AOG Family,
I apologize for there not being a blog update on 7/25/16. We are struggling a bit in getting used to having weekly updates to give to you. Bear with us as we grow in our abilities and learn better how to keep you informed. Pray for us as we grow into this new medium. I appreciate your great patience and understanding. Daka Family Needs: This is really both a family need and an AOG need. Pastor Tim wants to remind us all of the great sacrifices Pastor Isaac makes every day. He reminds us that the motorbike Pastor Daka has is their only means of transportation; both for their family needs and to deliver all the donated gifts you the sponsors send to each child. These many children are in many different areas. Pastor Isaac delivers these gifts one child at a time. It takes many hours traveling many kilometers so that each partner's gift is received as soon as possible. Pastor Daka is truly a miracle man, for he delivers so many flats of fresh eggs, so many heavy bags of meal, charcoal stacked high, and the children's gifts. He does this all with no accidents and no complaining is heard ever from him! Please pray for Pastor Isaac as he works so hard and travels so far to deliver all of your gifts of love to the children of Ark Of Grace. Remember also dear AOG family; this is time away from his family, doing outreach, teaching, praying, and seeing to the other needs of the promised land. Pastor Isaac, you are a great example of the love of God! We love you, your family, and the entire AOG team. We only get a glimpse of the great sacrifice all of you make. A sacrifice we often know very little of. Pray that God would find favor with him and provide a vehicle more suitable to meet the needs of his family and the needs of AOG! Donation Issues: --We are happy to report that Western Union has finally returned the AOG money that was held up. Praise God! --Pastor Tim reports experts say the cost of food in Zambia increased 24.80 percent in July of 2016 over the same month in the previous year. Food Inflation in Zambia averaged 9.26 percent from 2011 until 2016 and reached an all time high of 26.50 percent in April of 2016 and a record low of 3.50 percent in May of 2011. The cost of providing food to the poor and needy of Zambia is getting more expensive each day. Pray for us as we contend with these trends in the Zambian economy and as we consider the best and cheapest ways to keep doing what we are doing. --Do you have second hand cloths, shoes, or anything you are not using? Consider donating those items to AOG! We will always put your donation to good use and you will see your donation in action on FB through picture updates. Thank You! Feeding Day: It has been a little while we have gone without a feeding day. Would anyone hear God's call to bless us with the funds for a feeding day very soon? -Pastor Isaac Gospel Armory Christian Academy, Zambia: The children at Gospel Armory Zambia are in the middle of end of term writing test now. We thank you for giving hope to these children. Most of them are able to write well now. Thank you for adding value to them all. Karen Wood Snyder; a special thank you goes to you also for the school supplies! And, thank you AOG family for providing free and quality education to these 30 orphans. We have a great need to add 30 more students, but we have the big challenge of getting chairs. The cost is only $7 and you can send another child who would have no such opportunity otherwise to go to our School; or any school. Our School provides these children with a free education. Through your support we are able to pay a qualified teacher to do the work. The teacher can handle 30 more children for a total of 60 under the Zambian educational system. For us to recruit the orphans in this school, we need 30 more chairs. Would you mind to buy a chair at only $7? By doing this you will be able to send one orphan to school. From Pastor Tim: --- Philippians 4:6 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. If you are shallow in these teachings and not fortifying your mind, then it will become weak and the devil will torment you to depression and depress you to heart sickness! Remember the cure! Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.......do this and the God of peace shall be with you. And also: --- Galatians 2:20 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. --- Galatians 5:24 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Until this really happens in your life, you will have no power to serve God faithfully nor will you have any real ability to help the church move forward. You will always be unstable in all your ways! --- James 1:8 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Pastor Tim, From Pastor Daka: He who has begun a good work in you shall complete it. I can't believe what the Lord has done with this ministry within just a short period of time. One thing God has taught me is to put people's donations to good use and the more I am putting your donations to good use, the more God cares for all that I need. Remember the parable of the