Transcription

00:10

Emily: Welcome back to the 4:18 Podcast. I’m your host, Emily Frenzen, and today I have the pleasure of welcoming Clark Brumm to the studio. Welcome, Clark. Would you begin by sharing how God first brought you to Possibilities Africa? What drew you to this mission? 

Clark: The way God brought me into Possibilities Africa, I guess the best way is kind of like resisting and fearful. Doug Shada, who’s a very close…

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friend and mentor of mine for many, many years. Four decades. Asked me to go to Africa with him. A group of nine people were going, and I said no, I’ll just give you the money. I wouldn’t really have a role in ministry, and I don’t want to just go to look around. So I’ll just give you the money it’ll be put to better use, and he says no, I really want you to come. I says no.

01:06

I’ll stay with that. And after the third time of him asking me to come, I said okay, fearfully. I said, okay, I’ll go. And not knowing, not ever traveling out of the country, fearful, I went with Doug. And so that was my introduction to Possibilities Africa from the very beginning was going there with Doug. While I was there,

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with these nine gentlemen only knowing Doug, not knowing any of the other people, I felt this sense of love and determination to be involved in this ministry. It rubbed off on me as I saw these guys because each of them pretty much had a role. I think only three of us went as observers to see what God was doing.

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And the one thing that stuck out to me, well, several things, but the one big thing that stuck out to me was these African people… Their enthusiasm and love for the Lord was just infectious. One verse that Doug Schada shared with me, and I’ll never forget it, was Psalm 62 verse 1. It says, “My soul waits in silence for God only. From Him is my salvation.” And I got to see people in Africa,

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where God was their only. They weren’t distracted by the things that I’m distracted with in this country. Their whole life, their whole enthusiasm was about one thing and that was God. They wanted to grow in their walk with God. They wanted to put their faith in God. They wanted to live for God and He was their only. And I thought this is an amazing ministry

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because I saw the very same qualities in Martin, Pastor Gray, Gilbert, Pastor Dominic, Pastor Alex at the orphanage and the school. Every one of these godly African ministers

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were men that loved God so deeply it brought me to tears, it brought me to shame. And they were the ones that were looking for pastors to disciple so that they could go out and minister to the people. Discipling is a huge, huge thing for me and for us to send a missionary out

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from America to Africa, it would probably cost, I’m guessing, I have no idea, $70,000 a missionary family, at least, maybe 80, with benefits and the training and get them culturally acclimated. It would cost so much. But here, with Possibilities Africa, Martin is taking pastors that live in the communities that are already culturally acclimated.

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They know their way around, they know the people, and they have a heart for God. And Martin’s just giving them the opportunity to be trained to do it God’s way. And so financially, it’s like exponentially better. And I thought, wow, if I was to give to a ministry,

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I would want to ask myself the same thing that Doug Shada always told me. He says, Clark, it’s not about you. It’s not about me. But it’s about living for the kingdom of God. How can my money that I give do the most for the kingdom of God without all the administrative and all the other costs? This ministry is so amazing because they train up

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for pennies compared to what it would cost to send a missionary there. And the ministry that they’re having with the people is unbelievable. The training, the discipling, their love for the people, them being there 24-7 to help them not only with their spiritual needs but to train them up as to how to

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get started and raised up out of their poverty with a small business model. Every facet of their life is changed. And it costs pennies compared to what it would cost to send people from America out there to train them in all these different ways. So yeah, it’s really ministered to me, what’s going on there at PA.

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Emily: That’s amazing. When you were in Africa, are there any specific people or stories that you specifically remember? Like faces that are, you know, ingrained in your mind or moments that stuck with you? 

Clark: A couple. Pastor Dominic, I think it was the village of Ahero outside of Nairobi. And his wife had started a little sewing business, thanks to PA. Started with one little peddled sewing machine and a coal

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burning iron and we went in there to watch her. Now she had like three sewing machines and she was hiring like four or five different people making school uniforms. And so she was really neat. And her husband, Pastor Dominic, invited us to have a lunch with them afterwards after talking to them. So we went into their house, which was right behind the–it’s the same as the sewing area only, just right behind a curtain, separate two rooms,

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with a curtain separating them. And all nine of us went in there trying to stand around their table sitting on the floor, and she offered us some bread and some water, and it just was amazing and very gracious, very loving, very sweet. And we started asking Pastor Dominic some questions. We says, well, how do you deal with problems, you know, because he was a CIFA leader so he had several pastors that he was

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ministering to, along with his own church and he goes, oh we have no problems because we give them all to the Lord. We get up at I think he said four in the morning, five in the morning, and they call one another on the phone and they have a… a community phone thing going on and they pray every morning. So all of our problems we give to the Lord, and he takes care of and we have no problems. Wow.

