Knock, Knock! Will you answer the door of opportunity?

Like many, I have always said, "Lord, send me anywhere but Africa," until several years ago when I was attending the Tennessee Baptist Convention and kept running into Missionary Mike McAfee from Abidjan, West Africa.  Immediately, I sensed the Lord saying that this is where I was to go.  At first, I rejected it and didn't want to follow through.  For several weeks, I continued to sense the nudging of the Holy Spirit to seek out the opportunity to travel to the Ivory Coast to take HOPE to a people in need of Jesus. 

I remember the first conversation that I had with Missionary Mike.  It was like a breathe of fresh air and a peace flooded my spirit.  From that moment forward, my first trip was in place and the days were counting down.  I still remember the moment that I boarded that plane heading to Abidjan and the feeling of excitement that gripped me as I knew God was carrying me every step of the way.

Abidjan is an urban city in West Africa of some 8 million people.  Many live in the city and many live outside of the city in poverty ridden villages.  My team experienced first hand the hunger and thirst for HOPE among the people and we were blessed to be able to share with them the story of creation to Christ. 

Honestly, even after returning home and to this very day, I cannot for the life of me get the images of those people out of my head and off of my heart.  I love the people of Abidjan dearly and cannot wait to return again to share the HOPE of Jesus Christ and plant new churches to reach their own people.

I am scheduled to take a team of 4-5 people from Impact Church this October 20-29th to once again impact this area with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  On this team is an elder from Bridges of Hope Fellowship in McMinnville, TN (my former church plant), a young lady who is in our student ministry at Impact, her brother, and myself.  There may be the possibility of another lady in our church going as well.  Me and the elder from BOHF have both been before, but the other two will be making this journey as their FIRST mission trip ever.  That's exciting!

I am asking all of my friends to pray about helping us get to Africa this fall.  We are currently in need of $5,000 to purchase the plane tickets in order to secure a good rate.  I understand that many cannot go on foreign missions, but could give to help see that others get there and that the gospel gets shared.  There are several ways that you can give to help support this mission trip.

1)  Pray for us and God's provisions

2)  Give online at https://impactchurchtn.securegive.com  and mark "AFRICA" in the memo box.

3)  Mail your contribution to:  Impact Church, P.O. Box 1057, Kingston, TN 37763

Any amount you can give to help us get to Africa will be greatly helpful as God will multiply your gifts.  All gifts are totally tax deductible as allowed by the IRS.

Thanks in advance for giving to make an IMPACT in the lives of the people of Abidjan, West Africa! When we get to heaven, many of them will await you to thank you there.  May God bless you as you give of yourself so that many could be won to the kingdom!

If you need more information or would like to talk with me more about this trip, please call 865-376-4400 or email pastor@impactchurchtn.com

Pastor DeWayne
Impact Church
Kingston, TN

The Weekend in Abidjan

Our weekend in Abidjan was amazing!  

Saturday, we ate breakfast with our missionary family and headed over to a different part of Marcory to  do some story telling and gathering of people for a small group Bible study that is led in that area by Bamba Bakary, our new friend and brother.  We made a lot of great contacts and shared the story with some amazing people who really want to attend the Bible study.  Praise God!  I pray that this will really grow Bamba's group.

Around noon, we went back to the mission house to eat lunch and rest before heading out to the market for some more shopping and then back to the Marcory area where Bamba's group met.  We got to attend the small group Bible study and it was amazing!  Bamba leads a group that meets in a shoe store that is no bigger than a 10 x 10 on the crowded market street.  There is lots of noise and Muslims surround them.  It was packed with people who are hungry to grow in Christ.  Most of them have been led to the Lord by Bamba or Missionary Mike.  They are currently looking for another location as they have outgrown the shoe store.  This just goes to show that you can have a small group "Life Group" anywhere.  I am amazed at the number of excuses we make for not doing LIFE with other believers in Bible study groups.  In America, we think that it has to be in a home or we can't do it.  I think Bamba has proven to us differently.  Thanks Bamba for being a great inspiration and super charger of our faith and persistence in America to keep pressing on!

Sunday, we ate breakfast and headed off to an African Baptist Congregation for worship.  The service was already in full swing with the choir leading, singing, and dancing with their hankies, when we arrived.  The service is over 4 hours long each time they meet.  Therefore, I don't ever want to be accused of being a long winded preacher.  LOL  The announcement portion of the service was over 30-45 minutes long.  The praise band and team was awesome!  The Spirit of the Lord fell in that open sided covered pavilion that was filled with some 350 African Believers all singing, dancing, and praising the Lord!  I understood very little of what was actually being said, but I felt the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in a thick and powerful way.  As I looked around, everyone had their hands lifted high and magnifying the name of the Lord.  AWESOME!  I noticed lots of things in the service like, the seriousness and fervency in which the ushers served.  They highly respect and reverence God, the Word, the Pastor, and other ministers.  WOW!  We don't see that kind of honor for any of these in God's house in America.  People get up and move around freely without thinking about disturbing or distracting others.  That would never happen in Abidjan!  Just sayin.  When it came time for the offering, they ALL got up and marched around, some dancing, and brought their tithes and offerings to the Lord.  EVERYbody gave something and did so with cheerfulness and thanksgiving.  WOW!

