Hello friends,
First I want to thank everyone who was praying for me as I was sick. I can with clarity tell you that the parasite Giardia is no fun at all!!!! If you have been following me and the ministry here for a while, I had gotten this parasite about 4 years ago. This time was a bit different in that it seemed to be more intense and "explosive" than before. But thank you for your prayers! I got some medicine and am much better.
Ministry has been really going well. And it has been busy!! Which is probably why it is going so well!! : ). I am going to just walk through our weekly schedule.
MONDAY:
This year we have started to meet as a church to pray together. Part of our vision this year is to commit more to corporate prayer. The first few weeks went well. And each week we have seen amazing growth. Last week we had close to 20 people attend. This is a big number for a prayer meeting. We praise the Lord for this! Please pray that the people of Monte Christo would continue to have a passion for prayer!
TUESDAY:
This is my family day. This has been a wonderful time for us as a family to spend the day together. I do believe it is important to have a day like this. I don't want my family to hate the church because they feel it has taken there daddy away. Right now Julia and I also take our dates on this day as well. This is also a day we use for time to go and visit Okahandja sometimes.
WEDNESDAY:
This is another busy day. In the morning I am meeting with Pastor laban. The last few weeks we have been watching some Mark Driscoll sermons together. Last week we started our day by discussing a passage in I Cor. 14. It was a wonderful time. The in the afternoon, we meet together with our house ministry group. We have grown a little since last year and are meeting at Meme Zimba's house this month. We are currently still studying the book of Ephesians. Last week I finished chapter 4 and we will start this week with chapter 5. Please be in prayer for this group. That we grow in the Lord and our love and fellowship will grow for Gods glory!
THURSDAY:
This is a empty day on purpose. What I mean by this is that although I spend most of the day in study, I also use it to schedule meetings and counseling sessions. This day is a wonderful day for preparation for sunday.
FRIDAY:
On fridays this year we have a church fellowship. This is a time for those in the church to get together and talk with one another and get to know each other better. To be honest this is a part of the week I really look forward to. It is great to see the church coming together and talking. Most fridays, we have even had some come with questions. So we will sit with them and look to the Word together. It is a joyful, rich time!
SATURDAY:
On this day we have started two studies. I am leading a bible study through the Firm foundation material. I have on average about 6 students. It has been going well so far. Last week we finished the third lesson. This was the lesson looking at the spirit beings and Lucifer rebelling. Julia is also leading a group of young women on the choose to wait material. There is about 11 young women attending. We praise the Lord for giving us these opportunities. Pray that God will continue to lead these groups and that the students will grow in there walk with Jesus.
SUNDAY:
Sunday continues to be a very busy day. This year I am given more "pulpit time". Pastor laban will only be preaching two sundays a month, and I will have the rest. There is alot that we are doing this year. First, we have started to have a resource table. This is where we will make available to the congregation reading and audio material. We will get books and sell them at cost as well as offer previous bible studies and sermons that we have recorded. This has been going well. This upcoming sunday we will have a church meal together. This is where everyone brings some kind of food and after the service we will all eat together whatever is there. We are looking forward to this sunday.
This past sunday I had the opportunity to preach at a morning and evening service at a sister church called Grace Reformed. In the morning I shared with them on Eph. 1:1-14, "The accomplishment of salvation by God". In this sermon we saw how all three parts of the trinity are active in salvation. And how without one there would be no salvation. Then in the evening I preached through I Cor. 6:12-7:9. The title of this was "How to Glorify God with your bodies". This one also went well, and I am thankful for the opportunity.
OTHER WORK:
Lastly I want to share a few other things that are going on and are starting soon. First, the church has started to support a school for disabled children called Opanganda. Every week we have a box put aside and people in the church can come and bring food to give. This is a big deal because the church has never done anything like this before. Our hope is that the people in the church will continue to see this ministry as a church ministry. Please pray for us in this.
Also we are starting up he membership class again. Already we have had more than 10 people asking to become members. This would be a number higher than we have ever seen. The church even this year has already grown. Each sunday seems to be a challenge when it comes to seats. Please pray that we will be able to disciple many and grow together in Christ.
We are also preparing to kick off a student ministry. This is a ministry to the college and university campuses. I will be meeting with the young adults this saturday to discuss how we will start and explore areas we can bring the gospel to the sudents.
Well if you have read all the way to the end you can see that God is doing alot here. We know that none of this is by our own power or strength, but that by God's grace. We continue to pray that God keeps us humble and that the church will glorify Him greatly. Please don't hesitate to write with any questions. I hope we will praise the Lord together with you for the mighty works the Lord is doing here! Talk again soon.
Buddy
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Family update...
Hello everyone,
Our apologies for not keeping you updated in the last few days.
Health
Our family is doing much, much better now. The last couple of days really since January we have had some health challenges. Grace has not been her normal self since the beginning of this year. We took her to the dr in February i think the 2nd week. Now you maybe ask yourself...why would you wait that long to take her to the dr? That was the available time we could get. But before that we tried to get her an appointment with my dr and he was not available either but one of his colleagues was so we took her to him and he saw nothing wrong with her accept the running tummy. He gave us some meds and asked we do a stool simple, as soon as i started giving her the meds two days later i notice she was getting a bit of a rush. I stopping giving them to her. Anyways our appointment with the 2nd dr the pediatrician went really well. The dr called in to get the stool sample results and Grace had/has a fungus, and because of the month long running tummy she has of corse not picked up weight. She was 71/2kg but she needs at least to be 8 OR 9kg not too bad. She is doing alot better now.
Last week Wednesday night Buddy got sick...and things got worse Saturday night, he was going to preach Sunday morning but had to call Pastor Laban so he can preach that morning. He went to the dr Monday and confirmed that he had a parasite called Giardia!! He got some meds called adco-metronidazole and he is doing better. It was a pretty rough weekend.
Please keep us in your prayers. Pray that our family recovery's well and that everyone will be back to their normal self.
