Nations Issue 2 2018

A PUBLICATION OF WORLD OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL • NATIONSM AGA ZINE.ORG • ISSUE 2, 2018

IN THIS ISSUE:

Two Life-Changing Words • Business-Mission Sweet Spot• Solar-Powered Megavoice • Ambushed and Assaulted by Witch Doctors • Family News and more ...

OUR MISSION

World Outreach International is a multiracial fellowship of Christians and ministries that exists to impact least-reached peoples with the Good News of Jesus Christ through: • Raising Leaders • Evangelism and Church Planting • All Nations Mobilisation • Children’s Ministry • Humanitarian Aid Melbourne (Australia)-based, International Director Bruce Hills heads an executive team of senior missionaries, pastors, and business leaders.

WOI follows recognised international standards and procedures for child safety.

CHIEF EDITOR: Bruce Hills PUBLICATION MANAGER: Janet Chan DESIGN: Prisca P Rachel McColl EDITORIAL SUPPORT: Robin Merrill

View Nations wherever you are, on your computer, phone, or tablet.

Visit nationsmagazine.org or scan the QR code

PERMIT NO:

MCI (P) 089/04/2018

PUBLISHERS: 2 Kallang Avenue #04-09, CT Hub Singapore 339407 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: woi@world-outreach.com PRINTERS:

Thumbprints Utd Sdn Bhd Lot 24, Jalan RP3, Rawang Perdana Industrial Estate Rawand, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/ worldoutreachin

Follow us on Instagram @worldoutreachin

Follow us on Twitter @worldoutreachin

Subscribe on YouTube youtube.com/ worldoutreach

Follow us on Vimeo vimeo.com/ worldoutreach

Follow us on Issuu issuu.com/ worldoutreach

View Nations on your tablet. It’s the closest to the real thing!

By following us on issuu you will be the first to receive the latest magazine straight to your digital device.

Visit issuu.com/worldoutreach or scan the QR code

COUNTRY OFFICES INTERNATIONAL OFFICE: Bruce Hills (International Director) 2 Kallang Avenue #04-09 CT Hub Singapore 339407 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: woi@world-outreach.com

HOLLAND: Meint Kisteman (Board Chairman) Oogstweg 12 8071 WS Nunspeet The Netherlands T: (31 62) 467 1758 E: info@world-outreach.nl

SINGAPORE: Tarn Ping Kueh (Office) 2 Kallang Avenue #04-09 CT Hub Singapore 339407 T: (65) 6464 8698 E: singapore@world-outreach.com

AUSTRALIA: Grahame Orpin (Board Chairman) Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 136 Flinders Lane Post office Melbourne VIC 8009 T: (617) 5313 8591 T: (612) 8203 4530 M: +61 0456772107 F: (617) 3319 8928 E: admin.au@world-outreach.com

MALAYSIA: Philip Chieng (Board Chairman) PO Box 8541, Kelana Jaya 46792 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan T: (60 3) 77325924 E: malaysia@world-outreach.com

SOUTH AFRICA: Ivan Venter Postnet unit #459 Private Bag X1288 Potchefstroom 2520 T: (27 18) 290 5285 M: (27 79) 084 2141 E: southafrica@world-outreach.com

CANADA: Lynn LeRoy (Office) PO Box 172 Lambeth Stn London, ON N6P 1R1 T: 519 680 3355 E: canada@world-outreach.com

NEW ZEALAND: Gail McDougall (Office) PO Box 97230, Manukau 2241 T: (64 9) 263 5434 T: (64 9) 887 7150 M: (64 21) 330 874 E: nz@world-outreach.com

UNITED KINGDOM: Jon Hitchen (Office) BM Box 5265 London, WC1N 3XX T: +44(0) 203 642 4873 E: office@wouk.org W: www.wouk.org

Field Ministries Director: Peter Smith Executive Manager: Chia Shee Wai International Board: Luke Chong, Lorraine Dierck, Wilbur Farmilo, Wayne Freeman, Gary Levens, Rob Reid, Bruce Hills International Leadership Team: Chia Shee Wai, Bambi Cataluna, Bruce Hills, Peter Smith, Henry V, Ben Brooks

USA: Aaron Rudd 615 East Sego Lily Drive Sandy, UT 84070 T: (1 801) 572 0211 ext.11 M: (1 801) 599 3370 E: usa@world-outreach.com 501 (c) 3 Tax Exemption Available

COVER IMAGE: Image taken on a recent short-term outreach to Lesotho.

