A Vision For An Orphanage Continues...

God's call for us to build an orphanage in Liberia continues moving forward! Today, we traveled to the new orphanage site and admired not only the beauty of the country side surrounding the orphanage, but also the buildings! The work is great.  Here in this picture is our full team. Starting from Left and going right: Mike Jenkins, Abraham Cole, David Burns, Mike Foday, Joseph, Casey Watts, Aaron, Josh Jenkins and Gene Ethridge.

This  is the mai n building where the children will live. In this building there are bathrooms with commodes, showers and sinks.

There are living quarters for the workers, a food storage area beside the kitchen, even a place where we can stay on future trips. The floors are complete, the walls are done and the roof is one! Only a few things remain, such as the installation of the septic tank and the ceiling, and some small things. It appears that the orphanage may be completed in three months. So in three months, we expect another team from our church to come over to dedicate the orphanage to the LORD'S work.

Josh is doing a great job filming our trip. He took great video of the orphanage progress. One night, Josh filmed Mike preaching and Josh was getting eaten up by mosquitoes because he didn't have a hand free to swat them with. Speak of mosquitoes, they are relentless and especially at night. When we see one in our rooms, we follow it until we can kill it. Mike killed one on my back tonight just in time, before it had time to bite.  And pastor Cole's malaria symptoms are improving with medication.

Today, due to unexpected traffic delays and due to how hot it was, we did have one of our American team members become too hot. After we saw that his condition was not improving, we took him in the evening to a hotel that has air conditioning and gave him a Sprite with ice. After several hours in the AC he began to improve. However, we made him stay all night in room with AC with another team member at the hotel. The rest of us continue staying in the compound where there is no AC and no air moving at night. It is extremely difficult to manage the heat. Today, we failed to take enough water. It is a challenge to stay hydrated. Please pray that our hot team member will feel much better today to continue his work he was called to do.

It is a challenge to update the blog due to Internet connections. We have to walk around the city to find one, and usually they are very slow connections. We cannot upload sound or videos yet because of how slow the speed is.

While at the orphanage today, we walked down to the "creek" to see how there is water that could be used either for agriculture or fishing. After watching an African brother turn a rag into a hat, I did the same thing. The land owner has agreed to give pastor Cole a plot of land to be used for agriculture. This will really help the orphanage so much.

After we visited the orphanage, we then share the gospel with people in the area known as Brewersville. I ministered with Jeff Hashbarger from hut to hut and he was powerfully used by the LORD. In one particular home, he presented the gospel to a muslim and really turn the lady's heart toward Jesus! AMEN!

Also while sharing we ran into another ordained pastor name David. So here's a picture of two pastors named David.

Well it is my turn to share a little and I want to talk about the new orphanage. It so much bigger than I imagined!! When I was last here it was a barron land and now you can see it all coming together. The children will be able to have a boys and a girls sleeping quarters along with seperate showers and toilets. This is all in door plumbing and it is well constructed. We were able to see where the play yard will be and where the chickens and goats will be kept. After viewing the fenced in area we walked down by the creek (David and  Pastor Cole are standing above) ,and saw where the vegetable garden (Diane) is going to be planted. Once we were done the that was when we were able to go and share the gospel with the village that surounds the orphanage. This was a wonderful ministry time and Ipray that the seed that was scattered landed on fertile ground. Well that is all for now but Sunday we have church and we plan on relaxing the rest of the day before hitting the ground running on Monday. I love you my bride and I miss you much. Thanks for the sacrifice you are making while I am sharing the gospel. Cora I love you. Grace I love you and give the crabster a big hug and kiss!!! Goodbye for now.  Jeff.

Greetings from Liberia from Gene.  I thank you for your prayers in my time of need.  Without your prayers I would not have been able to get this far.   Thank You,Thank You.    Liberia is a beautiful country but the people are even MORE beautiful.   Friday We checked out the NEW Children's Home and it is AWEsome and will be such a blessing for OUR special kids.  Thursday we visited the present children's home and I must say that nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced.  They now live in a place that I would not allow my dog to live in.   We have the NEW children's home 99% completed and we MUST  put in the septic tank and the ceiling tile and get OUR kids in this new building.  Pastor Cole and Foday are very special brothers.  As for me, I just got to much very hot sun but with your continued prayers all will be fine.  Too my wonderful wife,  Thank you for helping me make this trip and I have SO much to share with you when I see you at home.  I Love You and miss you.  See you soon.   Gene

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risks, Warnings & The Great Commission

We have our Visas!!

The US State Department currently says this about traveling to Liberia: "WARNING: Currently, the US State Department strongly urges American citizens to consider the risks of traveling to Liberia. Current economic hardship is causing sporadic violence. Foreigners, particularly Americans and other Westerners, are at high risk for robbery. Non-essential travel to Liberia is discouraged at this time, although the security situation has eased after the election of the current president."

Hum...non-essential travel? The way I see it, all travel related to sharing the Good News of Jesus, rescuing those who are perishing in the depths of sin, headed for hell, living a defeated life of sin and hopeless...our trip is essential travel! Fulfilling the Great Commission is essential!
Here's a video clip of a village we traveled to in 2005.


A Bible verse that challenges me is Matthew 4:17, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near"".

This evening, all six of us are tying up all the lose ends, packing luggage, reading Scripture, praying, seeking the LORD'S direction, protection and guidance. Tomorrow is the big day, a day when we finally head out to Liberia.

We have been exchanging emails with our local pastors in Liberia and everything is in order as best as it can be.

