Stories of Impact

AFRICA – DRC

STEP INTO THE STORY by Bishop Deo Mwamba, National Director, DRC

In a village we visited in Senegal, we met a woman who was very strong in her Muslim faith. We shared the Word of God with her, and she soon accepted Jesus as her Savior.

As a result, she encountered tremendous opposition from her husband and her family, especially from her father. She was rejected by her relatives, but stood firm and said she was prepared to be rejected. Her relatives no longer recognized her as part of the family. She was not very old and had one child, a daughter.

Soon afterwards, her father become ill and died suddenly. The family insisted that she attend the funeral. Her family members sought to make her confess in front of her father's dead body that she had rejected Allah (God in Islam) completely so that the dead body would "know" that she had rejected the religion of her husband.

She stood firm and gave her testimony that "Jesus saved me and became my Lord and Savior". She stated further, "Even if you reject me and chase me out of the family I will not leave Jesus". The family then started to cry, and took away the dead body of her father. They continued to insist that the lady change her mind, stating that one becomes accursed by rejecting the faith of one's forefathers in front of a dead person. But she continued to confess Jesus.

Even months after the funeral, her testimony has continued to bear fruit as people have continued coming to Jesus. She provides help and counsel to those coming to Jesus from Islam. She has been a great blessing to the whole village.

National Director Bishop Deo Mwamba returned to Senegal in April 2011 to lead leadership training in Dakar. He and this woman worked together to host Muslim Evangelism Training conferences throughout the region.

AFRICA – SOUTH AFRICA

STEP INTO THE STORY by Lee Helling, Regional Director, Southern Africa

Several years ago, Pastor Joshua Mtanyelwa and the leaders of the Agape Family Church realized they needed help. Something was missing and they didn't have the answers. Or the training. Or the support. But they knew where to get it.

They began attending Walk Thru the Bible training sessions. Beginning with 7 Laws of the Learner, Solving the People Puzzle, and Walk Thru the Old Testament, Pastor Joshua and his team attended every conference they could.

It was in the middle of one of these programs that they remembered 2 Timothy 2:2.

Embracing God's mandate to teach others, they decided to become certified instructors so they could bring these programs home. Says Pastor Joshua:

"I was going through some of the material and became a more effective person and grew as a Pastor. After I started preaching the material in church, one member of the congregation commented and told me that I make more sense these days by teaching more seriously now, we can basically follow you. What you are teaching can be practiced at home, in boardrooms and in society."

In fact, since his first training session, the Agape Family Church membership has doubled.

But it doesn't end there. Not content to limit the impact to his church, Pastor Joshua and his team started to reach out to the leaders in neighboring communities. As they trained other leaders, they were astounded by the transformation they saw—and knew they couldn't stop there. Today, Pastor Joshua and his team are partnering with local prisons.

God tells us to dream big and that is exactly what Walk Thru the Bible Southern Africa is doing. It is their goal that by 2020, there will be one church for every 5,000 people. Through the High Impact Church network, they are igniting a passion for God's Word and helping leaders like Pastor Joshua teach others to live God's Word.

ASIA – SOUTH ASIA

STEP INTO THE STORY by Vallab Sathyabal, Regional Director, South Asia

We speak often of the importance of the 'Train the Teacher' approach to ministry. The result of this method is exponential impact—men and women are trained and equipped through Walk Thru the Bible programs, return to their communities, and reach out to train others to impact their communities. Solomon Rakshaskar is an example of this impact in action. Vallab Sathyabal, Regional Director for South Asia, sent us Solomon's story:

"Mr. Solomon, by education is an engineer. In 1999, as a final year student, he took the Walk Thru the Old Testament training and was not only attracted to the effectiveness of the program, but also received a call to serve the Lord. After his studies, he joined Walk Thru the Bible to serve the Lord in the state of Maharashtra. Due to shortfall of state coordinators in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, he was willing to co-ordinate the work in these states against all odds. New opportunities are explored and successfully carrying on the ministry."

Last summer, Solomon taught Walk Thru the Old Testament to a group of students. When asked what they thought of the event, one man said this:

"Today I was to go on a picnic with my friends, but somehow my bike did not start so we dropped the idea and decided to attend the Walk Thru the Old Testament event at church. Surprisingly the bike started.

