Testimonies

From a man in the Dinka tribe in Sudan. He became interested in learning the Word of God from the chronological booklets, and has been continuing to slowly study with us.

“I kept the Muslim law of Ramadhan as well as the other laws of Islam, yet I always had questions in my heart. In the Islamic religion, we were taught that there is a weighing scale of good and bad deeds. We were also taught that Satan is chained during the month of Ramadhan. One of my questions was why would people continue to sin during this month. Another question was wondering why God would only have one holy month, and then release Satan. There was something wrong.

One of my family members is the Imam of our mosque, yet I wanted to go to the fellowship of believers to see if I could find some hope. Reading from the Quran and from the Bible, I learned of Jesus as the most and only holy man. Why was only Jesus holy, and not my esteemed prophet, Mohammed?

The chronological booklets have answered many of my questions. Another answer has to do with the Muslim belief that Jesus did not die. On Wednesday, I had a dream, and in the dream, a man was talking to me, asking me lots of questions about my future life. After a bit, he paused and said, ‘My son, I love you and your Father in heaven loves you. I died for you and am now risen. Will you believe all I did for you?’”

Yesterday this man attended the fellowship and declared his own personal decision to walk with the Lord.

From a former Muslim in South Sudan:

“For Muslims, Ramadhan is the month of grace. This month, however, is now very different for me as I am no longer fasting, but rather, rejoicing in my freedom from darkness.

Islam is so dark and many do not know it. In this world, there is only light or darkness, Christ or Mohammed. From birth, I have struggled, wanting to know the truth. Then, I came upon some booklets in my own Borana language.

At first, I thought that they were just for kids. I read, however, the first lesson, got interested, and continued to read them. I discovered answers to my many questions.

I discovered where sin came from. I also discovered who the Savior is, and it is not the prophet Mohammed. The booklets also taught me who Jesus is. He is the plan of God to return us to Him. He is the true Savior.

Islam does not want us to know the truth. Islam teaches us to kill so that we can inherit seven virgins and a river of alcohol when we reach heaven. The God of the Bible, however, does not want us to kill. God wants us to love one another. God does not want us not to be false witnesses. God wants us to love Him with all of our hearts.

I have read the booklets along with my brother who also used to be a muslim. For the first time in my life, I visited a church, was prayed for, and felt true love from the pastor. I have given my life to Christ and am now God’s son. I no longer fast for Ramadhan because I am a new creation. All of my sins have been paid for at the cross, and I am now a child of light.”

This testimony is from a young woman from Kapsobet which is in western Kenya. One of her classmates who had recently believed in Christ shared the booklets with her. This is wonderful news, as the world would have only trained, experienced “holy people” share their faith with others.

“My name is Maurine, and I can now confidently say I am a child of God and that Christ Jesus is my Savior. I would not have said this three years ago.

I have been so disrespectful and disobedient to my parents ever since I was a small girl. I was suspended many times from school due to a lack of discipline. My parents were tired of me, and they sent me to school with a final warning that if I was suspended again, that would be the end of their efforts for me.

Indeed, I was suspended, but this time I ended up in a juvenile prison after injuring my teacher with a piece of metal. This made me hate my parents as I did not have the freedom that I enjoyed at home. Three years went by and then, I got out of prison.

I wanted to take revenge on my parents. As I started back to school, I saw a friend of mine who was reading a booklet. I moved closer just to find out what she was reading. My friend had changed a lot, and I wanted to know what was going on in her life. That is when she told me that she has now believed in Christ, and that she is back home. I took a look at the booklet, but that was all.

Days went by. My friend visited me and kept insisting that I read the booklets. I agreed to read them, but only with her. Through the lessons, I learned more about sin and God. Arriving at the lesson which talks of the laws of God (The ten commandments), I learned that God is our father, and if we disobey our parents even just once, God is not happy and can punish us as he did with Adam and Eve. I asked myself how many times had I disobeyed my parents, yet they still loved me. Does this mean that God loves me too?

My friend took me to her pastor who prayed for me and helped me to ask my parents for forgiveness. I remember how my Mum cried for me when my Dad had some time ago told me that I was not his child. I knelt before my dad, and asked him to forgive me. I was so happy for it was the first time that my Dad had hugged me in many years. I believe that even Christ must have hugged me that day.

We are now a happy family again. Thank you for the chronological booklets.”
Maurine.

In the camp, we have been seeing people worshiping God according to their tribe. The Dinkas, for example, see themselves as the rulers of all of South Sudan, and therefore, to worship with the Nubians means to de-value their status in the nation. The Dinkas are filled with pride and hatred for the Nubians.

