The Pink Bag

The Pittman's and I have worked together for more than ten years across several countries in Latin American like Bolivia, Cuba, Costa Rica and others. We recently talked about a story which moves us so I thought I would share it with you.

It was chaotic at the airport in Sucre, as usual, on departure day. Paul and Dori Pittman, were leaving for the states for home ministry. Paul felt the tug on his arm and heard a timid voice that said “Hermano Pablo, necesito hablar con ustedes - Brother Paul, I need to talk to you all.” Turning in the direction of the voice, he hardly recognized Elizabeth, the confident young adult from the El Rollo Quechua church who had matured from the adolescent they remembered from several years earlier. In her hand was a small woven pink bag. Elizabeth is one of the three young Quechua youth their team had sponsored in Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) training, with the hopes that they could advance ministry to children in their community.

Elizabeth and her fellow children's workers completed their CEF training several years ago and since then, have started neighborhood Kids Clubs in two different barrios (villages). They have been faithful to the training they had received. For the past several months, they have been teaching on missions in their little neighborhood kids club meetings every Saturday morning.

As it turns out, Elizabeth’s students in her kids club had been taking up offerings to support a missionary so they can share with people about Christ. It seems that they remembered the Pittman family, as the only missionaries they knew. The small pink bag contained 47 bolivianos, about $7.00. This was a true sacrifice for these children to give and it was given with great love to support the Pittman family mission ministry!

This incredibly unique gift is much more than a monetary gift to the Pittmans. It’s a practical example of how national workers are being equipped and transforming their communities all around the world. It represents the heart and commitment of the Quechua church to share Jesus with the world. Praise God with us for the faith and dedication of Elizabeth and all the CEF workers who are raising up "little" missionaries in Bolivia.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
www.mszymanski.com
mski@earthlink.net

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

Numbers

The name of a popular TV series where scientists use calculations to solve crimes, the fourth book of the Old Testament, containing the census of the Israelites after the Exodus from Egypt, the sum, total, count, or aggregate of a collection of units, or the like: The number of students who now attend the Christian college group called Lucas, on the campus of Lulea Technical University, TWELVE!

That’s right; we have grown by three people since last year when we started with nine students. This partnership is one I am working on with a church from South Carolina and two churches in Lulea Sweden. After several pre-partnership surveys we found that with five thousand students there were only seven Christians attending this university. The partnership’s goal is to develop new believers that will fuel new churches throughout the country of Sweden.

By now you are wondering, Sweden? You might have thought that this nation is a Christian nation but this is far from the facts. The truth is that less than one percent of the nation calls themselves evangelical. That’s right, less than one percent. “Though Sweden has a deep historical Christian experience the last several generations have lost the story and today’s population know virtually nothing about the living God,” says Richard Hultmar, church planter in northern Sweden.

With some of the highest suicide, abortion and singleness rates relationships are hard. People tend to congregate in pubs and clubs from Friday evening to Sunday. This is an enlightened population who pride themselves in knowledge and independence. “Life is good here so why would any intelligent person believe in or need something called God,” said Lars. I had a long conversation with him in a bar one night and found he never heard of the Christmas story or Easter. He knew of St. Nicholas and heard of Jesus but didn’t know what He was all about.

These last two years this North American partnership church sent teams to Lulea to perform research, encourage believers in two local churches, gave confidence to this fledgling campus ministry and their leaders, as well as helped with outreach activities. Our prayer is that we can double the size of the group this year.

Please pray with us and maybe your church would consider this partnership.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
mski1957@gmail.com
www.mszymanski.com

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

Building a Missionary Work Force...

I’m sitting here at a retreat center in South Carolina with twelve people who will shortly head out to various countries of the world, new missionaries! I have spent hundreds of hours prior to them being with me listening, coaching, discussing, envisioning and talking through the practical realities of working as missionaries. It is such an honor to Build a Missionary Work Force who will bring lost people to Jesus.

What brought me to this work was as a believer I began to understand that so much of the world didn't have the opportunity that I had to respond to the gospel. In fact many could not even hear just because they lived in a place where it was illegal to tell them. This broke my heart. I was challenged to discover what my role was in the great commission.

As I thought about what God wanted I discovered there are four shapes that our involvement could take. I came to believe that each of us must wrestle with and incorporate these aspects into our lives if we want to be obedient and receive joy as we walk with God sharing His passion. The four are: being a sender (those who actually supply the need of those who go), welcomer (a person who receives those who come from another culture to our own), prayer (those who lift up lost people asking God to send people to reach them), and Mobilizer (those who search out people who will go, preparing, training, coaching, envisioning, and providing oversight and help. Everyone can encourage people to go!) But for Cathy and I we knew we could build teams of people who could flood places around the world sharing God's love and desire to redeem His creation.

I meditated on scriptures like Romans 10:14: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And Acts 13 where we see the first missionaries sent in the New Testament.

This is what Jesus wanted… GO, and make disciples of all nations (ethnic groups). Each of you who pray and give to Cathy and I have a hand in this fruit. As these couples and singles go they will be part of a global movement bringing broken and lost people to knowledge of God. We are honored that you are part of our team. Thank You, thank you, thank you.

