing that evening and I lost sight of him, but praise the Lord, what an experience. I’m just still so thrilled to be a part of the Lord reaching out to someone in a supernatural way, calling them by name.

Opposing Sunset

2010-05-27T20:29:00.002+01:00

Easter Outreach in Omaruru

2010-05-27T20:24:00.002+01:00

It’s better to do a little with the anointing, than much activity without it. Over these last few months, I have seen so much more accomplished when accompanied by prayer; than when we haven’t had time to ADEQUATELY pray. Bottom line: We don’t have time not to pray.
Our Easter outreach to Omaruru saw wonderful success due to the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit, which was, I believe, proportionate to the emphasis on prayer and the cooperative efforts of Christians from different churches.
The first night we were in Omaruru, I preached. The second night, we were going to show a movie out on the big soccer field where we had done our afternoon children’s program. (We do the afternoon outreaches, and invite the people to come back in the evening for a movie).
As the evening approached, the clouds moved in and people started asking, “What are we going to do? It’s rained here the last few evenings and it looks like it’s getting ready to do it again.”
“Let’s just go to the field and set-up,” I said. “Let’s just step out in faith.”
When we arrived at the field and started to set up, we could see the clouds moving in and the heavy rains falling just to the North of us.
Someone arrived and said, “Guys, it doesn’t look good. We just came from Otjiwarongo, and it was raining on the way. It looks like it’s headed this way.”
“Let’s all join hands, form a circle, and pray,” I said. Everyone got together and started praying. We just prayed that the Lord would give us a canopy of angels and that not one drop would fall on us that evening. Not one drop.
Then the strangest thing happened. I’ve never seen it before or since. It looked like the sun was rising in the East, but it was around 6pm in the evening and the sun was actually setting in the West. Wow. The reins of the oncoming clouds were pulled back and they came no closer. The sound system, projector, and screen were set up; the crowds gathered, the movie played, the altar call was given, and the people responded. Once again, we don’t have time not to pray!

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp 3rd video

2010-02-12T08:32:00.002+01:00

Here's the third video of our kids camp

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp

2010-02-12T06:06:00.002+01:00

This is the second part of the kids' camp video

Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp

2010-02-11T23:23:00.003+01:00

Here's some videos of our last kids camp in Otjiwarongo, Namibia

shackles

2010-02-09T17:20:00.002+01:00

Here's a couple of the youth doing a dance they made up to "Shackles" by Mary Mary. The video wasn't set up, and the camera wouldn't zoom out, so the fist part of the video isn't that great, but the youth did a good job, and it gives you an idea of some of the potential.

The tragedy of Tommy Tomato

2010-01-16T01:02:00.001+01:00

Here's a special something that Kim's husband, Mark added. Great for teens and children's ministry! A special thanks to Breanna for her recorder music in the background!

Cooking with Kim Tomato garnish

2010-01-16T00:50:00.000+01:00

Heres' another thing you can do with a tomato

Cooking with Kim Rosy tomato garnish

2010-01-16T00:27:00.000+01:00

Here's how to make a tomato look like a rose

Cooking With Kim Pineapples 2

2010-01-16T00:07:00.000+01:00

Here's the second part for making a pineapple boat garnish

Cooking with Kim Pineapples 1

2010-01-15T23:11:00.000+01:00

Here's how to make a pineapple boat

Cooking With Kim Pickles Garnish

2010-01-15T22:00:00.000+01:00

Here's what you can get out of a pickle

Cooking With Kim The Flowery Pepper Garnish

2010-01-15T21:10:00.000+01:00

Here's something you can do with a pepper

Cooking with Kim Orange Twist Garnish

2010-01-15T20:37:00.000+01:00

Here's some cool stuff you can do with an orange.

Cooking With Kim Onion Flower Garnish 2

2010-01-15T18:05:00.000+01:00

here's the second part on how to make an onion into an onion flower

Cooking With Kim Onion Flower Garnish 1

2010-01-15T17:27:00.001+01:00

Here's the first part on how to make an onion into an onion flower

Cooking with Kim Cucumber Garnish 2

2010-01-15T17:05:00.000+01:00

Here's the second part of the cucumber garnish

Cooking With Kim Cucumber Garnish 1

2010-01-15T16:47:00.000+01:00

Here's the first part of the cucumber garnish

Cooking with Kim Carrot Garnish 2

2010-01-15T16:29:00.000+01:00

Here's the second part of cool carrots

Cooking with Kim Carrot Garnish 1

2010-01-15T16:10:00.000+01:00

Here's the first part of cool carrots

Cooking with Kim

2010-01-15T15:47:00.000+01:00

At the recent Missionary Retreat in South Africa, Kim taught the ladies how to do some garnishing. These were shot in a high quality format, but I shrunk them down to make them more easily up and downloaded. Some people have to pay for each megabyte they download, and so if I uploaded these high quality, they would not be available for some.
If, however, you would like the workshop in all it's glory in a dvd resolution format, please let me know, and if you tell me your address, I'll send you one.
This offer is just for the ladies who attended the workshop. Anyone else who would like a copy would have to let me know where their address is, and I'll let you know what the shipping cost is.
Grace, love, and peace to you,
Mark

2009-02-01T17:35:00.000+01:00

I'm sorry, for some reason blogspot isn't posting those pictures.
-breanna and giraffe
-kids on firetruck
-herero village

will try again in february and if still no success will make a different webpage.

End of the year

2009-02-01T17:03:00.000+01:00

These photos are: Passing through Botswana we stopped overnight in the Kalahari and when we woke up in the morning there was a baby giraffe outside our cabin. Here the baby giraffe is making friends with Breanna.

Giving a ride on a fire truck to some underprivileged kids at a school in Swakopmund. Sharing the gospel, and then trying to encourage them with practical demonstratins of love.

Kim, Breanna, and went to a Herero village and camped out. It was a great opportunity to fellowship with some Herero believers and share the gospel with surrounding villagers. Mannn, it was hot though!

Winter 2008/9 updated

2009-02-01T16:51:00.000+01:00

Whoah, this update is way overdue. I totally blame it on Facebook. Those of you who have gotten on facebook know exactly what I mean. It links you with the rest of the world, but when the rest of the world is sending you email messages it takes time to respond!

