I am sitting here Saturday morning at 10:36am trying to find the strength to press on. For the last two weeks or so I have been getting migraines. Today as I type it feels as if someone is stabbing a knife into my eyes and another through the base of my skull. It is a pain that I would not wish on anyone. In the past two weeks I have been bedridden three days because of the pain. Rest assured that on Monday I am going to go to the doctor.

I share about my headaches not to get sympathy but to let you know that He is always working. On the days I was stuck at home in bed I had a couple of my brothers in Christ come by and pray over me and encourage me. It is quite humbling to have these men come and pray for me. These are men we have been pouring into and to see them step up moved me so much that I cried after they left. I can only imagine what our heavenly Father felt seeing His children being His hands and feet.

He is my strength and He alone has given me strength when I do not feel like doing anything. Last Thursday I was asked to share with a group of young men about what salvation is and what baptism is. These are young men that have been identified by a sister organization here to be future leaders in their community. My head was pounding and I did not want to go but I had already missed one appointment to talk to these young men, and I was not going to cancel again. I prayed for His strength because I did not have it in me to speak.

We drove to the meeting place which was about 20 minutes from our house. When I got there I saw that we where meeting in the dried up riverbed. There was no covering and no chairs so we all sat on the ground. When we arrived it was sprinkling and only four of the ten young men had shown up. I prayed silently for His strength as I sat there on the riverbed with these young men and asked one of the boys to pray for our time together.

As I began sharing with these kids I felt and knew that God was with us and that He had caused the pain in my head to subside. I sent up a silent praise at His mercy. I presented what salvation was and how they could know when it was real in their lives. I then shared on what baptism is and the significance it plays in our walk with Christ. Then I answered questions for over an hour. I have to say that our young people are hungry for answers and they want us, their elders, to take the time to listen and answer their questions.

Some of the questions were tough and again I had to ask for His help and His strength. How do you answer a question that challenges their heritage and their culture? The questions they asked we have heard consistently since we have been here. Will I go to hell if I commit a sin and die before I get a chance to ask for forgiveness? Will I go to heaven if I have never been baptized? Do I have to be confirmed to be a Christian? Do I have to be confirmed to get married? What if my pastor does not live as he teaches us to live? How do I pray for someone I hate? On and on the questions came and the whole time I felt God speaking through me.

When we finished there were ten young men in the group. It sprinkled on and off the whole time but we stayed and talked and shared. It was an amazing time and I am glad I went. Being with these future leaders was encouraging to me and I had no idea that I had been an encouragement to them.

Their leader, one of the men I am mentoring, came to me later and said that the young men were surprised to see me come in the rain and then to sit on the ground with them. I did not think anything of it at the time. I just did what Jesus would do. I got down on their level so that I could be with them.

When I got home it was after 7:00pm and my head was killing me. God had sustained me through the whole time I was talking. Praise the Lord for allowing me to be the one He used to share with these young men.

I am learning and coming to realize that our walk with Christ is not just 9 to 5, it is 24/7. He wants us to be ready at all times to be His hands and feet. I continue to pray that He will shape me to be more like Him. Even though I am in pain I know that He is at work in me and through me.

Thank you for your prayers. I can honestly say that I have felt them and cherish them.

Duran blog

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Hello everyone!!! I cannot believe that it has been almost a month that we have been back in Namibia. The time seems to go by faster everyday. They do say time flies when you are having fun. Yes we are having fun.

It is 7:17pm on Saturday evening for us and we have had another full day. We are finding out that working in fulltime ministry means that we do not have regular working hours. Yes we have office hours from 9:00am to 5:00pm but that is only our office hours.

Our morning starts out with personal devotions and time with our Lord. We treasure our time in the morning with Him. We then pray with each other and have some breakfast and then it is off to work.

No two days are the same here. For example on Wednesday we were working in the office and we had someone pull up to the entrance. We were not expecting anyone so I went to see who was visiting us. It was a friend of ours (Gerrard) who works with Samaritan’s Purse. He is the country coordinator for Operation Christmas Child and is responsible for receiving all the shoe boxes that get delivered to children in Namibia.

