Hello Dear Friends,                                                                                                                    March 2012

 This is my second letter to many of you about my upcoming mission trip to Kenya.  My reason for this letter is to remind you to please keep us in your prayers.  In about three weeks we will be arriving there to lead worship for the missionaries from SIM Sudan at their annual Servant Leadership Conference.  I will be using my gifts as a sound engineer to make sure the spoken and sung words are heard, and to record audio and video.  This will be my third trip with the World Music Mission and my second to Kenya. There is an incredible relationship developing between the SIM organization and the World Music Mission.  They candidly have said if we do not send a team to them they know of no one else.  They really appreciate our serving them.  The SIM Sudan teams are serving in bases in (North)Sudan and the world’s newest independent nation – South Sudan.

 For the past year we’ve been getting emails and facebook posts detailing how these brave men and women have been hearing bombs and attacks as the (northern) Sudanese government looks to retain much of the resource wealth of South Sudan.  The bases that SIM Sudan have operated for years had to be temporarily shuttered and rescue planes sent in to get the missionaries out of harm’s way.  They continue to stay close by, serving at other bases, waiting to return and pick up the ministry where they left.  The following was copied from a facebook post from one of the missionaries:

"The old familiar sound of not-so-distant bombing caught my attention early this afternoon . . . I looked around: yep, not a cloud in the sky, can't be thunder. What really caught my attention a minute later, though, was my teammate Hiakie Hegui's concerned voice as he described the Sudanese students from our secondary school (which used to be run in Yabus, Blue Nile State, and is in the process of being moved to somewhere in our state) being stranded with a truck full of supplies and equipment that they were bringing back to Doro from the school . . . stranded next to the river in Yabus, in plain sight. Some of us stopped and prayed for them as more bombs exploded.  When a smiling young man greeted me late this afternoon, looking for Hiakie, I immediately asked if he had come from Yabus and if there had been bombs near them. Yes, apparently 4 bombs fell on Yabus, some only meters from the truck loaded with expensive equipment and priceless Sudanese lives. Although shrapnel pelted the trees around them, nothing hit the truck or any of them. 4 other bombs were dropped on a nearby town at almost the same time. This young man's words? "God greatly protected us. Praise Him!" They are going back for more equipment tomorrow. Please surround these courageous young men, who are willing to invest so sacrificially in their education and their future, with prayer. This is not the first time they have had to dive for cover under the shadow of a bomber. It probably won't be the last, but their eyes are on the One who is greater than any enemy."            Your prayers are very welcomed as are any resources if you feel lead.  Pray that the missionaries would be safe; pray that South Sudan would be protected and able to fully materialize as a free nation.  Resources would include any amount you could give.  Each team member is responsible for $2530 to cover their air-fare, lodging, meals and visa.  We are coming up on our deadline for our money.  I have been very blessed with many donations!  To date our team has yet to raise only $780!  If you feel lead to contribute please make your check payable to Christ Community Church, with “Kenya Trip” in the memo line, and send to me as soon as possible. 

Randy Gardner

407 Eastover Ct. 

Franklin, TN 37064

God Bless and Thank You! Randy All funds received for this trip are considered as gifts to ChristCommunity Church and are tax-deductible. While the gift that you make will be credited to my portion of the funds required for the trip, in the event that I am unable to participate all monies raised will be used to offset the costs incurred for the trip or to fund ministries on the field where we are going to serve. Please do not decrease your normal giving to your home church in order to support this mission project. http://www.sim.org/index.php/country/SD

http://www.worldmusicmission.org/  

http://www.christcommunity.org/