Friday, January 14, 2022

Random Posts over the last few years - blogged less and posted on FB more

Going Back in time a little .... I stopped blogging as much and began posting more on Facebook over the years.   I wanted to record these memories in our blog as well.  


March 5, 2018 

Luke is graduating High School in May! We are very proud of Luke and the hard work he has put in this school year to make this happen. We are also thankful for Kimberly who came to teach Luke four years ago. She has been a blessing to our family and an encouragement to Luke as he has grown through High School. We are also thankful that Brit was able to take Luke’s senior pics while we were all together this past Christmas.
“...If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

















Fall/Spring of 2017-2018 School Year

Wow, Luke decided he wanted to graduate a year early and he worked really hard to make that happen.  Looking back we saw how God was the one to put that on Luke's heart.  His timing was perfect.  We found out 1/2 way through that Luke's Visa was going to expire the following year and that would have been the middle of his senior year.   It would have been very problematic.   We are so proud of Luke and how hard he worked to get all of his assignments finished.   We are grateful for Kim who spent the last several years teaching Luke and making sure he had the best high school experience a missionary kid could have - projects outdoors and in the kitchen!   Even while working hard in school, Luke was very involved in CBC - attending youth, serving in jr youth and helping with the sound on Sundays.  

Luke helping with a church Braai


Luke and Stephen loved to go hike in the Wolkberg Mountains 

Luke helping with sound at CBC


class time 

project time 


junior youth 

finished project and it turned out COOL


May 1,  2018

Well, our youngest just graduated High School! We are so proud of Luke and Stephen! They worked very hard this year and we were happy to celebrate with them today. We praise The Lord for sending Kimberly here four years ago to teach Luke! She worked very hard and has been a blessing a to our family!

We celebrated in our back yard by the school room. Our friends, who became family, came to support these two!
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”


 

















praying over Luke and Stephen

Brit was on FaceTime the whole time












June 6, 2018 

Celebrated this guy today! 18 years have flown by! Sure do love him! Thank you God for allowing us to be his parents! We are very proud of the young man Luke has become. Living 1/2 of his life in South Africa! Oh the stories he will have to tell for a life time!  

Most of his birthdays he had no choice but to celebrate with a team in Mozambique. I know it probably wasn't always his first choice but he always had a good attitude about it and usually celebrated with his birthday boti, Derrick. His 18th we were able to be between teams and home in Polokwane!
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”






time flies! 




June 29, 2018

URGENT Prayer Request!!!!
Yesterday our set-up team left Matsilele village, Moz to move camp to Mabuzane village, Moz where the CBC team will be ministering from Sunday.
They had to cross the Limpopo River. The big Samil truck carrying all the equipment and towing the drill-rig got stuck in the river. It is day 2 for them camping on the bank with no favour getting the truck out.
Please pray as the Spirit leads.🙌🏼
“The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:9‬ ‭NASB‬‬































About Us - How our Journey Started

 Wrapping up this blog and want to be sure to highlight a few things .... 

About Us

Our journey to Africa began in 2003. Our sending church PaulAnn Baptist Church, put together their first mission trip to Mozambique where they would come alongside and work with Samaria Mission, a ministry of Christ Baptist Church in Polokwane, South Africa. While in Mozambique, we began to have a heart for the people. Several times we would talk about mission work and what it would be like. We were very careful when we returned from our trip not to make any decisions on a "mountain top" experience. As the weeks went on the desire to return to Africa grew.  

Mark had an opportunity to go to Guatemala and work with Pat and Charlie Reynolds, who at the time were involved with taking the gospel to the local law enforcement. Mark spent 2 weeks there in 2004 and had a great time and enjoyed the work he was able to do. The Lord used this trip to continue to grow a love for missions in our heart, especially for Mozambique.  

We were able to go back on outreach to Mozambique in 2005. The desire to move to Africa became stronger and we began to talk to people about wanting to go into full time missions. In 2006 we went back on outreach to Mozambique and took our 2 children with us (age 6 and 11 at the time). We felt like the Lord was continuing to open a door for us to move and join Samaria Mission and we wanted Brit and Luke to experience it. We were able to come on outreach again in 2007 and began to talk to the mission staff about the possibilities of joining them full time. They invited us to stay for one extra week after the outreach in 2008 so that we could meet and interview with the staff and elders of Christ Baptist Church.  

After returning in 2008, we were certain that God wanted us to join, Samaria Mission but we just were not sure of the timing. We prayed and sought wisdom from the Lord on what to do. This was not a move we could do on our own but one that had to be guided by Him. Together we studied Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby. Chapter 18 is titled, "Joining God Requires Obedience." It is a great chapter and in it Henry Blackaby says that obedience is costly to you and those around you but disobedience is far more costly. God called us to full time missions and we knew we had to obey him. We have to trust that His plans are perfect for our family. We began to make steps toward the move, with LOTS of prayer, trusting the Lord to open or closed doors as we walked. 

In June of 2009 we left the States and arrived at our new home in South Africa, Polokwane. It has been and continues to be a journey, one that is sometimes difficult but for the most part good. We love working with the mission and being able to build relationships with the people of Mozambique and South Africa and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them.  