"It was a great experience like as if on an excursion, I was not missing my picnic. Especially I being from the non-Christian background attending the church since four months, I learnt the Creation of God and the purposes of God in all the creation, even towards the fallen and sinful mankind. The historical information was very apt and impressive.

"I have decided to read the Bible systematically and get to know the Lord more and more dearly. Thank you Walk Thru the Bible. Thank you Brother Solomon."

ASIA – SOUTHEAST ASIA

STEP INTO THE STORY by David Pak, Regional Director, Southeast Asia

Many pastors are burned out and frustrated and are turning to Walk Thru the Bible for help. One pastor in Cambodia tells his story:

"After I attended How to Grow a High Impact Church, I found that the reason that my church did not grow was because I do not know about the purpose of a church and had no vision. Because of this I led my church members nowhere and was purposeless. Another reason was because of my limited expectation. I limit my God and I could not even dream big. Every works I did, I did them alone—and I became more and more tired.

"I have applied some of the laws from the course, especially the Law of Purpose and the Law of Design. Recently, my church grew a bit because everyone had done their part. I was no longer working alone, but with cooperation from my church members, especially the youth group.

"Thank God for such great lessons."

ASIA – INDONESIA

STEP INTO THE STORY by General Mantiri, National Director, Indonesia

"I was glad for God faithfulness that always be poured out into my personal life. I thank also when I was given an opportunity to receive blessing through God's Word during a Walk Thru the Bible live event.

"I was aware that for so long I have been always following such kind of Hollywood formula for a lasting relationship. I perceived that I must find the right person, but what usually happened I pointed my hope and dream about my future to somebody that I loved, and when that relationship broke, I was very broken too. I was thankful being rebuked and taught about how I should be the right person and focusing my hope in the Lord.

"I was taught that first step in relationship, the most important is spiritual thing. It might be the first consideration.

"Another important thing that I got in this material was about keeping holiness in relation and connection in this world. I realized that many temptation and challenge would be faced by youngsters just like me. But I was encouraged through the Word of God and this material to have me keeping holiness.

"I was glad for given workbook and CD. I could share this blessing to my friends since I once made a relation and ended up in brokenness. Therefore, I was thankful that this material would guide me to start a lasting relationship with God's formula. I believed that God will bless me and my relationship if I kept walking in God's direction."

~ Meira Widowati, Live Event Attendee

ASIA – PHILIPPINES

STEP INTO THE STORY by Mark Sosmena, National Director, Philippines

Many of our stories are dramatic examples of life-change, but what about the examples of people who need a little encouragement to simply live the average life we can all relate to? A woman who attended The Testing of Your Faith live event in Davao City, Philippines had this to say:

What principle or truth struck you the most?

The one that Pastor Gil quoted from the Bible that "the just shall live by faith." It's a lifetime verse for me and he reminded me of that. And I was encouraged, enlightened. It's just so uplifting for the circumstances that I am in right now. I'm going to law school; I have three kids. We have business so we undergo one or more trials presently. So this is a timely, timely live event for me.

Is there anything in your life right now that is testing your faith?

There are so many areas in my life—like passing my subjects in law school. I'm older than most of my classmates. In fact, I'm the oldest. I really have to trust God about that—memorizing [lessons] and taking care of the children and their school and health and regarding their studies. Supporting my husband with the business. And the business is not... you know, with the economy right now. So we really have to trust God. We have a house. We have a new house. We have to pay the mortgage and other responsibilities. So it's one thing over the other. So trusting God is so important right now in our lives.

How about the instructor?

He is just really wonderful. He has so many examples about his own life that he overcame all the trials and the struggles—the victories. What I like most about him is that he is so human; he's so humble. He expresses how he also struggles with God, how he battles with God about things that are happening in his life. So we can relate to him, he can relate to us. He is so understandable. It's just so amazing. We have an amazing God.

ASIA – SOUTH KOREA

STEP INTO THE STORY by Chae Lee, National Director, South Korea

"Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I thank God for giving me such a great opportunity to give my testimony after attending Walk Thru the Old Testament.