talents: --- Mathew 25:29-30 29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ I will seek to be a profitable servant to my Lord. I pray you will seek to be profitable to Him as well. And, I also remember what scripture says; I always remember this: --- Ephesians 3:20 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, We serve a great and mighty God who seeks to give us way beyond anything we could ever have imagined. We are seeing that happen right before our eyes at AOG dear friends. So, never let us grow tired of doing good. That abundance can only come from the power that is working within us to do good. Where there is no power; there is no work. Where there is no work; all we do is of no good! Let us make sure we have this power from God's Holy Spirit and let us be always learning how to better walk in the Spirit of His power of grace. --I was blessed today after church as we went to Blessed Hope church where hundreds of Christians, political leaders, aspiring candidates, and government officials gathered to pray for our nation as we are approaching the general elections coming in August. This day of prayer was declared by our president. Praise the Lord it was one of its kind! Mmmmm! Join me in praying for Zambia! --I praise the Lord for my partner in Christ Mushuzi Kanada and the blessing I have to serve with him. God bless you my friend! I had the opportunity to stand with him and share about Christ as he was preaching at a funeral. I led the program and prayed for the people who confessed Christ. --It is always good when the children of God come together and encourage one another. I thank you all who prayed for the leaders meeting I attended in Katete. --I was blessed this week to be able to do one on one presenting Christ to many. Praise the Lord over 70 people accepted Christ as their personal savior! --Please continue praying for my mum as she has been sick. Yesterday she was suppose to go for an operation, but she could not go because her blood pressure was very high. Please pray for her! Any financial help you could give to pay for the cost will be highly appreciated. Pastor Isaac, Address Change Reminder: AOG family! Be reminded that by July month end, I will hand over the post office box keys to #510511. We will have a new box #510760. Please take note of this as it is very important. We do not want to lose any parcels that you send, for they are so very precious to us to the children, and to AOG. **Many thanks to all of you for your prayers, your unselfish giving, your kind and encouraging words, and all that you do for these children and the needy of our community. May God bless all of you and may His Spirit guide us as we go forward in his grace! from all the AOG team,
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AOG Family, It is hard to believe another week has passed since our first weekly blog update was posted. God has been good to us, but our challenges still remain. Here is the AOG news as I know it to be as of this date. Daka Family needs: Pastor Daka and his wife Rachel are still in desperate need of blankeets, and winter jackets as winter is approaching? They have a family of seven including two newborns and two orphans. It is estimated we need $40.00 for each of the seven to meet their need. Most of the time Pastor Daka gives away to the orphans the funds meant for him that he and Rachel receive. If you have found this Godly family to have blessed you and are worthy of help, please consider helping meet this need. Send a message to Karissa and donate with it ear-marked “Daka Family Need.” God bless you and thank all of you for your every sacrifice, your every prayer, and every expression of God's love you give for AOG!!! Donation Issues: We are still having problems sending monies through Western Union to Pastor Daka. Western Union canceled the transaction monies that were sent. We are in the process of working it out with them to restore the funds. They are not sure why it was canceled or how long it will take to restore the transaction. It could take up to 30 days. Western Union is still holding the Ark Of Grace money that I tried to send 5 days ago after declining to send the transaction. It took 15 seconds to remove the money and 5+ days to return it. The sponsored orphans got their monies this month. We praise God that was not affected. Pray they work fast to resolve this issue and that it will not hinder our efforts at Ark of Grace. We will keep you informed. God bless all of you! Karissa, Future AOG Goals: One of the goals for the Ark of Grace orphanage is to become somewhat self sufficient. Future plans include finishing cabins, building a chicken coup, and starting a garden. None of these things can happen without first getting a GOOD well built for water. We still need $1,600.00. One sponsor has offered to match all funds up to $1,000. Let's brainstorm fund raising ideas and see how we can chip away at this goal. What are your thoughts? Let us know. Share your ideas! Pastor's Conference: Pastor Daka went to Katete today for pastors conference. Thanks for your prayers for him and his family. There were over 250 leaders here in Katete—mmmmmm! One of its kind! Jesus Film Showing: 76 people confessed Christ yesterday during our Jesus Film showing this past week! Praise Jesus! God is good! Outreach:
