Dear Friends of Mission Surge,
I know that it has been quite a while since I updated you. In many ways it has felt as though my ministry, especially through Mission Surge, has been paused. In other ways our lives have been so hectic there seems to have been little time left to write. With that said, I apologize for two things at the beginning of this email. First, for how long it has been since I have updated you. Second, for how long this email is! It is going to be lengthy because there is so much that has transpired in our lives over the last few months AND because there are so many things I want to plead with you to pray with us for.
First, I want to catch you up on some changes in my ministry that many of you may not know about. Back in May I began struggling with whether or not God wanted me to remain at Cleary Baptist Church as pastor. I began to pray that God would make His will clear to me in this matter. By the end of May He made it clear that my leadership there was coming to a close. Then, I began to pray about when I should step aside. I had a wife and four children to provide for and no prospects of where to go or what to do. We also had a mortgage that must be paid (Prov 22:7, Rom 13:8). The interesting thing about this saga is that 2 years ago, we began to feel impressed that we should continue remodeling our home (which was a foreclosure when we bought it in 2007) and put it on the market so that we could get out of debt and hopefully have some equity to purchase another smaller home with. For the past two years I have prayed and worked and prayed and worked…and prayed and worked. God provided materials and manpower over and over again (often in amazing ways) until finally all the projects were complete and we were able to put our home up for sale (by owner) in May.
When it became clear that my time at Cleary was over, I reasoned with God that whenever He sold our home and removed the mortgage payment from our budget, I would take resign even though I had nowhere to go. I felt as though this was a reasonable step of faith. After several weeks of very few showings and very little interest on our home I began to sense that God was saying (in that still small voice) that I should obey Him now and trust Him to sell our home (or pay our mortgage). On July 8 I read my resignation at Cleary Baptist Church. On that same day around 2:30 p.m. (less than 3 hours after I resigned) we received an offer on our house. It was almost as though God was waiting to sell our home until we obeyed Him!
Then we began to wonder where we would move until we could find a place to buy. We signed the contract on our home the following Thursday. We could only wonder where we would go until we received a phone call informing us of a home that was available to our family temporarily. It was another answer to prayer that came right on time. It took us forever to close on our home so we packed, cleaned, slowly moved, and chased 4 children for all of August and part of September. After we finally closed on our home in late September, we officially moved into our temporary home, which is where we are as I type this email.
We moved in to this house but haven’t really unpacked. The carport is full of boxes and one of the bedrooms is serving as a storage unit. We have only unpacked very necessary things because we will be having to relocate again by the end of January. It has been very difficult living in an unpacked home! The good news is, we have not been home much anyway. October 5-10 we were in a travel trailer as I preached a revival Sunday through Wednesday at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Quitman, MS. Then on Oct 21 I was at Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel. Then on October 24 we headed to North Carolina to Ridgecrest Conference Center for the NCFIC White Unto Harvest Conference where I was privileged to preach during one of the several breakouts. On the way back from the mountains I was contacted by a church in Ellisville that needed a supply on November 4 so we stopped there and I preached. Then we left Ellisville and made a bee line to Clinton where I preached again that afternoon at a new church start. Finally, Sunday night we made it back home and things have thankfully slowed “a little.”
So what are my plans now? Where do I go from here? Well, the Christian life is definitely an adventure and time will only tell. While much is still unclear, let me at least share with you about what I see in the future for Mission Surge. First, let me address the Dominican Republic. It has been some time since I have personally put my feet on the ground in the DR however, Mission Surge did financially sponsor another pastor/church planter training this fall. One of our contacts on the ground in the DR actually led the training this time since I am in transition and Bro. Gene was unable to go down to the Dominican. Hopefully we will be able to return again in the near future. It is still our hope and prayer that we will be able to raise up a Dominican pastor to go to an unreached/unengaged people group in Latin America as a missionary. We have also discovered a whole community (several thousand) of Lebanese Muslims in Santo Domingo that we want to get the gospel to. Finally, there are still a host of barrios (neighborhoods) in Santo Domingo that have not been reached with gospel. There is still much to do! Pray for our work in the DR.
Second, I have been thinking through a biblical discipleship process for the past 3 years that is beginning to become reality. It is a discipleship process based on 2 Peter 1:5-10. I hope to pull together a small group of 10-15 folks who will commit to walk through these series of teachings along with 1 or 2 of their unsaved or unchurched friends. I also hope to have someone who will be willing to video and record each one of the sessions so that the teachings can be made available online and/or on DVD for others to use as they seek to evangelize and disciple their neighborhoods. If you are interested in attending the sessions or videoing/recording them, please let me know!
