Opening the Way to Restore Hope: An Update From Mozambique
Mainstream media has largely stopped reporting on the catastrophe that hit our brothers and sisters in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, but they are still in a battle for survival at the moment. As the preliminary reports flow in, it is clear that the devastation brought on by Cyclone Idai is far from over and dealing with the aftermath will bring many more challenges for the victims of this disaster.
It is with great sadness that we have learnt that Harvesters lost 18 church planting pastors, along with some of their family members, who lost their lives in Beira, Mozambique.
Pray for the congregations who have lost their leaders. Pray for the families who have lost loved ones. Pray with us for our distressed brothers and sisters. Pray that they will find their hope and refuge in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Thank you for your continued prayers during this difficult time. When God’s children go down on their knees – the fight does not end, it begins!
Philippians 4: 6 – 7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Our Brothers and Sisters Need the Word of God!
During Cyclone Idai many Bibles and study material were destroyed. Many of the thousands of Bibles that were destroyed were only handed out last June to pastors in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, most of the study material that were delivered to our storehouse in Beira was severely damaged.
Our pastors and student pastors are praying with all of us for a way to replace these Bibles and study material.
Please pray with us that through the generosity of our faithful partners we will be able to not only replace the Bibles and study material that were destroyed and damaged, but will be able to do exceedingly and abundantly more for our brothers and sisters who are in distress.
Keep standing with us in prayer believing that God will provide everything and more than we need to be able to replace these precious Bibles and study material.
Opening the Way to Restore Hope
As you know a catastrophe has hit not only Mozambique, but Zimbabwe and Malawi was also drastically affected by Cyclone Idai. At this stage, 215 deaths have been recorded. The death toll is expected to rise as authorities continue to assess the situation.
Hundreds of people are still missing. Tens of thousands are stranded. Furthermore, people are cut off from roads and telephones in rural and poor areas. More than 1,5 million people’s lives were impacted in the three southern African countries. The magnitude and the scale of destruction has never been witnessed in these three southern African nations before!
Despite what has been done, the amount that has been spent, the prayers prayed and the sacrifice of missionaries and believers – we seem to be losing ground, not gaining.
Beira, Mozambique’s central port city, was hit the hardest with winds of up to 177 km/h (106 mph). From there the storm moved westward into Zimbabwe and Malawi, affecting thousands more.
A Call to Action!
We received a report from one of our regional leaders in Mozambique. He shared the devastation that cyclone Idai left behind.
He visited some of the churches and found that many of our student pastors have lost all of their training materials, including their Bibles which they received last year June during the Harvesters Ministries Bible placement.
Twelve churches are completely destroyed, including the houses of pastors. There are hundreds of villages in and around Chimoio, Manica, Beira and Tete that have been affected by this severe storm.
Harvesters sent a consignment of training materials to our storehouse in Chimoio last year to train hundreds of student pastors – these books were also damaged. We are still waiting to hear from all of our people on the ground to determine the extent of the damage suffered.
We need to replace these books and Bibles urgently to ensure that, even in the midst of this catastrophe, new churches will be planted as many will seek refuge in the Lord. This is the best time for the Church to step up and make a significant difference.
Your contribution will make an immense difference in the lives of many of our brothers and sisters in Mozambique. Help us to restore people’s hope!
The Harvest is Ready in the Amazon
After 27 hours of traveling I arrived in Manaus meeting up with Harvesters staff. The hot humid air couldn’t stop the excitement as we headed out early morning on a private flight to Santa Antonio de Iça – an important indigenous community which will launch all church planting in the Amazon.
The trip itself in a small 8-seater was adventurous enough and gave us yet again a bird’s eye view of how huge and lush the Amazon really is. Some parts of the Amazon are so vast and wide you can’t even capture it from above.
Safely on the Ground
We were greeted at the airport by an eagerly awaiting crowd from the church.
Due to our short three days on this remote outpost in the Amazon we rushed into our training to meet all our goals and objectives.
This was against protocol as the way of the Amazon people would prevail! We had to eat first and like every day after that – fish was on the menu! Well fish – and a very awkward drink that tasted like 12 volt battery water with a strong acidity. We ate and swallowed fast!
With no time to play we headed into evangelism, discipleship and multiplication. Many pastors, elders and church members attended our first training in scorching heat.
