For as long as I have been traveling back and forth to East Africa there is one event I anticipate long before leaving. It begins when I book my airfare, especially the time of day my flight leaves from Amsterdam to Uganda. I ensure my seat is on the righthand side and the window view is not blocked by the wing. After the long journey from the US to Amsterdam it is the anticipation of what’s ahead that brings my most favorite hour of flights! The plane has ascended way above the clouds as the sun begins its descent for the day. There is no other sunset the same as this experience. There is not another window shade open on the plane which makes me want to stand up and tell everybody…you are missing one of the greatest sights of our Creator that we can’t experience on the ground!

This trip I was blessed to have a nice man named Marcus from Sweden as a seatmate. When you are on the tarmac for 2 hours before the plane takes off, then a 3 hour wait for the plane to be changed out, followed by an 8 ½ hour flight you have time to chat. He endured my need to see the sunset as it was bright in his eyes, I’m sure he thought I was crazy, until he got a glimpse of the beauty of the heavens! 

Unknown to me, there was a photographer from Rwanda sitting in the aisle seat of the middle section. As I was closing my shade once the beauty was turning to night, I realized that the glare had been in his eyes as well. I apologized to both these men who had endured the hour-long time I took to draw near to my Heavenly Father, yet like the gentlemen they both seemed to be, they said no apology was needed.

Hours later when we landed in Kigali and Marcus had headed up the aisle to catch his next flight, Richard moved over into his seat, where he then shared that he was a professional photographer and wanted me to have a picture he took of me watching the sunset.  I was speechless when I saw the picture, not because I was in it but because he had given me a gift in capturing my most favorite place in the world to watch the sunset! 

It was February 20th last year when the journey I’m beginning to blog about began. Previously I hadn’t been serving in East Africa for 9 years, my last blog post was April, 2013. I have been back over there several times, but not lived there since 2013. It started when I had a knock at my door where I found one of the children my heart loved dearly from my time over there. No longer a child, but now a young man of integrity, and a passionate love for God’s Word and Gods people. His name is Arafat Musa, he was here in the states to speak at the Moyo Missions Gala, the organization that took him in as a child and raised him up into the man he is today.

Never could I have dreamed that one day Arafat would be in my home here in the states. It was wonderful to see him, to hear about his life and how well he is doing. His visit was made possible by two of my dear friends, Sydney and Collins Mugume of Mtoto W’afrika who brought him to see me. Their visit stayed on my mind over the next few weeks as God kept nudging me to listen close as He had plans for me once again. On March 30th I surrendered to the redeploment He was calling me to.

To say it’s been an easy journey since last March would most definitely not be truth, yet the truth is, I never questioned whether I heard my assignment correctly. I held firmly to Gods hand, knowing and trusting He would not have called me to redeploy if He wasn’t going to take me through the trials that came. Being homebound due to illnesses, including major surgery for a good portion of last year wasn’t easy, yet during that time He was molding me, preparing me for my upcoming redeployment on February 4th. I’m headed back to Uganda, East Africa, returning to now serve with Sydney and Collins Mugume of Mtoto W’afrika in the northern part of the country.

The question I have been asked the most about this journey has been concerns about my age, people wondering should I go to the foreign mission field at 66 years of age. I understand why people would be concerned, and enjoy answering the question. I always share that God wouldn’t have called me to go back if I wasn’t able to complete His assignment, that the safest place I could be in this world is the center of His will no matter where His will takes me.

A favorite pastor of mine for many years of my christian journey has been Dr. David Jeremiah. I watch the Shadow Mountain Community Church services live every Saturday night, and also read a lot of his books. His book, “Forward” – “Discovering God’s Presence in Your Tomorrow” – Chapter 9 – “Finish: – “You’re Not Done Until You’re Done”, speaks where my heart is, and will encourage others to be open for deployment or redeployment.

He says: “Let’s face it. You have a great vision, pray godly prayers, choose the right goals, and focus on the right things. So far, so good. You can also pursue your dreams and make huge investments in God’s Word, His work, and His wealth. But if you don’t finish what you start, it’s like a building that has never been roofed.” 