We started this blog before we moved. If you want you can go back and read all that God did to get us to where we are today. We try to keep the blog updated so that you can see what our journey here in Africa is like.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Disciple-Maker Training

Disciple-Maker Training 

At the beginning of 2018, we at Samaria Mission made some structural changes in our ministry. 
As you are Samaria Mission has an ongoing monthly commitment to teach Pastors and leaders in Mozambique. Over the years we have observed that the churches in Mozambique need extra training in sharing the gospel to reach their villages for Christ. 
As a result of this observation, Samaria Mission implemented in 2019 an evangelism training strategy to train at a different village each month utilizing the “No Place Left” teaching materials. 
We will continue training Pastors/leaders monthly, however, we will also send a separate team monthly to a different village to spend a week training the local congregation on evangelism and we will assist them with sharing the gospel in their village during our time there.   We are also excited about the opportunities The Lord is giving us here in South Africa as well.  
The “No Place Left” teaching material is very basic Bible truths, which can be reproduced by both existing and new believers. The material emphasizes our commanded roles of Ambassadors and Priests, yet is designed for simplicity of the truths and Christ’s commands found in scripture, in order that the message of the gospel can be communicated effectively, and can be reproduced by those who receive it by faith.
We are very excited as we began this new ministry with a training 2 February with the Amazing Grace Baptist Churches in Malamulele.  We had almost 60 people who participated in that training. 
This past weekend we gathered a team from CBC to assist us and Member for training at The Church of the Nazarene in Turfloop from 14-17 February.  We were very excited to have a response from 6 CBC members who had attended the previous training with Les Smith back in October.  
This group was nervously excited to take what they learned in October and help train other believers.  We saw The Holy Spirit working through each team member as they taught their part of the training.  There was an eagerness and excitement each evening as around 50 people gathered for the training and participated in the practice times sharing what they learned each session.  Sunday morning the training ended with over 200 in attendance at the church service where Mark went through a review of the 411 training as well as the taught about the Church Circle (what is a healthy church) and the Commands of Christ.  The pastor has shared with us his gratitude as well as the excitement their church has to utilize these tools in many of their upcoming outreaches to the university, hospital and prison in their community.  
It is the prayer of Samaria Mission that as they have seen their Identity as a born again believer in Christ (the truth that they are a new creation AND an Ambassador for Christ) and they have seen the urgency to share the Gospel with a lost and dying world that they will take what they have learned and GO and make disciples. 
“And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."”Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

A few pictures from the training in Malamulele .... 










We would like to encourage any born again believer who is interested in being a part of a training team to please communicate with us.  We would love for you to join Samaria Mission on a team as we live out the command from Jesus to “… go therefore and make disciples of all nations, ….”  It was a blessing to be a part of this past weekend.   



A note from Member Ngobeni (Missionary with Samaria Mission)“I enjoyed the participation of everyone.  The CBC team into Mozambique this year would be fired up and it would be great as well because many of the believers in Mozambique went through the training, I hope the partnership this year would be awesome.”

Here are testimonies from the team members who recently joined us at The Church of The Nazarene in Turfloop… 
“Although I was very nervous before the training, I am so glad I did it. The most encouraging part of the training was seeing the participants enthusiasm as they practiced after each session.  And seeing how well those who volunteered to practice the teaching in front of everyone did.  It could not be denied that the Lord was working regardless of how shaky we may have felt while teaching. The Holy Spirit brought clarity and understanding and stirred a hunger among those present to go out and share the gospel using the tools we'd shared. I am both convicted and encouraged. The Lord equipped us to train, His Holy Spirit spoke through us as we taught, and He stirred a fire in us and in those who were being trained to be obedient to Jesus' commands. I was convicted to keep praying for those around me who have rejected the gospel because it is the Lord who ultimately works in men's hearts. Something which also stood out among the participants.”
Bafokeng Mpeta


“Based on the feedback of the Trainees it was evident that teaching and training of Making Disciples were beyond doubt effectively done. On the other hand it deepened in one's heart God's truths. It also provided a special fellowship among us as believers where I observed encouraging, supporting and praying for one another at display. Once more, thank you to all members of the team.  For all these, we say all the glory to our loving and faithful God!”  Shadrack Ramosa

“We had a great time of ministering to the people about God's word. The Holy Spirit was at work empowering us to say the right words. All glory to God. I also support in full what Shadrack shared.”
Dimakatso Ramosa


“....."it's only when we teach others then we ourselves end up learning and gain full understanding". It was wonderful to be a small part of the 411 training in Mankweng from the 14-17February 2019 with Mark, Alicia and the team where we shared with fellow believers. We started off receiving a training overview, then allocated to various topics of 411, prayed, prepared and studied before sharing as per schedule. Printed training materials, a flipchart and pens were provided. We were warmly received by a willing audience who participated, asked questions and repeated what they had learnt. It was a wonderful blessing to have participated in this training as I, myself, have become better equipped to share the gospel with the lost. I would like to encourage others, like myself, who have attended the previous 411 training to join the team...despite any fears you may have. God does not send the qualified, He qualifies those who are willing to "GO". ”
Marie Stols




“Taking part in the Noplaceleft/411 training was an incredible experience!
Although I had not attended much of the training last year in October, preparing to teach the sessions which I taught had a deep impact on me.  I feel a greater sense of urgency with regards to the Great Commission.  How easy it is to take our Salvation for granted, how easy it is to attend church each Sunday and even strive to live a God glorifying life throughout the week but how difficult it is to step out of our comfort zones, go out, share the gospel and make disciples.  I was privileged to have presented two sessions during the four day training in Turfloop and once again I was amazed by the fact that the audience understood me in spite of my speech impediment.  The participation and hunger of the audience was humbling and again the responsibility of sharing the knowledge and tools that have been given to us was deeply impressed on my heart.” 
Debbie Coetzee


“A quote from a book I'm busy reading now. "When the church stops sending her children (members) to the world, she begins to die."  This quote got me thinking. 
The Church that we went to for the training, has their focus and heart on reaching the lost. It was encouraging to see this, and to be part of equipping them to do it. And also so encouraging to see the seed planted and that they understood and embraced it. The Holy Spirit was at work there. We can just continue to pray for them and their various ministries.  We praise the Lord for His work their.
Riana Odendaal