Testimonies of Growing Churches
A handful of young people had believed in Jesus and were rejecting the divinity and absolute power of the King. The King decided to rid himself of this new threat to his power and ordered the execution of these young followers. Twenty four in all, he had them march to an execution site just outside Kampala. It was 1886 when the order was given. The king’s executioner tied them to a tree and told them if they renounced Jesus Christ, the King would allow them to live. They all refused. They were bound and tied into reed mats and laid upon logs which were to be set to fire.
Protestant missionaries went centuries ago to Ethiopia, but it was not until the 1920’s that they tried to establish a larger and permanent presence there. The missionaries bought large tracts of land (100-1000 acres) to use as mission stations. On these stations they would produce crops to fund their activities, build Bible schools, primary schools and medical clinics to meet the needs of the local people and provide a base to share the gospel from and raise their own families.
Eighty years after Om was born he got his first chance to hear about Jesus laying mute and crippled in his bed. He was only waiting to die. Jesus came down, though faithful believers like Ang, and brought the Good News of Jesus though the power of healing into Om’s life. Now, Om and his family have changed their eternal destiny!
Liang has been blind for nearly 4 years. His blindness came suddenly and without explanation. He felt as if his eyes were on fire and within a matter of hours lost his sight. He has felt the burning sensation in his eyes ever since. He has no vision what-so-ever; he is 100% blind.
In Ethiopia I had the great honor of meeting a group of believers who lived in a very remote part of the country. There was no road to their village, only a random path marked by the odd African shade tree. When the pastor was directing me there, he tried to talk to me in his broken English. He explained that it takes him four hours to walk to the village. This village used to be fully Muslim. He shared with me that this church “was in the shadows”.
I met a fascinating man the other day in a rural village in Ethiopia. First let me tell you what the world sees of him, then let me tell you what God has enabled him to do.
Throughout the meeting Randy would get a word of knowledge from the Lord about a sickness. Usually people would just stand up across the sanctuary as they were healed upon hearing the word. At one point Randy had a word of knowledge from the Lord that God wanted to heal someone from a ankle injury on the left ankle.
On March 4, 2003 Bill went to pick up another missionary family airport when he was killed by Islamic terrorists. The bomb was placed directly behind Bill, who had just returned from a Muslim area of Mindanao that day. It will never be known if he was followed there, or if it was random targeting. In the bomb blast, Bill along with 21 others were killed and more than 150 wounded, including Barbara Stevens and her two infant children, whom were co-workers that Bill had gone to the airport to pick up.
Heidi Baker: The by-product of a life humbled to Jesus Christ in utter dependence of him has led to now more than 12,000 churches started. More than 1,000 churches started among a people of a radical and violent faith. They are feeding and caring for more than 10,000 children in dozens of children’s homes in Mozambique and other nations in Africa.
For the first time in my life, I did not have a family Christmas on December 25. I chose to do it on December 23, so that I could join with hundreds of Christians and dozens of Government officials in Banteay Meanchey to celebrate Cambodia’s only official Christmas.
