Monthly: August 2011

When all other attempts at a cure were exhausted, the Buddhist leader asked only for prayers. But he did not know the power of the one true God.

At the end of his rope, this Buddhist leader in India had nowhere left to turn. His daughter lay bound to her bed . . . demon-possessed. Night after night, the tree that the villagers worshipped called to her—beckoning her to hang herself from its branches.

After several nights, this Buddhist leader had come to the end of his resources and asked for prayers from Adesh, an East-West national partner and strategy coordinator in India. Adesh went to the small village and brought with him other Christian leaders. Once this group of believers heard the girl’s story, they prayed to evict the demon within her. When five hours of intense prayer had passed, the demon left her body by the power of Jesus Christ.

Convinced that the tree was the main source of the demon power in the small, South Asian village, Adesh then focused his attention and prayers on it. He said to the Buddhist leader and other villagers, “So that you may know that Jesus is the one true God, we are going to pray against that devil tree.”

On the very next day, the “devil tree” was destroyed in a powerful lightning storm. And God was once more victorious in this small village.

South Asia is seeing rapid church growth—in part because of God’s movement in stories like this one. This region—which includes the countries of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh—has the highest concentration of people in the world who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ . . . but that is beginning to change.

Utilizing a rapidly reproducing church planting model, East-West missionaries are reaching new people in South Asia with the gospel each day. Please join us in prayer for our missionaries and national partners to see more people follow Jesus every day in South Asia as they step out in faith and obedience.

Libya:  With $10,000 worth of medical and food supplies loaded into their rented vehicle, the determined East-West team began their 16 hour journey across Egypt to the Libyan border. Because aid groups currently face many risks and obstacles throughout Libya, the team had to go through the “back door” by entering through Egypt. Knowing the desperate needs of the people in war-torn Libya, the team prayed that God would lead them into the areas of greatest need to distribute the medical and food supplies they carried.

After miraculously crossing the border with little resistance and traveling further into devastated territory, the team reached its intended destination in Libya. The team was met with great curiosity and was immediately ushered to a group of the most influential men in that city. Once they realized the purpose of the team’s visit, the men eagerly welcomed the team and thanked them for their much needed assistance. These men knew exactly where the supplies needed to go and sent the supplies on a 20 hour boat ride to the area of greatest need.

“God opened doors for this trip years ago,” said East-West team leader to Libya. Through previous ministry opportunities in Egypt, East-West had gained a connection with a very strategic community leader. Through this contact, the team was able to purchase all humanitarian aid supplies in Egypt, gain access to cross the border, and then press on to get their goods to one of the most distressed areas of Libya. “Every step of the way, God had it planned,” expressed the team leader. “We just had to get to the next point and the answer was already waiting for us.”

Every step of the process was coordinated with the help of Muslims who also have a desire to help the helpless of Libya. However, beyond meeting needs to preserve temporal life, East-West aims to make an eternal impact on this Muslim nation by sharing the message of Jesus the Messiah. One lady commented, “I sense your being here is for some kind of special purpose.” The desperate hearts of this war-scarred country have provided the opportunity to boldly proclaim Jesus the Messiah as the only way to eternal life. We are eager to return soon to make an even more significant temporal and eternal impact in Libya!

Pray \ GIVE \ Go: The doors have been opened and a “free pass” was granted for the team to return to the same area of Libya this fall. We are aiming to take $50,000 worth of medical and food supplies on the next trip. Will you join us to make this opportunity a reality? Give online: www.eastwest.org/GiveToLibya

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Kenya:  Atop the massive volcanic mountain known as Mt. Elgon, “rabbit” churches are quickly reproducing despite the persecution they are facing from the powerful “elephant” churches. Elephant churches represent the traditional churches of this area that focus on traditional buildings and legalism, squandering the work and movement of the Holy Spirit. The rabbit churches represent those who have parted from the elephant churches out of a desire to be obedient to the call of Scripture to “make disciples,” meeting together regularly and sharing their faith.

In July 2009, an East-West team introduced for the first time the concept of obedience-based discipleship. Within this teaching, a believer is trained in how to find persons of peace (people who are open to the gospel), baptize them and teach them the other six commands of Christ. The goal is to immediately empower the new disciple to do ministry. As a result of this training, the first spark of rabbit churches quickly ignited.

Because rabbit churches follow New Testament discipleship methods instead of the customs created by the local, traditional church, persecution from the traditional churches immediately ensued. The rabbit believers were ostracized by the local church, kicked out of their rental houses and labeled as heretics. The persecution brought these followers of Jesus to a defining moment in their faith— they could obey men or Jesus, but they could not obey both. The key national leader of this movement and a few others stood firm in their newfound purpose . . . they would not deny their call to obey Jesus.

Over the last 20 months, East-West teams have continued to return to Mt. Elgon to offer further discipleship and encouragement. Additionally, one of our East-West missionaries is reinforcing the concepts of discipleship and multiplication through bi-weekly text message communication with the key leader. “Praise GOD! A total of 2,569 rabbit believers in Elgon are in soul-winning. Word of wisdom??” one text read from the key leader. The East-West missionary responded, “Every one of them needs to find a person of peace this week and baptize them themselves.” This constant training has resulted in a continual multiplication of rabbit churches.

Once a month, the key national leader gathers a group of leaders to provide biblical instruction on how to overcome current problems being faced. They find their own answers to their questions from praying, listening to God, and reading His Word. Now, this group of leaders not only has a vision to reach its own tribe . . . but to reach all of Kenya!

PRAY \ Give \ Go: Pray for the national leaders of this movement as they seek God’s wisdom in finding persons of peace and in training new disciples. Also pray for those in elephant churches to be pierced by the truth of the gospel and by God’s call to ultimate obedience.

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