December 2021

Dear Partners,
Psalm 71:15-18 reads “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”

Calvary Road Ministries was formed in 1998 by the Rev. John Shepherd to partner with the IMB missionaries working among the Maasai. It started with me, David Crane, and afterward expanded to all areas of Maasai-land in Kenya. Bob Calvert and I asked John to especially focus on mobilizing older men and women, “those with gray hair” to come and help us in evangelizing Maasai elders, the segment of their tribe most resistant to the Gospel. The emphasis on reaching elders, who as a whole were the most illiterate of the Maasai, led us to make chronological Bible storying a key component in our evangelism and discipleship strategies. In turn, this led Bob to work with John to produce the first story cloth. Some years later, John worked with the same graphic artists to produce the Acts Story Cloth. In 2006, John wisely arranged for the IMB’s Resource Center to sell the first cloth, and as a result, it has subsequently been used by believers all over the world. Some of those older American men and women whom John Shepherd originally mobilized are either deceased, or are physically unable now to travel overseas. Some are still able and are quite willing, but in 2020 and 2021, have been prevented from traveling because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

My point in giving you that brief summary of CRM’s history is that from its inception, CRM focused on mobilizing older believers. Those who responded to the call found their lives profoundly impacted by their experience. Some folks have made over 15 trips to Maasai-land. They have fallen in love with the chronological storying approach and have found their understanding of the whole Bible enriched.

How does all that related to Psalm 71? Good question, glad your asked! We are approaching the end of 2021, and that’s the time of year when we all look back over the course of the year, evaluate what happened, and give God the glory and praise He alone is due for every action performed which resulted in Kingdom growth. We in the CRM “family” who are older, Renee and I turned 65 this year, want to publish the tidings of what God has done through CRM so that younger saints might learn new lessons about HIS power and might, and thereby be encouraged to receive the baton from we who are older, and run with it into whatever the future holds. He is worthy of every sacrifice made of money, time and energy.

In 1998, John Shepherd had no idea how widespread the impact of Calvary Road Ministries would be. “The number of your deeds of salvation and righteous acts is past my knowledge,” Psa. 71:15. Only God knew how widespread the impact would be of CRM’s donors and prayer warriors. In 2021 alone, CRM’s field partners include believers in India, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Here is a brief recap of how CRM supported and resourced its field partners, brethren who serve in tough places.

India: Pastor Raj, who lives in the State of Andra Pradesh, was enabled to carry out 3 story cloth workshops. He has also recorded all 42 stories of the first Story Cloth into the Telugu language. We now possess those audio files and will soon place them on CRM’s website. Next year, we will work with Raj to have those recordings, the audio version of the Telugu NT, and Gospel films translated into Telugu, placed on micro-SD cards to enable him and those he has trained to do widespread Gospel seed sowing. There are over 80 million Telugu speakers in the world. Raj’s sacrifices have created potential for a widespread harvest among the Telugu people.

Kenya and Tanzania:

• Paid for a solar system to be provided for the borehole CRM financed on behalf of the Oltepesi Children’s Home.
• A CRM sponsored team built two dormitories for the children’s home, as well as the required bunk beds. One team member taught the children in the nearby school using the first story cloth and 19 of the kids received Jesus as Savior and Lord.
• Provided 500 micro-SD cards and 8 projectors to help with evangelism in least reached regions of Maasai-land

South Sudan:

• Enabled Baptists churches in the Juba area to form a local association
• Sponsored a first-of-its kind training of youth workers of the Juba area
• Sponsored both Ding Lual and Mathew Dhol to carry out evangelism and training among their Nuer people living in the Upper Nile State, and in Ethiopia
• Sponsored Mathew Dhol to carry out two Story Cloth training events in the Unity State, an area now experiencing unprecedented levels of flood damage.
• Financed the purchase of two plots for new church starts in Juba and in the Western Equatoria State
• Financed a Christmas soccer tournament, now happening, in 3 counties of Western Equatoria. Our partners proposal included sharing the Gospel with up to 8,000 people, starting new small group Bible studies, and opening new churches.

Northern Uganda: Refugee Camps and Aringa

• Provided 600 micro-SD cards, projectors and 200 solar powered MP3 players to aid with evangelism and discipleship
• Helped provide a large training event within the Bidibidi Refugee Camp in May. Over 160 Gospel workers were trained.
• Provided Aringa Baptist leaders with story cloths, SD cards and MP3 players, and a 2 day Story Cloth training event. CRM also enabled the Aringa to purchase a plot for a training center near the town of Yumbe.
• Enabled Kusar, the wife of A____, to train female Sudanese believers living in the Rhino Refugee Camp in the stories of both story cloths. A number of new groups have been started by the ladies she has trained. CRM also provided funding so Kusar could minister to orphans, widows, and the poorest living within the same camp.
• Financed the third annual Christmas Soccer Tournament which is currently happening in many zones of the Bidibidi and Rhino Refugee Camps. This event will greatly encourage youth workers, and provide a platform for evangelism and starting Bible study groups.

Sudan

• Continued to resource the Gospel movement occurring in Darfur. The resources had to be given to our Sudanese field partners when one of them was either in Uganda or Kenya.
• Resources provided included over 1,200 micro-SD cards, 600 solar powered MP3 players, 16 projectors, and hundreds of both story cloths.
• Financed the building of a primary school. The cement slab which will be the roof of the school’s ground floor must still be built.
• Enabled the establishment of the first ever Baptist Convention of Sudan.
• Financed the ongoing Bible school which will graduate 18 students in April 2022
• Supported A___ and Alam as they serve in Darfur, as well as their families who remain back in Uganda on refugee status.
• Had a team ready to go to Khartoum on October 24 but had to cancel at the last moment due to a military coup.
• Financed the ongoing theological education of various Sudanese believers so they can be better Bible school teachers and church planters.
• Posted on CRM’s website audio recordings of the 42 stories of the first cloth in Sudanese Arabic. Additionally we posted Alam’s Arabic translation of the 42 stories in written form.
• CRM’s field partners have been so encouraged that they have made tripling the current number of house churches, 150, to 450, in 2022. They and their converts have persevered through much persecution in 2021. Two believers were killed. Many were mistreated by their families. Some lost their jobs. Others were dragged before courts. However, the result of all forms of persecution, and threats of it, has been exponential growth.

CRM’s story illustrates how God fulfills His promise to grant power to His servants when they willingly respond to His call be be His witnesses among all peoples. Jesus is the “Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” He knows how the story He is weaving through the obedience of His people will end. His servants just need to obey today what He has revealed to them, trusting into His mighty hands the scope of the impact of their obedience. And along the way, recount among themselves, and to the generations which follow, that HE IS WORTHY.