A Victory Report
Well I have really good news! Katherine didn’t give birth while I was gone in Africa! It won’t be long though. She is due in three weeks. Praise God that everything is going well with the pregnancy and soon we will have an amazing addition to the family!
I want to say thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far by praying and giving financially. I have always dreamed of spending my days leading many to a decision for Jesus! Together, with your help, I have been able to preach the Gospel, and have personally seen over 43,000 people make a decision for Jesus over the last 5 weeks. So much of this has been made possible because you decided to pray and give. Thank you! We celebrate each of these precious souls with you!
Mwanza, Weeks 1-2
After arriving in Tanzania, my travel partner, Zach, and I met up with the rest of our team of 9 in a city called Mwanza which is located along the shore of Lake Victoria. Here we made our final plans before going out to preach. Week 1 was a final training for me after completing the Evangelism Bootcamp, as I was taught how to get into local schools in order to preach. During this first week, I met a pastor that told me his testimony of getting saved in school at a meeting similar to what we would be doing. He went on to tell me how he became an evangelist and pastor after that experience. He still leads a church to this day. His testimony pumped me up and reminded me that all the kids we would be encountering will still have their whole life in front of them to honor and serve Jesus! Hallelujah!
After the training week, My friend Zach and I prayed, and we felt we were to go to an Island in Lake Victoria called Ukerewe. Ukerewe is known for its witchcraft and also as a place where people are sent who have albinism. We knew little else about the island, and had no contacts there, but still felt we needed to go and share Jesus! We had to catch a ferry to get there, but things do not run the same in most parts of Africa as they do in America. We only had the info of the locals to go on, and times are far from exact. We were told the ferry came at 2pm, It did not. Then we decided to try another near by crossing, but found they had no more ferries that day. Our only other opportunity to get to the island was to drive three hours and hope to catch the last ferry going to the island. We had paid a good bit of money for a large truck to carry our bags and follow up materials so it was important that we got to the island that day! After a long drive, we arrived in time to get in line. The ferry soon appeared, but more and more vehicles were arriving too, and we knew not everyone would make it on the ferry. The Lord gave us wisdom though and we were able to maneuver ourselves, our truck, and all of our materials onto the ferry to cross!
When we got to the island it was already night time, so we ended up at the first and nicest hotel on the island. (It had no hot water, and was considered the nicest because it had an actual toilet to sit on.) In the morning our driver informed us that he had just met the island guide. He had come to drop someone off but was now free for hire. We hired him immediately and he took us everywhere. We had to scope the island out quickly, because we needed to find a new driver and vehicle before schools opened the next day. There were no places to rent vehicles, so Zach and I started the day off by trying to approach every person we could find with a truck and asking if we could hire their vehicle for a week. We finally found a man who was willing, but he wanted to charge us twice a normal price. We prayed and implored him again and his heart changed to charge us a normal amount. It was real favor from the Lord! We also spent the day trying to make connections on the island, but everywhere we went, we seemed to be met with opposition. No-one wanted to believe that we had a chance to be effective on the island, even our translator said it wouldn’t be possible. But we were not discouraged! We serve the God of the impossible!!
The next day we set out to share Jesus at the schools. We received access no one expected and preached to over 6,000 people! We wanted to make sure the those who said it was impossible heard what the Lord had done! Let’s just say they where shocked and in disbelief!
By day two, things were starting to heat up. Someone had decided to start a rumor that Zach and I were there trying to give vaccinations to the children (which they did not seem to want). The devil was trying to thwart God’s plan, but we were not to be stopped! When we would show up to a school, many kids would run away and the teachers would have to call them back. In spite of this, we were still able to preach to another 7,000 kids!!
Wednesday was a Holiday, but we used the day to make more connections.
Thursday was a good day, but was again filled with more opposition. We had more kids run away and right before noon we were surprised to find an angry mob had come out to stop us from sharing at a school. We had gained permission from the teacher there and were about to set up, but some of the kids that ran off went home and told their parents that the white man was at their school. This group tried to stop us. The teacher was yelling at the crowd, and our translator, who was not able to handle the pressure, stopped translating properly. He was afraid of being beaten and would not follow my lead to preach to the crowd. After failing to convince the translator to press on in the face of adversity, we had no choice but to leave that school. In spite of all this, we managed to share Jesus with over 4,000 people that day!
The Gospel Truly is the Answer
Thankfully, Zach and I didn’t get physically attacked that day, but we could have. I want to encourage everyone to pray for those who are suffering persecution today. Let’s pray that they won’t give in and that God will deliver them and help them stand strong until the end. Even if they are not rescued, history has many reminders of those who stood strong and saw many come to believe in Jesus because of it. The way believers love and reflect Jesus in the midst of persecution leads many to Christ. We must be strong and face adversity and preach the Gospel, not just in word, but in deed and truth until the end.
Living the Gospel in our everyday life and preaching the Gospel everywhere will change the world one person at a time. We can often try to live our lives in comfort, but Jesus said He prunes those that are his so that they can bare more fruit. Jesus wants us to bare more fruit and change the world. The miracle of salvation, Jesus on the cross, the forgiveness of our sins, His resurrection and opportunity to live eternal life now (John 17:30) are available to all who will call upon His name now! We can be ambassadors for him and an agent of change, but we must get out there! We must preach Christ! Christ in us is the answer, and even if we have nothing else, Jesus plus nothing equals everything!!
There is so much going on in my heart that I want to try and share with you all. Over the next few weeks I will continue to send out newsletters that tell you more about my trip, the fruit we saw, and difficulties we faced. I believe both our hardships and our victories will be an encouragement to you. In our next newsletter, I will pick up our story right where I left off, sharing with you what God did right after we faced that mob and our translators subsequently quit! It only gets more amazing!
Other Happenings
We are seeing revival here in Orlando! Our church has seen over 1,000 decision for Jesus this year already and our new believers group is growing fast. More and more people are being trained up in how to share their faith simply. Even brand new believers have a story to tell in how Jesus is changing and transforming their lives. God is using the simple and the seemingly unqualified to build His church and we are seeing disciples made and God glorified! Praise the Lord!!
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