The SEED – December 2022

 In The SEED Newsletters of 2022

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December 2022

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.”

– Isaiah 64:4

 I am sending out this note from Lodwar, in Turkanaland, Kenya, where I’ve been serving with the SHARE staff since December 9th, 2022. I’ll return to the U.S. on January 5th, 2023. Here is a short video clip that highlights a church that SHARE planted in 2001. The SHARE staff and I had the privilege of joining in worship to the Lord with the brothers and sisters there on Sunday, December 11th.

We all have witnessed the Lord’s grace and provision in amazing ways in 2022. Your participation with us in this year’s fundraising ministry brings the remaining balance for this year’s budget to $63,055! I am confident the entire budget for 2022 will be met by December 31st. I rejoice over God’s faithfulness and thank Him for calling you to partner with us to accomplish His purpose among the Turkana and Toposa people-groups of Kenya and South Sudan respectively through your generous donations in 2022. Thank you SO MUCH for allowing Him to minister to many through you. 

Let’s enter 2023 with even greater anticipation, that God will accomplish even “greater things”; that more and more people will be reached with the Gospel and an unprecedented number of them will put their faith in Christ as Savior. To Him alone be all the glory!

– Sammy

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Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers and support!

Emergency Relief Food Distribution in Turkanaland

Share International exists to share not only the Gospel, but our very lives as well! (1Thessalonians 2:8) In response to the same call that Christ made to His disciples in the first century – “You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37), the SHARE team traversed all the 10 Zones in Turkanaland between November 18th and 22nd to distribute food relief to the starving people in the remote villages, especially the elderly, breast-feeding mothers, disabled persons, widows, and orphans (1 Timothy 5:3-16; James 1:27). The team will continue to distribute more foodstuffs (which include fortified maize meal and vegetable oil) as long as funds designated for that purpose are available, while keeping Christ’s ultimate ministry our first priority – to seek and lead many to put their faith in Christ as Savior (Luke 19:10). It’s your continued generous donations that make it possible for SHARE to meet the physical needs caused by drought and famine in the region. A total of 9,624 people have been provided with foodstuffs. We thank you for being God’s extended hands to meet both the spiritual and physical needs in Turkanaland through the SHARE ministry.

SHARE Staff distributing food

In November, the SHARE team conducted an outreach in Atalokamusio and the surrounding villages of Lokapeltau, Atalomala, and Locher-angikalalio in Lorugum Zone, resulting in 196 people putting their faith in Christ as Savior, 60 baptized, and a new church planted in Atalokamusio!

It was fascinating to witness the residents dig a well by hand in a dry riverbed to obtain enough water to fill a ditch where the new believers were baptized (see photo below). Motivator Silas Ekomwa will shepherd and grow the new church.

The new church brought the total active churches in Lorugum Zone to 52, with an average attendance of 3,500 adults and 2,200 children weekly.

Among the other reached villages in the Zone, a total of 32 people received Christ as Savior and 28 baptized in November. The churches are shepherded by 8 Motivators, 5 Evangelists, and 33 Champions who lead Lighthouses with 297 disciples that are making disciples of others. Another 15 new Champions are being trained. Migration in search of pasture for livestock has contributed to the low number of disciples attending Lighthouses. The Motivators make every effort to follow up with believers in the nomadic lifestyle.

A total of 15 Audio Bibles were distributed to Champions in the Zone in November. We request your prayers for Motivators in the Zone who have to walk many miles each week to shepherd the churches.

VIDEO: New Believer’s Testimony
Screening The Jesus Film in Lokapeltau Village
The SHARE Team doing homestead-to-homestead evangelism
Villagers digging for water (left) to fill the ditch (right) for baptisms
Baptisms in the newly dug ditch
The children in Turkana are continuing to grow in the skills of learning to read and write and in their knowledge of the Bible. Currently, there are 13,486 children enrolled in classes with 286 teachers instructing them. This past month, 575 children accepted Christ, and 3 were baptized. When the children shared their faith with others, 415 people came to faith! The church is continuing to grow!
    The children have been learning to count to 100, reciting memory verses, listening to Bible stories, and learning life skills. Kalobeyei Zone has reported an increase in attendance in Sunday School.
    The teachers are also continuing to grow in their faith. Currently, 136 of the teachers are involved in Lighthouses with 103 of them being Champions. There are also 96 teachers enrolled in Adult Literacy classes so that they can continue to learn new things. All of the teachers can read and have hard-copy Bibles. The teachers are struggling with teaching lessons, as they have not been trained to use the DMM curriculum suitable for children and are needing monthly coaching.
    Severe drought has challenged many families, and they have chosen to migrate in search of green pastures and water for their flocks. This means that many children are no longer in school. Lokori and Kalemng’orok Zones have insecure areas which makes teaching difficult. Also, the teachers in Kalemng’orok and other Zones have requested more training so that they can teach the children more effectively.

