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 brou...

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

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 pr...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

Greetings from beautiful Redding! A s you are reading this we are in the final days leading up to Claire’s marriage. We are very happy to be welcoming Joshua Smith into the family. He is a wonderful young man of God and we’re thrilled to count him among us.   As you can imagine, things are a bit hectic as we pull together the final details of the wedding and as family members begin to arrive in our lovely Redding. It is an exciting and blessed time, but as always life is not without it’s challenges. Mark was injured on the job and his shoulder is not healing as we had hoped. Currently, he is in physical therapy in hopes that surgery can be avoided. We ask for you to join your faith to ours in prayer that surgery is not necessary. KENYA   The September trip to Kenya is taking shape and we have a rather ambitious itinerary.  Gordon has scheduled conferences in Nakuru, Bondo, Kisii, Saiya, and Nyeri.  He is estimating more than 500 will attend these conferences...

Greetings from beautiful Redding! F irst the big news. It’s official-GCI (Gospel Communicators, Inc.) has been transferred to us! The potential here is huge: helping other ministries, networking, partnering, serving. The ability to offer non-profit (501c3) status has lot of Kingdom possibilities. If you, or someone you know, needs non-profit status, we’d be honored to help. KENYA As promised in earlier newsletters, we’re going introduce you to Gordon and Beatrice, our friends and ministry partners in Kenya. Gordon and Beatrice have been ministering in Nakuru since 2004. They’ve planted churches, mentored pastors, and reached out to the poor, the widow and the orphan. And they pastored Victory International Fellowship-Nakuru all the while. These two are a rarity in Africa: a husband and wife team, working together in everything. They minister together, pastor together, feed the poor together. What a wonderful example of how a couple should function in the Kingdom. But it’s...

Greetings from beautiful Redding! Well, if everything had gone according to plan, we would have been on a plane today headed to Mozamabique. Unfortunately, last week Julie’s back went out in a big way, and she spent the week on modified bed rest. Basically, spent most of her time making sure the sofa didn’t run away. We are disappointed by the delay, but not discouraged. There are some advantages, as it allows Mark more time to coordinate the trip to Mozambique with the trip to Kenya. We will now be shooting for a September date. In further preparations for Kenya and development of the curriculum for Romania, we have an opportunity through our local church to attend a ministry school planting gathering in mid April. The gathering is specifically focused on those who are currently leading or looking to plant ministry schools all over the world with the intention of being able to connect, share vision, and potentially partner together to advance the work.  In other news; man...

Greetings from beautiful Redding! What a wonderful time of the year! Mission trips are fast approaching; conferences are coming up; and, spring fishing is right around the corner. All of that adds up to a hopeful, busy time. It’s an annual lesson on living in the present while simultaneously looking to the future with expectation and hope. Speaking of lessons… Flexibility is the name of this one... We all claim to be flexible. We know it’s a desirable quality, but learning and living it can be trying. Nevertheless, that’s where we are. Sometimes the Father exercises His right to substitute something else for what we wanted. The good news is that His substitution is ALWAYS an upgrade! In this case, our plans have been pretty dramatically altered. Another ministry has invited us (Mark and Julie) to minister with them in Mozambique!  At last, after all of these years of keeping up the home front, Julie finally gets to go! The hosting ministry in Mozambique is paying for o...

Greetings from soggy Redding!  P raise God! The drought is finally, officially over in Northern California! Two years of above average rainfall did the trick. Rivers are running full, reservoirs are nearing capacity, and dry creek beds aren’t dry. What a demonstration of the extravagance of our Father!   KENYA God has done something wonderful. He has forged a place for Kenya and her people deep in our hearts. Kenya represents a paradox of sorts, a living illustration of the wheat and tares parable. Yes, there are frauds and charlatans, but there are also good, godly men and women like Gordon and Beatrice Onyango. In coming months we will be sharing their stories. Right now we want to give you a glimpse of their heart. Some of you know Gary and Delana Miracle. Gary introduced Mark to Gordon in August of last year. He felt Gordon might be able to help Mark out with some of logistics of the trip. Wow, was he ever right! Gordon stepped into the breach, arranged for a car,...

Greetings from beautiful Redding!  C hristmas is past (hope yours was great) and the New Year is upon us. What a year it has been! On the ministry front we’ve seen new doors open in Kenya, curriculum the School of Ministry nearly completed and a lot of folks saved, healed and set free. On a more personal note, we’ve lost loved ones, seen loved ones married and new loved ones born. God is showing His hand in the move to Redding, forging relationships that promise to have a tremendous effect on our lives and ministry. Romania We’re planning a late summer trip, probably mid August. Mark will be delivering the completed curriculum to Pastor Adi. If we can put a team together we’ll be doing some building in the “gypsy” camp at the dump. Between that and ministering in churches there will be lots to do for anyone that has felt the urge to take the Gospel to the nations. We need to raise $3400-3800 for this trip, depending on airfare. The cost for those joining us would be the s...

