Acts 4:29-31 “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
The Lord Jesus promised His disciples that when the Holy Spirit came upon them, He would give them the power to be His witnesses. That power is seen in how the followers of Jesus responded to persecution and opposition. In our own day and age, the Spirit continues to give boldness in sharing the word of God to followers of Jesus.
Report from a Leader Based in Darfur
“Brethren in the Lord I would like to express my deep gratitude for your help. Our churches in Jabal Marra are sending their best greetings. They are praying to all of you that all God’s blessings will follow you and his best chances will be yours to help His people in need.
Since the war broke out in Darfur, many people from different areas came back to their home villages. We thank God many of the people who came back are Christians. They really helped us to advance the kingdom of God in such difficult areas. In this month we have baptized 173 Mu…s who accepted the Lord as their personal Lord and Savior and still we have the list of 230 people who will be baptized. The good news is that the Lord is opening windows of opportunity.”
Join us in praising God for the gift of boldness the Spirit is giving to Darfurian believers who continue to share the gospel amid a war zone. Pray also that CRM and other Christian ministries can locate, purchase, and transport Bibles to support their efforts.
While Sudanese believers are struggling to obtain Bibles, CRM has other partners whom they support to attend Bible schools. We are committed to “empowering gospel movements” and this means providing qualified leaders the opportunity to get a theological education. Recently several such leaders graduated from their school in Uganda. They are Ayoub and Obang. Obang is of the Anyuak Tribe and lives in the Kakuma Camp in Kenya. Ayoub is Darfurian and leads the Sudanese church in Arua, Uganda.
Currently CRM is sponsoring 3 students to attend the Uganda Baptist Seminary, and one to attend the Kenya Baptist Theological College. Others we have helped are studying in the associational Bible school located in the Losimingori Region of Tanzania.
Message of Thanks from Thow Both Garang, Chairman of the Kakuma Baptist Association
Thank you for your unconditional love, selflessness, and compassion. I’m studying at Kenya Baptist Theological College in Nairobi. For your information, I’m going to finish next week my last semester exam for the first year of my study. My words are limited in describing how much you mean to many people. I pray that God will continue to bless with his sufficient grace and favor to be a blessing to many.
(Ayoub and Obang)
Brick Making Machines for Maasai of Tanzania
Because you gave, CRM recently enabled Mikaeli Tatile and Emmanuel Lazier to travel to Nairobi from Tanzania, so they could meet with personnel of two companies which produce interlocking brick machines. They chose to purchase from Makiga Appropriate Technologies. They returned home with two machines. A week later, Makiga sent personnel to train select Maasai Baptists in how to set the machines up and make bricks. This project should help Maasai Baptist churches work toward greater self-sustainment.
Soccer Tournament in Maridi, South Sudan
Because of the generosity of CRM’s donors, funds were sent to James Baibai and the Baptist leadership who live in the Western Equatoria region of South Sudan so they can hold a soccer tournament. James is one of my heroes, as he stood strong during times of war and persecution.
Through this tournament, James and other leaders plan on starting many new small Bible study groups and three new churches. Last year they baptized 123 youth won to the Lord during the tournament.
Our mission at CRM is to “Share His story, show His compassion, and serve His church.” As we have indicated in this letter, you are enabling us to do that through supplying Bibles, training current and future church leadership, funding projects that help with self-sustainment, and enabling associations of churches to carry out large evangelistic events for youth and children whose lives and communities have been upended by war. We invite you to continue this journey with us.
David Crane, President
Calvary Road Ministries
