August Update

Dear Friend of Mission Surge,

It has been a little while since I have last sent an update, so I wanted to take a brief moment this morning to bring you up to speed on what is happening and how you can pray for us.

I.  Oblivious

First, I ask you to continue to pray that God would use the Oblivious Documentary to awaken, challenge, and communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Please pray that God would use this film.  If you have not watched it yet, I would encourage you to take 28 minutes to view it.  Then share it on Facebook, Twitter, and/or through email and word of mouth.  

You can click here to watch:  http://www.obliviousfilm.com

You can also listen to a radio interview with Kevin Swanson’s Generations Radio program concerning the film here:  http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=72141242161

Please help us to get this film out by sharing on Facebook…again and again, Twitter, and emails.  

You can purchase a download of the film that you can burn and distribute at http://www.obliviousfilm.com  Just click store, purchase the download, and we will send you instructions on how to download a copy to your computer.  You are free to burn and distribute as many copies from this download as you want!  Also if you would like to purchase a physical copy, you can do so at http://www.obliviousfilm.com by clicking on store and choosing DVD.  If you purchase one of the physical DVD’s, we will send you a second one free to give away.  All of the funds generated from this effort are used to produce more evangelistic material to distribute in an effort to continue getting the gospel out.  

Please pray for this effort!

II.  Speaking Engagements

I want to ask you to pray of me August 17th as I preach at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Florence.  Also, remember me on Monday, September 7th and Tuesday, September 8th as I preach at FBC Lyman, MS on the holiness of God!  

I want to ask you to please join with me in prayer as well as I seek to schedule preaching engagements for 2015.  I am praying that God would open doors for me to preach harvest days, revivals, family discipleship conferences, and mission conferences.  I am praying that God would give opportunities to go and share about Mission Surge.  Please pray that my speaking schedule would fill up soon.  This is not just a desire, but a need!  Please say a prayer now if you will.  And, if your church could possibly use me next year, please let me know as soon as possible!  

You can listen to sermons at Providence and elsewhere by clicking on the following links.  Please listen and come back each week for more messages!

http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?speakeronly=true&currsection=sermonsspeaker&keyword=Dr._A._Kevin_Ivy

http://www.sermonaudio.com/search.asp?speakeronly=true&currsection=sermonsspeaker&keyword=Kevin_Ivy

III.  Mission Work

Please pray for our partners, Coram Deo, RMI, and ECCI.  Pray for Giacomo Lerici, Andrea Artioli, Peter Vimal, and Jerry Marcellino as they seek to expand the Kingdom of God on earth!  You can learn more about their ministries by going to the Mission Surge website and exploring the “From the Field” tab.  http://www.missionsurge.com

We are still praying, planning and working towards God’s will in the Dominican Republic, Martinique, and in other areas of Latin America.  More news coming soon.  Please pray for God’s wisdom, discernment, insight, understanding, knowledge, leadership, guidance, direction, and power to prevail in this effort.

I covet your prayers!  I appreciate your support of Mission Surge!  I thank you for your emails and words of encouragement.  I thank those of you who have been led of God to give financially to help support me and my family directly as we have sought to devote ourselves to a church plant and Mission Surge.  God has used your prayers, gifts, and support to lift a weight off of us this year.  I am not sure how we would have made it without you.  God has been gracious to provide for our needs through you this year and we are grateful to God for you!

Please pray that God would do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or imagine throughout the remainder of 2014 and into 2015.  Thanks again!

In Christ,

Kevin

June News

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I wanted to send out this update in order to remind you of several things and ask for your prayers.

1.  Dominican Republic / Martinique Trip

I have prayerfully decided to postpone the trip.  Many factors played into this decision.  I have been able to communicate with our partner there and everything is still on schedule for the conference.  I just felt that, at this time, it would be best if I did not make the trip.  Please pray that God would lead, guide, and direct concerning his will for the next Dominican effort and journey to Martinique.  Thank you for your prayers in this regard.

2.  Oblivious

The Oblivious documentary will be released Tuesday, July 1.  I would greatly appreciate your prayers for this effort.  I would appreciate you sharing the film through email, on Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, word of mouth, and through the DVD’s available on the website.  Help us get the word out…but more importantly please please pray that God would pour out His grace upon this effort and upon everyone who watches.  I do not say that to sound “holy.”  I say that because if I came to any conclusions throughout this process, it is this:  we need the Holy Spirit to do a mighty work of awakening people in the Bible belt and this nation!  Please please pray that God’s Spirit would work through this short film to open eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to the Gospel.  Please join me in praying for an awakening.  

We will be showing the film Sunday at 2 p.m. at Providence Baptist Church in Clinton, MS.  If you are able to come over, please plan to join us.  You will be able to ask questions and also be entered for a chance to win a free hard copy of the film.  

To learn more about the film you can go to www.obliviousfilm.com  or you can go to www.missionsurge.com and click on the Oblivious banner.