Ministry updates will fellow shortly but right now i have to run, Grace is up :).
Our apologies for not keeping you updated in the last few days.
Health
Our family is doing much, much better now. The last couple of days really since January we have had some health challenges. Grace has not been her normal self since the beginning of this year. We took her to the dr in February i think the 2nd week. Now you maybe ask yourself...why would you wait that long to take her to the dr? That was the available time we could get. But before that we tried to get her an appointment with my dr and he was not available either but one of his colleagues was so we took her to him and he saw nothing wrong with her accept the running tummy. He gave us some meds and asked we do a stool simple, as soon as i started giving her the meds two days later i notice she was getting a bit of a rush. I stopping giving them to her. Anyways our appointment with the 2nd dr the pediatrician went really well. The dr called in to get the stool sample results and Grace had/has a fungus, and because of the month long running tummy she has of corse not picked up weight. She was 71/2kg but she needs at least to be 8 OR 9kg not too bad. She is doing alot better now.
Last week Wednesday night Buddy got sick...and things got worse Saturday night, he was going to preach Sunday morning but had to call Pastor Laban so he can preach that morning. He went to the dr Monday and confirmed that he had a parasite called Giardia!! He got some meds called adco-metronidazole and he is doing better. It was a pretty rough weekend.
Please keep us in your prayers. Pray that our family recovery's well and that everyone will be back to their normal self.
Ministry updates will fellow shortly but right now i have to run, Grace is up :).
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thank you!
Thank you everyone praying and supporting the ministries here. We appreciated it! Words cannot express how thankful we are.
Thank you to all who sent us Christmas cards and to the House Church that sent us the package. Thank you! It was a great surprise. Again thank you everyone....it is our prayer that the Lord who is above all else bless you according to His riches in glory.
Thank you to all who sent us Christmas cards and to the House Church that sent us the package. Thank you! It was a great surprise. Again thank you everyone....it is our prayer that the Lord who is above all else bless you according to His riches in glory.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Ondangwa Evangelical Baptist Church...
Well hello again for anyone who is following this. I wanted to write about another opportunity that we had when we went to the North. Before we went up, I was invited to Ondangwa baptist church for a new years conference they were having. They asked me to preach three sermons, but unfortunately I only was able to do two. we had never been to this church, so we were really looking forward to it. Like I mentioned already, I was privileged to preach two sermons. I preached through I Corinthians 8 and 9. I had enjoyed teaching through these passages when at Monte Christo, so I adapted them for that. It went well, and we really enjoyed getting to know the members of that local church. Here are just a couple of pictures of that time. Stay tuned...We will write again soon.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Happy 90th Birthday Nana!!!
Happy Birthday our dearest Nana! We are so sorry we couldn't be with you to celebrate your birthday. We love and miss you so much! May the living God bless you.
Monday, February 07, 2011
What a year so far...
Dear friends,
Please forgive us for not posting anything for awhile. There is much that has been going on including changing our internet provider which caused a very limited internet usage. We were basically on a prepaid 3G device, but now we have the internet hooked back up and can post more freely now. So...I will be posting something new everyday until we get caught up. This will include many pictures..and explanation. We had a great time in the North and since we have been back things have really gotten busy. So please check back each day this week to see something new. Thanks for following how things are going here!
Buddy
Please forgive us for not posting anything for awhile. There is much that has been going on including changing our internet provider which caused a very limited internet usage. We were basically on a prepaid 3G device, but now we have the internet hooked back up and can post more freely now. So...I will be posting something new everyday until we get caught up. This will include many pictures..and explanation. We had a great time in the North and since we have been back things have really gotten busy. So please check back each day this week to see something new. Thanks for following how things are going here!
Buddy
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Happy 2011
Hello Everyone,
Welcome to 2011!!!! We hope you all had a great CHRISTmas. We were up in the northern part of namibia visiting with family for 2 weeks. We spent Christmas and new year up there. Our time with family was GREAT!!! I didn't really release how much i have missed them until than. It was a joy seeing everyone especially my grandma.
Grandma Martha with two of her great grandkids Simon and Grace
With Buddys internship one of the things he is asked to do is read biographies of missionaries who came to Namibia. The first biography that he read was of Martin Rautanen. On December 30th we had the opportunity and privilege to visit the Nakambale museum at Olukonda. Martin Rautanen come to Namibia in 1868 at age 23. He served among the ondonga people until his death, he died in 1926 here in Namibia and is buried at olukonda. It was a beautiful thing to see so much history from the 1800s well taken care of and to see the building they use to meet in as a church. To read further on his life following this link: http://www.mopanetree.com/history/60064-missionary-pioneers-namibia-martin-rautanen-1845-1926-a.html
This article this written by one of our pastor from our sister church estate baptist church pastor Joachim Rieck.
That will be it for now more on our trip will come later!
Till than bye bye!
Welcome to 2011!!!! We hope you all had a great CHRISTmas. We were up in the northern part of namibia visiting with family for 2 weeks. We spent Christmas and new year up there. Our time with family was GREAT!!! I didn't really release how much i have missed them until than. It was a joy seeing everyone especially my grandma.
Grandma Martha with two of her great grandkids Simon and Grace
With Buddys internship one of the things he is asked to do is read biographies of missionaries who came to Namibia. The first biography that he read was of Martin Rautanen. On December 30th we had the opportunity and privilege to visit the Nakambale museum at Olukonda. Martin Rautanen come to Namibia in 1868 at age 23. He served among the ondonga people until his death, he died in 1926 here in Namibia and is buried at olukonda. It was a beautiful thing to see so much history from the 1800s well taken care of and to see the building they use to meet in as a church. To read further on his life following this link: http://www.mopanetree.com/history/60064-missionary-pioneers-namibia-martin-rautanen-1845-1926-a.html
This article this written by one of our pastor from our sister church estate baptist church pastor Joachim Rieck.
