Document

HeartCryMissionary Society

Volume 20 March - April

Africa

Our Purpose & Passion“‘For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My Name will be great among the nations, andin every place incense is going to be offered to My Name, and a grain offering that is pure; for MyName will be great among the nations,’ says the Lord of hosts.” - Malachi 1:11

The chief end of all mission work is the Glory of God. Our greatest concern is that His Name be great among thenations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11). We find our great purpose and constant motivation,not in man or his needs, but in God, His commitment to His own glory and our God-given desire to see Him glorifiedin every nation, tribe, people and language.

Our Principles* While we recognize that the needs of mankind are many and his sufferings are diverse, we believe that they all

spring from a common origin - the fall of man and the corruption of his own heart. Therefore, we believe that thegreatest benefit to mankind can be accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and theestablishment of churches that preach the Word of God and minister according to its commands, precepts andwisdom.

* Every need of this ministry will be obtained through prayer. We may share our missionary vision with others andeven make known to them the specific tasks which the Lord has laid on our heart to do, but we may not raise supportthrough prodding or manipulating our brothers and sisters in Christ. If this ministry is of the Lord then He will beour Patron. If He is with us, He will direct His people to give and we will prosper. If He is not with us, we will notand should not succeed.

* We intend to never enlarge our field of labor by contracting debts. This is contrary to both the letter and the spiritof the New Testament. In secret prayer, God helping us, we will carry the needs of this ministry to the Lord and actaccording to the direction that He gives.

* We will not compete with other biblical mission agencies, but use the resources that God has given to us to workin partnership with them. If the Lord directs, we will sacrifice our own goals and resources that other mission worksmay be helped and the Kingdom of God increased.

* In meeting any need, those of us who are supported financially by this ministry will be the first to sacrifice all thingsnecessary for the advancement of His Kingdom.

* We will not measure the success of this ministry by the amount of money given, Bibles distributed or nationalmissionaries supported, but by the Lord’s blessing on the work.

* Our Goal is not to enlarge ourselves, or to become a key figure in the Great Commission, but to be faithful andobedient stewards by the grace that is given to us. That men may see our weakness and glorify God for Hisstrength; that they may see our inability and glorify God for His faithfulness.

Our Ministry“Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especiallywhen they are strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do wellto send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the Name,accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may befellow workers with the truth.” III John 5-8

National Missionary SupportAlthough HeartCry recognizes the great importance of sending missionaries from the West to the unevangelized

peoples throughout the world, we believe that we are led of the Lord to support native or national missionaries so thatthey may evangelize their own peoples. Therefore we seek to work with godly men and women of integrity and visionin the unreached world to help them evangelize and plant Churches among their own peoples. The principles thatgovern this ministry are set forth in the following statements: (1) We will work in partnership and cooperation with thenational churches on the mission field and their leadership. (2) We will join with the national churches and leadershipin the selection of the missionaries. Our main concern in the selection of missionaries is doctrine, godliness, callingand zeal. (3) The missionary support will be based on the average national income of workers in each country. Thelength of support will be based on the estimated period of time deemed necessary to establish a self-supportingchurch.

Bible DistributionOur Bible distribution is almost entirely limited to believers. Many believers in the foreign field do not own a

Bible. We have known of congregations with only one Bible, where the pastor was required to ask permission fromthe church in order to carry the Bible with him during missionary journeys to other villages. Our strategy of Bibledistribution is set forth in the following statements: (1) We purchase Bibles in bulk rate in order to lower the cost. (2)We buy only hard back, sewn Bibles which include both the Old and New Testaments and a concordance. Paper backBibles with glued pages are cheaper, but will not last. (3) We sell the Bibles at a discount rate rather than giving themaway for free. We take great pains to make sure that no genuine believer leaves without a Bible, but do require thatsomething of value be given. (We have given Scripture in return for chickens, fish, grain and coffee beans).

Literature DistributionMany pastors in foreign lands have never had the privilege of studying in a Bible institute or seminary. They are

further limited by their own poverty from having an adequate library to use as a resource in studying Scripture. Forthis reason, HeartCry seeks to provide books and libraries to pastors and leaders in the foreign field. A pastorallibrary may include: a study Bible, an exhaustive concordance, a Bible dictionary, a one volume commentary on theBible, a theological textbook or systematic theology. The cost of a pastoral library is usually less than $150 (U.S.).

Church ConstructionMany churches on the foreign field are limited in their ministry by not having an adequate meeting place, and

often, the cost of renting prevents them from obtaining the necessary capital to purchase their own land and beginconstruction. HeartCry seeks to assist such churches by providing the funds necessary for the purchase of propertyand the building of a permanent structure sufficient for meetings. Land purchases and construction costs can rangefrom $1000 in rural areas to $50,000 in highly populated, urban areas.

Training ConferencesHeartCry’s support of indigenous missionaries provides us with a unique teaching opportunity in many nations.

The main focus of our conferences is the teaching of theology, hermeneutics (how to study Scripture), and expositorypreaching. It is our conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and “profitable for teaching, for reproof, forcorrection, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (IITimothy 3:16-17 NAS). Therefore the greatest service we can do for pastors, missionaries and the congregationsunder their care is to teach them how to correctly interpret and clearly proclaim the truths of Scripture.

For more information, please contact us at: HeartCry Missionary Society c/o Waldo Baptist, 6970 Waldo ChurchRd., Metropolis, IL. 62960, Tel. (618) 564-2770, Email: [email protected]

In thisEdition

5 From the Director: Travels in the country ofNigeria.

6 From Royalty to Royalty. The testimony ofNigerian missionary Solomon Owolabi.

12. The Testimony of Andrew Martey. Thetestimony of his conversion and some of thedifficulties he encounters as a missionary tonorthern Nigeria.

15 A Memorial to a Martyr. A brief memorial tothe life and martyrdom of Andrew Mamman.

16 The Testimony of Lydia Martey. The story ofhow God used two street preachers to bringher to Christ.

17 The Testimony of Samuel Ahmed. Thetestimony of his conversion and ministry inspite of persecutions and difficulties.

20 The Testimony of Esther Ahmed. The story ofhow she was converted after graduating fromBible college and several years in theministry..

22 Favorite Photos. Some of my favorite photo-graphs of the beautiful Nigerian people.

Hallowed be Your Name!Your Kingdom Come!

Your Will be Done!

From theDirector

“Africa, I am going to Africa.” As I sat in the airport inBrussells waiting for the last leg of my journey, I kept repeat-ing these words to myself. I was going to see a dream cometrue. In less than several hours, I would not be reading aboutthe plains of Africa, I would be on them! I would not belooking at majestic black faces painted on paper with so muchink, but I would be looking at flesh and blood faces thatwould be looking back at me!

