The Power of the Gospel

From the desk of Pastor John Gehring:

Hello Cornerstone family,

When I started working with Pastor Michael in the summer of 2016, I was asked to go to Uganda the following month to do the work of evangelism and then co-teaching in the seminary there. It was a privilege to experience the “fields that were white unto harvest.” Most of the people we talked with made an expression of their faith and trust in Jesus. This past summer a small group returned to continue to work in Uganda. Please take a few minutes to read this inspiring message from Isaac Vineyard about one conversion that should encourage your very soul:

From Isaac Vineyard:

One of the blessings of this year's trip, for me, was that in addition to doing evangelism and the crusades, we got to teach a class for pastors in Biblical Doctrine. Not only did we teach the material, but for three of the days we were able to take our students into the village with us to do evangelism. It was an opportunity to work alongside them and for them to be engaged in using the flip chart for the sake of evangelism.

On the second day our students went with us into the village, I was on a team doing evangelism with our student Francis as well as a translator. I needed a translator in addition to Francis, because he didn't speak the language of the people of the village we were ministering in. We went into the village center to share with people at the stores. Our second stop was at a hardware store where we shared with a group of people who turned out to already be Christians. At the conclusion of the Gospel message I asked them if they had any questions and they said, “We have no questions. It is very good, we also believe in Jesus.”

Convinced that we were sharing the true gospel, one of the women told us that we ought to share with the old man who lived across the street because he was very sick. We didn't know this at the time, but he was HIV+. 

When we went to his house across the street, it was no more than a 10 x 10 square with a curtain door. We asked his neighbor if she would check with him to see if we could share. We were welcomed in and as we entered we saw him for the first time. He sat shirtless on his bed completely emaciated from lack of nutrition. When my translator began to ask him if we could share the story of Jesus with him, he made it clear that he did not speak the language of the village. This was not where he was from; he couldn’t communicate with my translator. And this was the first amazing occurrence of our interactions with this man. Francis asked him what languages he did speak, and as they compared languages they found that they both spoke Lugandan. What a work of God that our student who did not speak the tribal language would end up being the very one who was able to translate the gospel to this man. 

The man was named Fabu. Once we discovered we had a language in common, Fabu asked if he could share his story with us. He told us that he was very sick, and he asked if we would be willing to give him money for his care. We told him that we did not have money to offer him, but we asked if we could tell him about Jesus. He told us that he was a Muslim. Undeterred we asked again if we could tell him about Jesus. 

As we continued in conversation, it became clear that the thing he was most interested in was us providing money for his care. Eventually, overcome by the Holy Spirit, I looked him square in his eyes and said, “You are going to die, and the god of Muhammad will not save you, your good works will not save you, your own religion tells you this. You need to believe in Jesus!”

He responded by asking me if I knew the story of Lazarus. I told him that I did, and he continued to tell me that before Jesus raised Lazarus, the followers of Jesus were taking care of him. He thought he would use this story to convince us to give him money. But I asked him instead if he understood the story of Lazarus. I pointed out that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but that Lazarus died again. I told him “God may heal you, but one day you will die and stand before God your judge, and your only hope is Jesus.”

As we continued to talk, eventually, he said, “I understand, I want to believe in Jesus.” We were amazed and overjoyed! We shared with him some more and prayed with him, and then laid hands on him and prayed for his healing. 

We invited him to the Crusade that evening, but understood that he was very frail and probably would not be able to make it. Then his neighbor, who have been eavesdropping at the door the entire time, poked her head in to say that she would help him get to the Crusade that evening if he wanted to go.

He did come to the Crusade, and as he sat listening to the worship music preparing for the sermon, he began to have convulsions and to vomit. The ushers rushed to his aid and took him inside the church. I was worried about him when a local person came to me and said, “He's a witch doctor. He trusted in Jesus, the demons have to get out somehow.” That evening as I preached the Crusade, a group of pastors gathered to pray over Fabu and cast out the demons. Afterwards I was allowed to pray with him once more before we left, promising that I would see him the next day.

On Saturday, Pastor Peter and I visited Fabu in his house. We were there to explain to him that now that he trusted in Jesus he needed to rid himself of all the relics he used as a witch doctor. After a short conversation, he freely gave us permission to burn all those things used in service of the enemy. 

Pastor Peter took charge of this task, graciously cleaning the house as we gathered together the things to be burned. We made a pile of the relics in the backyard: herbs, shells, decapitated bird heads, wands, and things of the like. Having gathered them in a pile, we lit them on fire.

I went in to the house to ask Fabu to join us. When I entered, I found him sitting on his bed repeating, “I am free, I am free, I am free.” Truly God had set him free! He joined us for the burning of the relics and then a word of prayer. The next day he joined us for the opening of the church. At that service we were able to connect him with a family in that local church who have committed to continue to look after him and care for him and see to his discipleship and health. We are excited about the ways that God will continue to use his testimony for the sake of the Kingdom in years to come. Thank you for your commitment to seeing the gospel go forth in Uganda.

Postscript from Pastor Julius several weeks later:

Greetings to you, Pastor Isaac, in Jesus name. I want to tell you good news about that witch doctor you prayed for in Ochapa. God has healed the man and now he is going to church by himself, and he is always the first person to be in church. He is sending his greetings to you. It is a big testimony in Ochapa. He wants luganda Bible . Glory be to God.