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What an amazing man of God who is so focused on trusting God through all the difficulties of his ministry. Pastor Alex at the school/orphanage… another amazing man of God. We pulled up there, and his car was all broken down and it didn’t work anymore. So I mean… but he had… we pulled up there and these kids-it was lunchtime and they were having a little bowl of some kind of potato

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soup. That was their meal for the day of the lunch, and the kids were all gathered around us like we were some kind of heroes or something but we were just observing. The real hero was Pastor Alex, and he had given everything to these kids to minister to them. I just saw the heartbeat of God in these men like Pastor Dominic, Pastor Alex, and, of course, Martin.

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We’ve had him over to our house several times when he comes to visit in America. And he’ll spend the night at our house. Just to hear him pray and his love for the Lord and his wisdom when you ask him questions from God’s Word, it’s amazing. The humble, sweet… it’s the love of the Lord that comes out of his life. He ministers to people with such passion

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and he looks to God for direction in all that he does. And it’s just, there’s no words. I love this guy. He’s an amazing man. So yeah, and then I could go on and on with, I think it’s Bishop Joseph. Have you met Bishop Joseph? 

Emily: I have not met him. 

Clark: Oh, amazing man. Good friend of Doug Shadas. 

Emily: That’s awesome. 

Clark: We pull up to this church, there’s probably 300 people there. It’s got a tin roof, mud floors,

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and a gas power generator to operate the organ and the microphones. And there’s, we get there and it’s nine o’clock and they’d already been there an hour singing. And so we’re there for another hour, and they’re singing. The service starts at like, I don’t know, 10 o’clock. The first preacher speaks, then there’s some more singing. The next preacher speaks, which is Doug,

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and then some more singing and it’s now it’s noon, okay, and they want to go out and have a picture with the not the with us, with all the 300 people. So we all get outside take this picture and we had to go to the town to see what Possibilities was doing with some of the small businesses. They went back into the church for some more singing and worship, and so we’re looking at… they started at eight. We left about

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noon, one o’clock, and they were still praising God. Most of these people walked there. There was no motorcycles out front. There was, I don’t even remember, maybe one or two cars. So they all walked there. They’re all dressed in their Sunday’s finest suits and the women in this colorful garb. And it was hot. There’s no air conditioning, and they were

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praising God with every fiber of their being. They had a little offering taken. The day before we were with five of the widows who were taking care of this one lady who had twins and her husband left her because it was bad juju to have twins so the husband left her alone with these twin babies. And the other widows in the church were taking care of this lady. The church built her a house

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to live in with tin roof, mud floors, one curtain between the two rooms, and for an oven, she had a hole in the ground with sticks that she would light. She had to walk two miles for the water. Anyway, so this lady they were taking care of, well, they were in the church during the offering, and I got to see one of those ladies who I remembered because she was so vibrant and joyful put two copper coins in the offering.

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I actually got to see that, and I knew that that was probably all she had to give. And I thought I got to see the Gospel in real life lived out that moment. That’s the heartbeat of these African Christians. God was truly their only. And I thought, Lord forgive me. Make me…

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They were thinking, make us more like the American Christians with all that they have and all that they, you know, they’re, they’re all that, no, they don’t think that way. They think all about what God has blessed them with. And they’re just overwhelmed with joy and goodness. And, uh, pastor Tom Rempel said, uh,

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the day before he said, and to think I was worried about the vanity light on my car mirror went out and these yeah, you know and upset about that and here all these people. Yeah, you know are just filled with joy and they have absolutely nothing but the Lord so,

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I don’t know, does that kind of answer your question? 

Emily: Yes, absolutely. There’s so many things. Like you said, it’s like God was there only. I love that verse that you shared. That’s so good. But also, what does it look like for us to live like that here in the middle of abundance? And I felt really challenged by this, but one of our partners of Possibilities Africa said, this was a week or two ago, I have a goal of living on 10% of my salary and I want to give away 90. And I think he’s up to like…

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you know, he’s giving like 70 or 80, so he’s not quite there. But I was just like, that is a beautiful image of this woman that you just described, you know, giving everything she has. It’s like, how does that translate to us? You know, it’s so challenging and so convicting. Yeah, it’s really powerful. 