That will be it for now more on our trip will come later!
Till than bye bye!
Monday, December 20, 2010
End of 2010!!!
Friends,
Well, we have come to the end of yet another year. When people ask how many years we have been here in Namibia...The answer surprises me. I find my self saying.. "well, Julia has been here for 23 years and I have been here for almost 5 years". Five years has gone by like a day. We are so thankful to the Lord for all his provision and unfailing grace!!
This year has been a great year looking back. We have grown in our understanding of God's Word and our relationship with the church. As I have said in some earlier posts...This year has been a year of getting to know the people of Monte Christo BC. It has been a joy! We are now just looking to next year to see what the Lord will do with our small vision. Our continued aim is to Glorify God in everything we do. He has called us....He has kept us...and He has led us....as for us...we just want to serve Him. Please continue to pray for the vision for next year and for willingness and passion from the church to see this church grow and be more obedient to God.
I wanted to also just take a moment and thank all of those that gave to us above and beyond these past few months. We were reminded that the Lord knows our needs even before we ask. It seemed that we were living pretty much week to week, and that as each week came, God provided for the next week through people. We are so thankful for our supporters. You guys are our partners in this mission. And we praise and Glorify God for bringing you all into our lives and giving you a desire to support us. May God continue to bless you all and keep you. Thank you!!!!!
This is our last post for the year. Tomorrow we will be traveling to the village in the North. Because there is no electricity there, we will not have access to the internet except through our phones. So we will be able to get emails, but may not be able to respond until we come back. Please pray for us as we travel. Pray that we do not have any issues either with police stops or break downs. We will of coarse take plenty of pictures and will try to post many of them when we come back.
We will be spending most of our time with the family up there, but I will also have the opportunity to be preaching at a church there over the new years weekend. I will have the opportunity to preach 3 sermons. I have decided to preach three of the "bible studies" I did in I Corinthians. I will be peaching on the need to keep our priorities where they should be. Please pray for this opportunity.
Well, I will close just by saying that we hope you all will have a Christ centered Christmas and a great New year! Write again next year!
Well, we have come to the end of yet another year. When people ask how many years we have been here in Namibia...The answer surprises me. I find my self saying.. "well, Julia has been here for 23 years and I have been here for almost 5 years". Five years has gone by like a day. We are so thankful to the Lord for all his provision and unfailing grace!!
This year has been a great year looking back. We have grown in our understanding of God's Word and our relationship with the church. As I have said in some earlier posts...This year has been a year of getting to know the people of Monte Christo BC. It has been a joy! We are now just looking to next year to see what the Lord will do with our small vision. Our continued aim is to Glorify God in everything we do. He has called us....He has kept us...and He has led us....as for us...we just want to serve Him. Please continue to pray for the vision for next year and for willingness and passion from the church to see this church grow and be more obedient to God.
I wanted to also just take a moment and thank all of those that gave to us above and beyond these past few months. We were reminded that the Lord knows our needs even before we ask. It seemed that we were living pretty much week to week, and that as each week came, God provided for the next week through people. We are so thankful for our supporters. You guys are our partners in this mission. And we praise and Glorify God for bringing you all into our lives and giving you a desire to support us. May God continue to bless you all and keep you. Thank you!!!!!
This is our last post for the year. Tomorrow we will be traveling to the village in the North. Because there is no electricity there, we will not have access to the internet except through our phones. So we will be able to get emails, but may not be able to respond until we come back. Please pray for us as we travel. Pray that we do not have any issues either with police stops or break downs. We will of coarse take plenty of pictures and will try to post many of them when we come back.
We will be spending most of our time with the family up there, but I will also have the opportunity to be preaching at a church there over the new years weekend. I will have the opportunity to preach 3 sermons. I have decided to preach three of the "bible studies" I did in I Corinthians. I will be peaching on the need to keep our priorities where they should be. Please pray for this opportunity.
Well, I will close just by saying that we hope you all will have a Christ centered Christmas and a great New year! Write again next year!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday Meal together..
Hi everyone...I just wanted to write briefly and give a update on how the church meal went. It really was a wonderful time of fellowship. We had alot of people come, and had a great time eating together. We are hoping to do meals like these next year every quarter. Here are a few pictures of the time together. Enjoy!
Thursday, December 02, 2010
First update of December...
UPDATE:
It is a little crazy to think that it is already December. I guess I knew it was coming!! : ) This past week was a bit of a bitter sweet one. This past week we said goodbye to a dear friend...Nitu. He has been apart of Monte Christo for many years. Nitu served at the church helping with both leading the services and helping with the Junior youth(middle school to high school age). He was also very active in the young adult groups. Nitu decided to go back to his mother country of Angola. Although we are behind him in this decision it is still hard to see such a servant leave the church.
We are also gearing up right now for our church luncheon this sunday. This will be a sort of Pot luck thing. So we will all bring something and have a meal together. This will be something that we hope to do together as a church every quarter next year.
I will also this week be giving our vision for the church next year. There are a few changes that we will be working on and adding some new ministries. Please pray for me as I present it to the church and as we prayerfully and humbly seek the Lord on how to put the vision in action.
We are getting into the holiday already. I think I have mentioned before that here in Namibia we have a country wide holiday where most businesses minus the essentials close for most of December. With this things slow down quit a bit with the church. For example, for the rest of the month we will not have any of our regular programmes such as family bible hour, sunday school, youth group, ect. We will then resume in January of next year.
Needs/praises!!:
I also wanted to just write to thank all of those that gave to us last month. We are so humbled by the way many of you stepped up to help us in this time. Thank You!!!! We praise the Lord for all of your continued support and prayers.
This month also has been a little struggling, but already with some that have given we have seen at least our rent and medical aid covered. We continue to pray for the rest. We are thankful for whatever you are willing to give. Again if you would like to donate to us here please email me at gtbutters@gmail.com and I will write you with ways you can give. Thanks again for your considerations.
