NETS News: Reaping a Harvest
Mission News from the NETS (National Evangelism Team Support) outreach:
Evangelist and church-planter, Joseph Baluku (of Bwera, Uganda – East Africa) sends a great report about soulwinning and church planting, with pictures and mission highlights.
For an introduction to Harvest Ministry’s “N.E.T.S.” Ministry, click here. Reaping a Harvest — in Needy Areas
Meet Joseph & Margret Baluku
NETS Ministers, Joseph & Margret Baluku
Joseph & Margret focus on remote evangelism throughout the southwestern area of Uganda, especially church planting in the Rwenzori mountain areas. Joseph ministers in different cities and villages throughout East Africa (in both Uganda and Kenya), leading evangelistic crusades, open air meetings, revival and prayer meetings, teaching seminars, school meetings, couple’s seminars with Margret, and baptism services.
We PRAISE GOD for both Joseph and Margret, their ministry, and their walk with the Lord. They also are area coordinators, supervising and leading over 20 HMFI – Harvest Ministry Fellowship International ministers and churches.
Joseph says, “Calvary greetings to you . . . I appreciate your prayers and support for this soulwinning mission. . . . Truly our God is good.”
(Left: one of the remote village churches Joseph oversees – Right: Joseph & Margret)
Prayer Request:
Please pray for Joseph and Margret and their eight children. The Baluku family have been active in village evangelism, church planting and overseeing, counseling, and Bible teaching. Harvest Ministry is so honored to partner with such precious people.Joseph and Margret deeply love the Lord and have a passion for soulwinning and strong discipleship of believers. Please keep them in prayer.
Read more about NETS – Harvest Ministry’s National Evangelism Team Support
Read more about HMFI – Harvest Ministry Fellowship International
Mission to BUDUDA!!!
EVANGELISM NEWS:
An upcoming city-wide outreach is planned in the mountainous area of BUDUDA, in S.E. UGANDA. Airline tickets have just been purchased, and Harvest Ministry plans, advertising, and preparations are currently underway.
PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR SOULS!!!
MISSION VIDEO: God’s LIGHT Shines in KAGADI!
KAGADI, UGANDA
“The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2).
In a land that has been spiritually DARK — known for witchcraft, AIDS, false religions, and even cannibalism — the LIGHT of JESUS is now SHINING BRIGHT.
Be encouraged with this 4-minute mission summary video highlighting Harvest Ministry’s recent outreach to the city of Kagadi, in Uganda, East Africa. And please continue to PRAY for these precious people!
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Thank you for sending us!
We appreciate everyone who prayed, encouraged, and helped to support this Kagadi mission outreach possible. And we especially thank God for all the ministry leadership (and HARD WORK) given by our ministry co-workers (& NETS ministers), our entire Harvest Ministry crusade team and technicians, and all the local Kagadi pastors, ushers, and workers.
Please continue to keep all of these wonderful national ministers and their families in your prayers, along with all the new believers in both Kagadi, Uganda and Kenga, Uganda.
If you would like to become a missions & prayer partner with Harvest Ministry, just send us your mailing address (for USA & Canada addresses), and we’d be happy to send you our monthly ministry newsletter.
In His Love & Harvest,
Jon & AnnBe sure to also see:
>> KAGADI: Day-by-day Kagadi updates & photos
>> KAGADI: God’s Protection During Flight Emergency
>> KAGADI: Preparation & Background on Kagadi, Uganda
MEATY: Aren’t All Cultures Equally Valid?
As Christians, we bring the cross-cultural, life-changing message of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness for sin. Our purpose is not to propagate our own cultural standards, but to present the Gospel in a redeeming yet culturally sensitive way to all people we meet.
Q.
Aren’t ALL cultures equally valid?
Why should we try to change other people’s cultures?
A.
The core issue of this question stems from a false application of “multiculturalism” — one that is politically correct, educationally encouraged, and sounds nice. But leaving people trapped in sin and isolated from God’s hope of salvation isn’t the “considerate” option.
As Christians, we bring the cross-cultural, life-changing message of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness for sin. Our purpose is not to propagate our own cultural standards, but to present the Gospel in a redeeming yet culturally sensitive way to all people we meet. Eliminating the beautiful uniqueness of international culture is not the purpose of missions; at times, however, sinful elements of a particular culture may need to change.
