September 29, 2015 – Harvesters

A Life Transformed

My name is Ye Tun Aung. I am from Khuki village and a member of the NAGA tribe. This area is mostly unreached for Christ and there MBC are very few Christians. I was brought up in a Christian family along with two younger brothers and three younger sisters.

Though I was brought up in a Christian family, I did not have assurance of salvation. I pretended to be Christian until I was 15 years old. I was involved in youth and activities of the church, but I never felt real joy in my life. One day, I attended a crusade held by a Chin Evangelist, Saya YaCawng. I heard the power of the good news and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior and Lord. From that day onward I have assurance of salvation. Now, I am sure that if I die today, I will be with the Lord.

After I completed school, I wanted to attend Bible college. I needed to earn money, so I left home and moved to Phakanh to work. I spent the next four years away from home and my Christian support system. I came to feel the absence of God in my heart. I began to make bad choices in friends, which led me to use drugs and alcohol. I was totally addicted. My purpose was lost. I wanted to died many times.

By God’s grace, I was allowed to meet God again with the help of Pastor Sein Tun, a missionary from FBC. I became so hungry for the word of God and wanted to know more about Him. Glory Be to God and honor to His worthy Name! From my village, Pastor Tun and I walked for two days, then we took a bus for four days to arrive at Myanmar Bible College.

Myanmar Bible College is equipping me with biblical knowledge, helping me mature spiritually, and transforming me to be a better man. I know that when I graduate I will be the best usable instrument for God’s kingdom. After graduation, I will serve as a missionary in the many unreached areas of Myanmar, sharing the transformative message of Christ.

Never Too Late

By Athanase Habimana – Union of Baptist Churches

Many in DR Congo, an area that is plagued by war and poverty, have not had the opportunity to attend school or receive any job training. Those that do attend school are often forced to abandon their education due to the inability to pay school fees or because they are needed to assist at home with younger children or tend fields and livestock.

That’s all changing because of UBC’s commitment to provide valuable life skills to the people in the communities they serve. They currently have two vocational schools with additional programs that provide training in agricultural farming and goat and pig farming. They operate four handcraft centers that provide instruction in sewing and tailoring, as well as 230 literacy centers across the region. In the photo below, women are learning to read and write Swahili. This class costs each woman only $1 per month. What an amazing gift to be able to read and write!

Please be in prayer for the leaders at UBC as they work to expand their programs by upgrading computer labs and adding additional sewing machines to accommodate more students.

Success Stories

My name is Julienne Furaha, and I am 17 years old. I was forced to abandon school when I was in Form One (comparable to 9th grade)
because my parents are poor and could not afford my school fees.

I learned that the church in Hekima had a training center that taught sewing. I attended the center and spent six months studying sewing and how to use the sewing machine. I graduated last year and have started my own sewing room. I am able to make clothes and other things to earn money to help feed my family and to provide for my personal needs. Life has changed so much because I had the opportunity to learn. I am so thankful for the training center.

My name is Prince Kirumbula, and I am 36 years old. As a child, I did not attend any school. When I heard that Bethel church opened a school for adults, I knew I wanted to attend. After only one year, I knew how to read and write Kiswahili. I also took training in mathematice. Now I am able to do my small business knowing the math without any problems. I am grateful for the privilege of learning this far into my life. I had a big privilege of knowing what I was not expected to know. Many thanks to the UBC.

New Solution for an Age Old Problem

It seems like such a minor thing here in the United States: access to sanitary pads for women. They are readily available at an affordable price. That’s not the reality in rural Africa. While a variety of feminine hygiene products is available in large cities like Nairobi or Mombasa, there are no options for young women in rural villages.

Thousands of girls miss three to five days of school each month due to their menstrual cycles. Those absences lower their academic performance and self-esteem. It also widens gender disparities in educational achievements. Girls may also endanger their health by resorting to unhygienic solutions, like leaves, old cloth, sponges, or cotton from mattresses.

The leadership and staff of Pokot Outreach Ministry’s children’s homes have long searched for a sustainable solution to provide young women with the supplies they need for their monthly menstrual cycle. Over the past few years, several teams from the US have brought sanitary pads to distribute, but that was not practical for the long-term. In July, a team introduced a reusable sanitary pad kit.

The kit includes all of the materials to make a reusable sanitary pad holder, two washable sanitary pads, and a pretty bag for discreet storage. The girls will sew the kits themselves, not only giving them the satisfaction of being part of this solution, but equipping them with a valuable skill. Once they master making the pieces, they can then begin to create kits to sell to others.

sewing As the assembly and sewing was explained, the girls’ faces began to brighten as they realized the freedom this solution would afford them. They eagerly waited their
turn to sew a few stitches on the sample. Jane, the sewing instructor in Kodich, immediately went to her sewing machine to work. Many of the girls gathered around as she completed an entire kit in an hour!

The sanitary pad kits were provided for young women through our partners in Kenya and South Sudan. We are excited to be part of bringing this sustainable solution to young women and hope to be able to expand this program to our other African partners in the future.