Motocross Evangelism in the Mountains of Kwanza Sul

I’ve just returned from what I consider THEE most fun evangelism I’ve ever done in my life. It was our last ministry outing before having to leave Angola on furlough and what a great way to go out. Here’s what we did….. We packed up our sound equipment, film projection unit, tents, food, and motorcycles and drove 8 hours out into the mountains of Kwanza Sul. After spending the night in the basement of the church in Ndalatanga, we put the Land Cruiser in four wheel drive and drove as far as we could on what almost resembled a road. When we got to the remote village of Cadaa we parked next to the church and unpacked. After getting everything set up, I strapped on my Seabag (my 24 yr. old Navy issue backpack) filled with puppets, balls, Frisbees and other fun stuff, and we (An Angolan pastor and myself) took off down one of the mountain trails. We visited several villages in the mountains and shared the gospel, but let me tell you about one village that stands out the most in my mind. It was one of the furthest ones that we went to, and just getting there was quite an adventure - having to cross a large brook and go up a hill so steep the bikes almost didn’t make it. When we entered the village I saw some grass being thrown up into the air on the far side and went to investigate. There were a group of kids there who were playing in the fresh cut grass, just having fun. Being that I was the first white person many of them had ever seen, their attention was immediately captured. I took out the Frisbees and the balls and started playing with them. After playing for about a half an hour, there were all sorts of villagers who gathered out of curiosity. With the gathering of so many people to observe the strange white guy, the children started feeling apprehensive about playing. It was then that I decided it would be a good time to put the games away and share the gospel. I pulled out the pictures that I had brought and told the story about how God so loved us that He sent His Son into the world to save us from our sins. Isaac (the Angolan pastor who accompanied me) and I shared with the crowd about the salvation that God has given us because He loves us so much. We gave an altar call and about a dozen people responded. First we prayed with them for the forgiveness of their sins and repentance; and then we explained to them that because their hearts were now clean, the Holy Spirit would come in and give them power to live for Christ and not return to their sins. As we layed hands on them and prayed for the filling of the Holy Spirit, you could actually see the changes in their countenance as God did a work in their lives. Later that day when we were back setting up the Jesus film at the church a couple of the youth who had prayed with us in the mountain village showed up. They said, “When you came and shared Jesus with us we were still kind of drunk, but the Holy Spirit came and touched us and now we want to just follow Jesus.” I asked them if they were going to stay for the Jesus film, but they said that they had to make it back to their village because it was getting dark. They had walked the 15 kilometers just to ask for Bibles. Fortunately we had a box of Bibles that was provided by Light For The Lost and we gave them some so that they could start a Bible study in their village. We shared the gospel in several other villages, but seeing those two teenage guys who were so sincere and had walked all that way because they were hungry for God was what touched my heart the most. I’m sincerely grateful for all those who were praying for our safety during this trip. On one night we didn’t have the two cars available and I had to ride the motorcycle out of the mountains in the cold, misting rain. In the mountains those wet rocks get pretty slippery and to complicate matters, the battery on the motorcycle went dead. I only had good light when I was revving the engine, so I had to keep my speed up. It was almost like a real life video game on "Expert" level. It wouldn’t have been much fun to have fallen and broken a leg, but your prayers kept us safe. Our intercessors made the trip not only fun, but really impacting for people in those mountain villages who would have never heard the GREAT NEWS of the manifestation of the love of God in the story and the person of Jesus Christ. In closing, allow me to once again ask for your prayers: 1) We have felt the Lord’s direction for us to move to Namibia after our furlough. The wonderful workings and leadings of the Spirit to provoke this decision I will write about another time. It’s a whole chapter. Pray for the Spirit’s guidance in our preparations. 2)Handing over ministry after many years of labor is difficult, even to capable hands. Please pray for grace in the transition. 3)I’ll be flying back to the States this coming Tuesday and seek God’s grace during my travels. 4)Please pray for Breanna as she is eleven years old and is being baptized into a culture she is completely unfamiliar with. May Jesus continue to be her best friend and the most important in her life. 5)Kim needs your prayers as well. She returned to the States a week ago so she could start getting everything set up for our visiting the churches. May we do what is pleasing in the Lord’s sight and find favor. 6)Most important, greater yieldedness to the person of the Holy Spirit