“Yes, your role may change. Your assignments may evolve and your situation may alter. You may have to make adjustments. Even so, one fact won’t change: as long as God leaves you on earth, He has ongoing work for you. There’s no expiration date to the principles I’m teaching you in this book. You never retire from the Christian life, and you never drop out of God’s will.”

He quotes Os Guinness: “I think it’s important to recognize that we can retire from our jobs, but we can never retire from our calling. Calling gives us our sense of task or responsibility, right up to the last day we spend on earth, when we will go to meet the Caller. I think that gives life incredible value, and therefore the prosperity of finishing well is that we continue to have a sense of responsibility and engagement that makes each day we live enormously important. This is also a subject in which the Christian view provides such a compelling contrast with the secular view, which tells you that you’re over the hill when you reach a certain age.”

Dr. Jeremiah is a spiritual hero of mine, a spiritual giant who is now in is 80’s, and continues to lead by example. When the Caller calls me home I want to leave behind a legacy of surrender and obedience, to finish the job God has called to complete.

Thanks for taking this journey with me,

Joy

Isaiah 46:4 NIV “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

It’s a strange feeling, knowing this is my last post from East Africa for this journey. In wondering how I would capture this incredible journey over the years, I realized that all the posts I’ve written before has told the story.

Having traveled 11 out of the last 13 weeks has been a joy, with the exception of the parasites in my foot and in my stomach! Since the 3^rd week of January I’ve covered from the Western border of Kenya all way across the country to the Eastern Coast of Mombasa.

In these weeks, Pastor Tom and I participated in 1200 pastors and leaders going through the Secret Church training for this year. This brings a total number of pastors and leaders from the past two years to 2268, all trained in 6 different Secret Church teachings.

God is so good and saved the last conference which I just finished this evening, as the mountain top experience of all the conferences. Each conference was amazing and changed lives, yet, the one this week ultimately reached the people we started out a long time ago with a desire to reach.

Even though I’ve left the conference and have arrived at the airport for my flight home to Georgia, I still must be careful in what I write about the conference, in order to protect those I’ve been with this week. Pictures would tell so much of the story, yet, no pictures could be taken.

What I can share is that 5 countries were represented, in which all participants were persecuted believers, or work among the persecuted.

At the end of our first day, plans were already being made for the Secret Church teachings to be carried into the unreached areas. I’ve prayed for so long for God to open doors to reach those we know need the gospel in those areas. How incredible it has been for the last leg of this journey as a missionary to East Africa to be with these very people.

The most difficult part of leaving was saying goodbye to my African sons, Tom and Sezi. It was really difficult to leave them behind. I am so thankful for the promise of eternity in heaven together. That makes the not knowing if we will see one another here on this earth again, somehow easier.

I’m excited to see what God has planned for my next journey with Him. Whatever it might be, I know it will be exactly what He has had planned for me all along.

From the depths of my heart I am so thankful for each one of you who have supported me through prayer and/or financially over these years. It has been a privilege to represent you here in East Africa.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary-East Africa

It’s an exciting time for my family. On Friday my son Bryan and his precious wife Kim discovered their sweet little one coming late July is a girl! Little Ruthie (her name chosen from the biblical Ruth) is being anxiously awaited for by her big brothers, Stephen and Michael and her sister, Sarah, as well as the rest of us.

2013 Everett Edition “Little Ruthie” coming in July

My youngest grandchild is 6. It has been quite a while since we’ve had a baby to hold. Ruthie will make 3 granddaughters along with my 6 grandsons. Our family is truly blessed to have 9 in the generation coming behind us.

I always wanted to have lots of children. After my 2 were born, the doctor said I couldn’t have anymore. So now my 2 children are giving me what I couldn’t have more of in the form of 9 grandchildren which is incredible!

I’ve been secluded in my home for the past 2 weeks because of the national elections. We are thankful here that the violence was minimum; that each area where violence broke out was contained quickly and did not spread.

A great blessing in being secluded has been time to work on some of my Liberty University Home studies. In the past couple of weeks I’ve listened to 16 lectures. I’ve finished the Gospels and Acts, and completed my exam on both, now being part way through the Epistles.

