The View from Under the Bus - Uganda

 

Aloha, Loved ones,

As winter’s preview taunts many of you, we send our warmth and sunshine from Hawaii. If it is any consolation, we have been sleeping under a blanket too – but our windows are still open. Oh well.

We greet you in the Name of our great God and Savior who is forever kind and faithful through all our seasons of life. We are especially reflecting on God’s great faithfulness as our first book came out this week.

 

“The View from Under the Bus – Uganda”! We hope this will be the first of four small books about our life in mission – Uganda, Hawaii, Kazakhstan, and China.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+View+from+Under+the+Bus&i=stripbooks&crid=36CGA1720JICN&sprefix=the+view+from+under+the+bus%2Cstripbooks%2C265&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

I, Mark, am writing in the ‘we.’ Not the royal we! But the grateful we that God has given me such a wonderful life partner in Dayna. My story exists because of her patience and love. And our story is because of you all – praying, giving, encouraging, hosting, connecting, and cheering us on in missions since 1982.

We pray these books, and our lives, will exalt Christ and encourage Christians – calling for greater dedication to completing the task of reaching all peoples with the Good News of salvation.

We are still busy in global mission with RECLAIM (formerly IDEAS).   Our mission, vision, and core values remain unchanged, but our name now reflects our commitment to reclaim dignity, hope, and life!

As the year ends RECLAIM is focusing on their work in Kazakhstan. https://www.reclaimwithus.org/thrive25 

“For over 25 years, Reclaim has trained orchard farmers, helping them to produce higher quality fruit. Our Light on a Hill education program provides English training. Sports programs offer opportunities for organized activities, including cycling.”

It was our joy to walk alongside these friends in Kazakhstan as Mark pastored International Christian Fellowship in Almaty for a decade. Several of the orchard team were fellow leaders and worshippers in our church there. We rejoice to see how God has answered prayer, established the work of their hands.  

 

We continue to serve in pastoral ministry here in Kalahikiola Church in Kapa’au. Last Sunday we had the joy of receiving four new members. Two of them bring their four little sons who eagerly attend Sunday school, led by Dayna and a great team of teachers.

One of our new members is our son, Josiah! We are very thankful that he has come from Istanbul back home to Hawaii for a season. He has worked hard to pass the exams and become a licensed relator in Hawaii. Wanna buy a house in Hawaii?? Let him know!

Like most churches, we are gearing up for the holiday season.

We have a traditional church thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  They call it the "Ho’omaika’i" dinner - a Hawaiian term that translates to "bless" or "give thanks" especially when we share the blessings with others.

 

Our little town is looking forward to the Christmas celebration. Seven churches get together for a dinner, carols, skits, and sharing. It is special to share this celebration of His Advent with brothers and sisters from different Christian traditions.

 

We also look forward to is ringing the Salvation Army bell this Advent. We appreciate our local Envoy and his focus on Jesus. All the funds that folks put in the red bucket at our local grocery store stay in our community to meet real needs.

 

So, like you we are eager for His Advent. May the Lord encourage you to rejoice in Him who has come, is come, and will come again! And may He draw many of our loved to come too and receive the fullness of His joy in Jesus!

 

With love and gratitude in Him, Mark and Dayna Blair

PS Our youngest grandson, Kukini nu’oli o ke Akua ( runner that brings good news from God), they call him Kini, had his first birthday recently. Dayna was there for the celebration. Here he is in Papa Nathan's arms with Funcle Aaron too! 

Mark 808-218-4872

Dayna 808-218-3698

https://www.amazon.com/author/markfblair

https://blairstan.blogspot.com/

https://pastormarkblair.org/

 

 

How Terribly Strange!

 

                                                                                            August 2025

Aloha from Kapa’au, Kohala, Big Island, Hawaii!

Seasons are soon changing, depending on which hemisphere this finds you, Spring or Fall are on their way. We are very blessed to live where we can swim in the ocean every day of the year, yet we are both now in winter.

“Old friends, old friends, Sat on their park bench like bookends…Can you imagine us years from today, Sharing a park bench quietly? How terribly strange to be 70!”                                       “Old Friends,” by Simon & Garfunkel, 1968

This month we are both in that strange land. 70 laps around the sun! Whodathunk!! God is so good - forever!

We had the joy of celebrating Dayna’s birthday with our son, Josiah.

Some say “you’re only as old as you feel!” Last week we had a visit with a man in good order who just turned 90! He exhorted us that “we’re just getting started!” That’s what we are both trying to do as we struggle to our feet each new morning – get started! 😉!? Yet by the time we put our heads on our pillows we have managed to get a lot done – for geezers.