TWO LIFE-CHANGING WORDS In what we commonly call the Great Commission (Matthew 28:1820), Jesus instructed his disciples, and by implication all believers, to go and make disciples of all ethnic (people) groups. The two words that are the key to understanding this whole passage are "make disciples".

All the other commands, such as go, baptise, and teach, flow out of the central command to make disciples.

This was Jesus’ brilliant blueprint to save the world: make disciples who would make disciples who would make disciples … until he returns.

But his commission is prefaced by two other words that, to me, should fill us with courage and confidence as we endeavour to fulfil this mandate.

These two words are the very first words of his commission: all authority.

After meeting with his disciples on the mountain, Jesus said: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-19). We are commissioned to go and make

disciples on the basis that Jesus has all authority.

power of the Spirit, to deliver millions of prisoners Satan has in chains.

As fully Man and fully God, for Jesus to complete his redemptive mission, the penalty for sin had to be paid, and the enemy had to be defeated and disarmed. As the representative of the human race, Jesus achieved this dual purpose on the cross. Through the complete work of the cross, which includes his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus redeemed us from sin and he broke Satan’s power (see Colossians 2:13-15). It is summarised perfectly for us by John in 1 John 3:5 and 8 where it says, "He appeared so that he might take away our sins …

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work ". This means that Jesus has all authority over every dominion (visible and invisible) and every power (human or demonic). There is no higher or greater authority.

Therefore, let us remember that we do not engage in missions under our own authority, but under his absolute authority. We do not conduct mission from a position of defeat, but from a position of victory. We do not go in our own strength, but in his strength, with his enabling and empowerment.

The Gospel we preach is not a feeble, powerless presentation, but "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

This opened the way for the church, through the work of mission, in the authority of Jesus’ name and in the

May we remember these two liberating words: All Authority!

Bruce Hills

International Director world-outreach.com/people/bruce-hills

Jesus said: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-19).

ISSUE 2, 3, 1, 2018 2015 2017 •• •• ISSUE

2 2

ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME Anonymous, SOUTH EAST ASIA •

Men's fellowship

Woman carrying water in Babu village

Many of the Jogi communities are dispersed all across the Thatta district in the Sindh province of South Pakistan.

We have been reaching these Jogi communities of about twenty to thirty families each, one village at a time, for the last five years.

To date, three of these villages have received the Lord. The Jogis – the landless, untouchable Hindus rejected

Educating school children

by the higher caste Hindus – are often oppressed and exploited by the Muslim communities. At the mercy of these Muslim landlords, the Jogis are forced to cultivate their lands, receiving meagre wages and often without any basic amenities.

Women's fellowship

Building relationships and trust are crucial. Just this year, Babu villagers have been very receptive, and the Lord opened their hearts to his glorious Gospel.

Until we came, the Jogis had never heard of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Today, however, they are believers in Christ, with thirty-one of them baptised, and now discipled.

In Pakistan, direct evangelism poses a great risk, even in reaching Hindus! Our approach has been to provide social and community development to these needy Hindus, and primary education allows us access into the villages.

Praying for the sick

The good samaritan skit

Distribution of school uniforms for the children

SOUTH EAST ASIA LEARNING TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS Daniel and Uci Van Laeken, SOUTH EAST ASIA • Ministry leaders working with training and caring for tribal children. world-outreach.com/people/daniel-uci-van-laeken I am Sofia. I am seventeen years old and have lived in New Hope since June 2016. Last September I joined the Gospel class and after practicing for two weeks, I knew the Gospel story by heart and began telling friends in New Hope and at school. Some of my friends at school listened very carefully and wanted to believe in Jesus right after my story. My New Hope friends also wanted to learn how to proclaim Jesus to someone, and they are now following these evangelism lessons.

NEW LEGS! Carles and Ayu, SOUTH EAST ASIA • Our neighbour Andrew complained of suffering from gout in his legs and was thus unable to do much. Carles laid hands on his legs, prayed for healing, and then asked how he felt. Andrew said that he felt "kruk-kruk" in his legs but that he was still in discomfort, so Carles prayed again. Carles checked to see how he felt, and Andrew said that the heaviness in his legs was gone. He immediately got up and wanted to do physical work. Although he wasn’t interested to know more, we give thanks for his healing.

S U D D E N LY C O M P L E T E Rama and Sinta Jones, SOUTH EAST ASIA • Ministry leaders involved in training and cross-cultural communication. world-outreach.com/people/rama-sinta-jones Mr K received a partial healing when prayed for by our team members last month, but his fifteen-year breathing issues would return when our men left his house. Something weird was going on spiritually. Suddenly he is now completely healed. Before, he could only walk six steps before being exhausted. Last week, he went walking for four hours and only came home because he was hungry. God is good.