Amazon: 3 Degrees from the Planet Mercury
The ten fans that ran in the church didn’t cool us down at all but brought a sense of comfort knowing that our hosts felt sorry for us as we overheated during presentations. The enthusiastic gasps echoed through the small church as pastors got the Harvesters strategy and way of thinking. We pushed through the evangelism model until we noticed that there might be people that needed Christ and didn’t know Him personally – even though they were pastors. We made an invitation after explaining ‘regeneration’. People were on their knees praying – seven beautiful souls gave their lives to Jesus Christ.
The Next Step
It was great to see them engage in learning and going out to evangelise their own community. “Is this even possible?”, a pastor echoed as many souls were won for Christ.
It was the mapping methodology that continued to wow the local people as we helped them to reach difficult areas to plant churches by boat. Four thousand villages in the area are without any church. We spent an hour on mapping their part of the 6,400km Amazon River.
Deep conversations continued as everyone in Santa Antonio village realised the importance of what we were trying to teach and facilitate. There was a seriousness about our task as we were the first church planters to ever visit the area.
Training Bears Fruit
A lively pastor, Sadia, was full of fire. She made sure she understood the ‘mechanics’ of how to plant a church and off she went …and planted a church – before we even left.
Our dedication service was a special event on our last evening as we trained until late night. Would the pastors buy into the church planting plan we shared? Would they become our Hub-Leaders? Our ultimate aim after every training is to find dedicated pastors that will commit for 3 to 5 years to be trained and ready to train others that will plant churches.
Twenty three pastors dedicated their lives and ministries to plant churches with Harvesters.
Accept One Another
The whole church was ready to celebrate a new vision in their village and community.
The celebration ended as it begun – by eating fish! This was ‘badhu’ a type of mud eating, hard-headed, blackish, thick-lipped, skew-eyed, slippery catfish! We were served fish soup, fish eggs and fish meat to end off the ceremony. They watched us carefully as we ate the fish as brave, culturally-sensitive missionaries do. They proudly announced: “Now you are part of us – truly Amazonian”. We faked a smile as one last fish egg found its way down our throats.
To culturally submerge in a new setting where you plant churches ALWAYS ensure you connect on a personal level. People need to see you care, love and accept them – although we are different.
Leaving the Amazon
Leaving Santo Antonio was very difficult. Despite the drenching heat and the overweight mosquitoes – God was here too. God knows every tribe and every tongue in every village one very continent. God has allowed Harvesters to play an integral part in many parts of the world and we understand the seriousness of the task at hand.
The Malagasy Island Tribes Are on Fire for God
“Every time I fly over Madagascar I feel excited and I know that this is where God wants me to be,” says Mac Hayward, a church leader from Port Elizabeth who has been working in Madagascar for the past six years with Harvesters Ministries. Mac has more than 44 years’ experience as a church leader and has been involved in missions for many years. He believes that the Harvesters Ministries Hub-model is very effective – it teaches pastors how to evangelise the lost effectively, how to train student pastors and plant functioning churches. This is discipleship in action – and the Great Commission.
“I was a little like Jonah at first. I didn’t want to go back to Madagascar,” explains Mac. “We are constantly fighting a spiritual battle when we go on missions. It’s not always easy to go to the island and do God’s work, it’s hard, but it is extremely satisfying and rewarding.” This is why Mac (who is already in his 70’s) keeps on returning to this volcanic island.
Madagascar might look like a small island to you and me, but this island has a population of more than 26 million people. It is also rich in minerals and precious stones, but the Malagasy people will never allow an outsider to help them mine these stones. Too many people have come into this beautiful country and abused their power. The people of Madagascar are tired of being hurt. That is one of the reasons why the people of this country are extremely poor. They mainly farm with rice and have no specialist knowledge to mine the precious stones on their island.
Harvesters Ministries Opened the Way in Madagascar
Many years ago a group of pastors from Madagascar got together. They spent thousands of Malagasy Ariary on evangelists and bands. They then held a massive event that bore little fruit. This made them extremely negative and they welcomed Harvesters Ministries’ help with open arms.
Harvesters Ministries visited this country for the first time six years ago. In one morning we explained to a group of 103 pastors how to evangelise unreached people. That group of pastors was sent out on that same morning. They shared the Gospel with as many people as they could. After a few hours they returned with a group of 550 people who chose to follow Jesus on that day. And it does not stop here! Every pastor had to write down the names and contact numbers of the people that they led to Christ and they started churches with these new converts. Today all of these converts are still planted in churches and disciples for Jesus Christ.
