Let me share with you some of the challenges faced by
pastors in refugee camps in northern Uganda and South Sudan. Most South
Sudanese are less educated and do not work in refugee camps. They were forced
to leave their land where they grew their food. The civil war in the country
made economic development impossible. Recently, the government of South Sudan
declared complete bankruptcy, including the central bank. They lost the inability
to control the pricing market in the country. Now the prices of the most
essential foodstuffs rise daily.
Now, due to quarantine, many families cannot feed
themselves. This week alone, I received over a hundred calls from refugee camps
asking for help with food and other basic necessities. One pastor named Godfrey
Lozo from Nimule in South Sudan said: “Listen, Pastor Dima, cornmeal is the
only thing I have left is, my family is starving to death.”
I don’t know what to do in such a situation. Many times, I
tried to hide, not to answer phone calls, so as not to hear stories about hunger
and death. But as soon as I turn on the phone, thousands of people call me
asking for help. As a pastor, I decided not to turn off the phone anymore,
because these are my brothers and sisters. Pray with me for this daily struggle
so that I can be steadfast. Pray that God will provide us during this difficult
time. Pray for refugees from South Sudan and others who have the same need for
their daily bread. Pray for peace for the people of South Sudan. We have
suffered enough and are tired of wandering. Help us!
I would like to introduce you to Andrew Cammwamba. He was born on September 18, 1973, in Blantyre, Malawi. Andrew is happily married to Zelesie and has nine children. He is a born-again Christian with the gift of teaching and evangelism.
He is currently opening a church in the Nhatabay region.
Nhatabay is a port on the shores of Lake Malawi. Here resides the Tonga tribe,
which lives off fishing and trading. Their main food is fish and rice. The
people of Tonga have their own language and culture. One thing we noticed about
them is that they love cleanliness and order.
But like all tribes in Malawi, the people of Tonga are sinners and need salvation. These are proud people, involved in immorality and witchcraft. Andrew did not know anyone in Nhatabay, so he had to knock on doors and talk to them individually. By God’s grace, 14 people turned to the Lord. In the images, you can see our new brothers and sisters and the largest ship they use for transport in the ports of Lake Malawi. Despite strict restrictions, which include banning groups of more than 10 people from meeting and being together for more than 1 hour, preaching the Gospel leads many people to Christ.
We thank you for participating in the founding of this
church. Andrew is now teaching discipleship lessons to strengthen new believers
in the word of God. Pray for this family!
The struggle for survival is ubiquitous in Africa. Depending on the regions, people differ greatly: they can be friendly and good-natured, but in some places, they are very fierce and aggressive, and it is not safe to walk without guards. A significant part of the tribe’s worship pagan gods and follow traditional African religions.
The Lord continues to open doors for us when preaching the Good News in Tanzania and Congo. Evangelistic services were held in stadiums where tens of thousands of people gathered to listen to the Gospel. When the name of Jesus Christ was proclaimed, some adults, as well as teenagers, fell to the ground cramping: it was obvious that dark spirits were controlling them. Observing these phenomena, we understand how God needs dedicated men, who in the name of the Lord would forbid and drive out the enemy forces was heard; and thousands of people responded to the invitation to be reconciled with God.
When I was flying over Africa, I teared up and had to repent. “Lord, forgive me that I do not notice Your blessings, which You have given me, and that I thank you so little.” I realized then, “the more you thank the Lord, the more you realize God’s blessing.” I had to exclaim in the midst of the sleeping passengers: “Lord, what a rich and happy man I am!”
Friends, thank you for your participation in preaching the Gospel to the ends of the earth!
I would like to thank New Fields Ministries and all the
Slavic Baptist churches in the United States for supporting our churches in the
refugee camps. We bought several tons of food for $8,000. We delivered the food
to the camps in the Ajumani district in northern Uganda at the end of August.
From there the food and other goods will be distributed to 22 local churches.
Praise the Lord for your love and support!
Our pastors, who open new churches in different parts of the country, get to meet not only Islamists but also followers of traditional African religions.
These include the “Gule Vankulu” traditions. Gule Vankulu
adherents are found in both Malawi and Mozambique. This is the traditional
belief in worshiping the spirits of the ancestors and invoking the spirits of
the dead. By worshiping idols, they also practice witchcraft. These are
aggressive people, and hostile to Christians, they are rude and swear a lot.
Some of our members were part of this sect. We see that when the Gospel is
preached through the power of God, it is bringing salvation to all who believe
in Jesus Christ.
Our ministry extends to both Malawi and bordering
Mozambique. Mozambique has a population of 31.26 million and Malawi 19.13
million. Muslims in Mozambique make up 17% and in Malawi 12% of the population.
Mosques are being built in strategic locations in all cities and rural
development centers.
Taking advantage of poverty, they drill wells to provide relief and transfer them to the needy population, build schools, and provide scholarships for students.
This is why church planters are being trained to preach the
gospel even more successfully.
Unlike Malawi, Mozambique was once a communist country, which did not allow churches except for the Roman Catholic. It has 10 large provinces. We only operate in the province of Tete, and we hope to reach other provinces in the future. Pray for our pastors who are planting new churches in Malawi and Mozambique!
The Lord blessed our family with three biological children and one adopted boy, Kennedy 20, Joel 13, carol 9 and Kayla 6. The lord has been merciful to us since our wedding in 2005.
Together with my wife rose and the children, we fled to Uganda in January 2017. At that time, troops were already stationed in our city of Kajo-Keji. Technically, Uganda has been our home since birth, because the military conflicts in South Sudan have not stopped. The first time I fled to Uganda was with my parents when I was a child, and then we returned in 1977. We fled to Uganda again in 1983 and lived there until 2005.
The quarantine announced on March 19, 2020, took us by surprise. Rose and I were in northern Uganda when the school called us and asked to pick up the children. We had to travel 11 hours to Kampala driving the bus which took us all night. On March 20, we took our children, and the country was locked up. Unfortunately, we had no money to buy food and no coal to cook our meals. The stores were all closed, and we did not leave the house for a whole month.
When we ran out of food, we gathered all remaining funds and I went to the market in Kampala. I had to walk 7 hours to buy at least something for the children. When new fields heard about our situation, they purchased a motorcycle. Thank you for your help in purchasing it. A motorcycle is the only vehicle allowed during the quarantine. When we received funds to support the family, it was a day of jubilation. We bought chicken and Irish potatoes, and the children sang joyful songs to the Lord. Thank you for being our friends!