Ok, we're still doing school outreaches. During the week, then on weekends youth and children rallies, funday, crusades. It's been great! Was able to take a group of "vulnerable" children on a ride on a fire truck. That was a blast. You know, those kids were singing when that fire truck was going down the road, blaring its siren. And they were singing to the Lord... "He is the King, of Kings, Lord of Lords, His name is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,ohhhhhhh, He is the King." Now, that was a life highlight!

We were also priveleged to go be able to go back to the usa and attend the World Missions Summit. It was phenomenal. We had a fantastic time meeting with college students and encouraging them to give a year of their life to missions. Now, we're back in Namibia and tomorrow will be heading up to Otjiwarongo for a week of meetings with pastors. Then, I leave immediately following that to go up to Opuwo for a week of doing school assemblies, and youth and children's outreaches. In the midst of that, I'll also be training churches to do children's ministries. Show and tell, show and tell.

I've also joined with Pastor Gustav here in Swakopmund to help him plant a church in Henties Bay, the next city going north along the coast. One of the highlights of January was the all-night prayer meeting that I helped with. I've been helping with them for the last 5 or 6 months and it really has been a powerful thing. Tiring, but empowering! The last one was the best. People were dancing more than you see at a wedding! Lots of praising, lots of rejoicing, lots of praying.

2008-10-14T12:29:00.000+01:00

Wow! The last couple months have really flown by! With outreaches and ministry to Gobabis, Omashete, Omaruru, and Swakopmund, we’ve managed to keep ourselves pretty busy here in Namibia!

(PHOTO 1) Sensei Koen prepares to do the “Atomic Karate Chop”

First let me say: I have to give some serious “HATS OFF” total respect to some of the short term missionaries that have come over to help us out. We had two guys from Holland come over – Koen and Philip and they traveled with me to do school assemblies in Omashete, Calkveld, Omaruru, and Swakopmund, as well as children’s services and youth outreaches. When they arrived, I guess they had picked up a serious flu in transit and were majorly sick after arriving; but they still kept the best attitude and were willing to struggle through sickness, tiredness, hunger, and heat to share the gospel with hundreds of kids.
You know it’s written, “It’s better to give than to receive.” And when it comes to sickness, this certainly is 100% true! As they were getting better, I got sick. Right when a cold
snap hit Omaruru the flu hit me. LL
The house we were staying in had no heat and so with the cold front it was very, very cold. Our first night in Omaruru I slept with 5 shirts on and two blankets. Even so, I would wake up shivering during the night and hardly slept. The next day we had to do school chapels and it was very difficult because I was feeling so sick. This was Thursday morning and afternoon, and then I had to do a children’s ministry training workshop on Thursday night.
Philip did a great job sharing on this nice, warm day. I stood back with a turtleneck, sweatshirt, and 2 t-shirts on and was still cold. I’m so glad these guys were able to step up! That night I hit the sack with 5 shirts, two blankets, added a sleeping bag, and also wore my jacket. You’d think one would be hot with all that on, but because of fever, I still was cold. Exhaustion arrived with Friday morning and then it was time for the first school assembly at the city’s high school at 7am (yes,
school starts too early here!). By the grace of God, it went really well.
(PHOTO 2)
We then were scheduled to do another assembly at a primary school. Because of a scheduling mishap we had the opportunity to not do that assembly, but to rest instead. I really felt like sleeping, exhausted like Apostle Peter after a night of fishing, but at the same time I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit to minister to those kids in that rural country school. So, even though (and ashamedly I say this!) I was just saying, “Oh praise God we get to rest now!” I changed my tune and like the Peter said, “Nevertheless, at Thy Word…” and we did the school assembly.
We’re wearing yellow because in talking about following the voice of the One who loves you, we are using all sorts of illustrations with Bananas. By the way, Pastor Judy Mensch’s song, “I like Bananas” is now being sung all over this country.
“I like Bananas, but Mangos are sweet, I like Papayas, but
nothing can beat, the sweet love of God, do do wop, do do wop….”
Every time I drive through a city we’ve done school assemblies in, when the kids see our yellow Speed the Light Pickup they yell and sing….. “I LIKE BANANAS!!!”
(PHOTO 3)

Another one of our Missionary Associates who helped me a lot in outreaches is Joshua Cameron. This guy takes abuse like a saint!!! He traveled over 20 hours to get here from Arizona, and then once he arrived, we went straight from the airport to Gobabis, near the Botswana border to do an outreach.
He was so tired and when we finally got in that night I said, “Bro, it’s a good thing the first couple days are all adrenaline, ‘cause you’re gonna need it!”
“Tomorrow we have three school assemblies, the first one starting at 7am in the morning which means we have to be there by about 6:30 to set up. Then in the evening we have a big youth rally.”
Josh braces himself to be pounded by 25 girls bearing down on him with a giant soccer ball. That poor guy!!!“I hope you have A LOT OF adrenaline, because tomorrow’s just the warm up! The day after tomorrow, kids from the school assemblies are going to come out to a massive FUN DAY we’re doing Saturday and THAT’S gonna be the REAL KILLER!!”
(PHOTO 4)
Have you ever gotten one of those, “You CANNOT be serious” looks? Well, if ever there was one, it was on Josh’s face, but he was a real trooper. He lasted the whole day for the school assemblies, and the next day, even though we were expecting 150 kids and 350 showed up and it about killed us, he never complained. The whole time he was here, no matter how much abuse he suffered, not one peep of complaint. Have you ever heard of “Tug o’ War?” Well, we played, “Tug o’ Josh” with two kids on one side of him and two kids on the other side of him, pulling ropes that were attached to his hands,
We were expecting about 150 kids. 350 showed up!!! That was a lot for two guys and a couple teenagers!trying to pull him to their side.
(PHOTO 5) Tug ‘O Josh!!! Once again, the big guy takes one for the team!
Fortunately the cords we were using tore, instead of Josh’s rotator cuff and the game ended; but all that to say that Josh is one more example of how the grace of God can really touch lives if we endure hardship with a good attitude. The payoff was: each time I would preach, when I asked Josh to share his testimony, it would bring people to tears and so many lives were powerfully touched.