Since Harvesters Ministries have been involved on the island more than 200 pastors and student pastors have received training. “There is a Muslim threat on the island, they are placing themselves in strategic places, but we are placing ourselves strategically too,” Mac explains. It is amazing to see God’s Kingdom growing in Madagascar.
Recently Harvesters Ministries hosted a very special event in Madagascar where a group of 22 pastors graduated from the Harvesters Ministries training program. They were all dressed in stunning caps and gowns. Ready to go out and change Madagascar one village at a time.
A Pastor’s Life in Madagascar
One remarkable pastor on the island is pastor Alain. He is the Chaplin to the Malagasy soccer team and one of the Hub-leaders in Madagascar. One-day pastor Alain felt that God was calling him to evangelise the unreached people of Sakalava. The name “Sakalava” means “people of the long valleys”. There are no roads to take to get to these people and their villages.
Pastor Alain took a Bush-taxi up to the last point where he could and had to travel farther by foot. He walked more than 10km and had to cross a river to reach the village. As pastor Alain reached the river his guide warned him about the crocodiles in the river. “How do we cross the river without being eaten?” pastor Alain asked nervously. His guide replied calmly,“We throw a big rock into river. All the crocodiles will jump onto the rock once it hits the water and then we can safely cross the river.” I wonder how many of us would still be obedient and spread the Gospel if we were threatened by crocodiles…
Pastor Alain was obedient. He crossed the river. He evangelised the people of Sakalava and continues to do so to this day!
Why does Madagascar Need Our Help?
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. Approximately 70% of its population are living below the poverty line and almost half of its children below five years old are malnourished.
Despite their poverty the people of Madagascar still have giving hearts. “Whenever we visit the country we receive gifts. They want to bless us. With our last visit we received Madagascar hats, baskets and straw mats which they made themselves,” Mac thinks of this day fondly.
Only 64% of the population are literate. Harvesters Ministries have really lifted the literacy level of pastors and broaden their understanding of the Bible. We must never underestimate the powerful impact that the Word of God has in someone’s life. “Some of these pastors are so poor and have never owned their own Bible. Harvesters Ministries provide these pastors with Malagasy Bibles. The pastors hold their Bibles close to their hearts once they receive it. Some of them even cry. This is a special moment that moves me every time,” says Mac.
Angola: My First Missions Experience
Leaving for my very first missions trip I kept wondering,“What can I do?” But God reminded me that it is not what I can do, but what He can do through me. This would be my very first time going into the mission field – I am both terrified and excited. I have no idea what is lying ahead.
I get into a small minivan. Costa, our driver, greets us with a smile. We travel on overcrowded roads, without a single working traffic light in sight and everything moves at a slow pace. How Costa manages to get us through the maze-like roads is beyond my logical understanding. Quite a daunting experience!
We turn off in an alley – squeezing through the cars,stalls, people and wandering dogs. We reach the church, after what felt like a lifetime of travelling – an oasis and a shining light in the community. We are greeted by smiling eyes, serving hearts and labouring hands.
As I walked into the church in Luanda, not knowing what to expect, I heard close to 200 pastors singing in perfect harmony – glorifying and worshiping God’s name. Even though I do not understand a word of Portuguese, the presence of the Holy Spirit was tangible and I realised that God has great things in store for each and every one of these pastors.
I joined in the worship and thanked God for sending me to Angola to meet my wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ.
Healing After the Wounds
Given South Africa’s history with Angola the pastors were reluctant at first to accept our help when Harvesters first started reaching out in Angola – since many of them fought in the war themselves or lost family and friends in the war. Since then God has opened the way in Angola and restored South Africa’s relationship with this beautiful country completely –we can now plant churches and win lost souls for Christ.
When you walk into a church in Angola you will see people wearing their “Sunday best”. This is not because they own so many fancy worldly things – they want to give Jesus the best that they have and honour Him in everything that they do. You will be surprised to hear about the hardships that these pastors face because they always greet with a smile and never complain.The only time they share their hardships is when you take the time to ask them,“Is there something in your life that I can pray for?”
At first the pastors will just smile at you, but one after the other they all share the same hardships – poverty, a lack of Bibles, new government laws regulating churches, cultural intolerance, persecution, no access to decent transport and stubborn unbelievers.
