Congo-Kinshasa (MNN) — A partnership with OneHope is
helping the Gospel grow in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sam Vinton with Grace Ministries International says, "Congo was where they
wanted to get in, but they had no contact. So we are working with them. They've given us 30,000 copies of the Book of Hope, which is a harmony of the Gospels."
The GMI team is hoping to get the Book
of Hope in Swahili and 10,000 copies in French into the hands of 40,000 primary and
secondary school-aged students attending Grace Church schools in Congo. GMI hopes to see 1,000 come to Christ during this new school year.
Vinton says that as the influx of the Gospel reaches the
students through religion classes, the team knows people will be curious and
respond to Christ.
In response, they are
developing new outreach venues in and around villages. "We really have a three-pronged
ministry: evening evangelistic crusades, actual
chapel and Bible classes in the schools, and then, utilizing the church,
Christians will go out in the village and do evangelism using tracts."
During this most recent Gospel mission, 200 church workers
were mobilized, 3855 tracts were distributed, and 847 people made professions
of their faith in Christ. The evangelistic teams plan to visit 100 villages
during the last three months of 2009.
Thinking ahead to what the Gospel looks like in the future,
Vinton says, "One of the things we're finding out is that the response has been almost miraculous in the
number of young people and adults who are trusting Christ as Savior. Now, we're
on the threshold of having to develop materials for follow up."