Was greatly humbled to lead many to Christ today! It was a good day for God's Kingdom. Happy reporting on the duty that God has called me to do. So glad to work with both of you—George B. Katambo and Trine Lawrence Katambo! We had a great team of women from Malawi Emmanuel Baptist church praising the Lord in style with their wonderful singing. Many are surrendering for Christ! Praise the Lord for every soul that has accepted Christ today! We had many opportunities to do one on one counseling with the people. An 18 yr. Old boy was delivered from the spirit of witchcraft. Many in Zambia still practice such things. Pastor Tim: Pastor Tim and his wife Shirley Mae had their 30th wedding anniversary this past week. I am sure all of our supporter/sponsors and all of the AOG Family will join me in Congratulating them wishing them a Happy Anniversary to both of them. We all love you Pastor Tim and Shirley. God bless you both for your faithfulness! “Awesome evening with my honey, we went to our very first show and dinner, we seen Samson. AWESOME is all I can say. We got there at almost 6:30 and the show lasted till about 10:20 but it was worth it. Now time to relax and sleep sleep sleep :) Thanks for the get away Timothy Parker to celebrate 30 WONDERFUL YEARS. I LOVE YOU BUNCHES!” Shirley Mae, From Pastor Tim: --- Genesis 3:8 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Sin......early on causes you to be uncomfortable, embarrassed and ashamed to be around loved ones who are Christians......that is one of the costs associated with sinfulness.....to be self alienated from the people who love you. Then worship, praise, prayer and church attendance grows cold.....to me that is too high of a price! --- 1 John 2:1 1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: --- 1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Satan will feed your sin blinded mind with thoughts to keep you separated from the ones that really love you. Pastor Tim, Message from Pastor Daka: Support AOG and you will be amazed on how just a little goes a long long way! You can add value to these orphans. Many still need someone to sponsor them. Lets all work together to find a sponsor for each and everyone of them that is in need. Did you know that so many here eat only once per day? Did you know that others give each other a timetable to eat? Did you know also that most people depend only on world fruits in Zambia? Please help us change this situation by sponsoring an orphan at only $40 per month. Thank you, Diane D Braley for sponsoring Grace Chana! Thank you for hearing God's call to help her! May God richly bless you for your sacrifice. If you would like to sponsor an orphan please let me or Karissa know. We still have several profiles of the orphans who need your help. --- 1 Thessalonians 5:4 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. AOG Family,
It is with great rejoicing that we are able to begin this new blog post doing our best to keep our sponsors, supporters, AOG Family, and anyone interested in AOG up-to-date. It is a work in progress, so let us know how we are doing. God bless and thank you for your prayers and support. The Well Project: We sadly have run out of money, so all operations have currently stopped. We praise God for the progress that has been made so far, but we are short $1,600.00. There is a promise of some more money, but it has not yet been received at the time of this blog post. Please consider how the Lord would lead you to respond to this matter. We have come very close to completing the water-tank tower. You might have seen the pics on the group page of the 5,000 liter tank (1,320 gal.) sitting atop the grand tower our faithful workers have built for it. Please pray for this hard working team of volunteers. They are doing a fine job. We were in the progress of digging water pipe-lines. You can see the pics on AOG facebook page. Consider being a part of what the Lord is doing! Daka Family Needs: Could you help Pastor Daka and his wife Rachael? They have a family of seven including two newborns and two orphans. Winter is approaching and they desperately need blankets and winter jackets. It is estimate we need $40.00 for each of the seven to meet their need. Most of the time Pastor Daka receives funds or donated goods for himself or his family; he gives them to the orphans instead. If you have found this Godly family to have blessed you and are worthy of help, please consider doing so. If God leads you in this matter—Send a message to Karissa and donate with it ear-marked “Daka Family Need.” God bless you and thank all of you for your every sacrifice, your every prayer, and every expression of God's love you give for AOG!!! Sponsors Still Needed: We still need sponsors for Children who have unmet needs. Be a channel of God's blessings to these children who desperately