NORTH AFRICA
by Nicole James
IT STARTS I WITH ONE PERSON
t can start very small.” Oliveira said. “Once you have one person who becomes a believer, you can disciple this person, you can encourage this person, you can challenge this person to share what they believe with people who are important to them.”
Oliveira*, a Brazilian working in North Africa, witnesses Kingdom growth as he shares God’s love one small step at a time.
Oliveira has been faithfully sharing the love of Jesus with people in North Africa for 20 years. One conversation at a time; confident that God can work through these small, daily interactions and multiply them for His glory. And He is! It’s a pattern that Oliveira is seeing again and again. In one city, a lady became a believer and led two of her nieces to the Lord. In another city, someone else decided to follow Jesus and shared with several members of his family, who also became Christians. Oliveira has partnered with media outreach organisations, meeting one-on-one with people in his host country who have specifically requested spiritual follow-up. “The goal is that as we build friendships, they will introduce us to other people, and what we are sharing, they will share with others,” he said. “From the time we arrived in North Africa until today, the spiritual situation has really changed,” explained Oliveira. “There are house churches in places where there were no house churches before. There is more interest among people in the Gospel. The younger generation, they are interested. They are seeking for information; they want to know more!” Still, despite the increase in people seeking truth and evidence of new small groups of national believers meeting in various places, less than one per cent of the country’s population are Christians. Oliveira and his wife spend time praying for and travelling to an area of the country known as a ‘black hole’ in terms of spiritual interest. There are no known believers there, no requests for Bibles, and no signs of people seeking for Jesus.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people”. Matthew 4:19
“ONCE YOU HAVE ONE PERSON WHO BECOMES A BELIEVER, YOU CAN DISCIPLE THIS PERSON, YOU CAN CHALLENGE THIS PERSON TO SHARE WHAT THEY BELIEVE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.” The task ahead may seem daunting, but Oliveira trusts that God is bringing change. He looks back on North Africa’s rich Christian heritage. “Some of the Church Fathers came from this place in the early centuries,” he recalls, emphasising the influential role the Church in North Africa had in the first few centuries after Christ, in shaping our understanding of theology and in sending out some of the first Gospel workers. Oliveira is confident that, “What God has done in the past, He will do again.”
THINK OF ONE PERSON YOU KNOW... …one person who needs to know the transforming love of Jesus in their lives. Take confidence in Oliveira’s testimony. Start small. Start with one. What would it look like if you committed to sharing Jesus with this person? How can you introduce them to God’s truth?
* Names changed
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