CHILDREN’S OUTREACH IN VIETNAM’S HIGHLANDS Peter and Bev van der Westhuyzen, NEW ZEALAND • Ministry leaders involved in children’s evangelism and discipleship. world-outreach.com/people/peter-bev-van-der-westhuyzen

Vacation Bible School (VBS) outreach

Our Generation Ministries (GM) team recently went to many places holding Vacation Bible School (VBS) outreaches. They also demonstrated and then trained workers how to run them. In Cam Ranh, the pastor invited about ninety children, and most received Jesus at the end of the programme. The fifty-year-old senior pastor was so happy and moved that he almost cried. He also said he had

never had evangelism training like this and wanted more.

At another training in a very remote village, the new children’s leaders tried to stop our trainers from leaving! They said that the “Grow Up with Jesus” curriculum is so good and powerful, they wanted more training, and made them promise to come back soon.

• ISSUE 2, 2018 •

4

BUSINESS-MISSION SWEET SPOT

Kevin and Jeh Sie Chan, SOUTH EAST ASIA • Ministry team leaders involved in evangelism and discipleship. world-outreach.com/people/kevin-jeh-sie-chan In 2008 my wife and I spent a year travelling and visiting ministries around Asia. Among other things, we visited forty-five cities in eleven countries, slept in sixty-five beds, and crashed one car. This gave us a broad view of the various forms of ministry carried out by dedicated, passionate, and sacrificial people; and also of the monumental challenge of the task that remains.

We noticed two main obstacles to sustainable, growing faith communities taking root. The first and most apparent one is a lack of finances. The second presented itself in different ways, but boils down to church-planters finding it difficult to establish natural connections with the community when entering a new area. Almost every barrier we observed was strongly related to one of these issues.

•

an indigenous pastor who started a café that provides him great connections with his community and a nonthreatening venue for people to come to for church.

•

a missionary who is running a manufacturing plant in the most closed country in the world today.

•

many others who are offering spiritual as well as physical and financial hope and having great impact on their communities.

Just like any emerging concept or movement, there is a learning curve and some resistance to change. However, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything within it” (Psalm 24:1), and the signs are that he is mobilising his business resources in a greater way for his mission today!

We also had the opportunity to attend an event on transformational businesses, where we were exposed to a starkly different reality. Not only did these businesses positively impact their communities, they did it through providing goods and services their communities were happy to pay for.

I realised that businesses like these could be designed to create an intersection between natural connections with the community and financial provision. In that sweet spot is huge potential for overcoming many of the barriers we find in missions today.

Over the past few years, I have seen and met: •

a mission to a Central Asian country whose business provided employment to hundreds and ended up reforming the tax system of the country.

Kevin is a World Outreach International Mission Partner, who serves in a support role to field personnel. He and his wife, Jeh Sie, and their two daughters reside in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“The earth is the Lord’s and everything within it” (Psalm 24:1), and the signs are that he is mobilising his business resources in a greater way for his mission today!

THAILAND P R AY I N G F O R H E A L I N G Malcolm and Sandy Potter, THAILAND • Ministry leaders involved in training and caring for tribal children. world-outreach.com/people/malcolm-sandy-potter Malcolm visited a nineteen-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Wilson’s disease four years ago. They shared, “Sadly her animist parents haven’t been interested in getting medication, which would increase her very limited mobility. However, the believers have been praying for her, and she can now eat normal food. I also heard her speak a little for the first time in a long time, and she can now stand up by herself – Glory to God!”

EUROPE R E V I S I T I N G S E E D S P L A N T E D L O N G AG O Barry and Rowena McKnight, UNITED KINGDOM • I have recently returned from a three-week ministry trip to Thailand where Rowena and I served for over thirty years in church planting and leadership training before returning to the United Kingdom.

I visited the north-east where I was warmly welcomed back. In the first meeting, one young man who was on drugs gave his life to Christ. More than twenty people who were prayed for testified that God had healed them, and the pain had completely gone.

Following a leadership training session, I visited two areas where a new church had recently been started and heard remarkable stories of church growth through the witness of new believers.

In the north, I preached at an Akha tribal church. Finally, at a church in Bangkok a man approached me and thanked me for discipling him thirty years ago and told me of how he had grown in Christ since that time. I give Jesus the praise and glory.