Pastor Frederico’s Passion is Contagious
One such pastor that crossed my path is Pastor Frederico. He has an open face, always smiling and he leads the 200 pastors in song every morning. The tones of perfect harmony will give you goose bumps!
As I spoke to Pastor Frederico he explained to me that he lives south of Luanda in a province called Benguela. It is an 8-hour drive from Luanda – by car. He had to take two buses just to get to Luanda and this equates to a whole day of travelling. “To travel by plane is unaffordable,” he explained still smiling.
Pastor Frederico was one of the first pastors to join the Harvesters Ministries program two years ago. Since then he has gone out and planted 27 churches. He is training student pastors for every church that he has planted and truly understands the discipleship program that Harvesters launched in this country. His passion for winning the lost for Christ is absolutely amazing!
The most remarkable – despite all these challenges the pastors face, is the fact that more than 600 churches have been planted in Angola. And this happened in only two years!
After all the pastors completed their training session and handed back all their administration – we had a surprise for each and every one of them. Our team came into the room with boxes and boxes filled with Portuguese and Kimbundu Bibles. The pastors started rejoicing, tears of joy were running freely down their cheeks. The Word of God does not simply go into a community, it changes the entire community.
What makes Harvesters so unique?
This is what sets Harvesters Ministries apart! We train pastors in evangelism and discipleship, we provide training materials as well as Bibles. It is not simply a hit and run evangelism trip – we return to the same Hub-church every six months to meet with the pastors and further their training and offer them support.
As I got back into the small minivan I realised what God had done through me. He gave hope to those who may have become hopeless, He gave comfort to those facing hardships and He gave His Living Word to those with a burning desire to serve Him and follow Him. What an honour to be an instrument of God.
Mission Impossible
Mission Impossible? When Jesus told us to, “Go, make disciples of all the nations,” did He mean it literally? Every ethnic group? How many from every people group? Did He mean everyone – all the people of the world at a certain time in history?
Great Commission Christians believe that everyone needs to hear the Gospel to be saved. This has driven missions for centuries, even since the early church. People need the Lord. People need to be saved from their sins. I hear you saying, “Amen!” Or, I hope I do.
Despite what has been done, the amount that has been spent, the prayers prayed and the sacrifice of missionaries and believers – we seem to be losing ground, not gaining.
The population growth rate of the world is exponential, but the growth of the faith is linear. This means the gap between people being born and people being born again is widening.
Despite the internet, satellite TV and Christian radio, the gap is even wider. The real issue is that Christians have passed the responsibility to leaders, missionaries and organisations rather than heeding Christ’s command to “Make disciples!” Note that the command (not suggestion) is plural, “Make disciples!” More than one. When they in turn “make disciples” we discover that Jesus added multiplication into the Great Commission.
The world birth rates are based on multiplication while church growth uses addition. Currently it takes about 100 Christians (pastors included) to win one new convert for Christ each year.
The answer is obedience to the command. Every Christian as well as missionary organizations need to apply multiplication methodology if we want to close the gap and win the world for Christ.
Harvesters uses multiplication both within each church (disciple making) and where church planting is concerned. Each new believer is trained to be a disciple maker and every church is a church-planting church.
Are you a disciple maker? Mission possible!
God is at Work in India
Taking the Gospel to the Tribes
Away from the teeming masses of the cities, deep in the Indian jungle, there are people who believe in forest gods and goddesses. Many are openly hostile to Christians. Yet, here we were, bringing the Gospel of hope and light into the darkness. The moment we entered this forest village we could feel the hostility and presence of pure evil. God emboldened us as we started witnessing to the women we saw washing tamarind (a local Indian spice often used in cuisine) at the stream.
The people here also believe in karma and reincarnation after death, not recognizing that we are all sinful and will stand before God. We boldly told them that there is indeed life after death and that Jesus Christ can wash them with His blood and that Satan will then no longer have any hold on them.
God is good! The Gospel is powerful! Several women responded to our testimonies and came to Christ.
This particular village is quite large for a jungle village and once had a church that had died over the years. Harvesters Ministries took hands with the local pastor and helped re-establish a church that is ready to serve the community.
Reports from this village are that the church is growing and people are experiencing God’s love and mercy in their daily lives.
