Outreach May 09 - by Sarah H

A view from an African village church

Outreach Village

Sin Chair Skit

Team Building


Preaching in a church

There were many stories of God's Grace and Mercy while we were on outreach to three different locations. Here is one story of one lady whose life has been changed...........

During our debriefing recently, our leader asked us all what was one of our most memorable moments of Outreach. That is a difficult question because for me personally it was amazing. God did so much in that short time that moved me and stirred up a stronger passion of Him and his call on my life. I felt rejuvenated and motivated. Looking back I see that sometimes, God has to call us into a time of painful growth so that He can stir up in us HIS passions. Even though, door to door evangelism isn’t easy for me, I found it strangely exciting because you just don’t know what God will do next.

So one day we looked on the very busy schedule to see that we were supposed to do “House to House Evangelism” with a local church. The pastor, Pastor Mark, is a student in the School of Missions which is a 2 month school that we were working with. He took us to his village called Shashe (sha’ shay) and it was a hot day and the African sun can be tough on pale skin. So no one was really looking forward to walking around a sandy village in the hot sun. But with water bottles in hand, we went to Pastor Mark’s house and stopped at the first house we came to. Many of us were able to share with the family there but there were obvious resistances and so sharing was not easy. After praying with the mama of the house, we walked on. Somehow, a group of ladies saw us coming or heard we were coming or something because they wanted to meet with us. Seven or eight ladies with their small children in tow met us under the shade of a tree and wanted to just hear from us. So we talked about God’s love and salvation through Jesus. They had some questions and even what seemed like strange questions, led to exciting stories of God’s power and grace in our own lives and these ladies really responded to that. We were able to pray for many of them.

One lady named Elizabeth said that she knew Jesus but wanted to know the Bible better and to do more with her life, to live for Him more. Her friend beside her said she didn’t want to read the Bible and asked that we pray that she would want to. We realized that these ladies were really hungry for discipleship. And we felt God was leading Elizabeth to start a Bible study time with these ladies under the direction of Pastor Mark and his wife. At first Elizabeth seemed scared of the idea. But as we prayed for her, you could almost feel the power of God pouring over her anew. That morning in our prayer time as a team, we’d prayed and ask God to show us things that could help us know where to go and to whom to speak with, to show us things to guide us and build our faith. I had seen the picture of a lady in a long dark blue polyester skirt. I had forgotten that picture until we were praying for Elizabeth and in the middle of someone else praying, I opened my eyes and saw her skirt and it was a navy polyester skirt and God reminded me of my vision and I felt He was saying this is the one. How encouraging. Elizabeth seemed timid but said she would try.

Later in the week, we prayed for all the many people we’d met and asked God to protect the seeds we’d sown. On Saturday of that week, a day or so before we were to leave, we were scheduled to speak at two different youth groups. I thought it was teenagers and that we’d be playing games. We were asked to give a few words of encouragement to them. So we split our team up and prayed about who should speak and what we should share. I was very tired and spent. I wasn’t sure I could share anymore. However, as I prayed I knew that if the team was hearing from God that I should speak, I would. Of course, I was the one and we felt like forgiveness was the topic. So we went back and I was so surprised. Four of us went back to Pastor Mark's church and sure enough not only teenagers came but many of the women we had met earlier were there. Elizabeth was there. I was able to speak what I felt the Lord asking me to share about my own life and my own unforgiving time and the difference in my life it made when I was able to forgive. After I spoke, other team members got up and shared and then Elizabeth, she got up to speak and she was clear and confident and spoke with a quiet authority. She was stepping into her destiny. She didn’t run from God’s call on her life and she was willing to embrace it. I felt that God was so pleased with her obedience. I was able to talk with her afterward and encourage her. We even exchanged mailing addresses. I know that God will continue to grow her into the woman He created her to be that shows His glory and His truth to her entire community. I will continue to pray for her and her ministry in her community. It is so exciting to know that many lives are being changed and many people are coming to know Jesus as their personal Savior.

Elizabeth and other ladies we met