I love all of the Word of God. Yet, sometimes according to where I’m currently studying I get new favorites. My favorite the past 2 weeks has been the book of Acts. What a treasure of knowledge it contains for us.

This morning I leave out for the first of 5 continuous weeks traveling into the interior bush holding Secret Church conferences. I am happy, happy, happy to be able to leave the house today and get back to serving. We began our conferences this year with traveling to the farthest distances first, so in the weeks ahead there is not much long distance traveling.

Thank you so much for the prayers for my health. My stomach is finally well and my foot is completely healed with the exception of one small scabbed over area that is taking a long time to heal. It’s been 5 weeks since I first contracted the parasites in my foot, 3 weeks since surgery. It has definitely been an extended healing process, but praise the Lord, I am almost 100% healed.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary-East Africa

Have you ever had someone in your life that you wait anxiously for some sign, some pivotal moment when the Christianity they profess to have within them comes out of hiding? When you look closely to see if they have started attending church, or reading their bible or speak of an intimate prayer life; any actions whatsoever that would indicate they are a true follower of Jesus Christ?

In my life, I have family and friends who profess to be Christians, yet there is no evidence. I’ve tried many times to share how different our lives become when we truly surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and became a true follower. Yet, their hearts have not been receptive and I find myself still waiting, hoping and praying to hear of a change in their lives.

This is a subject close to my heart, because for many years I was one of these people. I heard a sermon preached on hell one night when I was 11 years old. The preachers words freighted me and I didn’t want to go to hell. Not until 17 years later when I heard evangelist Bailey Smith preach a sermon on “The Difference Between the Wheat and the Tare” did I understand my lostness. If I had lost my life during those years, I would have spent eternity in hell because I thought since I prayed a prayer telling God I didn’t want to go to hell that everything was okay and I would spend eternity in heaven.

In those 17 years I always answered yes I am Christian when someone asked me, yet, there was nothing…no evidence. I wasn’t in church, I never read my bible nor even thought of reading my bible, and the only prayers I prayed were at night when I was tucking my children into bed.Praying the now I lay me down to sleep prayer. I never talked about the Lord, never witnessed to others, my list could go on and on. Bottom line, I was deceived and headed straight for hell.

When I truly understood the reality of where I stood with God and made a decision to surrender my life to Him, to become a true follower of Jesus Christ, my life changed. I didn’t become perfect and still had a lot of growing to do, as I still do today, but there was a change in me as I now had an intense desire to never be the same again. That intense desire has never stopped. For 25 years this coming July I have continued to desire to grow, to be a better child of the King, to know more of the bible, to tell others about how my life has been changed, and ultimately learning to truly surrender all I am to Him.

Lsst Sunday, the Spirit of God spoke through Pastor Johnny Hunt, First Baptist Church Woodstock, preaching a sermon that spoke truth so needed in many church filled seats today. I want to encourage all of you to take an hour of your time and watch this message. If you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, this message will burden your heart for those around you that you know are deceived and will spend eternity in hell unless there is a break through. If you are questioning if you are a true follower of Jesus Christ, this message will speak truth into your life. If you have never come to a place in your life where you’ve completely understood what a Christ follower is, this message will clear up your questions and give you clarity on what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ.

I’m praying for break through’s for eternity.

The sermon is entitled, WHAT MAKES A DISCIPLE. Its the 9:30 am timeframe. The first 30 minutes are Worship, but you can fast forward to about the 30 minute mark and the sermon will begin.

http://www.fbcw.org/media/on-demand-media/

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove
Missionary-East Africa

A first occurred this week while holding a Secret Church conference. A vehicle pulled into the churchyard and into the church walked 2 American missionaries from Kentucky who are also serving full-time in Kenya.

These are my new missionary friends, Sheri and Greg Howard.

Sweet new missionary friends…Sheri and Greg Howard…..

They began their fulltime missionary journey here in August of last year, serving in various ways; orphans, street children ministry, teaching, etc. http://actionstruth.com

It was great to discover their awareness of Dr. Platt’s teachings, as his book Radical had been instrumental in their own journey coming to the mission field. What a joy to watch them experience Secret Church…. bush style!

