A Man Named Joseph

A simple man named Joseph really impressed me the other day.  I promised him that I would share his story with you.  He said, “Please do, people need to know that Jesus changes everything.”  I liked how he said that.   Jesus changes everything.  

Joseph lives in Nakuru, Kenya.  By his own admission he was this city’s most successful drunk.  He led a gang of guys, mostly young guys, who had nothing going on - no jobs, no real future, only a death on the streets would probably be their fate.  Their collective purpose was to live in order to drink, smoke weed and laugh away their pain.  It was a simple existence that precluded following any hopes or dreams one may have - an empty useless life.  Then one day a young man, named Geofrey Masika, had a few moments as he was passing through town.  He slowed down and stopped to share a simple message that had changed his life with those people he passed as he walked through the streets.  Jeff, as we call him, saw Joseph and a few other young men, so he shared.  Honestly Jeff didn’t expect much from sharing this message with Joseph.  Joseph was drunk, but as we do in the IMFC - we don’t walk past - we share anyway.  Just as Jeff thought, Joseph didn’t make any decision that day, so he left a little booklet with his contact information with Joseph and walked on.  The thing that Jeff couldn’t see was that the Holy Spirit was working its way through a haze filled mind of this man named Joseph.  

This message reached Joseph in his normal drunken state, but something about it kept gnawing at the reaches of his conscience that was not yet dulled by the massive intake of the local street brew.   Eventually he called Jeff, and told him that he wanted to know more about this life changing Jesus, so Jeff left Nairobi and traveled back to Nakuru not really remembering who he might find.  You see Jeff shares this same message daily and with hundreds of people, and quite often connecting the names with all those faces is a hard thing to do - especially when that face is just another drink encountered while on the streets.   What Jeff found was a changed man.  He found a sober man needing a Savior, and Joseph knew that Jesus was the only one who could save/change him.   Jeff continued to disciple Joseph, and Joseph now runs with the Gospel.   He laughs now because at first no one believed him, and they wanted nothing to do with him.  “Who is this drunken fool here ranting about Jesus.  Go and find your drink elsewhere”, they chimed.  But Joseph was nothing if not passionate about a Saviour who changed him and he was consistent in his method.  Over time one young man named Vincent was convinced that Jesus had in fact changed Joseph, and he too believed.  Then they began walking together, and then another named James — believed.   Those three began reaching and producing more and more disciples..   Now there is a movement of producers in Nakuru.   There are over 1000 of them running and sharing the Gospel, baptizing and planting house churches.   The faithful are gathering together to praise and worship wherever they are: the side of the trash dump, on a hill, in one home after another.  Lives are changing, and it’s an amazing thing to watch.  

Why is this happening here in Nakuru, Kenya:  

1. God saw his children, weak and hurting, and loved them so He sent His only Son to die as the punishment for their sins.  

2. A man named Jeff heard a message from a man named Julius who heard a message from a man named Peter who heard a message from a man named Michael in the streets of Mbale, Uganda.  Michael was a drunk in the streets of Kampala who heard a message from a man named Jimmy Barry, and then he ran to his hometown in Mbale to share it there.

3. Jimmy heard a message that goes all the way back to a few unnamed people in the Bible who were running for their lives.  They had nothing (they were refugees), but a message that changed their lives, about a Saviour that forgives and changes.  Acts 11:19-21.  

When will this simple message stop?   Only when no one shares it, but as long as there are men like Jeff, Julius, Peter, Winono, Joseph, a lady named Regina, another named Pamela. . . . . It will never stop until  we ALL gather together in a scene that is described in Revelation 19:1.

Why is it not happening in your town, USA?

Well, I suspect its because you’re not on the street sharing.

Steve

www.visitimfc.com 

Good Morning from Kampala. . .

Today is a bit of a rest for me.  You see, last night we traveled to the airport in Entebbe with a team from Mt. Zion Baptist Church returning to their homes and lives in Northern Alabama.  They were and are a great team - they did a great job even when it wasn’t easy.  They worked hard and we pray that God was glorified.  I would love to share some of their experiences with you:

• They enrolled over 900 people into our BibleWay Discipleship program; before they left this great country over 85 believers had already completed their first Bible study book and were ready to begin their second book.  

• The team worked in the slums where they taught women how to make reusable menstrual pads from materials that are readily available.  It is our prayer and desire that this will allow these women the opportunity to provide for the needs of their families.  

• They also ministered to more that 75 mothers-to-be, by distributing “mamma kits”.  A “mamma kit” contains all the sterile materials needed to give birth; the mother will use this kit in the hospital, with a midwife, or in a clinic when she delivers her baby.  Without these materials, the mother-to-be would be turned away and receive no help as she gives birth.   It is possible that the gift of these kits may save the lives of  mothers and babies.k

• They traveled many kilometers on dusty, bumpy roads to reach a refugee camp along the Northern border of Uganda.  They cried and held people’s hands as they listened to horror story after horror story, and then they shared the hope that only comes from the salvation found in Jesus.  They played with the "war children” of the Sudan, and wondered what would become of their newest little friends. 

• They slept in huts alongside the Nile River and watched traditional African dances.  They saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, a lion napping in a tree, and another lion keeping watch over her cub.  

• They traveled by boat to Murchison’s Falls, where ALL of the water of the massive Nile River flows through a gap of just 23 feet.  At the top of the falls they held hands a lifted up prayers for the people of this great nation.

