Bloody History, Victorious Future (by Pamela Smoak)

When John Muna announced he intended to start a church in Masaini (Masai land) his fellow ministers warned him, “You are not Masai.  If you go out there, they will kill you!”  Acting on what he strongly felt was the will of God, he went anyway.

After teaching Bible studies and witnessing, he gathered a congregation of mostly Masai women and children who then helped him erect a simple structure of lattice-work tree limbs and tree trunks with a grass thatched roof.  A church had been started in the village of Majengo on the dusty plain halfway between the international airport and the Tanzanite mines in the shadow of mighty Mt. Kilimanjaro.

As expected, opposition arose to the new church and the interloper preacher.  Masai men went to the village leaders protesting the church and claiming that they were going to beat the new preacher and destroy the new church.  One village leader (a modern day Gamalliel) warned the disgruntled men that the preacher and the saints had a right under Tanzanian law to assemble and have church and that any action against the preacher would be breaking that law.

Dissatisfied with the lack of support from the village elders, the men started a campaign of threats and terror.  They interrupted church services, threatened a thrashing for any of their wives or family members who attended the church and promised to drag the pastor out of the church for a whipping.  Standing in the doorway of the church, Pastor Muna quietly said, “If you think you have the authority to do that, go ahead.”

As with Paul, the rabble-rousers planned an ambush for Pastor Muna.  For three Sundays, they lay in wait along the path he had to take to get to the village from his home which was a 2 hour walk away.  Yet, for three Sundays, they never saw him coming or going.  For three Sundays, they returned back to the village only to discover that church had already been held and dismissed and the pastor was gone.  God had protected his minister and blinded them to his passing on the trail.

This is the church today that Pastor Muna
began years ago.

Frustrated, angry and determined, the men next focused on terrorizing the women many of whom were their wives or family members.  The women were forbidden to attend church.  They went anyway.  The women were assured that if they went, they would be beaten.  They went anyway.

Things climaxed one Sunday when the men stormed into the dirt floored church and dragged a woman out into the churchyard and began beating her.  Finished with her, they returned for another and then another.  The protestations and interventions of the pastor were worthless against so many men.  When all the women were bloodied and beaten, the men shouted at them that they could never return to the church.  Standing as a unit, the women replied, “Then go ahead and kill us.  If we can’t follow Jesus and worship Him, then we don’t want to live.”  Stunned, the men realized they could do nothing else to the women.  To beat them would cause no problem with the law but to kill them would place the men in a serious predicament.  The women, warriors in a spiritual battle, supported their pastor and defeated the opposition of Satan through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Shortly after all this violence, one of the ringleaders became seriously ill.  He called for Pastor Muna to come pray for him.  God in His mercy instantly healed him.  The church, now a mud building with a tin roof, started almost 25 years ago.  Masai pastors and evangelists have come out of that church.  Through the years more ministers have come out from under the ministry of Bro. Muna than any one pastor in the whole country.  We even have a current Bible school student from Pastor Muna’s so his influence is still strong.

Determination.  Commitment.  Steadfastness.  Love for the Truth, the word of God and the Savior who sacrificed His life for them.  Masai women and a lone pastor walked a bloody trail to follow Christ to a victory that reached beyond the dusty, parched land of Masaini.

Unto the Next Generation…

The Masai village elder that warned the trouble makers not to interfere with the lawful right of Bro. Muna and his church to assemble had a young son.  As with all Masai young men, his responsibility was to care for his father’s herd of cows.  At the age of 15, this young man took the herd far from his village seeking grazing.  Because of a severe drought, he decided to move the herd up on the side of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa.  During his long journey up the mountain to find grass, he met a man from his village and sent word to his father where he would be with the herd.  For 6 months, he lived with the herd on the side of Kilimanjaro drinking their milk, eating what he could find.  For six months, this 15-year-old boy protected his father’s herd from predators and thieves.

