“And He said to them, ‘Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15
This past week, on Monday I went along with two other volunteers and Rafiki Africa Ministries to a nearby community to evangelize the gospel and to encourage the people that lived there. Upon our arrival we were met with a recent news update from one of the members of the community. He reported that there had been four deaths the day prior due to fighting that has been occurring between a neighboring district. These people who live in this community had come from the North where many of them were forced to fight in the war and were forced to kill family members. There people are bitter against life and are having a hard time making a living or even knowing how to enjoy life.
Our first stop was to go visit a family of a child whom Rafiki has been caring for many years unable to locate and contact her family. They were excited to finally find the family and the family was excited to hear that their child was doing well and has been well taken care of.
After our visit we walked door to door visiting with the people, comforting them, encouraging them and sharing the gospel with them. We had eight people in our group so we split up into four groups of two as we went out into the community. Most of these people did not have bibles but many had a religious background and were familiar with the bible. We had been able to take with us ten bibles and ten households rejoiced and thanked us for giving them a bible. The people in this community were very receptive and welcomed us into their small home offering us the best seats in the house. They listened while we talked and were receptive of the Gospel. Before we would leave a home we would ask them if we could pray for them and what could we pray about. Many people had requests for healing from disease, protection over their families, job needs and the provision for school fees. These people live in very small one room apartments which are very primitive. Many of the women make jewelry from paper beads and sell them to make ends meet. Most of the people that we witnessed to were not Christians and one man that we spoke with admitted that he wasn’t a Christian but that he wasn’t ready to accept Christ as his Savior. One of the men that we spoke with understood the gospel and professed to be born again. This man made a comment that left an impact on me. He said “You know the gospel message is so simple, I’m a sinner and Christ is the only way to heaven and though him only am I cleansed of my sins.” His belief and faith encouraged me. The gospel is simple and sometimes we can make it seem more complicated than it really is. Romans 10:9-10 says 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” The gospel is simple enough that a child can understand it if we don’t make it complicated. One of the other groups had the joy of leading a person to Christ! We had a joyful time sowing the seeds of the gospel and encouraging these people. We plan on making more trips over to this community and will continue to encourage these people and continue to share the gospel with them. Many people here welcome hearing the gospel and love being visited. People all over the world are hungry for something more than what this world has to offer them. My question to myself and to others who may be reading this, are we being faithful to reach out to all people? What are we doing to share Christ with those we come into contact with? I have struggled in the past with sharing the gospel because I was always nervous about having the right words to say. Well, I still sometimes feel nervous about speaking to others but the desire that I have for them to hear about the good news and having the assurance that Christ will work in their hearts gives me boldness. Also, knowing that sharing with others isn’t about what I can get out of it but that the purpose is to further the kingdom of God and to bring Him glory.
By Mary Lemons, Rafiki Volunteer