3.  Speaking Opportunities

If you, or your church, could use me for a harvest day, revival, family discipleship conference, or mission conference, please let me know!  Also, I am available on Sunday evenings and Wednesday’s to come and share about the work of Mission Surge with your congregation or small groups.  Please pray that God would open doors!

4.  Finally, stay in the loop by frequenting our website, following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, following the blog etc.  The links are below!  Take time now to check them out.  

http://kevinivy.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598?ref_type=bookmark

https://twitter.com/missionsurge

www.missionsurge.com

www.obliviousfilm.com

Please pray for me, Mission Surge, our efforts, and our missionaries and ministries around the world every time we come to mind.  We covet your prayer support! 

In Christ,

Kevin

Update on July Trip

Dear Friends of Mission Surge:

I wanted to follow up last week's newsletter with a quick update if I could.  I mentioned last week an unexpected trip that I need to take in July.  I will be making a dashing trip to the Dominican Republic to meet with our point-man there and discuss the future of our partnership.  This is a critical meeting and will dictate much of our future work there.  I ask you to pray for us both as we seek God’s direction as to the next step.  During this trip, there is also a great opportunity.

I will be preaching in a missions conference in Santo Domingo where 400-500 Haitian pastors will be gathered.  It is my hope that God would raise up a couple from among the Haitians to go to Martinique in order to engage the 3400+ Haitians in that country who have no church, no pastor, and no missionary.  According to the International Mission Board, “The Haitian of Martinique have a population of 3,500. They are part of the Afro-Caribbean, Francophone people cluster. The global population of this people group is 11,248,200. Their primary language is Haitian. The primary religion of theHaitian is Roman Catholicism, the world's largest Christian branch. Their GSEC status is 1, which means this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.”

I plan to go to Martinique on the way to the Dominican in order to see the situation there and verify the reports from the IMB and Joshua project.  I am praying that God would connect me with someone there that can help us get our feet on the ground.  Pray that God would connect us in Martinique with who we need to be connected with.  Pray that God would call out and raise up a Haitian couple to go to Martinique and begin a church planting effort among the Haitians there.  Pray that God’s will would be done.  

Finally, I mentioned last week that there are many expenses that are involved in this conference and trip.  I have had some ask for specific numbers, so I wanted to share with you the budget.   

• Transportation for the Haitian pastors:  $1050.00   

Pastors and some wives will be transported into Santo Domingo from all over the island for this Saturday conference.  These men have to work hard in order to keep a roof over their heads and a little food on the table.  It is literally day to day for them.  There is no way they could travel from Santiago, Monte Cristi, Puerta Plata etc. to the capital where the conference will be held.  This is an opportunity for them to be challenged and encouraged as they serve the Lord.  It is also an opportunity for them to hear the call of the Haitians in Martinique!  

• Lunch for the Haitian pastors while at the conference:  $1450.00

The conference will last all day Saturday so lunch will need to be provided for those in attendance.  We are estimating as many as 500 in attendance so lunch has been provided at a very reasonable rate of less than $3 per person!  

• Travel and Lodging expenses:  $1800-2000

Getting from Mississippi to Martinique has proven challenging.  I will have to purchase a round trip ticket to Santo Domingo.  Exit the airport, return the next day with a round trip ticket from Santo Domingo to Forte de Franc Martinique.  I have searched high and low, called Delta, American Airlines, and our Travel Agent and there seems to be no good way to get there from here.  Total cost of tickets will be between $1300 and $1500.  Lodging will be approximately $500.  

The total budget for this trip to explore Martinique, meet with Wilfrido about the future of our work there, and help with the Haitian conference in Santo Domingo will be $4300-$4500.  If God would utilize these efforts to engage and reach the 3400+ Haitians of Martinique, it will all be worth it.  

In closing:  This past Sunday at Providence we studied Acts 15.  We read in Acts 15:3, “So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.”  What is it that brings us great joy?  For the early church it was news of the Gentiles (the heathen) coming to faith in Christ!  It would be my joy to see souls saved and churches planted in Martinique.  And it would be an even greater joy if we all could say, at the end of the day, that we were privileged to have a part in it!  You can have a part!  Would you commit to pray…to give…and maybe even, in the future to go? 

If God would move you to give to this effort, please feel free to send your check made out to Mission Surge with the code 0001 in the memo line.  You can mail it to 

Mission Surge

1126 Tanyard Road

Crystal Springs, MS 39059

Or you can contribute through paypal by going here:  

http://www.missionsurge.com/new-page/

Thank you so much for your prayers, your financial support, and your words of encouragement.  May God continue to bless and prosper our efforts to carry His gospel from here to the ends of the earth!

In Christ,

Kevin

April News and Update

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I wanted to give you an update before April turned into May. I depend so much on your faithful prayers! I appeal to you to please please take time to pray for us and our work. You do not know how much we appreciate it.

First, I want to give you an update on the Oblivious Documentary. It was our goal to have it complete by the middle to end of this month, however we are behind our original schedule. The winter months were so wet and cold that it made it difficult to get out on the street and interview people. We kept having to postpone our on-the-street interview again and again. If we can remain on schedule from this point on, all filming should be complete by mid May. Then the film can be edited and released. Please pray that we will not fall farther behind. I really believe that this is going to be a tool to help awaken the people of the Bible belt to their need for the gospel. Please pray.