Today we have nearly 160 missionaries serving on foreign soil. It is great to be part of so many lives. Once again God, The Lord of the Harvest has shown Himself faithful calling people to Himself. Thank you for being part of His great cause and our lives. Here are the new missionaries I just finished working with:

Keith & Rachel Keller - Czech Republic, Phillip & Autumn Wilkins – Czech Republic, Megan & Ben Naylor - Hungry, Pierre Aragon - Tajikistan, Matthew & Gayle Boyd – Senegal, Megan Kibbey – Scotland, Scott & Jennifer Stadalsky - Scotland

Would you take a moment to pray for them now?

Just for your information I have created a Partnership/Church Resource page on which are some great MP3s and eBooks and a lot of other resources. Check it out. Click this link and select the folder, “MP3s and eBooks” or any other folder and download what you want. There are some great missionary stories.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski

Mski1957@gmail.com

www.mszymanski.com

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

In the eastern city of the Democratic of Congo, Beni is a free standing home not more than 20 by 12. Dirt floor, mud walls, tin roof, windows with no glass, home to more than a dozen homeless children taken care of by a selfless woman, lovingly named Momma Noel. Having traveled extensively throughout the world I have often found myself in these types of situations… servants of God doing the right thing without experiencing the obvious outward provision of God which western culture uses to gauge God’s approval, but in spite of what they get, have or don’t have they continue to do good.

People like Momma Noel, who do good in spite of the odds, are one third of an eternal equation with the other two being people who do evil and people who do nothing. Edmund Burke, an Irish philosopher living in the mid 1700’s and often called the father of modern conservatism, said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men (women) to do nothing.” I added the women part and I believe this with all my heart.

It seems today that it is not politically correct to go against the grain and speak your mind when it comes to religious views. You don’t have to be in an Islamic nation to feel the ill effects of being a true believer. In England and other places in Europe there is an assault on believers talking about their faith in public. In fact people are calling this act “religious terrorism.” Bill Muehlenberg, of Christian Today Australia, shares; “This is a war of worldviews. Just as the early Christians clashed head-on with the ruling powers of the day, proclaiming Christ - not Caesar - as Lord, so to today we have a full-on battle taking place. The secularists want us to be a silent, obedient and docile bunch who do not ruffle any feathers or make any waves.” Muehlenberg goes onto to say that, “that the whole point of such laws is “to forever rid Christianity from the public square.”

If we think this is only happening half a world away we are asleep. Christianity Today’s online version has an article about the recent 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision which upholds the decision of Hastings Law School to ban the Christian Legal Society from campus because of its “discriminatory policies” of only allowing members that share its statement of faith. In his dissent, Justice Samuel Alito castigated the majority opinion as political correctness run amok.

Moving into the future I am sure we’ll all face decisions that will make us unpopular or even cause us to have to choose between what is the good and the right thing to do, shrinking back doing nothing, or even allowing evil to triumph in order to be accepted or not loose what have. I pray that with God’s grace we will, like Momma Noel, do what is right and good in spite of having, obtaining things, not having things or even gaining outward acceptance.

As I left her home I allow her face to be imprinted on my mind while I pray; God, with all the busyness and distractions in my culture never let me fail to hear the small voice and do the right thing… no matter how hard it is.

Have a comment, please share it.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski

www.mszymanski.com

mski1957@gmail.com

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving click here: United World Mission.

As Cathy and I look back over the last twelve years all we can say it that it has been awesome. We never could imagine when we left Allison Park Church that God would expand our ministry into thirty plus nations of the world and allow us to be a part of so many lives. By coaching and mentoring we have seen thousands of individuals mobilized to work not only overseas but in the United States too. Many churches are involved and God has used us to connect them to significant relationships that have envisioned their people and expanded the glory of God among lost and broken people both home and abroad. Because of you, I can honestly say there are hundreds and hundreds of new churches filled with multitudes of people, children, families in India, Vietnam, across Africa and Europe, China, Cuba and many more nations!

Once a month I send out an electronic newsletter and post it on our blog: www.mszymanski.com. If you do have an email address and want to receive updates more frequently please send me an email at: mski1957@gmail.com. Electronic correspondence is inexpensive but I know some of you are not connected to the internet so I remain committed to update you via US Mail as Cathy and I value you! These monthly stories are the results of the opportunities that we are involved in. Month in and month out we help more than 150 missionaries in 35 Nations of the world advance the gospel. This is impossible without you!

Though we have tried to keep our needs to a minimum over the years our support has slowly eroded to the place where we sense God telling us to be humble and ask. It is hard to ask but we need to make it known. Our work causes us to stand in a place, halfway between the harvest force (a place where individuals and churches respond to God’s voice, get involved and go) and the harvest field (a place where lost and broken people that need to hear the story of a loving God live). We focus resources, coach, train, and care for those who go, envision churches, and help national leaders in Asia, Africa, South America, and Eurasia. All this allows the Kingdom of God to come to people just like you and those featured in our stories.

