Since our last newsletter we have had several crusades. We get many invitations as much as our capacity and strength allows.
In the villages children and adults have a great need to hear the Word of God being preached. Most live in very poor conditions. This is clearly seen by the many dilapidated earth cabins and houses. During the recent crusade the team stayed in a dirty and disgusting guest house. There was no roof in the room where Torkild was to sleep and it was full of bats that made dirt everywhere. Torkild placed the bed high edged at the wall because the mattress stank. Luckily he had brought a small tent that he pitched and he also brought a mattress from home. He had a piece of tarpaulin that was stretched out as a ceiling. This way he was protected from the bats.
On the Saturday Torkild took a walk in the village to meet the people. Many good things happened during this walk and he was received well – especially as they heard him speaking their language. He watched as some did a home slaughtering of a pig. In turn he explained how as a young man he had taken a lot of pigs to slaughterhouses in Denmark. They liked his story about that.
On his way back to the guest house he met a young girl. She quickly crawled up a papaya tree to get him a papaya. With some lemon juice on it was really tasty.
A simple walk around the village seemed to have a greater impact on the people than a long sermon did.
Something wonderful happened in the crusade. On the very first day after the children’s meeting five adults came up to the pastor and wanted him to pray and lead them to the Lord. This was a great joy to the whole team. The village had been known for its heavy idolatry during many generations and many rituals and traditions were still being observed. The pastor told us how difficult it was for the church to break the regional darkness and that people were in bondage. But due to the many children that came to the meetings, parents got curious and every day the crowd increased.
Saturday after the meeting the pastor’s daughter came up to us, beaming like a sun together with two of her friends. The two girlfriends wanted to Christians. It was wonderful to see their determination and it was the climax of the week.
Our hearts were filled with praise to Jesus. On Sunday morning the two girls came to the service dressed in their finest clothes. Each one of them received a New Testament which they were very thankful for.
The church members were full of joy and gratitude that ten people had received Christ during the crusade. They all came to the service Sunday morning. Praise the Lord! His word will never return void. We thank the Lord Jesus for all – children and adults – who gave their lives to Him when hearing the gospel.