In one last final note, I have to sincerely thank my mom. When she heard about how I was really having a difficult time with the cold she bought me some “Under Armour” clothes to keep me warm. Those bad boys are expensive! And then the shipping! Thanks Mom. J

Color us the colors of Jesus, Lord
Paint me a picture of righteousness.
Erase the scribbles of poor choices made
As you make all things new.
Color us the colors of Jesus, Lord
Gently in love Heaven’s brushes glide.
Compassion and kindness embrace
Weaving grace and truth with love.
-markEmail: mark.gardner@agmd.org

USA snailmail address: Africa Address:
2609 Tyson Ave P.O. Box 2554
Tifton, GA 31794 Swakopmund, Namibia

Donations may be sent to:
A/G World Missions, Account # 2493930
1445 N. Boonville Ave, Springfield, MO 65802-1894

Mark arrives in Namibia

2007-09-22T20:31:00.000+01:00

I arrived in Namibia on August 30th, having left Kim and Breanna in the USA. My desire was to work on walking through some open doors so that we could get our work permits, as well as to scout around for a school for Breanna and for housing. I was also wanting to meet the leaders of the church here and the other missionaries.

God has really blessed and I was able to do much of this and the icing on the cake was a conference on the HOly Spirit. I didn't know about it when I originally planned my trip to Namibia, but it just so happened that it coincided with this conference up in Otjiwarango. It was phenomenal! A whole week of daily workshops on the Holy Spirit and Pentecost, and then in the evenings we had pentecostal services.

What powerful manifestations of the Spirit there were. At one altar call when the speaker was talking I could feel the Spirit of God all over me in such a powerful manner that I couldn't wait to lay hands on the lady in front of me. All I could think about was, "Wow, when I lay pray over this lady, is she gonna get sloshed in the Spirit." I didn't even get a chance to pray for her. The manifestation of the Spirit was so strong that she fell down under the power even before I got a chance to lay hands on her.

A whole bunch of children responded to the altar call, so they said, "Kids, go over to that corner and Pastor Mark will pray for you. When the kids came over I started praying over them and they started going down one after the other. I thought, "Well, you know how kids are. One sees the other one fall down, so they go down." I didn't want it to be someone just copying someone else, and I wanted to make sure that these kids were really getting a hold of God. So the next kid that I prayed for that fell down, I lifted back up and asked him, "Why did you fall down."
The child responded, "Ohhh, it's the Lord."
I said, "The Lord, the Holy Spirit? Do you feel Him?"
The child responded again, motioning in a circular motion on his chest. "Yes, I can feel Him right here!"
I told the boy (about 9 years old), "Listen, this time I'm going to pray for you, but don't fall down. Just stand there and talk to Jesus about how much you love HIm."
As I started praying for the young boy, whoosh, he went down again and you could see him on the ground with his mouth moving, praising the Lord, speaking in tongues.

Then, a woman put her three year old in front of me. "Pray for my daughter too! she said."

I thought, "This kid doesn't have a clue about what's going on. She even looks a little afraid. But, Jesus never turned away any kids, so I'll pray for her."
I went to pray for the child. It was just going to be a "blessing." To put my hand over her and gently touch her head and pray for the Lord's blessing over her life, and the next thing you know, she's swooning around, and then she falls down. I couldn't believe it. I've never seen a child that young get "slain in the Spirit." But when you looked down at her, there was no expression of fear or anxiousness, just peace. Real peace.

Praise the Lord. What grace. What awesome manifestations of the presence of the Holy Spirit! That's definitely worth travelling half way around the world for, following the Lord's leading.

Please Keep in prayer - Monday - meeting with the deputy minister of home affairs of Namibia for our work permits. please pray for grace and favor for the processing of our work permits so that we may move to Namibia. I can only stay here for 90 days on a tourist visa.

Tuesday the 25th of Sept I go to Angola for a couple weeks -Grace, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

Also, please pray for Breanna and Kim who are back in Georgia and have been without me for almost a month now.
Thanks

MONSTER TRUCK OUTING

2007-04-19T22:52:00.000+01:00

Did I mention that I took Breanna out to a MONSTER TRUCK RALLY? You might not see this in my newsletter, but hey, Kim is from Georgia and Breanna has to get a taste of her mother's heritage.

hahhahh.

2007-04-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

Youth Ministry - Besides ministry to children, we've found ourselves involved with a lot of youth ministry as well this time through!

2007-04-19T22:47:00.000+01:00

Here's a group shot of kids from one of the services I was in. Children's ministry is the best! What other ministry gives you the opportunity to have so much fun, aaaaaaaaaannnnd experience awesome outpourings of the Holy Spirit??!!!!!!

2007-04-19T22:43:00.000+01:00

This is my temporary sound studio that I was using to do voice overs for the Speed The Light Video I was working on. It was something else, trying to work on mixing the music through my car speakers and my voice through the headset mic!

Visit to the USA January - March 2007

2007-04-17T03:25:00.000+01:00

NOT PUSHING THE ENVELOPE
The beginning of 2007 found us down in Georgia and Florida, traveling and ministering in churches, schools, and restaurants. Yes; restaurants: and I’m not just talking about Full Gospel French Fries, or laying hands on some Pentecostal Pizza. Often we are invited to speak at Men’s or Women’s breakfasts or luncheons, or in January’s case, to a Biker Club. We take these opportunities, remembering that we’re just the envelope. We simply carry the message. Of course an envelope without a stamp isn’t going far, so we submit whatever message we bring to prayer and the Heavenly Postman puts His stamp of approval on it. We might be the envelope, but only with the Postman’s help it will the message find its way into the heart.

Besides bikers and school kids, we were blessed to be able to help the New Covenant Church of Tifton for a short while as interim youth directors. Usually in December and January there’s not a whole lot of demand for missionary services, so we had a bunch of Wednesdays that were just open. This allowed us to coordinate the Wednesday night youth services as well as do a few outings. It’s been a few years, but Youth Ministry is still a blast! In the times of worship and altar call you can sense the deep love the Father has for teens and how awesome it is to be around the altars with them as the Holy Spirit would touch us with grace and love. But I must admit: as much as I love youth ministry, my body was suffering when it came time to do the snow tubing. The day after, the Spirit was willing, but the flesh was just sore!
How quickly we forget the pain though! I’ve already signed on with the New Jersey District to help out at Jr. High Youth Camp for this summer, right before we plan on heading back to Africa. I want those kids to be able to go home and say, “I got to go to camp with a real missionary and he ate lunch with me and told me cool stories, and (etc.).”
I know that kids and youth camps aren’t the place for missionaries to raise their budgets, but they are places where kids’ lives are forever changed and if one kid ends up serving Christ on the mission field, it’ll all be worth it.
And while I’m traveling around the East Coast these days, Kim is still down in Tifton, helping lead that youth group.
We’re living the Adventure!