I also want to ask you to pray for me as I speak at Hopewell Baptist Church in Crystal Springs this Sunday morning. I will be sharing about the Great Commission and the work of Mission Surge. I still have several Sundays available this year if God would lead you, or your pastor, to host a harvest day, revival, family discipleship conference, or missions conference. I am also available to come and share about the work of Mission Surge with your church on Sunday night or Wednesday night. Please pray that God would continue to open doors!

Before I traveled to the Dominican Republic I promised to blog some quotes and notes from the autobiography of John Paton. I will begin posting those notes and quotes on Tuesdays and Fridays beginning next week. Please go to kevinivy.blogspot.com on Tuesdays and Fridays if you are interested in gleaning from one of the richest missionary biographies I have ever read! You can also follow my blog there if you have not already done so!

We are laying the ground work for beginning a mission here in Crystal Springs. We covet your prayers for this endeavor as well. We hope to have a Back Yard Bible Club this summer and get a Good News Club started in the local elementary school next school year. We have also found a location for an evangelistic Bible study to be held on Sunday nights. Now, we just need help and some converts! Please pray that God would lead, guide, direct, and work through us to reach this area with the gospel.

Please pray for our partner ministries: Refugee Ministries International, Coram Deo, and ECCI. Our new website is set to launch over the weekend (barring technical difficulty). You will be able to go to www.missionsurge.com and click on “From the Field” and read about their respective ministries, follow them on Facebook, read their blogs, listen to sermons, and give as the Lord would lead. We all covet your prayers. I ask you to please be in prayer as well for a couple who are prayerfully considering going to Southeast Asia as full time missionaries with Mission Surge. They are out of the country now seeking God’s leadership, guidance, and direction in this endeavor. Please pray for them and for us that God’s will be done.

Finally, for the past several years I have been praying about and meditating on and thinking through an 8 part discipleship study based on 2 Peter 1:5-8. It says, “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self- control, and self- control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peter seems to make an outlandish promise in this text. He seems to be saying that if we make every effort to add to our faith these qualities and increase in them that they will keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful! This caught my attention because it seemed as though Peter was giving us a step by step process of growing into maturity. I wanted to take this list of qualities and formulate a discipleship study on each quality that would build upon the one before it. I wanted this to be something that was reproducible and geared for 1 on 1 or 1 on 2 discipleship. It has been like beating my head against a brick wall for the past 2-3 years! I could not get anywhere until 2014. God has been unfolding link after link in this chain over the past few months! I am overwhelmed at the progress that has been made. The rough drafts of the first 5 qualities have been completed! Each are 2 weeks in length (except for faith) and are easily reproducible and geared for 1 on 1 discipleship. I am super excited about utilizing this in our work in Crystal Springs and in our church as God would lead! This study will be available for down load as soon as the kinks are worked out. I hope that you will find it useful to you as well.

One of the kinks that needs to be worked out is a name for the study. I have come up with a few possibilities on my own, but I am not super “creative.” I have considered “The Matrix.” A matrix is like a womb, an environment perfectly suited for growth and development so I thought, this study, rooted in 2 Peter, would be like The Matrix of Spiritual growth. Another option is The Network. I want this study to be a net that fishers of men can cast into a lost community and make disciples with. I want it to be used for net-work so to speak. I also want it to be reproducible and used to form a network of disciple making disciples. Finally, since Peter (the rock) wrote the outline for the study, I thought about calling it Rock Solid. I am also open to suggestions. Are you willing to help me name this discipleship study? If so, I want to ask you to take 15 seconds, follow the link below, and choose the title that you think is the best…OR write your own suggestion! I would appreciate it if you would take time to follow the link and give me your opinion. I would appreciate it even more if you would lift me up and this study up in prayer. 

Name the Study here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FVX9PCW

Thank you so much for your prayer support, your financial gifts, and your willingness to spread the word about Mission Surge! If you know of someone that I can add to this newsletter, please have them email me at kevin@missionsurge.com We need all the prayer support we can get.  If you haven’t done so you can...

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/missionsurge 
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598
Follow my blog: http://kevinivy.blogspot.com 
Listen to sermons online: http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=missionsurge 

Thanks again for your faithfulness to pray for us and encourage us!

Until next time… 

Mission Surge Dominican Republic Update

Hello from the Dominican Republic,

I arrived here Monday night at 11:45 p.m. and was up and running with our first session of pastor/church planter training Tuesday morning.  We met in Cuatro de Agosto at a local church in order to teach a group of Haitian pastors and potential church planters from the area. Here is a pic of some of these young men and a few of their wives who were in attendance.  Pray for them!

Here is a picture of the church's pastor and his wife!  From his humble congregation he has raised up four leaders who have planted 4 churches, some of which are stronger and larger than his own!  He ended Tuesday's time together asking who was going to be the next one to leave and go begin a new work.

