By Reuben Meriakol
Our ministry’s primary focus is bringing the good news to everyone through evangelism and church planting. Besides this, we also engage in community development activities such as education, health campaigns, and capacity building on social and economic matters.
In the ministry of preaching the gospel and church planting, we have missional leaders leading our missional hubs with evangelistic teams reaching a particular area of focus. For instance, the evangelism team of the main mission hub in Kapoeta ministers in the town’s outskirts, hospital, and prisons. The team conducted three house to house evangelism events in which over 50 households were reached. We also followed up with the Jesus film and other Bible videos, which was attended by hundreds of people (it is difficult to give a precise number because we normally conduct film ministry at night). We can confidently report that our main hub’s ministry impacted over 800 people in the past year.
The other mission hubs and village churches led by our missional leaders Nichodemus, Sam Etyang’, Eliya Lokuru, and Lopeyok also did marvelous work. Their village teams were able to do home to home evangelism, night fireplace evangelism, and water well evangelism (preaching to people who gather at water points). Open air preaching/crusades were done in Chukudum (among the Diding’a people), which over 400 people attended. Also, we normally use the Christmas celebration to make contact with many people in the village. Our ministry leaders, along with members of the village churches, organize for food and drinks on Christmas eve and/or day, which becomes an invite-a-friend event. Most of those who are invited are unbelievers, and they get an opportunity to hear about the greatest gift of a savior to the world. This is part of the year that we always look forward to because we make contact with many new people.
Another success in 2017 was the program in Nachilagur village. In this village, we implemented two of our major goals of ministry: church planting and education. We planted a church that is now meeting every Sunday at the Nachilagur primary school. The primary school was one of the many closed down schools in the state until our ministry revived operations. Both the school and the church program have given us contact with over 800 people in a village with a population of about 2,000. Over 500 hundred people, including children, teenagers, young adults, and parents are directly impacted by this twin program.
In 2017, our entire ministry made contact and shared the gospel with over 3,500 people, among whom over 250 came to faith.
This is Martha Lokwale – a woman who believes in God’s power and provision. She walks for over 21 kilometers to our mission home/hub in Kapoeta. She always longs for her people to know the Word. She has defied all odds in a society that gives the lowest regard to women. In this society where women are there to be seen and not to be heard, she has mustered the courage to share her testimony among her village members. Her changed life is the script that her own village reads as they listen to the good news we preach. She has earned respect and influence and has on several occasions brought women to visit our church in Kapoeta. Her hospitality and generosity show the spirit of resilience which rises above the shortcoming of droughts, diseases, and economic crisis that points that her anchor and faith is in Christ, the rock of ages. Whenever there is an outbreak of disease in her village, she takes the burden on herself and walks the full distance to share with us the prayer requests from her village. We normally respond by prayer and sending medical help to rescue the situation. Her faith fans mine into flames and has drawn my heart to dream for a health facility to help the many women she worries about in the village. She has faith that cholera that killed dozens in her village will not happen once they have a source of clean water. I see the spirit of God moving in this woman, and I can’t wait to see Martha’s prayers answered!
We praise God for the provision of the things we have been praying for: completion of the church construction, motorbikes for our two mission hubs and accompanying Jesus film systems. Pray that the use of these resources shall be effective in showing the love of Christ and preaching of the good news to the unreached.
We have a vision of planting 12 or more churches this year; at least three in each of our four mission hubs including Kapoeta, Riwotoo, Chukudum, and Lotien/Mogos. Please pray for our missional leaders Nichodemus, Sam, Eliya and Joseph as they lead their teams that they may be led by the Holy Spirit in rallying the troops to battle for the lost souls. We thank you for your prayers and support!