History of Friends in Action

In 1992, a small group of men began a mission organization called Friends of New Tribes Mission (NTM) International, an evangelical non-profit mission organization. Our purpose is, “to accelerate the work of proclaiming the Gospel to isolated people groups around the world that have not had the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.”  We desire to do everything possible to help evangelical mission groups around the world that have the same purpose.

In 1999, the name was changed to Friends in Action (FIA) International to define the separation from NTM and to expand our services to other organizations. FIA is now reaching out to many missionary groups and individuals by helping them with equipment needs and other physical demands that they face in their ministry. We send work teams from the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom to come alongside missionaries and local organisations to help them get the job done. Part of that entails helping them to raise funds in order to see their needs met and projects accomplished. FIA was later established in Canada in 1999 and N. Ireland, UK in 2002.
 
Our goal is to accelerate the work on mission fields and give Christians an opportunity to become more directly involved in mission projects. We share the vision of the body of Christ at work with each individual who joins a team to serve God using the abilities and resources that God has given him or her. To function effectively as part of His great work, FIA has found that many people are willing, but need to be presented with opportunities.

It has been a joy to watch FIA grow and reach out to many places over the years, and to have many churches and individuals become partners with FIA. Even as God continues to move the hearts of many to become a part of reaching the unreached, they too are growing and reaping the blessings of serving the Lord of the Harvest.

We thank the Lord for the people who have been a part of fulfilling the Great Commission and who have chosen to invest their time, talents, and resources in projects, which have the potential to impact people for all of eternity.

A year in Burkina

Thank you for praying for us. Burkina Faso is very hot right now – temperatures around 400C + and cooling little at night. Our bodies are tired, but we're blessed to be doing what we are doing. Just look below at the team photo to see how tired you can become after 2 weeks here!

February drilling team …

The whole team worked hard and the Lord blessed, providing 3 good wells from 5 holes. The team's living conditions were basic and they had frequent visits from spiders up to 4 inches in size! Later we found out that these spiders are poisonous! All of the guys did really well and the Lord answered prayer keeping them all safe.
Mark and the team were privileged to work alongside a missionary called Lynn Kennedy who has spent the last 10 years in church planting and discipleship work amongst 2 very difficult to reach people groups – the Dagara and Lobi. Working in the Lobi village, they often saw idol worship and as they drove through villages, they passed by many sacrifice sites and saw the evidence of the evil one at work. We were reminded that this is a spiritual battle ground and we need to keep trusting and relying on the Lord for His strength, power and protection. Tim Wilson, an old school friend of Mark's was with us for the whole month of February and was a great help to Mark with the on-going process of moving Friends in Action equipment to a new yard.

March drilling team …

This was our seventh and final team for this drilling season. The Lord really blessed this work with C&MA (Christian and Missionary Alliance) in western Burkina Faso. About 2,000 kms were put on the trucks on some pretty rough roads, and camping in the bush every night was needed to make sure that all 7 wells were completed in the 2 weeks. The work lights were put to good use and every hour of the day was used to bring water and the Gospel of Christ to two different people groups. The team from USA was looked after by Larry Walters, a C&MA missionary here in Burkina and he did a great job of looking after everyone, allowing Matt and Mark to focus solely on the drilling. This allowed them to achieve 7 wells which is the most wells in two weeks that have ever been completed with a team! The outreach work was simple and effective. Two men in one village gave their lives to Christ - Praise the Lord!

"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings."
Psalm 36:7

The team had their fair share of breakdowns and another challenge came in the form of rain which fell during one night while camping, meaning the team only got about 3hrs sleep that night. As they hid from the falling rain, a 6 inch long scorpion crawled into the middle of the shelter and was only inches from team members feet before it had a brief, impactful meeting with Mark's right shoe. Thank you for praying for Mark and the team as they worked in the bush – we really value your prayers and have seen them answered during all the drill teams. We have seen the Lord's hand of protection, souls saved and much water from wells. Praise the Lord with us as we celebrate our 25th well this year. We have drilled 30 times to have 25 good wells.

Joshua, Rachel and Anna … have been busy doing school and playing with their friends. Joshua celebrated his 7th birthday on 27th March and had fun with his friends at a local swimming pool. During the last 2 weeks of March, Joshua and Rachel did school together with other home-schooled children at ICO (International Co-op of Ouagadougou). This was a great opportunity to have a teacher other than mum and to learn in a small class setting. They both enjoyed being part of an Easter musical in which Joshua had a few lines to say and sang a solo!

April/May … Please continue to pray for us as during April and May we continue to build and move to the new FIA yard, drill more wells in the Ouagadougou area, produce an end-of-year report and survey and plan ahead for next year's drilling program. Dean Block, from Canada, will be coming for 2 weeks in May, working with Matt and Mark to do maintenance work on the drilling equipment. Please pray for Mark, Matt and another missionary as they travel to Ivory Coast during the last week of April to survey some drilling work planned for next year.

Summer 2012 … We plan to be back in N. Ireland during June, July and August to see our family, friends and supporters as well as reporting on the work in various churches, meeting with the FIA-UK Board, future drill teams and helping to raise funds for a new drill rig. We thank the Lord for how He has answered prayer and provided us with a house to live in. We will be staying in Mark's parents' home - Paul and Pauline Collier are going to Zambia, Lord willing, for 2 years, to serve the Lord with SIM and "Flying Mission Zambia". We will miss them greatly but know that the Lord has a job for them to do for Him in Zambia.

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