A little about David

Our founder, David Spencer, was born and raised in Bedford, Iowa. As a youth, he attended Sunday School and even served in the church during his teenage years. However, as an adult, he left the church for 20 years. During that time, he got married, had children, ran a successful construction business, and served his community on the city council and fire department. On August 17, 1997, David made the decision to yield his heart and life to Jesus. Praise the Lord! Thus, his transformative journey began. On that day God took the desire for alcohol from him, replacing it with a desire for The Word of God. He had a hunger for the Word. He wanted to know it and to know God more.
In January 2001 he went on his first mission trip: heading to Nicaragua as part of a 12-member team to help with ongoing recovery efforts after hurricane Mitch devastated much of the country in 1998. God used this to begin a new stirring in David’s heart - to begin a new desire in him. This fed a hunger in him, that he could be doing more for the Lord than just running a construction company and building things in this world. David now had a desire to build for the better world: The Eternal Kingdom. 
God continued sending him on trips to various places, such as Nicaragua, Haiti, Russia, Mexico and Venezuela, all the while training and preparing David for further service.  Along the way as God was training him, He was also introducing David to people who would be used to direct, correct, assist, encourage and minister to him. These people, too numerous to mention the names of all of them, have been great blessings in David’s life. And, he’s thankful for each one of them. 
In 2004, one of those great persons that God had introduced David to started a ministry called Safe Water International Ministries, or S.W.I.M. The goal of this ministry is to help people anywhere in the world be able to have Safe drinking water by being able to produce chlorine wherever they are using only water, table salt, a 12-volt battery, and a device called a Chlorine Producing Unit, or CPU for short, in the Name, and the Love, of Christ. It is this ministry that God used to first take David to Africa: specifically, Kenya in 2007. There he introduced him to more people that God would use to direct David in the way that He wanted him to go.  From Kenya He took David into Uganda and Sudan in 2010.  It was on the trip to Sudan when God put it on David’s heart to begin HERE AM I Ministries. That trip had successes and trials. In those trials God was able to speak. He made it clear that David should begin a new ministry that would go beyond what he was doing through S.W.I.M.  Whereas David drug his feet, HERE AM I Ministries was finally formed in 2012.   However, David continued to work closely with S.W.I.M. (Still does to this day). The CPU is a great tool to help people and to equip local churches to reach out and minister to their local and neighboring villages. 

It is in doing this when God put something else on David’s heart.  
“Delight yourself in the Lord and HE shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

 
In going out and meeting pastors in the rural villages and areas, God began to show David some things and put a burden on his heart - to give him a desire in his heart. He began to see that many of the pastors weren’t trained and/or weren’t well versed in scripture.  This inspired a desire to help, to provide a means for those pastors in the bush to get trained.  This blossomed into a yearning to establish a training and resource center where pastors could come and read, research, and learn the Word of God, so that they could be equipped to equip the Church (Ephesians 4:11-13).
 
In September 2018 that “desire of the heart” began to be a real work of God.  HERE AM I Bible School in Bugiri, Uganda held its first session.  It’s a place where rural pastors can come and be taught the Word, learn how to do Inductive Study (learn to let scripture interpret scripture), and build relationships with other pastors.  They come and spend one week per month for about 24 months as they journey through the Word of God, chapter by chapter.  And whereas poverty and support are always an issue, they also have the opportunity to learn a vocation while there: Mechanics; welding; computer/electronics repair; carpentry; sewing; baking; hair dressing, and English. Bibles are provided for each one as well.   Their boarding, food, and education all come at a small fee of 50,000 Ugandan Shillings, or less than $20.00 USD per month.  And even this is difficult for most of them.
 
But, what a blessing to see how God is bringing “a desire of the heart” to fruition.  David’s prayer is that this work will honor and glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that it may be used by Him to build, strengthen and edify the Body of Christ.
To Him be the glory and Honor forever and ever. Amen