We have 40 foot shipping containers on our property that they use to store the shoe boxes until they can be delivered to the children. Whenever Gerrard shows up I know he needs to get to the shoe boxes. Getting to the boxes is no small task though. To protect the boxes we have to weld the shipping containers closed that they are stored in. So to get into the container we need to grind off the bars.

Well when Gerrard got out of his car we greeted each other and got caught up on how each of our families were doing. I shared about our visit to the States and he shared all about the events that happened while we were gone. After getting caught up he informed me that there was another container arriving at 2:00pm, It was now 11:30am, and he needed help to unload the boxes from the truck and put them into the shipping container on our property.

I then made several calls and found six young men that I have worked with in the past to help us. I then went to pick them up at noon. Then I had to get the grinder, extension cords, and the welder so we could weld the container closed.

By 1:00pm I had the men and equipment we needed for the job and was heading over to the containers. When I get there Gerrard informed me that the truck with the boxes was running late and tells me that the truck will not arrive until around 7:00pm. It is now only 2:00pm.
I then take the six young men back to their homes and tell them I will pick them up at 6:45pm. I then go back to the office and work till 5:00pm and then go home to eat dinner, peanut butter and jelly because Catherine is at our weekly Bible study.

At 6:30pm I leave to go get the young men and we head back to the containers. We get there by 7:00pm and the guys are looking for the truck. Gerrard arrives and tells us the truck is running late and tells us it will be another hour. At 9:30pm the truck finally arrives. As it pulls up we see that the boxes are on a flat bed truck and the truck is full of boxes.

Each box is about 2 feet by 2 feet square and has approximately 10 shoe boxes inside. Each box ways between 25 to 40 pounds and did I tell you that there were over 400 boxes that had to be unloaded from the truck and loaded into the empty container?

The good thing is that is was late and it had cooled off quite a bit so it was not as hot. In less that one hour we had unloaded the truck and loaded them into the container and welded it shut. I was so tired and sore. My body was reminding me that I am not 20 years old anymore but I had kept up with the young men. I think they were surprised that I was able to keep up with them.
I then took the young men to their homes and then headed back to our house. I got home at 11:30pm. I crawled into bed and was up early the next morning to see what new adventures that day would bring.

I am learning how to be flexible and to be patient and you that know me know how much I dislike when things do not happen as planned. The time we had to wait though was time to speak into the lives of the six young men and to encourage them. God's timing is always better than my timing.

Each day is different and I have learned to make my plans in pencil because God often edits my plans to coordinate with His. I do love His sense of humor. Seriously though I love how He is helping me to become more like Him. The more He is in me the more these young men get to experience Him.

Thank you for your prayers and your support. You are with us each day and are making a difference in our lives and in the lives of so many here.

Duran’s Blog

Duran’s Missionary Page

While the week of teaching is still fresh in my mind and heart, I wanted to take a few minutes to post a brief report. Like last year, I was energized and filled up each day as the students soaked in the teaching of Choose to Wait. Most of them have heard some sort of teaching about Love and Sex, but ALL of them commented that THIS was different. It was my joy to present to them God's design for love, marriage and sex.

We had some lively discussions, fun role-plays and dramas, and a few somber moments where I could sense the Holy Spirit was gently healing past wounds. Some had father wounds, others mother wounds, still others - relationship wounds. Their enthusiasm and interaction made it a pleasure for me.

Several of these students are fresh out of High School and yet are so eager to strengthen their relationship with God and build their faith by submitting to the DTS (Discipleship Training School) training. It was inspiring to be with them, not just for the class time, but for tea time, meals and one-on-one visits. This week I met some GREAT young people (from Namibia, USA, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and England) and count it a privilege to have participated in their overall training. I have a deep respect for the staff of YWAM and the work they are doing with young people. The Spirit of the Lord was definitely at work in the hearts and minds of each one.

Once again, He proved His faithfulness. Thank you for your prayers.

Duran Blog

Duran Missionary Page