Henzler, Mark & Diane
Mark and Diane Henzler (Children – Suzanna and Andrew)
Email: mhenzler@ibw.com.ni
Website: www.henzler.abwe.org
Address: 901 NW 112 Avenue, Plantation, FL 3332
Mission Agency: Association of Baptists For World Evangelism (ABWE)
Mission Field: Central America and Caribbean
Mark Henzler serves ABWE as Regional professor of Biblical studies for Central America and the Caribbean basin. The Henzlers have been involved in Church planting in Chile.
Regional Professor of Biblical Studies
“I want you to meet Pedro, he’s the town thief,” said my church planting friend Luis the last time I went out to visit him. I knew he’d have another story for me since it is never boring out in the town where he is working. “Okay, fine.” I said (wondering if I’d have to hide my wallet!). I’d always heard of the town drunk, but I wasn’t familiar with the town thief. “Pedro usually steals pineapples and other fruit,” Luis said. Well, that sounded harmless enough. “But when Pedro steals pineapples, he steals 100-200 at a time out of the fields.” Well, in that little farming community that would just about wipe out a farmer’s whole crop. He’s been taking things ever since he was a little boy. In fact, when he was 11 years old he was shot in the hip and seriously wounded while stealing. When I saw Pedro, now in his early 30s, it was easy to see he still walks with a severe limp. Luis has been witnessing to Pedro since December, and slowly Pedro’s behavior is changing. And the whole town has noticed the change. We went to Pedro’s house to encourage him and pray with him, because only the week before he had finally made a decision to trust Christ as his personal Savior. I had also hoped to see Pedro’s grandmother, who is 101 years old, but she had gone on a long walk to see some of her other children.
Pedro has tried many, many times to stop stealing. Even a bullet couldn’t stop him. But now the transforming power of Christ is helping him make that change. Would you please pray for Pedro – and many more new believers like him in our church plants throughout Nicaragua – that he will be able to make the complete transformation? A whole community is watching and the testimony of Jesus Christ is at stake.
Last December we had our second graduation of the Institute of Church Planters, so in March of 2012 we began our third Institute, which will last for 2 years.
We have transferred leadership to a team that includes a Nicaraguan director, other church planters who are graduates of our institute, national pastors and ABWE missionaries. This not only allows the program to continue while we are on Home Ministries, but is in keeping with our philosophy of having a saturation church planting model that is sustainable and reproducible by the national church. We launched this current Institute with 2 days of classes at our ABWE Ministry Center, and then 1 day of field training at a church planting site. What a blessing that even in the field training we were able to see people come to Christ!
Other ministry opportunities include teaching an advanced Homiletics course on Evangelistic Preaching at the Bible Institute, and returning to Santiago, Chile in April in order to teach a Master’s level course on Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament. We are especially excited that in May we will be doing a special ministry in Costa Rica for some leadership training with police officers and their wives (http://tacticaministries.org). Missionaries Ryan and Gretchen Rought have specifically targeted 8 of their most committed TACTICA couples for intensive discipleship ministry. As part of that we will be speakers at a conference with the theme “Combating Error with Truth.”
Andrew recently turned 18 and continues to press on in his adventures among which were participating in a Triathlon, enjoying a great Senior trip with his class to the Pacific coast, and he will be a counselor for a middle school retreat which will take place on an island formed by two volcanoes in Lake Nicaragua and he will add yet another volcano climb to his list. He has been accepted at the Greek Bible College where Suzanna studied, and so Lord willing he will begin his studies in Greece in September.
Suzanna is enjoying her classes and professors in the Office Administration program at Baptist Bible College, as well as her involvement as a musician. The choir made a Spring Tour of the New England states, so she was able to see much of North America that she had never seen before. She has not been able to get the kind of regular work we had hoped she would, so our prayer is that she can get a good summer job to help pay for college expenses.
Diane continues to teach another ladies’ Bible study, “Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets them Free” with our dentist and her assistant. Diane is also involved as a musician and has leadership roles in our Christian school, all while preparing for our return to the states.
We appreciate so much those who regularly pray for us, those who regularly support us, and some who have even sent in special gifts to keep us here on the field. May God richly bless you as you partner with us here in the harvest field of Nicaragua.
Mark, Diane, Suzanna and Andrew
The HENZLERS
Regional Professors of Biblical Studies