So, for the many of you that support our work we say THANK YOU! If you don’t support us could I be so bold as to ask you to consider making a monthly gift? If you think someone needs to hear about our work would you connect us to them? Over the next six months we are asking God to help us rebuild our monthly support back to what UWM needs us to raise. Our goal is to develop another $24,000 per year. We are working hard to keep our costs down and living expenses low. There are several ways to give. Electronic giving can be made by visiting the UWM web site or you can send a check to the address below. A receipt will be sent to you for any additional monthly or special gifts.

United World Mission • ACCT#11013 • PO BOX 602002 • Charlotte, NC • 28260-2002

We will always keep working but we would love to have you share in this labor. It truly takes a team and we need you.

Many blessings and thanks,

Mark & Cathy Szymanski

Cell: 704.517.0255

www.mszymanski.com

The Ring – For The Romantics Out There

“I am discovering many things as we emerge from Soviet dominance,” said Jan Lacho, who runs a church in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, as well as leading the Pentecostal Movement. During Soviet times leaders were isolated by choice to protect the church. If one person was arrested and tortured they could not divulge any secrets which would expose the movement to more harassment, by design, no one person new everything.

During this time of emergence and growth I had the privilege to lead our church into a partnership which would help establish a foundation for the future of a church planting movement. By working with key missionaries, Jerry and Faith McCollough, Allison Park Church would identify and join in with the Pentecostal church to develop churches that doubled as training centers. We started in Seneca and continued to work in Humenne, Vranov, and Kosice.

It was during these travels that I roomed again and again with a couple young men, Stano and Miro. Both men continue to this day to be involved in the church in great ways. As friendships developed I found out that Stano wanted to get married to a young lady, Vera. Stano was in a two year mandatory state service and was assigned to the Pentecostal Church. While rooming together on one trip I decided that perhaps Cathy and I could help him get a ring for Vera. I understood that it was difficult to get a diamond during this time in Slovakia and couples settled for cubic zirconium rings.

Upon returning to the states Cathy and I collected some magazine flyers advertizing rings so when returned I could show Stano so I placed them into my suitcase. Here is where God began to move…

A few days before I was to leave for Slovakia and with no one else knowing what Cathy and I were planning to do, I sat in my office completing a few last minute items when I heard a knock at the door. Agnes Sapp stood looking at me with a box in her hand. She said, “You might think I am crazy but God told me to give you this wedding ring set for Slovakia.” My jaw dropped to the ground as I asked her to come in and sit. I had a story to tell her. I explained what I had experienced over the last few trips into the country, who Stano and Vera were, and what Cathy and I were planning to do. She cried and handed me the ring.

Within a few days I was on my way back to the country I learned to love, its people, scenery, warmth and of course the men and women who I considered heroes, willing to give all to reach the nation. Again I roomed with Stano and Miro.

A few days into the trip I sensed the time was right. I asked Stano a few times about Vera. His eyes lit up each time. I wanted to know if he was serious. “Would you propose now if you had a ring,” I asked? “Yes,” was the immediate reply. I told him to sit down; I had a story to tell him.

I recounted the story of my last trip and the feelings that Cathy and I had and how we wanted to help him with a ring. I explained that I was prepared to show him some advertisements of places in the United States that we could look for a ring. All he had to do was pick out something we could afford. I told him how just before I was to get on the plane God sent Agnes with an amazing gift. I slowly pulled out of my pocket the little black box and opened it setting it on the table in front of Stano and Miro. Both men’s jaws dropped gapping open for several minutes.

Miro commented, “Stano, this is a miracle, you got to do this!” Stano could not believe his eyes. There sat a real diamond ring for his acceptance. He decided that this was from God and he accepted the ring. About a year later they were married. On another trip I asked if the ring fit. Stano said, “It was the right size, no adjustment needed!”

Don’t you just love how God works?

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski

www.mszymanski.com

mski1957@gmail.com

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

Risking It All!

“Down on the floor, get down on the floor, now,” yelled the leader of the police unit. Surprised and scared everyone else backed up against the sides of the simple house made of bamboo and palm leaves. As the police grabbed the two training pastors dragging them into the village common area the other pastors were rounded up and made to sit and watch as the interrogation began.

Materials are burned in plain sight of the evangelists and pastors, each are kicked and beaten with pieces of bamboo. This intimidation is meant to gather as much information as possible about the two training pastors. Their ethnic look gives away the fact that they are obviously not from the local area. The pastors remain silent which only inflames more beatings and intimidation. As the torture continues they find that the men are from a neighboring country and have come in response to the new churches that are being planted and the need for training new leaders.

The police now turn their attention toward the two training pastors…

Shrieks are heard as the bamboo hits the soles of the two men’s feet. This painful torture causes the flesh to be bruised and flayed resulting in extreme pain and the inability to walk. They are kicked and punched repeatedly until police get what they want.

