Youth Choir Mission San Antonio

This was the first full day of working on the field in San Antonio. Our church host, Baptist Temple of San Antonio provided wonderful work experiences for our students, both on the church grounds, and with some of their members who needed a helping hand and a kind word and the encouragement of a visit in their home. Our students were touched by the needs that they saw, and the way their work and their visits were encouragement to other believers. We look forward to worshiping with the church family at Baptist Temple on Sunday. Tomorrow night we have our first concert. We will sing a pregame concert at the San Antonio Missions baseball game. We are excited to proclaim the name of Jesus in song before so many people, and to have the chance to visit with them during the game. Continue to pray for us as we go. Everyone is a little tired tonight, and we need to keep our strength as we are getting to the busy singing days of our trip. The Lord has been mighty and we trust Him to bring a great harvest as we sing and share His word.

Amazing Trip Thus Far

We have had quite an adventurous trip! Unfortunately, we have had some security issues since we have been here and will be unable to post any pics or give much detail of our work and progress. Rest assure nothing is dangerous, but we want to protect the ability of our hosts to continue their work.

Our work thus far has gone great and God is working in incredible ways! We have some pretty awesome stories of God's provision to tell when we get home. Please continue to fervently pray. There seems to be much spiritual warfare surrounding this trip. God is good!

March 2012 North Africa Team

The mission team made it safely to their destination in North Africa.  They will rest up tonight and then begin working in the village for the next 3 days.  Pray as they work on the "greenhouse projects" that God will open many doors and opportunities of witness as they share the love of Jesus with the villagers.

Mission Trips for 2012

The following is a list of mission opportunities for 2012.

North Africa:  March (team is full)   and November.
    Men will be hiking through small villages sharing the Gospel
    There will also be opportunities for light construction.
    The ladies will have opportunities to share in homes.

Belize: June
     Youth trip involving VBS and light construction. 
     Contact person - Brian Burchfield - 273.2105

St. George Utah: June 22-30
      Day camp in the park. Light construction
      Working with our partnership church in St. George

Quito, Ecuador: July 16-23
      Medical Ministry Team
      Providing medical care and sharing Christ alongside
      our partnership churches in Quito

 Quito, Ecuador: July 23-30
      Orphan Ministry Team
      Sharing with children in orphanages.

Sturgis, South Dakota:  August 3-11
      Motorcycle Ministry Team
      Front-line Evangelism with fellow FaithRiders

Arabian Peninsula:  November
     Marketplace evangelism.
     


If you feel God is calling you to serve on a mission team to one of these places either contact Mark Wright 273.2105 or go by the mission display in the foyer and pick up a mission trip application.  Everyone can participate in missions by praying and giving to support others if you are unable to go.

Friday in the AP

Friday is a holy day here in the AP. We spent the morning at A's apartment with our team, the workers and several other families who live here in this country. I got a chance to lead the group in some praise and worship, then we shared the Word together. Joshua the 16 year old son of R and K led out in the study of the Word. It was such a joy to be able to worship in a place that is covered in the darkness of Islam. We had to cover all the windows so that no one from the outside could see what we were doing inside. How often do we take our own worship for granted? In America we have total religious freedom. We closed the service by dividing into groups and sharing prayer requests.
Today (Saturday) we will return home. Before we leave we have a few hours to hopefully engage a few more people. J had a chance to share with a lady this morning as she had her hands done in henna. As I post this blog, the B's are having lunch with Mohamed, a man who works at the souk. They are excited about the opportunity to share the Truth with him.
This morning while on my run by the beach, I had a chance to briefly share with a man named Amin. Pray that God would open the eyes of Mohamed, Amin, the henna lady at the salon, and so many others that we have connected with this week.
Pray for our journey home and for all the flight connections to be made. We should arrive back in OK around 5:30 pm Sunday.
Mark

Another day in the AP

Great day of sharing today. All three teams went out to the malls, coffee shops and souks to share the message. I had the chance to share with Mubarak in a Borders book store. He was a nominal Muslim who spoke only a little English. I was able to share a verse of scripture with him on my iPhone using the YouVersion in Arabic. I shared I Tim. 2:5 "There is one God and one Mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus who gave his life a ransom for all people"
He was intrigued by this verse and that he could read the NT in his own language. He said he had read some of the NT before.
We also had a chance to share the 5 min video with several people today, one man I shared with said that he liked the story and wanted more stories so He allowed me to download to him another one that had the story of Abraham and the sacrifice of his son which coincides with the festival that they celebrate this time of year.
The B team is having great success in doors being opened because of  their baby girl who is on the trip. They have received a couple of invitations to meet people in their homes as well as just making great discussion starters. She hasn't cried a bit since we left home and the people here can not resist her charm.
Lisa and Cheryl are busy visiting and sharing in the local markets along with our own "A" who is serving here in the AP.
Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to have a time of worship with all our team and the workers here at A's apartment. It is always a special treat to worship alongside those who are on the front line of sharing the good news in this part of the world.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Mark

North Africa team- "The Moon"

We had a great day in the village today! All six members of our team traveled together to this very remote village to serve today. The women even had to get up early to dress in the traditional tamlahaffs that the women of the village wear.

We took more than 60 first aid kits and shared with them some basic tips on how to control bleeding and treat common ailments such as headaches, digestive issues, etc. We also discussed some basic hygiene practices like tooth brushing and hand washing that can significantly improve their quality of life. As you can see from the picture below, we took the first of 100 blankets that we will distribute tomorrow. We simply didn't have room for them all at once on top of the vehicle!

They were very gracious and loving people, and even asked specifically about past team members such as Todd and Sammy; and expressed a desire to see them again and for us to wish them and their families well. They then fed us a delicious lunch of goat skewers and traditional tagines! Opinions among the team varied greatly on how good goat is, but I loved it!

We will return to "The Moon" tomorrow to deliver more blankets and to view the progress of their new garden (which our previous IBC team built a fence around) and to see the new well! Thanks again for your continued prayers and support!

-Craig