As we begin our journey, I thought it would be good to give you a list of prayer needs we have, so that you can pray regularly for us:

1) That all six men would remain healthy prior to leaving, during the travel over, during our mission trip and all the way home.

2) That we would be Spirit-led in all our conversations, sharing the Good News as the Spirit gives us words and guidance.

3) Pray for our families that we are leaving behind for a few weeks. Pray that things will go smoothly in our absence.

4) Cry out to the LORD that His Spirit will go before us so that we might preach Christ's death, burial and resurrection freely, unashamedly in the Spirit's power.

5) Pray that through us God would heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, strengthen the faint hearted and proclaim repentance and the Good News through out Liberia.

6) Pray that we will not go hungry or thirsty.

7) Pray for thousands of lives to come to repent and trust in Christ.

8) Pray that we might be called by God to answer the prayers of many Saints who have great needs in Liberia.

9) Pray for Spiritual victory over the devil, that no weapon formed against us would prosper.

10) Pray that we would be the aroma of Christ to everyone we meet even during out travel over and home.

I'd like to encourage everyone watching the blog to also send our blog link to as many people as possible to watch our progress for the Kingdom!!

Re-arranging my life for Christ,

David

Mission Work

Okay, in case you haven't heard, our local congregation has caught a vision to be a true New Testament Church, which basically means that within the New Testament are specific principles, commands and details on how to be the Church that Christ would want us to be.

Pictured from left to right are the six men headed to Africal in just a few days. Pastor David Burns, Gene Ethridge, Jeff Hashbarger, Casey Watts, Josh Jenkins and Mike Jenkins. We believe in living according to the Word of God, led by the Spirit and with little to no emphasis on the non-essentials. There are very essential elements of Christianity that are often disregarded for the more non-essentials. Churches disregard missions or evangelism and instead hold car shows and ski trips. Or some churches continue to preach salvation Sunday after Sunday to the same saved people.

Oswald Smith was a well known evangelist and missionary who lived from 1889-1986. He once said, "No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once."

We decided years ago that we want to be a healthy church, not just a big church focusing on numbers, buildings and budgets. Now our desire is to make disciples, to grow more and more in Christ's likeness. And, part of this journey has been missions, the passion to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

We believe in preaching the whole gospel, using the Law to lead people to see that they are not good according to the 10 commandments, and then show them that if they were judged by the 10 commandments by God, they would have God's wrath poured on them and burn forever in hell's fire. However, God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will never died, but have everlasting life by repenting and trusting in Jesus.

We are a Body of Christ that takes the Great Commission seriously. This passion is now leading six men from our church to embark on another overseas mission's trip to Liberia, Africa.
For me, I can't wait to preach the gospel to a people who are hungry to hear. When we share and preach, we must rely upon the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we are led to go here and go there, places unknown to us, but as the Spirit leads, we follow. This is unfamiliar to those who still depend upon preparation, and for those who like to know where we are going next. Look at this video clip of the six of us sharing about preparing to preach in the Spirit rather than preaching in our own power.

The Bible says, "And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:14-15).

Please continue to pray for us. We are desperate for your prayers and support. We have much work that must be accomplished for the LORD in a very short time span.

David

Mission Trip Gearing Up For Departure

Welcome to our mission trip to Liberia, Africa. Please pray for me, David Burns, and the other men who are going: Gene Ethridge, Jeff Hashbarger, Josh Jenkins, Mike Jenkins and Casey Watts. Six of us are all set to head out to Liberia, Africa, three of us have been before. It will be the first time for Gene, Mike and Josh. We will be teaching, preaching and sharing Christ throughout the area, both in the city and in the interior.

The trip will be from March 25-April 5. This will be an exciting trip and we want to take you along with us through this blog. We intend to post video and audio files as well as give you daily updates on what the LORD is doing. We may be able to give more frequent updates. But if we cannot find adequate Internet, our updates may only be short blog posts.

A brief history of the country of Liberia, Africa as taken from the CIA's website (http://www.cia.gov/):

"Settlement of freed slaves from the US in what is today Liberia began in 1822; by 1847, the Americo-Liberians were able to establish a republic. William TUBMAN, president from 1944-71, did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendents of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior. In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE himself was killed. A period of relative peace in 1997 allowed for elections that brought TAYLOR to power, but major fighting resumed in 2000. An August 2003, peace agreement ended the war and prompted the resignation of former president Charles TAYLOR, who faces war crimes charges in The Hague related to his involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war. After two years of rule by a transitional government, democratic elections in late 2005 brought President Ellen JOHNSON SIRLEAF to power. The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) maintains a strong presence throughout the country, but the security situation is still fragile and the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country will take many years."

Our first entry into the country was in November of 2005 during the first presidential election after the war, two years after a long 12 year, bloody civil war had ended. We stayed deep within the capital city of Liberia, Monrovia. Then, our mission was to preach, teach and start the support of an orphanage. That mission was accomplished. After seeing the plight of the children's orphanage, that's when the LORD spoke to our heart, moved us to sell our nearly 1 million dollar appraised church building and property, and devote ourselves to New Testament Christianity and practicing pure religion which is caring for the orphans and widows.

Since 2005, we have had several subsequent trips into Liberia to continue our outreach. This year, in just a few days, we are going back to dedicate the completion of the orphanage and to preach and share the love of Jesus.

All of us have lots to do before we leave next Tuesday. We are trying to get things caught up where we work, in our homes and buy the necessary items we'll need on the trip.

We have sent in all our paper work to the Liberian embassy and we are waiting to receive our visas. We hope to receive them before we leave :)

For now, please pray for our preparation, not just our physical preparations, but more importantly our Spiritual preparations.

We'll keep you posted!

David