At times walking was difficult for him.  He had fallen on a low-growing thorn bush in years past and one of the thorns was driven deep into his knee.  Most of the time, he had no problem; but at certain times of the year, the knee would swell and become red and feverish.  After his return from the mountain to his village, he told his father that he wanted to go have that Pentecostal preacher pray for him.  His father said, “No, if you want to go to a church, go to that Lutheran church near the village.”  The boy would not relent.  He kept asking his father repeatedly.  Finally, he went.  When Bro. Muna prayed for him, the knee was instantly healed and never swelled or was painful again.

Pastor Noeli pastoring the Maimoria church not too
far from the bible School in Moshi.

If you ever want to meet this Masai young man, you will find him pastoring the Maimoria church near our Bible school in Moshi.  His name is Noeli.  He and his brother both are Bible school graduates.  He married the pastor’s daughter so his father-in-law and brother-in-law both are preachers.  Because of Noeli’s witness, he has several family members attending our churches.  Most are baptized in Jesus’ Name and filled with the Holy Ghost.

It can be said of Noeli “This is the generation of them that seek him” (Psalms 24:6).  Now, his two sons and daughter are second generation Pentecostals carrying on the truth of the gospel to the “next generation”.

A Place Called EVERYWHERE! (by Jerry Richardson)

The very purpose of the church is, and has always been, the evangelization of the lost.  We cannot even think of missions without being reminded of our call and our obligation.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go ye therefore and teach all nations... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

1 Timothy 2:8 “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

Let us look at some key words in this verse:

1) Men - Jesus came to save mankind. Jesus is interested in saving men from their sins so much that He went to Calvary to save make salvation to all.

2) Everywhere - Let’s think of everywhere.  Where is everywhere?   Is the Africa part of everywhere?  Is Kenya part of everywhere?  Is Madagascar part of everywhere?  Is the United States part of everywhere?  And on and on can go the questions.  Can you see that your city and neighborhood is a part of everywhere?

When looking at the early church, we acknowledge that they were given a commission to go into the entire world and preach the gospel.   When the Holy Ghost came, they settled into the comfort of the fellowship, going from house to house, breaking bread together.  They rejoiced in their “experience” of the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost fell at Jerusalem, but soon forgot the purpose that was intended in the formation of the church.  Let us never lose sight of the fact that the church is the extension of the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.  His purpose in coming to this earth was, and remains to be, the seeking and saving that which was lost. If we are part of His church, we must retain this same burden was His. Our burden will also resemble that of Paul. We will demonstrate the determination of Peter. We must spread the truth of the gospel to our Jerusalem, to our Judaea and Samaria, and then unto the uttermost parts of our world.

When they did not go by choice to spread the Word, persecution came make them not be so comfortable at home, and to be ready to leave family, friends and fellowship and go.

Acts 8:3-4 “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.  Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.”

Are we ready to prioritize our lives today and be committed to taking and sending the gospel – OR – do we prefer to wait for an external stirring that may bring discomfort and suffering?  Jesus can stir up our nests and make us uncomfortable.  I think it is time to go to everywhere.  It is time to take the gospel to “everywhere” to “all men”.

Mark 16:19 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  20And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.  Amen.”

We need to take notice where these early church saints went and what they did.  And then watch what the Lord did when they did what they did. They first went to their Jerusalem.  Their Jerusalem was to family, friends, people of same language and same culture. People who liked the same food, people with whom they felt at home. 

From there, there were those who stepped into a Judaea.  It was a place outside their church home and immediate family into the culture of the world around them.  From there it was to a Samaria.   This was a place of some strange teachings, but still had some similarity in culture and language that allowed for an understanding. Samaria was a somewhat mixed culture.  They understood Jerusalem and ways of the Jewish beliefs and rituals, but they just did not practice them. They claimed Abraham as their father, and were so similar in so many ways to the Jews.

But Samaria was still not the end of the earth. The church was still somewhat familiar surroundings and people groups.  When we look at missions, our outreach to the lost world, we see that much of our mission has been practiced among people who have already accepted Christianity in a general degree.  They already accept that the Bible is the Word of God.  They pray and read their Bibles, sometimes failing to see the TRUTHS of the Word.  The modern-day church must reach out to all with full truth.  We also must assure that the gospel is the uttermost parts of the earth as well—going to a people who have never heard of a Bible, maybe never been to a church—never had the privilege to hear a simple story from the word of God—and they don’t even know the name Jesus.  There is still the uttermost.  That is a part of the place called everywhere.

