Ghana (MNN) — Church-planters in
Ghana often face resistance to the Gospel. One, Prosper Kumado, rides his motorcycle hundreds of miles to reach remote
villages and tell them about Christ.
"Prosper is a younger guy, but a
guy who has…a deep love for the Lord Jesus," said Rody Rodeheaver with IN Network.
On one occasion, Prosper brought
the Good News to a village that was "incredibly dirty" and had "garbage
everywhere," Rodeheaver said. A group of villagers responded to the message of the Gospel, and in time Prosper helped them build a
small church building.
"In the middle of the night, the
priest and the elders of the village decided they didn't want that church, and
so they burned it to the ground," Rodeheaver related. "It was a huge blow to the Christians in that
village, but Prosper didn't give up."
The little church chose to
persevere in their faith and practice forgiveness with their closest
neighbors.
"Prosper organized a group that
went into the village and helped clean up the garbage, literally changing the
looks of the entire village and serving those people," Rodeheaver said. "After that, the elders came to Prosper and
said, ‘We see that you want what's good for our village. So we will allow you to build another church.'"
Now the church is thriving, and
the entire village is changing as a result.
"It's a church now that has seen
many, many of those leaders come to Christ," Rodeheaver said. "And the culture in that village is beginning
to change, because a church planter and the Christians that were there served
that community."
Rodeheaver believes the story
should encourage all Christians to serve others, not for selfish gain but out
of love for Christ.
"That's a lesson to all of us," said Rodeheaver. "We need to serve, even when it's not
comfortable, even in adversity. And in
doing that, God uses that as a seed–a seed of life that can be planted, and
the church can grow out of it. We're
excited about what God's doing all around the world. This is a story that
reminds us that it's God's church, and He brings the fruit from our
faithfulness as we serve Him."
Prosper's story has been documented on a DVD titled,
"The Seeds of Life," which is available when you contact IN Network.
Pray for the church-planting ministry
in Ghana. "It's easy
to become discouraged in this area," Rodeheaver said. "There is a lot of Satanic pressure and presence,
so there is a need for protection from the resistance we get from Satan and from
his forces. And of course,
physical protection is needed, because often these church planters are working in
situations that can be dangerous. So pray that God would protect them, that God would keep them from being
discouraged, and that God would, through His Spirit, call people to Himself."
