Hard, Hard Ground – Part 1
“It is hard, hard ground, sister!” he told me. “I have a bounty of $2000 on my head from extremist groups who resist the truth of Jesus. But the Lord has protected me, my wife, and my children so far. And I want to reach the children in these communities. Will you teach me how you do this CIC and I will do it here.”
This could have been spoken by any one in Africa.
But this was a plea from India.
Our African leaders and I prayed about this. Was the Lord calling us to India? So far, we have only focused on reaching the last unreached tribes in Africa. There are roughly 600+ tribes left on the African continent who have never heard the Gospel, have no known believer and no known missionary reaching them. We have had so many invitations in the past to initiate ministry in other continents. But nothing ever felt confirmed in the Spirit. So we did not go. But this time was different.
As we prayed, shared, and conversed, my African brothers and I all experienced a profound sense of leading, and in unity, one by one, we shared how the Lord had convicted each of us to step out in faith on this one.
“Yes,” we said. “The Lord will make a way.”
One last person to consult. I called Terry, my dear friend, co-worker in Christ, and the founder of CIC. Over the crackly Skype reception, Terry’s heart lept, her words tumbled out in excitement and confirmation. Yes. The Lord had laid on her a heart to reach India years ago. Yes. Go.
“And, Terry, we’ll do it the way CIC was born. With no funding. Just faith. If the Lord wills it, it can be done.” After the words sunk in, Terry and I agreed and prayed. We’re either being totally foolish or the Lord will use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. There is no risk, but being humbled and finding out we were wrong.
CIC’s model has always been different from the world’s. The Lord raised up CIC through humble beginnings. One of our largest ministry countries started from two teenagers who heard the call and followed the Lord over the border into that country. They had no funds from CIC. They went anyway.
Confidence turned to concern. Arriving in Liberia, they first went to the local churches and told them the Kingdom value of children – that they also, along with adults, needed to be discipled and not marginalized. But they were turned away from the local churches in Liberia.
So instead, these 18-year-olds found a man of peace who was Muslim!
The Lord touched this man’s heart. I am not sure we will fully ever understand why. But the Lord opened the door. He offered them what he had – a broken down car on his land, a place to sleep sheltered from the elements. They lived there for almost 2 years as they traveled the countryside from morning to sunset each day to bring the Gospel and discipleship through weekly children’s clubs. They knocked mangoes from trees before dawn and sold them in the market to support themselves. Eventually, after many months, the local churches warmed up to the idea as they saw hundreds of children flocking to their churches for Sunday worship services, claiming they had discovered Jesus through these two teenage boys’ CIC Clubs.
Could India start the same way? Without any funding except field training & practicum for the leader?
Last November, the Lord opened a way for us to send the pastor who said his region was “hard, hard ground” to West Africa – Liberia – for a pastors mobilization and CIC Club mentor training on how to reach unreached children with the unique ministry model the Lord gave CIC.
By God’s grace Pastor Martin arrived safely to Liberia. We’ll share more in our next blog on this adventure.
Please pray that the Lord will indeed raise up a multitude of fruit in India by His power, His might, and His strength. If it is His Will, He will surely do it!
Thank you for your prayers!