The men are dragged off to jail and their motorbikes are confiscated. These jails are horrid places and having to remain in jail for nearly six months the men are confined to a small cell with a ragged blanket and two small bowls of porridge (rice and water) a day. In addition to being confined they are regularly exposed to ridicule and beatings and the only comfort they get is when they turn to prayer and worship. Soon word of their arrest reaches their leaders and the church is moved to pray for their release as the leadership of this movement begins a dialogue with the government authorities to secure their release.

Fines are negotiated and paid, men are released and medically treated, and after being welcomed back they are nursed back to health. Within a matter of months they will start making regular return trips back to the same region to continue their training. This is just one story of our partnership between a North American Church and a movement which is planting churches in twenty of this nation’s fifty minority groups that populate this restricted Asian country. In the last five years this group has established more than 300 churches in their country and nearly 35 in a neighboring country. Pray for those who risk it all.

This is your investment. This is your joy.
Mark Szymanski
www.mszymanski.com
mski1957@gmail.com

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

Special Report: Understanding Thailand's Violence

The smell of burning tires clogs your nose as you hear sickening cries of people shot and maimed in the normally peaceful streets of Bangkok Thailand. In the past months hundreds have been killed and wounded as protesters fight for their right as Thailand moves from a constitutional monarchy to a representative democracy. There is no doubt that this is also a war of cultural and class change.

Thailand’s history begins when Tai-Lao people migrated from China around the 10^th century. Soon the Thais established their own states however internal and external warring was common over the next four centuries. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya emerged to solidify the people ruling for three centuries and eventually being toppled in the late 1700’s by Burmese armies. Shortly after Thailand was liberated and a new capital city called Bangkok was established. Many European colonial powers threatened in the region in the 19^th and 20^th centuries but Thailand survived as the only nation to never to have colonial rule.

The “Revolution of 1932” transformed the Government of Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. The cabinet was presided over by the prime minister and in 1946 Bhumibol Adulyadej succeeded his brother as king and continues to reign until this day. He is the longest reigning king and very popular with the poor and rural peoples due to his many social improvements.

In 2001 Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to power and though he was popular with the rural poor for his social programs, his rule came under attack due to several charges of human right abuse, suppression of a free press, conflict of interest, anti- monarchy, and corruption. While out of the country in September 2006 parliament dissolved government and as General Boonvaratglin led a military coup.

A general election on December 23^rd, 2007 followed restoring a civilian government which had close ties to Thaksin. In June of 2008, the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protested against the government by occupying government ministries and disrupting air service at Suvarnabhumi Airport. This protest ended when the courts dissolved the government because of reported election fraud. These protesters are known as Yellow Shirts. If you watched the news during that time many of the protestors wore yellow shits to show their allegiance to the king. Many Thais wear yellow shirts on Monday because this is the King’s special color due to the date of his birth. Another notable fact; this group is made up largely of Bangkok’s upper class and elites.

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the "Red Shirts" are those who are supporters of Thaksin and his policies and include a large proportion of working-class and rural-based Thais. When the elected government of December 23^rd, 2007 was dissolved the Red Shirt movements formed to protest this action. The Red Shirts are angry that the former government that they supported was forced to dissolve. They call this a “judicial coup” because it appears that the elite powers including important army figures manipulated the government for political purposes.

With growing tension between the established government and those representing the poor and disenfranchised protests continue to turn bloody. To add to this complicated situation King Bhumibol Adulyadej who has been the stabilizing force in Thailand since the 1940s is now very old and in failing health. His heir apparent to the throne, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has not inherited his father's popularity and is seen as a spoiled playboy who does not carry the same concern of his father.

The UDD say they will disperse if the deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban turn himself in and face criminal charges over a clash with troops in April that killed 25 people. The UDD has already accepted a date for new elections to be held on November 14^th, 2010.

Please continue to pray for this nation and people. With nearing sixty-eight million people their hope lay in the fledgling evangelical church. Great gains have been made flowing out of the tragedy of the 2005 tsunami. Pray that these present struggles will cause Thais to rethink their present and eternal future. Things learned from the tsunami caused the formation of a national strategy called, “National Plan 2010.” Three Thai Christian denominations, TEC, EFT and TCB, have yoke together to implement evangelical strategies in 76 provinces and church planting in 927 districts. The four aspects of the “National Plan 2010” are creating a prayer network, training and encouraging evangelism & church planting, community social welfare or service mission, and leadership development. There is great opportunity to develop partnerships between North American churches and the denominations of the national Plan.

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: “Though we know the problems here are not over, and this has caused a deep divide among the Thai people, God is at work in this city. Last night a Thai friend said she saw the CEO of a Thai company on T.V. sharing about God’s love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. She said that he boldly shared about Jesus. God is using this situation for His glory and He is giving His church an opportunity to be a bright light to many who are longing for change.” – Gregg Nicholson, UWM Missionary

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski

www.mszymanski.com

mski@earthlink.net

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see UWM.

* The picture is from the Daily Mail, United Kingdom office.

I Don’t Want to Kill My Baby

With a shriek, the young woman screamed out “I don’t want to kill my baby.” The young mother kept rocking back and forth moaning in a barely intelligible voice, tears streaming down her face. She knows her small child would soon be brutally torn apart. A shiver went up my spine as I listen to just how this act would be carried out.