Clark: I got to set higher goals. 

Emily: You and me both, Clark. But truly, it’s incredible. And I’m like, that is such evidence of a heart for the Lord, you know, because it’s like that comes from love from God, not from us, you know, like mustering up.

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That’s a kingdom mindset of like, okay, the reality is that we’re going home one day, and this isn’t our home. So, like, how do we live in light of that? But yeah, so many good things you shared. I think something, if you have any other thoughts, I’d love to hear them about Africa. But I also love sitting down with our partners because everyone is so unique in their story and what they’re doing missionally, where they are, you know, and I think…

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from just meeting you as you entered the podcast studio. I can tell you’re such a strong man of God in the sense of your strength comes from him and your desire to just serve him where you are. So I’d love to hear more about that. But before we dive into that, this is gonna seem like a strange question, but what were you like as a kid?

Clark: Let me just say that when I was 20,

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God brought me to Himself. He pursued me, and He tackled me, and He unfolded to me this mystery of His love through Jesus Christ. I always believed in God. I was raised up in a church. We went to church and school six days a week. The priest spoke in Latin growing up and I didn’t really understand it and I hated every minute of it.

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And I always believed in God, but I believed he was a God who was up in heaven who didn’t really care until somebody when I was 20 introduced me to Jesus Christ and explained to me why he really came to this earth.

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And from the moment that I understood that Christ came and died for my sins to make possible for me to have fellowship with God the Father, this intimate, all-knowing, all-powerful God, who loved me enough to send his only Son to die in my place, it just blew my mind. And so, from the time I was

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20 when God introduced me to himself through several people probably 50 times till I finally, He finally unfolded the mystery of his love because I wasn’t that bright you know at that point that’s where my life really began. That’s where I was born again, you know, so anything before that is probably just, uh God stuff, residual stuff that God used to, uh

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caused me to see the emptiness and the hopelessness of life apart from Jesus. I do remember when I was like five, we went to my great aunt Katherine’s funeral, and I was standing next to my dad, and it was an open casket at the cemetery. And I saw my great aunt Katherine in that casket,

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my dad’s aunt, and I asked my dad, I said, where is she going? And my dad said, she’s going in the ground. He had no hope. I had no hope. I wasn’t raised with hope. Really. I didn’t understand it if I did have hope. And so it scared me. And, uh, that was the way I looked at funerals all the way up to that day. When I was a 20 year old, God introduced me to his Son,

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where there was truly hope. So that’s, you know, my beginnings. 

Emily: Yeah, that’s amazing. Yeah. And what’s the story of your life since then? What would you say?

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Clark: You know, I like to say that it’s Psalm 62, 1 and 2, where my soul waits in silence for God only. From Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. My stronghold, I shall not be greatly shaken. I’d like to say that it’s like these African people where they aren’t shaken by life because they’re so focused on God. I would love to be able to say that.

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But I can’t. I will say I’ve been distracted, tripped up by the world’s things, people, circumstances, worries, and God has brought me through all those. God has held onto me. But it’s been, you know, struggling through those things. And trying to bring me to that point in my life where I can truly set aside

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all the distractions and look at God every day kind of like Romans 12:1 and say Lord I give to you my life a living holy sacrifice acceptable to you. I want you to use my hands, my feet, my eyes, my mouth, my ears for your glory. He’s trying to bring me to that point.

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He’s struggling with me to bring me to that point. And it’s a process. But I do know that like it says in 1 John chapter 3 verse 2, that when I see Him, one day when I do see Jesus face to face, the Bible says, I will finally be like Him. Completely submitting, living, God will be my only.

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And so it’s that process through everything that we go through that God just, as I wrestle with him every step of the way, that God is not only, it says God is the author of my salvation, which He is, He brought me to Christ, but He’s also the perfecter of my salvation. And He is working real hard. And I’m fighting Him most of the time,

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but he’s working real hard to perfect Christ in me until that day that I see Him face to face. To God be the glory for every minuscule step He makes in my life to where there’s a little more Jesus, a little more Jesus to be seen and a little less Clark.

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Emily: Okay, that’s so good. That’s great. Yeah, my last question for you is, what does that look like? Tangibly in your life with other people you encounter in discipleship in your home. 