need someone to care for them. Our Next Goal: Once the water well goal is met, we have decided building a Chicken Run should be our next focus. We plan to build six buildings each to hold 1,000 chickens. We want to being by buying 6,000 chickens, 100 bags of chicken feed, water dispensers, heaters, vaccinations for the chickens, and sawdust. How will this help AOG? The orphans will be fed with the eggs and chickens on feeding days. Orphans who are sponsored, will also benefit from the availability of the chickens and their eggs. AOG will also use them as a source to generate income to help supply the needs of the foundation, or help on goals to be met. The estimated cost is $5,000.00. You can help through your constant prayers, your monetary donations, and especially by spreading the news about AOG. We have made this easier for you by posting our first AOG/TBC Promotional Video on youtube. Go to https://youtu.be/B6mENxhm-MA and direct people to this video. It can also be shared on fb from the group page. Ask your Church to watch the video. Consider how God could use you to help grow our AOG Family. Show it to your civic or Church group, Sunday School Class, or Mission organization. We are most happy to have all of you on board with us as we seek to accomplish God's “Great Commission” He has given us here at Ark of Grace. AOG, because of you, is making a difference in people's lives. We, the AOG Family, are excited to see what the Lord does every day in Zambia; and we could not do it without you!!! The Maize Harvest: We have 84 70 kg (154.324 lb) bags of Maize packed from the bountiful crop God has supplied to us. Praise the Lord of the Harvest for His favor. Feeding Day: We had a very good feeding day on or June 25th offering. About 137 people were fed including 90 children and 47 old people. Thank you True Bible Church Marion, VA for sponsoring this one. Ask your Church or Church group to sponsor a Saturday feeding day. At the time of this blog post, I have no numbers on the July 2nd or July 9th feeding days. Training/Teaching Classes: We are completing a classroom on the Promised Land Campus to be used for this purpose. “Follow Me” resource courses are being taught teaching Church Leaders. We are glad the Makungwa Class are now into book two of the “Follow Me” program. Pastor Daka has been very busy. So much thanks go to Pastor Mushuzi Kanada for helping to lead the classes. Pastor Kanada says—“I saw the power of God because the students they are blessed by the lessons; please pray for us.” Pastor Daka: Pastor Daka went to the annual Pastors and wives retreat, but had to go without his wife Rachael. It was at Mfuwu game preserve. Pastor Daka provided pics on the AOG group facebook page. Rachael had to stay home with the twins. A word from Pastor Timothy Parker: (co-founder of AOG) AOG has always been a work of faith and a labor of love for us all. Pastor Daka has been sacrificially obedient to this cause from day one. Often, his family has been overlooked and rarely asks for assistance for himself choosing to ask for prayer and having faith in God always first. I ask that all of you who love AOG, please pray for Pastor Daka's family and remember them this week. Please adopt this wonderful Godly family that works daily for us at AOG without pay and who truly is living by faith. Make them part of your daily prayers and prayerfully consider giving him an occasional monetary or practical gift; a showing of your Godly love to him and his family. --- Hebrews 6:10 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. Pastor Tim, A word from Pastor Daka: Praise God! 76 people professed Christ during the Jesus film. God is at work in Zambia my friends. I was so glad to work with my friend George B. Katambo and Trine Lawrence Katambo. I love you! I was greatly humbled to lead many to Christ with you. Praise the Lord for every soul He saves. I am so happy our well is almost completed. It looks and was done so professionally. See my pics friends! I thank God for the progress. I thank all of you who donated. We are getting better every day my friends! God is so good! Keep praying for Ark of Grace mmmmm I am a happy man thanks to you my AOG Family! If you are not already; please consider being a part of our growing Family. The Lord is doing great things through His vessels like you. Did you know that most in Zambia eat only one meal per day? Someone else usually decides for them when they are able to eat. Likewise, so many are spiritually starved as well living off worldly fruits instead of the “bread of life.” You can be a part in helping us change these two realities for them. Through your sponsorship/support of $40.00 a month, we can feed them physical and spiritual food each and every month giving them hope, dignity, and a desire to know more of this Christ that loved them so to give them such a gift of grace through you. Pastor Isaac Daka, In trying to decide what the appropriate first blog entry should be, I decided to post this article I wrote for Pastor Daka and had posted on a faith news online site back in 