Our return visit to this Muslim-majority country allowed us to revisit many of the brothers and sisters that we ministered to and with last year in the nation’s two largest cities. The country’s constitution technically ensures religious freedom; therefore, we were able to freely minister among the established Christian population which has historic roots in the nation. On the other hand, the constitution also contains anti-conversion laws which prohibit evangelism; therefore, we had to be very guarded in everything that we said and did when outside the confines of a Christian establishment such as a church or the home of a Christian family. In addition to the anti-conversion regulations, the general demeanor of the people is that they consider Christianity a threat and often respond violently against any statements or actions that promote the faith. However, neither laws nor public opinion stops the believers we are associated with from cautiously sharing their faith and winning souls into the kingdom through discrete encounters and strategically orchestrated outreaches. In fact, a several of the team have suffered martyrdom and the leader was attacked, severely beaten, and left for dead on the trash heap. There is no way that we can put into words what kind of impact these testimonies have upon our lives and ministries every time we have the opportunity to be with them. On this particular trip, one of the meetings was held in an area which is controlled by a volatile terrorist group. Although extreme caution was observed with armed security guards visible at all times and plainclothesmen scattered among the audience plus snipers stationed on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings to ensure that none of the American guests would be captured and held for a ransome, we had a capacity crowd of more than a thousand with participants sitting on the stairs leading to the balcony and the floor in front of the stage.
Our first assignment was to minster to about one hundred house group leaders whom we encouraged to recognize their significance in the kingdom of God. The following day, we hosted a conference for about five hundred pastors and leaders where we introduced Delron’s recently translated book on the fact that it is possible through strategic evangelism and discipleship to actually fulfill the Great Commission in our generation. We presented each delegate with a free copy to take home for further study. On the third day, we split up with Peggy and Linda Easton (one of the members of the board of directors of Teach All Nations) holding a women’s conference which drew approximately five hundred women to hear the teaching on making a difference. Meanwhile, Delron ministered in a tribal village where the people welcomed him with a community greeting featuring drummers and a shower of rose petals when he entered the village plus the sacrificial display of eight garlands of fresh flowers inside the church.
The pastors’ conference which had been scheduled for the following day had to canceled at the last minute due to a torrential rainstorm that struck during the afternoon, shutting down roads and forcing the people to stay inside their homes for the evening. One highlight of the mission was the Raising Up a New Generation of Leaders equipping conference focused basically on young people where we taught the delegates on discipleship and the proper Christian lifestyle. On our final day in the country, the team split up with each member ministering in a separate church where we warmly welcomed, and the people were eager to hear the Word of God and to receive prayer for their physical and spiritual needs.
In addition, we were able to bless the local ministries with thirty audio Bibles in the local languages provide by Faith Comes by Hearing and two suitcases of medical supplies from Project C.U.R.E.