We are also starting to think about a visit back to the states. We are at this point looking at maybe May or June of next year. We are looking at these dates because of my classes, and because I am needing to renew my domicile which may take some time. We are wanting to give it enough time. At this point we are asking that if anyone would be willing to donate frequent flyer miles to us then maybe we could use them for our flights. We are members of Star alliance milage plus. I think it will take 90,000 miles for each of us. We both have saved up only about 23,000 miles each. If you are interested please email me and I can give you our details. I know there is many more details needed to figure out for a return to the states, but the plane tickets are the first uncertainty. Thank you for your consideration!
Well I will post some pictures of our lunch this sunday. Thanks again!!
It is a little crazy to think that it is already December. I guess I knew it was coming!! : ) This past week was a bit of a bitter sweet one. This past week we said goodbye to a dear friend...Nitu. He has been apart of Monte Christo for many years. Nitu served at the church helping with both leading the services and helping with the Junior youth(middle school to high school age). He was also very active in the young adult groups. Nitu decided to go back to his mother country of Angola. Although we are behind him in this decision it is still hard to see such a servant leave the church.
We are also gearing up right now for our church luncheon this sunday. This will be a sort of Pot luck thing. So we will all bring something and have a meal together. This will be something that we hope to do together as a church every quarter next year.
I will also this week be giving our vision for the church next year. There are a few changes that we will be working on and adding some new ministries. Please pray for me as I present it to the church and as we prayerfully and humbly seek the Lord on how to put the vision in action.
We are getting into the holiday already. I think I have mentioned before that here in Namibia we have a country wide holiday where most businesses minus the essentials close for most of December. With this things slow down quit a bit with the church. For example, for the rest of the month we will not have any of our regular programmes such as family bible hour, sunday school, youth group, ect. We will then resume in January of next year.
Needs/praises!!:
I also wanted to just write to thank all of those that gave to us last month. We are so humbled by the way many of you stepped up to help us in this time. Thank You!!!! We praise the Lord for all of your continued support and prayers.
This month also has been a little struggling, but already with some that have given we have seen at least our rent and medical aid covered. We continue to pray for the rest. We are thankful for whatever you are willing to give. Again if you would like to donate to us here please email me at gtbutters@gmail.com and I will write you with ways you can give. Thanks again for your considerations.
We are also starting to think about a visit back to the states. We are at this point looking at maybe May or June of next year. We are looking at these dates because of my classes, and because I am needing to renew my domicile which may take some time. We are wanting to give it enough time. At this point we are asking that if anyone would be willing to donate frequent flyer miles to us then maybe we could use them for our flights. We are members of Star alliance milage plus. I think it will take 90,000 miles for each of us. We both have saved up only about 23,000 miles each. If you are interested please email me and I can give you our details. I know there is many more details needed to figure out for a return to the states, but the plane tickets are the first uncertainty. Thank you for your consideration!
Well I will post some pictures of our lunch this sunday. Thanks again!!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Grace Ministerial Academy!!!
So I wanted to give a brief update on the ministerial college we will be starting next year. As you can see from the heading of this post..we have come up with a name...Grace Ministerial Academy. Again this is intended to train and equip men for pastoral ministry. We are using a model from a ministerial college in Zambia. The courses are lecture based in module form. This is where lecturers come in and in a intense week the students would receive 30 lectures or two full courses. Then the student would have 3 months to turn in the assignments for those courses. The best part is that while doing this, each student is required to be in a mentorship with a local pastor. I love this model, being that it does not take the students out of the local church but makes the training a part of a healthy internship for pastors in training. Each course comes with many books to read as well as tests. Also, because of the fact it is not accredited, we are able to bring this training to those that would otherwise not be able to afford seminary. The curriculum is comparable to most seminaries. We are very excited about this opportunity. We will start out by having two modules next year, one in April and the other in August. I will be both attending this college and working as a coordinator of it. Our brothers in Zambia are really helping us out alot with this first year. I will be working on brochures so to give more info on the college to hopefully attract more students. We currently have 8 students that would be attending, and hopefully more. Please be in prayer for this new ministry. Especially be in prayer that God would bring good men who He has called to pastoral ministry.
Buddy
Buddy
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
21 November 2010-Baptisms
Well, This past sunday was a great sunday! As you will see from the pictures below, I had the privilege of baptizing three men and one woman. These were those that have been attending the baptism/membership class I have been teaching for most of this year. That has really been my greatest joy with this group. I have seen as they have gone through this class, that they love the Lord and truly desire to follow Him with there lives. The whole service went well. I started by teaching on baptism, as there were many visitors who came to see there family members get baptized, but didn't understand it. It went well. Pastor laban preached then after we did the baptisms. Then after the service we all came together and remembered Jesus as we took the Lords Supper. It was a Joyful time! I will try to explain each picture below.
(Picture 1). This mans name is Daniel. He was saved earlier this year and came to the church seeking to be discipled. We asked him if he had been baptized and he replied that he hadn't. So he started to attend the class.
(Picture 2). This young mans name is Juan Domingo. He originally came from the angolan refugee camp in Osire where there is a mission church being planted. Juan has been such a joy to disciple over this year. He is just finishing his grade 11 in school, but already very interested in being involved in ministry. I am hoping to continue to work with him going forward.
(Picture 3). This young lady is Arminda Domingo. She is Juan's sister. During the coarse of the class I have seen good growth in her and hope to see much more next year as well.
(Picture 4). This picture is of the group before they were baptized. They stood in front of the church and shared there testimonies. It is always such a wonderful time when we hear testimonies before baptism isn't it!
(Picture 5). This mans name is Nicodemus. He is actually apart of one of the mission churches here in Windhoek called Havanah Baptist church. It is in a outlying area here. He will be going there and start to be more active in ministry there.
(Picture 6). Here is a picture of half of the room while I was baptizing. The church has been growing and things continue to go well.
