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
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
MONSTER TRUCK OUTING
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.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Visit to the USA January - March 2007
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.
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.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Thursday, July 13, 2006
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
To donate to this ministry online, copy and follow this link:https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/detail.cfm?LedgerID=331751C2-1949-4AC1-B3D8-4044B2EEEBDC
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!
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!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Motocross Evangelism in the Mountains of Kwanza Sul
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
Friday, April 07, 2006
Thursday, April 06, 2006
April in Angola
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
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
Saturday, February 25, 2006
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