As we began our descent into Lagos, the capital city ofNigeria, I began to rethink what I had been told... “The cli-mate is terrible, the insects carry malaria, the customs agentsin the airport are difficult, even frightening... Outside the air-port there are thieves and dangerous men... No one shouldbe trusted, being alert at all times is quite necessary.” I hadbeen a missionary in South America for more than ten years,lived through a small war, and hiked from the top of the Andesto the bottom of the Amazon basin, but was I ready for this?Even the man who sat next to me, who would only be inNigeria for a twenty minute layover before proceeding on toBenin, was so frightened that He would not even leave theplane.

The first thing I notice as I stepped from the plane wasthat at least one part of what I had heard was true - it was hot,would the rest be true? As I gathered my luggage and mademy way towards the police and custom agents, I braced my-self for the worst, and was pleasantly surprised by the polite-ness with which my bags and documents were investigated,

and the smiles of those who directed us through the corri-dors of the airport. In a few short minutes I made my way outinto the crowd and was greeted by the great and contagioussmiles of brother Solomon Owolabi and the workers who ac-companied him. Right then, I had the feeling that everythingwas going to be fine.

For the next several days, I would come to understandthat the warnings I had received in United States were greatlyexaggerated, but the kindness I received in Nigeria frombrother Solomon and his people was so great that the halfcannot be told. For sure, there are dangers there - civil unrest,thieves, kidnappers, etc., - but no more than in any otherplace where one might travel. My days in Nigeria were someof the most memorable of my life.

Whatever I say to you about the Nigerian people will bean injustice. Their beauty is beyond words, especially thechildren. The differences in custom, the majesty of their cloth-ing, the hospitality in their hands and the contagious joy ontheir faces, made me think I had lived my entire life in somedrab world without color. The same can be said to even agreater degree about the Christians. Even the smallest, poor-est churches seem to explode with colorful robes and scarfsand head-coverings. The worship is the way you alwayswanted worship to be. It was reverent and ordered, and yetthere was a passion and rhythm to it that had the power tomake anyone dance on the inside. Many of God’s people inNigeria are poor and struggling to survive. Some are terriblypersecuted by the Muslims and even risk their own lives toattend Church. But all these difficulties seem secondary whena hymn is sung and those gathered are granted one moreprivilege to praise their Savior.

The Nigerian pastors and missionaries I met, did notknow all the technicalities of theology, but they did knowtheir Bibles and they preached a good Gospel. They were notnecessarily sophisticated, but they were worthy, willing andbrave. In each church there was a sign that read, “SOULWINNING IS THE HEARTBEAT OF THIS CHURCH.” Dailydoor to door witnessing was as much a part of their ministryas Bible study and sermon preparation, and this, in the faceof severe and at times, mortal persecution. After seeingbrother Solomon Owolabi and his men in their own land, Iwas humbled that we at HeartCry had been granted the privi-lege of being fellow workers with them in our Master’s har-vest.

This month’s issue of HeartCry features the country ofNigeria, where we are working with EMI missionary SolomonOwolabi, providing his ministry with the financial supportnecessary to keep church planters Andrew Martey and SamuelAhmed on the field. I hope that this issue is as great a bless-ing to you as these men have been to me.

Your brother,

Paul David Washer

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The following is the testimony of Brother SolomonOwolabi, indigenous missionary to Nigeria. BrotherSolomon works with Evangelism Missions International andreceives his financial support through them. HeartCry worksin partnership with brother Owolabi by supporting indig-enous missionaries that he has trained. If you would likefurther information about brother Solomon or EMI, theiraddress is given at the end of this article.

My name is Solomon Owolabi, I was born in Nigeria andI am from the Yoruba tribe. Nearly sixty years ago my fatherwent to live in Ghana where there were missionaries of theGospel. As children we were told to never go to the mission-aries because they spoke against the religions of our ances-tors. We were shut off from them and the message theypreached. Finally, the missionaries discovered a way to reachus – they built a high school, which they used as “bait” todraw us in so that they could preach the gospel to us. Theyrequired that all the students in the high school attend thechapel services.

I was from a royal line and we worshipped idols in ourhome. When we worshipped our idols, my father would holda chicken before the stone god. As he prayed to the stone, hewould tear off the chicken’s head and pour the blood on thestone god. After this, he would drop the chicken to the groundand wait for it to die. If the chicken died with its stomach to

the sky, it meant that the god had accepted the sacrifice. Butif it did not die with its stomach facing the sky, he would killanother and another until finally the god showed his ap-proval by making the chicken fall down and die with its stom-ach to the sky. This was the god that I worshipped.

When I went to the secondary school, there was re-quirement that all attend the chapel. My parents warned methat I was from a royal home and was never to go to churchno matter what. On the first day of class when the missionar-ies directed everyone to the chapel, I went and hid myself inthe woods. I had planned to stay there until the chapel wasover and then immediately join the other students and minglewith them so that no one would miss me. When I ran into thejungle, I realized that it was very thick and frightening, so Iclimbed up a tree and began to read one of my class books.But as I was reading something touched me on the back ofthe head. When I turned around, I saw a very large pythonwrapped around the tree. I was so frightened by the snakethat I quickly jumped down and ran straight back to school.When I arrived, I could not hide anywhere and so I wasforced to go to church. When I walked in the chapel themissionary was preaching. I did not like what he was sayingand so I sat in the very back. I was so mean that I did not wantto listen, but I sat there shivering because of the snake.

As I said, I had made up my mind not to listen to themissionary, but then I heard him say that the blood of chick-ens and the blood of goats can never atone for your sin. Iwas shocked and thought to myself, “Who told the mission-ary about my god and the blood of the chicken?” Then herepeated that the blood of chicken could not wipe away oursin, but that God had sent His Son who died and offered Hisblood for our sins. He said that through the blood of JesusChrist, God had provided for Himself a perfect sacrifice. Oursacrifice of chicken blood would never be able to appeasethe God of heaven.

As I sat there, I thought to myself, “This is something!The missionary is not talking about the blood of a chicken oreven the blood of a large animal, but he is speaking about theblood of a man; and not only a man, the very Son of God!Why would God offer His Son for us in this way?” As Icontinued to listen to the preaching, I heard the missionaryexplain that God offered His Son because He loved us andthe death of Jesus was the only way that sinful men could besaved. After his preaching, the missionary gave the invita-tion that anyone who trusted in Christ, believing that He paidfor the sins of men when He shed His blood on the cross ,should come forward and make their public profession offaith in Him. The missionary also told us that anyone whotrusted in Christ would not only have their sins forgiven, butwould spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Even though I was a young man, I knew the blood of thechicken offered to my stone god would not enable me to goto heaven. We sacrificed to our god, not in order to go toheaven, but to obtain things and favors from him here onearth. All these things began to rush through my mind as Iwatched many young people passing forward and proclaim-ing their faith in Christ. I also wanted to go, and make a public

FromRoyalty to

Royalty

profession of faith in this Jesus who died for me, but I wassure that if I left my seat, my father’s god would immediatelykill me. I held to my chair and did not move. I looked aroundme and people were being saved. I looked to the front of thechurch, the missionary was pleading to us to come to Jesusand his wife was singing the invitation with tears streamingdown her face. I said to myself, “Look at this woman’s tearsfor you Solomon. She is serious about what she is saying. Imust go to Christ! Even if I die on my way to the front, at leastthe missionary will know that I was coming when my father’sgod killed me.” So I took the first step thinking I would dieand I did not die. I took one more step with great fear andagain I did not die. At that moment, I knew that Jesus Christwas a greater God than my god. When I made it to the frontthe missionary showed me with the Scriptures, how I couldgive my life to Christ. He told me that I must repent of my sinsand believe the Gospel. I repented that day and asked JesusChrist to come into my life and save me. At that very momentthat I was saved, I felt so happy. I felt as though I was walk-ing on air. There was such joy. That day they gave me a Bibleand I took it to my house and began to read it.

