13,532 Saved in Malawi!
They traveled for miles...by foot, bus, and bicycle. Some traveled for days. When they arrived at their destination, they set up in their quarters. They slept on classroom floors with mats and blankets. Each morning they arose, packed up the small amount of gear they brought with them and helped set up the chairs for class. They studied in the same rooms where they had slept.

They soaked in teaching from God’s Word with an earnestness and desire that would make many of us in America ashamed of how flippantly we treat the mass of Biblical teaching and training that we have available at our fingertips. They were truly hungry and thirsty for the teachings of Christ.

These pastors and pastors’ wives who attended the 2008 Leadership Development Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi endured a week of intense training and discipleship in 20 different critical subjects such as Bible study, evangelism, and how to share your testimony. For the majority of these Christian leaders, these teachings that many of us would consider foundational and basic, they found to be exciting, new, and life changing.

After their training, they had the opportunity to put what they had learned into practice. Four teams of African pastors went into the mission field of Malawi with our leadership team from the U.S. Over the course of the next week, they led 13,532 people to conversion. Praise the Lord!

Victor was one of these pastors; hungry to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He stood on the back of a pickup truck, giving his testimony. He told the crowd, “I used to be a thief and a murderer. To me, killing a person was just the same as strangling a chicken."

He went on to tell them how Jesus Christ had changed his life. After hearing his testimony, 532 people were saved.

From a life of the worst imaginable sins, Victor is now sharing the Gospel, using his testimony of the power of God’s grace to bring even the most hardened men and women to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Your support allowed a 37 member team from six different states to see the Lord do incredible work in Malawi. The results are tangible, real and eternal. 13,532 people’s lives are changed forever. Thank you for your support and continue to pray for these new believers.

mALAWI 2008: THE NUMBERS
 

The 2008 Leadership Development Institute was held in Lilongwe, Malawi. Classes were held in the city’s Baptist Seminary. Below is a statistical report on the project.

• 237 pastors and 37 wives attended

• 37 team members from the U.S. traveled to Malawi

• 6 different U.S. states were represented

• 20 critical Biblical subjects were taught

• 100 bicycles were given to pastors who travel to multiple churches

• 24 open air evangelistic meetings were held

• 274 Bibles were given to the L.D.I. attendees

• 226 Bibles were given to local churches

• 4,000 New Testaments were given to new Christians

• 35,000 Gospel tracts were distributed

• 12,600 discipleship books were given to pastors to aid them in leading their flocks

• 13,532 people came to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior

ZIMBABWE REPORT: WHY NATIONAL MISSIONARIES ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY OF MINISTERING THE GOSPEL
Beatings were frequent and brutal. Either vote for the current president, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, or experience the consequences.

Mugabe had lost the presidential election earlier in the spring, but using his power and a willingness to brutally suppress any opposition, he declared that there should be a run off. Immediately his supporters began a program of intimidation with the intent of destroying any opposition to his continued reign in Zimbabwe. The tactics worked. His opposition pulled out from the race, and Mugabe won the run off election with nearly 90% of the vote.

Dennis, our Director in Zimbabwe, and Josiah, our Associate Director, were able to attend our Leadership Development Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi. They told a story of abject poverty, starvation, oppression, and the continued evangelism of our National Missionaries. Dennis stated, “[While we suffer physically] we have not suffered spiritually. The I.A.M. pastors are the only ones still focused on evangelism. Most pastors are just trying to maintain their churches [amongst the chaos].”

One young Zimbabwean pastor was martyred for his faith. Among his papers, this note was found:

I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!

The work of our National Missionaries continues to go forward in Zimbabwe, and each one of them can say, “My colors are clear!”

national missionary TESTIMONY

Lawrance Kyambadde was filled with joy. His wife Blessing had just given birth to a healthy baby girl, and he was excited to see new births of a different kind take place.

He strapped his portable speaker system to the front of his bike and set out. The plan was to go to a neighboring village to hold one of 12 open air evangelistic meetings he would conduct during the month.

He set up in the busiest part of the village and began to clearly present the Gospel of Jesus Christ as his training through Reaching Souls International had taught him. He spoke out to anybody who would listen.

A small crowd gathered around, and as he gave the invitation, he noticed that two Muslim men and a witch doctor were raising their hands in surrender to Christ.