We finished up this afternoon and will speak at a prayer and fasting service tomorrow before repeating the training in Sabana Perdida on Friday and Saturday.  We are defining the biblical gospel and teaching them how to call for a biblical response to the gospel.  We are also teaching them how the gospel should impact the lives of individuals, families, churches, and communities as they live in obedience to God's Word.  Inter-twined in this teaching we are doing a brief exposition and overview of Titus.  The pastors and church planters seemed to benefit from the time together and I appreciate your prayers and gifts that have made this effort possible.  I hope to continue periodically updating as I am able.  Please continue to pray.  God is working in the lives of the Haitians here in the Dominican Republic.  Every training session we do will be for Haitian pastors and church planters!  They are working hard and have planted over 100 Haitian churches in the DR since the earthquake!!

I want to conclude this post by giving you a taste of the worship of this small group of Haitians we have had the privilege of working with over these last 2 days.  Pray for them, share this update, and enjoy.

John G. Paton Quotes and Notes

I have read stories about John G. Paton, but I am embarrassed to say that I have never read his own story about himself.  After all, it is 500+ pages in length...a bit intimidating to say the least.  For Christmas, I got a copy of his autobiography and have just begun to work my way through its pages.  What I am finding is absolutely spell-binding.  In his writing you can sense the power of God in the man.  You can sense a working of God's Spirit in his life and in his writing long after he has been dead and buried.  I am sad that in all my years of growing up in church I never heard his name, much less his story.  I would guess that you probably have never heard of him either.  I would also guess that you are probably not planning to dive into a 500+ page autobiography about him...or are you on amazon.com right now looking for a copy?

Just in case you aren't pulling out your credit card to purchase your own copy...and just in case you ARE pulling out your credit card, but will never actually crack the cover on the book once you receive it 2 days later due to that amazon prime thing you signed up for because you wanted to read more books this year...sorry for the rabbit trail.  My A D D kicked in...anyway...just in case you aren't going to read his book, I am compiling a list of quotes and notes from my personal reading for you!  His story is unbelievable.

It is a life-altering story of a man who gave his entire life to the evangelization of his own people in Scotland and the cannibals of the south sea (40+ years among the cannibals).  I will begin posting "quotes and notes" from this 500+ page work in the near future here on my blog.  I just want you to be aware and be on the lookout.  If you haven't followed me on twitter or Facebook please do so just to ensure you don't miss any breaking news.  You can do so here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598

https://twitter.com/missionsurge

In closing, let me encourage you to be on the lookout for lots of new news in March.  God has been good to us at Mission Surge already in 2014 and there is much to unveil...in God's time.  Until then, keep your eyes open and remember, I leave for the Dominican on Feb 24 and need your prayers.  Please spread the Word.

New Year Update! 2014

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

2014 has started with a bang!  God has already honored so many prayers and efforts just in this first week of the New Year.  He has given much vision and put many possibilities before us.  If the rest of the year continues to be as rapid and rewarding as the first week, I am convinced that God is going to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or imagine. 

As 2014 begins, I wanted to update you on what is happening…as briefly as I can.  These issues are so important to me I will be posting them in various forms in various ways so please don’t grow weary if you see them more than once. 

1.  Please pray for me as I travel to the Dominican Republic February 24 through March 6.  I will be training church planters and pastors in Santo Domingo on February 25-26.  On Thursday the 27^th I will be speaking at an all- day prayer and fasting event in Santo Domingo.  Then I will be traveling to Sabana Perdida on February 28 and March 1 to train pastors and church planters.  I will speak in one of the churches on Sunday March 2 and then travel to Santiago in order to train another group of church planters and pastors on March 3-4.  On March the 5^th we will meet with some of our key pastors that we support.  It will be a busy time!  Please pray for me, the pastors and church planters, and Mandy as she manages the 5 children and home in my absence.

If God spurs your interest in this work, and would lead you to give to help cover the costs of this training, the projected budget for the entire work is $2500.  We estimate training 100+ pastors and church planters!  That means that we are feeding and training each pastor for roughly $25 each.  If you are moved to help this project, just mail your tax deductible gift to our NEW ADDRESS

Mission Surge

c/o Kevin Ivy

1126 Tanyard Road

Crystal Springs, MS 39059

2.  Please pray for us as we continue to gather footage for the DVD tract I shared with you about in the last update.  We are in the process of videoing the documentary, the gospel tract is written and waiting to be published, the study book is in process, and the sermon is already recorded.  We hope to be able to release this entire outreach project in April!  Please pray for this endeavor.  It will cost between 2500 and 3000 dollars to complete.  We want to make this product available free of charge (as we do everything at Mission Surge).  If you feel led to help make that possible by giving financially to help cover this project we would greatly appreciate it.   We believe this product is going to be extremely helpful in attempting to communicate and spread the gospel here in the buckle of the Bible belt and beyond.

