From the Pen of Pastor Aaron

Seventeen of us were able to fly from Ghana, whose coast is on the Atlantic,  all the way down and across the continent of Africa to the city of Durban, South Africa, which is on the eastern side of Africa, on the Indian Ocean.  Durban is the third largest city in South Africa, with a population of over two million.  What a sight!  I could not believe I was still in Africa.  I saw highways like we have in the US, with  cars moving speedily up and down.  Houses were more European style than African, and the weather was cool.  Soon we arrived at our host’s church, Good News Centre, where we were met by Pastor Dennis John and his lovely wife with all the beautiful black and Indian people. After warmly greeting us, he outlined our six areas of ministry.

• To the youth of Good News Centre

• Four nights of crusades in a district named Bottle Brush

• Evangelizing by day in two other districts

• Assisting our host, Pastor Dennis, with his feed the children program in Bottle Brush

• Presenting two seminars for the leaders of Good News Centre and

• Ministering on Sundays at several churches throughout the city.

Bottle Brush Houses

The main area in which we were to minister (Bottle Brush) is about fifteen minutes from Good News Centre.  What a contrast from what we had seen from the airport to Good News Centre!  It was not a planned community.  It is inhabited by black people and Asian Indian people who came to the city looking for a better life.  There is no electricity and no place for proper waste to go.  There is a standing pipe near the roadside where people can obtain water.  This is typical of many villages in Ghana, but the astounding thing was their houses. They were made of whatever materials they could find.  Some were using tents for homes.  Others are using empty bottles, discarded aluminum cans, or even small pieces of scrap wood or cardboard for the walls.  There are nearly 200 homes in this community,  plus hundreds of little children.  This small community lies just before you descend into the town that is known for rampant rape, murder, alcohol and drug abuse. Many of the South Africans of the area do not want to walk or drive through this area.  In addition, the black Africans and the Indians have segregated themselves from one another within Bottle Brush, creating even more tension.  Across the road are moderate apartments.  What a contrast—not only from one side of the road to the other, but also with the whole of what we saw coming from the airport!

Yes to Jesus!

We had a four-night crusade in Bottle Brush, which was power packed with signs and wonders,  healings and deliverances, with the majority of the people in the district giving their lives to Christ.  People in the area were excited because it was the first time anyone had done an open-air meeting in this area.  After preaching the message, I opened the opportunity for salvation and about one-third of the people came forward—a large response for the first night!  One man came into the tent late and sat down, indicating he was listening to the message outside the tent somewhere.  He was one of the first people to lift his hand and come forward to receive Christ.  Then we called for those who needed prayer and the people began to crowd to the front.  The first person I prayed for was a crippled man, who was hobbling in with a stick.  I prayed for his knees and legs to be healed and he started moving them.  By God’s power, he was totally and completely healed!  People around who knew him were testifying that he couldn’t walk and giving praise to God that now he could walk!  God was at work throughout the tent, as more and more were jumping up and down, praising God for their healings.  From that point, it seemed all of Bottle Brush came and crowded into the crusade tent, as well as people from the apartments from across the street!  What a great God we serve!

Desiring to develop leaders, I had Pastor Ben, one of our main faculty members, minister the second night of the crusade.  He had never preached an open-air crusade.   Among those who came forward for salvation were two women who were of the Hindu faith!  What a wonderful testimony to leave your family’s religion to serve the one and true God.  These women were not young women either, so for them to come to accept Christ is truly a great testimony!   For this third night of the crusade, I had Pastor Isaiah minister (Pastor Isaiah, as you will recall, was one of our first Bachelor graduates, served as my assistant, and is now one of our chief teachers!)  He was on fire from the beginning to the end of the service.  He called forth people who wanted to receive freedom from whatever bondage they are facing.  The altar was filled with people.  More of the Indians, who were Hindus, gave their lives to Christ.   As Pastor Isaiah began to minister, the word of knowledge was flowing through him and many people received deliverance from demonic spirits and other forms of attack from the devil.  It was a powerful evening!  Again, ending with people rejoicing in Christ!

The final night of the crusade began with a beautiful time of praise in the Zulu dialect.  I then preached on salvation.  As I was preaching, people carried a coffin in.  Because of the HIV/Aids diseases and other sinful activities that lead to death, I wanted a powerful visual reminder that no matter how good or bad you are, the wages of sin is death.  One older women in the front row got out of her chair to look into the coffin.  As I was preaching on the resurrection, one of our students who was in the coffin came out!  The entire tent was in astonishment!  After the first altar call for salvation, I felt led to make a second altar call for those who felt they were Christians, but were not living completely sold out and dedicated to Christ.  Nearly the entire tent came forward.  After I led them in prayer and their names were recorded for follow-up, I had everyone join hands and begin to pray in every direction against the spirits at work in their community.  After praying, I felt the Lord direct me to have each person find someone of different ethnic group and hug each other.  It was marvelous!  Black people were hugging the Indian people and vise versa.  The atmosphere had changed—God was working in their hearts!  The racial division which had been in the camp began to be broken as they continued hugging one another.  Even after the meeting was over, people continued to linger in the tent fellowshipping together.

The “feed the children” program was a wonderful experience for all concerned:  Two mornings we helped to pack 500 lunches which were to be given out to the children in Bottle Brush.  For the past nine years, Pastor Dennis and his church have been working in the area, feeding the children three times a week.  They are believing to expand to five times a week. This is a huge endeavor, and, as you may readily understand, is bringing Christ’s love and hope into a very spiritually dark area!  Now following the crusades, he is already making plans to extend his ministry into the area.

Sandwiches for 500 Hungry Kids

Hungry Kids Waiting Patiently

Mmmm!

I believe that we made a great impact in the area.  Not only had nearly all the small community of Bottle Brush come to the evening meetings the last two nights, but also people in the moderate apartments from across the street had started to come.  By the last night of the crusade, they were all mixing, hugging, and fellowshipping.  Not only were angels in heaven rejoicing, we were rejoicing!  Pastor Dennis was overjoyed, knowing his ministry in the area could be expanded because of the breakthroughs made at the crusade.

Student Ministering	Thank You, Jesus
Lame Man Walked After Prayer!	Hindu Family Came to Jesus after He Healed Their Lame Daughter

Thank you all for your prayers!  You certainly are rejoicing with us at all the Lord accomplished through this little group of 17 who went from one side of Africa to the other.  Our students, too, have grown from the experience of taking the Gospel outside their own nation and outside their own “comfort zone.”  Please read on for some of their testimonies.

May God continue to bless you all!     Pastor Aaron