Challenges
Prayer & Praise Report #5, August-September 2022
Burkina Faso - Another Country in Distress!
On Friday September 30, I received a text from our leader in Burkina Faso that said, "…this morning Ouagadougou is not safe. It seems another coup d'état...Need your prayers for God's protection on us."
The situation has calmed since that text, but the solution is hopeless without Christ. From what has been shared, Burkina's choices currently are to turn to communism, accept the terrorists, or send the ill-equipped young men to fight for the country.
Pray for Burkina Faso. May the country find a solution that glorifies the Lord Jesus. May the people find the peace of Christ in the midst of these times. We also pray for our leader and her family to be light and salt during these dark times. Remember also in your prayers Myanmar, Ukraine, and the different countries struggling.
From Prison with Praise
In late August one of our leaders in Africa taught on Paul & Silas in prison and challenged everyone in Sunday school on how to prepare for handcuffs and persecution. The members discussed how prison might affect people physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Within a few days, this leader was arrested.
Sunday school members said, “This is application” when this leader was arrested. He shared that he had no control and was not prepared for this. Others made decisions for him and all was out of his hands. However, he knew God is with him in every thing and as a result has been growing closer to the Lord.
Psychologically, satan attempted to condemn this leader. The man stood on Scripture that there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1).
God used this man spiritually to impact the other prisoners. Thankfully, he had a bank of Bible stories in his heart pocket from which to choose. After going through appropriate organizational channels in the jail cell, he was allowed to do a Bible story. Soon, even the guards were saying, “There’s a Bible man in the cell.”
One muzlm man in prison heard the Bible stories. He admitted it was the truth but did not trust the Lord Jesus as Saviour. The believers who heard the Bible stories were not able to answer the questions as well as the muzlm man, who said he was not ready to face persecution.
After spending 10 days in prison, our leader was released. He has been sharing more of what the Lord has taught him. We would all like to believe we would do well through persecution, jail and other issues we might face, but we don’t really know until we are in those situations. Our leader said, “I’m not afraid now,” meaning that now he has no fear of the unknown of being in jail. Although it was a serious time, God gave him a good experience. He would often say to himself that with faith he could do anything. This experience shook and broke him from self-confidence. He has learned to trust the Lord and lean on HIM only.
How will we respond when circumstances out of our control land us into situations we never dreamed, like prison or persecution? Are we prepared to share Christ and to be encouraged through our Lord’s Word?
Free Indeed
Imagine, raising people in STS, discipling them in the ways of the Lord, and watching those young people you have grown to love choose to minister to difficult anti-government people. Then some are martyred for their faith in Christ. One amazing STS leader recently experienced this.
To add to the difficulty, this leader was then arrested and put on trial for the acts of those he discipled who were martyred, simply because they ministered to anti-government people. These are trials not many of us have experienced. We thank the Lord for this person being acquitted and exonerated. Please pray for this leader's health during this time of recovery.
Fire? Fire!
How do I describe recent events? They have been difficult, and yet they are opportunities to see the Lord work!
In early September, our office staff evacuated due to the Fairview Fire. Fire fighters fought valiantly as we watched this untamable beast jump fire lines. The fire came within less than 1 mile on three sides of our STS office and our home, but God denied the fire to come closer. Then God brought the rain 5 days after the fire started. God heard many prayers. More than 28,300 acres burned.
Several believers used the fire situation to reach out to their neighbors and the firemen.
We rejoice at God’s hand, His protection of our homes and office, and we pray for the neighbors. Also, pray for those who lost their homes and one family that suffered the loss of 2 people.
September Challenge Leads to October Possibilities
One woman who has grown in her STS skills wanted to challenge herself by telling a Bible story every day in the month of September. She recently wrote with a report on her “September story challenge, "I told a story every day but one. I told a total of 19 stories to people other than Mark [her husband]. This wasn’t as high as I’d hoped for, but I felt myself overcoming the internal reluctance I had to asking if I could tell a story. I learned to pray not ‘Who do you want me to tell a story to?’ but ‘Is there anyone you don’t want me to tell a story to?’ This freed me to spend less time in my head wondering about whom to approach. Closer to home, I told stories to extended family that I hadn’t previously told stories to. I learned more about telling stories on the fly and have more stories ready at a moment’s notice. I’m reflecting on a new challenge for October because this isn’t over yet.”
This woman shared that on one occasion while visiting her former workplace, God challenged her to tell a story to a person who had hurt her in the past. Still feeling a reluctance to even knock on his door. She knocked, told a Bible story, and he was very receptive and engaged. The program assistant at her former workplace saw her new “Ask Me for a Story” t-shirt and asked if this Bible storyteller could help some scholars there to craft their personal stories. She responded, "I only tell Bible stories….” The program assistant was still interested! Now this Bible storyteller is writing a proposal for a one-hour presentation that includes a typical STS story and discussion.
Let us pray with this amazing woman that the Lord would allow her to impact her former workplace with the Bible and show her the next challenge. May this encourage all of us to extend ourselves.
God's Story, God's Story, and God's Story.
We thank the Lord for more languages of God's Story: From Creation to Eternity being translated, recorded and produced.
One leader from a recent God's Story translation workshop said that translators are going home amazed at the Bible. They change from translating literally, or word by word, to making sure that the script is clearly understood and communicating the meaning. The translators tell us that STS helps them to translate with accuracy and with understandability.
- Several new recordings of God’s Story in Congo Brazzaville and Cameroon are currently going through the final evaluation and check process before they can be finalized and released.
- One team has delayed their trip to Malaysia due to visa issues.
- Another recording specialist heads to Central Asia in early November to work with a few languages in the region.
Please pray for all those working on God's Story, including translators, recording specialists, workshop coordinators and all the language teams.
Heart Pocket Podcast
October and November podcasts include first hand accounts of the ministry in East Africa and starting an Oral Bible Schools from beginning to end. We have many more podcasts to share at www.HeartPocket.org.
Thank you for your time and prayers,
Andrea & The whole staff of The God's Story Project (TGSP)
Executive Director