"I am Pastor so I thought, 'I know the Bible—this program is not for me'. With this thought I'm sitting in there, but eventually God opened my eyes, not only with the signs but also with the unfolding of events. This is best tool for teaching any group of people. Without the knowledge of this event, one can say it is boring, but at the end of the day, when all the queries are clarified, Walk thru the Old Testament is a very exiting event. I personally will take this to all churches I am involved with.

"To be very specific I am personally touched with Joseph's character. How he walk with God and how God has blessed him finally. Sometimes in my ministerial life people hurt me and disturb me—like how Joseph was hurt and disturbed. At the end of the day, I committed myself once again to the almighty God and give my everything to God and say, 'God lead me where you want me to go'."

~ A Pastor who attended Walk Thru the Old Testament

EUROPE – COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (CIS)

STEP INTO THE STORY by Yuri Shelestun, Regional Director, CIS

Makskud is an old-aged person. He is 82 and lives in Kulyab, Tajikistan. His health is poor and he cannot work. The money he gets is hardly enough for him to buy his food. Old age, loneliness, no one needs him, and there is no one to care for him. He says that one day he will die as a homeless dog somewhere in the street in his own barrack. All this describes him a year ago. Now he has a different view of life.

Makskud walked into the church one day to ask for bread. He was given food and was invited to sit with the group and watch the DVD How to Rebuild Your Broken World. After watching each section, the people discussed the given topic and shared some food. He agreed to participate.

That day ignited a passion for God's Word in Makskud. Today he is a Christian. His life has changed. Makskud looks for other lonely and weak people and tells them about God's love and the meaning of life. He shares with these people his personal experiences that he went through before meeting Jesus. Makskud experiences God's grace in his own life, and he knows how to tell others about it, so they believe.

The most difficult part is to persuade his friends that they are not betraying their religion into which they were born. They are given an opportunity to experience the loving God in actual practice, but in order to do that they have to entrust themselves to Him.

Some of his acquaintances have agreed to attend church. Their lives are changing.

EUROPE – EASTERN EUROPE

STEP INTO THE STORY by Beni Lup, Regional Director, Eastern Europe

Irina is a Public School teacher. She is 43 years old and was raised in a Communist nation. The teachers she had were very negative about Christianity and about Church. Irina never saw a Bible until she was 24 years old. She received it and started to read it.

A week later she gave up reading it because she never understood it.

Nineteen years later she saw a poster about a Walk Thru the Bible live event for teachers in Kishinev, Moldova. The Poster said: "You can be the leader you always wanted to be. You could become the parent you long to be. You could be the teacher God wants you to be." She was attracted and curious.

Teaching in former communist countries is not a priority. Leadership is often misunderstood. Parenting is a hard task and often parents do not have time to invest in their children.

During the Vision of the Leader, Irina's eyes were filled with tears. Her heart was filled with the desire....Irina heard that "the closeness between you and God will guarantee your success.... the purity of your heart will make you fulfill God's Vision for your life..." She remembered the first time she read the Bible. The teaching continued: "The Word of God will teach you and guide you on a path of fulfillment and LIFE. If you do not know Jesus personally, He is here and before the end of today He would love to meet you personally.....".

Irina stood up during the session and asked me to introduce her to Jesus.

Irina committed to follow Jesus all her life. She became "the best" through Jesus during a Walk Thru the Bible live event. Now she wants to organize a Walk Thru the Bible live event in her home town. She says that the need is great and we are "the solution".

EUROPE – WESTERN EUROPE

STEP INTO THE STORY by Paul Keeys, Regional Director, Western Europe

Paul Keeys, Regional Director for Western Europe, recently ran into a woman who began a life changing journey with Walk Thru the Bible thirteen years ago. Read on to see what sparked her passion for God's Word...

"Somewhere around 1998 my husband and I, with several members of our church went to a Walk Thru the Bible live event. It was led by Cliff Keeys and was incredibly good and helpful. We enjoyed it and were blessed by every moment of it.

At the end of the day I bought the Daily Walk Bible and was determined to read the Bible in a year. I started in January and was so helped by the readings that the following January I started again. I read it through for about three years and at the end of the third year I decided to read twice a day, completing reading the Bible in six months. Several years after retirement (with more time on my hands) I decided to double it again and read two portions in the morning and two at night.