It’s hard to express the deep joy that came with the time God gave us to share. Not only in the Secret Church teachings, but also sharing our journey of walking with the Lord here in Africa.

On Monday as I headed out for this weeks conference I was blessed to receive in the mail a wonderful package from my good friend Deb Brewer from my church back home. She has been such a blessing to me as I’ve served over the years. She sent lots of Answers in Genesis material to help here. Pastor Tom was so excited when we unpacked the box!

A happy Pastor Tom with all the new materials from Answers in Genesis

He will be using part of the material in the orphan school he oversees and the other materials will help the pastors.

Because I had picked up this package on our way out on Monday, I had it with me during this weeks conference. Gods timing is always so good as I was able to share some of the material with my new friends Sheri and Greg. Not only share materials they can use in the areas they serve, but also share the good edible yummies Deb packed along with the material.

I’ve been in the states since the Howards have. I know what it’s like to be gone for so long and not have a lot of food that taste good as things back home do, so I wanted to share. What was really sweet was when I handed them the bag with the materials and yummies, they in turn handed me a bag. Sheri had prepared me a bag with yummies they were sharing that had been left for them with a recent team visiting. Not just goodies from the states, but more importantly home made no bake cookies that Sheri had found the ingredients to make here!

The conference was very good, the church was packed daily and we ran out of Secret Church study guides.

My home for the week…

Pastors filling in their Secret Church study guides…

Secret Church in session

This weeks Secret Church participants

In the last 3 weeks of conferences I have surveyed the pastors who attended our conference last year. The survey questions were questions to help me gather information on how well the material is being received. More importantly, if the material is being used after the conferences as it is intended to be used.

21 pastors over the last 3 weeks are returning pastors. Those 21 pastors have used their Secret Church materials from last year to disciple 427 Christians. From the information the pastors have gathered, out of the 427 newly disciple believers, have come another 86 more whom these disciples discipled.

We were first in these areas in September of last year. So in the last 5 months there are 513 newly discipled believers that we know of. There are another 60 to 70 pastors from this area of Kenya who attended last year but were not able to travel to attend this year due to the locations being further away. I can only imagine what the real number of newly discipled believers would be if we had information from all who attended.

Now that we are blessed to also deliver the new Multiply books to the church leaders, we know that in the months and years ahead this tool along with the Secret Church materials will advance the kingdom of God in powerful ways.

Church leaders receiving their copies of Multiply

As a matter of prayer, I’d like to ask all of you to be praying for the country of Kenya in the weeks ahead. Presidential and general elections are scheduled for March 4^th and we are praying for peaceful times. The last elections brought violence and destruction across the country. Even today 4 years later there is evidence of the destruction from that time. Families are still displaced from the violence along with infrastructure damage with roads and various other things.

There is a strong Christ centered presence among the people who are truly seeking a peaceful election time. Please join us as we pray with our brothers and sisters in Christ across this nation.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary-East Africa

The first of 12 weeks of Secret Church conferences has been completed here in Kenya. Beautiful countryside last week during our travels.

Beautiful….

Beautiful…..

The pastors who attended this first conference are part of 400 pastors/church leaders who will receive this new training with Dr. David Platts Secret Church teachings: Exploring the Holy Spirit, Who Is God and Angels, Demons and Spiritual Warfare.

What a joy to be the delivery person…

Pastors this week gaining wisdom and knowledge…

I am also excited to be delivering the new Multiply discipleship book from Francis Chan to the senior pastors. I’m delivering 130 of these new books for the Kenya pastors to use as tools for discipleship. For those of you who might not be familiar with Multiply, you can access the material free at multiplymovement.com

7 firm committments to use Multiply to make disciples who will make disciples….

A special word of thanks to Angelia Stewart and the Radical/Secret Church team for ALL they do for us here. Without their encouragement and faithful support these conferences could not take place. Radical provides not only the shipping cost of getting the materials here from the states; they also provide transportation for Pastor Tom (my translator) and for myself. They provide food for all the conferences for these many days the pastors participate. They provide fuel for our generator, blankets and mats for the pastors so sleep on, the list goes on and on of their provisions.

