The following testimony is from a young man who was greatly blessed by an IDES well drilling project.  The story has been edited for brevity.  Because it comes from a country where Christians are often the victims of persecution, names and places have been omitted or changed.

“My name is Victor.  I am the eldest in my family.  I have two younger brothers and one younger sister.  My father was a drunkard.  Everything he earned from his daily work, he would spend at the liquor shop.  Every day he came home empty handed.

I studied up to the 8th grade.  But suddenly my father died, and because of the situation at home I had to discontinue my studies.  There was nothing to eat and my family was starving.  So I decided to go to work for daily wages.  At this time I was only 13 years old.  I had to work very hard but was paid very little.  As I grew up, more family responsibility fell on my shoulders.  To avoid the tensions in my life I also started to use alcohol and other intoxicants.  Soon, I too became an addict.

But praise God, the love of Christ came into my life.  One day I had the opportunity to hear the gospel, when, along with my mother, I went to fetch drinking water for our daily needs from a nearby well.  There we met a man who helped us load water from that well on our cycle.

I became this man’s friend.  I liked his honesty, and willingness to listen and help.  His words gave me comfort and joy, (at a time) when I was suffering and wanting to die.  Then one day I finally understood that the death of Jesus Christ was for my sins.  I committed my life fully into the hands of our Lord Jesus.  I was baptized and became a child of God.  I attend this man’s church.  He is the preacher, and a wonderful evangelist.  My siblings and mom have accepted Christ after seeing the change in my life.  My mother is happy that Christ changed my life.  If not, I too would have died like my father.”

Gary Finley goes on to say that like all of their projects, this was one possible because of the gifts and prayers of generous donors like TCC.  He thanks Tomoka Christian Church for meeting immediate needs, and making an eternal difference.

When our team first began working with the community of Nkimpa, Kenya, in 2009, the remote community of 800 did not have a church or even a school.  The community had never had a farm or a small garden, and livestock was the key to their survival.  Goats and cows were the only source of income and were sold only to provide food in times of need.  This made access to education, medicine, nutrition and other resources unavailable to the community.

As we helped plant the first church in Nkimpa, we also joined leaders to help them grow their own food.  Most people were skeptical, but a few key individuals dove into the project.  The project nearly failed completely due to the first year’s harvest being destroyed by elephants and the second year’s crops failed due to drought!  However, our team with AfricaHope continued to encourage the community leaders, and they decided to invest in farming one more time.  The community’s hopes grew as the maize grew taller and taller, and in September the community rejoiced over their first harvest ever!

The joy of the harvest is even greater as Ole Rinka, a community leader and farmer, recently accepted Christ as his Savior!  His joy and transformation was evidenced when he and five other community leaders gave the first fruits of their harvest to AfricaHope to support our ministry to the hungry.

By simply developing farming in the community of Nkimpa, not only are the hungry being fed but also people are coming to know the saving power of our Lord Jesus!  Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and support.  It is amazing and humbling to be a part of God’s work!

We have been training Moses, from the Mayuruna tribe, during the last three years, now he is ready to evangelize his own people among many villages in the jungle.  We have purchased a large canoe and a new “peque-peque” motor, plenty of fuel, food and lots of Christian literature to be distributed along these remote villages along uncharted rivers.

Moses’ work is to visit each village on those rivers, to spend one day in each village and share with the people what it means for him to have salvation in Jesus Christ.  Then he will share literature in Spanish or Portuguese languages and make arrangements to visit them again and start a Bible study once a month.  The next day Moses will go to the next village and repeat the process.  We expect him to start fifteen different Bible studies and by the end of 2012 to establish at least ten churches in “the Valley.”

At the same time we continue making trips to build the orphanage and install other water purification systems, reaching other villages from the other tribes.

Thank you for praying for Moses and for his ministry.  May the Lord bless you.

Jesus’ ministry of preaching, teaching and healing provides us with a model for medical missions.  This model provides the basis for the vision behind medical ministry in Ukraine.  Many people will not admit spiritual need until they are sick and vulnerable.  A Christian doctor or nurse has unique openings to share the Gospel with their patients.  A medical ministry in Ukraine provides opportunities for one-on-one evangelism as well as coming alongside our Ukrainian partners to share experiences, encourage them and assist in their efforts.

Many villages have little or no local medical care.  The global economic crisis has not skipped over the Ukraine, and because of this, many cannot afford the few medicines that are available.  There is also significant corruption in the medical system.  (NOTE:  Because of the lack of Christian morals in leadership, almost every profession has significant corruption.  It is almost institutionalized in the culture.)  This makes it difficult for people to know which medical professionals they can trust not to cheat them.  Also, they cannot get proper medical care without cash payment.

