Hunger Crisis 2020
Across the globe lockdowns have brought unprecedented difficulties to pastors of small churches; especially in rural areas. Reports coming from different areas are painting a similar picture. Pastors live from week to week and now many have not had any income for up to seven weeks. They are at the end of their resources. Pastors and their families are quite literally at the point of starving to death.
Harvesters and our broader Christian family must act soon.
Report from Pastor David in Southeast Asia
“From the Pastors I’ve talked to, most if not all are desperately believing God for food to feed their families. In 100 plus churches, I only know of one other church who has distributed rice to their members, and that is partly because of us providing the rice to help them.
Pastors right now have gone 7 weeks without an offering and most live day to day, hand to mouth, they don’t have a reserve or a salary to rely on, they have nothing, and if they can believe their way to feed their families, they are panicking that they are three months behind on rent and utilities. I dare say that over the next month, the vast majority of small churches will close for good and possibly lose their buildings.
We of course know that the church is more than a building and know the value of a house group, but the bigger issue here is how many people will still be in ministry at the end of this, when they’ve buried their church members and family from sickness AND starvation.
Right now, nobody is talking about evangelism or church planting or growth, they are talking about survival and if they will make it another week or month or 3 months.
Walking between villages is difficult with check points everywhere turning people away. The country is on the verge of martial law…”
You Can Help
Please help Harvesters to supply these pastors with emergency food by donating today. This will help supply one of our Harvesters pastors with a 50kg (110 pound) bag of rice or maize – enough for a family for one month.
On top of the pandemic and lockdowns, East Africa is facing a locust plague of biblical proportions. Furthermore, the UN is anticipating a severe famine in at least 36 countries within months. These are desperate times.
Partner with Harvesters and help us to maintain and preserve churches in Southeast Asia and other areas where the need is greatest. We urgently need your help as we focus on pastors and their families.
Hebrews 6: 10 “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”
Prayerfully consider making a donation today and making a life changing impact in a family’s life.
Newsletter – May 2020
Download our May 2020 newsletter to read all about new bibles for Angola, untold stories from Uganda, and the importance of multiplication – Harvester’s unique church planting strategy.
Download the USA Newsletter – May 20
Download the UK Newsletter – May 20
Download the South Africa and International Newsletter – May 20
Pastors are Facing Extreme Challenges
A church leader from Southeast Asia said, “We have been in lockdown for over five weeks and we are starving.” One of the Harvesters Ministries Hub leaders in India told us, “We are living our faith out loud so that our neighbours can hear and believe.” In Guatemala, pastors are learning to use Zoom and other technologies to minister while isolated. In South Africa, most church services have moved online. The world has changed, but the Gospel hasn’t.
Over the past weeks we have been meeting online with Harvesters Ministries’ leaders around the world. Each of them has a different yet familiar story. Lockdowns are common, most church services have been cancelled, people are scared and there is already a lot of suffering.
Despite this we have been very encouraged by their faith and their willingness to find new ways to preach the Gospel. Most agree that there has never been a time like this. People are open to hearing the Good News. Many are desperate for hope in what is becoming a long battle against COVID-19. In some places, church planting through evangelism continues unabated.
As we look forward we continue to seek ways to reach the lost in what is sure to be a difficult season. Months of disruptions and intermittent lockdowns means that it cannot be business as usual. The growing economic fallout promises to bring new hardships to millions, but missions and ministry must continue. People need the Lord.
The fallout is impacting global missionary efforts. Already churches have let us know that their missions giving is down. Is it not strange that its always the missions funding that is done away with first? This tells us something about our priorities. Surely we should be supporting the preaching of the Gospel now more than ever.
Thank you to all our faithful supporters. We need you now as never before. We are praying for you, believing that God will supply in all your needs. Pray for us as we continue to serve.
Connect to our weekly Sunday sermons on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
Pandemic and Anxiety – Sermon by Steven Loots
[buzzsprout episode=’5466553′ player=’true’]
Stand Together in Prayer
Whenever I face a challenge I think of Philippians 4: 6–7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
It is very important not to allow fear to overtake our thoughts during a possible pandemic and crisis. We have been reading about the Coronavirus in every newspaper, magazine and on every social media platform. The Coronavirus is on every news channel and on most people’s lips.