So thankful for the passion they have to make disciples of all nations. Please be praying for Dr. Platt and the entire Radical team as they prepare for the Secret Church live simulcast on March 29^th with the teaching: Heaven, Hell and End of the World. Also, prayerfully consider hosting a group in your home or church for the simulcast. Information about Secret Church and the simulcast can be found at radical.net

Last Sunday I was blessed to spend the afternoon with part of my African family who came over from Uganda to Kenya to visit with me.

Part of my Africa family….

Most of you remember my always writing home about Geoffrey the best guard I ever had. You might remember that just a few months before I first arrived in Africa; Geoffreys wife had drowned, leaving behind two toddler boys. Last year he remarried to sweet Lillian and three weeks ago on January 5^th their precious son was born.

Geoffrey, Lillian and sweet little James….

They waited for me to arrive back in Africa before naming him and gave me the blessing of choosing his name. I gave him the name James after James who was the brother of Jesus and a leader of the Jerusalem church; as well as the writer of one of my favorite books in the bible. James is sometimes referred to as The Proverbs of the New Testament and I challenged Geoffrey and Lillian to teach James this book as he is growing up as it reminds Christians how to live out their faith.

Getting in some good practice for our new arrival in July…

While holding him I realized I was getting in some practice for my new grandbaby coming in late July. I have to admit getting the news of a new grandbaby for Christmas was AWESOME! For Christmas, Bryan and Kim gave the grandparents these sets of pictures of a fun family outing they had.

What a Christmas gift! News of a new GrandBaby~

Then they watched our faces as we realized that the photo in the last section was a sonogram. We had thought the last of the grandchildren had been born! We are rejoicing with inexpressible joy to learn God is blessing us with another one.

Excited to be adding GrandBaby #9 to this group of treasures!

As a matter of prayer, there is one of us grandparents that need your prayers. Just a week or so after the news of the new grandbaby, my daughter-in-loves step-dad or Pappaw to the grandchildren was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Jeff

His hearts desire is to hold this new grandbaby. He has accepted that unless God performs a miracle, his time here on this earth is limited and has a wonderful attitude and understanding of the joy of going home to heaven. Please be praying for him and the entire family in the months ahead. His name is Jeff Bassett.

As I wrote in my end of the year newsletter, my initial plans were to stay in Kenya throughout this year without making my usual mid-year trip home. However, God had other plans, wonderful plans. I will be home late July to be there for this new precious baby God is blessing us with. Please pray for Kim and the baby over the months ahead.

On my way home in July, I am stopping over in Germany and meeting up with a mission team from Blackshear Place. We will be serving with our other Blackshear Place missionaries, Sharon & John Summers and Rick and Christie Krueger who are serving with Teach Beyond.

If some of you haven’t made a decision about which mission trip to be part of this year, I encourage you to prayerfully consider joining the team coming to Germany. I am excited to have the opportunity of serving with our missionaries there along with a mission team from Blackshear Place. You can contact Pastor Dave Channell who will be leading the Blackshear Place team at 770-534-7058 for more information.

As always I am so thankful for each and every one of you who faithfully keep me covered in prayers and those who financially support me. It continues to be an honor to represent you here on the foreign mission fields of Africa.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary-East Africa

From my first computer, my first cell phone, my first iPod, etc. I have always enjoyed technology. I enjoy the challenge of new software and new devices. I think if this type of technology had been around when I was young, I would have dreamed of being in this field instead of dreaming of being a CPA. Of course since I never attained that CPA dream and am too old to pursue it, its good that I can still have lots of fun and enjoyment with technology.

Being back here in Kenya, I am starting for the first time in my adult life to live without a paper day planner. I’ve been using electronic planners for a long time, but I always kept a paper planner too. First thing my daughter Dana is going to say when she reads this update is your OCD is kicking in Momma… and she would be right!

The problem in the last couple of years though is that I’ve tried to balance both yet, I can’t sync my paper planner with my electronic one. I was missing important things like birthdays and anniversaries, which had always been very important to me to keep up with. I had to make a decision and pick one.

