Recently one of our colleagues in our Northern Outreach ministry shared the exciting story.  Please remember to pray for our team in the north as they work closely with individuals who are looking for the truth.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact us.

I know I just wrote, but something else exciting happened that I wanted to share.

This morning I went to give S. some discipleship lessons to work through. We talked for a bit and I noticed that off in the distance, the guy I buy fish brochettes from and another guy were reading over a tract and a copy of John and Romans. “How odd,” I thought, “That’s the stuff I give out, but I didn’t give them anything today.”  

Being very curious as to where they had acquired my literature, I decided to go check it out.  

“Are you guys discussing that book?” I asked.  

“Yes,” they replied. The brochette guy pulled out the tract, and it was well worn. I remembered having given it to him about three weeks ago. The other guy explained that I had given the John and Romans to someone else, but they were borrowing it.  

“So what do you think of the message?” I asked.  

“Well, it’s very interesting, but we don’t yet understand it completely,” answered the other guy.  

“The most important thing is that you know for sure that you are going to Heaven when you die and that your sins have been forgiven. The book you are holding in your hand tells you how to have your sins forgiven.”  

By this time, a small all-M audience had kind of developed, as a young woman and a friend of hers joined in. (I learned later that the young woman is the current winner of the local Miss pageant. Kinda random.) They pulled up a chair for me, and somehow, the Holy Spirit had captured their attention as I continued my conversation.  

I began to tell them the story of Adam and Eve, how sin entered the human race and how God promised to one day make a way to free us from sin’s bondage. Then I told them about the prophet Abraham offering his son and how the ram God provided symbolized that one day He would bring the perfect sacrifice. I then shared the story of the prophet Moses applying blood to the door posts when the angel of death came. I briefly shared some prophecies from Isaiah about the coming Messiah. Finally, I explained how Christ was the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies- the perfect Lamb of God, the blood covering to deliver us from death, the Messiah.  

I kept expecting them to lose interest somewhere in the middle of these stories, or perhaps argue, but they were pretty much riveted the whole time and I felt quite led to continue on boldly.  

“After Jesus died, He was buried in a tomb, but He resurrected after three days. There are many people who doubt whether Jesus really died and rose again, but I am convinced that it really happened,” I explained. “If you research the subject, you will find there is a lot of evidence, but one glaring proof, to me, is the lives of the disciples after His resurrection. They continued to preach the message of Jesus and most were brutally murdered in doing so.” They nodded. I still had their interest, somehow.  

“So, let’s get back to the question I posed at the beginning of our conversation. Do you know for sure that your sins are forgiven and that you will go to Heaven? How can one know this?” I showed them some verses in Romans 10 and we discussed them.  

“The things you tell us are very good,” responded one of the guys. “It is difficult for us to convert, but I know that what you are saying is right. I have wondered about these things for awhile. Your faith is strong and we can tell that you actually love Jesus and believe this in your heart. I have studied the Koran, but these words from the Bible far surpass what the Koran has taught me.”  

The conversation was well received by all who listened and I walked away marveling at how the Lord had arranged such a divine appointment. Pray for God to continue working in the hearts of T, M, L, and her friend.  

Also, in all of the other excitement, I have failed to mention that last week our prison lady, A, was liberated! We are very excited for her, but she lives in a village far from here, so we will no longer be able to continue our Bible study with her. There are two ladies who remain in the prison, but they do not speak French so it would be difficult to have a Bible study with them. I don’t exactly want to pray for more women to be arrested, but please pray for wisdom for the future of our prison ministry.  

Anna

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16