3.  I am excited to announce our first ever Men’s Conference to be held on Friday April 11 and Saturday April 12 in the Jackson, MS area.  We want to invite and encourage all men and their sons 12 and older to attend this event.  This is going to be an in your face look at the church in North Korea followed by an in the mirror look at ourselves!  We are going to have with us Tim Dillmuth from Seoul USA http://www.seoulusa.org/ as one of our speakers, some powerful videos, break-out sessions, and vendors.  More details such as exact location, cost, etc., will be coming soon. We are going to make it as low-cost and accommodating as possible.  For now, just know that it will be a weekend you will not want to miss!  Please go ahead and pencil it in on your calendar and plan to attend:  April 11-12, 2014...and spread the word to the men in your churches!

4.  Mission Surge Website:  Our goal is to have the website www.missionsurge.com rebuilt this year to be more up-to-date and easily accessible...and finally get that "Pay Pal button several of you have asked about working."  In the next few weeks you should be able to listen to new sermons every week on the Mission Surge website and at kevinivy.com.  Please check it out.

Finally, if you have not signed up to follow the Mission Surge blog, like us on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter, please do so right now!  You can do so here:

Follow the Blog:  http://kevinivy.com/

Like us on Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mission-Surge/145423062144598?ref=hl

Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/missionsurge

And then please please please PRAY and SHARE!  We need your help to get the Word out!

In Christ,

Kevin

November Newsletter

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I know it has been some time since I have written and for that I apologize.  As you most likely know we finally found a home, by God’s grace, in the summer and I have been working, between preaching engagements, on getting the house ready and moved into.  It is so much more than we thought God would provide us.  He has proven good once again, though He tarries often.  We are finally settled in for the most part.  There are still several projects that need to be completed, but they can be done in time.  I appreciate your prayers for us during this transition and covet your continued prayer support.

I write today for a few reasons.  First,  I ask that you please pray for me this weekend as I travel to Birmingham to preach at The Master’s Plan for Fatherhood conference there.  I will be speaking on Malachi 4 and I need prayer!  I would also love for you to come be a part.  There is still time to register.  If you are able to break free Friday and Saturday I would love to see you there.  You can register here:  https://ncfic.org/events/view/birmingham-masters-plan

I also would like to ask you to pray for me as I begin making plans for 2014.  We are planning a 12 day pastor/church planter training tour of the entire island in February.  Please pray for this effort.  Also pray that God would open doors for me to preach harvest days, family discipleship conferences, church revivals, and mission conferences.  Also pray that pastors would be willing to open their pulpit to me on a Sunday night or Wednesday evening service to share about the work and vision of Mission Surge.  Pray that 2014 will be a fruitful year.

Finally, I am writing to inform you of a new project we are beginning work on now.  We are beginning the process of putting together a high quality DVD tract.  Let me explain.  It is my belief that the vast majority of people, here in the buckle of the Bible belt, are confused about the Gospel.  They have a misunderstanding of who God is, who they are, who Christ really is, and how to respond to Him as their only Savior and Almighty Lord.  This has been a burden on my heart for some time.  The problem is most people will not take the time to listen to a full explanation of the Gospel, and sadly, very few if any will take the time and thought necessary to read a full explanation.  It is because of these realities that we have felt compelled to put together a brief (35 to 50 minutes), high quality, video explanation of the biblical gospel.  We intend to produce this DVD tract and make it available for mass distribution in multiple ways (DVD, I tunes, Youtube, etc.)  This project is going to cost us roughly $2500-3000 dollars for video, post production, and manufacturing.   It will be complete by May 1.  I would like to ask you to pray for this project.  Pray for funds to be raised to cover this project.  And if God moves you to give in order to help make it a reality, we would greatly appreciate it.  Just contact me and let me know (kevin@missionsurge.com).  As an incentive, anyone who would donate any amount to this project will receive a free copy of the DVD tract.  It is my hope that God would use this effort to open many eyes to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Please pray!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support.  Please lift me up this weekend and come join me in Birmingham!  Please pray for many opportunities to open up in 2014!  And please pray for the  DVD-gospel tract project.  And spread the Word!  Thank you again and again for your faithfulness to hold the ropes for this ministry as we keep developing and growing and seeking God’s will for this work.

In  Christ,

Kevin

Mission Surge Udate: April 2012

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,

I wanted to let you know about several exciting opportunities! 

First, I ask you to pray for Bro. Gene Pickern, the point man for all of Mission Surge’s work in the Dominican Republic.  He is in the Dominican this week, leading a team from his hometown in Alabama.  He is also working to solidify the future plans of Mission Surge in the DR.  Pray that God will bless him as he serves in the Dominican this week, and be on the lookout for new news from the Dominican Republic.

Secondly, please pray for Dr. Paul Young, chairman of the Mission Surge board of directors.  He is leading a team to Thailand May 29 - June 6.  He will be leading a Pastor's Conference for 16 pastors from the Hmong White people in Nan, Thailand. The unique thing about these people is that they have only had a language known outside of their culture for about 40 or so years. Their first printed Bible was published around 1997 and they have very few of them in the village.  Due to a lack of literacy among the Hmong White people, the need for audio Bibles is extremely great.