We met up with Paul on an Aegean cruise in November and he very kindly sent me a copy of Step by Step which I started this January. I am finding this tremendously helpful. There are lots of little insights in it that I did not know before. The explanations are so good and I am loving it and gaining such a lot from it.

My grateful thanks to Cliff and Paul and all the members of the team for the Walk Thru the Bible live event and for the books they have produced which have been such an inspiration to me."

LATIN AMERICA – CENTRAL AMERICA

STEP INTO THE STORY by Alejandro Oviedo, Regional Director, Central America

Manuel was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He didn't know his father and doesn't remember his mother. He only remembers that his mother abused him physically. Indeed, she left him tied up without food and water. Even other relatives abused him. He didn't have anybody to protect him.

When he was ten years old, he became a rebel. He started to use drugs and alcohol, and he was involved in gangs. He felt alone, without any parents or relatives to take care of him. He decided to look forward and have relationships with girls so he could feel loved. But sex didn't change things, he was still unhappy. That scenario became his normal world.

When he was 17 years old, he recognized Jesus as his savior and Lord. Everything changed. When he was 22 years old, Manuel had a girlfriend. This time he was a Christian, but because of the hurts in his past, he couldn't enjoy this relationship. He wounded the heart of this girl because of his behavior.

Soon after, he participated in a Walk Thru the Bible live event focused on relationships. He made a commitment with God to become a man who loves a woman as Christ loves His church, in sanctity, sacrificially.

Manuel says that he wants a marriage to honor God. He wants to do God's will. He wants to be a father that loves and protects his children.

LATIN AMERICA – SOUTH AMERICA

STEP INTO THE STORY by Alex Colombo, Regional Director, South America

Last weekend I taught The 3 Chairs: Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs at a church camp outside of Buenos Aires. Almost 52 adults came including one couple, Ivan and Rocio, who had a life-changing experience.

This couple had been struggling for years and had started divorce proceedings. Being desperate for help and knowing that the family had strayed too far from the Lord, Rocio joined a Bible study and enrolled her five children in Sunday school classes. Each Sunday for ten weeks, the family walked to church where Ivan would stop at the gate and return home. He wanted nothing to do with God and nothing to do with the church.

As time passed, Ivan saw a change in his family and could only attribute it to their involvement with the church. He was depressed and discouraged and broken enough that he finally agreed to attend a conference with his wife. That conference was a weekend event hosted by Walk Thru the Bible.

After the first session, Ivan knew he needed help. He made the decision to turn back to Jesus.

He talked to Rocio about what they should do as a couple and they decided to give God the opportunity to save their family. Ivan started to join the family at church and even began to read the Bible daily. They started marriage counseling and are working on rebuilding their marriage.

It hasn't been easy and the changes haven't come overnight, but today they have hope as a couple and as a family. And, Ivan doesn't stop at the gate anymore.

MIDDLE EAST / NORTH AFRICA

STEP INTO THE STORY by John Houchens, Senior Vice President, Global Operations

Their names are Cornelius and Emmanuel and they soaked up every word. I don't mean every other word. Or 9 words out of 10. I mean every-single-solitary-word.

They are from Pakistan. A country in the news. A lot. A country of Muslims. A country of oppression. A country of poverty and politics. Of the 150 million Pakistanis (not including the 10 million Afghan refugees), 10 million claim Christianity as their faith. Like Cornelius and Emmanuel they are oppressed by the Muslim majority. Most live in great poverty because of it.

They cornered me at lunch and begged. I don't mean "asked". I mean begged. Pleaded. Implored. "Please come to Pakistan. We do not have any teaching resources like this. Please." If they said it one time they said it ten times. "We don't have anything like this. Please. Can we have a conference like this? Please. We can pay something."

And I said "How many will come?"

And they said "As many as you want."

I am embarrassed with the number of Bible study resources we have in America. I am embarrassed I don't take more advantage of them. I am embarrassed I don't share them. From now on, whenever I walk into a Christian bookstore and peruse the shelves for just the right resource, and see all of those titles in English, I will think to myself "I am a glutton". And the only thing that can take my embarrassment away is to push back from the table of gluttony and pass the plate.

"Please."

And I said "Yes."