Each day after I read my Bible, I would talk to my mother,but she was afraid and begged me to be silent. She warnedme that if my father heard about what I had done that I wouldbe dead. Nevertheless, it was not long, before my motherbegan to see a change in my life. She asked me what hadhappen to me and what was the reason for the great changes.I told her about Christ, but she could not understand what I

was saying. So I asked the missionary to come to my houseand tell my mother about the salvation in Jesus. He cameimmediately and led my mother to the Lord. My mother hadtold me not to tell my father when I was saved, but when shewas saved she went immediately and told my father! We wereimmediately driven from the house. My father thought thatwe would give in and return to the house, but we enduredand would not give up Jesus no matter how much we had tosuffer. Because of this, my father was also saved.

Immediately after my father’s salvation, he threw awayour stone god and we all began to serve Jesus Christ. Soonafter the conversion of my family, the missionary taught mehow to go out and witness. I had a burning desire to telleveryone about Jesus and so I would go to the neighboringvillages and preach to them the Gospel. I did not know much,but I preached to them the way of salvation.

It was while I was preaching in a nearby village that I metan American man from Texas who was helping my countrylearn about agriculture. He listened to me while I was preach-ing to the people. When I finished, he asked me who had sentme into the bush to preach the gospel. I told him that no onehad sent me, but that I came because I wanted my people toknow about the salvation of Christ. The man was overjoyedand asked me to come to the place he was staying in order toteach me how to communicate Christ using flanographs. Iwas so happy to have the flanographs and I traveled through-out the villages with them preaching the Gospel.

One day the man from Texas asked me what I was going

Solomon in the church he foundedin Minna, in spite of the threat ofdeath.

to do with my life. I told him that I was going to go to theuniversity in Ghana and work in the bank to support myself.In my free time, I was going to preach the Gospel to mypeople. Then he asked me something that would change mylife forever: “Suppose I help you go to Bible School in theUnited States, would you like that?” I was overjoyed with theoffer and so were the missionaries who had told me aboutChrist. They wanted me to be trained in the United States andthen return to Ghana prepared to be an instrument of God tospread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to my people.

Finally it came time for me to leave Africa and study theBible at Tennessee Temple in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Butthere were many funny things that happened to me in myjourney to America. I was from the bush and did not knowanything. The missionaries told me that the first place I wouldland would be Kennedy Airport and that I would then take ataxi to La Guardia Airport where I would board a plane forChattanooga. They gave me $10 for the fare. When I arrivedat Kennedy, I had to carry my three pieces of luggage out ofthe airport and so I balanced one on my heard and carriedone in each hand. I could not understand why everyone waslooking at me because in my country it is customary to carrythings on our head. As I was walking though the airport, Iprayed God you are going to have to help me go through thisgreat place. When I came to a large glass door, I decided thatI would use the suitcase in my right hand to push it open andthe one on my left to hold it open as I passed through withthe third suitcase on my head. I was nervous and so I prayed,

“Oh God you will have to help me!” No sooner did the prayerleave my lips than the huge glass door flew open by itself.My heart jumped inside and I threw down my suitcases andbegan to run around yelling, “Praise the Lord! Praise theLord!” I was so excited. Finally a man came to me and said,“Why are you so excited?” and I said, “Can you not see thatthe Lord opened the door for me?” The man looked at me andasked, “Where are you from?” I said, “I am from Africa,” thenhe said, “African, you are crazy. Who told you the Lord openedthe door for you? The door is automatic.” I did not under-stand what he was saying to me so I just kept on praising theLord for the miracle.

When I reached the place to take a taxi, I asked the manhow much it would cost and he told me $10. I reached myhand in my pocket for the wallet and it was gone. This is thevery place where the Lord began to teach me to live by faithin Christ alone. I began to cry but the people did not care. Istood in that airport far away from home and I did not know asingle person. I wept. But I remembered that the missionaryhad taught me that God is everywhere, so I knelt down withtears and put my head on my suitcases and I prayed. “God,God! I have trusted You, but I do not really know You verywell. If You are real, if You are really real, do one of two thingsfor me. Choose one and do it: Send me back home to Africa,or help me out of here.” This is where my faith in God reallybegan! Everything will fail you, money, wealth, anything, butGod will never fail. After I prayed, I did not know where I was.I sat down and put my feet on my suitcases so that no one

A mosque in north-ern Nigeria. TheMuslims violentlyoppose the Christianfaith. Many Chris-tians have beenkilled and churchesdestroyed.

would steal them and then I put my Bible in my lap.A few minutes later, a man who was walking by, saw my

Bible sitting on my lap. He stopped and asked me, “Are youa Christian? Where are you from?” I said, “Yes I am a Chris-tian and I am from Africa.” He then asked me, “What are youdoing here?” I said, “I am going to a Bible college in Chatta-nooga, Tennessee.” The man then said to me, “My name isReverend Ben Hayden. I am a Presbyterian pastor in Chatta-nooga. Let me see your ticket.” I gave him my ticket and hesaid, “I am going on the same flight with you.” The man tookme to La Guardia Airport and sat beside me on the plane.When we arrived in Chattanooga, my heart started beatingbecause I thought he would leave me and I did not knowwhere to go. But he told me, “Solomon, my wife will be here ina few minutes and we know were your college is. We will takeyou there.”

At college, I worked 35 hours a week to pay for my stud-ies and then I received a scholarship that lightened my workload to 18 hours. Though my years of college the Lord helpedme and it was there that I learned how to win souls, train themand teach them to win others. For seven years I watched Dr.Lee Robertson preaching in the chapel and I learned from himabout soul winning.

When my studies were over, I prepared to return to Ghanaand Dr. Robertson asked me what I was going to do. I toldhim that I was going to get a job to support myself and on theweekends I was going to preach the gospel. He quickly toldme that I need to be preaching all the time, winning people forChrist and building churches. But I told him that things weredifferent in Ghana and I would have to work to support my-self. He then replied, “No, no, you must not work! God’speople must support you!” Within a few weeks, I was inAfrica starting churches, training my people and starting aBible school. My greatest goal is church planting. Winningpeople for Christ and starting local Baptist Churches. Thishas been my passion in Africa since 1974.

