Centerpoint ARP

Yesterday I had a great meeting with Pastor Bob Wilson. He is the pastor of a church plant in Clemmons, North Carolina. His church is part of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.

If you have never heard of the ARP churches, you can start by checking out Pastor Wilson's churches website linked below.

Centerpoint ARP

Sermon's On Blog

I have started to post my sermons on the blog for anyone interested in listening to them. If you look to the right side of the page and scroll down, you will see "Sermon Player". You can click on play to listen to the sermon. The one posted is from this past weekend where I preached at Living Word Baptist Church in Creedmoor, NC.

I will use this a lot more once we get to Africa to record and play sermons that we here or that I preach while in the field, and also for any other audio that I think may be of interest to anyone.

Radio Segment

Last week we had the opportunity to be interviewed for a half our segment on the Truth Radio Network. The interview will be aired this coming Saturday, Feb. 28th at 3:30.

In the Piedmont Triad Area the station is 830AM, and in the Triangle Area it is on 1030AM. And if you are not in North Carolina you can listen to it on the Internet. Click on the link below for the Internet site for Truth Radio.

Truth Radio Network

Hope you get a chance to listen in.

Siloam Missionary Homes

OK so you have heard about where we are at, seen some pictures of our community here, but I have not told you too much about the founders Larry and Joyce George.

They started this ministry 17 years ago and God has truly blessed their ministry and the many missionaries that God has sent through here. And each day our family is blessed by the ministry in many ways.

So I have attached a link to the website for Siloam Missionary Homes.

Siloam Missionary Homes Link

Please visit the website and learn more about Siloam MH.

Also, if you would be interested in bringing a youth group, or church group here to work on the many projects, contact the office. There are many ways in which you can help serve the missionaries here and this ministry to them.

How to Support the Bradsher's

There are a couple ways that you can support our family. The most important is through prayer. Prayer for the Namibians that we will be working with, for our health and safety, and for our financial needs.

The second way is to join our financial support team. You can be a monthly, bi-annual or annual supporter. You can also make one time gifts, and all are greatly appreciated and a blessing to our ministry in Namibia.

To support our ministry financially, you can mail a check to the following:

SIM USA
14830 Choate Circle
Charlotte, NC 28273

Make the check out to SIM and on the subject line of the check, or in the envelope on a sheet of paper, put for Brian and Kristen Bradsher Acct# 024621.

Or you can go the following link and contribute on-line.

SIM Giving Link

If you ever have problems or questions on giving, you can e-mail us, or call SIM
at 1-800-521-6449 and ask for the donations department.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,
not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

A Good Lord's Day

Today was a really great day. We got up and drove an hour south of Snow Camp to Broadway, NC, which is near Sanford. A good friend of mine, Mike Hall, is the pastor at Juniper Springs Baptist Church.

Mike and I graduated High School together, played on the high school B-Ball team, and both attended NCSU.

Mike has been the pastor at Juniper Springs for five years. Truly a wonderful church, and the message that Mike gave today was very convicting. It is awesome to see how the Lord is working through Mike and his church in Broadway.

One cool thing that we found out was the name of our children:

Mike's Kids: Cameron, Hannah Katherine, Carter

Our Kids: Cameron, Hannah Catherine, Corbin

We should have discussed the third child's name better! :)

You can find out more about his church at the following link.

Juniper Springs Baptist Church

A Day At Siloam

You might wonder what goes on here in the community in a day. So here is a little bit of what our days are like.

The kids get up every morning at 6am! Way to early!!

Brian has prayer and devotion time each morning at 8am with all the men.

From 9-1pm Brian works on correspondence, checking e-mail, contacting churches interested in our ministry, studying seminary work, and working on upcoming sermons.

During 9-1pm Kristen Homeschooling Hannah and Cameron, and chases Corbin around the house.

In the afternoons, Kristen works on seminary studies, and Brian takes the kids exploring.

By this time is is 5pm and we work on supper and family time together.

A full day in deed. Below are some pictures of the day.

