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| Dear Praying Friends,
We're back! On December 2 at 11:30 we started the 24 hour, three legged journey from Minneapolis to Chicago to Brussels, Belgium and finally, Monrovia, Liberia. We arrived early to the airport in Minneapolis, the flights were all on time and uneventful, and all of our luggage arrived. Without a doubt people were praying for us because in the history of our travels it has never gone more smoothly. So, thanks so much!
Another "first" in our mission work is to be able to move into the same house we left before our home assignment. (That's "furlough" for any who don't know the new lingo.) We arrived to find the city electric off (surprise, surprise) and no candles or matches, but were able to secure those easily enough and could then proceed. It has been an adventure fixing what is broken, replacing what is missing, and generally getting all settled in again.
Back with us to Liberia are Melodie (24), Heidi (14) and Jared (12). Melodie is a short-termer with Baptist Mid-Missions. She will be involved with counseling of women and children, volunteering at an orphanage and starting an encouragement program for MK's (that's missionary kids).
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Heidi (a budding photographer) has already started an herb garden and Jared has been helping with fixing screens and other projects.
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John-Mark (26) has been here in Liberia the entire time we were gone and, needless to say, was quite happy to see everyone again. We had a wonderful week with him, and then Sunday night (12/14) he left for the U.S. where he will be attending a linguistics training program for the next two years.
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Nathan (24) has been the only one not here. He is in his senior year of college and looking forward to graduation in May.
Last Sunday I was asked to speak at Bethlehem Baptist, a large Bassa/English church here in Monrovia. It was our last church service with John-Mark for a long time.
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A BIG thank you to all who gave of your goods, your financial resources, and of your backs to help us fill our container. We are thrilled to be able to share with the Liberian people the clinic supplies, school materials, Bibles and Bible study materials and other items we were given. We had originally planned on a 20-foot container, but when our home church saw the amount of materials we hoped to put into it, in addition to the Mitsubishi Montero (the same one we drove on furlough), they suggested we go up a size and order the 40-foot container and they would pay the difference. Due to some circumstances in and out of our control, the packing of the container ended up being delayed. This, in combination with the additional 20 x 8 x 8 feet of space, allowed us to be able to bring some furniture and appliances we had not planned on bringing, as well as a number of shelves, filing cabinets and other materials which our church has been storing in a basement for months or years. These materials will be a huge blessing to us and our churches and Bible schools. So, a special thank you to Oak Grove Church of Golden Valley for the additional funds for the container and all the work moving the materials and loading the container. As of this week (12/18) the container is now in the port, so it appears that the ship made it across the Atlantic without accidental dropping it from off the massive stack of shipping containers. From a distance they look like so many Legos!
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Please pray for the following requests:
1. We would be able to get the container out of the port with a minimum amount of hassle - and cost.
2. God would protect and guide John-Mark as he starts his new life in the States.
3. God would grant safety and wisdom as we minister at two big conferences upcountry in December and January.
4. God would give wisdom to know which ministries to pursue.
Thank you once again to every one who has had a part in our return to Liberia either through financial gifts, physical gifts, or prayer. May God grant each of you a wonderful Christmas and a blessed new year.
In His service,
Mark, Nancy, Melodie, Heidi and Jared Sheppard
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| Dear Friends,
Greetings again from Minnesota. We thank God for the safety and guidance He has so graciously granted. We have presented our ministry in four churches, taken care of our "furlough physicals," and made a lot of the preparations for our return. We are planning to pack and send a 20-foot shipping container (with our vehicle) at the beginning of November and then leave for Liberia on December 2nd. Please pray that we would be able get everything done before these two important dates.
Not long after our last letter Nathan (22) returned to Minnesota from his job in South Carolina. This was not only needed as a summer job, but also as a required internship for his degree in audio and video production. Nathan is presently finishing up his senior year of college. Melodie (23) arrived back home after finishing her counseling training and her summer job in Lafayette, Indiana. She plans to return to Liberia as a short-term missionary under Baptist Mid-Missions. She will be doing counseling, helping in one of our local churches (Calvary Baptist), and working with orphans. John-Mark (25) continues his ministry among the Muslim people in Liberia. Heidi (14) and Jared (12) are looking forward to our return to Liberia. The approaching winter in Minnesota does the same job as the hornets in Joshua's day - it makes us willing to go!
