Appleseed Updates

Women Trained in Gardening

In the Congo, our Women’s Director (Angel) has been empowering vulnerable women with various micro-projects.  Three women are interested in farming so she brought them to her home and began teaching them.  She encouraged them to have a garden at home to help with nutrition of their kids.  In addition, if they plant enough, this can help them to sell what they grow and pay school fees for their kids.

Angel has a unique ability to help women discover their potential, overcome the obstacles of poverty and the mindsets that create helplessness.  She is then able to provide them with skills and resources, like this gardening project, that can vastly improve their lives.

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Emotions Stir at Needs AND Victories

I wish you could have walked with us on the newly-purchased land in Bikeke, the village in Kenya, where over 100 children will soon be schooled and cared for.  We were excited and grateful, as I know you are, for this step that will provide a permanent home for one critical response to poverty: education. As we walked over to the school’s temporary location, the head teacher pointed to a beautiful girl and told us, “Last year, the director rescued this orphan who was just at home with a relative and unable to attend school.  Even public schools require fees!  Now, she has proven to be very bright and is nearly at the top of her class.” And there are dozens more just like her.  It was a priceless moment. Emotions Stir Have you ever felt like crying and jumping for joy at the same time?  This describes our daily emotions while traveling through Africa.  First there is the heartbreak at the depth of the needs of so many: ordinary people and families who have no means for a meal today, children who cannot afford an education, handicapped children who are marginalized or even abandoned.  Yet, we also feel such excitement and hope at the changes we ARE seeing which you are bringing about with us: spiritual transformation that church planters ARE bringing to so many (over 100 new churches recently planted), bright children who ARE receiving an education, and smiling women who ARE incredulous at the opportunity they have been given to become tailors through the women’s training center. Love & Gratitude, Roger & Brooks P.S. You can make a difference right now for the children of Bikeke! Please carefully consider helping us purchase books for their classrooms. For only $20 you can give a child books for an entire year. Read More Here!

Max Lucado On Relieving Human Suffering

"God has given this generation, our generation, everything we need to alter the course of human suffering."

From Max Lucado's upcoming book:

"These are devastating times: 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, 1 billion are hungry, millions are trafficked in slavery… And in the five minutes it took you to read these pages, almost ninety children died of preventable diseases… More than half of all Africans do not have access to modern health facilities…

“Ours is the wealthiest generation of Christians ever… We have ample resources… There is enough food on the planet to offer every person twenty-five hundred calories of sustenance a day. We have enough food to feed the hungry…

“The problem is not in the supply; the problem is in the distribution. God has given this generation, our generation, everything we need to alter the course of human suffering.”

We Are Sooooooooo Close: THANK YOU

We are hoping to have the downpayment to purchase the permanent land for the school/orphanage in Bikeke by the end of this month. For these children, their suffering is being lifted!

Also, small resources go a long way. Only $500 purchases the curriculum and books for one year of school for all students!

Eternal Lives Altered

In addition to meeting physical needs, the eternal harvest is so ripe in many areas that we work in. Our team leader in Kenya gives this report describing just one morning:

A young man came out of the cafeteria and asked if I was lost. I told him I had come to talk to him. We went to a nearby pub on Sunday and sat at a corner. We ordered two sodas and, by the end of one hour, he wanted to give his life to Christ. We prayed inside that pub and then I went to settle the bill at the counter. Two guys looked at me and asked why I came to the pub on Sunday for prayer.... I paid for their beer and sat with them in a corner.... We prayed together. Right now I am being invited to go back and speak to about 20 people. The harvest is so ripe!

School's Progress: Children's Lives Changing & Land Found

The school director, John, a Kenyan, asked me if we could stop by a villager’s home before returning to our hotel.  The home belonged to six children whom the school has been sponsoring.  John seemed to know that things may not be going well.  Sure enough, the absent step-father who was an alcoholic was, indeed, absent.  Further, the mother had become ill so the oldest daughter had taken her to the grandmother’s home and was nursing the mom there.  This left six children abandoned at home for days with the oldest boy only 10 years old.  It was easy to see how desperate the situation was just by looking at the palid, thin face of the youngest child: a two-year-old. “How have you been eating?”  John asked the older boy.  “I go to my neighbors and beg for a little flour and then make a porridge with it for my brothers and sisters,” he replied.  John went into action to make sure that the neighbors were given a little money to buy and prepare a real meal and look after these children for the next few days. These are the types of children that the school in Bikeke is not only looking after but providing a quality education for! To continue serving these needs, the school must have five acres of permanent land. We are currently looking at possible sites!

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Divine Safety Through Prayer

Nearly two years ago Brooks and I found ourselves surrounded by a gang of thirty angry, armed men in an African refugee camp.

We were visiting this Kenyan camp late in the day and had not realized that we had completely trapped ourselves in an enclosed, fenced-off area.  These were desperate, needy people and we were their targets: white people who probably had something of value that they could take.

Yet the crime (which normally results in severe bodily harm) never materialized.

There is no real explanation for how we walked through that crowd, escorted by our Kenyan friend, while her husband engaged the angry men in dialogue.