• ISSUE 2, 2018 •

6

AFRICA G O O D N E W S I N YO U Ivan Venter, SOUTH AFRICA• South Africa Director In February, we conducted a discipleship workshop in Mafikeng, South Africa. On the first evening, we focused on the love of Jesus as the motive for making disciples. During this session, we ministered that the good news of Jesus must first become “good news in you”, before it can be “good news through you”. Many people were touched by the love of Jesus during that evening.

MIRACULOUS CRUSADE! Frank and Ankia van der Merwe, SOUTH AFRICA• Ministry leaders involved in evangelism and discipleship.

We have seen much fruit from the Zandspuit crusade. More than 500 people were saved and are currently being discipled by nine local churches. There were many healings, deliverances, and baptisms. There is great unity among the local churches, which we see as a direct result of the Lord working in our midst, and we are now working on three – yes, three – new evangelistic campaigns in the next twelve months.

LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY HAVE YOU MADE A WILL? Making a will is the only way you can be sure that your wishes will be followed after you die. Having a will also makes your loved ones’ time of grief simpler. If you don’t leave a will, part or all of your estate may go to people whom you never intended to benefit, or even to the government!

Including a gift to the ministry of World Outreach International in your will is a special and personal way to continue making a difference in the world after your life on earth has passed.

For further information, please contact your nearest World Outreach International office.

FRONTLINE PRAYER Thank you for supporting our partners in prayer!

DAY 1

DAY 6

Elisa Diaz

Prai Wongkampha

Serving in Thailand

Serving in Thailand

DAY 2

DAY 7

Karaya Kanc hana

John and Mar y

Serving in Thailand

Serving in Vietnam

DAY 3

DAY 8

Praser t Panyamankong

Chris and Nadine Brit tain

Serving in Thailand

Serving in Australia

DAY 4

DAY 9

David and Ruth T

Geof and Marion Gunton

Serving in Thailand

Serving in Latin America

DAY 5

DAY 10

Chaiyot and Gayle Wansong

Bruce Hills

Serving in Thailand

Serving from Australia

FRONTLINE FILES DAY 11

DAY 16

Roger and Vivienne Latham

Vijaya Chowdhuri Serving in Bangladesh

Serving the indigenous in Australia

DAY 17 DAY 12

Claris and Shirley van der Mer we

Andrew Mercer

Serving in Botswana

Serving from Australia

DAY 18 Joseph and Aimee Dayamba

DAY 13

Serving in Burkina Faso

Carl and Gail Musc h Serving the indigenous in Australia

DAY 19 Nathan and Sawson Bassaly Serving in Egypt

DAY 14 Rod and Lynley Talbot Regional Directors, Africa and Middle East, serving from Australia

DAY 20 Basem Saad Serving in the Middle East

DAY 15

DAY 21

Sukhen and Puspa B

Carlos Silva

Serving in Bangladesh

Serving in the Middle East

FRONTLINE FILES DAY 22

DAY 27

Menuo Keditsu

AC Mani

Serving in India

Serving in India

DAY 23

DAY 28

Tomba Khoisnam

Dr Wilbur Manners

Serving in India

Serving in India

DAY 24

DAY 29

Oken Khumujam

Keith Reents

Serving in India

Serving in India

DAY 25

DAY 30

Manikhombi Khundongbam

Lumlang R Serving in India

Serving in India

DAY 26

DAY 31

Seston Mallar

P yndap W

Serving in Thailand

Serving in India

SUBSCRIBE to Frontline Prayer by

visiting nationsmagazine.org/prayer and receive daily updates by email or the PrayerMate app

MIDDLE EAST N OT E N O U G H !

Basem and Rasha Harmina, EGYPT • Ministry team leader mobilising and training young adults across the Middle East for mission. world-outreach.com/people/basem-rasha-harmina Last January I went to Syria. I was preaching in a church and found the church was full of new believers from an ethnically non-Christian background. I met a couple who were going to celebrate their marriage the next month. They asked for prayer, so I prayed a normal prayer for blessing.

They stopped me and said, “Not enough; this first time we come, we need to accept Jesus”.

NORTH AMERICA R E A C H I N G YA Z I D I R E F U G E E S I N C A N A DA Ibrahim and Phebe Zabaneh, NORTH AMERICA. Mission Associates working among the Arabic-speaking people in North America.

