Jan 25- 31, 2015
Central Asia Team & Explorers Team
It’s week four here in the capital city. Over the past few weeks we have encountered many people that were on the edge of wanting to give their lives to Jesus. Yesterday one man did decide that he wanted to give his life to Jesus.
Just this week we also had the other half of our team join us. They spent a few weeks in the Middle East, will spend a few weeks with us, and will fly from here to spend a few weeks in northern Africa. We are gaining momentum now; it has been great having the other half of our team here.
We have also partnered with another ministry here in the capital that works with refugees from closed nations. It was great last week getting to go for our first time. It’s a weekly gathering in which everyone comes to fellowship. What is great is that instead of having to go out to the streets to talk with people about Jesus; they come to us. We have many translators also which makes things easier with communicating.
This coming week we prepare to fly to the eastern province in which we will spend a few weeks traveling and preaching the Gospel. There are three major unreached people groups in this area, with only 1% reached, meaning many having never heard the Gospel.
After our last few days in the capital, we flew out to the province in the eastern part of the country. We are seeing the Lord move in incredibly powerful ways! Thank you all so very much for your support, love, and prayers! I hope you realize that you pouring into us and our mission is literally bringing Jesus the reward of what He paid for on the cross. He is honored when we all come together to bring Him glory and make Him known!
Last Sunday we got to hit the streets of the capital again and proclaim the gospel boldly to over one hundred people!!! Our Arts in Ministry track kicked off the afternoon by performing their dance to a Lecrae song, and this drew us the crowd. Brandon, Jaiden and Samantha then preached to the crowd the uncompromised Gospel! Many of these people have never heard the Gospel before, and they were asking questions such as, “how do I receive this gift of eternal life that Jesus paid for? What must I do?” It filled us with joy as people came forward to get Bibles and get prayer from us, and we would love for you all to pray for these people to come to know Jesus as they read His Word! It’s thrilling to both experience proclaiming the power of the Gospel to the masses, as well as see their hunger stirred up as they hear the truth for the first time in their lives!! Praise Jesus!!
We arrived in the province this last Friday and are literally in awe of what the Lord has done so far!! Our team and the Explorers outreach team went to a castle where we worshiped the Lord and spent a long time in prayer and intercession. Each day the Lord has been speaking to us and telling us what we are going to do with Him in this city, and the EXACT things that He speaks are happening! He spoke that we would go into private homes to share the gospel, and that happened! We prayed that He would lead us to the very few English speakers here, and we literally are being approached by English speakers! They see us, come up to us, and say, “hello! I speak English! Can we go to tea?” It’s so easy! So we go to tea, sit down, and get straight to the Gospel. We have been so blessed to pass out lots and lots of Bibles within only a few days, and the people here are so grateful for the Bibles! The hospitality here is outstanding and people spend hours with us as we explain the Gospel in its entirety…and as a matter of fact, it’s very often that we explain the story of the Bible to people…that takes hours! But people want to know! They are hungry to know the truth of Jesus, and we sure do proclaim it boldly! In nearly every single conversation that we have had, we have been able to also get prophetic words for the people. That has been fun! While no one has prayed for salvation with us, I (Samantha) 100% believe that there are multiple people who will in fact begin a relationship with Jesus and be saved. The Lord has set up very specific meetings for us, and it is a complete honor!
Middle East Team
We are overwhelmed with God’s goodness! In the past week, we have seen Jesus save, heal and set free masses of people of all ages in every camp we visit! There have been at least 11 confirmed salvations (we believe many more) and even more healings and miracles that followed as we preached the Gospel in homes and to crowds. We have truly ministered under an Open Heaven, where signs and miracles happen constantly, as Jesus promised we would. Yesterday in a new refugee camp, we were in awe of God’s faithfulness, as masses of adults and children gathered around us to hear the Gospel and receive prayer.To our amazement, every person, except one child, received healing the moment we prayed. This caused the refugee camp leader and people who were healed to go gather their other friends and family for healing. During this time, multiple people received Christ and a Bible for the first time. So many people experienced God’s presence for the first time, and described heat, lightness and peace that they had never felt before. Please read below for more testimonies:
1) Visions and Dreams- in each camp, we meet many people and children who are having visions and dreams of Jesus and of our team. One man we visited had a dream of Jesus telling him that he had sin in his life that needed to be taken away. The man asked Jesus how he could do this, as he was Muslim and didn’t know the Gospel. The answer came when our team came to share with him. He eagerly agreed that we came with the truth. After accepting Christ in in his heart, he tried to put to words the joy and peace he had never felt before. He shared how before he had constant anxiety and rage, but now felt “as if his heart were in Heaven”. He exclaimed that “in this month, my new life has begun!”. He also learned the meaning of his name: Receiving Grace. He didn’t know what grace was until this day! Hallelujah!
2) Hearts Healed- We have seen Jesus heal hearts physically and emotionally, such as from anxiety and anger. Many experience trauma and depression and are so hungry for hope and peace. One story that touched our hearts is of a child who received Christ and needed healing in his heart. He explained that he was sad that he couldn’t run because of the pain and asthma that hindered him. We had him place his hand on his heart and ask Jesus to heal him. We then shared that the Bible promised that “We will run and not grow weary” and in faith, told him to run as fast as he could with Jesus. He did so and with such joy celebrated his healing! He left beaming with a healthy heart and listening to his new audio Bible.
3) Freedom for the Captives- one incredible testimony is of a woman who came to us in desperation for freedom. She described how on the 25th of every month, uncontrollable rage and despair would come upon her, resulting in her beating her children. After explaining the Gospel, we asked her to place her hands on her heart and ask Jesus to set her free from the darkness. Her countenance dramatically changed as she exclaimed that her chest tension had left and how she felt lightness, peace and the sensation of water going down her back and body. She then received Christ and left with hope, joy, a radiant smile and of course a Bible!