We are very thankful to see quite a few folks finding new life and new joy out in Gamasara.
If you read my previous updates, you may recognize Gamasara as the place where we worked with local women to protect young girls from the FGM rituals back in December. (You can read about this at https://www.quadwtarime.org/post/tumlinde-huyu)
It’s not a happy place.
Besides being one of the last strongholds of FGM, it’s also a place of male domination and domestic violence. Men often murder their wives and remarry, with impunity. Men cheat and practice polygamy, and oppressive, destructive forms of witchcraft are common.
So I wasn’t sure how to reply when QuadW residents Tucker McDonald and Raphael Musa told me that they wanted to start a house church in Gamasara.
But Tucker and Raphael were persistent. And we decided that they could start, as long as they started by being introduced to the people of Gamasara by Pastor Wikendi, a friend and long-time resident, born and raised in Gamasara.
Tucker, Raphael, and Pastor Wikendi spent a long, long day trudging from house to house as Wikendi introduced them to family after family in Gamasara.
As it turned out, the introductions were surprisingly helpful. It was only two months later that Raphael and Tucker had started a first house church. It was an exciting time.
There were plenty of challenges. The message of changing your life, following Jesus, and choosing a life of love was hard for a lot of these folks. One man, after hearing the good news, told Tucker and Raphael that he never wanted to see them again. And he went farther, and told them never to come near his house again.
But a few folks really started to change their whole lives, across the board. They started to let go of witchcraft, violence to their children, violence against women, and their commitment to FGM.
And one young man, Amos Mwita, started to tell more and more of his neighbors about how his life had changed, and how a life of love could be better.
Some weren’t interested, but others were. And Amos was persistent (the title means “one who perseveres”). And since March 12th, Amos has led 38 people to follow Jesus and enter into a life of love. We’re feeling so much joy, and momentum, about what the Holy Spirit is doing. These 38 new disciples currently make up 8 house churches (in addition to the original house church).
If you get a chance, please pray:
That every one of these new disciples would lead one new person to follow Jesus
That every one of these house churches would start one new house church
Here are some pictures of these new disciples being baptized into a new life:
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