By Heather Harrison
God is moving around the world. All over the globe, men, women and children are hearing about the love of God. Think of it: right now, as you read this, many are coming to know their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and their eternity is forever altered. God does this through a variety of methods and people. Sometimes He opens a heart through the preaching of His Word on a Sunday morning; sometimes He shows His truth through a gospel conversation; sometimes He causes something simple, like words or songs on the radio to quicken someone to spiritual life.
At Lifeword, we don’t take this privilege lightly. We want to work hard, knowing we have a great responsibility, while also remembering that this work is not something we “have” to do, but something we “get” to do. We hope you know this joy as well.
We want to share with you what God has been up to in Tanzania.
Deus and Renatus Kanunu have the mission of broadcasting the gospel through their radio program, “Radio Uhai” (“Life Radio”). This year, they are celebrating the sixth-year anniversary of their program being on the air. Additionally, they are rejoicing over 290,000 listeners! This isn’t just a number; this is 290,000 Nyamwezi people and Swahili speakers hearing the gospel in their language.
Through this radio ministry, seven churches have been established in rural areas. In the Efeso church alone, more than 57 people have been baptized this year. The gospel is also reaching into a 99.99% Muslim area, where at least two people have come to know the Lord and are learning to walk with Him. Lifeword programs are broadcasted every Sunday, and they are exploring efforts to reach new people groups.
As they establish new churches, the need for leaders and Bible teachers is growing as well. They are planning to start a teaching and training center and are already talking with one mission to give them the use of their house to start training leaders.
Please join us in praying that the issues the Lifeword team is having with the Tanzanian government will be resolved and that “Radio Uhai” will be able to pay her staff’s salaries and be in good standing with the government.
Pausing to remember and celebrate God’s work across the globe is inspiring and astounding, and what’s even more startling is that He involves us in His work. He doesn’t need us; He could do it all without our involvement. And yet, He includes us anyway. What a privilege. What a joy!
Lifeword Ministry Updates
We’re excited to announce that we have launched our testing phase for our new discipleship portal, FOLLOW. This pilot group of 12 churches will provide feedback on content, process and function of FOLLOW. God is already showing us that He’s so much bigger than we can think or imagine as He expands the reach of this effort. It’s exciting to think how this can be used to reach the lost and make disciples in a digital world. Would you be in prayer for this testing phase and the next steps for FOLLOW? We can’t wait to share more!
Lifeword Sunday is coming Oct. 22. This is a day set aside for our supporters to pray for, celebrate and give to the ministry of Lifeword! Registration is now open at lifewordsignup.com. Pastors who register their church for Lifeword Sunday will be entered to win a MacBook Pro!
We would love the opportunity to share with your church what God is doing through Lifeword. If you would like to schedule a team member to come for a visit, contact Jennifer a jennifer@lifeword.org.
Will you partner with us as we take the gospel to places missionaries cannot go? There are billions who have never heard!