As I’m shifting to not only an electronic planner only for everything, I am thoroughly enjoying some new Bible apps that go everywhere with me and offer access to resources when I’m studying Gods Word. No matter if I’m in the bush or at home, I have access to dig deep in Gods Word. However, my paper Bible is never far away and that is something that will never change. As much as I enjoy and am thankful for the biblical technology we have access to today, I never want to be without a tangible copy of Gods Word.

Since becoming a Christian and developing an intense hunger to know Gods Word, I have always cherished my bibles. Yes, bibles plural because I wear them out. I used to think that something I’d like to leave behind once God calls me home to heaven would be a worn out, well read bible for each of my children and grandchildren. However, that changed when I came to Africa and realized how many people didn’t have one bible, much less several they were holding onto for sentimental reasons. So, now I give them away and I’ve learned such a valuable lesson in doing so.

I’m a note taken when it comes to studying Gods Word. I write all over the pages of my bible with sermon notes and thoughts from the Holy Spirit when He helps me understand a verse or a chapter. What I’ve learned in giving my used bibles away, is most often the notes that are handwritten help whoever takes new ownership. And that is something we can never leave behind for anyone else if we only use electronic bibles.

I cherish God’s Word and I consider it the greatest material possession I have. I love my country and I love our American flag. As a small child I was taught the importance of our flag and to never let it touch the ground. Yet, I always want to give more honor and respect to my Bible. I never lay my bible on the floor or on the ground simply because its more important to me than the flag of my country.

I remember something my children learned in their youth group when they were in high school. Their youth pastor told them they should consider placing their Bible in between themselves and the person they were dating when they were out together. It gave my children a visual of how Gods physical Word could protect them from sexual impurities.

Another time in my life when the importance of the physical Word of God was made known to me was 10 years ago. I had moved into the Gainesville area and was living in a new gated community apartment complex. At that point in my life it was the most secure place I had ever lived.

I came home from work one evening and after punching in my code for the gate, began to drive toward my building. Up ahead of me I could see a woman walking in the middle of drive. The closer I got to her the more I realized she wasn’t moving out of the way.

When I came near her, I let my window down and ask if something was wrong. Because it was a gated community and I had always felt safe, I never question that this could be a person out to bring harm. Before I knew clearly what was happening, she came around to the other side of my vehicle and opened the door, coming in after me. But in the passenger seat lay my bible as I always took it back and forth to work with me.

Even though this woman was in a drug induced rage, she had no physical issues that would keep her from climbing over the seat to reach me to stab me with knife she had in her hand. Yet, as hard as she tried there was what seemed to be an invisible wall that kept her from reaching me. It was literally like watching a movie in slow motion.

Without any doubt in my mind all these years later, I still believe my bible the physical Word of God was what kept evil away. The demonic forces within her could not cross over Gods Word.

As I discover more and more uses with my electronic devices, I want to think of them as open tabletops. Tabletops like most of have in our homes where we lay our bibles. Because the device is holding the Word of God I never want there to be anything ungodly stored alongside it.

For example, I could never lay pornographic material on a table with my physical Bible. No matter how strong or how weak my relationship with God was, its something that I would know would just not be right. They don’t belong together in any setting.

I wonder about our young people today who are much more tech savvy than myself and way ahead of me with technology. If all they use is an electronic Bible, are they truly learning the importance and the treasure we have in the gift of His book. Or, is their Bible app just one of many other things stored on their devices. I wonder when Christians today lose their electronic device or it gets stolen, if the first thing they think is …oh no I’ve lost my Bible. I think the answer to that would be no thats not what is missed.

Its great to be able to take our electronic devices with us to church, for our pastors to use their devices to preach from, all of these things are good as long as we never forget the value and treasure the Word of God is. As long as it doesn’t become just a part of everything else we access.

I encourage you to embrace what technology has for us as Christians, in our personal spiritual growth as well as the endless opportunities to reach the world for Jesus Christ. Yet, cherish the Word no matter where you keep it, remember it is Holy.

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary-East Africa