The Holy Spirit moving on the men at Mbalmayo Prison

Dear Friends,

Carole and I have returned from our trip to Africa with many good reports of God’s amazing work. In fact, there are so many good things that there isn’t enough space in this update for them all! For this reason, I’ll divide it into two parts. This update will focus on Cameroon, which was characterized by repentance and conversion. Next month, I’ll tell you about D.R. Congo, which was characterized by forgiveness and reconciliation.

In Cameroon we met with pastor Emmanuel and his two associates who are the chaplains with Bread for Life, a ministry that Carole and I have had contact with for many years. Pastor Emmanuel, pastor Lobe, and pastor Paul minister full-time in the many prisons around Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon. They evangelize and mentor inmates and plant churches inside the prisons. All three chaplains are very poor, yet they have established a great work for God with what they have.

Bread of Life Ministry asked us to help conduct evangelistic meetings over several days in three different prisons in and near Yaounde. Akonolinga Prison was our first stop. Pastor Emmanuel already had a good church established in this prison of about 250 men. We brought several hundred pounds of beans and corn along with soap and medicine for the inmates. After I preached the message God had given me, 55 men repented and believed. We were overjoyed at the work of the Holy Spirit!

Pastor Elom, pastor Lobe and pastor Emmanuel, left; repentance and faith at Akonolinga Prison, at right

Our next stop was Mbalmayo Prison. At that meeting, I gave a clear and sobering invitation to repent and follow Jesus. Out of 450 men present, the Holy Spirit then brought 150 to repentance and faith!

As a result, the church inside this prison was strengthened with many new converts. Carole and I also strengthened pastor Emmanuel’s reputation with the warden, simply because we are Westerners—a rare sight in those parts. The warden and inmates were all very happy to see the 220-pound sacks of beans and corn, as the government feeds them only a single rationed meal a day. They also appreciated the medicine we gave them.

Our final stop was Central Prison of Yaounde. Although this is a minimum security prison for inmates who have shown good behavior, the warden did not like Christian ministry in his prison. Our gifts of much-needed food and medicine, however, softened his heart enough to let us in, and he attended our meeting, too. Little did he—or the rest of us—know that God would speak to him during the message. Afterwards he stood and gave a testimony of how God had impacted him! As a result, he gave pastor Emmanuel an open door to minister in this prison and provided a separate room to start a new church inside this prison. Look what the Lord has done! Sunday morning we returned to dedicate the new church!

The warden giving a testimony of how God touched him, left; at right, the first meeting of the new church leaders!

I am so overjoyed at what God did on this trip, opening the door for even more ministry in Cameroon. Your faithful gifts to the Prisoners Fund made this possible. Please know that all of you who prayed and gave to this effort are one with us. You might not be able to go and do this work, but through your support we will go for you. Your reward waits for you in heaven! Thank you for your hearts of obedience to Jesus.

In service to Him,

Bob Collins
Director, Prisoners Fund

Four children I’d like to help. Please read their story below.

Dear Friends,

For the past few days, we’ve all been watching the riveting video reports of Japan’s tsunami rolling onshore, swallowing everything in its path. It’s a natural disaster of horrific proportions. Our prayers are certainly with the people of Japan.

As I’ve watched those tsunami videos, however, I have to confess that I’ve thought about how much better wealthy nations fare compared to poor nations when natural disasters strike. Japan has the world’s third largest economy, and until China recently surpassed it, Japan had the world’s second largest economy. Northeast Japan’s coastal regions will recover as Japan’s government and its friends spend billions of dollars rebuilding what has been destroyed. Insurance companies will pay claims.

Contrast Japan’s northeast coast with Myanmar’s west coast, which was assaulted five months ago by Cyclone Giri, a cyclone you may not have heard of. Winds clocked at 165-miles-per-hour created a 12-foot storm surge with waves reaching 26 feet. The people in Giri’s path had no high-rise buildings in which they could take refuge and shoot video images for the world to watch. They fled on foot for higher ground. When survivors returned, many found their wooden and thatched-roof homes obliterated. Roughly 100,000 people became homeless, and 40,000 acres of rice paddies that were almost ready for harvest were destroyed.

Since then, some humanitarian assistance has arrived, but not nearly enough. The affected region is remote. Heaven’s Family has been doing what we can, helping to rebuild some homes and providing at least ten tons of much-needed rice for Christian families who live in areas who have received no other assistance.

A few of the families who received rice from Heaven’s Family

One our representatives working in Myanmar just sent me many photos of thankful Christian families who have received our rice. (Just $18 provides a hundred-pound sack of rice that can feed a family for a month.) But one of those photos really caught my attention. It is the photo at the top of this blog post (and directly below this paragraph) of four children whom he found living under a make-shift shelter that serves as their house. Their father perished in the cyclone. Their mother is doing all she can to provide for them, but she is losing hope. They are believers in Jesus. How I would love to build them a new house. $500 will do it.

If everyone who reads this blog post contributed just $18, we could provide tons of rice that would help sustain thousands of Christians and non-Christians—offering them a visible demonstration of Christ’s love. This is a wonderful opportunity to not only feed the hungry in whom Christ lives, but to also sustain and empower believers to reach their Buddhist neighbors.

If you would like to help us with our relief efforts in Myanmar by contributing to our Disaster Relief Fund, you can give securely by credit card through our website by clicking here, or by calling our office between 8:00AM – 4:30PM (ET) at (412) 833-5826.

As always, 100% of what you give to Heaven’s Family’s Disaster Relief Fund will be sent overseas to directly benefit survivors. Nothing is used for administration, as that is all paid through our general fund. Jeff Trotter, who directs our Disaster Relief Fund, will be in Myanmar in just a few weeks to oversee our relief efforts there.

Thanks so much for caring,

David

David Servant
Director, Heaven’s Family

Would you invite this man to your wedding? Jesus has invited him to His wedding.

Dear Friends,

Yu Xue Wen contracted leprosy when he was just ten years old. His disease progressed slowly, however, and he ultimately married and fathered a daughter. After her birth, Yu began to deteriorate more rapidly, and the Chinese government relocated him to a remote leper colony in Yunnan Province. Yu is now 70 years old. His daughter has never visited him.

Although his natural family has disowned him, Yu has a spiritual family that loves and cares for him. Our partners regularly visit the leper colony where he lives, and, using funds from Heaven’s Family, help meet their basic needs and share the gospel. Recently, that visiting team did something for the lepers that astonished them: They included the lepers in the wedding festivities of a newly-married couple from their team. It was a rare occasion that deeply touched the hearts of some forsaken people.

In nations like China where leprosy still exists, lepers are never invited to weddings. Jesus, however, has invited lepers to His wedding feast—just as He has invited the rest of us.

I’m happy to report that your gifts to the Lepers Fund are being used to show Jesus’ love to those who receive so little love from others—and to ensure that they are “dressed” properly for His wedding feast, clothed in His righteousness. You’ll one day meet them at that great banquet!

Chinese ministry partners from the bridal party lead a leper to the wedding celebration

Together in His service,

Carole J. Collins
Director, Lepers Fund