Unexpected Church Planter
A village chief becomes a powerful soul winner!
When I hire a church planter, I look for a Seventh-day Adventist in good standing, trained by experienced workers with success in soul-winning. But God is not limited by our parameters. “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.” 1 Corinthians 1:27, NKJV. Before Yanvu even knew the truth, God chose him to help spread it!
Chief Yanvu presides over five villages near the city of Kenge, in the province of Kwango. While visiting Kenge on official business, Chief Yanvu received an invitation to attend an evangelistic campaign organized by Train Them 2 Fish. At the opening ceremony, he saw volunteers distributing free shoes to poor kids in the community, yet no one asked for offerings as other churches often did. Furthermore, Yanvu met people giving away free Bible study guides. “If you attend these meetings for 14 days, you will be given a new Bible,” one of them told him.
How could everything be free? Chief Yanvu had to admit that it went along quite well with the preacher’s message that evening—that salvation is a free gift of God’s love. Impressed, Chief Yanvu attended every meeting he could amidst his busy schedule. Even though he only came seven days, the preacher gave him a Missionary Bible anyway. “Once you receive a Missionary Bible, you become a missionary,” the preacher said.
“Could I have the whole series of Bible study guides?” the chief asked. “Not just for me, but for the people that live near my home? I can pay you to have them sent to my village.”
“Of course,” the preacher beamed. A few months later, the chief came back to Kenge asking for baptism, along with six
other people!
After his baptism, the chief went from one village to another giving out Bible study guides and trying to explain what he had learned. Interest grew as he shared the truth. Overwhelmed with questions about the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Sabbath, Chief Yanvu decided to come back to Kenge for help. Pastor Aimable sent a Bible worker home with the chief. After just two weeks in Yanvu’s villages, the Bible worker came back with the report that 150 people had accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized!
Amazed, the pastor went to see this miracle. Groups had begun gathering under trees to study together on Sabbath, and the pastor visited them and encouraged them to keep the faith. A Bible worker moved to the chief’s village to work there full time and continue to study the Bible with people to prepare for their baptism.
As for Chief Yanvu? He kept on visiting more people, including other village leaders, sharing the truth with them. He also had a church built next to his home where people continue to study the Word of God. As soon as they are available, more Bible workers will be sent to Chief Yanvu’s villages to help with the Bible studies. There will be a mass baptism with Bibles distributed to all those baptized. The Bibles have already been set aside for the great ceremony. The greatest and most urgent need now is to hire more Bible workers and to build good churches in each village for God’s children to worship in safe shelters.
Thank you for your prayers and support for the ministry of Chief Yanvu, the unexpected church planter who is still sharing the love of Jesus with many in Congo!
Location
Democratic Republic of Congo
Author
Pastor Thomas Ongasa is the president of Train Them 2 Fish, a ministry focused on bringing the everlasting gospel to Central Africa.
How You Can Help
Pray for Chief Yanvu as he proclaims the Three Angels’ Messages to his area villages!
Pray for the Train Them 2 Fish team as they send Bible workers to reach the masses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Give. For $90/month, you can sponsor 1 church planter/Bible worker. Mark your donations “Congo Workers” and send to:
Mission Projects International
PO Box 151
Inchelium, WA 99138
To give securely online, visit:
www.missionspro.org/donate
Thank you. Your gifts already support 24 church planters in Congo. As funds allow, we hope to hire 10 more workers soon. Thank you so
much for your support!