Training Pastors in India
In a large town a few kilometres from the Bay of Bengal, Harvesters Ministries’ representative Peter* is working among these tribal communities.
“The nearer we come to Christ, the more intense missionaries we become,” Peter* believes these words and experiences them in his daily life. “We face the burden of winning the lost at any cost and this burden intensifies every day. These tribal people also believe in the spirits of their ancestors and as a result, here it is quite challenging to minister to them.” Harvesters has trained and enabled Peter* and others like him to become pastors and lead the lost to Christ.
Overcoming Rejection
Anjali* is HIV-positive. She was lost until a Harvesters pastor shared the Gospel with her. Sadly, in Anjali’s village she will always be seen as the girl with HIV, but she knows that she is a loved daughter of God. God can use anyone to do His work and to enlarge His kingdom. Anjali has completed her evangelism training with Harvesters and is now sharing the Gospel with other individuals who are seeking the Truth.
Anjali faced uncalled-for rejection and judgement because she is HIV-positive. Some people would not allow her into their homes and some even refused to speak to her. However, Anjali did not want this to stop her from spreading the Gospel and leading the lost to Christ, she wanted to disciple people and evangelise those who do not know the Truth yet. On this journey of discipleship Anjali met Lalit*. Lalit is from a higher social class and she was very hostile towards the Christian faith. As Anjali started testifying to her about the wages of sin and the doom that sinners will face, Lalit was shaken. She too believed in reincarnation and did not realize that she will perish. Anjali used the opportunity to share Christ with Lalit. She immediately responded to the Gospel and decided to follow Christ. She was baptized by our local pastor. Anjali says, “I do not know how long I will live but I do know that I want to spend my life leading others to Christ and spreading the Gospel.”
Small Beginnings, Huge Outcomes
Harvesters Ministries has been involved in India for the past three years. In that time more than 4300 churches have already been planted. Pastors are being trained for these churches and the Harvesters curriculum is being translated into 10 of the 16 major languages of the country (there are over 650 known dialects spoken in India). What a wonderful God we serve. None of this will be possible without Harvesters Ministries supporters.
How can I get involved?
Harvesters Ministries is a church planting organization with many willing missionaries working across the globe to evangelise the lost at any cost. We are seeking the support of people with a passion for Christ to lighten our burden and help us to mend the nets.
*Names have been changed.
Egypt: A Nation Ready For Change
Some things will never change
Things change. Through the dusty afternoon haze, beyond a line of camels moving slowly across the Egyptian deserts, I gazed in awe at the pyramids of Giza in the distance. This same view has captivated people for thousands of years. This is probably one of the most enduring vistas anywhere. However, as your eyes focus beyond these symbols of ancient cultures, through the smog and dust you see the encroaching city, the buildings and signs of a new civilization, of a different culture. Later, marvelling at the Sphinx, weathered by time, but still a sign of endurance, of things that last, of the unchangeable; one only has to turn around to gaze at a Pizza Hut. Things change.
Cairo – open to Jesus
Egypt is in flux in other ways too. Since the revolution of 2011 many things are changing. This once seemingly impenetrable nation is opening to the Gospel like never before. An unexpected invitation highlighted this for me. I found myself exhorting a group of people of different ages being prepared for witness and missions, to go out and fearlessly proclaim the name of Jesus.
My host was a dear man of God with a passion for souls and deeply committed to missions. The group was being discipled by him to take Jesus out of the building and into the streets, no matter what the consequences. A student came up afterwards, glowing with excitement about her willingness to preach Jesus anywhere. A highly qualified man came for a chat about how he is trying to discern where God wants him to go.
The Holy Spirit has brought about a movement that has seldom been seen in the Middle East, including in Egypt. A huge number of people have turned to Christ in recent years, many of them through dreams and vision. Television and radio are also making a huge impact, and many are questioning their traditions and religion and are willing to talk about Jesus. Despite the changes there are still many who strongly oppose Christianity.
Harvesters bringing change to Egypt
With change comes opportunity. I sense a real opening for multiplication church planting through evangelism, discipleship and pastoral training. This is what I presented to leaders from different churches and denominations with a view of starting a church planting movement in partnership with Harvesters Ministries.
