2023 Spring Newsletter

Ignite Spring 2023

Building a culture of reading in Kenya You can enable Kenyan secondary school students to discover the bounty of books.

SparkLit

Where the Gospel is preached, books are needed

K E N YA

Jesus does not leave us alone!

You can help students like Precious Khalenya apply God’s word to the obstacles in their lives.

Growing up, I was always the most intelligent person in our family. In primary school, being the top student was my routine. A lot of people put their hope in me. However, when I joined high school, things changed.

I no longer always achieved the best grades. When this happened, I felt I was a disappointment.

This year, I competed in the Timazi National Readership Challenge. I had to read a book called In Search of Sanity by Ugandan engineer Musinguzi Begumisa and write an essay.

In this book the author openly and confidently talks about the challenges he faced coping with bipolar disorder.

God helps us face our challenges When he performed poorly in form one at high school, Mr Musinguzi disappointed his father. He was expected to be a fortress for his father in the future. Mr Musinguzi’s story made me understand that no situation is permanent. If I trust in God, I can study without fear and regain my hope and academic prowess.

Like me, Mr Musinguzi had a lot of insecurities and was not willing to confess to strangers. My secretive nature has made me live a life that is not progressing. When I don’t rely on God for my hope, I am overwhelmed with a lot of worries in my mind and move away from God. Mr Musinguzi’s decision to have a mentor made me realise that everybody needs someone who is older to offer guidance.

Mr Musinguzi’s experience also encourages me to give hope to my family. My brother has attempted suicide many times because of the loneliness and hatred he feels for himself. People look down on my family because of how my brother lives his life. We were on the verge of giving up.

When Mr Musinguzi faced challenges, instead of wallowing in despair, he talked to Jesus. During the most challenging

“It is bad manners to have more clothes than books!” This is the mantra of the Timazi National Readership Challenge. In 2024, contestants will read The Pursuit of His Calling: Following in Purpose by Dr Florence Muindi. times in his life, he never gave up. He believed that God could make a way for him. This challenges me to encourage my family to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour because he has not left us alone. He is right there with us even when we cannot perceive it. I am certain that Mr Musinguzi’s story will help anyone who is lost and alone to find their way.

Reading helps us know God Over 700 finalists and teachers from dozens of schools attended the National Readership Challenge awards gala in Nairobi. There were many activities and awards, and prizes included trophies, school fees and books for school libraries. I was shocked to win first prize. I met Mr Musinguzi and Timazi magazine editor Maggie Gathuku. Maggie wants young people to develop an appetite for Christian writing. Her motto is “It is bad manners to have more clothes than books!”

Please pray that God will use next year’s Readership Challenge to bless and inspire will subsidise the many students. Pray that they will grow in publication of wisdom and courage and take the hope of 3000 copies of the Jesus to the lost and lonely.

2024 Readership Challenge text, Precious Khalenya is a student at Chuka The Pursuit of Girls Secondary School in Chuka, Kenya.

His Calling.

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CAMBODIA

Mr Jesus You can help pastors like Kea Korn serve a growing church.

I left my village broken-hearted.

My girlfriend resisted other suitors, but when my cousin asked for her hand in marriage, her father said “Yes.” Her family did not approve of me or my gang. Even my own mother disowned me. My comrades-in-arms and I were very drunk when we arrived at the engagement party. I had no love. I had no faith. I had no hope. I was empty. I wanted to kill myself. The following year, when the wedding music started, I could stand it no longer and ran away to the city.

Filled with faith In Siem Reap, I rented a room and got jobs as a s­ ecurity guard, service station attendant and tuk tuk driver.

One night, a cousin took me to a Christian gathering.

The preacher said that the creator of all things had knitted me together in my mother’s womb and prepared all the days of my life. I asked God to fill my emptiness.

God answered my prayer. “You are my child. I will give you faith, hope and love so that you can set free the captives.”

I started studying English and found work in tourism.

For one year I was the Asia Holiday representative at the Siem Reap airport. One night, in a dream, I heard the words of Jesus. “Do you love me? Feed my sheep!” I had the same dream the following night. On the third night, the call was followed by a question. “Are you worried about losing your salary, commissions and benefits?” I awoke weeping.

“How will I tell people that this is my calling? Please confirm this call from your word.” After reading 1 Peter 5:2–4, I told my boss I was going to resign and start working for the church. He was concerned. “Are you sure? I have never heard of this company. What sort of business is it?”

Filled with hope Now I am planting churches in three villages. I begin by teaching English and Bible stories to children. We start sitting on the ground until a parent invites us to use their

“When I hear monks chanting at a funeral, I wonder whether the deceased had heard the Good News. If they had heard, then they were able to choose. But if they did not hear, they did not have a choice.” home. One family offered to sell us land so we could build a simple residence and classroom. This is where we meet each Sunday.

As always, I am learning on the job. I am reading Take the Pulse of Your Church. This book helps me to evaluate what I am doing and strengthen my church. I pray for my people.

I teach them from the Bible. I encourage them to read the Bible for themselves. Every Sunday afternoon, I send them out two-by-two to share the Good News.

Filled with love When I returned to my village everyone was astonished by my transformation. My old friends were angry because I would not drink with them. They called me Mr Jesus.

I decided to wait until they were sober before I explained how they too can be free.

Please pray that I will preach the word faithfully and be ready at all times to will enable correct, rebuke and encourage with Christian publisher patience and careful instruction.

Fount of Wisdom in Phnom Penh to Kea Korn is a pastor and church planter in Thlok Kambot publish 12 books Village, Ballangk Commune, Prasat Bakong District, Siem written in Khmer Reap, and recipient of a Fount of Wisdom book package. by local Christians.

