I will be with Pastor Chris Mnguni later this week in Daveyton, South Africa, Lord-willing, as we seek to document on film the work that he and others are doing to plant churches in the townships of South Africa. To aid your praying, here are a couple of highlights from his recent reports:
Bible Distribution Evangelism
Our church has recently started distributing Bibles to the homes around our church structure. We want every house to have a Bible in their own language. We are visiting each house and asking three questions: 1) Which language do they speak? 2) Do they go to church? 3) Do they have a Bible? Many have said that they do not go to church and do not have a Bible.
During one Saturday Bible distribution, we gave an older lady a Bible and asked if she knew how to read it. She admitted that she did not understand how to read the Bible. We gave her a simple lesson in reading the Bible and how to understand the meaning. She started asking questions about speaking and praying to dead people. She was convinced that this practice was supported by the Bible!
We read Deuteronomy 18 with her, helping her understand that Moses forbid praying to dead people. She was surprised that the Bible taught against what her ‘church’ taught. She has been so receptive to teaching from Scripture and we continue working with her.
So far we have distributed 10 Bibles. Why so few? Because the moment we give someone a Bible, they are so open to talk with us, leading to longer conversations. We also take our children along with us, which makes people feel less threatened by our visit. Our kids are always smiling and people like talking to them.
Baptisms At Last!
After laboring in one place for six years, I have finally baptized four disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ! Many may wonder what took so long. One main reason is that some were taking long to commit to church membership. Every time we taught a membership class, people realized that they did not qualify for membership. This really worried me.
I remember after teaching a class on membership, a young man said afterward, ‘Pastor, if this is what it means to be a church member, I don’t think anyone in our church qualifies.’ I thought he was exaggerating. But when I conducted interviews of those interested in membership, I realized that many were still holding on to their old lives. They just weren’t ready to take up their cross and follow Jesus. Many of those later left from congregating with us.
But the Lord encouraged us to continue. He has taught us through it all that He is the One building His church, and He is the One who calls His people to saving faith. It was such to joy to baptize 4 professing believers. Their testimonies were so unique and different. I was blessed as each shared how the Lord used different people to call them to a living faith, yet Jesus Christ was glorified and not His human instruments.