• After returning to Kampala, they had the blessing of worshipping with 65-75 new believers in a three-week old house-church located in the slums.    As they left, their hearts remained in that alleyway with those precious brothers and sisters-in-Christ.  One wonderful lady was crying as we left; it affected her greatly because she could leave, while these believers had to stay.  I reminder her that because her team had come, they had offered them hope and a relationship with the Lord. For this reason, their lives would be better than they had been before.

• They were able to minister to the Uganda Women’s Maximum Security Prison.  It was the first time that we had been able to share with them.  Many of the 465 women who call that prison their home will be there for life.  Some will eventually transition out.  Some are condemned to die, and are awaiting a presidential signature to carry out their sentence.  One of the ranking prison officers asked us to pray that the president never signs those papers.  There were babies throughout the prison - some were born there and others came with their mothers.  Each one of those women needs the freedom that only Jesus can bring.  We praise the Lord that 35 of them prayed to receive Jesus’  free gift of eternal life, and over 100 committed to enroll in our discipleship program.  Jesus changes and transforms lives.

• We also enjoyed great fellowship that involved lots of laughter and ice cream from Nairobi.  

As I reflect on the experiences I have shared with you, I am reminded of what I Tweeted yesterday, “Oh God, the world’s needs are too much, and we are so few.  Please Lord, send the workers; that’s all I ask you to do.”

Pray and consider joining God in the amazing work that He is doing here in Uganda.  You don’t want to miss out on this blessing - let’s watch God change the world!

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Matthew 9:37-38

Blessings,

Steve DuVall

Welcome!

Welcome to our newest home here on the web.    We are the International Missionaries for Christ and we welcome you to join with us as we reach the poor, oppressed and displaced peoples of Africa.    Currently our offices are located in Uganda and Kenya, with another office in Hiram, Georgia, but the Gospel is constantly spreading so we are constantly growing and finding new places to be.  God is blessing His ministry in East Central Africa, and we will use this site to keep you informed of the exciting, interesting, unusual, sometimes sad, but awe-inspiring stories from out of Africa.    

At the IMFC we do two things:
1) Provide opportunities for people to better themselves, their family, and their community.    We do this through something called the Manna Program.   You can find more information on this at this web location. 

2) Create disciples of Christ who make disciples.   Our website will also give you plenty of information on how this is done also.   www.visitimfc.com   

Many pastors in the USA use our ministry as a disciple making bootcamp for their church members and for new Christians.    Another pastor uses us as his new staff member training.   A denominational leader, David Suddath told me that, "The IMFC is the biggest mission that no one knows about."   Well it's my job to change all that, so to begin with please enjoy and celebrate with us this year end report from 2017.

At the end of December, 2017, the main office for IMFC Uganda reported 9,120 leaders in our network of workers across Northern and Central Uganda.   These leaders reported that  

• 71,630 people prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior after hearing the Gospel message,

• 15,809 people were baptized as followers of Jesus Christ, and

• 11,632 house churches existed at the end of 2017.

Additionally, 

• 117,743 Bible Way discipleship books were distributed to people in this network of IMFC leaders in Northern and Central Uganda, and

• 86,770 examination booklets from these 117,743 Bible Way books were completed, returned and achieved a passing grade.

These numbers are for Uganda only. Kenya has seen many thousands of people pray to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in 2017, and over 90,000 Bible Way books have been printed in Kenya and distributed. I am grateful, humbled and challenged.  But, these numbers above only tell a part of the story. They do not reflect the thousands of people blessed through the humanitarian efforts of IMFC. Here is a snapshot of some of the needs based projects we were able to do beyond sharing the Gospel, training leaders, giving Bible Way books and Bibles, and starting house churches.

In Uganda

• Approximately 340,000 pounds of food and 790 gallons of cooking oil were given to the poor in the slums and to refugees in Uganda through Manna Ministry.

• 1,200 Maama kits given to expectant moms in the slums of Kampala.

• 12 re-usable sanitation pad workshops were conducted around Kampala with over 300 women trained and given a fabric, buttons, thread, pens, scissors and paper for patterns to make their pads and teach someone else.

• The Maroons Netball Team from Luzira Prison was sponsored for play in their league.

• 40 wooden sitting benches were built in the Prison Training School for the common area where instructors and students can sit.

• 40 wall clocks were provided for the Prison Training School classrooms.

• 30 Mattresses with plywood support were given to Kasangati Prison for the Women’s Prison.

• More than 3,000 bars of soap, over 2,000 female sanitation pads and numerous ink pens, chalk and other supplies given to the inmates in addition to the Bible Way books.

In Kenya

• 56,223 pounds of corn maize, and

• 1,460 gallons of cooking oil were purchased and distributed to

• 6,389 families across Kenya representing almost 45,000 people after the riots following the Presidential elections in August. These people were identified by the house church leaders in Kenya as their people suffered in the violence.

2017 was a good year for IMFC in Uganda and Kenya, but the work is only beginning. Pray for us as we move into 2018.

Continue to watch this page for stories straight out of Africa.   Pray for the peoples of Africa, and consider going with us to share with others that need to hear what Christ has done for you.    You can find out information about the IMFC at www.visitimfc.com.   We are on currently on instagram at @jwbarry.    You can find us on Facebook @imfcafrica.   For more information about journeying with us to Africa please contact, Jimmy Barry or me Steve DuVall.

Blessings,
The IMFC Team