Truly, there is NO explanation for how they allowed us to walk away from them without pursuit… except the power of God through prayer.  Only later as our bodies and emotions were shaking did we realize that we had somehow been divinely escorted to safety.

I share this with you as a reminder that prayer matters.  The one thing we knew, beyond a doubt, was that this trip and our lives had been continually covered in prayer by our friends back home.  And as we return to Africa this month, we want to remain mindful that prayer matters—praying for one another matters—whether we are at home or in another country.

Please share your prayer requests with us also.  We take it seriously!

Our Prayer Requests for this Trip:

• For the safety of our team (three others will join us from the States to help with the training) and national leaders.
• For the Holy Spirit’s presence and leadership in all of the events taking place.
• Wisdom for the women’s center and the school/orphanage.

Amazing Progress in the Madagascar Clinics & Church Planting

Dave Swann, is the director of MM-Suisse, an association which supports and helps development projects be more successful.  He wrote the following report on the work taking place in Madagascar which provides an excellent overview of this YWAM team that we partner with:

I have been to Tamatave several times and I am always impressed with the success of this project.

In the bush, there is a marked difference between the villages where they are working and the others.  This is noticeable in general cleanliness of the village as well as the demeanor of the population… 

Of course this is not a perfect project but there are few other places I have been where there is such an understanding of integration and holistic ministry.

Principal Activities:

YWAM Tamatave has 5 main activities which are explained below. In the evaluation meeting it was very encouraging to see how these activities are totally integrated and serve the overall vision: “To transform the East Coast of Madagascar with the gospel of the Kingdom so that this region can become a sending place to the rest of Madagascar and the nations, in particular the Indian Ocean Islands (with priority to the Comores).”

1.Health project. In brief, the project is addressing the health needs of the population who live in the bush areas of the Tamatave region. These areas are typically very remote and the population is poor and isolated. The chosen villages appoint a health care committee and choose a health care worker (HCW) according to certain criteria. YWAM trains the committee and the HCW and supply building materials for a small health post to be built. This is then furnished and an initial stock of medicine is supplied.

These health posts are now nearly self sufficient and can treat 80% of the cases that would have to otherwise walk up to 2 days to the nearest clinic.

There are currently 21 of these health posts functioning in the region and the target is 45 by mid 2012. It has been amazing to see the growth and effectiveness of this project. Literally thousands of people now have access to healthcare which was previously not available. In fact, this has been so successful that the government wanted to adopt this way of working as their national health strategy.

2. Church planting.  The team is in the process of changing how they plant churches. As they have more become acquainted with the culture and needs of the region they have been able to modify their strategy accordingly. They now encourage smaller groups to meet locally and start cell churches of around 20 people. As the group grows it plants another small church and so on. This has worked amazingly well and there are currently 35 of these groups. YWAM has been running 2-day training sessions each month for the church leaders and they are also working on a leadership training manual especially designed for this situation which will hopefully be finished by the end of 2010.

3. DTS (Discipleship Training School).  The DTS has an emphasis on church planting and development. Last year they had 22 students and are hoping to have a similar number this year. They have done a great job in recruiting students from local churches in Tamatave and Antananarivo…  I was impressed to see the commitment of the whole team to DTS. It is run solely to train missionaries so the ‘buy in’ from the long term staff is high. There are at least 8 long term church planters from last year’s school and 1 who is working in development.

4. Relationships with body of Christ in the region. The team has been very intentional and strategic in building relationships with churches, other NGO’s, businessmen and the body of Christ in general. This activity has brought many benefits. In my various visits I can see they are well respected in the community. We ran a development training course in Tamatave and were joined by some key pastors and businessmen for some or all of the course. These relationships have given rise to several initiatives. The team is involved in a Church leaders forum which meets regularly and is uniting the churches in the area. The forum has benefited greatly from the input of our team on many issues. Jean-Marc and Martine have been hosting a business group in their house. This takes the form of a meal, sometimes a speaker and sharing around the word of God on issues relating to business. One of the doctors in the team was instrumental in starting a Christian Doctors Association in Tamatave.

5. Management of the training centre.  They have deliberately avoided calling the training centre a YWAM base. Even though they are 100% YWAM and run a DTS they want to keep an outward focus. They train church planters, pastors, medical workers, health committees and have had training events for local Christians. The training centre is totally focused on reaching the community and seen as a tool rather than an end in itself. There is a part of the team responsible for the running of the centre but again it was good to see the ownership from everyone.

 

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Prayer Plus Compassion = Key to Impact

Prayer + Compassion = Recipe for Impacting People   Two church-planters in the bush of Madagascar recently shared with me how they began to touch the lives of an unreached tribe. It struck me that these basic principles of prayer plus acts of compassion have the same powerful impact everywhere in the world:  “We arrived in this village 3 weeks ago where we already had a contact. The villagers lent us a house that no one else wanted to use as it was “fady” (taboo, spooked) and would bring bad luck. At first, nobody wanted to visit us.  But we began to do warfare through prayer and literacy classes outside for the women.  Eventually the villagers saw that we were still alive! It was a testimony of God’s power! Further, they saw that we cared! And our house is not empty any more; we are sharing God’s word and lots of people are coming to us to ask for prayer.  We have begun to train up about 15 of these villagers to know God and share him with others.” You help us support this exciting team in Madagascar that is seeing some amazing results: More people baptized and reached than ever. Existing leaders receiving ongoing training to develop and reproduce their churches By 2012 forty-five clinics will be established serving 200,000 people that would otherwise have no health care available You can read more stories from the bush of Madagascar here! And more here on Our Upcoming Trip to Africa (mid-June).

