Eastminster has been praying and supporting Mark, Jeanie and family serving in Southeast Asia.  They are primarily sponsored by the International Mission Board (IMB).  They are now celebrating their second Christmas overseas.

Mark and Jeanie met at Wheaton College where they were married in 1985.  He received his MS degree in Public Health and worked in Florida after graduating.  After some redirection, He went on to receive his Masters of Divinity from Southwest Baptist Seminary.  He has been working on proving clean drinking water for the local people.  He has just finished setting up a laboratory to provide water testing for bacteria.

Jeanie grew up in Silver Springs, Maryland.  She was very active in her church youth group while in junior and senior high school.  At 16 she attended Teen Missions Boot Camp held in Merritt Island and then went off to spend six weeks in India.  Presently she is involved in the schooling of their younger son and in developing relationships with several local women.  Her mother is a member of Eastminster and sings in the Eastminster Chancel Choir.

The oldest son is age thirteen.  He attends the International School and has finished his second set of exams.  He was home schooled by his mother up until the 4th grade.

The younger son is age nine and is presently being home schooled by Jeanie.  He enjoys playing baseball and learning Jujitsu with friends.

We talked with Mark over email recently and had an opportunity to pose some questions:

So why did you want to be a missionary?

This might sound strange to some people, but when I was a teenager, I sensed that God wanted me to work cross-culturally to share the Good News with those whom have never heard.  Now I really have a sense of fulfillment as we are able to be obedient to that as we try to share the gospel with Muslims in a culturally appropriate way.

What do you do each day?

I am a man of many hats.  My main duties are to help administer a non-governmental organization and develop clean drinking water projects in our country.  This includes everything from construction and implementation of water purification systems to putting together a drinking water lab so that we can verify that the water is bacteria free.  We do this in hopes that as we meet a physical need that they will also receive living water.

Where do the kids go to school?

Our oldest child goes to an international school that meets his social needs rather well.  Our youngest child is home schooled by his mother.
 

Where do you shop?

We live in a mega city of over 12 million people.  Our city has seen a tremendous increase of malls and stores over the past 10 years that make finding many things fairly easy.  There are several things that we have learned to do without, but we cannot complain since we have so much available.

Can you speak the national language?

We are very fortunate to have had an opportunity to learn the national language.  Of course we wish that we were more fluent, but we can get around very well and do not hesitate to travel around the country.

When did you become a Christian?

When I became a believer when I was in the third grade. I remember feeling convicted of my sin and my Sunday school teacher sharing God's wonderful plan of salvation to me.

What's the impact for the gospel where you live?

God is at work here in many ways.  There are reports of Muslims having dreams of Jesus coming to them and they are responding even though they are greatly persecuted.  Others have come to Christ in more traditional ways such as through personal evangelism or by studying scripture on their own.  Often new believers are forced to leave their home and move to another city.

How is your wife involved?

My wife is actively developing relationships with Muslim friends.  She also studies the local language with a woman by way of a Bible study that is written for mothers.

How often do you come back to Florida?

We will be coming back to Florida in July (2005) and we hope to return to foreign service after 6 months there.  Since we are on a 2-year assignment, we have not been back to the states for a visit.

What do you see yourself doing in 5 year?

We hope to be here in 5 years.  Hopefully we will be in the midst of an exit strategy where we are able to begin to look at other un-reached people groups after ours have experienced a church planting movement.

Needless to say this family is in the general region that had the focus of the world in December 2004 and January 2005. A crying aid worker shown below reminds us of the ongoing struggle in the hearts of those who bring physical and spiritual relief. 

     You may ask, "Where is God in all of this and the answer is... He is there now, daily working through the lives of those providing care and sharing his love.

     The Christmas (2004) news letter from Mark & Jeanie expressed the following prayer concerns:

• Orphanage clean drinking water.

• Well drilling crew to come back and finish,

• Mother, learning the language,

• Mother's language teacher's salvation and

• Strength for Tsunami aid workers.