Please continue to pray for these that were baptized. Most of them are the only born again believer in there families. Please pray that they continue to learn through God's Word. I also just want to thank those that support us here. These pictures serve as a testimony to what you have helped make possible. For those that continue to pray for us here...Thank you!! Prayer is so important. To those that are giving regularly to us...Thank you!! You have made so much possible by supporting me and my family. I Julia and Grace also are so thankful!
Please continue to pray for our support! We are not anywhere close to where we need to be. And we need to be going to the North next month to both see family and so I can preach at a church there over new years with Laban. Please contact me if you would be willing to support us monetarily. My email address is: gtbutters@gmail.com. Until next time!
Buddy
(Picture 1). This mans name is Daniel. He was saved earlier this year and came to the church seeking to be discipled. We asked him if he had been baptized and he replied that he hadn't. So he started to attend the class.
(Picture 2). This young mans name is Juan Domingo. He originally came from the angolan refugee camp in Osire where there is a mission church being planted. Juan has been such a joy to disciple over this year. He is just finishing his grade 11 in school, but already very interested in being involved in ministry. I am hoping to continue to work with him going forward.
(Picture 3). This young lady is Arminda Domingo. She is Juan's sister. During the coarse of the class I have seen good growth in her and hope to see much more next year as well.
(Picture 4). This picture is of the group before they were baptized. They stood in front of the church and shared there testimonies. It is always such a wonderful time when we hear testimonies before baptism isn't it!
(Picture 5). This mans name is Nicodemus. He is actually apart of one of the mission churches here in Windhoek called Havanah Baptist church. It is in a outlying area here. He will be going there and start to be more active in ministry there.
(Picture 6). Here is a picture of half of the room while I was baptizing. The church has been growing and things continue to go well.
Please continue to pray for these that were baptized. Most of them are the only born again believer in there families. Please pray that they continue to learn through God's Word. I also just want to thank those that support us here. These pictures serve as a testimony to what you have helped make possible. For those that continue to pray for us here...Thank you!! Prayer is so important. To those that are giving regularly to us...Thank you!! You have made so much possible by supporting me and my family. I Julia and Grace also are so thankful!
Please continue to pray for our support! We are not anywhere close to where we need to be. And we need to be going to the North next month to both see family and so I can preach at a church there over new years with Laban. Please contact me if you would be willing to support us monetarily. My email address is: gtbutters@gmail.com. Until next time!
Buddy
Sunday, November 14, 2010
A time of Worship!
I wanted to write everyone with the story of how the time with the woodcarvers went. Probably many of you saw the pictures we just posted.
After talking with a few of them we learned that each of them were really struggling with food. So when the money that some gave came in, we went to a bulk store and bought some food for each of them so to help them in this time. So, on friday we went into Okahandja and met with them. The time with them was so sweet. When I asked them to meet us at the MPMC(multi purpose ministry center) They did not know what we had for them. So we came in and sat down as you could see from the pictures and started to talk. I explained how there was some funds that came in to help them through this hard time. I explained how each of them would receive one of the stacks of food. You could see already how thankful they were. Then we gave each of them a small amount of money for other things at home such as perishable things being we had only bought non-perishables. We then explained that we had an amount for each of them to help restart there shops. Just before I told them this I had asked if any of them were able to get anything yet...they replied no. Some of them had even stopped even going to the market, being that there was nothing. They were so thankful!! I explained that this was the Lord providing! Many of them expressed how they were not able to buy food and that was hard with there children. I then talked with them about how we had another portion of money to help some others in the market. I explained that this was given not for us to go out and give, but for them to help others and to maybe be a witness to them. They really loved the idea and we will hopefully be meeting up with them again next week to talk about how we can do that specifically.
After we talked for a while and for most of it except for when i asked questions they stayed pretty quite. Sylvia at one point just said over and over, "I don't have words!". So we did what we all were feling like doing...Prayed! I put the heading of this post as "A time of Worship", and that is exactly what this time was. We didn't cry out "oh how great are the people who gave" but we prayed and cried to our Father, giving HIm all the Glory. This was a precious time in which not one there had a dry eye. We sat there together thanking our Lord and Saviour in many tears. We took turns praying and then I closed. It's hard for me to explain what that time was like. The best is just to say it was a time of Worship and brokenness! There were some that confessed there fears and lack of trust, and others that just cried through there prayers. It was a precious time!!!
Please continue to pray that God would open doors with those in that market. That we would have wisdom in reaching out to the others at the market. And that God would receive all the Glory!
Buddy
After talking with a few of them we learned that each of them were really struggling with food. So when the money that some gave came in, we went to a bulk store and bought some food for each of them so to help them in this time. So, on friday we went into Okahandja and met with them. The time with them was so sweet. When I asked them to meet us at the MPMC(multi purpose ministry center) They did not know what we had for them. So we came in and sat down as you could see from the pictures and started to talk. I explained how there was some funds that came in to help them through this hard time. I explained how each of them would receive one of the stacks of food. You could see already how thankful they were. Then we gave each of them a small amount of money for other things at home such as perishable things being we had only bought non-perishables. We then explained that we had an amount for each of them to help restart there shops. Just before I told them this I had asked if any of them were able to get anything yet...they replied no. Some of them had even stopped even going to the market, being that there was nothing. They were so thankful!! I explained that this was the Lord providing! Many of them expressed how they were not able to buy food and that was hard with there children. I then talked with them about how we had another portion of money to help some others in the market. I explained that this was given not for us to go out and give, but for them to help others and to maybe be a witness to them. They really loved the idea and we will hopefully be meeting up with them again next week to talk about how we can do that specifically.