This virus has claimed more than 90 000 people’s lives already and is infecting people in 120 countries.
The world and Harvesters Ministries urgently need your prayers.
Despite the fact that this highly infectious virus is infecting people all across the globe – there is no better time than now to make an impact in the world. The work that you are helping Harvesters to do – training pastors in evangelism, discipleship, pastoral training and church planting – needs to continue in the more than 60 countries where the ministry is currently working.
We sincerely need your help to carry the ministry through this difficult and uncertain time. Pray that Harvesters-trained pastors will be able to continue with the important work in their villages and communities.
Please pray with us especially in the month that is lying ahead. You can keep believers all across the globe in your prayers.
The Harvest is Ripe in Southeast Asia
Aran*, one of our leaders in Southeast Asia, seeks God’s face in everything that he does. The discipline of prayer is not only taught by Harvesters Ministries’ Hub-leaders, like Aran, but it is also very much a part of their daily lives.
They often pray for those who are unsaved asking God to give them opportunities to share the Gospel not knowing what God will bring along their way as they travel long distances to reach villages where there are little or no believers.
This was Aran’s prayer. He prayed that God will give him the opportunity to lead lost souls to Christ, little did he realize just how many souls he would lead to Christ by one simple meeting.
One day Aran and his team of disciples were travelling to seek an opportunity to share the Gospel. Just before reaching a village, after travelling 6 hours with their motorbikes on dangerous winding and narrow roads, Aran and his team came across Chesa*. She was sitting on the side of the road, badly injured after falling from her motorbike on her way back to her village.
Chesa was so touched by their concern for her that she immediately invited them to her village. Little did Aran know how God would use this woman of peace to be the key to opening the door for God’s work in her village. It didn’t take long for Chesa’s family and loved ones to discover the love of Jesus and the way to Salvation!
Aran encouraged Chesa to start sharing her new found faith in Christ with others. Overwhelmed by their eagerness to hear more, she invited Aran back to the village to share the Gospel with others by using the Heart of Man evangelism tool.
Now, once a week a group of new believers are gathering and enjoying fellowship. They are the Body of Christ and they are being equipped for ministry. They are making disciples and evangelising the lost in their community.
Praise the Lord for opening the way in countries where Christianity is in the minority. God is faithful! Always! He is our good, good Father. We are excited to see God’s Kingdom expand in this hostile part of the world.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of individuals.
Covid-19 – An Unprecedented Opportunity
This crisis is going to become very challenging to almost everyone you know. The Covid-19 pandemic however is also a time of unprecedented opportunity for Christians like you to be a beacon of hope to those who will be affected, isolated or traumatized by this pandemic. Even small acts of kindness and love will make an enormous impact.
I want to remind you that believers throughout the centuries have endured, but also survived hardship, persecution and pandemics. Not only did they survive, but have always grown and even thrived. This situation should be no different.
Both the denial of the pandemic as well as unrealistic fear will do much more harm than good. Denial leads to irresponsible behaviour aiding the spread of the virus and fear leads to panic buying and hoarding, leaving the most vulnerable without basic necessities.
This is an opportunity to be the Church, to be the hands and feet of Christ, to share the Gospel and be generous. Many people will be open to listen to the message of hope and salvation. Let us encourage, share and serve.
Travel bans and meeting restrictions have been implemented by most countries. Many churches were forced to suspend traditional fellowship. Harvesters Ministries also has to comply with these preventative measures.
In these times however, the harvest is even riper than before. Please pray for the thousands of Hub-leaders, Pastors and Student Pastors whose desire to love and serve is not diminished by this pandemic. Pray for boldness as they continue to proclaim Christ, and for courage as they will most certainly have to deal with many sick and dying in their communities.
Please also pray for Harvesters Ministries. Precautionary restrictions have all but halted almost all opportunities for fundraising. Many people are using their money to stock up on groceries during this uncertain time.
Kingdom expansion cannot be halted by this pandemic. If anything it has to be accelerated. That is why we need your help today.
Your gift will make a crucial impact in the Kingdom and enable Harvesters to show even the most vulnerable that the body of Christ still cares. Ask the Lord what your best gift could be in these trying times. Give with love today, give with generosity and give in faith.
God opened the doors to Mombasa!