When the early church preached into their everywhere, then the Lord worked with them.  Signs followed.  In the church of 2011 many would like to see the signs following without fulfilling the mission.  The Lord blesses what is in his will.  We cannot change his value system.  We cannot change his mission objectives.  To get Him involved with our lives we must adopt His mission and focus on the EVERYWHERE.

I will never forget the time when we drove many hours off the main road, crossed small rivers on two logs that had been laid across it for the tires of the vehicle, dug our way through mud and difficulty to get to a village that had no church at all.  A Bible School graduate had gone back into this interior area and preached the truth.  He had taken the ‘great commandment’ seriously and gone to the uttermost.  It was not long that people began to come regularly to hear the Word being preached.  A church building was constructed.  We were making our way to the isolated area to dedicate the building as a place of worship unto the Lord.  I was the first white man that many of them had ever seen.  The local official of the government stood and said, “Thank you United Pentecostal Church for bringing us the truth.  We now have a church where our people can pray.  We now have a place where people can hear the message of Jesus Christ.”  Someone had taken the message to their everywhere and the Lord confirmed the word with signs.

Luke 9:6 “And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.”

The disciples did go to their everywhere.  So my question is: “Where is your everywhere?”

Thank God for the one that was willing to be a missionary to a land where no one understood his tongue. He could not find food that he was accustomed to. The weather was not the same as at home. He was a stranger.  Everywhere he went they all knew that he was a stranger. But he was willing to take the message to that place called everywhere.

What about your world?  Africa’s population of 1,000,000,000 people, that’s part of your everywhere.  Nations where the only permitted religion is praying to Allah, that is your everywhere.  To the streets where prostitutes and drug dealers operate, that is your everywhere.  The drunkard who hardly knows his way home, yes, that too, is part of your everywhere.  And, to the people who are suffering, without a hope, in their place of despair, that is your everywhere.

Are you reaching your everywhere?  Are you reaching your everywhere with your prayers?  Are you reaching your everywhere with offerings for missions?  Are pastors, leaving their Jerusalem and marching through their Samaria on their way to their everywhere?

Acts 17:30 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”

We stand today on the threshold of the return of our Lord to take away His church. I look at our world and see so many still who have not heard, so many who are still in darkness, so many who still are suffering and waiting. Will we sit idly in our “comfortable Jerusalem”,  or will we go also to our Judaea, our Samaria, and into our everywhere.  You may ask, “How can we go?”  Some will go in person, while some will go in purse.  Some will give by going, and others will go by giving.  The reward comes to both.  The inexcusable is when we do not focus on the everywhere - when we refuse to go.  

Now back to our scripture in I Timothy 2:8:  “Men lifting up HOLY HANDS, without wrath or doubting.

3) Holy Hands - The only way a man can lift Holy hands is if he has been able to know the power of the Almighty God.  He must have obeyed the message of repentance, he must have submitted to the message of Baptism in Jesus Name for the remission of sins, and he must have received the Holy Ghost.  Then he will be able to lift Holy hands.  Holy is not the results of doing good works and being a nice person.  But, Holiness is the result of being made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We must be able to point others to the power of God to forgive them, cleanse them, deliver them, and help them.  If every man is going to be able to do that, it will be a result of taking this gospel to every man everywhere. 

The Whole Gospel to the Whole World by the Whole Church.

We must go everywhere.  The greatest days of the church lies ahead of us.  We will be rejoicing in our days as find fulfillment in them as we go everywhere.  I believe and can already see in a mind of faith, the mighty revival that is going to come to the Muslims of Africa.  I envision thousand of former Muslims crying in one loud voice, the Name of Jesus.  I then want to watch as a Holy Ghost outpouring takes place in each of them.  It will happen.  It will start when we get the burden of prayer for nations that are still unreached.  It will happen when we give, when we go. 

We must go.  We must look for our everywhere.  Everywhere!  Everywhere!

Can you hear the Voice of the Lord as He is pointing out to you your everywhere. 

We must go.  We must go EVERYWHERE!