Pictures from Siloam

I wanted to post a few pictures from our new missions home here in Snow Camp. So here they are! Included are:

Our Chapel where we have morning prayer each day, Mocha the Community Dog, the Missionary Store where everything is free, like eggs, cereal, fresh milk from a local farm, mac and cheese, and just about everything else you can think of. All of the items are donated from local people and churches, thechickens that the kids enjoy feeding scraps to every day, to which also supply us with the free eggs, our portion of the duplex that we live in, to which is also fully furnished, and my new office area including the youngest missionary at Siloam. :)

Missionary Home

Well, we are finally moved in to our new missionary home in Snow Camp, NC. What a wonderful ministry Siloam has here. There are missionaries from all over the world here.

It is out in the country and has lots of room for the kids to roam and play. The kids love to feed the chickens, we like to eat their eggs, and they also enjoy playing in the woods.

This is a short one, but wanted to thank everyone that helped us move and also for the many prayers as well.

Look forward to sending pictures of us all very soon.

Many Blessings!

OK, Long Time No See

I can't believe that it has been six months since I have posted on this blog, but a lot has been going on since then and I or we are back.

This is just a short post to let you know that we are moving to Snow Camp, NC this coming weekend as we take a step of faith, trusting in our Mighty God. My last day of work is this coming Wednesday.

Now that we are three months from the field and I will have a little more time on my hands, I am going to get our blog back up and running so as to keep you all well informed of where God has us.

We still have 8% more to raise in monthly support, but feel that God will bring that in the next couple of months, if He hasn't already.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support over the past 15 months. It truly means a lot, more than you will ever know, to our family.

Many blessings!

Bradsher Family

Pictures of the Kids!

Here are some recents pictures of the kids.

What's new for the Bradsher's?

Well the Lord has led our family to a new church family. We are now attending New Hope Presbyterian in Clemmons, NC. I just started on staff as the part time Youth Pastor as of August 17th.

I was not looking for this position, but God planned this for me, and now we are there. The church is really great, and we are looking forward to what God has laid out for us at New Hope.

As for new news, the kids are still doing well, Corbin is growing by leaps and bounds and so has Cameron. Cameron has grown a few inches since spring, and Hannah is growing into quite the princess.

With my job loss, we are focusing hard on missions now, and Kristen is getting ready to work a part time job to supplement our unemployment income.

We are currently at 86% of our one time goal and 65% of our monthly support needs. So please pray that we are able to raise the rest soon. I feel that God is telling me that we will have 100% pledged by October of this year, and I have no doubts that it will be done if that is His plans.

Many Blessings,

The Bradsher's

Where have I been??

Well it has been quite a while since I have posted. Mainly because life has been way too busy to be writing on the blog. But now I have a little more time.

Most of you may know that I was laid off from my job last week. So that is why I have a little more free time. The job loss was quite a shock and I did not expect it at all. But I was able to allow God to use it as a witness to the HR and managers in the office during the lay off.

The funny thing about all of this is that I took three weeks off prior to last week and the entire three weeks that I was off I was praying that God would show me a way out of my current job so that we could focus more attention on raising the remainder of our monthly support needed to go to Africa. So God answered the prayer.

It is going to be really tight on our family, actually the budget puts us in the red by $580 a month, but we know that our God is much bigger than budgets, and lay offs and will provide for our family.

We certainly do appreciate your prayers for our family during this time.

Another Great Conference Coming

I wish we could get some of these great conferences here in NC.

Check this one out.

NA 2008

Pictures from Swaziland, Africa

The following are pictures of a good friend of our family who has been serving for almost 9 months now in Swaziland, Africa. Alison has been teaching in a school there and ministering to many people outside of school.

She has been a great inspiration to our family and many others for her service to the Lord. She comes home in less than a month. She forwent a year of work out of college to serve Christ. What a testimony she has been to many young people for God's glory!

Thanks Alison!

The Reality of AIDS in Africa

The following is a writing for a school project from a 7th grade girl in Swaziland, Africa. It is a touching story, from a little girl who knows the impact of AIDS.

The fact is, 2 out of 3 people in the world that have AIDS, live in Africa. Many of them are children, and this little girl is sadly a victim of the dreadful disease that is killing thousands of Africans every day.