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CHINA

See how much these books help me!

You can empower church leaders like Pastor Han. Fifteen years ago, when I g ­ raduated from Bible college, I was given a package of books. When I first felt the weight of the books in my hands I knew I was holding a priceless treasure.

I returned to my region and began to pastor a church. It was only as I served my flock that I began to appreciate just how useful these books would become. You cannot imagine how much these books continue to help me.

Fight for truth Heresy is always a threat to the Christian church. During the COVID pandemic, our buildings were closed and our online platforms restricted. Believers in rural areas were easily distracted by extreme ideas and cults which prowl, hunting for people with fragile faith and unstable foundations.

Fortunately, the books I had on doctrine and apologetics enabled me to defend the faith entrusted to us.

Although our churches have reopened, internet restrictions make my weekly preaching more strategic and my books even more valuable.

Build a community

couples seeking divorce tripled during the pandemic. It is a relief to be able to rely on the wisdom and experience of the Chinese authors of the books on marriage and family.

Walk the path of grace Most importantly, the books I was given help me to build up my relationship with God and grow in faith and perseverance. It is easy to concentrate on my duties as a pastor and the activities of our church and neglect my own relationship with God. This is a fatal mistake.

Pastors everywhere in China struggle to make ends meet.

It is tempting to become discouraged—and despair. In one of the books given to me, Ajith Fernando teaches us that joy and suffering are indispensable and inseparable components of Christian maturity. Serving Jesus is not an easy path. It is a path of grace.

God has used these books to sustain me and bless many people. I feel grateful from the bottom of my heart. will provide a Please pray that our Lord’s grace will theological and be sufficient for me and that his power pastoral library will be made perfect in my weakness. to a student graduating from Pastor Han is a pastor in northern China a Bible college in and recipient of a pastor book package.

China.

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Small-group ministry was rare among Chinese churches.

However, the suspension of public gatherings has made small groups a central part of the life of believers. This is a good thing but developing small groups requires time and energy. Interactive Bible-study material and disciple-making resources enable me to make the most of this opportunity.

My biggest pastoral challenge is caring for couples.

The one-child policy produced generations of people who never learned to get along with siblings or build relationships with peers. As a result, many struggle to accommodate others and to build strong marriages. It is common to see friction and conflict in relationships. The number of

This year’s graduate book package includes Simplified-Chinese editions of preaching resources Sweeter Than Honey and Let the Gospels Preach the Gospel by Christopher Wright.

CAMBODIA

Jesus came to help me You can help Koyn bring God’s word to the isolated Kavet ethnic community.

My family was too poor to live in the village. From dawn to dusk we worked in a clearing deep in the forest trying to grow food. Each April, I climbed 30-metre malva trees to harvest nuts.

We moved to the village when I was 13 years old. While walking to our plot in the forest I searched for wild pigs, porcupines, monkeys and pythons to sell. Still, my family often went hungry.

With envy I watched the other children walk to school.

I learned through the gospel When I was 16, some Christian community health and literacy workers came to our village, and for the first time I heard about Jesus. I was so moved to know that Jesus had come to help me. Most of the village didn’t care. Some older people were interested but I was the only young person.

I am still the only Christian in my family. The others still make sacrifices to the spirits.

I loved everything I heard about the YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS). I especially wanted to learn to read and write. But the fee of $100 and a 30-kilogram bag of rice was an unimaginable amount for me. I asked God for money. Suddenly, I had an opportunity to cut trees and sell timber. What was impossible had become possible.

At DTS I held a book for the first time. We studied the Khmer Bible, memorised verses and learned oral Bible storytelling. I asked God to help me learn to read the Bible.

On my phone, I recorded my friend reading the Bible. Then I listened to the recording while examining the text in the Bible. Over several months, one by one, I learned the Khmer letters, then words and sentences.

The following year I started a youth group at our village church and enrolled at the village school. Because I could read Khmer, I advanced directly to grade 6. The other students were 11 to 13 years old. I started at the bottom of the class, but within a few months I was top of my class.

At age 18, I enrolled at the district high school and moved

“I was excited to meet teachers from other villages and discover that we all share a desire to improve the nutrition, health and future prospects of our communities. Some of us are translating the Bible into Kavet.” into a dormitory, but after a month I had to drop out. I had run out of money.

I teach through the gospel When YWAM came to choose literacy teachers, the village leaders recommended me. My parents were proud of me, but I was surprised. I didn’t know how to read Kavet at all.

The YWAM staff encouraged me, “If you can write your name, we can teach you.” I joined my first literacy teacher-training workshop in 2019, and learned to read and write Kavet.

Now I am 24 and have been teaching for five years. I love teaching! When our young people learn to read and write in Kavet, they place value on their own culture. They also have opportunities to become village vets, forest rangers, health workers and, of course, teachers! Best of all, they can read the Bible for themselves.

Literacy helps us build our faith.

Please pray that I will stand strong and persevere. Pray that God will use me to will finance the bless my community and bring the Good publication of News to dark places. literacy textbooks, manuals, Bible Koyn is a volunteer literacy teacher and church stories and song leader in Kiri Vong Sa Leu Kavet Village, Siem books in the Kavet Pang District, Stung Treng Province. language.

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You can make Christian books available, accessible and affordable where commitment is strong but support and resources are scarce. $60 will provide a secondary school in Kenya with 20 copies of the 2024 Timazi Readership Challenge text.

$155 will provide a theological and pastoral library to a student graduating from a Bible college in China.

$500 will equip a literacy worker with textbooks, manuals, Bible stories and song books in the Kavet language.

$2,500 will enable Fount of Wisdom to publish a book written in Khmer by a Cambodian Christian.

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