howFar International Leadership Announcement

For Immediate Release - June 2026

As many of you know, I retired from Leadership Ministries a year ago in April.  Since that time, Renée and I have settled my mother's and brother's estates, and dedicated much of our time to strengthening our leadership team and structure to enable strategic growth. Recently, I was asked to lead our church as Interim Pastor while we seek God’s leading for our future.

Some of our senior leadership team met to discuss plans for the future of howFar Africa. January 2026 - Kigali, Rwanda.

Currently, there are fifty-seven howFar Ministries churches, one Pastor's Training Center - with two more to launch in the next 18 months, two orphanages, and other projects to include conferences, associated schools, feeding programs during food scarcity seasons, agricultural training and assistance, maze mills and micro loan projects. 

Mark & Renée Maynard with Diane and Carl Moffi at their home at Oak Island, NC,

In addition, board member Diane Moffi leads howFar Haiti. Our primary emphases in Haiti include orphan care, financial support for education, and microloan programs.

I am pleased to announce that we are launching Men who goFar Africa this quarter. Our plan is to establish a men’s leadership development team at each of our current 56 churches. We will utilize the development and training materials that my team created while I served as President of Leadership Ministries and Friday Morning Men’s Fellowship. www.leadmin.org

Here are several leadership changes that we have made. 

1. Jim Kelly, who has served us well as President of howFar Ministries and The How Far Foundation, has accepted the role of Chaiman of our Board of Directors. In this role he will guide our humanitarian activities and lead the Board of Directors.

2. Reuben Tiges, pastor of the first church howFar Ministries planted and built in sub-Saharan, Africa, has been elevated to Bishop of howFar Churches of Africa and Counselor to the Founders of howFar Ministries Worldwide. He will oversee the eight howFar churches in Kenya, all howFar projects in Kenya, the forthcoming Pastors Training Center at Lake Jipe, Kenya, and Men who goFar of Kenya.
   
   

   

   Emmanuel Lazier (l), Mark Maynard, and Reuben Tiges (r) present a bicycle to a new pastor at the howFar Pastors Training Center, Tanzania.

3. Emmanuel Lazier, Bishop of howFar Churches of Tanzania, has been elevated to Associate Bishop of howFar Churches of Africa.  In his new role, he will continue to lead the 27 howFar Churches of Tanzania and act as a Chief Operating Officer with day-to-day leadership responsibility for all howFar Ministries projects in Africa.
   
   

   

   Bishop Mundola of DR Congo (l) and Associate Bishop Lazier of howFar Africa (r) at the January 2026 planning meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

4. John Mundola has been elevated to Bishop of howFar Churches of DR Congo,  John will oversee the fourteen howFar Churches of DR Congo, the forthcoming Pastors Training Center of Goma, the two howFar Orphanages in Goma, and Men who goFar of Congo.

5. Renovat Barutwanay will continue to oversee the three howFar Churches of Burundi.

Please join us in congratulating our leaders on their new roles and for committing to pray for each of them.

A Rough Year in Haiti

Haiti 2025 - Diane Moffi, howFar Haiti Director

 

It's been another rough year for the people of Haiti.  Gangs control 90% of the capital, Port au Prince and are expanding their territory outside the capital at an alarming rate!

 

With all that going on, howFar Haiti created a program in 2025 for at-risk children called:  “I am Worthy”. The program is designed to take children who might tend to fall into gang-related activity and teach them about God and his love and his plan for each of us.  They are taught about self-esteem and how to conduct themselves in society, they learn about sports and the importance of being in school.  Our onsite director, Alince Joseph said this about the program:  “Our priority for them is to create a strong new generation who loves God, has the ability to develop themselves into productive adults and stay in school.”  There are ten children in the program right now and they meet once a month on a Saturday.

 

Please pray that God will continue to bless this program and that we can expand to include even more children in 2026.

They Beat Us With Rods

Merry Christmas from the global howFar Team - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, Haiti and Thailand.

 howFar will you go this Christmas to share the story of Emmanuel? 

www.howFar.org

DR Congo Orphan Care

For over a decade howFar Ministries and The How Far Foundation have cared for 24 war orphans, in two homes, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most of these children witnessed their parents slaughtered by various rebel groups. 

We have watched as they have grown and are extremely proud of their performance in primary and secondary school.  Most of them are in the top 5 students in their class.

Pastor John and his wife have 17 children in their home.

Abel and his wife care for seven children in their home.

To invest in the care and education of these precious at howFar.org.

Thank you for partnering with us to care for the widow and the orphan.

Mark Maynard July 16, 2025

"They have been through hell!" Goma, DR Congo Update

Many are not aware of the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. M23 Rebels, backed by Rwanda, have captured the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu. The war has displaced millions of people and caused a humanitarian crisis. 

In the midst of the turmoil are ten churches planted by howFar Ministries. News outlets have reported mass killings, torture, and sexual abuse. Many of our people have lost everything they have and are suffering terribly. In May, we sent thousands of dollars to provide food and water to Rachuru and Mudja church members forced from their homes by armed rebels. 

The situation is dire.

"Speaking from the Goma region, whose main city was overrun by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in January, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher explained that people had suffered “decades of trauma”.

The last few months have been “particularly horrific for so many”, he added, referring to the lawless fall-out from heavy fighting this year between the rebel fighters and the regular DRC army that has been linked to serious human rights abuses, including potential war crimes.

“Most striking today and yesterday has been the stories of sexual violence, and sitting with women who tell horrific stories which are too horrific for me to tell here and who are trying to find the courage to rebuild their lives,” the UN relief chief said.

“We’re there providing that support to them, trying to help them rebuild, but they have been through hell.”"

Source, https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164981

howFar Ministries has planted 16 churches in eastern DR Congo and operates two orphanages. Plans are underway now to launch a Pastor's Training Center in Goma in 2026.

Please pray for the saints at our churches in eastern DR Congo. 

howFar will you go? 

Mark Maynard - June 27, 2025

 

Tanzania howFar Pastor's Training Center and Bible College Update

In 2022, howFar Ministries, in partnership with the Baptist Churches of Tanzania, launched a Pastor's Training Center near Lossimingori, Tanzania. For us, it was the realization of a prayer that we first offered up as early as 2002, that God, through howFar Ministries, would allow us to train indigenous Maasai men who, in turn, would disciple, train and pastor their kinsman in rural churches.

Renée and Mark Maynard at the howFar Ministries Pastor's Training Center 2024 graduation.

To invest in the education of a pastor click here or to receive more information contact us at mark@howFar.org.

Since then two classes of men have graduated from the training center and the third cohort will graduate in the summer of 2026.

Class of 2022

Class of 2024

Class of 2026

Every man who attends our Pastors Training Center has, or will, go out and plant a new church. To date, 24 new churches have been planted and another 12 will begin in the summer of 2026.

No initiative we have launched has been as successful as this and we are praising God for its success.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" 2 Timothy 3:15-16

Students attend the howFar Pastor's Training Center at no cost to them. Our generous sponsors ensure that they receive a thorough conservative education in a culture where it would be impossible for them to be able to afford it.

The cost to train one pastor, including classes, books, full room and board is $1200.

To invest in the education a pastor click here.

howFar will you go? 

The How Far Foundation, Inc. is a 501c3 non profit. All donations are tax deducatable.