Here is her story:

HIV is a virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is a dangerous disease that can affect
everyone. This disease is a fatal disease but can be controlled.

AIDS affects black people and white people. It affects poor
or rich people, fat or thin people. It affects you whether you are a
Christian, Swazi, Zulu, Xhosas, Hindus, Rastafarians, Muslim, Mozambican,
Sothos or Tswana.

AIDS affects me as well my auntie, who was working in
Matsapha Spinex Factory. She was a likable woman and honest. She use to
help poor children in the community by paying their school fees, buying food
and clothes for them. Everyone in the community use to respect her.

She was the person who was looking after my grandfather and
my grandmother the most. My father looked after my grandfather and
grandmother but not as much as my auntie. My uncle did look after them but
not all the time, like my auntie use to. She was the most important person
to my grandparents.

She use to have more than one boyfriend and she did not use
to use a condom when she was having sex with her boyfriends. On nights she
use to leave home with her boyfriends to big hotels which are too expensive.
On weekends she use to visit one of her boyfriends.

One day she became sick and just got sicker and sicker. She
did not know what was making her to be sick. She visited the clinic many
times but she became sicker and sicker. Than my grandparents sent her to a
traditional doctor. He gave her some medicine and said she must find a boy
who will cut her with a razor blade and put the medicine in her. They chose
me as the boy. I did it but I did not like it. She became better for a week
but then her sickness returned and I became sick as well. Her and I visited
the health center for check- up. We found that we were both HIV positive.
They counseled us and they gave us some tablets and I take them even today.

When I heard that I was positive, I was afraid. I was
thinking that I was going to die, I cried and cried. But they told me that I
would not die. After that my auntie became sick and got sicker again and she
died. But me I am healthy and I am alive and life goes on.

So AIDS kills. It kills our parents, grandparents, aunties,
uncles, sisters and brothers. But life still goes on.

10 Ways to Help Kids Love Missions

The following was on the Desiring God Blog last week and I think it is great!

"There are things we can do to help our kids love the nations and the cause of Christ, even though a heart and calling for the Great Commission is ultimately something only God can grant. Here are a few ideas from Ryan and Anna, who are currently preparing to serve in Asia with their two young daughters."



1. Pray for missionaries as a family. We keep a stack of prayer cards on the dinner table and rotate through them during mealtime prayers.

2. Read missionary biographies to your children. The stories of Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, William Carey, Gladys Aylward, and other missionary pioneers are captivating ways to orient a child’s heart on the most important things in life.

3. Draw the whole family into supporting missionaries financially. Teach your kids from a young age that being a good steward of their money involves channeling resources toward the the cause of Christ in missions. Older kids can donate some of their lawn mowing and babysitting money. Younger children can earn money doing chores around the house which can be set aside for missionaries.

4. Find your child a missionary kid pen pal. Many children of missionaries around the world would be delighted to get mail from a child their age in their parent’s culture. Your child (and the whole family) will learn valuable insights about living abroad through the eyes of a child. Additionally, when the missionaries visit your church, your child will already have a relationship with the MK and will be able to include them more easily.

5. Entertain missionaries in your home. Inviting missionaries over will be as much of a blessing to your family as to the missionaries. Host them for dinner or for a whole furlough. Build or buy your house with this in mind.

6. Take risks as a family. There are ways to live life which help children grasp the reality that discomfort and suffering are normal and rewarding parts of the Christian experience. Volunteer at a rescue mission; house a single mother; move to the inner-city.

7. Affirm and nurture qualities in your children which could serve them on the mission field. As your children grow in knowledge and skill, encourage them to think about how they could use their gifts in missions work. Then, if God says, “go,” release them to go!

8. Teach your children to be world Christians. Don't expose them to only the American perspective on news and realities around the world. Go out of your way to make them more aware than the average American Christian about geography, world history, and the plights and perspectives of people across the globe.

9. Read missionary prayer letters to your children. Ask them questions about the content and look up facts about the missionaries’ location on the Internet.

10. Use missions fact books and resources such as Operation World, the Global Prayer Digest, the Joshua Project, and Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). Kids of Courage is the youth-oriented arm of VOM and offers activity books, spotlights on the persecuted world, and more.

