2009 Recap

December 11, 2009

Greetings to all our friends and family in Christ Jesus! We can hardly believe that 2009 is almost finished and it marks the end of our second year in Africa. While we are currently in a time of prayer for 2010, it is safe to say that this past year was easily our busiest time ever in the ministry.

Travelling Work

The year literally began in Lusaka, Zambia with our first trip to this country. Several well trained men hosted us in a city wide meeting open to all believers that desired to come. The ministry included radio messages and we worked with pastors from all over this capital city. As it was our first time to travel to Lusaka, we did not know what to expect. We now have a much better understanding of the particular needs for our return trip in 2010.

We followed this by doing a seminar in Maputo, Mozambique. These meetings were very leadership centered with around 100 pastors in attendance. The reception was fantastic in spite of the swarms of mosquitoes!

The next trip was to Harare, Zimbabwe for a leadership meeting that called leaders from all over the country. We’ve been ministering in Zimbabwe for many years and this conference was the best run and most fulfilling we’ve had. This country has been one of the most oppressed nations in the entire world for most of this decade and it is a profound relief to see the intensely challenging circumstances begin to subside.

Our last international trip this year was to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the DRC we are working with a group of seventy churches helping to train their leaders and encourage the many believers that attend these fellowships. This was a most challenged venue in the natural but one in which the Lord spoke great hope for the future of the church and the country as a whole.

The bulk of our travel is within the nation of South Africa. We spent several months on the road during various trips this last year and found ourselves working with leaders and ministries in Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Cape town, the Drakensburg and Zululand areas of the Natal province in South Africa.

Because we consider our primary function to be trans-local training and equipping ministry, it was very exciting to see the Lord open more doors than we had time to walk through!

Local Work

During the times that we weren’t on the road, we worked with several groups in our local area. There was a considerable amount of time spent with Indian pastors in the community of Phoenix, which is a significant part of the larger Indian community in Durban. We have a love for Indian people and had the opportunity to spend many Sundays this last year encouraging churches in this area.

We have also started a weekly bible study in the TeTe area near our home. It is a time of prayer, worship and study that has seen many young men and women saved, healed and delivered. The group is made up of around 50 refugees to South Africa from other African nations and we have seen the Lord accomplish incredible things in their lives. When we started almost all were unemployed, but through prayer and God’s Grace they are now all working!

Financial needs and prayer considerations

Travel is a very expensive part of our work. Gasoline prices vary from between $4 and $5 dollars a gallon and we travel the entire nation several times a year. Some of the countries have very little air traffic into them which drives the price of airplane tickets up. In addition to this we have to have some funds to help set up the meetings and provide for safe, basic accommodation while we are in these third world venues. We also have relationships in Asia and Europe that we must help and encourage in 2010. In order to accommodate these things and still maintain a reasonable household budget, please stand with us to believe God for a $750 increase in our monthly support for the coming year.

There are two specific projects we are committed to in 2010:

1) We would like to provide 150 flu vaccines to the residents in the TeTe area. This is an impoverished community in which the average person’s diet often doesn’t provide proper immunity to diseases like influenza. It is our desire to bless the community at large with these vaccines as a practical expression of Christ’s Love. We have also committed to provide flu vaccines to about 50 of the orphans we work with in Monzi.

2) We would like to provide mosquito nets for an orphanage in the Zululand area. During summer months the heat and humidity is stifling and it is almost impossible to sleep covered up in these conditions. The nets will help protect the orphans from mosquito born malaria.

We estimate the cost of these projects to be a combined $2750. Please stand with us to believe the Lord to provide the funds for these endeavors.

Lastly, please pray for us to have the wisdom of the Lord to know which parts of the Body of Christ to work with in 2010. We have more to do than we can get done and it is important to us that the Lord leads our efforts every step of the way.

We are forever indebted to all of you for your prayer and financial support. Please contact us through our website for updates on the work and the different teachings the Holy Spirit is putting on our hearts. Any checks written in the United States are tax deductible and should be made out to “IRC Ministries” and mailed to PO Box 614 Buna, TX 77612. You may also make a donation via PayPal on our website at www.ircministries.org.

Love and Blessings to all in 2010,

Rodney and Trina Kirkpatrick