After we talked for a while and for most of it except for when i asked questions they stayed pretty quite. Sylvia at one point just said over and over, "I don't have words!". So we did what we all were feling like doing...Prayed! I put the heading of this post as "A time of Worship", and that is exactly what this time was. We didn't cry out "oh how great are the people who gave" but we prayed and cried to our Father, giving HIm all the Glory. This was a precious time in which not one there had a dry eye. We sat there together thanking our Lord and Saviour in many tears. We took turns praying and then I closed. It's hard for me to explain what that time was like. The best is just to say it was a time of Worship and brokenness! There were some that confessed there fears and lack of trust, and others that just cried through there prayers. It was a precious time!!!
Please continue to pray that God would open doors with those in that market. That we would have wisdom in reaching out to the others at the market. And that God would receive all the Glory!
Buddy
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Woodcarves!
Yesterday after Keano's school we went to Okahandja to meet up with the wood carvers. Here are a few pictures from our meeting and we'll blog later about everything else.
Thank you all!
Julia
Sylvia, Innocentia, Sarafina and her husband Marko and Tiago
Thank you all!
Julia
Sylvia, Innocentia, Sarafina and her husband Marko and Tiago
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Woodcarves!
Today we spoke with Sylvia and Tiago. Sylvia said she is pretty much just is staying at home because she doesn't have anything to sell and has very little food at home to eat. Trusting God to provide for their day to day needs. We will be going to Okahandja on friday to give them the money that came in at least than they can buy a few things to start their businesses up again. There is a store here in Windhoek where you can buy things in bulk cheaper so we went ahead and bought them some food (maize meal, paste, rice, cooking oil, laundry detergent, etc). We bought these things in bulk because we can get them cheaper here and save some money for them to use on their stock. We will only be able to go to Okahandja on friday after keano's out of school. Tomorrow we are pretty busy and will only be free on friday. We honestly want to go in tomorrow and give them all this stuff but we can't :(. Praise the Lord for what He has provided and continues to provide. Pray that the woodcarvers will be able to start their businesses up with what they all will receive on friday. Also they will each receive a set amount to give to two of their friends each who is most in need of help. So helping 8 other woodcarvers in total. We want them to be the ones to do this that way they can reach out to each other. So in all you have have been able to help them set up there businesses again, help with much needed food, and reaching out to others also in the market.
Thank you for helping our dear brother and sisters in Christ in this way (finances and prayers).
In Christ,
Julia
Thank you for helping our dear brother and sisters in Christ in this way (finances and prayers).
In Christ,
Julia
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
ministry update/woodcarvers/needs/support...and I guess anything else. : )
Well, I hope you enjoyed the last post from my wife. It gives a little idea of some of what we deal with almost every day. These last couple weeks have been pretty busy.
Ministry Update
The Saturday before last we had the opportunity to spend some time with the young adult group from the church. They needed someone with a truck who could transport them to a park where they were going to have a fun day. So...being that we now have a truck we were pleased to help. The day was a wonderful day!!! Both Julia and I really enjoyed spending time with them and it was a great chance to get to know many better.
During the week has stayed pretty much the same. We have had to cut back the time spent at the church though. This had to be done because of not having the money for petrol...which I will explain in a bit.
Sunday has continued to be great. This past sunday I taught on I Cor. 9:24-10:13. Paul showed the Corinthians through the bad examples of Israel that they ought to be obedient. It went well. I Really believe this book has been alot of help to the church this year, and we are eager to see what the Lord will teach us as we go on.
The house to house ministry continues to go well. We have had some challenges the last few weeks with having a home to meet in. Many of our members have been either sick or out of town. So the last two weeks we have been meeting at the church building on Monday. I have continued to teach through the book of Ephesians, and this week have finished chapter 3. Honestly, it is much better to meet at one of our houses rather than there. We lose a sense of family by coming there. Please pray that we would be able to go to a house next week.
As we continue to look to next year we are looking forward most to the start of this ministerial college that I mentioned in a earlier post. We will start up with four courses next year and go from there. As I think I mentioned before, I will be a student and a coordinator of it. Please pray for wisdom as we prepare and seek out young men to attend.
Woodcarvers:
I wanted to give a update on the woodcarvers. Really not to much has changed. Except that we have now received all the money that was given, so we will be going to the woodcarvers this week. We had a bit of a delay in getting the money being that Laban was out of town on Mission up north. But we have received it now. I spoke with Tiago this morning, one of the woodcarvers that lost his shop, and he said that really nothing had been done. Really the issue is with the local gov. I had mentioned in a earlier post that there was a company willing to come and re-build the market even better. They came and made up the plans and when they took it to the mayer and regional councilor to have approved...they refused! Since then they have not been helped. So the money that has been given is needed now more than ever. It will help with rebuilding and getting some more stock of goods. Please continue to pray for them and for who we also will help.
Needs:
As I had promised some time ago, we will begin to post some of our needs on a more regular basis. This month has been and continues to be a challenging month. Our support is usually around $1400USD per month. Which usually works out to about N$10,000 namibian. This month we only received $825USD. So needless to say we are really struggling. To give you an idea the amount that came in only covered our rent and medical insurance. Thats it! So...with that said, I would ask that anyone reading this would consider giving extra this month. Or if you are not a regular monthly supporter and would like to help us out this month with a one time gift or would like to be a monthly supporter, then please email me at gtbutters@gmail.com. For those that would like to help this month, because we are right now not having anything, time is a factor. The fastest way to give is directly to our Chase bank account, which I will give the information to those that email. I am not sure why the support was so low this month. I have not received a report on the giving from Apex for a few months now. Please pray about what you can give!
I want to say thank you to those that have been faithfully giving. Although our funding is low we are so thankful for what has been given! You all are our partners and dear friends. Everyday I work with the people here I am reminded of those that support us to make it possible. Thank you! We continue to trust the Lord to provide and supply every need. I know people may say this all the time, and to us it is sincere being that we are totally dependent on Him anyways! May God show you the joy and goodness of complete dependency on Him..as He is showing us! May God bless!
