May 2023 Witness Newsletter

the latest news from the field | May 2023 WITNESS Transformed Lives

Wahyudi* traced his way through the jungle back to his bamboo home. In the dimming light of dusk, he could see the orange ame underneath the wok balanced on several rocks outside the one-room dwelling where his wife cooked a spicy mixture of garlic, shallots, and chili peppers.

She looked up as he passed by, and Wahyudi watched as her eyes landed on the large bloody gash that ran diagonally from his left shoulder across his chest. She said nothing. She knew. They belonged to a poverty-stricken tribal group in a remote region on the island of Sumatra. Farming was the tribe’s main form of economic survival, but market prices for the produce they grew uctuated frequently, so

they could never assume their income. Their pro ts ranged from small to miniscule.

Wahyudi couldn’t accept this way of life. Robbing people was typically much more profitable than farming…except when the victim was armed, as was his latest mark. The man had pulled a machete and deftly wounded Wahyudi before he could strike.

He spent the money he pocketed from successful muggings on drugs. He was an addict, and his wife had grown tired of the sight of him passed out in a hazy stupor or shooting up in front of their children. She’d spent decades waiting for him to change. He was in his 40s when she took the children and left…

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Transformed Lives

Wahyudi continued stealing and abusing drugs for several years after his family left him. Toward the close of 2021, he met a missionary who works with an indigenous ministry you support. Wahyudi had never heard of Jesus Christ or His power to forgive sins and redeem people’s lives. He heartily accepted Christ as Savior and was baptized a month later.

He made the decision to turn from his life of crime and drugs. But his new way of life wasn’t easy. When he couldn’t nd honest work, he didn’t have the means to buy food. But instead of stealing, he chose to endure hunger.

Eventually, he secured a job as a farm laborer. Often, the missionary who led him to Christ would show up and work beside him, sharing truths from Scripture. When the workday came to a close, they’d open the Bible together. “We have seen changes in him,” reported the leader of the indigenous ministry. “He has not taken any drugs since coming to faith in Jesus. And he has never stolen since. The most amazing thing is his sincerity to share the gospel with people and talk about the Lord Jesus with others.”

Indeed, Wahyudi was eager to share the gospel with everyone. Within the span of a few months, he’d shared the gospel with 20 people and two of them became believers. They were compelled by the con dence he had that Jesus had forgiven his sins.

Wahyudi and the new believers started a house church. Four others soon came to faith and joined the church. “Lately, he has made some efforts to reconcile with his family,” the ministry leader said. Wahyudi hopes to see his wife and children again, and the missionary has helped to facilitate their reconciliation.

Wahyudi belongs to a Muslim tribe in Indonesia with very few believers. The indigenous ministry that reached him with the gospel has sent missionaries to over 40 unreached people groups throughout the archipelago. They have planted nearly 250 churches in places where no one had heard the gospel. Your continued support makes possible their work, along with the work of hundreds more indigenous ministries spreading the message of Christ in the world’s most difficult mission fields.

Serving Time

in God’s Kingdom

Rafael

“My name is Rafael.* I spent 30 years in crime. I was a robber of banks and armored cars of financial entities. I was imprisoned several times in Ecuador and abroad for these crimes and homicide.

Now I am in prison for possession of 100 kilos of cocaine since I was part of drug gangs. I participated in several prison riots where there were deaths and injuries.

“God transformed my life through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, through a Bible verse that tremendously impacted me, Jeremiah 33:3: ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

“A missionary inside the jail read from the Bible that verse that God used to change my life. I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I left my old life of crimes. Today, I am in the prison church, and God has called me

to preach His Word in the prison yards. I am a student at the Bible institute and one of the leaders of the church inside the prison.

“This year in the prison, there were two prison riots, and in the second riot there were 119 deaths. The leaders of the criminal gang spared my life because they recognized that I was a former partner of theirs and was now on God's path."