Dylan Agoye, a pastor in Kenya, has been praying for an opportunity to share the Gospel and reach the unreached in Mombasa for many years now. Dylan has always served the Lord faithfully, but it was never his intention to go into the ministry full time. While completing his Master’s degree tragedy struck his family!
His father, Michael Agoye, a full time pastor was on his way to share the Gospel with unreached communities in Kenya. He was brutally attacked and left for dead by religious extremists. After several weeks in a coma Michael finally awoke only to realise that he will never be able to walk again.
The enemy thought that he stopped the work of God, but this is simply not true.
God has called Dylan to complete the work of his father. Dylan has partnered up with Harvesters Ministries and is now training pastors all across the country, but his heart has always been to convert unbelievers to Christianity; to get the lost saved!
He knows that one person cannot change another person’s heart and that it is also impossible for a person to change a community. He knows that there is only one way to change people’s hearts and make an impact in communities – and that is the power of God!
Harvesters Ministries is truly grateful that God continues to make it possible for the ministry to plant churches in communities all across the globe. The Church is a beacon of hope. The Church shares the Gospel with people and only by hearing the true Gospel can someone be saved and changed.
Mombasa, Kenya, is one such community that desperately needs the Gospel; that desperately needs change. Although Kenya is known as a Christian country, Islam is the main religion in the Mombasa region and Christians face terrible persecution at the hands of religious extremists.
It took many years of praying and waiting patiently for prayers to be answered and for the opportunity for Harvesters Ministries to work in Mombasa. Finally, in 2019 our prayers were answered and our country leader, Dylan Agoye, was led to a phenomenal group of pastors in Mombasa. These pastors jumped at the opportunity to receive training in evangelism, discipleship and church planting. They too have been praying for a way to make an impact in the villages in their region.
Missionaries and missions organisations cannot reach the lost with the Gospel without the support of believers like you. Your prayers make it possible for missionaries to travel across the globe, share the Gospel with the lost and ensure that the Word of God truly reaches the ends of the earth. Continue to keep Dylan and his family in your prayers as they serve the Lord and build God’s Kingdom.
Please pray that the Gospel will make an impact in Mombasa. Trust the Lord that the number of believers in Mombasa will grow immensely. Ask the Lord to strengthen believers in this region. Pray that they will stand firm in their faith. Pray that they will continue to lead others to Christ, despite the terrible persecution that they face.
I am reminded of Matthew 5:16 that says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The Time is Now
Every four seconds somebody in India dies without knowing Christ. Somebody enters eternity without ever having the opportunity of knowing the Name that is above every other name.
In the time that we live it is an urgent call to all of us out there, wherever you are, that someone needs a word of hope, needs Christ. It is an urgent call to everybody. It is never too late and the time is now.
Over 150 000 people die without Jesus every day. For them it is too late. For those who are still alive, there is still time. The Gospel has the power to save. Harvesters is doing everything that they possibly can to take the Gospel to those who have not heard it. But we cannot do it alone…
One such testimony where the Gospel reached the unreached, is from Rahul* in India. He lives in a small village on the eastern coast of India. There is not a single Christian in Rahul’s village, let alone a church!
Rahul has lots of built up anger after the death of his 14-year-old son, a few years ago. Rahul was a Hindu and an idol worshipper. He had never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ who died for his sins.
One of our volunteers travelled to Rahul’s village and shared the Gospel to Rahul during an outreach. He showed Rahul that he needed to accept Jesus Christ to have peace in his life. After a few outreaches where our volunteer shared the Gospel with Rahul, he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Rahul is the very first believer in his village!
His neighbours mocked him, his family resented him and the entire village became hostile towards him. Rahul’s response left me speechless, “Jesus showed me the condition of my heart and He restored my peace. I lost my son, God has sent His son to save me. What more do I need!”
Rahul started a church in his village. The congregation is growing by the grace of God. Two Hindu ladies from his village accepted Christ and is helping Rahul to share the Gospel with other non-believers.
*Names changed.
Newsletter – February 2020
As Harvesters turns 20 in 2020, this newsletter takes a look back where it all began, celebrates 20 achievements, and explains how you can get involved too!
Download the South Africa & International Newsletter – Feb 20
Download the Afrikaans Newsletter – Feb 20