I know many of you have been praying for Joseph Leelear, one of our faithful pastors in Liberia, who has been suffering from kidney failure since January of 2004. We are thankful for the good care given to him by Dr. Sacra of ELWA hospital in Liberia. When this started he should have died, but the Lord had other plans for him. Through the ministry of Dr. Sacra and your gifts (which have helped pay for his medical care and medicines), we were able to help him have another four and one half years of life. However, on September 15th, he went to be with the Lord. We were really blessed by his testimony through all of his problems as shown by this note from Dr. Sacra:
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Healthcare in Liberia is a setting where often care is fragmented and it is hard to develop the same kind of long-term doctor-patient relationships that make family practice satisfying. But this week I lost one of my special patients—this gentleman was a pastor from up-country in Liberia and a friend who had been through an awful lot.
I first met him several years ago when he was hospitalized for about 2 months with severe congestive heart failure and poor kidney function. He required such high doses of medication that the treatment threw off the balance of chemicals in his blood (like sodium and potassium). And so keeping him “tuned up” was a constant challenge of trying this and adjusting that and testing this and modifying that. He had a missionary friend who helped pay for his treatment, so that was a blessing as well. Joseph was a “stick-with-it” kind of guy—if your treatment wasn’t working for him, he’d complain and try some more and give you the feedback until you got things right. This kind of willingness to stick with one medical provider and one hospital even when things were not always perfect or going his way was the key to success—and is not the rule in Liberia. This guy would have died on several occasions if we had not built a successful doctor-patient relationship, built on trust and our common commitment to God. Joseph was a young man—I believe only in his 40s—with a dear wife and young children. Several times during the last few years we were able to get him “tuned up” enough so that he could return to Nimba county, where his church was, to be with his family and his church and to do the work of pastoring that he was called to do. He would stay up there, taking his medication, sometimes for 4 or even 6 months, until something would get “out of whack” again and he’d start swelling up or getting short of breath. Then he’d return to Monrovia for a long course of treatment and retuning.
When I returned from the US a few weeks ago, I met Joseph in the hospital, looking worse than usual. He had a lot of shortness of breath, and looked very uncomfortable. Usually removing fluid from the chest (where it had gathered around his lung) helped him feel a lot better—but this time, the fluid in his chest had become infected. We had to insert chest tubes on both sides to drain the fluid. In addition, his electrolyte levels (sodium and potassium) were very hard to balance. After several weeks of inserting drains and treating with antibiotics and doing x-rays and other tests, pastor Joseph was continuing to get weaker. Monday morning I sensed that he was doing worse, and that he might not recover from this episode. We talked for a while and prayed together. Joseph told me he wasn’t afraid to die—he knew where he was going. He was just concerned for his wife and children.
Monday evening about 8:00 pm Joseph breathed his last. He fought a good fight, and finished the race. I was grateful to have had such a good relationship with this dear brother over several years. It is these kinds of connections that make medical work fulfilling for me. I will miss him, but I know he is enjoying being with his Lord.
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Joseph's care this year alone cost close to $2000. Additionally, we would like to give a gift to his wife and family as they must now go on without a husband, father and provider. If you would like to help with these expenses, please send your gift to the mission with the note, "pastor's death" and we will know what it is for.
As we get closer to our container-loading date, we would like those of you who are considering giving to this ministry to send whatever you are planning to send before it is too late. (I have included the list we sent out with our last letter below.) Additionally, we have set up a "wish list" at an online discount store. This is one easy way to give to our ministry and the ministries of our churches in Liberia. On the list you will find Bibles, school supplies, clinic supplies, etc. All you have to do is choose one or more of the items, pay for it, and the company will take care of shipping it to us. (As you make purchases we will do our best to keep the list up to date.) Please do this as soon as possible since these items need to be shipped by October 24th. The address for the website is http://dollardays.com/bmm-liberia/wishlist.html
Please continue praying for us and especially the following requests.
1. For God's guidance as we - and other missionaries enter this time of great uncertainty and higher prices due to the problems in the world's financial markets.
2. For Pastor Leelear's family in the loss of their husband/father.
3. Finances for us to pay off our vehicle and ship everything to Liberia.
4. God's leading as we seek to reach the unreached parts of Liberia with the gospel.
5. God's continued direction in our lives and the lives of our children.
We thank you for your faithful prayers and support. You make our ministry possible.
In Christ's marvelous service,
Mark, Nancy, Melodie, Heidi and Jared Sheppard
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| Dear Friends,
Greetings to you from Greenfield, Minnesota. Since our last prayer letter we have enjoyed visits to several supporting churches as well as individuals interested in our ministry in Liberia. On a major trip out East, we spent some time with one of our first supporting churches, Calvary Baptist of Elkins Park, PA. From there we went on to meet some new friends at the First Baptist Church of Troy, NH. We thank God for over 3,000 miles traveled safely and with no breakdowns.