Buddy
Ministry Update
The Saturday before last we had the opportunity to spend some time with the young adult group from the church. They needed someone with a truck who could transport them to a park where they were going to have a fun day. So...being that we now have a truck we were pleased to help. The day was a wonderful day!!! Both Julia and I really enjoyed spending time with them and it was a great chance to get to know many better.
During the week has stayed pretty much the same. We have had to cut back the time spent at the church though. This had to be done because of not having the money for petrol...which I will explain in a bit.
Sunday has continued to be great. This past sunday I taught on I Cor. 9:24-10:13. Paul showed the Corinthians through the bad examples of Israel that they ought to be obedient. It went well. I Really believe this book has been alot of help to the church this year, and we are eager to see what the Lord will teach us as we go on.
The house to house ministry continues to go well. We have had some challenges the last few weeks with having a home to meet in. Many of our members have been either sick or out of town. So the last two weeks we have been meeting at the church building on Monday. I have continued to teach through the book of Ephesians, and this week have finished chapter 3. Honestly, it is much better to meet at one of our houses rather than there. We lose a sense of family by coming there. Please pray that we would be able to go to a house next week.
As we continue to look to next year we are looking forward most to the start of this ministerial college that I mentioned in a earlier post. We will start up with four courses next year and go from there. As I think I mentioned before, I will be a student and a coordinator of it. Please pray for wisdom as we prepare and seek out young men to attend.
Woodcarvers:
I wanted to give a update on the woodcarvers. Really not to much has changed. Except that we have now received all the money that was given, so we will be going to the woodcarvers this week. We had a bit of a delay in getting the money being that Laban was out of town on Mission up north. But we have received it now. I spoke with Tiago this morning, one of the woodcarvers that lost his shop, and he said that really nothing had been done. Really the issue is with the local gov. I had mentioned in a earlier post that there was a company willing to come and re-build the market even better. They came and made up the plans and when they took it to the mayer and regional councilor to have approved...they refused! Since then they have not been helped. So the money that has been given is needed now more than ever. It will help with rebuilding and getting some more stock of goods. Please continue to pray for them and for who we also will help.
Needs:
As I had promised some time ago, we will begin to post some of our needs on a more regular basis. This month has been and continues to be a challenging month. Our support is usually around $1400USD per month. Which usually works out to about N$10,000 namibian. This month we only received $825USD. So needless to say we are really struggling. To give you an idea the amount that came in only covered our rent and medical insurance. Thats it! So...with that said, I would ask that anyone reading this would consider giving extra this month. Or if you are not a regular monthly supporter and would like to help us out this month with a one time gift or would like to be a monthly supporter, then please email me at gtbutters@gmail.com. For those that would like to help this month, because we are right now not having anything, time is a factor. The fastest way to give is directly to our Chase bank account, which I will give the information to those that email. I am not sure why the support was so low this month. I have not received a report on the giving from Apex for a few months now. Please pray about what you can give!
I want to say thank you to those that have been faithfully giving. Although our funding is low we are so thankful for what has been given! You all are our partners and dear friends. Everyday I work with the people here I am reminded of those that support us to make it possible. Thank you! We continue to trust the Lord to provide and supply every need. I know people may say this all the time, and to us it is sincere being that we are totally dependent on Him anyways! May God show you the joy and goodness of complete dependency on Him..as He is showing us! May God bless!
Buddy
Monday, November 08, 2010
Hello everyone :), It surely has been ages since I (Julia) has blogged. So bare with me......alot has happened and is happening. Most of which makes me wish I can express myself in my anger. But than again that may not be so good. I find myself wanting to quit and given up on things. Sometimes it can be as small as a nasty comment made by a stranger just because i'm carrying a "white" baby. Recently we went to a garage (gas station) and a young lady at the teller asked me in oshiwambo "how come you a black lady has a "white" baby? I want one too. I silenced for a while and the guy next to her also working as a teller answered...."oh don't you know that nowadays people ONLY want to open their legs to white men. I was so shocked by the guys answer i left the store and back to the car and told Buddy what had happened. Long story short we decided to just go and let it be. Few days later I spoke to a friend who knows the owner so she went and told him what happened to her friend (me) and they called us in to identify the workers....so he gave them written warnings. Things like those get me so upset that I just leave and don't say much just because i'm afraid of saying something in anger and later regretting about it and the person is no-where for me to find them and apologize, my conscience will tare me apart. It also serves me as a reminder that we live in a sinful world and people like that will always be around and its up to us (Buddy and myself) to protect our child/ren. I know we don't want our kid/s to grow hearing comments like that, we know they will but for now its time for us to continue preparing ourselves.
I love my husband and i will not let it hurt my marriage just because of things like those :). Thats it for now....till next time its bye bye for now.
Julia
I love my husband and i will not let it hurt my marriage just because of things like those :). Thats it for now....till next time its bye bye for now.
Julia
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
ministry update...
Well I first want to just say thank you to all that are following for your patience in waiting for this blog post. Things have been pretty busy over here, which has been great.
I guess I will start this update by sharing how things are going with the church. All is going well! I have been continuing to teach the family bible hour on the sunday morning service. I am still going through the book of I corinthians. And I know I may have said this before, but I really love this book. Last week I taught through chapter 8. This is a very practical book, showing that we have a responsibility to use our knowledge with love. That when we use our knowledge without love, it will not edify. I continue to get good feedback from those in the church. It seems more and more people are coming up asking me for copies of the teachings so they can go and share it with family or friends. I am not saying this for my glory, but to God's glory alone being that it is him that reveals these truths. As we come to the close of this year we are now in reflection of this year and busy casting a vision for next. This year really has been a year of learning and immersing. Julia and I have built many good relationships with some of the members of the church and I feel a little more "in" the church. Please pray for wisdom as we cast a vision for next year. Pray that we as a church would see the ministries the Lord is calling us to, and that we are faithful in them.