The Yazidis are a Kurdish religious minority (approximately 1.5 million people) indigenous to northern Syria and Iraq. Yazidi is a religion distinct from Islam. Every Yazidi is a Kurd, but not every Kurd is Yazidi. They speak Kurdish as well as Arabic. They are regarded as a least-reached people group and have recently come into the global spotlight due to their persecution

by ISIS. Tens of thousands have sought refuge in regions including Armenia, Germany, and North America.

A year ago, Canada started receiving

With the Yazidi Ladies

the Yazidi refugees. More than 200 people are in Manitoba right now. Our ministry started an outreach among them. Last December, we held an evangelistic Christmas concert, and many of them came to listen. Most of them were hearing the Gospel for the very first time. We heard stories about how God is showing himself to them through dreams. We held a special prayer meeting to pray about the attack on their city Afrin (in Syria), where most of them still have family living. As a result of these outreaches, a few of them started giving their lives to Jesus, and last month I baptised two of them. We felt that God sent us here to reach the Yazidi refugees at such a time as this.

There are no records of the number of believers among this people group because of the fear of ongoing persecution. Some people have been kicked out of their families because they became Christians. Please pray for the

Baby dedication for one of the Yazidi families

salvation of the Yazidis and for them to be healed from their emotional wounds stemming from the 2014 genocide in Iraq. Pray that the Lord would intervene to see the release of those who remain kidnapped and for the comfort of the families who have lost their loved ones. Also pray for the healing of their physical and emotional needs.

Ibrahim Zabaneh is a Mission Associate working in Winnipeg, Canada.

He is married with three children.

TO M AKE A DONATION OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EM AIL NEWSLETTER VISIT WORLD-OUTREACH.COM

AUSTRALIA T R A I N I N G A N D E Q U I P P I N G I N K E N YA A N D N E PA L Andrew Mercer, AUSTRALIA • Leadership Development Trainer and Seminar Facilitator. world-outreach.com/people/andrew-mercer In December 2017, Karen Pack and I travelled to Nairobi and then to Kisii to conduct the third year of the Leader of Leaders (LOL) course (Nairobi) and the Train the Trainer course (Kisii). It was a great time spent training and encouraging leaders within Christ’s church in Kenya. In Nairobi, more than 160 attended the LOL training, and we

were able to graduate more than 100 who had completed the whole three years of the course. In Kisii, Karen was able to train and commission twentyseven men and women to take the LOL course to their local ministry areas. We are multiplying the number who can train and equip others in Kenya!

The emerging leaders who gathered in Pokhara, Nepal

In early February 2018, I travelled to Pokhara to commence our training of emerging leaders in Nepal. Forty-two young men and women gathered for the training, some travelling upwards of nineteen hours by bus to attend. These are hardy and faithful young leaders!

All who attended greatly appreciated our first year of training and are eagerly awaiting the second instalment. A big thank you to Pastor LB Chaudhary, our in-country partner, for the vision and passion to bring the LOL training to Nepal.

On the left, in-country partner LB Chaudhary, and on the right, Keshar Chaudari, my translator

M O B I L I S I N G L AT I N A M E R I C A Geof and Marion Gunton, AUSTRALIA • world-outreach.com/people/geof-marion-gunton

Geof and Marion Gunton praise God for Latin America’s Inaugural Simply Mobilising Consultation. Seven Latin American countries were represented (Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras,

Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, and Dominican Republic). We praise and honour God for his amazing progress in Latin America and the formation of a Latino team that will direct growth

throughout the region. This was such a significant milestone towards the mobilisation of Latin American churches to impact their communities and the ends of the earth.

• ISSUE 2, 2018 •

12

FAMILY NEWS PA U L A N D S U E F O S S E

J O N A N D W E N DY H I T C H E N

Paul and Sue Fossé are proud to announce the birth of their first grandchild on 1 February 2018.

Anna Naomi Fossé to Baden and Liz Fossé.

Jon and Wendy Hitchen (UK Office Manager) proudly announce the birth of their first child, Katie Joy Hitchen.

CLARIS AND S H I R L E Y VA N DER MERWE Claris and Shirley van der Merwe are celebrating their thirtieth wedding anniversary.

ANGELA STEPHENS

BEN AND RACHEL BROOKS Ben and Rachel Brooks (serving in South East Asia) celebrated twenty years of marriage.

H E N RY A N D B E T S Y V Henry and Betsy V are celebrating their thirtyfifth wedding anniversary.

Angela Stephens (serving in Kenya) married Isaac Njenga at a ceremony in Nairobi in December 2017.

If you know of any special events or milestones, please send them to communications@world-outreach.com.

