“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11 E very year, we pause at this time to celebrate one of the most wonderful events in human history. The birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord. There is no biblical record of the date of His birth, and there is no mandate in Scripture for His birth to be celebrated.   We Christians are certain He was born early in the fall of the year. Not in December. Yet, in 336 AD, the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine declared December 25th as the day to celebrate His birth. A few years later, the Catholic Pope, Julius I, ratified that date as “Christmas Day.” And it has been so for Western Christians ever since.  Regardless of the lack of an actual date and the lack of a mandate, it seems right that we stop to remember and celebrate The Day that initiated change into the world. Change did not come immediately, of course. It would be necessary for this child to grow into a man and reveal

Greetings from Northern California!  W e hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving full of family, laughter and fun.   Joy has been a recurring theme for us in 2017. That theme just continues to be underscored as we move towards 2018. Of course there is joy to be found in this holiday season and in reminding ourselves of the beautiful mystery of the Incarnation. But that is not the joy I’m talking about. This joy specifically is His joy. In ruminating over this idea of His joy, I’ve been struck by the thought that just like God is Love; God is Joy. God is Joy…it’s not some fleeting emotional response to positive circumstances wholly. His joy is endless. It’s boundless. Why? Because joyous, joyful, joy filled is who He is. It’s His nature, His character, an indelible fragrance that surrounds Him and a hallmark that you’ve encountered the one and only true and living God. Joy.  In beginning to look at the subject of His joy from this perspective, I’m once again brought low, humbl

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14 F rom the very beginning, God has made it abundantly clear that His intention was, is, and always will be, for the whole earth to be covered with the knowledge and glory of Himself. Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Ge. 1:28a ESV Noah: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Ge. 9:1 ESV The Tower of Babel: God’s judgment against the people’s decision to stay in one place rather than disperse throughout the earth as God had commanded Noah. Ge. 11:4 , “Then they (the people) said… lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. ” “And the Lord said…’Come let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So, the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth… ” Ge.11:6a, 7-8a ESV The Children of Israel in the Wilderness: “

Greetings from the Beautiful Northstate, Kenya is the only focus of our newsletter this month. Please keep her in your prayers. As expected, violence has erupted following the re-run election. In fact, on the morning of October 27th, a neighborhood in Nairobi where I have preached before, was bombed. With the re-vote partially completed in some regions, and postponed in others, things remain tense with violence erupting in many areas.  Gordon has been in contact with me regularly, and I am happy to report that, so far, he and his family are fine. They remain alert and prepared to leave if it becomes unsafe in Nakuru.  With conditions as they are, Gordon says our plans must be postponed until conditions for public meetings become safe once more.  We know the Lord has a plan for Kenya, a future and a hope, and ask that you would lift Kenya up in your prayers.   Yours for the Kingdom, Mark and Julie

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14 GOD IS CALLING When will the Church finish the work Jesus left for us to do?  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations….” Matthew 28:19a (NKJV) There’s a great big world out there, outside our own borders. According to Wikipedia , “The world population was estimated to have reached 7.5 billion in April 2017.”  According to Internet World Stats , the top ten (10) most populated countries today are: #1 – China with 1.388 Billion. Projected to be 1.301 Billion in 2050 #2 – India with 1.342 Billion. Projected to be 1.656 Billion in 2050 #3 – United States with 326.4 Million. Projected to be 398.3 Million in 2050 #4 – Indonesia; #5 Brazil; #6 Pakistan #7 – Nigeria with 191.8 Million. Projected to be 391.3 Million in 2050. According to these projections, India will become #1, China will drop to #2, the

Greetings from the Beautiful Northstate, F all is here! Here in Redding the transition from season to season is remarkably, wonderfully abrupt. Temps are rolling along at 105, 110 and then, boom, 80, 85.   Literally overnight.   Ahh, blessed coolness.   And the beginning of the serious outdoor season.   Mark’s still getting the hunting and fishing in Northern California dialed in but there’s a truism: the worst day fishing (or hunting) is better than the best day at the office! KENYA Well, the trip has been delayed. The presidential election in Kenya was pretty heavily contested and a lot of people were dissatisfied with the finances needed would come in. process so they’re going to be voting again.  Since violence is unfortunately common during Kenyan elections and things are already tense, Gordon and Mark thought it best to postpone the trip. We don’t have dates yet, but Mark expects to go some time between now and Thanksgiving.  Please pray for this trip, for Mark an

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.” Mt. 24:14 NKJV “FINISH THE WORK”     Fourteen  years ago, this month, I preached a message entitled “Finish the Work” in a Missions Conference hosted by Mark and Julie in their home church in Juneau, Alaska. It was the first of many times I preached that message. No matter when or where I was invited to speak for several years after that, the Lord directed me to preach that message. Again, and again. Sadly, I cannot say that anything changed in those places where the message was preached. The thread of the message was for the church to busy itself more forcefully toward finishing the work of the Great Commission.  Several biblical examples were cited that showed the need for an assigned task to be completed before the next thing God wanted to do could be accomplished: Noah finishing the ark; Jesus declaring his sacrificial death was accomplis