Maasai children born with the possibility of a birth defect meant they would be taken by their father or village elder to a place in the jungle and after a brief ceremony left alive to be torn apart and eaten by the wild animals of the jungle. The village leader said, “There is no reason any child with a defect should burden their Maasai family.”

Maasai social structures place children next to last above women and below men and cows, who are first and second respectively. But somehow the small male child was different. He was born in the late 50’s to a Maasai man who had five wives, many children, and more than a 100 cows. During that time British forces occupied several east African countries and as they were moving from Tanzania to Ethiopia the child’s father was spotted by a soldier one day near the roadway. He was immediately enlisted to be a porter for the group of soldiers. He protested stating that he was needed to care for his cows and his wife was soon to bear a child but this meant nothing to the soldiers and soon he found himself carrying a large load of supplies north.

Within a few days of her husband’s disappearance his wife began to deliver the child. Boys are prized greatly in the Maasi culture and this first born meant that he would be extraordinary. But there seemed to be a problem. The village elders looked at him and decided the baby must be put to death now. With her husband’s fate unknown one of the elders would carry out the death sentence.

Then the first of what would be several miracles began to unfold. Due to difficulties in the village tribal rituals would be set aside and the child’s own mother would have to take the child to be given to the wild animals. I swallowed hard as I imagined having to kill my own child!
The child’s mother, already heartbroken, now was inconsolable as she left the village with her baby. Being distraught she lost her way to the location where these types of children are left. While trying to find the location she met a white man who asked her what her business was in such a dangerous location. “Many people get killed here by lions,” the man said. She told the man her story. Moved with compassion the man led her to a village five hours away which had a clinic that could possible help her child.

At first she was scared of the white man thinking he may be a canable so she walked far behind him in case he tried to hurt her. After a long walk she arrived at the clinic. The doctor examamined the child but could not diagnose the problem. The child with the doctor so that they could observe him and hopefully provide some care. However soon the child’s condition went from bad to worse. Then another miracle took place. A local pastor visiting the clinic observed the pitiful state of the child. The only words he could utter were a simple prayer which would change the life of this poor baby, “God, save this child.”

Within days the child began to improve and clinic workers returned the child back to his mother. Astonished she received her child and questioned the workers for answers. All they could say was that a man of God prayed for him, baptized the child dedicating him to God, and the child became well.

Soon after the child’s father returned home from his forced labor and was told about all the events surrounding his child. He decided that all his children from all his wives should be baptized and dedicated to this God. The child began to grow, mature and with all of his brothers and sisters went to school. The child’s name was also changed to Godsave!
Tanzanian schools are unlike the schools in North America in every way. The child’s father decided to send all of his children to school and was able to pay for the schooling by selling his cows. This was another cultural violation of the Maasai. Cows were always more important that children however he felt that the Creator God must have something special for a child who captured His heart.

As Godsave grew he also excelled in virtually everything he did. His passion for God became clear at an early age. He continued his education and today helps lead a nationally focused ministry which trains and equips Tanzanian church women to reach out and care for those with HIV AIDS, Mentors and trains new church planters and pastors as well as establishing educational schools throughout Arusha Tanzania. You can find out more about this International Partner, Imara.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
www.mszymanski.com
mski@earthlink.net

If you would like to join our financial support team you can send contributions to: United World Mission, PO Box 602002, Charlotte NC 28260-2002 and write ACCT# 11013 in the memo line. Further info about on-line giving and other programs see www.uwm.org

Intense Love

Reaching down and picking up the small child she wipes his nose with her hand. Momma Noel comments, “one day this child will get an education and help change this community, he has a future and I am part of it.”

Several years ago Momma Noel opened her home to what is now more than twenty one orphaned children from Beni, DR Congo. With almost no worldly goods she gives the little she has to the many helpless children she now calls her own. She receives nothing from government or local officials and only makes it by with help from two local churches. I ask her, “Why are you doing this?” She responds, “God has blessed me and this is my chance to bless others, that’s what Jesus would want me to do.”

Our partner in DR Congo encouraged us to bring something for them so we took a huge bag of beans and rice so they could eat and have extra for several weeks to come. With our partner we discussed a potential community service project. A gutter could be installed at the edge of the roof so that rain water could be collected in a barrel and used for drinking, cooking and washing. This will save a long walk to the creek and provide better water quality than what flows in the creek.

The children live in a Momma Noel’s house which is made of mud, tin roof, and two rooms with wooden beds lined end to end and side by side with skimpy foam for mattresses. Total square feet is about 250. The sheer unselfish nature of this woman humbles me. I wonder if the intensity of my Christian faith is based upon whether everything is going right or whether or not I have a comfortable lifestyle. I see how God has met her in the midst of her need, their need. I pray silently, God help my love for you to be as intense when I have nothing and am in need as well as when I have extra and don’t seem to need anything.