This situation provides medical missions with an opportunity to meet a very real physical need while also opening the door for effective evangelism.

For us, summer is an opportunity to evangelize children and their parents through sports, as well as train the next group of leaders to expand sports ministry throughout the country.  During this past summer, we had twelve camps in different cities and villages of Ukraine.  For many children this was the highlight of their summer.  Many remember the sports experience; some remember the gifts; some remember the fellowship; and some saw these camps as a time to make a change in their lives.  This summer through sports camps we were able to reach 1,497 Ukrainian children with the gospel.  To God be the glory!

Click on any photo above to see a slide show.

We received a great report from Richard Hanna, who traveled last weekend to Ebenezer Church, a congregation of Haitians in Fort Lauderdale, to bless them with food donated by Tomoka Christian. An excerpt of Richard’s report is here.

We were blessed to deliver 4500 pounds of food rice, beans, cooking oil.

Their church service is much different than ours. The day starts with Bible study before the service with some being taught in the main worship center due to lack of space. The service I attended had approximately three to four hundred total. It was a full house with approximately 90 minutes of praise and prayer and 60 minutes of preaching from several pastors with songs from the solely man choir who are all dressed to perfection — as was everyone in church. They give God their best by wearing their best and making it a Sunday of worshiping. We were treated with much praise and respect. They made us feel very welcomed.

My son, Jaeger, and I were blessed to be welcomed in their home with family and friends for supper on Saturday and followed by a great lunch on Sunday with family, close friends and church members. We have truly made some great new friends.I thank God for putting me on this trip. They are very excited for a return trip from our youth for evangelizing and some maintenance during summer VBS.

Because of this, they enjoy exceptional success in sharing God’s Word in Muslim nations.  Last year they trained nearly 25,400 Bible Planters in Muslim nations and discipled more than 215,600 in the Word of God.

Tomoka supports the Bible League with prayer and $365 a month.

Please pray for the harvest.

On July 29th the President of Zambia, Rupiah Banda, held a luncheon at the State House for 72 chiefs (8 from each of the 9 districts) who were in the capital city for electoral commission meetings.  The President and First Lady were each presented a Bible.  President Banda then gave each chief a Bible which had been personalized with his name and the date inscribed inside.  The chiefs that attended carried Bibles back to their districts for the chiefs who did not attend the meetings.  They were very excited and grateful to receive the Bibles.

Zambia was declared a Christian nation by their constitution in 1996.  The goal of Save Rural Africa is to provide Bibles for local leaders in the rural areas in order to spread the Gospel of Christ.

Equipping The Saints exists to provide missionaries, national pastors and ministries the needed tools, equipment and materials to succeed in reaching the lost.  Because of your support, Zambian leaders and decision makers now have a copy of God’s word in their possession to help them make sound and Godly decisions that will affect future generations to come.

The ripple effect started with you and ended up impacting a nation.

Blessings From The Equipping The Saints Staff

I am feeling very blessed to have made this trip to Edinburgh.  I met some wonderful folks, ate some great food (except for Haggis), and walked many miles.  I learned a lot about Scottish history and superstitions.

The history of Scotland is full of brave leaders and many heroes who fought for freedom as a nation and for religious freedom, which was so important to them.  They won those rights after much bloodshed and the loss of many lives.  Their proud heritage is still an active part of their daily lives but the faith they fought for is no longer evident.  They were never able to agree on which demonination should be the national one, so they fought over this for many generations. Now, many people just don’t care and do not want to be bothered with religion in any way.  They no longer pursue God.  The church is just a part of history.

God forbid that we should judge them as America is following this pattern.  Therefore, as I see it, believers in both nations need to begin to train up children to fear God and seek His face.  We need to encourage those who follow Jesus to share their faith and become the outspoken witnesses God has called us to be.

National pride in Scotland is not the only hindrance to the gospel but it is a problem.  It surprised me that with so much focus on history that the many martyrs, pastors and leaders who were so passionate about their faith are so soon forgotten.

Our work in Scotland is just beginning.  Please pray with me for God to raise up leaders and teachers to stand alongside of Mark Michael, TCC’s supported missionary in Edinburgh, and that whenever Mark opens his mouth that words may be given him so that he will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.  Ask the Lord to mold a core group of men and women into faithful servants who abound in grace and love and will serve Jesus with an undying love.  May God’s grace astound the people of Edinburgh and draw many to Jesus.

http://i.japanacts.com/pdf/201108_japan_acts_news.pdf

Prayer and praises for all the helping hands.