The Ministry, "Faith Comes by Hearing" just finished and released the Hmong Daw, White, language within the past 2-3 months.  It is so new that it is not available online yet.  However, Faith Comes by Hearing has agreed to donate 2 free audio Proclaimers to be taken to Thailand with the team.  They will also provide additional proclaimers for $100.00 each.  You can learn more about the proclaimers at the following link: 

http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/proclaimer

If you are interested in helping purchase additional proclaimers please let us know and we will let you know how you can do that.  Just shoot me an email at kevin@missionsurge.com

Finally, I want to announce the availability of my first official e-book.  It is entitled; “Before You Home Educate” and you can purchase it at Amazon.com.  If you are considering home educating your children, already do so, or know someone that has questions concerning home education please check it out.  Print copies should be available in the coming weeks.  I would appreciate it if you would go like it on Amazon and spread the word about it. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Before+You+Home+Educate

Thanks for your prayers and your faithful support.  Spread the Word!

In Christ,  

Kevin

Mission Surge Update

Here is the latest update on the work of Mission Surge.  Please be in prayer for the following.

Report from Wilfrido


Here is a report from one of our key church-planters in the Dominican Republic.

Las Ochocientas: Wilfrido is working with several groups in other places, especially training the leaders. I asked him what was being done to win the community around the church. A group of young men led by Daniel, Wilfrido’s brother, is doing house meetings with Dominicans on Monday nights. And a group of Haitian young men do house meetings with Haitians on Tuesday nights. They go to a home, invite the people around the area to the house, provide something to eat, visit, sing and have a Bible study. Wilfrido says the focus is on touching the lost and the church is growing through these efforts.

La Cuba: Vitalina and others from Las Ochocientas are leading 2 groups in La Cuba. Wilfrido visits the groups every other Friday night. He is looking for leaders from the community whom he can begin to train. Some of the people from La Cuba are also participating in the church services at Emmanuel in Las Ochocientas.

Santa Rosa: This group has 7 believers and others who are not yet believers. Danny and Arelis, a young couple, are being trained as leaders. Wilfrido shared a great testimony about this couple. Arelis could not have children, and the doctors told her she needed an operation to give her an opportunity to have children. They saved up some money for the surgery, but then Danny was convicted that they should give the money to the church. He asked Arelis if she trusted God. She said yes. He told her they should give the money for the surgery to the church and trust God to give them a child In His time. After prayer they were both in agreement. They did it. And today they have a child. Amazing testimony! Wilfrido is doing a study with this couple called “Quien es Jesus?” (Who is Jesus?) After this they will be studying the book of Acts preparing to organize the group into a church.

Mendoza: Wilfrido is training two young men who are brothers as leaders of this group. He tries to get to Invivienda weekly, but sometimes cannot for lack of resources for transportation. He always goes on the fourth Sunday of the month to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the group and to train Peterson and his brother. They are also studying “Quien es Jesus?” and will be doing the book of Acts afterward. Wilfrido feels that this group is also almost ready to organize as a functioning church. The two brother’s sister is a widow with an 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter. They are struggling financially and have little to eat. The church in Las Ochocientas and the group in Mendoza are collecting money and food to minister to this widow and her children. There is also a widow in a similar situation in Santa Rosa they are helping. I am glad to hear that these groups are accepting personal responsibility to minister to those in need in their midst.

Jamaica: Wifrido is trying to meet with Junior and his wife for the same studies mentioned above once a week, but sometimes because of lack of resources for transportation and Junior’s work schedule the meeting doesn’t happen. However, Junior was on vacation last week and Wilfrido spent an entire afternoon with them. He says this work needs more time before organizing it as a church.

Rincon: Socio, the pastor in Rincon, has 8 children. According to Wilfrido, he has “given” four of his daughters to live with other families because he cannot take care of them. Wilfrido has one of them living with him. We really need to pray for Socio and Celeste. Socio works hard every day, but he does not make much money. Thankfully they grow a lot of their food in the country, but there is just not enough money for other costs such as school uniforms, etc. One reason he sent his daughters to live with others is so that they can attend school.

Transportation: I asked Wilfrido to send me a summary of his transportation costs to visit leaders in Santa Rosa, Mendoza, Jamaica, etc. once a week. I should get that soon. He continues to talk about a car, saying he would like to check on Socio in Rincon regularly (which would require a car), but I still think we should pray hard and long before doing anything like that. I prefer to wait and see what his weekly costs would be and go from there.

Summary: I am encouraged by this talk with Wilfrido. He mentioned a couple of times things, Kevin Ivy, Kevin Wade and I had discussed with him in December. He seems to have taken those things to heart and is following through. He still needs a regular income for his family, and a job for him or that his church will step up to care for the pastor is my constant prayer.

Please be in prayer for Wilfrido’s financial situation and the needs of his family in the midst of a very difficult financial situation in the DR. Pray that God would raise up financial support through Mission Surge to help minister to Wilfrido and his family’s material needs.

