Although the day started on a very soggy note, we ended on a high! I haven’t had a chance to hear from everyone yet, but I could sense just by the “vibe” at dinner tonight that there was great excitement about what had taken place around the city during the day.
Our day started with drizzling rain continuing until just before lunchtime, and washing out our planned outdoor meetings. However the blue sky appeared in time for a team to return to the police barracks, and we experienced another steamy day. The officers were expecting us, and a number brought their chairs up to the gathering. Many were off duty today, and sat back enjoying the singing and dancing. A Rwandan evangelist then shared from Psalm 27, exhorting the officers that unless the Lord guards the city, the watchmen watch in vain. The response to the altar call was small and genuine, and it was a great comfort to see those who had responded the day before sit peacefully, assured of their new life in Christ.
Teams then were dispersed into the city to the evening rally venues for the last time. Some were excited and some were a little dubious. I joined a team which was located in a venue placed across the road from a market. Whilst there were many people across the road, we were concerned that we could not effectively engage their attention from such a distance, and previous meetings had confirmed that this was the case. We attempted to move a little but major adjustments were clearly not going to work in the time we had. However, as the choirs and foxfire evangelists performed, people began to gather.
The growing crowd mainly consisted of rough-looking young men, and similarly rough-looking children, who stopped to listen on their way between the market and the residential area. Our Tanzanian evangelist started preaching on “the lost son,” describing the rebellion of the young son, and the grace of the Father who welcomed him home. As the crowd continued to grow, I was reminded of the time when Jesus told his disciples to throw their net out into the sea again even though they had caught no fish that night.
As the messaged started and I was adjusting settings on my cameras, a young woman approached me and grabbed my arm. Tears were running down her face, and she looked very distressed. She leaned closely in on me, saying “I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner”. I tried to comfort her, encouraging her that we were all sinners, but that God had good news for us, and that she should stay and hear the message. Although she was well dressed, she smelt of alcohol and clearly was deeply burdened by something.
She had a deep scar running across the side of her nose, and I wondered what sorts of experiences she was carrying. She was inconsolable, repeating to me that she was a sinner and she couldn’t stand before God. She admitted that she drank, but something else was obviously troubling her. I wondered whether it had to do with the commercial brothels in the area. She listened with an expression of longing disbelief as I hugged her and explained that Jesus had taken her sin into himself and destroyed it for her so that she could stand clean before God again.
She told me that she wanted to return to the market and collect her things so that she could come back to listen. I urged her to stay for the message, and collect her things later, but she insisted, wandering over the road and into the market. She never returned to the meeting tonight, but I know that the Father God looks for her just as He looked for the lost son in the parable.
The rest of the message was powerfully convicting — the love of God being so starkly displayed in contrast to our scornful rejection of Him. When the crowd was invited by our Ugandan evangelist to respond, only a handful of people were left to stand around the fringes. The rest had formed a tight clump around the evangelist with arms raised, surrendering their lives to Christ who had died for them and brought them new life. People had crossed the road to join the group, the police man who had been listening outside his station came over, and a Muslim man who had been listening from a distance quietly walked up and sat on the keyboardist’s chair. It was humbling and a joy to see how many responded after our sceptism upon arriving at the venue. The Lord had truly touched many lives.
It was dark by the time personal details were collected from those who had responded. Counsellors crowded around the only light which was emanating from the car headlights, as did almost everyone else who was eager to read their new follow up material. A local pastor and facilitator of the gathering excitedly made arrangements with us to collect the response cards early next week, so that he could begin the challenging task of following up those who had responded to the message. The team went home praising the Lord and thanking Him in prayer.
At another venue, the biggest in the city, a crowd had already heard and responded to one team of evangelists when another team arrived on the scene. Those straggling past after the market had closed were joining the gathering, and so a 'tag team' arrangement was organised to reach out to the latecomers. Three more different people preached short messages, interspersed with energetic dances by the foxfire evangelists, and by the end of the evening, almost the whole crowd had responded to the gospel of Christ. It was a grand finale to an exciting week.
- Vanessa Khlentzos
(Pan African Communications,
African Enterprise)
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