FAMILY NEWS

CELEBRATING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF GENERATION MINISTRIES ww Thirty-two years ago, Peter and Bev van der Westhayzen

left Bible college and began full-time missions involvement.

ww Twenty-five years ago they relocated to Hong Kong, stepped

out in faith, and began ministry to the children of Asia and the Middle East.

ww In response to God’s clear call, they trusted in the truth

expressed so well by Hudson Taylor that “God's work done in God's way would never lack God supply.”

ww The Lord supplied money and dedicated people from various

nations who teamed up with them and became the key to fulfilling what God called them to accomplish.

Bangladesh children's worker conference 2005

ww A four-year programme in China resulted in 20,000 children's

workers being trained.

ww The birthing of an exceptional ministry in Bangladesh that

now, through a staff of sixty-four people, reaches communities where children's needs are greatest.

ww The introduction, publication, and wide usage of an extensive

discipleship programme in four countries.

ww Over 70,000 “Grow Up with Jesus” (CBL) book/visual aid

sets printed.

ww Publishing of another 60,000 books of lessons, Bible studies, Kids' workers at China seminar

ww Many thousands of children began relationships with Jesus

and grew through discipleship programmes.

ww Bev began to write, starting with the first ten foundational

discipleship lessons.

ww Despite no firm contacts in restricted-access nations such as

China and Vietnam, through one God-ordained circumstance after the other, step-by-step, the Lord made a way to overcome many obstacles.

and evangelism materials in seven languages.

ww Training of around 50,000 children's workers. ww Small-scale humanitarian projects.

Peter and Bev write that they are “so grateful to those who have supported the ministry – particularly those who have given consistently for many years – some since the very beginning of our ministry. We are hugely grateful to God who has given us this wonderful privilege of serving him in his purposes.”

ww From small beginnings with only a dream of how this could

come to pass, Generation Ministries now ministers to tens of thousands of children in over ten nations.

Some highlights have been: ww After working with Vietnamese refugees for two years in Hong

Kong, they began twenty-five years of ministry to Vietnamese children among the house church movement.

Pray for team 2006

Bev teaching in Vietnam

Khagrachori Kid's Camp drama

Vietnam early team meeting

China teachers practice with Foundation series

Training village women to lead small discipleship groups

SOLAR-POWERED MEGAVOICE Colin and Jenny Ayling, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders involved in church planting and training of children's church leaders. world-outreach.com/people/colin-jenny-ayling In 2000 the Makua people were one of Africa’s largest least-reached groups, a people deeply bound by animism.

As we went to live among the Makua in Northern Mozambique, we quickly discovered God’s Word would become the means through which he would reveal himself to the Makua.

We began to see many Makua come to know Christ, and churches planted in rural villages, but immediately the greatest need was to have God’s Word in Makua – their heart language.

These new believers longed to know the God of the Bible – a God who is more powerful than the spirit world they feared! Like new-born babies they had a hunger for spiritual milk and we were desperate for Scripture in Makua! However, simply buying Bibles was not an option. We had twenty new churches with just a handful of men who could read – and not one literate woman!

Through partnerships with many churches in New Zealand, we were able to produce solar-powered MegaVoice players, so the Makua could listen to God’s Word in their own language.

We began to see significant transformation as people heard the Scriptures in Makua. Many testified they had never dreamt that it would ever be possible for them to study the Word of God, and they were now experiencing God’s power, as they discovered the life God’s truth brings.

In a culture where women carry immense shame and feelings of inferiority, God’s Word was setting Makua women free from their captivity. As they began to meet in small groups under cashew trees, these women confessed that until hearing God’s Word, they didn’t even think God would hear the prayers of a woman. Many neighbours

would attend and ask to borrow the MegaVoice players to listen to God’s Word, resulting in many lives being transformed!

Today a Makua team leads Maziotela Ministries’ monthly Leadership Training school, and new churches continue to be planted in Northern Mozambique. Many village women still gather to meet in small groups under trees, as the power of the Word of God continues to transform lives.

Colin and Jenny Ayling

TO M AKE A DONATION OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EM AIL NEWSLETTER VISIT WORLD-OUTREACH.COM

MOZAMBIQUE L E A R N I N G F R O M YO U N G B E L I E V E R S Myriam Wahr, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leader providing natural (holistic) health care. world-outreach.com/people/myriam-wahr Papa Herminio is a health care worker.

Originally from a Muslim background, he is now a believer. Two years ago he participated in a discipleship training school. Four times a month, he now rides his bicycle to visit four health care houses in different villages to meet with children from our orphan programme and people from the village who want to learn about Jesus.

