The stories below will hopefully show you more than numbers how the love of God is changing lives in many places where our Lord Jesus has opened up doors. It is long, I know, but well worth the read. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.
Let me start with the latest adventure into what is considered a 100% Muslim world of an island nation known as Comoros. Our Africa director of ministries, Mbirima Ketekete, was with me during my 6-week trip to Congo, Rwanda, and Mozambique. We felt it would be a good opportunity for Mbirima to travel onward to Comoros on his return from Mozambique. Mbirima had formerly built a relationship with an Imam there while living in Dar es Salaam years ago. He was invited to visit with great enthusiasm. Below is a report he recently sent me:
[“Dear Pastor and GH team, Peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
I just want to let you know that from yesterday afternoon I am in Dar, waiting for my plane schedule to continue my travel to Kigoma then take a bus to Bujumbura and home- Uvira DR Congo. I am very thankful to God and to you for supporting this trip. To be honest Comores is not as other Muslims place I have been before, someone taking the gospel there he is treated as a drugs dealer!
I had time to share the words of God to my friends only, and made new friends.
I went in the Mosque one day with a friend, before prayer time, I and him were sitting to wait others to come in, my friend knew that even though I go with him in the mosque, I am a Christian. He was a little bit confused! He asked me if I did ablution ( washing hands, face and legs as a sign of cleansing), I went out of the mosque and did it, then joined again him in the mosque. We both sit and start talking. I asked him: why you guys focus outside practices, don’t you know that God looks inward not outward? Don’t you know that God is a Spirit and we have to worship him in spirit and truth? He was listening to my explanation. When others came we stopped, he went before to lead prayer. He showed me how they pray. I was praying in my spirit, breaking power of darkness which reigns over this country since 38 years of the starting of Islam. Though it seems to be a little bit confused to the Christians view, for a Christian to go in a Mosque and pray with Muslims in order to minister to them. I am trying to follow God’s instructions! After prayer he stood and started sharing my story in the mosque before couple tens of Muslims. He explained to them that I am from DRC, and how I have been kind to Him and other Comorians at Dar es Salaam Tanzania, then he said we didn’t know that a Christian would be kind to Muslims, but this man is! Then he shared everything I just shared with him about God!
We went home, he asked: when you go back at your Country will you continue going at the Mosque? I answered no!!! A little bit astonished He said: why? Because, I answered: your Quaran 3:3, said that God sent the books before (Torah and evangel, Moses and Jesus)… Only in the church they explain all God’s books. I asked him if I can share with him, these books, he said yes. I went on sharing with him for some days. He told me that I should not speak what I am sharing with him to someone I don’t know, because he didn’t want me to get trouble!
I understand that no way to minister in this Country to someone who you don’t know! I started making more friends and sharing with my friends only! Hoping to have many people to share the words with in the future.
However, I had language problem, because all Comorians speak Chingazija. They are those who speak Arabic and French as well. But in order to minister to them Chingazija and Arabic are the most important. My 29 days, ware of preparing soil! Praying about going again and prepare more by learning Arabic and Chingazija and continue sharing the words for more days!
Please pray about this! God bless you, Mbirima.”]
One of Bukavo team, Bosco, lives in Congo with his wife and 9 children (Bosco center). They live in a very poor village where it is difficult to cultivate and provide for his family. Bosko has decided to leave that village and is praying about where the Lord would like him to relocate (hopefully in a place where land is fertile and he can farm well). However, he will not leave Bukavo until he has trained two people to take his place in making disciples. One of those men was a man whom Bosko had initially rejected because he was the village drunkard. Shaback was coming to a DBS (Discovery Bible Study) but Bosko was thinking that he should not come because of his drinking problem. Mbirima encouraged Bosko to love Shaback and be patient, allowing the Holy Spirit to change him from the inside out. This is just what happened: That village drunkard was transformed by God and is now one of those leaders Bosko is training to take his place!
Papa Beya is living in Kalemie, Congo (center)
Last year we sponsored Mbirima to go to this city as he felt the Lord leading him. While there he met Papa Beya and led him into a deeper relationship with Christ as he was just a nominal Christian. Papa Beya is now overseeing at least two DBS groups in his city. One of those is in a refugee camp where he is meeting with several youth teaching them about God. The camp was formed to house people in danger due to the recent Bantu/Pygmy war in southeast Congo. Their goal of course is to multiply disciples and train each of them to start new groups. A young man named Gerto has been trained and is now leading a DBS group in the refugee camp. When first approached about becoming involved in a DBS group, Gerto rejected the idea saying he had no interest, but through prayer and friendship he eventually gave his life to Christ. Gerto is from a village of Pygmies which we hope someday to reach with the Gospel. Prior to civil unrest in this area Mbirima had been to the Pygmy village and we are praying for the Lord to raise up disciples who know the language of the Pygmies.
Since my visit to Uvira, Congo there are now several new DBS groups going, and more are being started by men, women, and even youth. One young man named Baraka was lead to receive Christ and is now leading a DBS group among other youth in his village. One day a young girl tried to seduce him, as culturally youth there are very sexually active, but Baraka ran by jumping out the window because he no longer walks in the ways of the world; Baraka learned what God desired and is choosing to abide by His ways.