Yesterday I conducted a funeral for a man younger than me. As we shared lunch with his friends afterwards an older woman asked with concern, “You are 70 and you are not retired?”

Of course I am not hauling bricks, but we are thankful for the privilege of pressing on in the Lord’s work by His strength and mercy. We continue in global mission with RECLAIM (formerly Ideas) and local ministry, pastoring Kalahikiola Church.  

RECLAIM

As we shared in our last letter, our organization has a new name: RECLAIM. The tag line is “with Dignity + Hope + Life.” We continue to serve on the Community Life team, offering prayer and pastoral care to our colleagues, especially those serving in Asia.

We want to introduce a special RECLAIM family to you – Ryan and Jess Probst and their now four lovely young children.

The name Probst was legendary when we served with Africa Inland Mission in Uganda in the 1980’s. A number of their family served in Africa for many years! Ryan’s aunt, Andrea, was our friend and teammate, a nurse/teacher in Uganda (2^nd from right, in 1987). 

Both Ryan and Jess were missionary kids, Ryan in Kenya, Jess in Ecuador.

We are excited that the Probst Gospel-legacy will continue as they move to Guatemala to serve vulnerable communities and people with disabilities with Reclaim.

We saw them in action in January when we were all in Guatemala. They are a great fit with the team there and their skills will bring great blessing to many hurting people and greatly expand their scope of service for people – truly RECLAIM!

Ryan is a certified prosthetist/orthotist (CPO) looking to equip amputees and people with disabilities by providing prosthetic and orthotic devices. Jessica is a registered nurse (RN, MSN) and has been working in the Emergency Room for the past several years. Ryan and Jessica aim to show God's love by utilizing their skills in an effort to reclaim dignity and empower the underserved in Guatemala.

We received their most recent update letter this week. We have some big news to share. As some of you may know, our youngest son, Daniel (3 years old), was adopted through Texas’s foster care system in 2023…Last Thursday afternoon…we received a call from Child Protective Services informing us that Daniel’s full biological brother was just born and… in need of emergency placement…There was never really a question of whether we would take him in…we took custody of a 3-week-old baby at 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning.

 

Ryan and Jess Propst family phone 612-205-0190 Ryan.Propst@ideasworld.org https://connect.reclaimwithus.org/associate/propst-ryan-and-jessica-494

It’s been a whirlwind since that night. We’re still processing and working through a lot of logistics. Our church and friends have stepped up in incredible ways to support us, which has been such a blessing… Malachi—Kai for short - is doing well: eating, sleeping, and pooping like babies should!...You’re probably wondering how this impacts our plans for Guatemala…we don’t see this having a major impact on our goal to serve there…The adoption process will likely take between 6 months and a year, we remain hopeful to get to Guatemala as soon as possible…we’ve reached 100% of our one-time moving costs goal of $38,000! We’ve also reached about 35% of our monthly support need. All current one-time and monthly gifts are going toward our initial 2-year budget. If you’ve been planning to give, now is a GREAT time…Thank you all for your prayers and support! Feel free to reach out with any specific questions—we’d love to connect. In Christ, Ryan and Jess

 

Please keep Ryan and Jess and their four children in your prayers. Your support could help put their great skills to work in Guatemala with Reclaim even sooner. 

***********

We give thanks for our pastoral ministry here. It has been encouraging to see our Kalahikiola Church family growing stronger in the knowledge of the Lord and His Word. There is a growing to commitment to prayer and fellowship. We serve a small church in a small town. Ask the Lord to make us faithful witnesses to our families and neighbors. We are surrounded by ‘nones’ and New Agers, but only Jesus can save, now and forever.  

We plan to continue our Good News Club at our Kohala Elementary school in September. We had a great start this Spring. I pray each week with several brother pastors and we are asking God to establish a witness for Himself at all three of our public schools – elementary, middle, and high school. Too many young people are hidden from the light of truth by godless parents and choices. May God have mercy!  

I’d like to ask pray as I write am writing a book on our years in mission, four parts – Uganda, Hawaii, Kazakhstan, and China. Several friends are kindly helping me. Eventually I want to make it available online. Our hope is that it might encourage Gospel workers as we share the Lord’s kindness and mercy for our family! 

Enjoy the changing seasons! We pray that you will bear much fruit for the glory of His Name in every new season.

In Him who has been our dwelling place in all generations, Mark and Dayna Blair