I am a witness to selfless love and realize I am in God’s presence. She is doing what Jesus did, a modern day Savior to twenty one children. I remember the word; don’t keep the little children from me…. For this is the kingdom of heaven.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski

mski@earthlink.net

www.mszymanski.com

March Madness – Road to the Final Four or Maybe a Little More!

If you are a basketball fan the road to the final four is the most exciting time of the year. It’s when everyone has to bring their best game putting it all on the line. As the teams are eliminated you know what everyone has done and not done. You have watched what each team has brought to the table. Like the final four I want to take this time to give you an update on how your prayers and giving have accomplish many things and where we are financially.

As Cathy and I work to connect churches, businesses and talented individuals to 35 plus nations of the earth thereby seeing God’s kingdom come to broken and lost people we want to thank you and give you some highlights.

• Sunday, March 21^st we entered another time when we assessed, orientated, and trained nine new missionaries for the harvest field. Building the harvest force has amazing results. Please pray that God will bring more workers for the harvest fields. We have many opportunities for impact but we need more workers!

• In 2009 we trained and appointed (sent out) more than 25 new missionaries.

• For 20-to-30-years-olds who want to investigate a career in mission work we now have two year teams set up in Hungary, China, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Belgium, and England. I hope to soon have one set up in Kazakhstan in the next year and I want to build one in Africa but I need a leader. Pray for this new generation as they are the new harvest force! Here is a new web site to check out.

• The Vietnam partnership is starting to reach into two new unreached groups. There are 52 unreached people groups in Vietnam and with these two new groups we will be making disciples in 22 groups. The training we developed has caused unreal growth. Now I am working to help bring business training to these rural leaders so they can start businesses that fund church growth and multiplication.

• The DR Congo partnership is just flat out growing. We are establishing a world class bilingual Christian University (the first of its kind in DR Congo). This next year I will focus on building bringing groups together to build a global training system whereby interactive training can take place by leaders around the world. On my next in October I want to take people to teach English to new prepitory year students. Do you want to come? I need you! We are expecting to have 350 to 400 students next year. I have also helped to complete all processes and systems to field International Staff to the school.

• The Swedish partnership has seen new growth on the campus of Lulea Institute. There are now over 12 students meeting regularly. This is almost double from last year. We will soon have a couple and single living there. Pray they get their final monthly amount in so they can move before October. The harvest is plentiful but there are no workers on this 5000 person campus!

• Pray for a new partnership we are developing in Pucallpa Peru. I hope to take a trip late summer to bring all the groups together and define goals and outcomes.

• Our Cuban partnership is expanding. We have our annual partnership meeting in Vancouver in May. If you can believe it we are helping to establish businesses in Cuba which are funding church growth. So far we have 5 started!

• Please continue to pray for the other partnerships in Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand, France, Slovenia, Nepal, India, and Colombia. Check out my new partnership page with descriptions and resources by clicking here.

Because of you, new churches are being planted. Each of these churches are made up of people just like you who were once without hope... wondering what will happen to them, living in fear of offending some spirit, busted up families, children without a future, desperate for change. Now thousands and thousands are now are learning about a God who loves then and are experiencing grace and peace. Because of you…!

One last comment that is hard for us to bring up but some of you have told us that we need to make the “ask.” First, again, Cathy and I want to thank you for your continued support. We are honored and humbled that God has led you to partner with us. Words do not express our sincere gratitude. So we are asking you to please pray for this financial aspect of our ministry. Due to hard times our support has dropped to $50,000 a year and we need to get it back to $75,000. This amount includes things like living expenses, travel and ministry expenses, taxes, health care, etc. As you can imagine we live with frugality.

Pray for us to meet people who can help us restore our budget so we can keep working. If you know someone who would like to hear about what we do please let us know. Once again, accept our heartfelt THANK YOU!

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark & Cathy Szymanski

www.mszymanski.com

mski@earthlink.net

704.517.0255

Not in Kansas Anymore

Over this recent Thanksgiving weekend I had the chance to watch a little bit of an old movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” During the movie Dorothy finds herself in the strange Land of Oz and comments to her dog Toto, “I guess we’re not in Kansas anymore.” This comment took me back to a time and place when I was working overseas and I found myself with a team of people in a strange but beautiful land called Slovakia.

It was shortly after the Soviet system crashed and Czech and Slovak Republics had a peaceful separation. During this time one of my roles was to lead churches into significant relationships overseas creating a win, win, win for the US church, and in this case the Pentecostal church of Slovakia, and missionaries Jerry and Faith McCullough. Within this relationship we identified ways to move the national Pentecostal church forward in its desired goal to establish churches throughout the country reaching their people at every level. One of these ways was to establish and build regional churches that would have the capacity to train new leaders who would in turn establish new churches.

As I sat across the table from Daniel in this once soviet stronghold we were working beside people whose experience of church meant ducking and running, secret meetings and routine interrogations by soviet police I realized all that I had taken for granted back in “my Kansas.” Just a few years ago one of this movement’s strategies was never to entrust all the knowledge of the church to one person. In fact many people didn’t know what was happening in the city next to them for fear that if someone was arrested they would be tortured and spill this knowledge. No knowledge meant nothing to spill and nothing to spill meant nothing to lose!