My heart was full of joy when he told me that he and other health care workers were invited to speak about Jesus and health care in two mosques. In one village, the imam invited other imams from other mosques too. So they will go there soon. There is hunger for God. Also, Papa Herminio told me about his wife, Maria. Also from a Muslim background, she now follows Jesus.

Health workers home destroyed

Maria and Herminio’s child recently had diarrhoea. Herminio called me on the phone, and we prayed. But Maria said, "We also need to fast." So they fasted, and the child got healthy.

I can learn so much from these young believers.

Health care workers. A fun day in Memba.

She once had a dream about helping older people, so she now visits elderly people in their homes, washes their clothes with her own soap, and helps them carry home the harvest of their crops. This impressed another woman, Mama Fatima, so that she said, "I want to do it with you, Mama Maria."

Even though we had all this joy, there were some hard weeks also.

In mid-January, there was a cyclone, big storms, and a lot of rain. Many homes were damaged or destroyed. It has been our privilege to serve these lovely people with natural medicine.

The local government asked us to help with treating the sick and those with coughs. We also helped with practical supplies like rice, plastic sheets, beans, and soap.

Families in tents

Destroyed homes

LIBERTY FROM ILLNESS AND TORMENT Eugene and Tina Wessels, MOZAMBIQUE • Field leaders for Southern Africa. world-outreach.com/people/eugene-tina-wessels with some of those illnesses, and the witch doctor said that the illnesses were caused by bad spirits.

My name is Tomásia. Since I was small, I had suffered from various illnesses.

My parents told me that I was born

One day, my sister fell ill, and my parents brought witch doctors to the house to have a ceremony for her.

Then they gave me clothes that the witch doctors use. These would make me a witch doctor too. When I decided to go into the church, I spent a lot of time there but still had things of the witch doctor with me. The bad spirits continued to bother me, and I saw that

hiding these things was not helping my behaviour. So one day, I decided to inform the pastor of the church that I had these things at home.

On the day that I was baptised, I handed all these things over and burned them.

From that day until now, I am well. I do not suffer from disturbances from evil spirits anymore, and being sick hour after hour has also stopped.

Praise God! I thank God for this wonderful healing.

• ISSUE 2, 2018 •

16

MOZAMBIQUE B R E A K I N G F R E E F R O M T H E B O N DAG E O F W I T C H C R A F T Eugene and Tina Wessels, MOZAMBIQUE • Field leaders for Southern Africa. world-outreach.com/people/eugene-tina-wessels

My name is Fátima. For many years I suffered from various sicknesses and I went to many witch doctors, but they did not have the solution. One day,

someone said that I should try going to church to see if my circumstances would change. Thanks to God, he put everything right when I submitted myself into his hands. When I told the brothers at church, who were teaching us about baptism, that I had “things” at home, they counselled me to bring them with me on the day that I was to be baptised so that they could be burned and I could experience a new life in Jesus Christ. I did as they suggested, and on the day of my baptism, we burned the things I used for witchcraft. Since that day, I have not suffered from the

spiritual problems or illnesses that had led me to have those things. I was introduced to witchcraft by my family.

This is what happens when someone is born into a family that doesn’t know Jesus. Whenever someone falls ill, the family tends to take the patient to witch doctors, believing that they can help, but in fact it only harms them.

Today, I am free by the grace of God. I want to praise him forever and ask him to help me to stand firm because I do not want to go back to my old lifestyle.

SOCCER VISION Inacio Jorge, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry team member involved in evangelism and church planting. world-outreach.com/people/inacio-nilza-tomero Last year, some Koti leaders and I had a vision to reach the local town youth for Jesus by creating a soccer team. Our vision was to train together throughout the week to build relationships, eat, share the Word, and pray together on match days. This was such a successful model that now, one year later, we have three soccer teams in the city and five in other zones. Throughout this outreach, many of these Muslim youth have become part of our Tarikhi Ya Haaki community (services, Bible

studies, and events). They would normally stay away from what they would perceive as “Christian church”.

We have also managed to partner with organisations from the outside, in the United Kingdom (Kit Aid) and New Zealand, to provide soccer kits for our teams. This has been a huge provision!

Our prayer for 2018 is that many will cross over into our community of faith and follow Jesus!

