Do you find yourself spending time with the same group of people all the time? Are you uncomfortable around “new” people who don’t go to church with you or who don’t work with you? How are you around people who don’t share your religious beliefs?

These are some of the challenges that evangelists and missionaries face on a day to day basis – the overflowing of their love of the Lord takes them out of their comfort zones. For Pastor Samuel of Uganda, this is reaching out to the primarily Muslim community where he lives. He has a church and a Christian school and an orphanage, but these are not the only ministries the Lord has called him to.

Pastor Samuel and his wife Mercy have committed their lives to reaching Muslims and other unreached peoples. On Easter Sunday, when most pastors are preaching a sunrise service or complimenting the women and children on their “Easter attire”, Pastor Samuel, his wife and a team of 13 traveled 15 km from their home church to celebrate Easter in an area they had reached out to during the four-month door–to–door campaigns they conducted last fall.

Following the Sunday home church service on Palm Sunday that saw 6 people dedicate their lives to Christ and another 16 get baptized, the team left for this village. During the week leading up to Easter the team proceeded to this village that worships evil forces, seeks the help of witch doctors and worships idols. Generally the outreach is to Muslims, but this is an area that is totally different. How would you feel stepping out into an evil area and camping there for a week? The week culminated in the first ever church service in this village. These people were seeing the love of Christ and the old things are passing away and new creations are being born. Pastor Samuel is eager to see where the Lord leads him and the changes that He makes in the lives of those that hear the Good News. A fledgling church’s first service – what better way to honor the Lord’s resurrection? prayer and praise at Easter.

Please keep Pastor Samuel and his family, church and new converts in your prayers. Change is good, and with the Lord even the most despicable characters can become new creations.