Porcupine Quill Society

I was down in Florida, scarfing chalupas at one of Florida’s finest culinary establishments (Taco Bell) with Nicolas, an 8 year old missionary. He wins kids to Christ at his school and his plan is that when he grows up that he’s going to be a missionary overseas. He’s got it ALL planned out: he’s going to be the missionary and his brother’s going to be a millionaire and support him. Sounds like a great plan to me.
Anyways, he asked me, “Missionary, why is it that when the missionaries visit our church, they never come back to talk to us kids in children’s church?”
I asked him if he ever asked the pastor to send a missionary back to speak to the kids in children’s church. “No.” was his response.
“Well, you have not because you ask not.” I said. “You need to go and ask the pastor if a missionary is just doing a 10 minute window with the adults; if he would go back and be with you guys for the rest of children’s church.”Great!” He responded. “My Dad’s the pastor, and I’m going to ask him today!”
The result: The next month I was in his city, back with him and the rest of the kids in his children’s church.
Nicolas has such an evident call on his life for missions, I decided to give him one of my Angolan porcupine quills. I’ve been doing that quite a bit recently and my stock is dwindling.
When I give the quill out, I explain to the child that the quills are the porcupine’s shield. Without those quills he’d be an easy target for any lion. Faith in God’s Word is our shield. One quill represents one Bible verse you’ve memorized. Imagine if the porcupine only had three or four quills sticking out of its back and a couple on its tail. It would be a tasty treat for any predator. Imagine a Christian who only has three or four Bible verses memorized and maybe a couple chorus songs. I’d call that, “Sitting Duck Ministries” – an easy target for the enemy when that person starts sharing Jesus with the lost. That’s why God tells us (Colossians 3:16) to “let the Word of Christ dwell in you RICHLY.” No matter how dangerous the environment is that we are living in; if we are full of God’s Word, we’re safe. Shields are up, nothing’s getting through! When anyone or any devil attacks us, we also respond the way the porcupine does – let the quills do the work – speak or act on God’s Word. Only God’s Word can make the devils flee in pain and cause those people who hurt us to change and ask forgiveness.

2006-07-17T05:01:00.000+01:00

This is a great shot that gives you an idea of how much fun these kids have when you open up a parachute for a game, instead of using the parachute for war! Thanks, Calvary in Lynnfield, Massachusetts
Mark

2006-07-17T04:56:00.000+01:00

Arriving back in the USA, we took a couple days to unwind on the Farmington River!
Mark

2006-07-17T04:54:00.000+01:00

Some kids in Gabela who we had given prizes to. Learning about Jesus should be fun!!! God created the smile - what an amazing artist!
Mark

2006-07-17T04:53:00.000+01:00

Using Yamaha dirtbikes to get the great news about a living Christ, Jesus our Savior to remote mountain villages in the Kwanza Sul mountains of Angola
Mark

2006-07-13T06:33:00.000+01:00

To visit our website online, copy and follow this link:http://ag.org/top/missionary_directory/world/world.cfm?Display=Yes&churchdetail=AGFM01A3
To donate to this ministry online, copy and follow this link:https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/detail.cfm?LedgerID=331751C2-1949-4AC1-B3D8-4044B2EEEBDC

2006-07-13T06:21:00.000+01:00

We all made it back safely to the United States. Thanks for the prayers.

I have been really encouraged recently - something I have always wanted is beginning to happen on a more visible basis -the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Just having come off the field I've been pretty busy trying to get things together and meetings set up. I think because of that, my preaching has been kind of "raggedy," rough and not well polished.

Several times after I finished preaching I actually thought, "Wow, I really bombed." But in the kindness and the grace of God, He has made up for my frail homilies by touching and speaking to people's hearts during my rantings. People come up to me in tears after the sermon and say, "Oh missionary, God just soooo spoke to my heart during your message. Thank you so much for coming here today. There was such a powerful anointing on that message."

I know that there is no excuse for a poorly prepared sermon, but I also know what it's like to have a VERY well polished sermon and deliver it passionately and still see people sitting about as moved as Ohio roadkill. How deeply I long for the company of the Spirit in ministry - that people would be genuinely moved in their spirits, and not just in their emotions.

Preaching, which used to be so difficult for me, so horrible because of how sickly nervous I would get has become a joy because at times when the Holy Spirit is ministering with me, it feels like I'm just soaring with Him. Altar ministry is so wonderful because in those times of prayer He shows up and speaks. The primary reason we are moving from Angola to Namibia next year is for the love of the Holy Spirit. I am nowhere near being being able to compare myself with anyone so great as Kathyrn Kuhlman, but I am beginning to understand why she had this great fear of going before a crowd and not having the person of the Holy Spirit come in the way He used to manifest Himself. Once you've got that; it's everything.

We'll be in Missouri at School of Missions for a couple more weeks, and then the first week of August we'll be in Michigan as the Camp Missionaries for the Elijah Kids' Camp. After that, we've got a couple weeks that are open where we will be looking for churches to book services, and then I'll head back to Western New York and Pennsylvania while Kim and Breanna head back down to Georgia.

Thanks for keeping us in prayer during our travels. My prayer is that this precious anointing God has given as a gift would be cherished and protected - it is so valuable.

Thanks be to Jesus who purchased us with His blood, and through His blood gives us access to His kingdom and all the wonders therein!

