RPN Director Blog

June 24, 2010 Greetings in Jesus name! I am writing this from my desk at the Overland Missions base in Zambia. As I write this, we are preparing for our conference tomorrow in the N’yawa chiefdom. The leaders there are a very hungry bunch. Between our N’yawa Sector Manager and our RPN team, they have come into an eye opening time. It’s our fourth ministry to them this month! How open are they? Earlier this month I was teaching out of 2 Pet. 1:10 about diligence and making your calling and election sure. I talked about how a clean heart produces clean hands, and the natural implications of that. If a man is clean in heart, his life will produce cleanliness in his actions. I talked about having a clean life in action and lifestyle, not just theology. I have ministered that message many times, but never with the response that I got from these brothers. They talked about the message after I left, and decided to begin a cleanup program in their churches and homes. The pastor whose church I spoke in decided to wash and paint his entire church inside and out. I was there last week watching him paint before our conference started that morning. He said that there is no reason he can find in the scripture to justify being dirty. Dirt floors or not, they are going to be clean! Things like that can change the entire atmosphere of the village. In the first week of this month, we had a water celebration in a village called Siankali. It was wonderful! Overland Missions arranged to have a water borehole dug for the first well in the village history. Since the start of the village in the distant past, they have been getting water from a dirty stream by the village. It’s not unusual to find villages in this part of Zambia without wells. When OM first reached them, they started teaching and ministering the Word of life to the village and the people’s thirst for truth was impressive. As they thirsted for the Water of Life, the One who gives eternal life opened the doors for a well of their own. Their response was overwhelming! As we pulled up in the Land Rover, the ladies broke into dancing and singing. They surrounded the Land Rover with songs of thanksgiving and Gods greatness. It was a wild and totally wonderful outbreak of dancing and singing! Jacob Swertzfegger led the dedication, and we got some of it on film. You can watch the 8 minute video by clicking the link------------------------ We have more pictures posted on our Overland Mission website if you would like to check them out! On a personal note, the Martins are stretching into a new time too. We have been working on our house on the Zambezi Gorge for almost a year now. Our little chalet was great for a season, but since our return, our hearts have been pressing for a move to our house. I asked Candi what she wanted for our 31st anniversary on May 29, and she told me “move me into our house”! So I did just that. It was not totally ready, but move we did! We are now living in the first half of our new home, pressing into the completion of it. We need glass for the windows, and other things like that, but the fire heated water tank was hooked up today! How happy are we? It was 40 degrees this week with gale force winds coming up from the gorge. We are very happy (frosty)! Now for window glass... Thank you for your prayers and support. The next 5 months will see us in at least 15 major conferences, as well as other weekly teachings. This does not include daily ministry one on one with the staff and pastors that we are mentoring. It’s a busy time but it is also our bread. We are living the vision and staying in the moment by moment presence of Jesus. The Martins are doing well. The Lord has provided ministry help for us in the people he has/is sending to assist in the ministry. The upcoming grant money will enable us to begin to print and publish monthly letters, articles with bible studies in Tonga and Lozi, as well as books of our own. This will increase our ability to reach our many pastors in Southern Africa, eventually taking us into all the nations of the continent. I will write more about it in our next newsletter, but God has sent us some very quality help in the person of Charlie Stevicks. Charlie is an AMT grad, and it’s his fourth season on the ground in Africa with Overland Missions. He is my RPN rep. to N’yawa, and has become a true son in the faith. In December, he will add to his life, (and to the team), Liz Jefferds as his wife. Liz will be joining him next season as an RPN staffer. Thank you Jesus! Pray for him, as he is with me every day, learning and ministering along side me. We also have three others that the Lord is sending to work with us fulltime. They are not here yet, although two of them are in Africa. God is building our team, and I am looking forward to Him adding more to us in the months and years to come. Perhaps even you! To sum it up, God is moving in Africa in a powerful way! There is move of God where you are too! You need to be in it. To our financial partners, we love and appreciate all you do for us personally and for the ministry to the pastors and leaders here. Remember that God is not willing to do without a cheerful giver! It’s also a great promise to you that you will reap what you sow! That’s not a scary or dark threatening message to the giver. It’s the promise of eternal inheritance, as well as the constant heavenly flow to you now! Bless you all, Jeff, Candi and Isaac Martin