Third, I plan to begin a street ministry in the near future. I plan to go into different areas (inner city Jackson, Pearl, Richland, Florence, Byram, etc. to share the gospel, pass out gospel tracts, street preach etc. to spread the gospel seed and hopefully find some people who are hungry for the truth of God’s Word. I hope to carry a couple of folks with me each time that I go in order to prepare them to do the same and train others to do the same. I want Mission Surge to truly impact the world with the gospel beginning here on hard Bible belt soil.
Next, it is my hope and prayer that I will have many opportunities to preach in 2013. I am praying for revivals, family conferences, mission conferences, and harvest days. Every one of these opportunities will give us an opportunity to impact individuals, families, churches, and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It will also add to the number of individuals who receive these emails and join with us in praying. Please share with every pastor you know that I am available if they feel led to use me.
Fifth, I am beginning to get a vision for church planting here at home. I have a couple of locations that are heavy on my heart that need a biblical healthy church to be planted. It would require someone with a burden, a willingness to relocate, and some serious persistence (the ground in these areas is hard) to take on this challenge. It would be a work from the ground up. I am waiting on God to call out a young man or a young couple with a burning desire to do something radical and sacrificial for the Kingdom. We would help with strategy, materials, manpower, and guidance. It would take the right kind of person for this challenge, but we know that if God is in this, He will raise up the workers to send into the harvest.
Finally, I have finished 3 booklets that are available if anyone is interested. The first one is entitled, “Before You Home Educate.” This booklet would be beneficial to anyone considering home education or to give to those who should consider it! It is only 99 total pages. The next book is entitled “A Crash Course on Courtship.” It is truly a crash course (only 24 pages). It is based on the courtship practices of the Puritans and outlines a basic strategy for courtship today along with some warnings and insights. It is perfect for parents who see the dangers of dating but aren’t sure about the alternatives. It is short and simple and a good introduction to Courtship. Finally, I have just completed a booklet on copy paper that has been passed around for years. It has finally been published and bound. It is 44 pages of guidance for individuals who want to examine themselves biblically to see if there are truly in the faith. These would be good to give to loved ones and friends who profess to be Christian, but who show little if any fruit in their lives. I know the question you all are asking is the obvious one: How much? If you would like any of the booklets that I have written, just let me know. You can pay whatever you think they are worth. If you can’t afford them, I will give them to you. Just know that whatever you do pay will all be used to feed hungry children…mine. :-)
These are just some of the things that are on my heart for Mission Surge in the near future. Let me close by listing out a host of prayer request.
Please pray for the following:
1. Please pray for our work in the DR: that God would be with the church planters as they seek to plant healthy churches, that God would raise up a Dominican pastor to serve as a missionary to an unreached people in Latin America, that God would place a burden on hearts for the Lebanese Muslims in Santo Domingo, and that God would raise up prayer support and financial support for this work.
2. Please pray for the Bible studies we hope to begin soon based on 2 Peter 1:5-10.
3. Pray for the street ministry we plan to begin.
4. Pray that I will have many open doors to preach revivals, harvest days, family conferences, and mission conferences this year.
5. Pray for these areas that God has place on my heart that need a biblical church. Pray that God would raise up a missionary to go to these areas and begin a healthy church from the ground up.
6. Finally, please pray for me and my family during this time of uncertainty. Please stop and pray right now for the following personal requests.
a. Pray that God will lead us to the home that he would have us to purchase or rent soon. We
are supposed to be out of this home by the end of January. At this point,
we don’t know where we will go, but we know that God does. Please pray that He will lead
us, guide us, direct us, and provide for us by the end of January.
b. Pray that God will take care of us financially as we no longer serve as full time pastor of an
established church. At this time, I believe God would have me to commit
myself to full time ministry whether I have a full time salary or not and trust Him to
provide for us. Pray that He will meet our needs in His time through His people.
Pray that we will have faith to trust Him as we seek to serve Him.
c. Pray that God will use me and open doors for me to preach, teach, and share the gospel.
Pray that my schedule will begin to fill up with revivals and conferences for
next year and that God would bless with much fruit.
Thank you for faithfully praying for me and for Mission Surge. Please lift up this ministry, my family, and myself during this time of ministry transition. Also, please share this email with your contacts who will pray. If you did not receive this email directly from me, please email me your email address so that I can add you to the newsletter list. If you want to be removed, let me know that as well. You can contact me at kevin@missionsurge.com If you have not liked us on Facebook, please do that and share it with your friends on FB. Go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598?fref=ts If you would like to order any of my booklets, you can send your order to P.O. Box 1891 Florence, MS 39073 or you can email me your order and I will let you know when it is in. Please pray for us and I look forward keeping you posted on what God does next in our lives! I already know of one thing that I can’t share now that I will be sharing in the next newsletter that will really get your attention, so stay tuned!!
In Christ,
Dr. A. Kevin Ivy
Executive Director, Mission Surge www.missionsurge.com
Email: kevin@missionsurge.com
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/missionsurge
Blog: kevinivy.com
Phone: 769-218-8458