Motocross Evangelism in the Mountains of Kwanza Sul

2006-05-28T22:22:00.000+01:00

I’ve just returned from what I consider THEE most fun evangelism I’ve ever done in my life. It was our last ministry outing before having to leave Angola on furlough and what a great way to go out. Here’s what we did….. We packed up our sound equipment, film projection unit, tents, food, and motorcycles and drove 8 hours out into the mountains of Kwanza Sul. After spending the night in the basement of the church in Ndalatanga, we put the Land Cruiser in four wheel drive and drove as far as we could on what almost resembled a road. When we got to the remote village of Cadaa we parked next to the church and unpacked. After getting everything set up, I strapped on my Seabag (my 24 yr. old Navy issue backpack) filled with puppets, balls, Frisbees and other fun stuff, and we (An Angolan pastor and myself) took off down one of the mountain trails. We visited several villages in the mountains and shared the gospel, but let me tell you about one village that stands out the most in my mind. It was one of the furthest ones that we went to, and just getting there was quite an adventure - having to cross a large brook and go up a hill so steep the bikes almost didn’t make it. When we entered the village I saw some grass being thrown up into the air on the far side and went to investigate. There were a group of kids there who were playing in the fresh cut grass, just having fun. Being that I was the first white person many of them had ever seen, their attention was immediately captured. I took out the Frisbees and the balls and started playing with them. After playing for about a half an hour, there were all sorts of villagers who gathered out of curiosity. With the gathering of so many people to observe the strange white guy, the children started feeling apprehensive about playing. It was then that I decided it would be a good time to put the games away and share the gospel. I pulled out the pictures that I had brought and told the story about how God so loved us that He sent His Son into the world to save us from our sins. Isaac (the Angolan pastor who accompanied me) and I shared with the crowd about the salvation that God has given us because He loves us so much. We gave an altar call and about a dozen people responded. First we prayed with them for the forgiveness of their sins and repentance; and then we explained to them that because their hearts were now clean, the Holy Spirit would come in and give them power to live for Christ and not return to their sins. As we layed hands on them and prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit, you could actually see the changes in their countenance as God did a work in their lives. Later that day when we were back setting up the Jesus film at the church a couple of the youth who had prayed with us in the mountain village showed up. They said, “When you came and shared Jesus with us we were still kind of drunk, but the Holy Spirit came and touched us and now we want to just follow Jesus.” I asked them if they were going to stay for the Jesus film, but they said that they had to make it back to their village because it was getting dark. They had walked the 15 kilometers just to ask for Bibles. Fortunately we had a box of Bibles that was provided by Light For The Lost and we gave them some so that they could start a Bible study in their village. We shared the gospel in several other villages, but seeing those two teenage guys who were so sincere and had walked all that way because they were hungry for God was what touched my heart the most. I’m sincerely grateful for all those who were praying for our safety during this trip. On one night we didn’t have the two cars available and I had to ride the motorcycle out of the mountains in the cold, misting rain. In the mountains those wet rocks get pretty slippery and to complicate matters, the battery on the motorcycle went dead. I only had good light when I was revving the engine, so I had to keep my speed up. It was almost like a real life video game on "Expert" level. It wouldn’t have been much fun to have fallen and broken a leg, but your prayers kept us safe. Our intercessors made the trip not only fun, but really impacting for people in those mountain villages who would have never heard the GREAT NEWS of the manifestation of the love of God in the story and the person of Jesus Christ. In closing, allow me to once again ask for your prayers: 1) We have felt the Lord’s direction for us to move to Namibia after our furlough. The wonderful workings and leadings of the Spirit to provoke this decision I will write about another time. It’s a whole chapter. Pray for the Spirit’s guidance in our preparations. 2)Handing over ministry after many years of labor is difficult, even to capable hands. Please pray for grace in the transition. 3)I’ll be flying back to the States this coming Tuesday and seek God’s grace during my travels. 4)Please pray for Breanna as she is eleven years old and is being baptized into a culture she is completely unfamiliar with. May Jesus continue to be her best friend and the most important in her life. 5)Kim needs your prayers as well. She returned to the States a week ago so she could start getting everything set up for our visiting the churches. May we do what is pleasing in the Lord’s sight and find favor. 6)Most important, greater yieldedness to the person of the Holy Spirit

2006-04-07T20:33:00.000+01:00

This is the phone tower after Navy tore three quarters of it down. We'll straighten this last part out and probably make a guard tower out of it.
Mark

2006-04-06T22:12:00.000+01:00

The generator turbine that burnt up
Mark

2006-04-06T22:10:00.001+01:00

The backside of the student dormitory
Mark

2006-04-06T22:10:00.000+01:00

The dorm room where the fire started Electrical short and a room full of mattresses being stored
Mark

2006-04-06T22:09:00.000+01:00

The lonely motorcycle wants to go to those mountain villages to share Christ where the 4X4 vehicles can't go
Mark

April in Angola

2006-04-06T21:49:00.000+01:00

Dynabyte April 2006

This month’s newsletter finds our missionaries basking in the warm glow of Angola’s sunny climate once again without electricity. If it weren’t for laptop batteries this newsletter would be arriving there at the end of the month, instead of the beginning.

Here’s what’s been happening on this side of the world:

USS EMORY S. LAND SAILORS VISIT MISSION
This U.S. Naval vessel, a “Submarine Tender,” has been a great help to us A/G missionaries. First they helped Gary and Jan Dickinson up in the Congo with some projects there, and then they came down to Luanda and helped us here.
This is no small thing. There hasn’t been a U.S. military vessel in an Angolan port for over 33 years because of the poor relationship between the U.S. and Angola. So, during this historic visit, for the Navy to choose to make us one of their community relations outreaches, it was a major blessing!
They helped work on the Activities Court that we’re building for handicapped children
They took our bathroom in the Children’s Ministries Training Center and made it handicap accessible
They cut down the “Tower of Terror,” that monstrosity of a health hazard that we had built several years ago for our telephones (and former home of the killer bees)
And,
They tried to help us get our burnt up generator going again.

On Saturday of last week we ran a big activity for the kids and had about 45 sailors out here helping us for that. It was great – we set up a big waterslide for the kids, ran games like volleyball and hand soccer, and did crafts before enjoying a nice, big lunch. The kids absolutely loved the sailors who came out and I believe that God seriously touched the hearts of the sailors who paired up with the kids. The kids’ choir in turn sang for the sailors,
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, my brother, run to Jesus.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry, my brother, run to Jesus.
“Hurry, hurry, my brother, Jesus Christ, calls you
“Don’t waste time now, Jesus is calls you.”
And
“Move in me, Holy Spirit, move in me.
Take my mind and my heart; I put my life into Your hands,
Move in me, Holy Spirit, move in me.”

The love of Christ was demonstrated in great ways and both the sailors and the kids were impacted in such a way that they’ll remember it for the rest of their lives.