I am both excited and concerned. Change comes slowly to churches. We are often swept along by societal changes rather than spearheading or at least managing them. Often, by the time the church is ready to meet new challenges the world has shifted and the opportunity has passed. The desire to hold onto that which has ‘worked’ in the past or that which we are comfortable with is great. Yet, there are those who see the change and are energised by the opportunities it brings. Some saw that what worked in the past cannot work now to reach a population of 100 million people. It is too slow and too expensive and new methodologies are required. In the case of the church, ‘new’ usually calls for a return to biblical methods and the application of biblical principles.
There is a need for change
God’s faithful servants, many of whom have suffered persecution, could easily be lulled into seeking peaceful co-existence, acceptance and the respect of their neighbours rather than continuing to radically proclaim Jesus.
How can you get involved?
Harvesters is seeking out those who are willing to step up and step out and grasp this opportunity. Harvesters will be implementing its Strategic Mapping process and opening the way for the Gospel to have a permanent presence in every community across this nation. Join us, help us. Pray for those who see this as God’s timing to bring the Gospel to every place where people stay. Now is the time for new wineskins. Watch this space. Now is the time to change things.
The Amazon Needs Our Prayers
We at Harvesters Ministries are truly blessed to have such an amazing team of prayer warriors on our side. We have seen so many prayers answered over the past 18 years and we are just amazed at what God has done for us. We continue to trust Him through prayer and ask you to join us in prayer this week.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:19
The Amazon tribes need our prayers
Why is Harvesters Ministries working in the Amazon? The answer is simple – we were called to lead the lost to Christ, to plant churches where there have never been churches before and to shine Christ’s light in the darkest of places. There are about 24 million inhabitants in the Amazon basin that stretches over a vast landscape and a few different countries. Furthermore, there are 900,000 indigenous people from 240 tribes. Most of these tribes in the Amazon currently live in protected reserves which are closed to the public.
Harvesters went to the Amazon with the deliberate intention of sharing the Gospel, planting churches and developing disciple makers who would evangelise, disciple and grow the church. By God’s amazing grace we were introduced to qualified, competent brothers and sisters in Christ who, by means of love and practical explication, taught us what we were woefully lacking in knowledge and understanding.
You don’t come to the Amazon (indigenous people groups), they come to you.
Please continue to pray for the church Streams that are being planted in the Amazon. Pray that God will bless the pastors with the wisdom that they need to evangelise the indigenous people of the Amazon that live in remote and far-off villages. Pray for their safety as they enter these tribes. Pray that God will raise up more brothers and sisters in Christ that will go out and evangelise the lost.
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’” Mark 16:15
The Church on the River
Harvesters Ministries has planted churches in some unexpected places – in bus stops, in barber shops, in refugee camps, in the Masai Mara, a church on legs, candlelight churches in Zanzibar and in many, many cities and forgotten villages all over Africa.
The time has come to plant churches in Brazil and the Amazon – particularly among the “River People” of the Amazon. But who are these “River People”?
These people live on the Amazon riverbanks in the thousands. Local missionaries believe that there might be as many as 10,000 of these isolated villages without access to a church. God has called Harvesters Ministries to prepare the way – even in the jungle!
Please join us in prayer as we pray for our missionaries who train pastors in these remote villages in the Amazon. Pray that God will continue to protect them. Pray that the newly trained Hub-Leaders will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that they will continue to trust God for courage to undertake their daily responsibility of evangelising the lost. Pray that the lost that come to Christ will be a shining light in their villages and that they too will lead others to Christ. We serve an awesome God and with Him all things are possible!
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19
Uganda Bible Placement
Every time a pastor, like pastor Richard Okello of Apac District near Lira, tells us that he does not own a Bible, and that he must borrow a Bible from someone and return it after the service, we realise yet again what a privilege it is to be part of Harvesters Ministries. It is so wonderful to deliver God’s Word to His precious children and to see the joy in which the Bibles are received. It strengthens our calling and hope that every church involved with Harvesters has at least one Bible. People who live in remote areas often do not know where to get Bibles and cannot afford to buy Bibles.
Uganda, which is located on the equator, is a beautiful country with lush vegetation, large forests and a variety of wildlife – famous for gorillas and chimpanzees. This land, known as “The Pearl of Africa”, is also the country with plenty of water and large lakes. Before we landed on March 19 in Entebbe, we flew over Lake Victoria for 20 minutes and saw water that carried on endlessly and islands that stretched for kilometres and kilometres. This lake is the largest in Africa’s northern outlet and flows into the Nile River. Uganda is also the land of the Moon and Ruwenzori Mountains.
