Dear SIU Friends and Supporters,
As this year comes to a close, I want to share with you how I was amazed by a recent testimony of a brother in Christ during my October trip to Kenya:
“After I made the decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ and I began to share the stories of the Bible with those living near me, some of the high-ranking Muslim community members were not happy and decided to burn down my home—not just one time but two times.”
I had gone to Kenya to experience an SIU training event for local, grassroots Christian leaders who were once Muslim believers but now—like this dear brother —are committed to the gospel and leading their Muslim neighbors to Christ. I am blessed to say that because of the faithfulness of friends like you, such Muslim background believers, in Kenya and throughout Africa are being trained in evangelism and discipleship through our Bridges for Neighbors curriculum.
These grassroots Christian leaders are learning how to communicate the message of the Bible in ways that speak powerfully to the hearts of their Muslim neighbors—through stories of the prophets, stories that address heartfelt needs, songs, drama, poetry and other oral methods of communication. And they are passionate about their mission …
“My wife and I wanted to stay in our community to share the love of Christ and reach the other village and tribal people that are unreached and have never heard the stories of the Bible and the message of Jesus. We rebuilt our home each time it was burned down.”
I was already in awe of this brother’s commitment to Christ even against life-threatening odds, when he continued …
“This past year, my wife, myself and our five children were awakened to a loud noise at our door. A group of people were putting chains on our front door and shouting to us that they were going to burn our house down a third time, but this time with our family inside!”
“My wife and I grabbed axes to break down the front door. All of a sudden, we heard one of our fellow believers approach the group; with bold courage he shared all the positive things that were happening because of my family staying in the community. We thank God for the courage of this fellow believer and ultimately, the Lord’s protection.”
I was so inspired by this brother and the 19 others like him attending the training, learning how to memorize and accurately tell stories from the Bible in their native language, they are learning the truth of Jesus—that He is not just another prophet as Islam teaches, but our Redeemer and Savior! I encourage you to come alongside this Kenyan brother and the many more committed former Muslim believers who desperately need SIU’s Bridges training to reach their own oral peoples for God’s Kingdom.
I am especially excited to tell you that whatever you give will have double the impact. One of our generous and faithful Foundations has offered to match an additional dollar-for-dollar gift amount —up to $95,000!—for each gift given by the end of the year toward Bridges training events in Africa.
Your generosity will help equip hundreds of African Christian leaders from unreached, oral people groups to effectively share the message of the Bible, in a culturally relevant way in some of the most difficult and closed to the gospel regions of Africa.
To give, just go online at https://scripturesinuse.org/give/ or send a check (please note “Double the Impact in Africa” in the memo line) to this address:
Scriptures in Use
101 S. La Canada Dr., Ste. 49D
Green Valley, AZ 85614
I appreciate so much your partnership in the SIU mission and your prayerful consideration of this important request. With your help, more Christian leaders like our dear brother in Kenya can say …
“We are excited about what will happen next as we start Bible storytelling groups based on our new Bridges for Neighbors training. And we will rebuild our home again if we need to.”
May God bless you!
Sincerely,
Kent Kiefer
Executive Director & CEO
P.S. Please remember that the deadline for your gift to be matched dollar-for-dollar, for twice the impact, is December 31. I urge you to give generously today!
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