Greetings from beautiful Redding!  We trust this letter finds you all well. Life continues to be life. Even as we still miss Toodie, we are on our way to Bakersfield to celebrate a marriage in the family. In many ways, this dance of sorrow and joy, is the very spice of life; and without it, life would be incredibly boring.   Romania Another of life’s surprises... we ran into Pastor Adi at this year’s Leaders Advance Conference hosted by Bethel Church. It was great to run into Adi. Of course, his first question was, “When are you coming back to Romania?” So, we are praying about a date... leaning towards late Summer or early Fall. We are opening this trip up to any of you who would like to do some cross cultural ministry. We would be gone two weeks and the cost of the trip including airfare and in country expenses will be $3,400.  Kenya Our new partnership with Gordon Onyango and Job Ogwangwa seems to be a fruitful one. Both of these young pastors have...

Greetings from Redding... We hope this month's newsletter finds you doing well. As we sit and write this month, we are in the midst of a scramble to re-arrange life so Makr can head to Bakersfield. His 95 year old grandmother, Josephine Audap, is in the hospital and likely won't make it through the night. Toodie, as we call her, is an amazing woman who has faced the trials life has thrown her with grace, wisdom, and a quiet yet firm faith. While you will likely be reading this after she's already home, we do ask for your prayers for the family. KENYA “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9 We continue to receive regular reports from Kenya on how the Lord has been moving since Mark’s ministry time there. One woman who was prayed for while he was there has reported being delivered from tormenting dreams; another woman reported how impacted her son was by Mark’s teaching to the kids on John 15:9, and how he has been re...

Greetings from Redding W e hope this month’s newsletter finds you doing well. As we sit to write this month we are in the midst of a scramble to re-arrange life so Mark can head to Bakersfield. His 95 year old grandmother, Josephine Audap, is in the hospital and likely won’t make it through the night.Toodie, as we all call her, is an amazing woman who has faced the trials life has thrown her with grace, wisdom, and a quiet yet firm faith. While you will likely be reading this after she’s already home, we do ask for your prayers for the family. KENYA “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9 We continue to receive regular reports from Kenya on how the Lord has been moving since Mark’s ministry time there. One woman who was prayed for while he was there has reported being delivered from tormenting dreams; another woman reported how impacted her son was by Mark’s teaching to the kids on John 15:9, and how he has been reciting the ver...

Greetings from beautiful Redding! F all is here, and it’s coming was anything but subtle. Day before yesterday was in the mid 90’s, yesterday was in the 80’s, today low 70’s, tomorrow’s high predicted to be 63! Finally in Mark’s comfort zone. Kenya What a wonderful trip! In country 10 days, ministered 12 times in 4 churches and 2 leaders meetings. Whew! But oh, so worth it! These folks are so hungry for more: more Presence, more Kingdom, more LIFE! The enthusiasm for the teachings was incredible, the idea of doing church more like family really struck a chord. Leaders that knew something was missing, something different was needed, found some answers and ways to implement change. But all did not go as planned. There was an unsettling turn of events. Not everything (or everyone) is as it seems and that is the case with Mathew, the pastor with whom we had been working. But the good news is, God used what the enemy intended to thwart us against him and we’re now connected with ...

Greetings from Northern California! Summer is passing and fall is fast approaching. Music to Mark’s ear. Soon the 100+ degree days will be done for a while. The change of seasons happens incredibly fast here, seemingly overnight. 105 one day, 85 the next. Can’t happen soon enough for Mark! KENYA And we’re off! Well, almost. By the time you read this, Mark will be just a few days from leaving on September 9. And yes, it’s time for the scramble, visa, in-country arrangements, prepping messages and prayer...lots of prayer! This trip is incredibly important and before we go any further, thank you! Thank you for your prayers, your support and your mind boggling generosity! Mark will hit the ground running. He arrives Saturday night, late, and preaches Sunday morning, early. And Sunday afternoon... and evening. He’ll be staying in Nairobi until Thursday then off to Nakuru. He’ll be ministering there until he leaves on Wednesday, September 21. Mathew has done a great job on th...

Hello, hello, hello! We are happy to have this opportunity to share with you once again. Kenya Update: As mentioned in the last newsletter, Mark is finalizing details for the Kenya trip. He will be leaving September 9th and returning September 22nd. In seeking the heart of the Father for this group, it has become clear the focus of this trip is to be two-fold. First, laying out some basic principles for stewarding the move of God they are already experiencing. Secondly, His heart for them is that they would embrace their real identity as sons and daughters and ones called and anointed to be ministers of the Gospel.  If we see the various types of relationships described in the Bible as a progression; slave to sin, slave to righteousness, bond servant, friend, brother, sons & daughters, bride; what we are seeing in Kenya is a group of people who, in practice, are caught between the slave to sin and slave to righteousness paradigms. These are people of divine purpose...