Prison Ministry of Ecuador

The missionary who read the Bible to Rafael works with an indigenous ministry you assist, which was started by ex-prisoner, Arnoldo Fernandez.* Arnoldo was first incarcerated at the age of 13. He spent his young adulthood in and out of prison for drug trafficking. Three months into his last sentence, a group of visitors arrived at the prison to distribute New Testaments.

Arnoldo surprised himself when he took a copy—and actually read it. A few weeks later, the group came back with study guides on the Gospel of John. He took one to his cell and read every word and filled in answers to every question. At the top of the last page were the words “The Sinner’s Prayer.” It wasn’t hard for him to realize that he was a sinner, and the prayer was for him. He knelt on the floor as hot tears splashed into his hands. It made no sense that the God of all creation would desire

to dwell in a depraved and dirty prisoner, but that night, Arnoldo knew He had.

Redemption and Transformation

Four years after Arnoldo received Christ as Savior, he was released from prison. He’d completed his seminary degree through a correspondence course while being active in the prison’s 100-member church. Amazed by his transformation, Arnoldo’s wife of 13 years received Christ. Before she died of stomach cancer in 2005, he baptized her and two of their five children.

Arnoldo knew his prison days weren’t over, but this time, he’d be the one bringing the gospel to others. Daily, he visited the inmates in four prisons, using the same literature that taught him the gospel.

Gradually, he recruited a group of men to join his prison ministry. The Ecuadorian government, which recognizes Arnoldo as a chaplain, has been agreeable to his work. In 1998, Arnoldo started a rehabilitation program for exprisoners to learn a skill such as carpentry, masonry, metal work, painting, and other trades while they participate in Bible studies.

Arnoldo now ministers to the inmates of 12 Ecuadorian prisons. He established a church in each prison, where church leaders are available to meet with prisoners every day.

It made no sense that the God of all creation would desire to dwell in a depraved and dirty prisoner…

“”

You Helped a Tribal Priest Find the True God

sudden and baffl ing deaths of four family members did nothing to deter Markam from persecuting Christians. His hatred for them burned all the more intensely.

And then, one day, he awoke with the startling symptoms of that mysterious disease that had proven so deadly to his family. Fear gripped his heart. He called upon the spirits for help, sacrifi cing chickens, goats, pigs, and other animals. All the while, his health continued to decline. The gods were silent, so he approached the magicians. They performed their magical rituals and gave him some herbal remedies. His condition only worsened—to the point his fellow priests told him he would die soon.

Feared and renowned in the area, Mayank Markam* was the chief priest of a tribal religion in South Asia. He wielded great authority, and if anyone so much as breathed a word about Jesus Christ, Markam’s anger exploded. He had Christians tied to trees and severely beaten. He chased them out of their villages. In community meetings, he threatened Christians with excommunication and physical violence. Meanwhile, one of Markam’s family members had contracted a mysterious disease and died. Another family member became ill and died. And then another…and another. The

Finally, in desperation, Markam did the unthinkable. In May 2022, he asked his family to take him to the Christians for prayer. They refused. How could they take the tribal gods’ priest to a Christian church? They later relented and hesitantly brought him to an indigenous missionary who, along with other believers, prayed for him.

For three days, Markam stayed at the church, bathed in the believers’ prayers. His illness vanished. “Now he confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only true and living God,” said the leader of the indigenous ministry. “He is a believer in Christ, carrying His wonderful gospel to his people. His entire family also confessed their faith openly and joined the Lord’s fold though baptism and attend the church service regularly.”

*Name changed for security

DELIVERED FROM DARKNESS

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36). There’s no mistaking someone who’s had a real encounter with our real Savior. Their life is forever changed. Their affections change. Their allegiances change. Their heart is changed. Temptation and sin become things to battle against, not things to indulge. Darkness is replaced with light.

“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” Colossians 1:13 (ESV)

All of us, like the people featured in this issue of Witness, were once enemies of God. But by His glorious grace,

through faith, we confessed Christ as Lord and Savior and became part of His kingdom. Thank you for helping others to step into the kingdom. Would you continue to help transform lives with your gift today?

David Bogosian President and CEO