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Upcoming Trip to Africa

Although it has delayed some, we are excited to be heading off to Africa in mid-June.  Please pray with us about all of the opportunities there this year:

• The School/Orphanage in the Kenyan village of Bikeke: needing permanent land to establish this school so that it can meet more needs.
• Church Planters From Six Countries: we will be seeking a venue in Nairobi to bring these national leaders together to learn from and encourage each other in the fall.
• Tanzanian Leaders: we will be providing training for first-time leaders from this very needy country.
• Women’s Center: we will be working to enlarge the impact of this school on hopeless women in need of job skills.

We are believing for greater things than ever this year!  The opportunities to see lives changed by bringing the power of Jesus' love to unreached people and demonstrating compassion to the poor have never been greater.

Your part in standing with us is the key!

More Stories From the Bush of Madagascar

Our partners in Madagascar share testimonies from the church planting work in the bush villages.  It is thrilling to see God at work!

J. “I was known as the biggest alcoholic in the village. Last year, I was at the meeting for the healthcare committee when, during one of his visits, J-M said that God was wanting to deliver someone from alcohol. He laid his hands on me and I was completely freed. The villagers have seen a huge change in my life and I am able to speak to them of Jesus who transforms lives; they have seen it in me!” J. is participating in the training sessions with his wife and someone else from the neighboring village. Four churches have started up in this one area.
These villages are in an area that can only be reached by boat, the Pangalanes canal. There are now about 10 churches that we have got going along this canal. Last Sunday, initiated by themselves, several of them met together.

A. “I gave my life to the Lord last year while participating in the healthcare committee meetings. V then spoke to me about coming to a training course in Tamatave to start up a church. As a woman, I was not taken very seriously in the village, but God has changed everything. I have been selected to head up the school parents’ committee. The school masters were never paid in our village, so we were short of teachers. I visited all the families, explaining how important education is for our children, and how we need to support our teachers... At present, all the families are clubbing together and we have teachers once again in our village... “

E. “In our village, we were all poor and spent all our time complaining about it. Last year, when J-M visited us, we got a word from God. God told us that we would discover the wealth of our village and that our standard of living was going to change. A month later, a business approached us about harvesting Anajavidi, a plant that grows profusely in our sterile, sandy soil. Our whole village has changed, many houses now have battery-power and we are able to have electricity, charge our phones... The village is developing.” (Anjavidi is used for thatch roofs in Normandy!)

V. & M. : “We gave ourselves to the Lord a few months ago. Our village was known as a place used by bandits to the point that the authorities had decided to destroy it. We began to cry out to the Lord for our village, that the atmosphere would change; we can witness that Jesus has changed our lives.... We believe that our village will not be wiped off the map!”

The Holy Spirit and Everyday Miracles

The Holy Spirit & Everyday Miracles The church-planting team we worked with in Mexico shared some recent, everyday-miracle stories that are worth passing along.  But, rather than just pass these off as something that happens “over there” in other places, I want to look at our own belief system around the Holy Spirit. First, the stories from Mexico shared by our friend Rhonda: Our first outreach in Teposcolula brought two new families to Christ and we encountered many who were interested in learning more about the gospel… During the medical outreach the Holy Spirit showed up with a wonderful ministry of deliverance and healing as Words of hope were given to many. We saw God do some fun stuff, like provide the perfect eye drops that a man needed (that I knew I did NOT pack) which he could not afford for his glaucoma. He cried. Many cried. We cried. God cares… Emanuel, a new believer was baptized 2 weeks ago in the bath tub in our clinic.  Afterwards he shared with us a perfect description of how he could see himself getting involved in taking the gospel to the pueblos, making disciples, and empowering others to do the same!! Wow. He grasped the heart of multiplying churches all on his own.  That is the Holy Spirit!  It was not taught by any of us! Do We Really Believe in the Spirit's Activity in Our Own Everyday Life? Bruce Wilkinson, in his book "You Were Born for This," encourages us to embrace the truth of the Spirit’s presence and power in our everyday life: Ministry without the Spirit of God is merely our best efforts. Ministry with the Spirit of God is the stuff of miracles… The Holy Spirit is real, personal, and knowable, and I am invited to understand who He is and how He works, including in the area of everyday miracles. The Spirit is available equally to all who know Christ, and God may have a miracle agenda for me today that will require my partnering with the Spirit. I am challenged, myself, by these thoughts as I reflect on the fact that I do not need to be on mission in Africa to partner with the Spirit in real ways and to expect his miraculous involvement in my life.   Blessings, Roger & Brooks Appleseed Ministry

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