Clark: How does it look? 

Emily: Yeah. How would you describe it? 

Clark: I want to be a conduit, and I think that, I guess the best way for me to describe that is I’m available. I’m available to God, and I have no abilities

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but God does. And so when he asked me to do something, like say be in Awanas, I said, God, you know, I’m available. And God uses me however, sometimes I don’t know how He’s using me. I teach and I listen to Bible verses, but only God really knows what’s being accomplished in people’s hearts, but I’m available. And with the elderly care home,

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we recently got to see a lady come to the Lord, which was so thrilling. But it was just a matter, it took three years of every fourth, fifth Sunday for us to see one person come to the Lord. And it was just… but all the rest of them are so excited when you come and so much love to hear the word taught and the song sang. So, because they’re kind of forgotten, they’re put in a place where they’re forgotten and God uses us

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to make them feel loved and important. And we got to see Donna come to the Lord. And then, of course, with our Bible study, every other Sunday, we have eight couples and 11 kids come to our house. So basically 30 people with the two babysitters. And we’re going through this discipleship process with them.

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I’m thinking, God, this is so much bigger than me, but I’m available. And so thankfully, my wife, who was just a wonderful hostess and very gentle and loving, and she’s the draw. I’m just the voice, you know, that I don’t know, it’s all because of her. But God uses us. We’re getting to see people excited about studying their Bible…

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excited about the challenge of memorizing scripture to meditate on it at night when they sleep, excited about learning basic principles about how to study God’s Word, journal it, mark in their Bible, how to witness, how to pray the way God wants us to pray with biblical principles. We’re going to teach them how to fast, all the things that are just real basic things that

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kind of aren’t really taught, or it seems like the church doesn’t really teach those basic principles on a one-on-one basis with people. It’s called being a discipler in the sense that we’re just teaching them how to walk with Jesus, how to follow Jesus. And so we’re giving them the tools to do that. Hopefully, God will use it. We’re available.

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We’re not real good at it, but God can use anyone that’s available. So I’m trusting Him to do amazing things because He’s the one that’s gonna have to do it. 

Emily: Yeah. 

Clark: And He will. 

Emily: That’s great. 

Clark: There are so many neat things. Donna who recently trusted the Lord… God gave us the privilege to watch her come to Christ. And she’s been struggling with some health issues. And so there’s four of us that go there

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every fourth and fifth Sunday to sing and to minister in the Word… Actually six, there’s three couples, six of us. I happen to be the one that gets to teach. But we’re all involved with them and all have an important–because the best time afterward is when you talk to the people because they always want to just talk.

Emily: Yeah. 

Clark: Well, Donna had some health issues so we

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listened to her about her health issues, talked to her. And I texted her afterwards. She’s texted me questions all the time and just things. And I texted her, asked her how she was feeling and stuff because she hadn’t been able to sleep with her condition for several weeks. And she wrote to me, she says, Clark…

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Here’s this 82-year-old lady that’s with health issues, who’s kind of put in this place and forgotten. She says, Clark, you’re my best friend.

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Only God can…

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So little things like that and Logan in Awanas running up to me saying, Mr. Clark, I’m going to be baptized next time. It’s like, why would he share that with me? You know, but I was thrilled that he would

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want me to know that. And I just gave him a big hug, and he was just so happy. You could just see him beaming that he was going to express to the world what Christ had done in his heart through baptism. I’ve trusted Jesus as my Savior, and I want to follow him. And so I get to just a glimpse of God working in these people’s lives, and I’m like, God, you are incredible. It’s amazing. Availability.

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It’s all it takes availability saying, yes, Lord, I’ll do that. I’m not able, and, uh, there’s many times I told him no. And I’m thinking, man, just think what God could have done if I would have just said yes every time. So it’s all about Him. And it’s all about, you know, like Doug always said, it’s not about me. And it absolutely isn’t. It’s not about you. It’s about living for the glory of God. I’m like, Lord

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make me more available. Because you always show up. Always show up. 

Emily: Yeah. 

Clark: And I see that in PA a lot. With all these men, they’re so humble. They’re humbled themselves before the Lord, and God has just exalted their ministry because of it. He’s shown up for them in such big ways because of their availability.

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Emily: Thank you for being here. We appreciate your partnership in prayer and in giving. If you’re interested in partnering financially, be sure to head to usa.possibilitiesafrica.org and hit the donate button. God bless you.