Saide of Lumbi, Mozambique gave his life to Christ upon coming to our conference there in June. Saide is the leader of the Mosque in his village and now has such a hunger for God that he is asking our local evangelist there to take him on the motorcycle to other villages where he wants to share the stories of God from the Bible.
So far they have traveled on a motorcycle together reaching four new villages with the Gospel. Amorane (our Great Harvest team evangelist) will be soon taking one month to bring the Gospel to these 4 villages and other new villages where the Gospel has not yet reached, in order to raise up more disciples.
Domingos Gabriel, of Monapo Mozambique is another one of those whose life was touched by the power of God. Last year I prayed with him to be able to quit drinking (a huge problem in that area). When I was with him this year he had this great big smile on his face and told me that after I prayed for him, he was able to completely stop drinking! He said: “Now I want you to pray that I can stop smoking!”
Three boys in Kasenga were notorious for stealing and causing much trouble in the village. Pastor Baguma of our Great Harvest Church in Uvira one day approached them to see if they might be open to starting a DBS group. Two of them agreed, one did not. Honestly, I am not sure of the sequence of events, but eventually the boys truly desired to live for Christ but felt controlled by evil desire to keep stealing. Pastor Baguma prayed and the Lord revealed to him they were under a witch doctor’s curse and only through repentance and prayer could they have victory. Evidently they at one point had sought out the witch doctor and drank some potion to help them become good thieves. I know this sounds crazy to us, but African witch doctors operate under demonic power and are very instrumental in bringing and keeping people in bondage. Once the Lord revealed what was going on they repented and prayed. Jesus freed them completely and now they are free from the desire to steal. The third young man who rejected Christ completely ended up in prison.
Adella is an illiterate single woman who is leading many to Christ through starting DBS groups. One day she cried out to the Lord because she so much wanted to read the Bible in order to know God and lead others in facilitating DBS groups. That prayer was answered in a strange way. Adella can now read without having been taught by anyone but God, and she can only read and understand the Bible!
Ester is one of our first Mozambican disciples. She had been caught up in a religious cult, but through the teaching of the Word of God she gave her life to Christ and left that cult. She later began a children’s ministry in Namancula for both young children and teens. Four of those teens are now leading the ministry God established through her, in order for Ester to go to another province of Mozambique. Ester continues to disciple these young leaders from afar via What’s App conversations. Her vision was and is to become a missionary to her own people. She has worked as an assistant to the principle in a Christian school in Chimoio, gained a teaching certificate, and is now in the middle of the bureau process of initializing a ministry school for needy village children, including orphans.
Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” If you look closely at this verse you will see making disciples successfully results in multiplication: Paul > Timothy> Faithful men> Others. If we do not see at least four generations of disciples, then we have failed. Disciples make disciples who make disciples and so on! That is how the Gospel spread throughout the whole world in such a short time. This is what we are doing in Mozambique and Congo, and wherever the Lord takes us to make disciples. It is not about building buildings, gathering huge crowds, or some social program. All those things are needed to some degree, but without discipleship — true discipleship and not mere conversion — we’d be failing. What we are doing in every place, every village, every nation to which the Lord leads us is to make disciples who make disciples. Disciples who love Jesus. Disciples who obey Jesus. Disciples who love to spread the love of God to others. We are not about building a big ministry center or even a big ministry — but we do want to reach many for Christ. Our prayer is that Jesus will send forth more laborers into the harvest.
When Katherine and I decided to go and live in Africa it was not an easy thing. In fact, it was probably the scariest and most risky thing we had ever done in our lives. We had no big mission or big church behind us. We had the call of God and the support of family and friends who believed in the call of God on our lives. And so, with a big gulp we left all behind to give our lives to a people of a strange place and a strange tongue. During that time, even before that time, we learned to completely depend upon God for our needs. Unlike all the other missionaries I know we did not have to go home each year and raise money to return to Mozambique. Through one financial miracle after another and the love and faithfulness of family and friends like you we were able to establish a ministry which will continue to grow through the years because of our commitment to the process of making disciples.
I am in weekly, sometimes daily communication with our Great Harvest International Ministry team there — to encourage, lead, and support them in whatever way I can. We are still very much involved with the our team in Mozambique and Congo. As you can see we have no intention of stopping. We believe the Lord will give us disciples in Comoros. We are praying also about going to UAE (Dubai). The Lord has given us contacts in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Zambia and I am sure in due time we will be expanding in those nations. It is a slow process because we start with relationships. David Watson said: “We go slow so that we can go fast”. Better to make a few good disciples than thousands who have no idea of the cost and will fall away in the end.
All thanks and glory be to our Lord Jesus whom we love because He first loved us. What a privilege to have lived in Africa and to continue to “Go” as He leads. We give thanks to God who has moved upon those who support this outreach to the other side of the world. Together we have extended God’s family there. Your partnership in prayers and giving have enabled us to see God draw many out to be holy people set apart unto Him and His purposes. They truly have heard His call as in 2 Corinthians 6:17,18 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”
Thanks for being disciples who are helping to make disciples who make disciples. We bless each and every one who made it to the end of this long letter… May your hearts rejoice with us in what God has done and is doing.
Still Going!,
Kevin & Katherine
