[Note: Because of security concerns, we are unable to mention specific names of people or exact places. Thanks for your understanding.]
It’s hard to find the right words to describe working in this East African country. It is surely dangerous, but the greater danger is continuing to allow darkness to reign over 20 million souls. So, we’ll call this new effort, ‘critical.’ This must happen, and we believe the time is now.
Last month, our president, Doug Lucas and a handful of others traveled a second time to East Africa. This land has been the scene of more than two decades of fighting and lawless tension. This land is desperately in need of the Gospel.
On the one hand, most of the primary conflict seems to have lessened. On the other hand, there are still isolated violent incidents. For this reason, as well as others, we are seeking a wave of prayer. We truly believe that God is sovereign and that, with His sovereign power, He reigns and trumps all authorities, all dominions, and all darkness. Will you join us in prayer?
Pray for Clean Water
70% of the people in this land in East Africa are said to be without safe drinking water. An even larger percentage of the people in this land don’t have the “living water” either. We’ve been praying for a pathway to bring healing in both areas.
To get started, we sought out the most stable portion of this troubled land. We met with cabinet-level authorities for this region and proposed a strategy that involved forming partnerships that would work together to catch rainwater during the rainy season. The water would then be stored and cleaned.
During the rainy season, the purified water would be distributed broadly. During the dry season, the storehouse would be rationed out fairly.
We hope to start with a small pilot project first, then, if the project is successful, gradually increase the numbers of families in the partnerships. We hope that the training can be done in such a way that people find Jesus.
If they do, those people will also be somewhat at risk because it is culturally (if not legally?) against all norms to convert to Christ in this land. Once again, pray.
Pray for Living Water
Team Expansion has never been merely a humanitarian aid organization. We aren’t about to start now. We care about human need, but we firmly believe the biggest social injustice of all is that billions live without the knowledge that Jesus really is Lord and that only by accepting Him as such can they hope to escape eternal darkness.
In this East African region, there are approximately 20 million people who all speak the same language. Among those 20 million people, experts guess there are fewer than 200 or so Christ-followers.
He had been reading the Bible for 9 years, wondering if Christ was real.
While Doug was in this troubled land, a long-time seeker decided to accept Christ. He had been reading the Bible for 9 years, wondering if Christ was real. On this day, the day this picture was taken, he finally gave his life to Christ. 5 minutes after this picture was taken, he was baptized in the bathtub of this house.
Nine years of wondering. Pray we can shorten this timeframe for the millions who are waiting.
African Workers are Rising up
The really cool part about all of this is God is raising up African brothers and sisters to help us in this troubled land. In the nation next door, we’ve formed incredibly strong partnerships with a band of churches and an association of mission mobilizers.
From the USA, we hope to raise up basically one team of trainers. In a tremendous show of cooperation, the growing church in the African nation next door is raising up SIX teams of people to match our ONE team. So literally for every one USA worker, they’re raising up SIX workers to stand shoulder to shoulder with us.
Make no mistake: It’s every bit as dangerous for them as well. When we asked them if they understood this, they looked us straight in the eye and said, “Doug, we stand ready to raise up one thousand workers who will give their lives for the sake of the gospel.”
They aren’t asking for permanent stipends.
Opportunities to Engage
Partner churches have already stepped up to cover 3 years of costs for three of the African teams. We still need 2 full teams covered (at $2700/month each team). An individual and another church have committed to $650/month out of the $2700 for the last team – so we only need $2050/month more for that team. If you’d like to partner in this way, please visit the East Africa Partnership giving page.
As we’ve mentioned throughout this update, prayer is a vital need. We need intentional, constant, and specific prayer. If you would like to pray for this country and the efforts being made to share the Gospel, you can sign-up up for prayer updates on the giving page by clicking the tab labeled “Prayer Updates and Questions”.
