Courage and Strength

One of my favorite stories in the book of Acts is how the Pharisees describe the two apostles while they are interrogating and threatening them:

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13 NIV)

The power and authority of the Word of God is very real and how it equips people to do His work is something that is truly astonishing! We see it time and time again in our Bridges field trainings with the “least of these” who decide to attend and participate. The living Word gives them so much courage and strength to share His stories with others.

They ARE the Church

Here is a recent testimony from one of our partners in Africa that illustrates this:

The pygmy people are not accepted by other communities. They hate to go to churches because people treat them badly and often chase them away. Church is seen as something for the educated and a building one “goes to”.

A group of storytellers in Burundi are working to reach a thousand pygmy families and they are seeing amazing fruit. As they share stories of Scripture, the families understand and respond to the spiritual truths in the stories. Many have made decisions to follow Jesus and want to be baptized. They have a clearer understanding: They do not need to go to a church building; they are the church. Churches born from storytelling are spreading throughout the pygmy people.

Unreached and Unengaged

Please join us in praying for the pygmy people of Burundi and all people groups who remain unreached and unengaged, who need to hear about and engage with Jesus, the living Word of God. Pray that churches born from storytelling the Scriptures would spread throughout the world.

If you feel led to leave a response and comment here, please do so by replying and posting in this blog. We welcome your comments and interactions within a community of those seeking to further advance the Kingdom of God.

2 replies
  1. Carla Bowman
    Carla Bowman says:

    This blog is so special, at the heart of what Jesus is all about. He loves those people so much.
    The verse from Acts is a favorite: ordinary, common, unschooled…the least of these.
    The Pygmy people are very gifted storytellers and oral communicators. Rene Mbongo always had a special place in his heart for them during his many years as a storyteller trainer and spoke of their talents. But others only see them as someone to lord it over. Thank you for reminding us of God’s heart for those looked down upon by others.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.