Our Outreach to South Africa

Dear Friends and Family,

Our outreach to South Africa was amazingly blessed by God! As Christians, we know the greatest weapon we have is prayer. God highlighted that truth as we saw open hearts and response to the gospel. We believe it all started in the Prayer Room, which was the first priority in the lives of the people at the base. Every day Monday through Friday, we all came together to pray/intercede/read the Word and worship for 2 hours. As a result, we are Praising the Lord, estimating that about 190 people responded to the Gospel through the efforts of our team along with those of our brothers and sisters already serving there!

The unity of our team was highlighted as a testimony of God’s goodness. We were from 8 different nations and denominations, from ages 12 to 70, having known each other for only a few months. It was our love for Jesus and a desire to share the good news of the Gospel that kept us united.

The highlight of our outreach was to the remote village of Dithakong. We saw many there come to the Lord through door-to-door evangelism and an outreach to the local high school where we gave “motivational speeches” in the classrooms, inviting teens to a drama after school. After the drama, about 70 kids came forward to receive Jesus. It was an amazing time. We were honored to work under the leadership of Pastor Lawrence, his wife Juliet and their family - missionaries from Zimbabwe who have spent 7 years in Dithakong, faithfully sowing the seeds of the gospel. It was exciting to see their teen children and their friends leading a dynamic ministry to the young people of the village.

Back in our central hub of Potchefstroom, we continued the ministries of door-to-door evangelism, children’s ministries, a high-school bible study, teaching at a drug rehab, preaching, feeding the hungry and prayer for the sick. We were blessed that God provided so many avenues to share His love and Good News.

It was a bittersweet time as we said goodbye to all of our friends; those living in South Africa, and to those on our team as most had destinations in Europe, Asia and Central America. Sadly, some had to leave without a proper goodbye as Covid reared its ugly head at the end of our outreach. Only 6 of our team of 15 were able to return for the debrief in Florida. Our greatest God given need is relationship/fellowship with other believers; A place where we can be real, share our hearts, pray for each other, bear each other’s burdens and walk-through life together. We are grateful for our team choosing to be vulnerable to each other so we could have that unity.

We are now back in Colorado with April’s parents, grateful to have a home to rest in for a couple weeks before we head to the place where God has called us to. We are so glad for the proverb, “We make our plans but the Lord directs our steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Our plans to stay in Hawaii for ministry changed, partly because Rissa decided to leave her DTS there. She is now with my (Mark’s) daughter Chrystal in Las Vegas, NV and we are thankful for Chrystal’s heart of hospitality.

God has given E’Lon the desire to do her own DTS instead of going to the Christian School in Kona. She will earn some school credits for the experience, so it won’t extend her time in High School. We are grateful for our amazing Home School administrator/planner, and highly recommend Teri at Christian Cottage Schools in Sedalia, CO to any home-school family. Her heart for ministry and directing kids in the way God wants them to go is inspiring!

In the change of our plans, we are excited that God has opened the door to serve as fulltime staff at the YWAM base in Discovery Bay, Washington. When reading their vision for ministry, God confirmed our calling and we are blessed to partner with them. We are blessed to have April’s parents support – her dad has said all along why can’t you serve in the Untied States :+) To read their vision statement or for more info about the base and what we will be involved with, go to: https://ywamdb.com/

We are most excited about staffing their September DTS (Discipleship Training School). It’s the same 3-month training and 2-month outreach that we just completed. Would you consider sharing the information and telling people who might be interested in attending? “Come join students from around the world for three months where weekly speakers will mentor you in knowing God personally, hearing his voice, loving His Word, letting go of past hurts, spiritual warfare, sharing your faith, relationships, and world evangelism”. Here is the link about DTS: DTS – YWAM Discovery Bay (ywamdb.com)

Would you please pray and ask God if He is leading you to partner with us both in prayer and financially? Since we will be in full-time ministry, your donations will be tax deductable. We are praying for people who will give on a monthly basis but are blessed by one-time gifts as well. If you are interested in hearing more about our Outreach or future plans, please respond to our email or just click on "Let's Chat" on the webpage and we would love to set up a time to meet in person or over zoom.

To give: 1. If you want a tax deductible receipt – go to https://ywamdb.com/donate-2/ , click on the DONATE button (not donor dashboard) and enter our name in the comments field.

Send a check:

Mail to YWAM DB, P.O. Box 989, Port Hadlock, WA 98339 – write it to YWAM, our name cannot be on the check (IRS regulations) please write it on the envelope or on an attached note.

2. Paypal: carlenapril@gmail.com, CashApp April Carlen $AprilCarlen, Venmo April Carlen@ April-Carlen-1, or we can scan our QR code

Prayer Requests:

E’Lon – For God’s leading for when and where she will do her DTS and for financial provision Mark and April – Our move to Washington, reducing belongings and safe travels, wisdom when to go get belongings and say goodbyes (No-Aloha’s) in Hawaii, support and prayer warriors for being fulltime missionaries.

YWAM DB – For Lance (one of the staff) in Ukraine helping with the refugees, and that God will provide DTS students for September.

We would love to pray for you as well!! Please email or text your requests to 480-734-4500. We are on WhatsApp, and you can follow us on Facebook and Instagram, under April’s name.

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came you. 2 Thessalonians 3:1

May God richly bless you and keep you,

Mark, April and E’Lon