Report from Miguel


His Plans for this week: Tomorrow Miguel will leave early in the morning to walk to another barrio in San Crostobal called Maria Vieja to start a new group that he has been cultivating for some time. He will also work with a new group on Friday and his 3 groups on Saturday. I told him I want to spend a day with him in May to see where these works are located and to meet some of the members. He told me I need to get ready to do a lot of walking.

Plans for May training: Miguel wants to invite the two leaders he is already training and at least two other potential leaders. He remembered from our conversation last week that we will be focusing on the Gospel. He is very excited about it.

Please pray every day for the leaders in the Dominican and their places of ministry. If we can find 10 or 12 young leaders like Miguel seems to be we can raise up an army of young church planters in Santo Domingo to the glory of God. Please pray for God to continue to reveal these men to us and pray that, through our training in May, many of them will be better equipped to minister the Gospel in their families, churches, and communities of the glory of God. Also, please pray for the financial needs of our training in May to be met.

Report from Kenya

Our pastor training in Kenya will take place in June. Below is the latest report from pastor Jacob Lusweti, who is serving as our contact there.

Dear pastor Kevin,

I just wanted to let you know that we had a powerful Sunday service with two people giving their lives to Jesus. We have been praying and fasting for the coming conference with a team of pastors. We had a gathering in my church today of pastors and lay leaders who met for discussion concerning the coming conference. We had more than 100 pastors and Church leaders gathering in my church. They were very much excited to hear from the servant of God pastor Paul. Pastor paul sent us some commentary books. We agreed with our pastors and church leaders today that we are going to put those commentary books in our library so that anybody who is interested can go there and read so it will be a blessing to many pastors and church Leaders.

Blessings

Pastor.Jacob

Please be in prayer for this training of 400-500 pastors and lay-leaders from Kenya and Uganda in June of 2011. Pray that God would provide the resources necessary to fund this training and the purchase of the Swahili Bibles that are needed. Pray for Dr. Paul Young as he goes to teach that God would protect, energize, and empower him with a very busy schedule there. We are looking forward to being able to report to you what God is doing in Kenya.

As these trainings draw nearer, you will continue to receive updates and reports. Please keep these men and these events in your prayers. We are in desperate need of the persistent and fervent prayers of God’s people!


In Christ


Kevin

Feb 2011 Mission Surge Update

Dear Friends of Mission Surge,


I would ask you to please be in prayer about the following things.

I. The Dominican Republic

Please be in prayer for Ministerio Visión Emmanuel, a ministry that is led by one of our Dominican church planters and pastors. This year this ministry will be focusing on 4 rural areas of Santo Domingo and Haiti.

1. La Cuba

We have already started two bible studies in La Cuba. Last week we had a great opportunity to share the Gospel with a local witchcraft-man. This man allowed us to visit his Church of Satan and Wilfrido had the opportunity to share his personal testimony with him. The witchcraft-man knows that he is under Satan's chains and he reconized that only Jesus can set him free. Pray for the Lord to give us His power while we are testifying His Word and greatness. Please pray that the Lord would break the evil that reigns in La Cuba.

2. Invivienda

We have a new church plant in the DR that is slowly growing. Please pray for the members to grow deep in their faith and that many in this neighborhood would come to know Jesus as their Savior.

3. Santa Rosa

Please pray for this poor neighborhood. Pray that God would raise up workers to work in this neighborhood, planting the seeds of the gospel. Pray that many would respond to the truth and that a new church plant would spring up in this neighborhood this year.

4. Jamiaca

Pray for Jamiaca, another poor neighborhood in Santo Domingo. Please pray that the Lord would call out "people of peace" in the neighborhood that will open their homes to begin weekly Bible studies. Pray that many would come to know Jesus as their Savior this year in Jamiaca.

5. Pray for our church planter/missionary training coming up in May (tentatively) and a mission trip that is
scheduled for May 9-16 to help advance the work of Ramon Sosa and Wilfrido (two of our key church
planters).

II. Kenya

Airline tickets have already been purchased for the four men who will be going to Kenya, May 30-June 10. Dr. Paul Young who is the chairman of our board of directors will be teaching approximately 400 pastors in Kenya how to properly read, interpret, and teach the Scriptures. Please be in prayer for this trip.

1. Pray for funds ( a minimum of $1500) to help feed and house the Kenyan pastors who are traveling to the conference.

2. Pray for Bibles. There will be about 120 pastors from Uganda who do not have Bibles. Mission Surge plans to purchase these pastors Swahili Bibles in Kenya. They are approximately $9 each. For 120 we will need approximately $1080.

3. Pray for the four men who are going. Mission Surge would love to be able to help these men with the cost of their trip, especially Dr. Young. Pray for God to raise up help for them from their personal friends and through Mission Surge.

III. Southeast Asia

Please continue to pray for our Vietnamese church planters who are being trained in Southeast Asia. Also, be in prayer for our missionary on the ground there, who will be coming in August to personally share about the work with the Vietnamese.