TESTIMONY

My name is Agnes Apur Ekomwa. I come from Nakapeltau Village in Lorugum Zone. I am happy that God has brought SHARE Staff, Jacktan Kachi here to share the Gospel message with the children. I did not know that they were coming. But I believe that Jesus sent them to us.
I acknowledge that I am a sinner. Whenever my mother went to fetch water, I used to steal sugar, take tobacco and sniff ground tobacco and I know that was wrong.
When Jacktan Kachi shared how I could have a new life, I confessed my sins and said that I will not sin again. I got baptized. Now I am asking Jesus to lead me. I know my name is written in the Book of Life in heaven.

SHARE Staffer, Jacktan Kachi, sharing the Gospel with children
The Toposa Outreach Initiative (TOI) Missionaries continue to share the Gospel message in 33 villages. Training is starting for the proposed Champions as new believers are eager to learn how they can share their newly-found faith with their families and friends. 
    In November, 74 Toposa men and women committed their lives to Christ as Savior, 38 of which happened at the screening of The Jesus Film in 5 different villages; 3 new believers were baptized!
    The next steps for the team are following up with these new believers and encouraging them in their faith and to join a Lighthouse. Also for them to join a prayer network group, where they can listen to the Audio Bible as a group, pray for each other, and attend screenings of The Jesus Film in the nearby villages. Currently, there are 50 committed new believers that are actively sharing their faith in their communities!
    This month the team was able to distribute 62 Audio Bibles, 22 DMM Bookmarks, and 1 hard-copy Bible. Illiteracy is very prevalent in Toposa. Some of the team members are also teaching believers to read and write.

Missionary Amos Ekale baptizing believers following a good rainfall

Missionary James Lomadung teaching men the Word after a Literacy Class

Missionary Simon Lotabo (centered, seated) with a group of young men that he is witnessing to

SHARE Team, (l-r) Jackson Erus, Dalmas Esekon, James Ewoi, Mary Esinyen, and Sammy Murimi, ready to board the plane to visit and encourage the missionaries in Toposa

Classes have taken a break for the Christmas season in Kalobeyei and Kachoda Zones, but worship at the centers continues on Sundays. The youth continue to meet for a time of teaching, choir practise and to clean the centers once a week. A more indepth report will be coming in the new year when classes resume.
    Philip Emuria, an 8 year old boy from Nakoros, was recently interviewed by SHARE Staffer, Mary Esinyen. Here are his responses:
  1. How did you hear about Jesus and when did you accept Jesus as your Savior?
    • I heard about Jesus during Sunday School teaching, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior this year.
  2.  How has accepting Jesus as your Savior changed your life?
    • I have learned how to respect my parents and other elderly people.
  3. How has attending training at the Sending Center affected your life?
    • It has affected my life positively.
  4. What have you learned at the Sending Center?
    • I have learned how to respect other people and in school how to count from 1-20.
  5. What is your favorite part of the day? 
    • Singing praises in Sunday School and hearing the Word of God.

(The completed Sending Centers are marked in red.)

PRAISES

  • The church plant in Atalokamusio Village, Lorugum Zone and for all those that came to Christ and were baptized
  • Donors that have provided the funds for the evangelism tools and emergency food
  • Completion of 4 Next-Gen Sending Centers
  • Good health for all the SHARE Staff and Motivators/Missionaries
  • Rain in Toposaland
  • Openness that the Toposa people have toward the SHARE Missionaries

REQUESTS

  • Turkana children to continue to grow in their faith and share their faith with others
  • The remaining 144 villages in Turkana to be reached with the Gospel
  • Deliverance for those addicted to illicit drugs, alcohol, and tobacco
  • Moderate rainfall in Turkanaland to eradicate prevalent drought and famine
  • Peace between the Turkana and the Pokot tribes along the Kalemng’orok and Lokori Zones’ borders
  • Discernment and guidance regarding expanding outreach to the largely unreached Nyang’atom people of Ethiopia
The Toposa people value wealth in terms of livestock. They raise cattle, goats, donkeys, and sheep.

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