TO M AKE A DONATION OR SUBSCRIBE TO OUR EM AIL NEWSLETTER VISIT WORLD-OUTREACH.COM

AMBUSHED AND ASSAULTED

BY WITCH DOCTORS Martin and Simone Schumann, MOZAMBIQUE • Ministry leaders equipping church leaders and members. world-outreach.com/people/martin-simone-schumann Inacio Afai shares Bible stories in ten Muslim villages every week. A group of seven violent witch doctors was active in his district, extorting money from every family under the pretence to clean the area from “bad people who perform bad magic”. The local traditional king supported their scheme as he received a share of the bounty. Everybody who did not comply was beaten severely, so there was great fear of this gang of witch doctors.

Inacio on the left. The man in the white shirt is the witch doctor, who had tortured him.

He is here on his way to prison. This was just before his trial.

For two consecutive nights, around midnight, this gang invaded Inacio’s compound and threatened him.

They tried to extort money from him, saying, “You are working with the white man! You have money!”

Inacio took his wife and children to relatives far away for safety.

with razor blades, and beat him with machetes. Inacio said, “You don’t know what you are doing! One day judgement day will come! Will you be ready?” But they just mocked him.

Many people around the world started to intercede on Inacio’s behalf.

The police came to Inacio’s rescue, but not until the next morning. The worst witch doctor was arrested, and after a two-day trial, the judge sentenced the culprit to thirteen months imprisonment or a huge fine.

The population, which had suffered greatly under the witch doctors, rejoiced! Because here in our town, a witch doctor had never been brought to trial for his crimes.

This witch doctor, who had also threatened the w i t n e s s e s during his trial ( “ To m o r r ow you will die!”), died only a few months after the trial. One of his helpers, who beat the drums during the

Inacio between two imams. The one with the pink glasses is now following the Lord.

witchcraft ceremonies, subsequently has had his fingers crippled from a disease. He can never beat the drums again. The local population interpreted this as a sign of God’s judgment and a demonstration of his help on behalf of his people.

Since all of this happened, Inacio and his team have seen major breakthroughs with the Gospel in these villages.

Inacio and Chehamati baptising a new Muslimbackground believer

Then the local king called him. “I’m really angry with you as you resist and hinder my witch doctors from operating fully in your village! But let’s meet and sort it out!”

This meeting proved to be a trap. The witch doctors took Inacio captive in a hut in the middle of our town, cut him

Inacio and his only son, Amatinho

A FUTURE FOR THAI CHILDREN AFFECTED BY HIV AIDS Jan-Peter and Natasja Kelder, THAILAND • Ministry leaders working with children and families affected by HIV. world-outreach.com/people/jan-peter-natasja-kelder For over thirty years, the Thai foundation Siam-Care has been changing lives of underprivileged children who are affected by HIV/Aids. Some of the children are infected themselves, while others are orphaned by HIV. The biggest goal of Siam-Care is to enable affected Thai families to stand on their own feet again.

The children Siam-Care help are poor, vulnerable, and without support; therefore, most would not be able to receive an education. SiamCare gives physical, financial, and spiritual support. The objective is to keep children in school until at least Grade Three of High School. Then they will get a certificate, which will make it much easier for them to find a job. And finding a job means they can take care of themselves.

One of the people who received an educational sponsorship through Siam-Care was Nid, now a twenty-four-year-old lady originally from the northeast of Thailand. Nid shared, “I was seven when both my parents died because of HIV. I was very weak mentally and physically, and people in my community

thought I wouldn’t get far in life. But then the local hospital connected me with Siam-Care, which started looking after me. They made sure I had a place to live and explained to me what HIV did to my parents. They also found me a donor who supported my education. Seventeen years later, I have now finished university and work for Siam-Care. I want to give others the same opportunity that Siam-Care once gave me.”

In 2016, Nid also decided to become a follower of Jesus and is now part of a local church.

Nid’s story is just one of the many. Over the years, SiamCare has enabled hundreds of children to study. None of these children would have been able to go to school without financial support.

Natasja wrote, “We are thankful that we can do this kind of work. It is extremely rewarding to see lives being changed. We have also seen multiple families dedicate their lives to Jesus, which is so amazing! Every humanitarian organisation can give scholarships and do counselling, but we have a much bigger gift for people: eternal life and a relationship with their Creator.”

Jan-Peter and Natasja Kelder have three young children. They are Dutch missionaries based in Bangkok, where Siam-Care operates. Learn more about Siam-Care on www.siamcare.org.

Donations can be made to: World Outreach International and designated “Siam-Care Appeal” then forwarded to your nearest WOI Country Office – listed on pg2.

Donations can also be made at

www.world-outreach.com