I will never forget an interview I had with an outstanding Christian teenager who attended a public high school. This young man led a lunchtime “Bible club” and worship time that grew to reach 250 of his fellow classmates. He was writing a school research paper on Christian missionary work and, specifically, he was trying to support his thesis that “modern missionaries do not attempt to ‘change’ foreign cultures.”
I understood this young man’s heart. He was trying to explain how today’s Christian missionaries are different — more culturally appreciative and sensitive — than some of the old-time colonial missionaries (who attempted to expand all aspects of Western civilization throughout the world). But I still disagreed with his conclusion.
I asked this young man a pointed question. “But don’t you try to ‘change the culture’ of the people you are trying to reach? Just look at the typical ‘culture’ of the teens in your high school before they come to Jesus Christ! Look at the way they dress! Listen to their music, their foul language, and the way they address their teachers! What about the DVD’s they watch and the movies they sneak into? What about typical teenagers involved in premarital impurity, or the girls who’ve had abortions? Aren’t all of these a part of teen ‘culture’?”
I went on to explain to him, “Culture is life!! When you share Christ in your high school, of course you don’t want your friends to stop being teenagers — that’s who they are! But you do want Jesus Christ to totally transform the way they live and the way they make their decisions!”
Around the world, societies that have developed isolated from God’s laws and the gospel are filled with sinful cultural elements:
- tribal hatred, ancestral worship, and idolatry
- immoral sex, adultery, and prostitution
- drug addiction, drunkenness, and witchcraft
- abuse and neglect of women and children
As Christians, our job is to bring the light of Jesus to every precious culture. Through His Word and His Holy Spirit, God will show people the changes they need to make to redeem their cultures back to Him.
All people are equally valid. All cultures need Jesus.
Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.”
ON THE LIGHT SIDE: Grasshoppers for Thanksgiving?
By Joshua Dunagan, at age thirteen
“So, what did you eat for Thanksgiving?”
During the week of Thanksgiving, my dad and I were across the world in Uganda, East Africa, holding evangelistic outreaches in remote cities out in the middle of nowhere. It was my second Thanksgiving holiday outside of America. But this time was really different.
In Africa, most people eat the same foods over and over again; at least we sure did.
Day after day, meal after meal, we had overcooked rice, matoke (mashed steamed bananas), and a few chunks of tough meat and guts. But for Thanksgiving we had a “special” African treat. Along with our standard food, we were given a plate full of greasy fried grasshoppers!! They were about two inches long, with the legs and head still on.
As I stared at these insects, thoughts flashed through my brain. I imagined all the yummy food my brothers and sisters were eating at Grandma’s house: turkey and pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and gravy. I also remembered a time I had eaten big bugs before (at a kid’s camp when I was bribed with a bunch of candy). It wasn’t so hard to chug down an insect just once or twice on a dare, but this was different. It was Thanksgiving—and I was hungry!
Actually, they didn’t taste that bad. As I took my first bite, they reminded me of a cross between popcorn and shrimp—crunchy on the outside and a little gooey on the inside. Soon I was eating one after the other, even throwing them in the air and catching them in my mouth. I must have eaten about sixty of them by the time I was done!
By the way, the ministry went well that night.
We preached to thousands of people . . . and I felt just like John the Baptist!
(Photo is our son, Josh, at 10-years-old, preaching the Gospel in Urua, Uganda)
Happy Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!
Related article on The Christian Post’s “Better Parents, Better Families” blog:
Give Ye, Them to Eat: Thanksgiving, Missions, & “Saints” – By Ann Dunagan
A Mission-Minded Thanksgiving article featuring Nate Saint (Ecuador missionary and martyr) and Rachel Saint (missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators) – two world-renown Christian missionary heroes . . . from the same family!
Mission Thoughts at Thanksgiving
“Why should anyone go back to the table for second’s or third’s,
before everyone’s had a first helping?” —
Won’t anyone pass the food?
Imagine sitting down for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all of your relatives.
Everyone is eager to eat . . . but as you survey Grandma’s extra-long dining room table, complete with all the extension-pieces brought in from back of the entry closet, you can’t help but notice the lop-sided food layout. All of those delicious-smelling dishes are on the opposite end of the table.