At first, I worked in Ghana and started churches there. Itrained people to go into the villages, win people for Christand start churches. I trained young men and sent them out towin souls, because that is what I believe in – Soul Winning!And when the people are won for Christ, we teach them God’sWord and teach them to teach others. We have sent outmany missionaries to plant churches and we have many morethat are waiting to be sent out in to the unreached villages ofNigeria and other parts of Africa. There are places wherethere are people who have never heard the Gospel of JesusChrist and we have men who are more than willing to gothere. This is my life work.

There are many things I went through when I returned toAfrica to preach the Gospel. Many times when I entered avillage, I would be challenged by the witch doctors. Theywould do all sorts of things to drive us away, but we wouldpray and pray. Even when they would attack us we wouldpray. And although they tried every means, God alwaysproved Himself faithful. There have been times when eventhe witch doctors have been converted because they haveseen the changes in the lives of other converts.

When I came to the north of Nigeria, it was very difficult,because it is densely populated by Muslims. When I beganmy work, the Muslims tried every means to get us out. Whenriots would start, I would send my wife and my children backto my family in the south for their protection. Now as yearshave past, there are Muslims that have been saved and evensome that have become preachers. We have gone through allkinds of trials, but the Lord has been faithful to us. It wouldbe hard for anyone to understand the things we have beenthrough unless they have been through the same themselves.Only a few months ago, several hundreds of Christians werekilled. They were butchered with machetes and their churcheswere burned. One could see their dead bodies everywhere.But regardless of the trials, we are still here because God issustaining us, He is keeping us by His power. And as long as

These arches have significance in the Mus-lim faith. Inside this area of town, nochurches can be planted. It would be sui-cide to even make the attempt.

we are here we will preach the Gospel.When I first came to Minna in northern Nigeria to plant

a church, I rented a house. Every day I would leave the houseand go door to door winning souls. After I won a group ofpeople for Christ, I gathered them together in my house andtaught them the Bible. The house, I rented was owned by aMuslim and across the street from the house was a Mosque.Every morning at 5am the Muslim priest would announceover the PA system for all the people to hear that I, my family,and my church members were blasphemers and that we didnot deserve to live. He declared to the people, “We must killthem, we must slaughter the men, and their wives and theirchildren should be taken as slaves.” My family and the churchwould be full of terror, but I would tell them, “Did not Godsend us here? The one saying these words against us isnothing but a man! When the devil is at his worst, our God isat His best!” I always remembered the verse, “Thou will keepin perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on you.” When Ibecame confused and afraid I would remember this promiseand pray, “God you told me you would give me perfect peace.My mind is on you. I am not going to be afraid of that man.Help me!” I stayed even though that man did everything toturn the people against us. He said I was a heathen, that I wasdefiling the land and that I should be killed. He said that mywife and children should be the slaves of the man who killedme. When my wife heard these words, she would be shakingwith fear, even though sometimes she wanted to leave, shestayed by me and now we have two wonderful churcheshere, and many preachers of the Gospel have come out of it.

There are two converted Muslims who are now preachingthe Gospel, because by God’s grace we stayed and did notrun. The only thing I can say is that God is very good andalways faithful.

Let me now tell you about a young Muslim man namedMohamed who was saved. Every time I witness to him, hewould become very afraid and shake. Each time he left myhouse, I though that he would never come back, but he wouldalways return and say to me, “Tell me more.” He never let mespeak with him in public because he was afraid for his life.One day he asked me, “Look, pastor if I believe in this Christand they kill me, what will happen to me? I told him, “You willgo to heaven because you are believing in Christ.” He thenasked, “Are you sure I will go to heaven? And I said, Yes!”At that moment, he gave his life to Christ, but he would nottell anyone. One day I came to him and said, “Mohamed, yousay you have given your life to Christ, but God says thatanyone who has truly been saved must tell others and con-fess Christ before men. Mohamed said to me, “The day Iprofess Christ publicly, will be the day they kill me. I will diethat day! I will be declared to be a heathen and unfit to live,even by my family.” But I told him, “Stop worrying. You justobey God and watch what will happen.” He took my adviceand professed Christ publicly before his family and everyoneelse, and because of this they poisoned him. In the hospital,we Christians gathered and prayed for him. I said, “God, proveto this people that you are God. Do not let Mohamed die.”We prayed and Mohamed survived. Because of his miracu-lous healing, three other Muslims were saved.

Brother Solomon (right)and brother Andrew (atfar left) witnessing to ayoung Muslim who issympathetic to the faith.

Another time, I met a man and began to preach to him. Isoon discovered that he was the son of a witch doctor or jujuman. I knew that we were faced with terrible demonic power.I stood there sweating profusely and I did not know why.The demons began to manifest themselves and I prayed forGod to help me. I tried to preach to him the Gospel, but myliberty was severely hindered. I am not making this up. Iknow how to preach the Gospel and to talk to men aboutChrist, but I was hindered by the demonic power and was notfree to express myself. I began to pray and I saw his eyesbegin to change. I also saw that he was standing with hisfoot on a certain stone, but I did not know that it had anysignificance. For some reason, I took the man and moved himoff of the stone. That moment, the power hindering me wasgone and I regained all my liberty to preach. I sat him downunder a tree and preach to him the Gospel. I preached God’sWord, and preached God’s Word and preached God’s Wordand he was listening to me. When I finished preaching, heshook violently and his eyes were completely red like blood.He said to me, “You think Jesus can save me?” I said, “He willnot only save you, but He will change your life! He changedmy life and not only that, but when you die, He will take youto His home in heaven.” The man asked me, “Does Jesushave a village?” And I said, “He has something much betterthan a village.” Then the man said, “But when I am dead howcan he wake me up?” And I said, “Do not worry, He will doit!” In that moment the man gave his life to Christ.

The following Sunday, because I knew he was the son ofan important witch doctor, I decided to baptize him publiclyfor everyone to see. So I took him to a big river. We sang, “Ohhappy day! Oh happy day! When Jesus washed my sinsaway.” The moment we baptized him, he could not walk outof the water. His two feet were terribly swollen and we had tocarry him out of the water in front of all of the people. He said,“I told you! I told you! All the witch doctors have join to-gether to kill me now! Will your Jesus rescue me? Will yourJesus rescue me?” I did not know what to do, but I asked allthe Christians to pray. All the witch doctors came and got theyoung man and took him back to their dwellings. They wererejoicing and went through the villages bragging. They said,“Look at him! He left us! See what has happen to him! He hasshown that he really did not come from us. He does not haveour character or our power. He was going to join anotherpower, but our power is stronger and it has conquered him!”I gathered the church together and we prayed for the entireweek. Then I decided to go to him. I do not know where I gotthe courage to go. I cried, “God help me!” And then it seemedlike so great force was behind me. I went straight to the witchdoctor’s house where they kept him. I called his name and heresponded. I said to him, “Look, you have been here for aweek and your sickness has not gone.” Come with me andthe other Christians and we will help you.” He then said tome, “Please help me, my whole body is burning, please getme out of here.” Two brothers from the church had come withme and together we took him from the witch doctor’s dwell-ing, I put him in my car and drove him to my home. We prayedfor him every day and in a weeks time he was perfectly healed,as if nothing had happened. We pled the blood of Jesus andsaid that if there is power that can save in the blood of Jesusthen that same power can put this man back on his feet again.He started walking.