We have come to the end of the membership class. It has been a great class, and I am already looking forward to the next class. We finished our class with the responsibilities of church members at MOnte Christo Baptist church. It was a great ending to this class. Now, many of them have not been baptized, so on the 14th of Nov. I will have the privilege of baptizing some of them. I am looking forward to this being that I have gotten to know them pretty well over most of this year. Pray that God would use these members in the church to share the Gospel and bring much glory to God through there membership.
I have started to spend two full day at the church every week. This has been a great time of both prayer and encouragement. This will be a time for counseling as well. Most of all it is a great time for Laban and I to spend some good quality time together in discussion and prayer for the church. We both have been enjoying this!
The House to House ministry continues on. We have been meeting at Paulina's house for the last few weeks. By meeting there, we have another guy joining our bible study on a regular basis. This past week I taught through Eph. 3:1-7. I am loving this book more and more! We have been inviting more people to join our group lately. Please pray that God would add to our number. All of us who are meeting together see the value in this group. It is really the only opportunity right now for interaction and many questions.
Lastly, I wanted to share about a pastors fraternal that I attended last week. For those that have been following our ministry for a while you would remember what these are. But for those that this is new for, let me first start by explaining what these are. These fraternals are times when all the pastors from like minded churches(reformed baptist) get together for prayer, encouragement, sharing of praises and trials, and talking about the needs of the churches and how we can help each other through it. These are precious times that I would never want to miss. They are kind of also a retreat! This time we decided to meet at swakopmund baptist church on the coast. So monday morning we drove over to the coast to meet up with the other pastors. It was a very refreshing time that was much needed for many of the pastors. One of the big topics of this fraternal was to decide if we would like to implement our own ministerial training school here in namibia. This would be geared specifically towards training pastors. We had a guy named James Williamson come from Zambia to share what they are doing in this resolve. He is a part of the copperbelt ministerial college. There website is http://omegaserver.biz/cmc/?page_id=83. We are hoping to start this in some capacity next year. I will be attending this college. So please pray that God would provide the needed funds to do this. We are excited about this opportunity. It will realy allow us to give good solid pastoral training to the men in our churches. Please for much wisdom in this. It will be alot of work on our end, but it is very important.
Well, Thank you for your continued interest in the Work here. We are so thankful for your continued love and prayers. And as always we are so thankful for those that are giving funds each month to help with our day to day needs! You are our partners! I hope this has been encouraging to you and please continue to pray for us as we press on in the calling the Lord has graciously given to us.
Oh....and grace and Julia are doing great!...I will try to post some pictures soon. Thanks!
Buddy
I guess I will start this update by sharing how things are going with the church. All is going well! I have been continuing to teach the family bible hour on the sunday morning service. I am still going through the book of I corinthians. And I know I may have said this before, but I really love this book. Last week I taught through chapter 8. This is a very practical book, showing that we have a responsibility to use our knowledge with love. That when we use our knowledge without love, it will not edify. I continue to get good feedback from those in the church. It seems more and more people are coming up asking me for copies of the teachings so they can go and share it with family or friends. I am not saying this for my glory, but to God's glory alone being that it is him that reveals these truths. As we come to the close of this year we are now in reflection of this year and busy casting a vision for next. This year really has been a year of learning and immersing. Julia and I have built many good relationships with some of the members of the church and I feel a little more "in" the church. Please pray for wisdom as we cast a vision for next year. Pray that we as a church would see the ministries the Lord is calling us to, and that we are faithful in them.
We have come to the end of the membership class. It has been a great class, and I am already looking forward to the next class. We finished our class with the responsibilities of church members at MOnte Christo Baptist church. It was a great ending to this class. Now, many of them have not been baptized, so on the 14th of Nov. I will have the privilege of baptizing some of them. I am looking forward to this being that I have gotten to know them pretty well over most of this year. Pray that God would use these members in the church to share the Gospel and bring much glory to God through there membership.
I have started to spend two full day at the church every week. This has been a great time of both prayer and encouragement. This will be a time for counseling as well. Most of all it is a great time for Laban and I to spend some good quality time together in discussion and prayer for the church. We both have been enjoying this!
The House to House ministry continues on. We have been meeting at Paulina's house for the last few weeks. By meeting there, we have another guy joining our bible study on a regular basis. This past week I taught through Eph. 3:1-7. I am loving this book more and more! We have been inviting more people to join our group lately. Please pray that God would add to our number. All of us who are meeting together see the value in this group. It is really the only opportunity right now for interaction and many questions.
Lastly, I wanted to share about a pastors fraternal that I attended last week. For those that have been following our ministry for a while you would remember what these are. But for those that this is new for, let me first start by explaining what these are. These fraternals are times when all the pastors from like minded churches(reformed baptist) get together for prayer, encouragement, sharing of praises and trials, and talking about the needs of the churches and how we can help each other through it. These are precious times that I would never want to miss. They are kind of also a retreat! This time we decided to meet at swakopmund baptist church on the coast. So monday morning we drove over to the coast to meet up with the other pastors. It was a very refreshing time that was much needed for many of the pastors. One of the big topics of this fraternal was to decide if we would like to implement our own ministerial training school here in namibia. This would be geared specifically towards training pastors. We had a guy named James Williamson come from Zambia to share what they are doing in this resolve. He is a part of the copperbelt ministerial college. There website is http://omegaserver.biz/cmc/?page_id=83. We are hoping to start this in some capacity next year. I will be attending this college. So please pray that God would provide the needed funds to do this. We are excited about this opportunity. It will realy allow us to give good solid pastoral training to the men in our churches. Please for much wisdom in this. It will be alot of work on our end, but it is very important.
Well, Thank you for your continued interest in the Work here. We are so thankful for your continued love and prayers. And as always we are so thankful for those that are giving funds each month to help with our day to day needs! You are our partners! I hope this has been encouraging to you and please continue to pray for us as we press on in the calling the Lord has graciously given to us.
Oh....and grace and Julia are doing great!...I will try to post some pictures soon. Thanks!
Buddy
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