Prior to that we were at Baptist Mid-Missions' annual conference for its missionaries in Ohio. Since we began with BMM in 1982, Nancy and I received our 25-year pins. God has given us the grace to complete five terms, each one laying pieces of the foundation for what is still to come. During the award ceremony we watched as some were given 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50-year pins. However, we truly felt like children when Dr. Anderson gave out BMM's first 60-year pin to Harold Reiner, a missionary who has served with BMM for all those years in Brazil. At the conference we also met with various mission leaders and clarified our focus for our next term of missionary service. We are getting exited about our return to Liberia at the end of November.
Lest you think we spend all our time traveling and have no fun, it's not true. We had a great time in Philadelphia visiting historical sites. On our way home from New Hampshire, we visited Niagara Falls. We were able to see the falls from a number of different viewpoints on land as well as ride the "Maid of the Mist" boat. It took us so close to the base of both Niagara and Horseshoe falls that we could feel the mist on our faces. It was amazing.
We sold our SUV before we left Liberia in January. It had served us well but it was over 13 years old and had close to 170,000 miles on it. When we arrived in the States in February we bought another of the same brand (Mitsubishi Montero), but much newer (2003) and with less than 40,000 miles. We have traveled over 15,000 miles since then with no problems. We are planning to ship it to Liberia at the beginning of November, but we need to pay off the remainder of the loan as well as pay for the shipping container we will use to send it to Liberia. We would also like to purchase other items, which we have listed below this letter. If you feel God would have you participate in our ministry by helping with either the cost of the SUV, shipping expenses, or any other listed items, it would be a huge blessing to us.
Please pray for the following requests:
1. Pastor Joseph Leelear, a Liberian pastor friend, is very sick with heart and kidney troubles.
2. God's leading as we seek to reach the unreached parts of Liberia with the gospel.
3. Increased interest of Liberians in being trained for ministry.
4. God's continued direction in our lives and the lives of our children.
Words are inadequate to express our appreciation to those who have welcomed us so warmly into their homes and their lives. We only know God will reveal in heaven the part each has played in making our ministry possible and encouraging us to "keep on keeping on." God bless you!
In Christ,
Mark, Nancy, Heidi and Jared Sheppard
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Sheppard 2008 Shipping List
Bibles: Text Bibles and study Bibles for pastors and students
Bible study books: Bible doctrine, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, Bible book studies, etc.
Hymnals: for our English-speaking churches.
Christian school materials: textbooks (new and used), teacher's manuals, school materials such as pens, pencils, chalk, notebooks, reams of typing paper, etc.
Glasses:
Reading glasses: (all sizes) for our needy church members
Prescription glasses: new or used - preferably no astigmatism correction
Typewriters: Manual and electric (portables are preferred)
Clinic materials:
1. Sheets, blankets, rolled bandages, gloves, medical instruments, drugs, etc. (please contact us for details on these items)
2. Layettes and other items for newborn babies ("onesies", baby soap, baby lotion, baby blankets, etc.).
If you can help us with any of these materials, it will be a great help to our ministry and a great blessing to our pastors and churches in Liberia. If you have any of these items, please ship them to this address:
Rev. Mark Sheppard
Oak Grove Church
5920 Golden Valley Rd.
Golden Valley, MN 55422
If you would like to help financially with the purchase or shipment of these items, please send gifts to:
Baptist Mid-Missions
Box 308011
Cleveland, OH 44130
Mark the gift "for the ministry of Mark Sheppard: 2008 shipment." We will be packing the container at the beginning of November, so please ship any items so they arrive before that time. The sooner the better!
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| Dear Friends,
Greetings from Minneapolis. After a very busy two months we are back in Minneapolis. Our trip down South was filled with visits to friends and reports to supporting churches. We traveled over 7,300 miles and were able to minister in seven of our supporting churches, visit a number of other churches, and see four families who have adopted kids we fostered.
One personal highlight of our trip was five days off for a wonderful family vacation in Orlando. John-Mark, Melodie and Nathan arrived from their various locations, making the time together extra special because the whole family was together. Nancy's father and stepmother arranged a timeshare for us in Kissimmee, a couple from our supporting church there (Disney employees) treated us to six park hopper tickets for Disney (yes, we did all four parks in one day!), and the time together was just wonderful. It really was a dream vacation which we saw as God's special gift to us since we were not able to take any vacations during our last term in Liberia
Thank you so much for all the prayers for Ellie. Ellie was one of our foster children in Liberia. In the last two months we have sent out several requests for prayer as this three-year-old Liberian girl went through several surgeries and spent several days hovering between life and death. Tuberculosis of the spine had caused life-threatening damage to her spinal column (and other complications). An amazing team of specialists at the Children's Hospital in Charleston, SC (MUSC) did all within their power to correct. God worked many miracles on her behalf, and we are thrilled to report that Ellie is now back home with her adoptive family (after five weeks in the hospital!). She is doing great, although she is still in the halo and brace. Because of the weight of this apparatus, a specially fitted wheel chair allows her to move about. Her full recovery will take months, so please continue to pray for her.