Scripture in Song

I found this link on the SIM Southern Africa web site.

This is a new initiative they are using to help kids memorize scripture.

Link Here

April Prayer and Newsletter

April 12, 2008

Dear Ministry Partners,

Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We continue to be blessed by many people in support of our ministry to Namibia. God certainly confirms our calling each month as we review our donor reports. Every month there is a new monthly supporter. We want to thank each of you for supporting our family. As of March, we are at 70% of our one time goal of $67K, and we are at 50% of our monthly support needs! Praise the Lord!!!
One new blessing to our family is that of Brian’s full time job situation. We have been praying for God to show us when and how to start visiting local churches in order to share our vision and future ministry. Starting this month his manager will allow him to have a half a day off each week to take time to visit local churches. This is a huge opportunity and a blessing. So please be praying for God to open the hearts and ears of the church leaders that Brian begins to visit this month. Pray specifically that they will be open to hearing about our plans, and that they would consider supporting our family in missions.
In the town that we will be working in, there have been a couple other missionaries that have been working in the local schools and they have also been helping with the church needs. We found out last month that their missions’ agency (African Inland Mission) will be reorganizing their efforts in Africa. With this reorganization, they will be pulling their missionaries out of Namibia and relocating them to other areas in Africa.
This means a couple of things for the church in Grootfontein, and for our ministry. The AIM missionaries will be leaving the country as of December 2008. That will leave the church without any missionary workers until we arrive. So our prayer is that if it is God’s will, we will secure 100% of our monthly support needs in the next five to six months in order to move to Africa shortly after the AIM missionaries move out.
For the last few months we have been working on getting items ready for our visas. As of today we will finally be able to submit these and our passports to Namibia for their review and approval. Kristen and the kids will be applying for general stay visas, but Brian will be applying for a work visa. As we have stated in the past, it can take as much as six months or more to get the applications approved. Our prayer is that we are getting them in soon enough so that they are ready by the time our support needs are raised.
We covet your prayers daily and can feel them every day. Your prayers mean so much to us. Just to know that God has called out people to fervently remember our family in their daily prayers means so much to us. Please continue to pray for our support raising efforts. We have truly been blessed. We are patient and half way there. So as Brian starts to visit churches and as more people learn of our mission efforts, pray that God will draw new financial supporters to our team. Also pray for our visas as they are now nearing the approval stage, that God will work through the people of Namibia that will be directly involved in approving these for us. Lastly, continue to pray for the Church in Grootfontein as they prepare for a group of missionaries to leave, and for us to arrive.
May you feel the presence of the Lord upon you daily.

The Bradsher Family!

The Joy and Need for Discipleship

Acts 8:30-33

30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth. 33In his humiliation
justice was denied him.Who can describe his
generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."

Could you imagine the joy it was for Philip to share the gospel message with the Eunuch? For one he was led by the Spirit to go and talk with him. We don't exactly know how the Spirit led Philip to go to the Eunuch's chariot, the Bible says that the spirit told him to. The Eunuch was trying to make since of what he was reading in Isaiah, and by shear luck (NOT HARDLY) Philip comes knocking on his door to see what he was reading. God is always working and leading us to do just like Philip, to be ready at a moments notice. We never know what the Lord is doing in a persons life, but we know that the Spirit leads us.

Notice also that Philip did not fight the Spirit, nor question the Spirit. He simply was obedient and did what the Spirit was leading him to do. Philip was not scared to go and talk with this stranger about Christ. Philip believed with all his heart in Christ and the good news that he shared with him that day. There should be NO PRESSURE in sharing the Gospel, or witnessing to people. Here are a few reasons:

1. God is always in control and He is a mighty and powerful God!
2. God is the only one that can save a soul.
3. We must understand that we can not save people.
4. Salvation is the work of the Lord, we are merely vessels that
God has chosen to use to share the good news. Just as Philip did.

Discipleship is so important. A new Christian needs people to help them learn about Christ. They need encouragement, love and they need to be challenged. Discipleship is a great joy as well. There is nothing more fulfilling in life than to see someone grow in the knowledge and wisdom or our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.