One day Daniel, a plumber who is also a pastor, recounted a story of his youth.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The hard and loud knocks at the door could only mean one thing… we were in trouble. Taking a quick peek out the window mother yelled to father, POLICE! Without hesitation father immediately runs and grabs the records of the church and takes them to the kitchen throwing them into a cabinet. Father tells me and mother, “get in the kitchen and hide the records.” We hurry off as father answers the door. Without any provocation the two police grab father throwing him to the floor. I can hear them immediately begin to yell questions and insults at him. My mother rushes me outside and tells me to dig a hole below the kitchen window. Instinctively I begin to claw at the dirt with all my might. I hear the police begin to hit father and yell more insults.

Mother opens the window and begins to hand the records out and as I grab them I hurriedly throw them into the hole I just dug. Quick, quick, mother yells. Soon the papers and small books are in the hole and covered up. I wipe my hands on my pants and go back into the house where I am met by one of the policemen. What are you doing he yells? I told him I just came in from outside and I quickly lower my eyes.

Mother tells the policemen that I am a good boy and not to hurt me. He grunts and turns. The voices grow louder in the next room. I want to go in and help but mother told me to be still and pray. God will help us. I feel my faith begin to be tested as anger rises in me. I know mother is right but I want to do something, anything. A few minutes later I hear the door open and slam shut. We run into the living room and father is bruised but okay. This is not the first or last time this type of punishment will be dished out. I realize my faith is all I have. I can’t control anything life brings but I can control my choice to believe. Today in Topoľčany there is a flourishing church which has planted other churches and Daniel is more than a pastor, he is a leader’s leader.

If you don’t want to be in your Kansas anymore I can help. Today I work to develop partnerships around the world so tap your heals together three time s and let’s see where God can take you.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
www.mszymanski.com
mski@earthlink.net

Suddenly He Opened His Eyes

Tears filled my eyes as “Pastor O”; a 70 year-old Cuban friend of mine recounted a story to me that he describes as “the greatest thing he has ever seen.” When he prefaced his story with this statement I was totally intrigued because I have known him for about a decade and have listened to many stories over the years that I have been traveling and helping this movement of churches in Cuba.

He has been a leader of a movement which started before the great revolution, through years of secrecy, and decades of persecution so I knew this story had to be really good! Oh yeah, one more thing, though he has had the chance to emigrate to the United States he has refused because as he says, “I am called to Cuba even though it has meant time in jail on several occasions.” So as I sat he told me that in the early 1990’s I had the chance to visit the United States. Upon entry I had to wait for two days in order to get my next flight to see my family who had emigrated many years earlier. As I walked out of the airport I was able to meet a friendly Spanish speaker who put me in touch with a group of Cubans in Miami. As he took me to their church I was invited to stay with them. I was able to rest and get cleaned up but that evening I was asked by the lady of the house of I would be willing to go to the hospital and see her husband who was near death.

Soon I was entering the hospital and as I was escorted to the intensive care unit I prayed. When I entered what I found startled me. The ladies husband was lying with his eyes partially open, just the whites part showing and his mouth wide open drawing occasional breaths. If it wasn’t for the occasional breaths I would think that he was already dead. Composing myself I asked the Holy Spirit to be present. Not knowing if he would respond I began to preach to him about God’s great gift of love, sacrifice, and life. I declared that if he wanted forgiveness that nothing could separate him from God and the forgiveness of his sin. If he wanted this he should squeeze my hand. Suddenly the man’s eyes rolled to the front and opened, his gasping mouth closing slowly.

I continued by saying that I had come all the way from Cuba to tell him that today was his day of salvation and that he should not wait. Tears began to stream down the man’s face as I felt a gentle squeeze. Not being satisfied I wanted to confirm the decision so I said if you are serious squeeze my hand again? A firm squeeze was the man’s response. I sat down and began to tell the stories of Jesus, praying occasionally for healing, and describing the Kingdom of God. Then I quietly left as he drifted off to sleep.

Before I left for my next stop in the United States I was told that the man received the ultimate healing of eternal life. This trip to the United States was no coincidence but rather a preplanned God event to redeem this one man’s soul.

I realized there were now three men who were changed by God’s Spirit that day, the sick man, “Pastor O”, and now me. Returning to the island “Pastor O” continues to this day serving the living God and winning souls. Thank you for your prayers for Cuba and the many leaders that I work with as they reach people and plant churches.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
mski@earthlink.net
www.mszymanski.com
704.517.0255

Kenyan Proud, A Look back when Tribal Conflict Almost Toppled a Nation

At many intersections and along many streets you will find billboards and signage encouraging Kenyan pride. However the attempt to create national unity seems hollow and unattainable and these attempts go unnoticed and are generally ignored in the light of the recent internal conflict. Here in Kenya tribal pride always trumps national pride. “For Kenyans our tribal heritage shows up in every way from the type of job you may have to your name”, says Benjamin, a Kikuyu, the major tribe, which accounts for 21 percent of the population.