On the lighter side, something I’ll remember for the rest of my life was the Sunday morning service which followed the activity. I had to preach in a remote church in Capiri. There was a miscommunication and the pastor thought that I would be bringing a group of sailors out to visit, so they prepared, “Ginginga,” a special dish as the main course.
When they placed it on my plate, the pastor asked me, “Do you know what that is?”
I replied, “It looks like GOAT GENITALIA.”
He responded, “Yup, certainly not a food for children.”
I thought, “YEAAAHH, not a food for children or missionaries. Or any person for that matter. What a horrid sin against the entire male species!”

What do you do in a case like this?
First, Pray to God for a Word of Wisdom.
Second, look at what else is on the table and load up your plate with that stuff.
Third, eat the stuff until you’re full and can’t eat any more, and then with a great look of remorse declare, “Oh my eyes were so much bigger than my stomach! How unfortunate that I have absolutely no more room for this wonderful delicacy.”

Then, if your host seems put out in any way, ask that you might be able to take the culinary wonder home to share with your family. When you get home, give it to the dog. Is he not part of your family?

BIG FIRE AT BIBLE SCHOOL
Please be in prayer for the Assemblies of God Bible School here in Luanda. Yesterday as I was at home the Bible School Director pulled up in his car and asked if I had a fire extinguisher to put out a fire in the school. I told him that I had one in my car and I’d get it for him, and that was when I saw the huge plume of black smoke coming from the Bible School. I gave him my extinguisher and then I quickly gathered up every other extinguisher I could get my hands on from the houses and vehicles and drove up to the school. When I saw the inferno I realized that our little extinguishers weren’t going to cut it.
It was total mayhem. A few people were running back and forth with buckets, some running into rooms to retrieve personal effects, but most people were just standing, watching the student dorm rooms burn down. I saw some hoses on the ground, but nobody using them.
“Why isn’t anyone using these hoses?” I asked.
“There’s no water pressure.” The students responded. I followed the hoses to the spigots and they weren’t attached. “Of course there’s no pressure, the hoses aren’t attached. Why aren’t they attached?”
“They’re too big for the faucets.”
I grabbed a couple workers, “Go get some strips of rubber fast, and let’s attach these hoses!”
Within about 15 minutes we had the fires under control and then 10 minutes later when the fire was completely out, the fire company showed up. We saved about two thirds of the dorms, but as you can see on the pictures at our website, the damage was quite considerable.
Upon investigation, it was determined that the fire was caused by an electrical short in a room where mattresses were being stored. By the grace of God, nobody got injured or killed and we were able to put the fire out and not lose all the dorm rooms.

3. MINISTRY IN THE SPIRIT
A woman came to my office on Saturday wanting to work directly with me on the weekends in children's ministries, and the Holy Spirit opened up her life before me. I perceived that the primary reason she came to work with me wasn't to learn children's ministries, but to revive her life spiritually. Her experience had been that she had felt the manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit most while she was ministering to children, and was most happy during this time. As time went on she felt less and less of the manifestation of the Spirit's presence and was becoming dry. Unhappy.
Her real reason for visiting and wanting to work with us was therefore based on her desire to recapture that happiness, that joy and presence of the Holy Spirit in her life again. When I declared this to her, she broke down and confessed that it was true.
So I told her that this was not bad or anything to be ashamed of, for the Word says that we are supposed to seek first the Kingdom of God.
The Lord then showed me a mind picture of a bird in the nest that was waiting for the mother to come and give food. This was the type of relationship the woman had with God. A life of the Spirit coming and going. God however, wants us to be able to leave our spiritual infancy and abide with Him. A life that has a continued focus to practicing His presence, disciplining one’s attention towards constant prayer, attentive to His voice. Easier said then done obviously, and only accomplished through brokenness. Touch and go is good, but as we grow the spirit yearns for more, and that’s when we begin to realize how much that treasure (Matt 13:44) really costs.

4. WHAT’S NOT HAPPENING

Here’s what’s not been happening: This week we were supposed to take some motorcycles into the mountains of Gabela to share the gospel with people in remote mountain villages, however, my guide, Pastor Isaac called the night before we were supposed to leave and told me that his wife was having labor pains and that we couldn’t go.
This desire to share the gospel in these remote mountain villages has been thwarted for so long now. Each time we plan the trip, something breaks down or a physical ailment causes us to delay our plans. I’m to leave for the U.S. for furlough this summer and time is running out. Sooooo…

PLEASE PRAY FOR
God’s help to do this “MOTO-EVANGELISM”
Help for the Bible School to rebuild the student dorms
Financial Grace to get a generator for the missions compound
Guidance in setting up services for our upcoming furlough
and most important, greater yieldedness to the person of the Holy Spirit

2006-02-25T20:23:00.000+01:00

Mark feeding a Giraffe!
Mark

2006-02-25T20:19:00.000+01:00

After Kim preached at a women's ministries gathering, they brushed her off with their hankerchiefs, wiped down her shoes and sprayed her with perfume in true Bakongo tradition.
Mark

Cobra, Cobra!!! A "Faster than Folgers" wake up call!

2006-02-25T20:01:00.000+01:00

It’s Saturday and we just finished another morning with the developmentally disabled children’s choir. “Developmentally Disabled” is the politically correct term nowadays for handicapped. You could say, “physically challenged” as well, but I don’t normally use that word because ever since I hit 40 and put on that extra 15 pounds I seem to be pretty physically challenged myself. Sometimes just getting out of bed is physically challenging.

Anyways, we’re seeing new faces each Saturday as the Lord just keeps sending more kids in. We’ve got a choir of about 40 kids now, but I think only about 20 of them would really be ready to sing in a performance. That’s ok though, our purpose isn’t really to “perform,” but to provide them a place where they can feel God’s presence, learn about how God sees them, and feel part of a peer group where they aren’t looked down upon, but are equal.

The greater number means more mouths to feed as well. Kim was asking how they were going to continue feeding all the kids after we leave on furlough. It’s costing almost $50.00 each practice for light snacks as it is. I don’t know at this point, but I’m so convinced that what we’re doing is so pleasing to the Lord that He will provide.

It was a good morning and a good time of singing. Better start than yesterday, that’s for sure. Yesterday I was awakened to: “Daddy, daddy, get up, quick! There’s a cobra in the yard. Hurry! It’s a spitting cobra.