Greetings from Beautiful Northern California! Another eventful month in the Dyar household. Claire and Josh are back from Europe and settling into married life here in Redding. Ellen is on her way to New York City with her sister Hannah and Mark is back from a wonderful (and successful!) trip to Juneau. Gospel Communicators is taking off and looking like it will become what Mark and Julie envision it to be - a help to those stepping out into ministry, and an income stream that will help support the work we’re doing overseas.  JUNEAU He’s a good, GOOD Father! Mark’s two weeks in Alaska were quite a blessing. He was able to get a lot of work done on the siding job for Bill and Liz Paddock and preach twice at Juneau Revival Center (Praise Chapel). What a blessing! You can find both messages on itunes or via the link on JRC’s Facebook page.  DYAR GIRLS From time to time we like to share what God is doing in, through and for our girls, testimonies to His goodness that we hope b

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes ad look at the fields for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35 NKJV A NEW ASSIGNMENT On January 20th, Inauguration Day, while I was taking in all the proceedings of that day, the Lord visited me with an open vision. The vision was of a handwritten note on scrolled parchment paper suspended in my field of vision. It was the answer to a prayer I had been praying for months and months: “Lord, if you’re not through with me, what do you want me to do?” As I began to read, Holy Spirit began softly reading it to me in my spirit. It said: Notice that it said “ generations ” plural, and “ full-time service. ” Not part-time or short term.  I asked the Lord how I was supposed to do this, seeing I have no church or platform from which to do it. I reminded Him that I have a mailing database, but it is limited and has a lot of senior citizens in it, like

Greetings from beautiful Redding! This has certainly been an eventful summer. Josh and Claire are enjoying their honeymoon in the UK and Spain. Mark is rehabbing his shoulder and preparing to leave for 2 weeks in Alaska. Julie is beyond busy with her job at the Redding Civic and preparing to launch Gospel Communicators here in California. About the Alaska trip. Mark’s been trying to get back to Juneau for a while and it’s finally come together. Mark will be preaching at our old church, Praise Chapel, twice. He’ll also be doing some work on Bill and Liz Paddocks house. You might remember Bill, he went to India with Mark several years ago and is now pastoring Praise Chapel. We’re believing that the Father will use this trip to help with some of the expenses for the Kenya trip.  KENYA     Pastor Gordon is a busy man. He recently went on a trip to Tanzania. He shared with pastors and leaders there and believes this to be an open door for us! Look for a future trip to include Tan

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 Joyous greetings in Jesus’ wonderful name. My heart is  full of expectation. I believe the Lord is doing glorious things in the earth again. It may not look like it where you live, but I believe it is coming your way if you hunger for it. So, I encourage you to look for it like Elisha told his servant to look for a cloud bringing rain after three years of no rain. And be ready to enter in and receive when it comes. Ministry Report I just returned home from a speaking engagement in Waco, Texas, at the World Bible Way Fellowship Annual Camp Meeting. I am happy to report that the sweet presence of the Lord was in every service. All who attended went home richly strengthened and blessed.  I am especially glad to report that the Lord blessed me with a wonderful anointing to deliver the message He has recently given me to declare wherever a door opens to me

Greetings from beautiful Northern California! w ow! What a month! Claire and Josh are now Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And yes, we think of the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie, too. That’s the good news. The not so good is that they’ve been stuck here in Redding thanks to the endless miles of red tape our government generates. Josh is British and, even though he’s married to an American citizen, getting his residency has been a months long effort and they’re not done yet.The better news is they got word today that Josh will have permission to leave the country no later than Thursday. Remarkable Father we have! He can move even the US government! Mark’s shoulder is improving, slowly but steadily. At this point it looks like surgery will be avoided. Praise God! We would ask that you continue to pray for complete (and accelerated) healing. KENYA Well, plans have changed again. You might remember that Mark and Julie were supposed to go to Mozambique with another ministry and Mark was goin

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15 (NIV) G reetings of joy and gladness to you today. I trust you are doing well and enjoying the rich blessings of God in your life. As I write, our nation is entering its Memorial Day holiday in which we give special honor and remembrance to all our military personnel, both past and present, for their heroic sacrifice to defended our nation, and others, in the pursuit of liberty and peace. They are worthy of our honor, and we gladly give it. It reminds me of another set of military personnel who are also worthy of honor for their personal sacrifice and dedication to the advancement of liberty and peace. They are an army for the Lord. They have, and do, serve Him in full-time leadership ministry for the advancement of His Gospel which brings salvation (liberty) and peace from God the Father to all who