2006 HEADLINES

……..BRINGING HIM GLORY AMONGST THE NATIONS

In spite of the geographical location or the time in history in which we find ourselves, we are saved so our light will shine before all men; that they may see our good works and give glory to our father in heaven.(Matt.5:16). That is what we have been trusting the Lord in Pioneers- Africa to live out. From the break of dawn to sunset, missionary families have largely tried to answer the question; what will the Lord have us do and how will He have us do it? At the end of 2006, we could gladly say that the Lord had indeed been with us.

It is our honor and great pleasure to share with you only what we can, highlights, of how God helped us to bring glory to His name…

For His glory,

Chris Katsekpor

 
HIS MOVE AMONGST THE PEOPLES

In His time, He makes all things beautiful

One of the big things that happened during the year 2006 in the ministry of Pioneers- Ghana was how God showed His love to the Banda /Ligbi people group. The Banda and Ligbi people are a very closely related group who for sometime were one of the people considered unreached in this country. Though there may be more in Banda, there is only a handful of Ligbi Christians today. Praise the Lord, for three months later, after this effort, the story had started to change………

“Partnerships with several other churches have produced 4 churches. The film “Jesus” is being shown with good response. Worship is conducted once a week in the school. Also in the clinic people are saying “Yes” to Jesus as they listen to the daily morning devotions. 5 adults have also been baptized in the church that has been planted by Pioneers-Ghana in a small suburb of this largely Islamic town”. –Team Coordinator.

He moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform

“ We are thrilled that ministry in Nigeria is gradually taking shape in spite of the challenges. Already we have a number of people praying regularly for the work as we trust God to build a team of regular financial supporters. We were not expecting in the least to have the ministry registered so easily and quickly. The ordeal that usually takes years was overcome when a board member, a lawyer, took up the challenge and even paid for most of the bills. Registering this movement is so critical for us because of the credibility and the leverage it gives for our work to be recognized and accepted.”-Team leader (Also in Picture).

  In spite of themselves, He calls those who are His.

“I had the impression that God bound the mouth of those who were to abuse us and broke the strength of those who were to manhandle us. The people seemed thirsty for the living word, but feared very much of being discovered. They need a lot of prayer”. –Disciple A    








 

“I was anticipating diverse difficulties on the field; on the contrary I was impressed by the reception that was reserved for me and the attention that folks paid to hearing and understanding of the gospel”.- Disciple B

For the first time ever, these twelve indigenous believers in Guinea shared Christ with their own people in a day's student project in Dubreka. Pray for these University students that as they continue to be discipled they will acquire a mission's vision and live to affect their various people groups for Christ.

    By all means possible, He will find a way…

Walele is a Bassar village in Togo where like most villages in Africa , idol worship and witchcraft is rife. Sacrifices are made everywhere. It is in this animist community that Womade moved in to serve as missionary. Prior to his arrival, two well established bible believing churches had been unsuccessful in their outreaches in this village. Praise the Lord that one day at a time, the light of the gospel is beginning to shine amongst the people. Currently, a church of about f i fty members has already started and a village pavilion is under construction to house the new congregation. As Christian friends think of providing at least a health post for the Walele people ask God that by all means possible He will help us bring the love of Christ to all men in Togo, especially to the people of Walele, Akebou, Sansale and the Tembermas.

  Even in the mundane He is present

“ Commit thy ways unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass”. Psa. 37:5. “We have seen this scripture come alive in our lives. The discipleship programme is having impact as we see positive changes in the lives of our friends. Apart from scripture, the Lord has helped us to invest material support to improve their conditions of living and to provide a source of livelihood. The Lanfiera village church is doing well under Badolo's leadership. The yield from the beans farming project was also encouraging. Even, more the Lord has given us eight converts in the largely Moslem village of Pala ! I have seen that with prayer, demonstration of love and concern in practical ways, we will be able to reach lots of people by God's grace”. - Team leader ( Burkina Faso ).

  
  He cannot be restricted by status or space

A few years ago, the Foodo people in Northern Benin were said to be unreached. Pioneers-Benin took up the challenge and sent three missionary families up there to start some church planting work. To God's glory, by 2006, four churches had been planted. But all of this did not happen without persecution. The latest attack was quite disheartening. This is what happened:

A prince of the village of G gave his life to Christ and that spelt doom for the church and our missionaries. His father, the chief, got so infuriated that he gave orders for the new village church to be destroyed. But as God will have it, only a kilometer from the destroyed church site was a parcel of land under the jurisdiction of another chief. This second royal, had mercy on our missionaries and gave them land to build a new church for the worshippers! Right now, though the latest church is only about a kilometer away from G, the terrorist chief cannot stop her activities and yet people from his village including his son can freely walk over to worship!

   A thousand years are like a day

Bakare, now in his late fifties has settled in his village, Dri, after years of traveling around West-Africa. This time when he heard the gospel preached over the airwaves, God ministered to him. In response he walked the whole 40km from Dri to Macina to look for the Pioneers- Mali missionaries he had listened to on air. So significant was this episode that our missionaries have also committed to traveling all the way to Dri, periodically, to follow this man up. Again, anytime they arrived, Bakare will assemble several village folk to come and hear about and believe in the Lord! Paul, the team leader, has been so challenged by the turn of events causing him to engage in sober reflection. Listen to his thoughts:

“ This mans conversion has taught me that God is really at work, moving to save men. He is faithful and at the right time those He calls will respond. All I need to do is to keep working.”

Our vision is to reach people in deprived areas with least opportunity of hearing the gospel.

Pioneers missionaries, Bawa and his wife, serve in the village of Napimbo in Togo .

She sews and sells stuff on the table in the picture to help support her family amongst the people .This is the story of love, struggle and determination in the lives of almost all our missionaries! How much can THEY raise in deprived areas to make a difference? But YOU can make a difference!. Each missionary needs to make at least $150 a month. Be part of this “SUPPORT A MISSIONARY PROJECT”. Pray about this project and do something. You may contact us on act@piafrica.com.

  THE EDITORS NOTE

I bring greetings to you from the entire staff of Pioneers-Africa. All too soon the year has raced into mid-year. As I think about time and its importance even to Christ I hear His words …..” I must do the works of Him who sent me for night is coming when no man can work ”. All creation is racing with God to the end of time. Hence He calls us to be able to discern the times and seasons so we can live aright, apply our hearts to wisdom and go about what He has called us to do. As you read in this bulletin of THE SICKLE pieces of what He is doing through Pioneers – Africa , I hope it will encourage you in your quest to keep at doing His bidding. – Susan.

   
     THE BATTLE FOR LIFE

She is a missionary kid in Ghana . The last of five children, only seven (7) years old and her name is Abigail. Her family ministers to the Bassare, Dagarri and Kokomba people groups. She is pretty much like every other girl of her age. The only difference is that Abigail is battling leukemia for dear life. The doctors say there is hope for Abigail if her parents can cough up at least $7000 .So far Pioneers-Africa has locally raised $2150, a donation from the Barclays Bank of Ghana , and about $1000 also from the Leukemia Trust in Ghana. Abigail has pulled through various stages of Chemotherapy because of these gifts and it is beginning to show on her body except that she has lost all hair everywhere to the treatment! Now she has to trust God for finances for the next phase of treatment. YOU MAY BE THE ANSWER TO ABIGAILS PRAYER. To send in your cheque please see “How To Give" PRAYER NEED BELOW”. You may also join us as we continue to ask the Lord for complete healing. This we are told is POSSIBLE in children. Thanks for standing with us.

 

CALLED TO LOVE

CALLED TO GO

CALLED TO SERVE

THE FORGOTTEN