It was truly an amazing experience to visit this country during its rainy seasons, but what stands out more was being able to meet several of God’s children who displayed sincerity in their faith. The Ugandans are welcoming and hospitable. Uganda, along with its ethnic value and various cultural groups, is generally regarded as a ‘Christian country’.
Aloysious Kinaalwa, Harvesters’ national leader in Uganda, is a passionate man of God with a desire to bring his people to God through the Harvesters Church Planting Model and Training Programme. While transporting 200 Luganda Bibles to Gomba, and 1200 copies in English, Acholi and Lango to Lira, from the Bible House in Kampala, he was involved in an accident and attained a head injury. Aloysious’s message to us was: “I still feel headache, But God is supernaturally healing me. To God be the glory! It’s amazing, we serve a miracle working God!”
God is so good! Despite this incident and several hours on extreme dirt roads, God protected us so that we could deliver Bibles to more than 200 churches in Gomba as well as Lira. Some of these roads are almost impassable due to the rainy season which meant enormous potholes where we constantly had to dodge stones and branches in the road.
Harvesters cannot do this work without the wonderful partners who God sends us. Charles Mukhwana, Harvester’s regional leader in Lira province, is truly dependable. He has a great vision to train the thousands of pastors who live in remote villages in the Harvesters programme. Charles arranged for the church leaders from various regions to gather at one church, where we could encourage the members, listen to their testimonies and then hand out three to four Bibles to each church. Every church’s name and the names of the recipients were on a separate list.
It was particularly encouraging for us to experience the great excitement and anticipation from the different churches. The members and pastors would sometimes wait for us for hours and receive us warmly then literally dance for joy as they received a Bible. Before we drove off, they would pray for us first – all of them praying out loud for our safety on the road as well as for our families at home.
For instance, the Abalo Kweri congregation of Pastor Elinga Bosco gathers under a mango tree. They are but a handful of people, yet they represent the body of Christ and show a great love for Jesus. What a privilege it was to hand out four Bibles to them!
Every time we place a new Bible in someone’s hand that is written in their mother tongue, we are encouraged by their testimony and we know that the Bible will be put to good use.
- “Now I can connect with women and do the work of God” – Semy Amori, leader of the women’s ministry, Church of God, Apac District.
- Past Kate Molly (Victory Outreach Church Apac District) had a Bible years ago, but it was torn and destroyed. “With this new Bible, I will not only read it for my own self, but at the same time I will help other people to come to Christ.”
- “I am so happy for the Bible. I am proud because I have a tool now to use when I go to preach the Word of God.”
- Past Jastine Otim of the Victory Outreach Church in Pader, was thrilled to hear of the Harvesters Discipleship Programme, “I had a misconception about Matthew 28… Go ye and make disciples… In my own understanding, I interpreted it as just bringing people into the Kingdom, but over 7 years of my pastoral experience, I realised I got stuck along the way and didn’t know how to get people from the level of coming to the Kingdom and getting them to another level of knowing God and having the authority of Christ in them.”
- Then the church under the hill in the lovely village of Kalonge: Past Thomas Amone (Victory Outreach Church) said, “I’m going to use the Bible to impact the lives of people, preaching the Gospel of Christ to other people. We appreciate the Bibles.”
Conflict between the government and rebels started some years ago and lead to a prolonged war of almost 16 years. The trauma of the war has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed schools and health centres. The war was characterised by violation of human rights, abduction of men, women and children, torture and national insecurity.
To listen to a pastor who lives in that area’s testimony, we once again realised the need that arises for church planting and training of pastors in Uganda, and how desperate people are for it. This pastor told us that their congregation reaches out to areas where people live who were attacked by the rebels, abducted and tortured – people whose body parts such as lips, arms and legs were cut off. She testified that they visit these people, make friends, build relationships and they are then served with the Word.
The need is also to plant churches in these areas. Her words were: “The Bibles in our own language you allowed to come to us in our village, will make us strong to know more about Jesus Christ and all the nation will get saved through that Word of God that we are going to take to them.”
God’s Word is precious. Praise God for this opportunity and thank you, Harvesters Ministries and Midland Bible Church for making this Bible placement to many believers in Uganda possible. All the glory to God!