Do you see what God has done? God allowed the witch

Brother AndrewMarty, now preachesin the first churchSolomon planted inMinna.

Brother SamuelAhmed is currentlystarting anotherchurch on theoutside of Minna.

doctors to come and take this man to the highest witch doc-tor of all. They thought they had won, but Jesus defied him.Jesus defied his power and he could do nothing. The son ofthe witch doctor, when he saw Jesus’ power, was convertedand became a Christian. He is now a pastor.

This is what God is doing here. This is what God is doingin Nigeria. You want to see the power of God to save and tokeep? We see it in the Gospel. God not only saves His chil-dren, but He keeps them. The Gospel is real! It is real! I haveseen its power with my own eyes and I have personally expe-rienced it. God keeps me preaching, and those that get saved,He keeps.

At this very moment, we have sixteen trained men wait-ing to go into any area, but they have no support. We needhelp to train these people and send them out to plant churches.So please pray for us and our villages where people havenever heard the Gospel. We want to reach these people, be-cause Jesus died for them too, and the blood of Jesus cansave them. So would you please pray for us. From Nigeria, wealso want to go to the Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, BurkinaFaso, Liberia, Gambia and all the west coast of Africa. I haveone young man who will graduate soon and he wants to goto Liberia. Even though he knows that there is war there, hesays that he is a Christian soldier, and he is ready to fight. Hesays, “I was once a soldier there fighting in the war, but nowthat I am saved I want to go back as a soldier of Jesus Christwith the message of the Gospel. My people need to get savedbefore they die.” I have another man who longs to go into thedeep bush in the mountains and preach the Gospel to thewild people that live there. There are no roads to this placeand the people live in caves and do not wear clothes. He isgoing to graduate in May of 2001 and his dream is to reachthese wild people for Christ.

Our mission philosophy is this. When our men get sup-port from the outside, they cannot stay in a church, but mustplant the church, train a pastor and then move on to anotherchurch plant in another area. If they decide that they want to

be the pastor of the church they have started, then they mustbe supported by the church only and not by outside funds. Ibelieve that the church should support its pastor, But thepeople here are very poor. When they become Christians, ittakes time to teach them to tithe. If we keep waiting, we mustrealize that souls are dying. Many of our national missionar-ies and church planters are all alone, and they suffer povertyand persecution. The help from others makes them see thatthey are not alone, that someone is thinking about them.

I believe in soul winning. I believe every church shouldbe a soul winning church. I believe you must go out with theGospel preaching the death, burial and resurrection of JesusChrist. We must tell them what His death can do. We must tellthem that He died to save them, and that because He hasrisen they can rise again too. We do not win them with emo-tional appeals, we do not win them with manipulation, we winthem through the preaching of the Gospel. We use what worksand it is the Gospel that works, the Gospel that God blesses.We preach the Gospel alone, the Bible alone and souls arebeing saved. We have a sign in each of our churches thatsays, “Soul winning is the Heartbeat of this church.” Webelieve that every church should go out soul winning. Afterwe win them, we bring them to church, teach them God’sWord and send them out to evangelize others. There aremany preachers who seem to think the Gospel has lost itspower, but it has not, it is working here in Africa.

If you would desire more about Solomon Owolabi orEvangelism Missions International, they can be reached atthe following:

EMIP.O. Drawer 550

Thorsby, AL 35171(205) 646-0808

[email protected]

This is what God is doing here. This is what God is do-ing in Nigeria. You want to see the power of God tosave and to keep? We see it in the Gospel. God not onlysaves His children, but He keeps them. The Gospel isreal! It is real! I have seen its power with my own eyesand I have personally experienced it. God keeps mepreaching, and those that get saved, He keeps.

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AndrewMartey

Brother Andrew Martey has been supported as a HeartCrymissionary for the last two years. He is presently working inthe city of Minna, but hopes to soon begin a new church inanother unreached city in Nigeria. He is married to Lydiaand has a new son named Richard. The following is histestimony:

I am from Accra, Ghana and was born in 1953 into a“Christian” family that attended an Anglican church. We wentto church, but we had no knowledge of salvation. Even thoughwe were “church goers,” like so many in Africa, we stillpracticed idolatry and even made and sold idols as a meansof income. I went to a “Christian” school and we even had aclass in doctrine, but again salvation was not taught and Iwas unconverted. Then in 1973, when I was twenty yearsold, I met a friend on the street who told me that he was “soulwinning.” I asked him what that meant and he shared with methe Gospel of Jesus. I did not understand what he was sayingbecause I had always been taught that I was OK with Godand there was no need for me to concern myself with the“deeper things” of religion. But my friend persevered inwitnessing to me almost daily, telling me that I must repentand believe.

It was during this time that I met brother SolomonOwolabi. He came to Accra to hold an evangelistic meeting.It was a very large event and there were posters everywhereadvertizing the event. My friend who had been witnessing to

me, invited me to the meeting and I accepted. That night,brother Solomon preached on the second coming of Christ. Ihad never seen a man speak with so much passion and desire.I was touched by the Holy Spirit. I thought to myself that ifChrist returned that night to take His own I did not knowwhere I would be or what would happen to me. When theinvitation came, I responded. It was brother Solomon himselfthat counseled me and he asked me where I was staying. Igave him the directions to my house and he promised me thathe would come and visit me. I was sure that he was joking,but that Saturday evening he came to my house and sharedthe Word of God with me again. Then he told me that he wasgoing to come by my house the next day and take me toSunday morning services. I listened to him while he preachedand preached, but still I did not repent. But brother Solomonwould not give up. I was amazed that he kept coming andcoming and would not give up until I repented and believedthe Gospel. Finally, one day I understood the grace of Godand was soundly converted.

Because of my conversion, my life became very difficult.My people were not happy with me. My parents, uncles andfriends said that I had become very disgusting to them. Itseemed that everyone was trying to discourage me, butbrother Solomon was always there encouraging me andpraying for me. I attended every meeting at the church andaccompanied brother Solomon when he went out soulwinning.

After finishing my education, I taught in the primaryschool for five years, but every day I became more and moreinvolved in the church and the ministry of the Word. I beganto have the conviction that God was telling me to surrenderevery part of my life to Him and to accept the call into full timeministry. When brother Solomon and the other Baptist leadersdecided to start a Bible institute, I immediately enrolled as astudent. Eventually, I stepped out on faith, and enrolled inthe school full time to prepare myself for full time ministry.After three years in the Bible school, I graduated and workedwith the mother church for a few months. Then brotherSolomon asked me to accompany Him to the north of Nigeriato plant churches among the Muslim in one of the most difficultareas of the country.