I jumped out of that bed and ran outside, grabbing a shovel on the way. What I saw was even more shocking than how I was awakened. There was Kim out there, about 6 feet away from the snake, throwing rocks at it, trying to kill the thing. By the time I got there, she had just about knocked the thing senseless, so it took very little effort on my part to finish it off. As bad as she had pummeled it, I think I’d call my part a “mercy killing.”
I asked her, “What in the world are you doing, taking on a cobra?” and she responded, “You think I’m gonna let that thing loose in our yard?”

Now, that’s the difference between a woman who’s been if Africa 7 months, and one who’s been here for 7 years. Donna (our neighbor) is just as bad. She’s keeping it in a jar for her kids’ science project - dissect a spitting cobra.

Our travel plans to Malange, Ndalatango, and other cities in the provinces have been blocked right now and this is a really important prayer concern.

The reason we can’t travel is because the generator on our campus burnt up and to leave our houses empty without security lighting would be an open invitation for thieves to have their way. Already, someone has stolen about 250 gallons of gas from our storage tanks before we were able to weld a locking mechanism on the tank to lock up the remainder of our fuel.

A new generator here for the 3 houses would cost $20,000.00. So far, $8000.00 has been raised. Please pray on this one. Without this generator we can’t go into the provinces to reach the lost and it is dangerous at night.
If your heart is touched by this, and you want to respond, please let me know. Once again, we leave on furlough in May and we were planning on using these last months to travel around and do ministry in the provinces. Without a working generator here to keep our families safe, we’re stuck in Luanda.

To visit our website online, copy and follow this link:
http://ag.org/top/missionary_directory/world/world.cfm?Display=Yes&churchdetail=AGFM01A3

To donate to this ministry online, copy and follow this link:
https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/detail.cfm?LedgerID=331751C2-1949-4AC1-B3D8-4044B2EEEBDC

Back from Namibia

2006-02-01T14:53:00.000+01:00

Well, it's the beginning of February and we're back from Namibia. About 50 hours of driving, whoah! The trip down wasn't so bad. We stopped along the way to minister to children at the Teen Challenge Center in Benguela, and then we stayed almost a week in Lubongo, training leaders in children's ministries and distributing resources (puppets, books, etc.)

Then, we went down to Namibia and spent almost another week in Otjiwarango where we did a Children's Christmas Festival for the local children. It was great. God spoke to people's hearts to give to our ministry, so we were able to really able to do it up right, buying bicycles and cd diskmans as prizes, doing lots of fun games, and some great crafts. The programs we did spoke about the gifts that God gives us. The best gift, His Son, and also the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The drive going down wasn't so bad because it was broken up, but the drive back we did just about straight through and it was a killer. The last day I just couldn't drive any further. I got so sick we had to stop and I just laid down. I know people were praying for me because after about 2 hours, all the symptoms went away and I felt fine and was able to drive the rest of the way. I do appreciate Brother Paul for taking the wheel those two hours that I was out.

My knee is getting better. Slowly but surely. I opted out of the surgery, trusting God for a slow, but complete healing.
Thanks for your continued prayers over this.

Next week we go into Kwanza North and up into Malange to put in a church foundation, as well as to do children's ministry workshops, preach, and show the Jesus film. Next Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Thanks for keeping us in prayer.

-Mark

2005-08-28T23:39:00.000+01:00

Our puppet personality contest produced some amazing results!
Mark

2005-08-28T23:21:00.000+01:00

Over 100 churches were represented from all over the country and each delegate received a Certificate
Mark

2005-08-28T23:18:00.000+01:00

ALL SMILES WITH THE NEW PUPPETS
Mark

August Dynabyte with Margburg testimony

2005-08-28T22:57:00.000+01:00

What a great month this has been! It's had its challenges for sure, but I think we've made a greater impact for Children's ministries in Angola this month than any other.

We had a team come in from Calvary Christian Church in Massachusetts and they were such a blessing. They brought lots of great children's ministries resources and shared and showed us new ways to share the gospel, and they caught it all on film! While here, they trained Book of Hope teams, put on the Children's Ministries Expo. 2005, impacted the Angolan Assemblies of God National Convention, and drove up into the mountains to minister in Quilemba, South Kwanza. It just seemed like we kept picking up speed and intensity as the activities progressed.

The Expo. was a smashing success. We had a good turnout of children's ministries leaders from all over the country, most of them being from the Assemblies of God, but with other churches represented as well. And we didn't pull any punches either - we started right off with casting our vision of "Pentecostal Ministry Produces Pentecostal Kids." We shared from the Bible a foundation for Spirit-filled children's ministries, and shared a historical perspective as well, following that up with a great video segment of kids getting filled with the Spirit (IF ANYONE HAS SOME MORE VIDEO OR DVDs OF KIDS GETTING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OR BEING USED IN THE GIFTS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW).
After the video, we opened it up for people to give personal testimonies of experiences where they saw kids filled with the Spirit or used in the gifts of the Spirit.

The first guy who shared stood up and said, "Missionary Mark came to our church and shared this thing about kids getting filled with the Spirit and it was all new to us. We said, "Let's try it out and see if it works," and so we did a retreat. At our retreat we had times of worship and prayer and God started pouring out His Spirit on the kids. It was great, kids getting filled, even speaking in tongues. We're really blessed."
Another fellow stood up and shared about how when he was 8 years old how he influenced his parents to go to church and they got saved. God used him to lead his parents to Christ at 8 years old.
I applauded this testimony, but asked that we could keep it on track and only those share who had a testimony of a child getting filled with the Spirit, or being used in the gifts of the Spirit.
This time a Sister gets up and comes to the front to testify. She says that she went to her sister's house and while she was there, her 6 yr old nephew went into the restroom to relieve himself. He was in there for quite a while, but when he finally came out, he was so jubilant, happily praising God. She asked him why he was all excited. He responded:
"Tia, I went in to the potty and made a poo. I tried to flush it down, but it wouldn't go. I tried to flush it down a second time, but it still wouldn't go. So I got really upset and said, 'In the name of Jesus!' and I flushed that toilet again. Praise the Lord - that poo went down."

Wow. How do you respond to a testimony like that. The person who just gave it smiles and looks to you for approval, affirmation. The hundred and some participants are still trying to figure out if they just heard what they actually think they heard. And now you have to perform some kind of Evil Knievel verbal gymnastic to try to tie things together and move on.
"Sai, demonio Sai!" I responded, which in portuguese kind of means, "Get that devil out of there."
... and we moved on.

