Dear HeartCry and Supporters,

A New Church Planted

The LORD has also blessed the work of evangelism and church planting despite many limits during this time. As God provided, we’ve sent out a missionary to the village where six people received the gospel and got baptized three months ago (as appeared in my last report). Since they were converted, we’ve been following up with them by fellowship visits so that the new converts would grow in faith and that through them, we could get other animistic villagers into our conversations through social friendship in homes.

By God’s wonderful providence, things worked out as expected. Many unbelievers, including chief animist, came and sat around us as we gathered and preached. I noticed that every time they heard me preach the gospel, they seemed to be thinking deeply, and they afterward expressed their struggles and fears to accept this new religion. As I talked with them, it also seemed that they have been so resistant to the propagation that they had never heard messages that conveyed the whole gospel. They heard many preachers, but never felt the need or the challenge to respond immediately to the message. Now that they’ve listened to the gospel many more times and more frequently, they think they have no options but to believe in Christ to avoid their final destination in hell, clearly pointed out by the gospel. This is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. However, they are still so bound by old beliefs associated with all the ridiculous threats and superstitions they dare not decide they want to make. They are still in Satan’s crafty hands from which they wish to escape. But they are confused and troubled to have no idea of what to do.

Thank God we don’t lack the power and resources to overcome such a situation. Satan’s already defeated on the cross, and we have the gospel. As we developed our friendship, we finally persuaded village leaders and chief animist to agree that we could obtain a piece of land in the village and put a building on it both for the church meeting and for the missionary to live. The benefit is at least twofold, and they are all that matter. First, a local church is firmly planted. Those new believers no longer need to walk two hours to attend a church nearby. Second, the gospel will prevail upon the animistic villagers to believe in Christ. In God’s appointed time, the church will witness and win converts by being salt and light to them to grow in faith and in numbers. Now our evangelist is living among them, preaching the gospel and teaching the children our own literacy. Please pray for this little flock and for the salvation of those over a hundred souls in the village. 

Urgent Need for Training 

Let me express our heartfelt thanks to your recent support to the construction of the training center. The work is well underway. It’s a center for training and sending out young native people for evangelism and church planting ministries, as described above. As we extend our mission areas to more places, more trained men are in great demand. We currently need more trained missionaries to be sent out to the fields than we now have. Let’s continue to pray that this pandemic would be soon over in God’s provision so that we may resume our training for pastoral and gospel ministries. 

Last but not least, I’ve been informed that some pagan families have moved into our mission fields, including in villages where our HC men are working. So they have heard the gospel preached by our missionaries. The Gospel ministry is progressing as churches are growing in faith. A new mission field has been set up in a particular region where we also sent out a missionary. Please pray for them too. I’m always in touch with them and occasionally meet up with them for mutual encouragement and prayers. In close partnership with us, they are putting their best efforts into preaching the gospel and planting churches. Thank you very much for your faithful partnership with us in this glorious Gospel ministry. I pray that God would continue to bless the HMS and its supporters and supply all your needs “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phi. 4:19) as you continue to be faithful in this great ministry. 

In His Service,

Elijah (August 2020)