After the service, Mike took our team to Grand Bassam to do some shopping for wood products, etc.  We got some really great deals there and met some great people.  It is a village outside of Abidjan.  We bought from mainly just one family and that will feed them for a while.

We headed back to the mission house to eat lunch and rest up for the trip on Monday.

Monday came and was spent running errands like getting money out of the ATM to pay our bills, packaging up our merchandise to ship back to the states, doing some last minute shopping, changing airline tickets, etc. and getting ready to leave Africa.

Monday night after dinner, we all said our goodbyes and gave our hugs as our team prepared to leave.  I must say, I fought back the tears.  I truly have grown to love the McAfee Family.  Mike and Heather are precious people to me and our church.  Their kids are awesome!  I will never forget their hospitality, love, and care for us while in Abidjan.  We look forward to having this long term church planting partnership with them through the IMB.  Monday around 7:30 p.m., Mike dropped our team off at the airport.  We made our way through and got loaded on our plane headed for Paris.  It was a good flight, but long one.

Tuesday, we arrived in Paris around 6 a.m. and begin trying to make arrangements for hotel, food, travel, etc.  It wasn't easy!  It's the most difficulty we've ever had in an airport.  We were all tried in our patience as we were tired and frustrated with the whole situation of not being able to leave Paris until Thursday and the airline not giving us hotel and food vouchers.  So...here we are!

We went to eat lunch at a restaurant next door to the hotel and it was aweful!  We paid $15 a person for trash, basically.  We also learned that you never ask for water.  They will bring it to you in a big wine-type bottle and charge you $3.50 for it.  LOL  We held our breath and tried to eat it and then came back to the hotel room to rest.

This evening, we took the shuttle bus back over to the airport and ate a good American $6 meal at McDonald's.  LOL  It was good!  Now, we're back at the hotel and resting.  Looking forward to some sight seeing tomorrow in the city!

I just want to say "Thank You" to everyone for their prayers and support of us during this trip.  Please don't let up.  We are NOT home yet!  Can't wait to see everyone when we get back to the states.  God is up to something really BIG!

God at Work in Africa!

The day began when we woke up around 7 a.m., got dressed and headed to the missionaries home for breakfast.  Afterwards, we loaded up and went to Bassam, the area that our church will be starting a church in.  In Bassam, we broke up into two teams and went to the homes of the people to share stories with them about God's love.  For several hours, my team consisting of David Clayton and Oliver, began talking and sharing with different people.  We came upon these 4 women and their children who were washing clothes outside in a tub and they welcomed us to sit and share.  By the time I finished telling the story, they were all ready to give their lives to Christ and follow Him.  Praise the Lord for 4 new sisters in Christ!  Then we ran upon a group under a tree and sat and talked with them for hours, it seemed.  There were many others that we shared with also.  What an awesome day of evangelism!

We, later, came home and ate lunch and rested.  Following lunch...it was right back to the streets.  I love it!  However, this time, we did some storytelling but mainly follow-up with those that met Christ today.  Please keep them in your prayers.

This evening, we were invited to be guests in the home of Sadu, a Muslim.  They served us a meal and some wonderful hospitality.

In the photo above, Sadu is the one on the left.  His home was large for this area, but was still very small.  He struggles every day to makes end meet.  He works as a security guard.  The welcome and hospitality were great!  Keep Sadu and his LARGE family in your prayer in faith and hope that they will find Jesus.

On the way home tonight from Sadu's, the roads were crazy!  I could never drive in Abidjan. It would take some getting used to, for sure.

Now it's time to settle down and relax for a few hours before going to bed.  Gotta be up and out of the house by 8:30 a.m.

Blessings to you,

DeWayne

Africa Countdown

Well, it seems that the time has come and it's almost time to head to the airport for our mission trip to Abidjan, West Africa.

I first want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all of you who have given to partner with me in starting new churches in Abidjan.  God has provided through YOU to make this trip a reality.  My prayer is that God will richly bless you and multiply your seed because you have honored His servant and impacted lives around the world.

I am looking forward to staying engaged with you throughout our journey in Africa through this blog.  Each evening (3-4 p.m. CST), I will be blogging about our activities and sharing photos, etc.  It is important to me that you be able to make this journey with me through this site and Facebook.