I would say that the vast majority of participants caught a new vision for children's ministries. Hopefully it wasn't too twisted because of some of the interesting input that we received. Everyone received a syllabus, a new puppet, a Children's Ministries Program Manual, and 3 meals. It was a lot of work, and we received a lot of support from our team from Massachusetts, Christian Life Church in Kensington, Connecticut (thanks Dolly!), Africa's Children, and BGMC. Thanks so much to everyone!

On the tail of the Exposition was the National Convention of the Assemblies of God of Angola. The Superintendent of the A/G had cancelled all guest speakers because the Convention was just going to deal with revisions to the Constitution and Bylaws of the church. At the last moment the Superintendent asked if Pastor Paul Conway (the leader of our visiting team) could preach in each of the morning sessions to all the ministers gathered from all over the country. Pastor Paul preached Children's Ministries, emphasizing the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of children - that kids can be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. This was very significant because the constitution of the church here says that a child cannot be baptized until they are at least 15 years old. The rationale being that they didn't believe a child had the mental capacity to understand the gospel. Pastor Paul's preaching combined with the Exposition to produce a paradigm shift in the church, and now the leaders have asked me to reproduce the video that I showed of children praying in the Spirit, to send out to all the churches so as to be able facilitate more easily a change in the Constitution.
God's orchestrating some great things here!

Another interesting note was hearing about THE EFFECT OF THE MARBURG VIRUS ON THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD CHURCH IN UIGE. During the Convention, I spoke with Pastor Menga of the A/G church in Uige and he told me that even though people were dying all around them, that not one person in the Assemblies of God church lost their life due to the Marburg Virus. Several women (Albertina Daniel, Lusolo Isabel) did catch the virus and were vomiting blood and had diarrhea with blood, however, the church had an all night prayer meeting and the women were miraculously healed. God is greater and there is power that is released through travailing, prevailing prayer.

After the Convention we took the team to Gabela for several days of Children's Ministries. We played games with the kids, painted faces, showed movies (Jesus film, the Miracle Maker, The Cross and the Switchblade), did puppets, object lessons, stories, altar calls - even pulled out a big, 30 foot, multicolored parachute that the team brought for the kids to play with. So much, and these kids lives have been impacted for eternity.

Some of the stuff that the team brought over didn't work too well, but even that was a blessing. The mixture of dish detergent and karo syrup with water to make big soap bubbles didn't work, but that's fine with me. Now Kim will be able to use that Karo syrup to make some PECAN PIE! Oh yeah, nothing is wasted! Missionaries Joel and Adrienne are working on trying to discover a new formula for bubblemaking here that could substitute the karo syrup for something else. Hey, maybe I'll ask someone to bring over some marshmallow fluff to try out in the mixture. If that doesn't work, I haven't had a "Fluffernutter" in ages! Maybe even A&W rootbeer too!

I'm still hearing positive reports from our ministry to Namibia. While there we taught on "Deeper Life Children's Ministries." The church caught a vision for Spirit Filled children's ministries and at the latest retreat there were children who were filled with the Holy Spirit, called into ministry, and experienced visions of the passion of Christ. I'm telling you, God's getting ready to rip it wide open in Namibia. oooooh chihuahua! This is just the beginning!

UPCOMING EVENTS

- Missionary Carl Gibbs arrives this weekend to help us teach Bible classes at the Bible School.
- Kim flies to Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday to attend a seminar on Equipping the National Church to deal with the AIDS crisis.
(putting two and two together, you can see that I will be left at home to take care of our guest. That includes cooking. Please pray for the health of our guest, as well as travelling mercies for Kim)
- A team of Physiotherapists with A/G Healthcare ministries arrives on Sept 11 to help with ministry to the handicapped children.

- FURLOUGH! We're starting to plan our furlough - coming home next year. I'll be starting to set up my services over the next few months. Please pray for divine guidance in this.

That's all for now folks! Thanks for praying for us and keeping us going. We wouldn't be here if you weren't there. Simple, but profound.

May the Lord bless you with a peaceful, really good night's sleep tonight,
Mark, Kim, and Breanna

Back in Luanda

2005-06-27T12:27:00.000+01:00

Well, we made it back to Luanda. After 35 hours of driving, getting lost for about 10 hours, crossing a couple rivers and spending a couple nights in the car.
It was worth it though. At least we didn't get shipwrecked, beaten, or thrown into prison like Paul.
Since getting back we've done two activities with the handicapped children, shown the Jesus film, the Cross and the Switchblade and done a Family Festival in one of the churches on the outskirts of the city.

Pray for us now. We've approached the U.S. embassy about funding a vocational school for streetgirls of Luanda, and the Samuel Foundation is considering funding the building of a group home for them.
Also, in August we have our big children's ministries exposition with a team of children's ministries specialists coming in from Massachusetts to help.
September we have a healthcare ministries team coming in to help us minister to handicapped children in the provinces, as well as their families.

In July we're hoping to receive a couple teachers from the states to teach upper level pastor's courses and we also want to take the motorcycles out into the mountains of Gabela to reach some mountain villages (where cars can't go). Everyone should have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus at least once!

2005-05-25T16:28:00.000+01:00

HI there,
We're in Swakamund today. We'll be heading to Windhoek on Friday.

We've got a couple days to relax here. We've gone camel riding, quad riding in the desert, and tomorrow we plan on going to see some dolphins.
What a nice relaxing break this is!
-Mark

2005-05-25T16:27:00.000+01:00

VBS worship time
Mark

2005-05-25T16:26:00.000+01:00

Whose side are you Spinning on!?!! A song from the VBS we did in Otchivarango
Mark

2005-05-25T16:24:00.000+01:00

Here's some elephants we saw, going to a waterhole
Mark

2005-05-25T16:23:00.000+01:00

Here's a Springbok at Etosha in Namibia
Mark

2005-05-25T16:21:00.001+01:00

Here's Breanna with a few "Pumbas"
Mark

2005-05-25T16:21:00.000+01:00

Here's one that passed right next to our car
Mark

Our trip to Namibia

2005-05-15T20:52:00.000+01:00

We are in Namibia today. We go to Etosha tomorrow