Even Terrorists Coming to Christ

  This is a dynamic ministry, not because of who we are, but because of who He is. A gracious God seeking to save that which was lost. Some of our encounters of late have challenged me, both from an administrative standpoint, and from the perspective of faith and trust. But God. The latest story begins like this. Indio (none of these names are the real names of our people) who is one of our key evangelists in the northeast section of Burkina Faso has suffered of late. His village near the city of Dori was recently attacked by Muslim extremists. About ten men with AK 47’s came looking to hunt down Christians. “Where are the Christians here? We were told that there were Christians living in this village”, came the imperative. No one answered a word. Yet, they somehow knew which homes belonged to believers and they began to burn several homes. 

    As you might have guessed, one of the homes which burned to the ground was that of Indio. He had a clothing business and $2,100 worth of evangelism equipment that were destroyed. Fearing for his life he moved to the city of Kaya. Shortly after we were made aware of the situation through Aleman, I decided in the only way I know how, to fight fire with grace. We had $300 which could be applied to buying a megaphone and some Bibles. Aleman quickly sent the items to Kaya. It was Indio’s decision to go back to his village and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus grace. That night 145 people gave there lives to Christ. Although this was exciting, it was what happened afterward that brought us all great joy. 

    A young man approached Indio after the outreach, we will call him Zander Aboubakar. Aleman writes to me, “(he) came to see him to repent and give his life to Christ; he confessed that he was with the men who attacked the village and that he is the one who told to the other men that there is a Christian in that house by showing our brother’s (Indio’s) house and that is why the others burned the house. He accepted to repent and receive Christ. He says he was deeply moved by the message that Indio preached.” Then Indio asked for money to take the man with him to Kaya. Aleman said to me he had something important to say. When asked he told me that he did not agree with taking the man to Kaya. I was also thinking the same thing. Although dangerous, having a man embedded in a radical group would give us a foothold for leading others to Christ among our enemies. 

    Prompted by the HS we asked Indio to go to the radical village and preach Christ. He and Zander did so. Three men came to Christ. One invited them to another village where there were young men seeking a radical life. Once there, ten young men received the grace of God. Wow! Lives and souls saved. Several of them are asking for megaphones ($200/per). Aleman gave one, and we gave one to Sadaam. Indio left Zander with a New Testament and began to study the scriptures, as well as receive the baptism of the HS. Zander has since taken a brother with him to preach alone and they saw 23 Muslims come to Jesus. There is another new convert wanting to be an evangelist requesting a megaphone. Please pray for Indio and for the young men who have come to Christ. Having a light among Muslim extremists has been a secret desire of mine for over ten years and this could be the answer to that prayer. I would like to send Aleman there to conduct a small Christian retreat and to incorporate them in direct evangelism to their villages. This will take $750. I want to send Josiah to Benin to minister to an unreached people group there first and that will take $450.  

Going to the unknown with you, to make Him known.