02/15/15. I have been working with Pastor Daka/AOG about a year and a half. A modern day Ark of Grace has been built in Zambia, Africa. While people in America, who have much, largely reject a gospel of suffering and sacrifice; the people of Zambia understand this concept all too well. In Zambia, toothbrushes are bringing many to Christ. Many, in Zambia, have never even used a toothbrush and do not even know how to use one. To bring parents in with their children, Pastor Isaac Daka and his staff at “Ark of Grace Orphanage and Feeding Foundation”, offered free toothbrushes and instructions on how to use them. After the demonstration and 350 toothbrushes were handed out, the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to the people who came. More than 100 people gave their life to Christ.--- --- Proverbs 22:6(NET Bible) 6 Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. --- 2 Corinthians 3:16(NET Bible) 16 but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Unlike America, where the Word of God is no longer seen as profitable by so many to offer Christ to a child, Pastor Daka and his staff go into the local schools handing out bibles and soccer balls to the children when funds are available. The schools and teachers accept their message of hope for the children with joy. Clubs are formed in the schools that teach the children that true love waits. They share with them God’s plan of sex and the dangers of not waiting. A fourteen year old girl was almost forced to get married because her parents would not sponsor her schooling. With the help of Pastor Daka and his “True Love Waits” school program, the young girl was able to stay in school. She is now in the ninth grade and thriving. Has America lost something? Hasn’t it lost this belief in God’s Word as profitable? We stopped training up a child in the way he should go. Why is the gospel thriving in Zambia? They see God’s Word as profitable. We, in America, have lost a great love! It is the great love of God’s Word. Is it because we think we have all we need? --- Mathew 25:40(KJV) 40 And the king shall answer them, 'I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.' Pastor Daka’s foundation helps the children, the elderly, and the poor of Zambia. Many lack even a pair of shoes, a change of clothing, or a roof over their heads. So many don’t know where their next meal is coming from, yet the gospel is exploding. Just trying to find safe water to drink is a major challenge. Pastor Daka and his wife Rachael, have dedicated themselves to the people who are called “The Real Africa.” It could be called “The Real Truth of Africa.” Pastor Daka is trying to equip the saints to share the gospel through his discipleship program at his “Central Theological Seminary”. Even prisoners are brought into this program. Twenty-one Pastors have been trained and are pasturing churches. Twelve have been trained as trainers. In his “Follow Me” program, six classes are being taught in six different areas. They hope to train one-hundred through this program in the coming year that will go out and be disciples for Christ. Ark of Grace has grown since I first wrote this article. The Ark of Grace compound affectionately called, The Promised Land, is in the process of completing 10 cabins for 56 orphans, 4 cabins for widows who will be caretakers for the children, 2 staff houses, a class room, and a dining room. A well, thanks to the generous donations from sponsors/supporter, has been dug and the final touches are being done. We already have harvested our first Maize crop on the Promised Land. We hope to soon build a chicken farm. All this will help to make AOG more self-sufficient and also aid the community with fresh water and food. --- Deuteronomy 15:11(KJV) 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in the land. Ark of Grace facilities are primitive at best. Many programs, classes, feeding the children, and clothing needs still go unfunded. God chooses to use people to achieve His purposes. Nothing is impossible for God. Is it now impossible in America because we have been given so much? Help Pastor Daka reach a people that hunger for physical food and shelter, and for the profitable Word of God. I pray, Oh Lord, Your Word will be seen as profitable again in America as well! r. kyker, --- Luke 1:37(NET) 37 For nothing will be impossible with God. An Ark Of Grace An ark of grace from the Lord For the children He gave as our reward They are our heritage Like arrows in the hands of a warrior From their lips He has ordained His praise Silencing the enemy who comes to destroy Look down on them not For their angels see the face of God We train them in the way they should go When we walk along the way with them When they lie down to sleep at night And when they get up again in the morning We teach them the Holy Scriptures Making them wise unto salvation Humble yourselves as these little ones Cause them not to stumble into sin Come to Me like little children Help them also to come unto Me If you have helped the least of these You have done it also unto Me Ron C. Kyker |