In one fellowship today, however, both Dinkas and Nubians were worshiping God together! This means that they have understood that we all have sinned, that we are all the same before the living God, and that we all have one Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

One Sunday, a Dinka got up in church today to say this:

“It is the Word of God which will break the hate among the Nubians, the Dinkas, and the Nuers. Today, we’ve understood that God loves all people, that He is perfect, and that He wants all people to be perfect. Unfortunately, all men have sinned and we need a Savior. The Dinkas need Jesus. The Nuers need Jesus. The Nubians need Jesus. Only Jesus can save all people.”

When he had finished sharing, fifteen people came forward, confessing their sins, asking how they could be saved, and how they could share with their neighbors. Sixteen people believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We pray that this would be a beginning for the Dinkas to become a part of the Church of Jesus Christ in the camp.”

This is from a business man from the Kadaru tribe. They say that the Kadaru people are the most difficult to reach. This man is wealthy, having much influence in the tribe, and has persecuted believers.

We have been praying with this particular tribe and last week, he came to speak to us:

“While I was in the mosque praying, I felt a huge weight on my heart. As I opened my eyes, a bright light shone in my face. I couldn’t see anything. No one around me, however, noticed anything. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling my name, ‘Mohammed! Mohammed! Mohammed! I love you and I want to be your Lord.’

I quickly said, ‘I am a servant of Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.’ I said it so loud that the people around me asked why I was yelling out in the middle of a prayer. I was totally confused, and wondered myself what was happening. Not understanding, I went to find someone who could explain to me what was happening.

I jumped on my motorbike and while on the way, I saw two Muslims who were following me. They were running after me. Then, I heard different voices in front of me, and saw two motorbikes coming with Muslims dressed up to kill me.

Immediately, I shouted, ‘Jesus Christ, forgive me!’ and fell flat on the ground. When I got up from the ground, my assailants were not there. I was all alone and not injured. I picked up my motorbike and rode until I reached the place to where there was teaching.”

This man is willing and is starting to learn the Word of God. We were all encouraged. This man has been traveling two times a week to come and have class with us. Let’s pray for boldness so that he would serve the Lord with boldness and not fear.

When the true Word of God is taught in story form, people can understand.
We have been sharing the chronological teachings for two months. Today, we taught the parable of the prodigal son that Jesus taught in Luke 15.

The prodigal son acknowledged his mistakes when he came back to his senses. We understood that the devil nor the world does not want us to come back to our senses.

The people started comparing this story with the stories that we had taught earlier. Adam and Eve, after sinning, hid from God, after sinning. God wanted to save Lot’s wife, but she wanted to stay in Sodom and Gomorrah and became a pillar of fire. The people of Noah’s time did not listen to Noah. They rejected God’s Word, and only eight people were saved.

One man said this:

“Like the prodigal son, I have left home for women and drugs. Today, I am coming home to my Father.”

Three people shared different ways that they have left home, but now are bidding ‘goodbye’ to the old life. At the end of the day, some twenty people believed Jesus, and crossed to the good tribe.

Hebrews 4:12 says this: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

From one of the key leaders of the Shatt tribe in the camp. He has been a Muslim for all of his life. He now shares his story of salvation after learning about God in chronological story form:

“Being a chief is one thing that influences many people to follow you. The decisions you make are so important to the community around you. In our community, many people are Muslims. I was born a Muslim, was raised up reciting the Shahada, and taught Sharia law in Khartoum. Fighting Christians is one of the things I loved to do. I enjoyed persecuting believers as I thought that was my service to Allah.

Then one day, I had a dream, calling me out of the wrong way. In the dream, a man visited me, sharing with me about God, sin, and man. I felt so bad when he said God came to earth because of the sin problem. This sin can only be solved in God’s way and not in man’s way.

Since I started learning through the booklet teachings, I learned that there are many things I had no knowledge about. Now, I have chosen a way to walk in, the way of faith, the way of life, and the way of eternal hope. I no longer want the lies of Islam. My family and I have embraced the Lord Jesus. We are looking forward to learning more through the booklets.”

In South Sudan, people had this to say:

“We believed that Jesus is the son of God who came through Mary, but from that point on, it was difficult to explain any further. We did not think it was possible for Him to be God, and yet, at the same time be the son of Mary. Having wrong knowledge about who God is makes us do wrong things which leads to wrong beliefs.”

The pastor said, “I came from the Catholic denomination, but I knew that it was wrong to bow down to Mary. I did not think, however, that Jesus was God because God cannot give birth to children. We are wholly giving ourselves to learning the Word of God through these booklets. Thank you for giving us these booklets.”

When the truth is known, the walk of the believers becomes easy. May the Lord Jesus Christ keep teaching through His Word. He is good and faithful.”

Colossians 1:15 [Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation.