Ministering in Nyawa Chiefdom

As I sit here on base camp, on the day that our AMT class graduates, I can't help but think about all the awesome and crazy experiences that I've had over the past three months. Both in day to day life, and ministry. Our last expedition found our group living in the Nyawa chiefdom, camped on the edge of a dried up river. On our side of the river sat villages and people that had been there for years, but on the other side of the river sat the former GMA (game management reserve), which people had only lived in for around two months. The story behind that is years ago the government decided that the animals in the area needed to be protected, and they forced all the villagers in the area out. Not only did they force them out, but they burned down their homes as well, to discourage any of them from trying to stay. These people had been, for a lack of better terms, without a homeland for years, and just two months prior had been allowed back into their land (and only because the new president decided that they could). They were given tents, and were as we traveled throughout, in the process of rebuilding homes and rebuilding a life. This made for interesting encounters, and sometimes, no encounters at all. On the last day, myself and a few others hiked into the GMA for the second time that week, and proceeded to walk the entire day. From around 9:30 in the morning, till after 4 in the afternoon, we walked, almost non-stop. At times we didn't even have a path, and had to hike through thick wilderness. How many people did we find that day you might ask, as we trekked through the African bush? The answer might seem to some to be disappointing. We found two people, a man and women, relatives, sitting by a few huts in the middle of no were. Along with them were two children, who were playing a ways off on a log. We sat down, discussed the word, and ministered life to these two individuals. They were already saved, but we got to learn their story, and encourage them in the Lord. The man was just weeks away from getting married to a childhood friend, and we got to pray for him as well.

Now you might think that it was pointless to walk all that way, all day, to minister to two individuals. And many times that week we did have the huge meetings, with the showing of the Jesus film, praying for the sick, and salvations. However that day the plan God had for us was to just walk, for hours on end, to find two people who hadn't come to our meeting. Two people that lived so far away that they would never find themselves at our meeting area, but that God still cared for and still wanted to minister life to. And that's the point behind OM and behind the work that we are doing, and continue to do. To go as far as we can, to areas were no one has gone, to minister to someone that might need salvation, or healing, or just an encouraging word. We go to people that will, in all reality, probably not get reached unless someone treks out to them. Here in Africa NGO's are a dime a dozen, but so few are willing to go that extra distance, and to find and reach the people that are almost unreachable. As we left that afternoon, I was somehow completely satisfied with the day, and even though we had only found those two people, I knew that we had instilled life and encouragement into them, and that it was worth every step that I had taken that day. - Jonathan, AMT student