After the meeting he met with the new believers. He led the witch doctor as he burned his tools of witchcraft. He is now being discipled in Lawrance’s local church.

625 national MISSIONARIES IN SEPTEMBER 2008
Reaching Souls International currently supports 515 National Missionaries in Africa and India. Through the Changing Nations Campaign, we plan on having 1,425 National Missionaries in the field by the end of 2010.

In September 2008 we will be adding 110 new National Missionaries to bring our total to 625. Rising fuel costs and the depression in the world economy is affecting our costs for placing new National Missionaries in the field. We are currently looking for creative solutions to this issue. Please pray that the Lord would bless our efforts as we seek to place more mighty workers into the harvest.

As we have sought to reach the most needy places on earth with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have become convinced that National Missionaries are the most effective and efficient way to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. There are no cultural or language barriers to overcome. In the ever changing geopolitical climate of Africa, we never know when a nation will be shut off to foreign missionaries. As is being demonstrated in Zimbabwe, our National Missionaries continue to spread the Gospel under persecution in areas where we can no longer go.

Godfrey Bakenzewa is a Reaching Souls National Missionary in Uganda. He has been experiencing great hardship as the nation has been under a famine and his ministry is being opposed by local Muslims.

Using a bike and portable sound system supplied by people like you, he travels around local villages in Uganda holding open air meetings and preaching the Gospel.

He writes, “[Because of the support of Reaching Souls] my ministry has been extended to many. People are being saved in different villages throughout Uganda through our open air meetings and one on one Bible studies.

We have been challenged by Muslims attacking us, but I thank the Lord His hand has been on me.”

You can see why we are so urgent in our desire to place more men like Godfrey Bakenzewa into the field.

Pastor Ofwono Yekosophat became a National Missionary in February 2008. After receiving training in evangelism and the support of Reaching Souls, his ministry has exploded. His church consisted of 70 members in February, but he has seen 130 new Christians added to the church in the past four months.

Seek the Lord. Ask Him how He would have you support the Changing Nations Campaign as we seek to add more faithful men to the harvest.

FROM MY HEART: A MESSAGE FROM JIMMY
There is always a feeling of joy following a project. Months of hard work and dedication have come to fruition. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to see the Lord work in miraculous ways.

13,532 lives have been changed by the work of the Holy Spirit in Malawi. I praise the Lord daily for His faithfulness and willingness to work through such weak instruments. I thank Him for His favor in that He allows you and I to participate in His masterplan for eternity and the human race. I am awestruck by His mighty power and His willingness to put it at the disposal of those who are committed to accomplish His will.

One of the things that makes Reaching Souls International unique among other missions ministries is this, those 13,532 baby Christians were not alone after our 37 member team from the U.S. came home. We currently have 120 National Missionaries working in Malawi. They are pastors of churches, disciplers of men and women, and committed to the growth of these believers.

Our goal is not just to see numbers, but to change nations. In order to accomplish this, we must disciple a strong host of Christians who are committed to the spread of the Gospel and who are trained to lead people to Christ.

For this reason we have spent over two decades, not just evangelizing and seeing people saved, but building an infrastructure of Godly men and women who can carry on the work of Jesus Christ in discipleship and evangelism long after we are gone.

So now, as I reflect back on this project and the 13,532 people who were saved, my joy is doubled. Not only do I have joy in the fact that their eternal destination has been settled, but I have joy in the knowledge that there is an infrastructure of the faithful in Malawi who will continue to disciple, train, and lead these baby Christians to do the same for others.

Along with this joy, I feel an incredible sense of urgency. I know the average life expectancy in Malawi is 43 years of age. The median age is 16. Far from being atypical, these are normal statistics for nations all across Africa. People are dying daily and at a young age without a knowledge of Jesus Christ. The work must not only continue as it has, but it must be expanded.

This is why the Changing Nations Campaign is so exciting. I cannot wait to see the day when 1,425 faithful men
are preaching the Gospel all across sub-Sahara Africa and beyond. These men will be well trained, well equipped, and have an undying commitment to reach souls.

In order for this vision to be accomplished, we need you. The depressed global economy and rise in costs of basic necessities impacts this ministry and our National Missionaries. Partner with us today...

For the sake of Souls,





P.S. Please make a generous gift to the Changing Nations Campaign. Join us as we seek to accomplish great things through Christ’s power.