Loko (June 2012)
“I have been asking God to send helpers like you to work with us to accomplish His work in this area. There are many villages around here that need to be evangelized. I am so happy to learn about your church planting strategy. I like your idea of training an action group to prepare our people to participate in the work of planting new churches.” This was the response of Pastor Demond of the Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone in Macomray Village to the JESUS Film Church Planting Strategy team.
Other pastors in the Loko area were similarly grateful for being offered the training that will equip their members to evangelize and plant churches. Pastor Mano D. Bangura in Rosurta Village commented, “I love evangelism and church planting but I’ve not been able to offer training like this to my church members. With this new strategy I will be able to build a strong team from within our church to help me accomplish my work effectively. Thank you very much for contacting me."
“Establishing new churches has been a problem since we don’t have the mature believers who can lead them,” said Pastor Abdulai Bangura of Mateboi Town. “By the grace of God, after your action group training I expect that this problem will be resolved. Please come as planned. God bless you.”
Pastor Alie Conteh of a Baptist church in Mayamba Village recognized that the work of planting churches was not meant for the pastor alone. “It requires a collective effort by many believers to effectively reach out into a community with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said. “I am pleased that you are willing to come and train our church members so that they can serve as workers equipped to plant new churches in our area.”
As of the end of March 2012, more than 150 people have been trained from different churches and villages. Memuna Sesay was one of those recently trained and this was what she said: “I bless God for the past three days of spiritual leadership training. God has revealed Himself to me through His Word and I now have a better understanding of how to live and serve Him. I pray that my life will never be the same again. I strongly desire to pass on all that you have taught us to other believers. This action group training has helped to shape my own Christian life because I learned how to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to help to me to live according to God’s will daily. I thank God for revealing these truths to me.”
Lamin Kargbo, a member of the Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone in Macomray Village, was also impacted by the training. She commented, “This action group training has brought much change to my Christian life. I am now experiencing a new boldness and zeal as I share the story of Jesus with unbelievers, just as you challenged us to do. The fear that formerly existed in my heart has disappeared and now by the grace of God I speak with more conviction and I serve Him believing that great things will happen.”