We began our ministry by going house to houseevangelizing the people. Since this is a Muslim area, our workwas very difficult and often extremely dangerous. TheMuslims are very hostile against the Gospel and we riskedour lives every time we knocked on someones door to sharewith them about the salvation in Jesus Christ. Graduallythrough prayer and committment, the Lord gave us a greatbreakthrough and a church began to grow. Now the Churchis strong and by the grace of God, we hope to begin newworks in the surrounding towns and villages. This is myheart’s desire, because there are many, many people whohave still not heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We mustreach out into the interior, we must branch out into all placesand among all peoples. This is my testimony, how I came to

know Christ, and what God is now doing in my life. All praise,honor, glory and thanksgiving belongs to Him.

The following, is one of the fields reports that we havereceived from brother Martey. We have decided to republishit here so that you may better understand the greatopposition that faces him and the other preachers as theyseek to make known the Gospel of Jesus Christ to theirpeople.

Satan tries to hinder our work for he knows his days arecounted. There is much opposition to the Gospel that comesfrom persecution, witchcraft, economic hardship andstarvation. The Muslims have taken many tribes captive inthe northern region of Nigeria. Most of these Muslims arevery fanatical, intolerant and aggressive. When we gowitnessing we find the word “Barshiga” written on the thedoors of at least 80% of the houses. The word means, “NoEntry.” One can be killed instantly if he fails to heed thewarning and enters the house to witness. Not long ago,brother Jefe, (who often witnesses with me), and I went soulwinning. On the way, we met a 60 year old man who was oneof the fanatics. The moment brother Jefe gave him a tract, theman got up and hit him and knocked him unconscious. It wasby God’s grace that we were not slaughtered. We hurriedbrother Jefe out of the village before the other Muslims camewith their bows, arrows and spears. They are frighteningbecause they are full of hate and rejection against the Gospel.

Brother Martey preaching inhis congregation in Minna

A few months ago, one of our church members, AndrewMamman, was martyred during a Muslim uprising. Theypulled him out of the house and shot him with a gun until hedied. Several times the government, has sent armed soldiersto our church so that we can worship God without beingkilled. One soldier who was sent to guard our church, saw thelove of God in us and he, his wife, and five children becameChristians. They were members of our church for five yearsuntil he was transfered to the south of Nigeria. I must laughbecause, Satan sent the Muslims to kill us, but God sent themso that a soldier would be saved.

Witchcraft is also a great weapon of Satan againstChristianity in the areas where I work. The terrible demonicpowers are claiming souls every day. The fear of witchcraft isso great that many have deserted their villages and left theirlands desolate in order to escape from its power. Because ofthese terrible trials, we always separate three days out ofeach month to fast and pray before God, asking for thedeliverance of lost souls and the protection of the preachers.

In spite of our trials, the church is growing and souls arecoming to know the Lord. In these past months we haveseen over thirty people come to know Christ and now have agood group of believers preparing for their baptism. The mostremarkable conversion has been that of a “Juju” man or witchdoctor from the village of Fugar. This man’s source of incomewas making incantations and charms, and performing satanicrituals for people. I was invited to meet him one day when hecame to Minna. Before I went to speak with him, I fasted andprayed the entire day. When I began to speak with him thepower of God was with me. Because of this, the man brokedown crying and with tears he repented and gave his life toChrist. Two months later he died, but I rejoice because nowHe is in the presence of the Father. I was invited to preach at

Witch doctor or JuJu man who was saved under brotherMartey’s preaching.

Andrew MammanBrother Mamman was a close friend of Brother Andrew Martey anda member of the church he pastors in Minna, Nigeria. Andrew’s fa-ther died, when he was a little boy. This plunged him and his familyinto poverty. In Nigeria, it is the custom that the only son take careof the family when the father dies or is to old or disabled to work.Therefore Andrew’s mother worked day and night as a cleaning ladyto save enough money to send her son to college. The mother knewthat her well being and the well being of her entire family dependedupon the success of her son. After graduating from the University inNigeria were he studied medicine, brother Andrew was required togive one year to civil service for his country in the city of Kaduna,two hours north of Minna. When the Muslims in Kaduna went on akilling spree, they dragged him from the house where he was stayingand shot him several times through the stomach. In the same upris-ing, churches were burned down, countless other Christians werekilled along with several pastors who paid for their faith by decapi-tation. Andrew’s mother is a faithful member at brother Martey’schurch and does the custodial work for free.@

his funeral and twelve more people repented and gave theirlives to Christ. I praise God for the great working of His Spiritamong us.

Just recently we had a soul winning course that wasvery fruitful. Many of our people are responding to the call ofsoul winning after four months of intensive training. TheLord has burdened many hearts to tell others about the GoodNews of Christ. We have had as many as twenty five peopleshowing up to go soul winning with us. Our children’sministry is also blessed by God. They have already outgrowntheir room, therefore we are constructing another toaccommodate them.

We are joyful to report that our prayers have been heardand answered by our God in His time. We have beenministering in the prison and the work there is growing. Lastweek, fifteen Christian brothers were set free from prisonafter many prayers. Brother Bulus is one of them. After hewas set free he came to me immediately to tell me the good

news. There are still many in prison and we continue to prayfor them, waiting upon God’s perfect timing. We thank Godfor His work in these lives. We marvel as God touches thelives of many so that they dedicate themselves to prayer,fasting and sharing the Gospel. It is encouraging to see thatthe work of the ministry rests on all of us and not on one manalone.

Thank you so much for what God is using you to dothrough us here in Nigeria. We thank you for your prayersand support in the ministry. We pray that the Lord willcontinue to bless you and that He will continue to meet all ofyour spiritual and material needs. We really appreciate yourlove and kindness for us here in Nigeria as we live our livesfor the Lord. We thank you so much, you have been a sourceof blessing and a great encourgement to us and all the nationalpastors you support. It is our fervent desire that you continueto pray for us and stand behind us in this battle. We love youand may God bless you.

Lydia MarteyThe following is the testimony of Lydia Martey, Andrew’s wife and afaithful laborer in the Lord’s harvest in Nigeria.

I was born in Ghana in 1954, and I became a Christian in1982 through the testimony of two young men who werestreet preaching. My family professed to be Presbyterian,and therefore I grew up doing what they did, but withoutthinking much about it. Aside from going to church occa-sionally, my family and I lived like others in the world. I livedwithout any remorse or sadness in my heart when I sinned. Idid not even know what sin was until a revival swept acrossour country by the grace of God.

One day I was walking in the street and I saw the twoyoung men I have already mentioned preaching about sin,

salvation, the second coming, and hell. I laughed at themwhen I first heard them because I thought that their messagewas ridiculous and a fantasy. I also thought that they wereridiculous for making fools out of themselves. I could notunderstand why they stood there in front of all the peopleand continued preaching while everyone made fun of them.

