Equip Disciples 

Kenya
*Alfred M.
Wycliffe translator, Equip Disciples partner
*Bishop Lewa
*other pastors

Congo
*Pastor Martin N.
Pres. of BBM, Equip Disciples partner
*Rev Banyangiriki
*Rev Karahanyuze
*Rev. Kabano
*Pastor Mme-ULPGL
*Rev. Ntahorugiye
*Amos K.
*Alfred M.
(from Kenya)

Pray for:
*Excellence in preparation
*Spirit's leading
*Wisdom in presentation
*Good Health-both physical and spiritual
*Protection-both physical and spiritual
*One heart and mind
*Communication across language and cultural barriers
*For translators to be accurate and focused

Visit our Website EquipDisciples.org

*New resources under Resources
(HIV/AIDS booklet to be posted soon)

*Read up on Kenya and Congo in the trip preparation section

Team Send-off with Prayer and Fasting

You are warmly invited...

Our departure for Africa approaches quickly (July 17)! (Dates for the actual church leadership conferences are given on the left.) We will have a time of prayer to send off the team members the Saturday before we go.

Ministry Update

Thank you to FBC Arlington Sunday School Departments 204 and 303 for putting together 400 worldview discipleship picture books for us! These are ready for use in Kenya and DR Congo in 300 plus churches and for our work among ex-child soldiers. These books teach Biblical doctrines and Biblical worldview using pictures along with Bible stories and Scriptures.

Since Africans are accustomed to expressing their beliefs with pictures, the idea of teaching doctrines and Christian living through pictures was born. The pictures include: God and His Spiritual Creation; God and His Physical Creation; How God Communicates With Us; The Ten Commandments; Jesus is the Answer; How to Identify False Religions; The Two Kingdoms; Staying on the Right Path; The Ministry of Reconciliation; Spiritual Warfare; Stewardship; and Future Things. Our goal is to strengthen the church weakened by syncretism and in need of training, so that it can grow strong and healthy and will reproduce itself through missions and church planting.

Ministry Spotlights

Alfred Mtawali

Alfred Mtawali, Wycliffe Bible Translator and Kenyan Christian music artist. Alfred has been one of the native translators for the Kigiryama Translation of the Bible in Nairobi, Kenya. He has also translated our Discipleship materials used in discipleship conferences. Both Alfred and his wife Hellen are very talented musicians. They have produced several CD's and are very popular in Kenya and other Kiswahili countries. In addition to leading worship and teaching in the Kenyan conference, Alfred will be traveling with us to DR Congo to work with child soldiers and to teach in the adult leadership conference. Be in prayer for him as he serves the Lord in this way. We are honored to be partners with him and look forward to serving together in the Lord's Kingdom.

Martin Nzabanita

Martin is the president and founder of Beyond the Bridge Ministries in DR Congo. He has frequently put his life on the line to reach out with the Gospel to the militias who are causing such devastation in the rural Congo. Martin also leads many discipleship, leadership, and Bible study conferences in DR Congo and Rwanda for Christian churches. We will be teaching along with Martin and his ministry partners to encourage and equip rural church leaders affected by the militias, and also joining him in ministry to ex-child soldiers ages 13-16.

Using God's Blessings for the Kingdom

You might think $20 or $30 is a small amount and can't go very far. But in Africa, this amount will sponsor a rural church leader affected by the devastations of war for a full week of training, encouragement, and equipping. God has blessed us with many such gifts! Our current needs include:

• 187 scholarships for rural church leaders in Kenya and DR Congo ($20-$30 each)
• 164 Bibles or commentaries ($10-$25 each)
• Trip support for some of our team members

Part of our ministry of equipping disciples includes providing effective and affordable resources for leaders who live in poverty and currently have little to no resources--perhaps not even a complete Bible. Some resources are made available for free, others are subsidized. The resources include study Bibles, the African Bible Commentary, MegaVoices in some languages, free Bible study software for those with computers, and worldview discipleship materials, which can be used among literate or preliterate people of all ages.

Discipleship Corner

It's inevitable that in the ministry of the Gospel, at one time or another we will all face adversity. At such times, the tendency is to quit, leave, doubt, grow embittered, or despair. What is good to remember is that we are not the only ones facing adversity. The early Christians often faced adversity from their own countrymen, from unbelievers, from religious leadership, from believers among whom they were working and ministering, and from Satan who was trying to hinder their work and missionary journeys.

Paul was doing something new....reaching out to Gentiles and to the Jews who rejected Jesus. He was preaching the truth to people who had never heard the Gospel, confronting sin in the churches, reproving leaders who were teaching wrong doctrines, encouraging people to turn away from idol worship and serve the living God. We must remember that the Old Testament Prophets, and Jesus Himself encountered adversity as well. With such tasks and various ministries, how could they not encounter adversity? 

What can we do in times of adversity?
*Trust in God. King David wrote so many Psalms asking God, "How long will you let the enemy triumph over me?" But he would always come back and say, "But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously" (Psalm 13:-6 HCSB).

*Enlist others to pray for you for the glory of God. At one time Paul had encountered great suffering in Asia, even beyond what was humanly possible. But his response was to ask a group of his friends to pray for him (see 2 Cor. 1). In this way, God would be glorified in His answer to the prayers of many.

*Encourage others. When Paul was mistreated, he would go and encourage the brethren in ministry. He knew that preaching the Gospel and challenging people to live in Kingdom ways would come up against the patterns and ways of the world. He knew that if he encountered opposition, the believers would also.  He wanted them to remain faithful and not be discouraged by his suffering. It seems almost that it should have been the people who would encourage Paul after such ordeals...yet you see Paul encouraging them! In 2 Cor. you see Paul encouraging believers who have faced sorrow, to comfort others with the same comfort God had given them.

*Continue to be faithful to the ministry God has called you to. Paul said, "We give no opportunity for stumbling to anyone, so that the ministry will not be blamed. But in everything, as God's ministers, we commend ourselves: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardship, by pressures, by beatings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger, by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the message of truth, by the power of God; through weapons of righteousness on the right hand and the left, through glory and dishonor, through slander and good report; as deceivers yet true; as unknown yet recognized; as dying and look--we live; as being chastened yet not killed; as grieving yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing yet possessing everything" (2 Cor. 6:3-10 HCSB). Paul didn't let these things get him down or make him quit. He chose instead to view them as opportunities for God to be strong through him. Jesus himself was not esteemed among men, he was betrayed, harshly treated, and falsely accused. Let us not be among those who grieve others in the body by false reports, afflictions, oppressions, and restrictions, but rather, among those who are working together in unity for the Gospel.

Please pray for us as we are teaching the Word, that we will remain strong and focused even if the face of adversity arises.
 
Thank you for your Prayers!