After joining hands and thankin’ the Lord for His bounty, you wait patiently for one of those cousins to pass that basket of yummy-looking homemade rolls your direction . . . but for some reason, they don’t seem to hear you. In fact, it’s almost like you’re not at the table. It’s like no one can see you, or even hear you.
As the other side continues to heap their plates with second- and even third-helpings, everyone at your end is still waiting . . . and waiting . . . with empty plates.
No one’s trying to be mean, of course; it’s just that everybody is distracted. Grandpa’s stories are so hilarious this year; everyone’s laughing; and Aunt Polly’s turkey is more delicious than ever. The others begin to joke about their bulging stomachs . . . as yours continues to grumble with hunger.
Won’t anyone pass the food?
It’s a vivid picture we need to remember, of the need for world missions, and the need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . with the lost.
This month, as we sit down to thank God for His abundant blessings in our lives (both physically and spiritually), we need to remember that many people (over 1.6 BILLION) are still waiting . . . and waiting . . . for their first helping of the God’s Good News.
“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice,
before everyone has heard it once?”
–Oswald J. SmithHave a Blessed & Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!
With Love in His Harvest,
Jon & Ann Dunagan & Family
Josh & Anna’s Wedding
On November 12th, 2010, Joshua Michael Dunagan and Anna Leigh Mow were joined by God in covenant marriage, with JOY and anticipation for the future!!!
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Josh & Anna Dunagan!
May God direct your new life together, and your steps ahead
for His kingdom purposes, and for His GLORY!!!
The Challenge: DAY 40 – God’s MISSION! #5
His MISSION
Welcome to the final day of your 40-Day Mission-Minded FAMILY CHALLENGE!
Thank you so much for being a part of this motivational adventure. For this final day, we’re concluding our 40-Day Challenge by focusing on the big picture of God’s Great Commandments and God’s Great Commission. As mission-minded families, let’s aim toward God’s purposes, and be eternally minded.
Note: According to Joshuaproject.net, the statistic need of today’s unreached people is even greater than quoted in this video. This source says that there are currently about 2.71 billion unreached people. This number is SO large – it is equivalent to the total population of ALL of North America (the entire U.S., Canada, and Mexico), ALL of Central America (minus the Caribbean), and ALL of South America . . . TIMES THREE!!!
C’mon . . . Take the Challenge!
- Recommended Mission Resources: Hand Commands – The Ten Commandments for Little Ones, The Mission-Minded Child – Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose, and The Mission-Minded Family – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny
- Today’s Mission Quote: “Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice, before everyone has heard it once?” – Oswald J. Smith, Missionary Evangelist
- Geography Quiz at lizardpoint.com: WORLD REVIEW,
- Memory Verse – Revelation 4:10-11
- Today’s online video
The Challenge: DAY 39 – God’s MISSION! #4
His CROWNS
Welcome to DAY 39 of the 40-Day Mission-Minded FAMILY CHALLENGE!
For this second-to-last day of our 40-Day Mission-Minded FAMILY CHALLENGE, our focus is living with eternity in mind. As Christians, our priority and focus is loving the Lord Jesus Christ and living for His eternal heavenly crowns, rather than for temporal earthly crowns.
C’mon . . . Take the Challenge!
- Recommended Mission Resources: Hand Commands – The Ten Commandments for Little Ones, The Mission-Minded Child – Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose, and The Mission-Minded Family – Releasing Your Family to God’s Destiny
- Today’s Mission Quote: “What would I do wth starry crowns,
except to lay them at his feet?” – Mary Slessor- Geography Quiz at lizardpoint.com: WORLD REVIEW,
- Memory Verse – Revelation 4:10-11
- Today’s online video
The Challenge: DAY 38 – God’s MISSION! #3
His LOVE
Welcome to DAY 38 of the 40-Day Mission-Minded FAMILY CHALLENGE!
Our focus today is God’s personal LOVE for us. To live joyfully as a mission-minded believers, we should not focus on merely “doing” mission-minded things for God; rather, our focus should be “knowing” God and growing deeper in our personal relationship with Him.
C’mon . . . Take the Challenge!
- Recommended Mission Resources: Planet WORD Bible
- Today’s Mission Quote: “Lord, I give up all my plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life…” – Betty Scott Stam
- Geography Quiz at lizardpoint.com: SOUTH AMERICA,
- Memory Verse – Luke 10:20
- Today’s online video