While traveling we presented the need for operations for two Liberian women to remove goiters (enlarged thyroid gland) from their necks. While a goiter looks unsightly, the more serious problem is the way it can cause pressure on the trachea. We praise God that this need has been supplied and these women will soon be able to have the operations they need.
As we have traveled we have asked people to pray for the unreached people within Liberia. There are a number of areas which have had very limited opportunity to hear the gospel. We believe the trained Liberian pastors and church leaders have the ability, with God's help, to reach their own people with the good news of the gospel. Please pray that God would lead us as we attempt to reach out to those areas after we get back to Liberia.
One of those areas is a predominantly Muslim county in northwest Liberia, Lofa County. We praise God that He is using our son John-Mark to reach the people in that area. While it is usually difficult to reach Muslims with the Gospel, John-Mark is finding that because war displaced them from their communities (and even with their return their community is not as tight as it used to be) they are now much more willing to listen and consider something new. (See http://www.Xanga.com/coraplayer for his reports.)
The society as a whole is a verbal society; most information is passed either formally or informally through word of mouth. Since so much of our population in the US is educated (and therefore highly influenced by the written word), it is hard for most Americans to even fathom what this means to a country. The bottom line is that Liberians need to be dedicated to winning their own people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching them. No passing out of books or other written information is going to do the job. Like their counterparts in the book of Acts, Christian leaders acting as evangelists need to live among people teaching by word of mouth and presenting by lifestyle what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
We just finished a mission conference in our home church, Oak Grove, in Minneapolis, and are leaving on Saturday for a conference at the Kettle Moraine Baptist Church in Whitewater, WI. Nancy is flying to Florida for a speaking engagement on May 3 at Faith Baptist Church in Palm Bay. From there she is traveling to visit her sister in Tennessee. They are both looking forward to that a lot!
God has provided a nice little apartment for us in a distant western suburb of Minneapolis. It has the feel of a retreat center. Cows are munching away within fifty yards of our windows. We are using our time to get caught up on the myriad of office type projects our busyness in Liberia did not allow us to finish. It is a wonderful treat to be able to concentrate on these things.
Please pray for the following requests:
1. Ellie's safe and quick recovery from her surgeries.
2. Continuing safety as we travel;
3. Our financial needs which we much take care of before we return to Liberia: about $9,000 for our car, $4,500 for return tickets, and around $5,000 to buy and ship needed items in a container to Liberia;
4. Our children who are not with us: John-Mark in Liberia, Melodie in Lafayette, IN and Nathan in college;
5. Continued spiritual growth of our pastors and churches in Liberia;
6. The needs of Jake Memorial Baptist College in Monrovia;
We thank God for you. May He richly bless you in all things.
In His service,
Mark, Nancy, Heidi and Jared Sheppard
serving with:
Baptist Mid-Missions
Box 308011
Cleveland, OH 44130
http://www.bmm.org
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| Dear Friends,
March12, 2008 2:00 p.m.
Greetings from Greenville, South Carolina.
We have been enjoying meeting old friends and making new ones. God has blessed us with wonderful prayer and financial supporters and we are enjoying sharing what God has done in and through us in the last years.
Yesterday we visited the MUSC Children’s Hospital in Charleston, SC, where Ellie is hospitalized. Ellie is three, and the last of the foster children who lived with us in Liberia before this furlough.
Last week she had a surgery to put a “halo” on. This was used for the traction necessary to prepare her back for today’s surgery. Today Ellie is having a twelve hour surgery to stabilize her upper spine, severely damaged from tuberculosis which went into the bone. God in His mercy has already performed a miracle in that to this point she has been spared paralysis or death. Doctors who examine her various test results are baffled that she is not paralyzed and have no medical explanation.
A whole team of doctors and nurses are working on her even as we write this letter. She will be opened up in both the front and the back. Anything dealing with the spinal column is very, very serious. Ellie is receiving the best of care. We are asking you to pray with us that He would allow this surgery to be successful.
Ellie has been adopted into a wonderful Christian family and has a strong support system behind her. Her new parents and siblings covet your prayers. If you would like more information about Ellie and updates about her condition, her mother's blog is at http://deniseinsc.blogspot.com
We are humbled to be a small part of Ellie’s amazing story. God is so clearly in her life. Please pray with us that whatever the outcome, God will be glorified.
In Christ,
Mark and Nancy Sheppard
Serving with:
Baptist Mid-Missions
Box 308011
Cleveland, OH 44130
http://www.bmm.org
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