Thank you for praying for our SMITE camp, where young people are trained in how to conduct Bible Clubs. We had a great week, with 109 campers from 5 different churches attending. I had the great privilege of teaching all of the first-year campers how to give the Gospel to children using our church’s salvation picture book. The campers conducted 18 different Bible Clubs and saw 421 children profess faith in Jesus! I also know of 6 different Bible Clubs, which young people from our church have conducted since SMITE camp ended!
We got a great report from one of our daughter churches that sent young people to SMITE camp. All of them were first-year campers, but they started conducting Bible Clubs in their town when they got home. One of them, Emmanuella, made a decision at SMITE camp to be a soul winner, and since then, she has led over 20 of her schoolmates to Christ using the salvation picture book she was trained to use at SMITE!
Our church has another great opportunity to preach the Gospel to young people. A local government school of 900 junior high students has opened its doors to us for 5 weeks, and we have a preacher in each of their 12 classes. I am preaching to one of the 9th grade classes. Please pray that many young people would understand the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus. Please pray for fruit which remains.
Please continue to pray for me as I learn Twi. I continue to make slow progress. I was so encouraged when I was able to give the Gospel to a 12-year-old named Godfred with very little translation! Godfred spoke some English, so sometimes we communicated that way, but the majority of the conversation was in Twi, with my having to get a translator involved just a couple of times. I know I mangled the Twi, but in spite of that, Godfred understood that his good works could not help him get to Heaven, and he trusted in only Christ.
Fruit to Your Account
One of the young teachers in our Christian school came to me. He wanted to share the Gospel with the grandparents of one of his students, but he felt like the grandparents would receive the truth better if I were there to back him up.
Truly, a young person giving the Gospel to an elder can be a delicate situation here in Ghana, as the elderly often feel offended if a young person comes across as knowing something which they do not know. These grandparents struggle with English, and I cannot yet do a good job of giving the Gospel in Twi. However, since I am the headmaster of their grandchild’s school, my mere presence would add weight to what the teacher would say. I agreed to go with him.
When we got to the house, we were given a seat and told to wait, as more of the family would gather. The grandmother had to go somewhere, but the student’s grandfather, adult uncle, and two adult aunts gathered to hear the Gospel. The uncle and aunts understood English very well, and they insisted that I give the Gospel in English, with the teacher translating for the grandfather.
I have never had a better soul-winning experience with translation! The entire family was extremely open to the Gospel and understood the truth quickly. They were engaged and asked questions. All four readily professed faith in Jesus alone for salvation. It was a fun time. They have promised to visit our church. Please pray that they will come and grow.
Yours for souls,
Micah Christiansen