Worship and the Word in East Africa
July 31, 2024
By Dave Dunmore, National Ministry Director, Thru the Bible—Canada
“Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, how great Thou art …”
The voices raised in worship singing this wonderful hymn spilled out of open windows into the warm Kenyan surroundings. But, coming a little closer to the gathering, you would hear the words being sung by more than 80 people in Amharic, Swahili, Oromo, Somali, and Tigrinya—heart languages from the Horn of Africa.
In March 2024, THRU the BIBLE collaborated with several Christian ministries to meet in Nairobi for fellowship, listening and learning alongside people who are daily doing the work Jesus commands us. Together, with the 40 local African ministries that accepted the invitation to gather, our collective prayer was for new partnerships and projects to expand evangelism and discipleship activity throughout East Africa.
An incredibly rich time of spiritual blessing resulted! Teaching from Acts 2:47 provided the solid foundation during the training, sharing, and exploring:
Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Praise God the church in Africa is growing! The seeds of the gospel are being sown, and heartfelt conversations occurred with people like …
“John,” who came to know the real love of God even as he served as an imam in a mosque. Now, “John” works discreetly in his home city to share his faith and to disciple new believers.
Benjamin, with an encyclopedic knowledge of East Africa’s geography, travels the region to map out the best hilltops for installing new radio transmitters. Strategically-placed, low-cost stations then broadcast solid Christian messages to people who do not have internet or access to printed Bibles.
Carl, pastoring a church next to a refugee camp and preaching live, on-air gospel messages into the same settlement.
Beautiful Christ-followers actively share the truth of God’s Word. Then men, women, and children hear, respond in faith, and are redeemed. They can begin to live as Christians. They can be taught the truth of Scripture. They can be added to the Church. This is the outcome when the Holy Spirit leads the whole Word to the whole world!
We can praise God for the work He is accomplishing and also be in prayer that the projects now under development will:
Equip women: For strength and wisdom to bless women such as Nicole and “Safia” who serve new Muslim-background believers in a difficult, ocean-port city.
Collaborate in unity: For vision and diligence across the multiple organizations seeking to combine the most appropriate technology and resources to further the work of the gospel.
Teach faithfully: For clarity and understanding as leaders are trained to guide listeners through studying and applying Scripture.
We pray that many new voices in more East African languages will joyfully come to believe “how great Thou art.”