But my laughing soon stopped when they came to meand showed me in the Bible how my sins had separated mefrom God. They told me about where I stood with God at thatvery moment, and how I could never save myself no matterwhat I tried to do or how I tried to live. They told me aboutwhat Christ had done to save me and that if I rejected themessage of salvation my blood would be on my own hands.They preached to me that I needed to repent and believe inChrist. I became very afraid when I heard these words andtold them that I wanted to know Christ and to repent of mysins so that I could escape the wrath of God. I followed themto the evening church service and their pastor preached onthe Second coming of Jesus. I became even more convictedof sins and afraid of judgment, but I did not repent. I cameback the following Sunday and could no longer stand God’sconviction upon me. I repented of my sins and believed inChrist as my Saviour and Lord. Ever since that day I havebeen free from condemnation and Jesus Christ is the Lord ofmy life. I began to serve God in all that I could and eventuallysaw that God used me most in working with the children andtelling them about Jesus. God is so good to me. Through themany trials and temptations, He is always faithful and merci-ful to me. I am happy to be His child and I want to please Himin every aspect of my life.

Above all things, my ministry is my home and caring forthe needs of my family. I love my family and I help my hus-band in every way I can. I love my children and I dedicatetime to teach them the Word of God and train them up in theLord. My ministry in the church is soul winning, teachingand admonishing the women. I also teach the ones that wantto become Sunday school teachers for children.

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Brother Samuel has been supported as a HeartCry mission-ary for the last two years. He is presently starting a newchurch on the outside of Minna. As you will see, the work isprogressing very well:

It seems that I have been a victim of persecution sincethe very first day I visited the church. My mother gave herlife to Christ in 1963, a year after the death of my father. Thatsame year, I finished my required recitation of the Holy Ko-ran, but since my father was dead there was no one in myfamily who could make the necessary sacrifices which re-quired that we kill a bull or a ram. In 1965, I entered a churchfor the first time on the invitation of my mother’s pastor.Immediately, news spread among my Muslim friends that Ihad become a Christian. The problem became so dangerousfor me that my family sent me to the city of Ibadan about 600miles away. While I was there I began to attend a church,because the people with whom I was living were Christians. Iwas still a practicing Moslem at the time, but had begun todrift away from the Moslem teachings. Finally, in 1970, theanger of those who had sought to kill me ceased and I re-turned to my home.

In November of 1978, while watching a film titled, “TheDeath and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” I gave my life toJesus Christ. I immediately threw away all the charms that Ihad used in witchcraft and began to serve the Lord. At timesI was afraid of what men might do to me and my wife, but theLord helped me. You should know that if a Muslim man be-

comes a Christian, his in-laws and the people of the town willcome and take away his wife and give her to another man. Iwas afraid they would take my wife from me, but the Lordhelped us. In a short time, I began to give my testimony inopen air crusades and was full of joy because the Lord usedthe crusades to lead many people to Christ. By 1981, I knewthat God was calling me into the ministry as a preacher of theGospel.

When I finished my secular studies, I went to my unclewho worked in the oil business and immediately he gave mea job as a Manager. Although the work provided many ben-efits, it gave me no peace of mind and so after three months Iquit. My uncle was very angry with me for leaving my job,but offered me a job managing one of his gas stations. Hepayed me well and I had my own car, but he was still angrywith me because I used this vehicle to travel and do evange-lism in my free time.

In 1984, my pastor told me about a Moslem dominatedarea about 98 miles from where I lived that was without aChristian witness. Led of the Lord, I bought a motorcycleand began to visit there every weekend with one of the youthleaders of my church. Eventually, we were able to plant achurch there and train a pastor as its leader.

All these things that I was doing in the Name of the Lordcaused me many great problems with my uncle who thoughtI had become too involved in “religion.” I enjoyed minister-ing very much, but deep down inside I knew I was running

Samuel Ahmed

BrotherSamuel’s adultSunday schoolin his newchurch.

from the call that God had given me to become a preacher. Idid not like the idea of being a pastor because I saw the life ofsacrifice they lived and how much they suffered. I knew thatif I became a pastor I would be surrounded by poverty andsuffering. The people of my town always say that one canrecognize the pastors in the community because most of themare so poor that they must wear only rubber flip-flops be-cause they have no money to buy real shoes. Finally, oneday, in a leaders meeting in my church the brothers con-fronted me with the truth. They told me that although I wasserving the Lord in evangelism and church planting, I wasdisobeying the Lord, because I did not want to become a fulltime pastor. They rebuked me and told me that I was notwilling to give up my position to be a servant of Christ andthat I was afraid to suffer the ridicule and poverty of a genu-ine servant of God. When I left the meeting, my heart was tooheavy and I knew I had to obey God and do what he wantedme to do. I knew I would face much persecution from myfamily, but I did not care. When I finally made this decision,my uncle confiscated my savings account, my car and mymotorcycle. When I gave the car keys back to him, he told methat I was crazy and that one day I would come back to himand beg him for the job and the car. I told him that I wouldcome back only if God failed me and did not keep the prom-ises He made in the Scriptures. I never returned, because Godhas never failed me!

Soon afterwards in 1986, I entered the Seminary and mywife entered the Bible training school for women. I did nothave the money I needed for the deposit but by God’s mercy

someone paid it for me. My uncle who could have spon-sored me without any problems, thought I was insane andturned his back on me. Just recently I was able to see himagain and he told me that I had been bewitched by the Chris-tian religion. He kept saying that he could not understandwhy I would want to spend my life suffering and in needwhen I could have so many material things with his help.Every time we have our family gatherings he makes fun of meand calls me the “suffering man” of the family. In spite ofthis, God enables me to keep going and work for Him. One ofthe most encouraging things I have seen as I work for theLord is that He cares for His own. For example, one nightwhen my partner and I were in the jungle of Ajaokuta, wewere met by a big python that was laying across the road. Itwas very dark in the forest and there was no way to return orto go forward. We sat there on our motorcycle praying untilthe large snake moved completely out of the road and wesped past it. God has been very gracious because many havebeen killed in this same forest by wild animals.

After seminary, I traveled with my wife Esther and threechildren to Minna to begin a church in Chanchaga. When wearrived there, the pastor told us that there was no money tobegin a new work. Nevertheless, my wife and I began to goout soul-winning and praying to God to provide the funds tobegin His work. We began to make some converts, but hadno place to worship. My wife and our five children lived in asmall two room house that had a bathroom and nothing else.We faced many trials at that time in our lives and many timeswe were barely able to feed our family. I thank God for my wife

The new church from the outside.HeartCry purchased the land andwill soon begin construction as theLord provides.

who never complained throughout all the difficulties, butwas always there to help me. When she was not witnessingwith me or discipling women, she found time to weave clothesand sell them, so that we could feed our family. We never hada good meal, but there was always enough to keep us alive.Because of this time of difficulty and need, I began to thinkthat maybe God had not called me to do His work. I prayedand fasted because these thoughts tortured me and I wantedto find peace, knowing that I was doing what God wanted meto do. It was at this same time that Rev. Owolabi called me tosay that HeartCry was interested in supporting my work. Ipraised God for His answers to prayer and His encourage-ment. And I also thank you brothers and sisters for your lovefor souls and your participation in God’s work by supportingme and my family.