IV. India

Please pray for a pastor connection we have in India. He desperately needs to raise $20,000 to provide the land for his orphanage or the government will shut him down and the boys he houses will be sent to Muslim orphanages that are approved by the Muslim government there. If his orphanage does not comply with the land and space requirements, it will be closed. We are praying that, if it is God’s will for him to relocate, the money will be raised. Pray with us about this.

V. Opportunities

Finally, please pray for opportunities to share about and raise awareness of Mission Surge. We will be at Audobon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, MS March 4-6, Union Baptist Church in Brookhaven March 26-30, and Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Quitman, MS September 18-21. If you know of a church that would allow us to come and share about the work of Mission Surge, or who would be interested in hosting a conference on the Gospel, the Family, the Church, or the Mission please let us know ASAP.

I know this is a lengthy email, but we desperately need your prayers. Please, please take time to forward this update to everyone that you possibly can. Spread the word. If you have received this as a forward and you would like to be added to the contact list, just email me kevin@missionsurge.com your name and address and I will add you to the list.

Thanks for praying for us.

Mission Surge Update

Dear Mission Surge Friends,


I wanted to give you an update of what has been going on with Mission Surge over the past few weeks and an idea of what the future holds so that you can join us in prayer.

First, we are grateful for how God has worked. A team of 4 men just returned from Southeast Asia and training Vietnamese pastors and lay leaders related to Operation Backdoor. Mission Surge was prepared to spend $600 for this training. However, just before we left for SE Asia, the number of pastors and lay-leaders increased so that we had to pay $1100 to cover the expenses (travel, food, etc). This took $500 out of our fund that we had planned to use to purchase laptops for our contacts in the Dominican Republic. We chose to follow God’s guidance step by step and trust Him for the funds for the laptops if He wanted us to have them. So, we spent the $1100 in SE Asia.

I returned from SE Asia and discovered that our DR trip (to deliver the laptops I could not afford) had to be postponed. In the meantime, God placed on someone’s heart the burden to purchase the remainder of the laptops. Through that time, the trip was rescheduled for a couple of weeks later. The trip was postponed in the Providence of God. God impressed someone to meet the need. The laptops have been purchased, and will be delivered Dec 6 to the DR God willing. God is Sovereign and He is our provider and we give Him thanks. When we learn to wait upon Him, He will accomplish what He wants done.

Last weekend we held our first ever Mission Surge Conference. We had many great men of God come and share with us over the weekend. Everyone was encouraged and challenged. Video and audio of the conference will be available in the near future.

I also want to inform you guys that the Mission Surge website is live. Please take time to go check it out. Over time we will be adding video of the sermons preached at the Mission Surge conference last weekend. We will also make available different Bible studies, resources, and helps to encourage you as individuals, families, churches, and in our mission to reach the world. Most of these resources will be downloadable and therefore free! The website is http://www.missionsurge.com/ Please go check it out and share the link with your friends, post it on Facebook, forward it through email, and help us get the word out.

Next week we hope to apply with the Federal government for 501(c)3 status. We have been approved by the state and given a state tax ID number, but we have not filed federally yet. That process is supposed to begin this coming week. Crossing this bridge will allow people to receive tax credit for their gifts to Mission Surge. Pray that it goes smoothly and that the funds necessary are made available.

Pray that God’s will be done concerning the timing of our upcoming DR trip Dec 6. Many important things are going to take place on this brief trip that will lay the groundwork for the future. The DR is our most stable work and we need this trip to solidify some things. You can learn more about our work there at: Reaching Santo Domingo

Lift up those pastors and lay-leaders trained through operation backdoor. Continue to pray for God to raise up individuals to support the financial needs in that ministry. You can see these needs at: Operation Backdoor

Finally, please be in prayer about a possible open door in Kenya. Mission Surge has the opportunity to be involved in the training of 400-500 Kenyan pastors in April of 2011. We have been quietly praying that if this is God’s doing He will call out the right pastor to go. One of our board members has indicated that he is feeling led to take on this training opportunity in Kenya. Now, we are waiting on God to prepare the funds to host the conference (transport, feed, and house these Kenyan pastors who do not have the funds to attend otherwise). The cost is estimated at $5000. I know that is a big chunk, but when you think about it, we can train 500 pastors in Kenya for a week for $10 apiece. Not too bad? Please pray that God will raise up 10 people to give $100 a month for November, December, January, February, and March. That will provide the needed funds to do the work. Pray that God would put it on someone’s heart to contribute the total amount, or on 5 people’s hearts to give $1000 each. If He wants this to happen in Kenya, He will raise up the needed support. Please pray that He would do His will in the matter soon so that we can begin making preparations on this end to go.

Finally, forward this around to your praying friends. If you are reading this on the Mission Surge blog, through Facebook, or if a friend has forwarded it to you and you would like to receive email updates directly from Mission Surge, please email kevin@missionsurge.com and put UPDATES in the subject line and you will be added to our email list.

Thanks for praying for us.



In Christ,



Kevin
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