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Our Missionary in Chile
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 Mark Sharrow
A member of Epiphany during his years at Texas A&M Kingsville, Mark
followed up graduation by venturing out on a huge mission trip this
past fall as part of YWAM. The Church of the Epiphany is proud to
be one of Mark's sponsors. He was sent to Chile, where he surfs
and learns to spread the word of God to young people on the beach and
in the surrounding community. You can support Mark in his journey
by praying for him and his team. Read along as Mark details his
journey via email letters, which will be posted on our website as they
are received.
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Sat, February 27, 2010
The Big One !
My day started at three this morning to the sounds of my house
shaking. Never in all my life did I think I would be waking up to
an earthquake. In my city the earthquake lasted aproximately 30
sec. After the initial quake we moved to higher ground, because
people feared the ocean swell. Thank God all my team is safe and
accounted
for here on the base. The base has suffered very little
damage! Today has been spent cleaning and helping people gather
their belongings. We have saved water and bought food. All
the airports are closed and, as of now, I know of only one road into
our city.
Prayer requests.... Please pray that we can be a Christian influence to
the people here and help them. Pray for the continued safety of
my team and the base as a whole. I have two friends that are in
another part of Chile and we have not heard from them. Pray that
the municipality can work without corruption to help the people that
really need it. Thank you for all of your concern
and prayers. I will not have internet to respond for a while, so
please be patient.
God Bless
Mark Sharrow
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Sun, January 31, 2010
Where did January Go!!
I can not believe I am writing to you on January 31, 2010. We
started the outreach by hosting a surf tournament and concert on the
beach. We had a Christian surf group come called Walking on Water. They
came to help promote the surf contest and help work. Not only did
we host a surf contest, we also had three bands come in from out of
town and had a concert. I worked a 14 hour day, but well worth
it. The next Monday, we started with our other big project.
Here in Pichilemu, the base has built a sports facility that has a
pool, weight room, and dance studio. For the last three weeks our
team has been running a summer program for the public of
Pichilemu. We have a swim team, swim classes (adult and
children's), soccer, volleyball, music class, english class, and art
and crafts. Our team is also in charge of maintaining the
facility. I teach a drum class, help with english, and art and
crafts. I also help a lot with maintaining the facility.
The girls have started a bible study for teenagers, and we have had a
few people ask for counseling. The last month has gone by so
fast, but I can see God working not only in the people we are talking
to, but also in my own team. We are learning to live and serve a
real living God, and it is an amazing experience. Not only do we
run the sports complex, but we also go out and do outreach on the
street and beach. On the street we dance and do skits to help
plant seeds of the love of Jesus. On the beach we invite people
to come play sports or surf with us, to give us a chance to start
conversations and pray for people. All is well here right now, I
am making breakfast for my team. The weather is warming up, but
the wind is always cold here. Please pray for my team -- people
are trying to figure out what to do after the school finishes.
Pray for spiritual and physical protection. The devil has been
working hard to dishearten and make us sick and tired. Please
also pray for YWAM Haiti -- they are on the front lines of trying to
give relief to the victims of the earthquake. They have teams
around the clock trying to help and pray for people. God is good
and I am excited to be serving him. God Bless!!!!
Mark Sharrow
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Sun,
January 10, 2010
Round two!!
I am waiting to help make lunch. I am sitting looking at a table
next to big glass windows looking out at Pichilemu and then the
ocean. It has been a quiet morning. I woke up, prayed, and went
to church. This is the beginning of my second week of
outreach. I am teaching a percussion class, English class, and an
art class. It shows how funny God is, because I came here to help
teach sports, but ended up doing all the non sport classes. Not
only that, but I am teaching art, and if you did not know this about
me, I have never liked art, and am not very good at it. I am
reminded again that when I cannot do something, God's power is
shown. This week has been a trying time for me and my team.
We are trying to adjust to a new schedule and new roles. In this
second phase we have more freedom, but we are trying to figure out how
to all do our part to make this a successful outreach. Last
weekend, we hosted a surf competition and had a concert on the beach.
Yesterday, we walked along the beach and picked up trash. After
picking up trash, we invited families to come and participate with the
activities here at the sports complex. The idea with our outreach
is that if we can get them here to participate in our classes, then we
will have an opportunity to share Jesus with them. In our first
week, we have already had a lot of students coming in to take classes,
and one of the ladies who is taking kickboxing has started to attend
counseling too. She was taking the class and talked with Amy, who
is the instructor. In this time doors were opened and Amy had a
chance to share about why she was here. Along with the classes,
we are trying to repair and maintain this facility. For anyone
one who has ever worked around a pool or sports complex, you know this
is a time consuming job. I am thankful that I am here, and
praying that I can serve with my whole heart. Next week, I am going to
have the opportunity to participate in a YWAM conference for all of
South America. I am going with the worship team from the base and
will be playing drums with them. Not everyone is getting the
chance to go, so I thank God for giving me this opportunity. I am
excited to see what YWAM looks like on a national level. My time
here is flying by and I cannot believe I am almost done with this
chapter in my life. In your prayers for me, pray for my next step
and where God wants me. Also pray that I have the courage to
accept this call. Thank you again for your support and prayers,
you are all missed and loved not only by me, but remember God loves you
more than we can comprehend.
In God's Time
Mark Sharrow
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Tue,
November 17, 2009
Looking for God's Dreams
Dear Family and Friends,
I hope all is well back in the States! My time
here is flying, I cannot believe we are already halfway through
November. My time here has been really good. Everyday we have a
lesson and I am learning so much about my faith!!! This morning I was
able to go surfing. It is only the third time I have been in the
water, it is really cold. We have a chance to pray every day, and
we pray for the needs of other people. Today when we were
praying, one of the girls in my group felt called to pray for the unity
of the churches here. When we were praying I received an idea
that we should invite all these church leaders to a dinner so they can
come together. I have never thought God would speak literally to me,
but today he did. This idea that came to me about the dinner,
when we were praying, another person also had, and we had not talked
about this at all. This is the first time in my life where God
has spoken directly to me, and I have responded. I was really
excited about this and hope to continue to listen to what God has for
me. Last week we learned about obedience, this was probably my
favorite class of the week. The lady who spoke shared some of her
testimony and said that she had decided to become a doctor so she could
help people and also help provide for her family. She was the
first person in her family that was going to go to university. She then
heard God telling her she was not supposed to do this, but instead to
go on a mission trip. She is not married and has not left the
mission field. God has blessed her life. The reason she
shared this story with us was to emphasize that we can have dreams of a
good life planned, a productive life. Her life was not a bad one,
she would be helping people and providing for her family, but God also
has dreams, and these dreams are perfect. I am going to try and
live and work to accomplish God's dreams for my life. I am
excited to see where that takes me. Right now, that means waking
up every morning ready to give another day to him. He has blessed
me with the opportunity to play the drums for some worship times, and
also get to participate in sports on a regular basis. Please
continue to pray for our group, that we can continue to grow with each
other and with God. In January we will be starting our outreach
phase, so also pray for that. We are not sure what that is going
to look like yet. Our leaders have a lot of ideas, but nothing is
concrete. Thank you again for all your prayers and support.
I cannot wait to have a chance to come back and share more of my
experience here. God Bless...
P.S. Don't crush God's dreams, He is waiting to bless your life!!!!
Mark Sharrow
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