This stark reality was never proven more powerfully when in early 2008 this quiet and peaceful nation of Kenya erupted into chaotic violence following elections and subsequent decision of by the government reallocating land and ownership rights. People who held title to parcels and farms now were stripped of their rights through a series of decisions and enforcement and for months Kenya sat on the brink of a national tribal meltdown with an exponentially greater potential of mass slaughter than Rwanda.

Kenya has more than 30 million people divided into 42 different tribal groups all vying for equality, which cannot be obtained. With land ownership being stripped from rightful owners these corrupt governmental decisions fueled people’s inability to reclaim what has been their own leading to frustration turning neighbor against neighbor, worker against boss, now years of peaceful coexistence was disintegrating into hatred, brutality and murder as hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and once friendly tribal relationships disintegrated into hatred and a “getting even” mentality.

People who once felt safe to live and work in areas and among people of a different tribal background now fled in fear, relocating and literally running for their lives as they left everything behind. Buildings and schools were torched, people attached, looting and violence were out of control. Government statistics show that, at a minimum 1200 people were killed however local people recount stories of witnessing many more dying horrible deaths such as burnings and beheadings as ordinary people became thugs, murderers and executioners all along tribal lines.

Jan recalls discussing what people witnessed, “People fled with only what was on their backs in fear because they were living in an area where other tribal groups outnumbered them. For months children woke up with terrifying nightmares from remembering the screaming, violence and the smell of tear gas. Men attempting to return to gather up the little that may have been left after the looting and rioting were dragged away and brutally murdered – all because they were of another tribe.”
Churches began to intervene with prayer establishing camps, safe havens, and tent-cities that housed hundreds and thousands of refugees based solely up on the tribal heritage.

With a united cross-tribal demonstration of the love of Jesus many churches publicly lived out their faith and prayed for unity. Shortly after this demonstration an assemblance of peace began to slowly settle over the nation. Was God at work? Many undoubtedly say yes. However the situation is not resolved.

Kenya in many ways have been reshuffled from a nation which once had large groups of tribal peoples all living together in peace being intermingled and interspersed to a balkanized divided people unsure of the future and if their once friendly intertribal relationships will turn deadly at a moments notice.

What does all this mean? If government and tribal factions continues to create an environment in which tribal vengeance and retaliation can occur then knowing the heart of mankind chaos may be a reality and the types of atrocities we saw happen in Rwanda are exponentially possible here in this nation.

Won’t you pray for Kenya today? Pray for righteous leaders to emerge in government. Pray for the influence of the church to remain and grow and bring healing to the many different tribal peoples. Pray that this light in East Africa won’t go out and the 150-year investment of the gospel will not be extinguished.

This is your investment. This is your joy.

Mark Szymanski
mski@earthlink.net
704.517.0255
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They Day the Moon Fell from the Sky

The van’s suspension groaned as it leaned heavily to one side then quickly shifted to the other while we navigated the heavily rutted road on our way to the pygmy village in the jungle of DR Congo. Entering the village people no bigger than five feet tall began to run wildly in excitement. Some carrying bows with metal tipped arrows protectively ran to see who we were. As we entered the village we were tenuously greeted and ushered under the roof of the chief’s sitting area.

The Pygmy people are a forest people, hunters, part of a larger group known as the Bantu. These people are forest dwellers. Knowing the forest, its plants and animals intimately they normally live by hunting animals such as antelopes, pigs and monkeys, fishing, and gathering honey, wild yams, berries and other plants but due to forced migration, deforestation, routine deprivation of their rights by governments who do not see these forest-dwellers as equal citizens, and loss of control of the forest and its resources Pygmy’s are reduced to very severe poverty and isolation.

As we sat the chief’s wife angrily came running banging her small cooking pot on the ground and yelling. This got our attention and some of the team became nervous. Our interpreter told us that she is tired of the exploitation. She cries, “We need so many things, larger cooking pots, help with agriculture, and help in the development of new food resources. The government tells us they will help us but the forget us. Will you forget us too?”

You look around the village and you see the people, swollen bellies filled with worms, a few pigs, a few small mud buildings, and a grouping of logs standing straight up in a square outline – no roof – this is the start of a church. You see potential but it will take purposeful and deliberate involvement over time.

As we spoke further they asked us to help them understand what happened yesterday when the moon eclipsed the sun. They ran and hid because they thought the moon was falling from the sky. They spent the day in hiding not working in their small fields or hunting in the shrinking forest. Though Christianity has been introduced to this group they still need help to understand that the many spirits that they believe roam the forest and control the weather are subject to the Lord of the universe.

We leave the gift of salt we brought and after some surveying which included a new pond to raise fish, the chiefs small hut, we climb back into the van for our departure. I quietly pray that as I help Congo initiative to develop the first Christian Bilingual University of Congo that new community service programming that is being developed will reach into villages like these so that Christian discipleship and holistic community development transform these lives for God’s glory.

This is your investment. This is your joy.
Mark Szymanski