Being a Christian or a minister here in Africa is not aneasy task. The humiliations and persecutions that we mustbear during soul winning are numerous. Recently, I went tosomeone’s house to witness and after knocking on his doorthe man came out screaming at me and driving me away as ifI were a crazy person. I left the place and moved down furtherto another house where I was insulted and driven away also.This other person told me to leave the area before I got hurt.I quit going there for a while, but I have started to visit again.My wife and her team were also treated badly one day whilesharing a tract with some people. We also have many churchmembers that are persecuted and abandoned by their fami-lies physically and financially because they profess to beChristians.

In spite of this, we thank God because our suffering hasborne fruit. A lady who is now a member of our church, re-cently gave her testimony and said that she became a Chris-tian because of my patience in visiting her many times. Sheadmitted that she insulted me intentionally and spoke badlyabout me, but to no avail. I was greatly encouraged by thistestimony to press on in the work of God. I thank God for allthe soul-winners in our Church that go out and bear withmuch persecution, because this has yielded much success inGod’s harvest. Please pray that we will be filled with strengthand love so that we may share the Good News to the peoplethat do not know Him. The attendance at the church hasincreased to between 50 and 70 people, including children.For this we give God the glory. My vision is to teach and topreach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would also like to start aschool in my town to train men and women in the Bible toprepare them for the ministry. I love to teach. When this workis established and strong, I also have a vision to start a churchin my home town in Kogi State, Nigeria. There are manyMuslims there, but there are also a handful of believers whoare always asking me to come and begin a church with them.I would like to do so, but there is still so much work here.There are simply not enough workers for the great harvest.

The Lord never fails us in spite of difficulty and persecu-tion. We face much opposition from Satan who tries to stopus from distributing tracts to the Moslem communities. Weneed your fervent prayers as co-laborers in this effort to takethe Gospel to the unreached. We are very careful because we

The new congregation inMinna, Nigeria. Samuel andhis wife Esther are dressed inwhite in the center of thephoto. Solomon is on the farleft.

do not want to spark another religious war in the northernzone. In recent years, many Christians and their pastors havebeen slaughtered by the Muslims. When they come againstus with their swords we join together in groups to pray andfast. This is our weapon against their violence. We pray thatthere be no blood, but if our blood must be spilled for theglory of God, then so be it! There have been times when theChristians have been driven to extremes and fought back.After seeing their homes and churches burned several times,after witnessing the murder of their families, and the rape oftheir women and children they have retaliated, but when thathappens, both sides lose. We cannot defeat the power ofSatan with the weapons and violence of man. We must nottake vengeance, but we must leave vengeance to the Lord.

In addition to the opposition we receive from some ofthe Moslems, we must also battle against the fact that manytribes are controlled by idolatry and superstition. Many people

who long for security and power participate in the satanicrituals and use incantations in which they cut their bodies,drink blood and do much more unspeakable things of thesort. Please pray as we battle that their eyes may be open tothe Truth and to God. We are always praying fervently know-ing that this battle can only be won by God’s hand and thatwe cannot do anything aside from Him.

Finally, bothers and sisters, we want to thank you foryour generous contribution of $1000 that has allowed us tobuy the piece of land where our church will one day be built.We do not have words to thank you enough for this greatdemonstration of love and concern for us. Praise God foryou! Thank you also for my personal support.@

The following is the testimony of Esther Ahmed, Samuel’swife and a faithful laborer in the Lord’s harvest in Nigeria.

I was born to parents that had both made professions offaith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but who did not live like Chris-tians. When I was a small girl, most of my friends were Mus-lim and I would follow them to the mosque because that iswhere they attended with their parents. Our relatives werealso Muslim and attended the same mosque. I began to learnArabic with my friends and grew in the Muslim religion untilI was 15 years old. Throughout my childhood, my motherattended a Christian church, but would not encourage me todo so. My father simply lived as though he did not knowChrist at all.

One day, my school teacher, who was also a friend of mymother, invited me to their Sunday school. I told her I couldnot go because I was a Muslim. But for some reason I becamevery curious about the Christian religion and finally agreedto go with her. I thought to myself, “At least I cannot get introuble for this because my mother goes there.”

I went that day and liked the place and the people verymuch even though I was very shy. When the pastor askedthe visitors to stand up, I was very scared, but I stood upand every one welcomed me. This made me feel better. I likedthe church so much that I continued to attend, but I was notsaved. I listened to the message of salvation many times, butmy heart was not touched by the Spirit. I made a professionof faith because I thought that it was necessary in order tocontinue attending. I went through baptism classes and wasbaptized, but I was not a Christian even though I was a moralperson that attended church faithfully. I knew that my heartwas dead and apathetic.

In time, I met the man that is now my husband. I met himin our church. We became good friends and finally he askedme to marry him. I told him “no” because I wanted to furthermy education. He said that he would not stop me from doingthis and so we spoke to my parents and they agreed. Afterwe were married for some years, my husband told me that

Esther Ahmed

God was calling him to serve Him as a missionary and that weneeded to go to Bible College. Because of this, we both leftour home town and went to Bible College together for threeyears. After we completed our studies we were assigned to achurch in the area. I taught women and children, but my heartwas restless and I doubted everything I did. It was then thatI began to think that I was not a real Christian.

One day, while listening to the preaching of another pas-tor, I was greatly touched by the message. The preacher spokeabout the importance of a quiet time with God, to meet withHim, pray, and share fellowship. I knew then that I did notknow God because I did not desire this, and did not share

this type of relationship with Him. Knowing this, I could notgo on living my life as I had before. I went alone to my room,knelt before God and ask Him to save me. He has now savedme, and given my life and ministry true meaning. Every year,He uses me more and more. He has given me unspeakablejoy as I minister in His name with all my heart. I thank Him forHis patience and mercy towards me, a sinner. I minister along-side my husband, teaching the children and youth, and en-couraging the women of our congregation. I also help tomeet the needs of my family by weaving our national clothand selling it. Thank you for all your help and prayers as weminister to our people here in Nigeria.@

Favorite Photos

Andrew’sson, Richard,gets a bath.

Children’s choir atAndrew’s church.

Young lady atSamuel’s church.

Little girl in Sunday hatand dress in Andrew’schurch.

Young boys on the streetof Minna.

FulaniGirlsellingmilk.

Worship inSamuel’schurch.

Email: [email protected]; Web Page: www. heartcrymissionary.com; Ph/Fax: (618) 564-2770

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HeartCry Missionary Society

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What part of “Go”do you not understand?

Matthew 28:18-20

Andrew MammanMartyred: June, 2000

Death: Dragged from his home

and shot.

Crime: Confessing Jesus as Lord.