We have now surpassed 100,000 salvations! After just two weeks in Tanzania, for the Bootcamp Initiation, we have witnessed over 100,000 people surrender to Jesus!
This amazing number of salvations (which is still growing as you read this) have happened through just twenty Bootcamp Graduates on the ground. These men and women are preaching and ministering alongside our CfaN gospel crusade teams: evangelizing in schools, marketplaces and in remote villages through our CfaN gospel trucks.
School Outreaches and Winning the Maasai
In our school outreaches this past week, one of our Bootcamp coaches, Michael Job, shared this amazing story about how they were able to preach to a group of Maasai:
“While we arrived at one of our last schools of the day on Thursday, the children were very excited about our arrival. As we were walking to the school, I noticed a large group of Maasai under a tree with a man talking to them. As we preached the gospel at the school to 1,064 children, I noticed some of the Maasai listening to our message. The response from the children was dynamic! Every one of them raised their hands to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. After we talked and prayed with the teachers, I found out that the group under the tree were the parents of the children at the school. I realized that this was probably a teacher –parent conference. I politely talked to the leader, who was also speaking to the group of parents. He agreed to translate into the Maasai language. What followed was amazing!
I thanked the parents on how well they were bringing up their children, and how well behaved they were during our presentation of the gospel. I then decided to preach the gospel to them. I started out saying that there was one God who created the heavens and the universe. I later talked about God’s Son Jesus, and why He died on the cross. I talked about sin, the consequence of sin, and how Jesus paid for our sins and was our substitute on the cross. After thoroughly preaching the gospel, there was an overwhelming response from the Maasai parents. Seventy-four of them raised their hands to receive Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their lives! Hallelujah!
We prayed for the sick afterwards. I asked if any had pain in their bodies, and the majority of their hands went up. Robbie Leaf, Bill Fergerson and I then proceeded to pray for these precious people. They started to get healed one after another. Two ankles were healed, two shoulders were healed, two women with chest pain were healed, a woman’s back pain was healed, a woman’s blurry vision was healed, two women’s hip pain was healed and there were several other healings. As Bill prayed some of the parents were slain in the Holy Spirit. Some of the people looked with concern, at the two parents that were not moving, had fallen under the power of the Holy Spirit on the ground. Bill attempted to explain to the people watching that God’s Holy Spirit was touching their lives. This must have been the first time these Maasai ever saw anyone slain in the Spirit. We observed that God truly wanted to do a great work in not only the students’ lives that day, as well as in the lives of their parents. I praise God for His love and compassion and for moving so powerfully among the parents and students that day. It is His will that all people be saved. [As the Word teaches us,] let us go and preach the gospel until all creation hears the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And remember that God will work with us by way of signs, wonders, and miracles. He will confirm His word as we take steps of faith, and believe for His promises to come to pass in our lives. We indeed will see them happen, for He is faithful!”
We have had a beautifully fruitful week in our school outreaches.
Matthew 19:14
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Inhaling the Dust and Exhaling the Gospel
But that’s not all, in the dry and dusty conditions outside of Arusha, Tanzania, the gospel is going forth and bringing life to people! Matias said, “We’re inhaling dust and exhaling the gospel.” Our gospel trucks can take the Bootcamp Graduates and evangelists into remote places to preach and pray!
Bootcamp Graduate, Paul Pemberton was ministering on our Gospel Trucks this week and he had a truly Holy Spirit-ordained moment with a Muslim woman, which resulted in her salvation! He writes:
“During the waning hours of a long day of truck crusades, I met a middle-aged woman named Sauda. Earlier in the day she had come and set up her market spot right in front of our crusade truck, and we just worked around her throughout the day. At the end of the day we’re getting ready to leave when God began to reveal to me His great love for her. I noticed that she had never responded to the salvation call, to say ‘yes’ to Jesus throughout the day, during our messages. At first, I argued with God saying, “she’s been hearing us preach the Gospel all day, we’ve done our job.” I noticed that she had a white head wrap, common for Muslims. I eventually got a translator and spoke with her. This is where it got interesting.
On three different occasions in speaking to her about Jesus, we had significant distractions or interruptions. Two of them were right when I’d get close to the point of asking for decision to accept Christ. It was then that we’d get interrupted, and my translator was pulled away. When I did get back to speaking with her, she then continued to reject Jesus, despite Him working on her heart. There were many opportunities for me to just let it be and head home.
However, in speaking further with Sauda about Jesus, she mentioned growing up in Islam, and needing to talk to her husband to see if he’d receive Jesus first so that she then could. I recited parts of my message from my word I preached earlier titled “NOW is the day for salvation”. She opened up more sharing about the fear she had because of her current circumstances in Islam and within her family. Her eyes filled with tears and it was apparent that in her heart she wanted to say yes.
She mentioned being at past Gospel truck crusades we’ve done. I told her that this was no coincidence that she was right in front of our truck again now. After some more rejections to receive Jesus within her heart, and with music blaring in our ear from a loud speaker next to us, and my crew packed up, in the car waiting to leave. As we were beginning to head home, momentarily I said to her, “This is the last opportunity I have to help lead you to Jesus. I ask you this again, not to pressure you, but because I know that Jesus has sent me to you. Would you like to say yes to Jesus today?” And she said yes!What a wonderful salvation today. We prayed together there in the dusty and noisy marketplace, as she confessed Jesus as her Lord and savior. When leaving, I had the thought that if I came to Africa just for her, it would have been worth it. It’s moments like this that show just how significant each and every soul is – a soul that Jesus would go back to the cross for each and every time.”
We still have one more week on the ground with the team of evangelists. Please pray for perseverance and continued health for everyone! You can see even more exciting video recaps and photos taken during this momentous outreach in Tanzania here.
Thank you for coming alongside us and being a part of the Decade of Double Harvest!