At this point, our bags are packed and we'll be heading out for the Nashville airport in just a few short hours to tackle the long flight to Abidjan.  I am thankful to be traveling with 2 other brothers from our church at Bridges of Hope Fellowship.  Together, we are an extension of both Christ and the Church.

My one request now is that you commit to pray for us each day until we return home on Oct. 30th around 6:30 p.m. (CST).  Please pray for our travel safety, favor with everyone we meet, open doors, daily provisions, strength, good health, protection from spiritual warfare, and the power of the Holy Spirit that we may boldly share and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ through story to a people who have never heard.

Until the next opportunity to share,
DeWayne

Africa Bound!

I am excited to share with you about an upcoming trip I'll be taking to Abidjan, West Africa during October 22nd-30th of this year.  I am leading a team of 4 from Bridges of Hope Fellowship on a vision trip to begin the journey of planting churches in this city of 6 million people.  We are thrilled about the opportunity to make such a great impact with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in an area where Christianity is a minority.  This is my first mission trip out of the United States.  I can't wait to go serve and believe God to change my heart and life for the world.

During our time in Africa, we'll be working with Missionaries Mike & Heather McAfee.  They have been helping us in our planning efforts and assisting us all along the way to ensure that we have a productive and fruitful experience.  They are from Baxter, Tennessee, which is very close to McMinnville and Cookeville.

This trip will consist of prayerwalking, vision tours, meeting and visiting with natives, church visits, observation of missionary story telling, and more.  The goal is to discover God's heart for the people He is calling us to reach by planting churches among them.  Our goal is then to return twice a year to assist and build up the church planting efforts that we start this fall.

The trip cost is approximately $3,500 per person and includes airfare, transportation, meals, lodging, shots, etc.  I am prayerfully seeking to raise this money by August 1st, 2012.  

I would ask that you please pray about partnering with me to change and impact lives in Africa with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Any amount that you could give towards the total would be greatly appreciated.  You may give it directly through Bridges of Hope Fellowship (www.GetHope.info) so that your gifts will be 100% tax deductible.  There are several ways that you can give to help me get to Africa:


1. Send a check or money order made payable to BRIDGES OF HOPE FELLOWSHIP to:

Bridges of Hope Fellowship
4023 Smithville Hwy.
McMinnville, TN 37110

(Please mark "Africa" in the memo line.)

2.  Give online at www.GetHope.info by visiting the website and clicking on "GIVE NOW."  Please select the "Designated: Missions Fund."  Or visit www.bridgesofhope.securegive.com 

3.  You can download and use our smartphone/iphone giving app by visiting the app store and search for "SecureGive."  It is a FREE app!  Select '37110' as the zip code and click on "Bridges of Hope Fellowship."  You will then be able to register your account and start giving via your mobile device.

In advance, I'd like to thank you for your prayers and financial support of my ministry and this trip.  Your support means so much to me and serves as a great encouragement.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Be sure to check my blog often for updates and details concerning this trip and other happenings to change the world for the cause of Christ.  

Passionately Serving,

DeWayne Howard, Pastor

Bridges of Hope Fellowship

pastor@gethope.info 

www.dewaynehoward.com 

6 Reasons Not to Reach the Lost

Reaching those far from Christ requires an attitude and a commitment. And it will cost you. Here’s six reasons not to pay the price:

1. You don’t want to experience miracles- God has surprised me over and over again at what He is doing in peoples lives. From home wreckers to homosexuals, from atheists to alcoholics, it has been more than I had ever hoped to observe. When we made it about loving people where they are and letting God change them in His time to where He wants them to be we began to see some serious miracles.

2. You like having lots of Pharisees around- Religious people have no tolerance for these environments and will naturally gravitate to churches where people talk about reaching the lost but never take big risks to do it. When there isn’t a large enough vision to capture the hearts of the people usually DI-VISION will be the result.

3. You enjoy preaching to theologians- I love theology but soon realized my style of communication had to shift a bit to create the opportunity for those far from God to connect with Him in a significant way. It has been well said that communicators take the complex and make it simple, while educators take the simple and make it complex.

4. You are convinced they will eventually filter in over time- It’s simple. They won’t.

5. You don’t ever want to be challenged personally to change- This is my eighteenth year of ministry and I’ve never been challenged like I am right now. God has dealt with me about things that I never could have imagined and it feels good. It feels right. I want Him to do in me what’s right to Him not what’s comfortable to me.

6. You believe the Great Commission was the great suggestion- This isn’t about style or flavor or how you dress. It’s about letting the things that break His heart break ours. It really is an attitude that believes people without Him will be lost forever. This stirs my spirit and I pray it stirs yours as well.

This guest post is from JMark Johns, the founding pastor of Christ Central Alachua.