Sapling in the Desert

bzb The Tchad report bzb

news from the Kariukis March 2001

Imagine a dry and parched place, the ground cracked and thirsty, dusty, and with nothing green in sight, with a hot wind from the northern desert blowing. Something catches your eye and you look closer - a tiny green shoot is springing up, pushing aside clumps of hard, dry sand. Although it looks small, you can see the potential to become a mighty tree, providing shade and rest, security and strength, protection from the elements – don’t you just want to do all you can to encourage and protect the growth of this little sapling?

The church in Tchad is much like a young sapling in the desert – at first glance lacking in much – maturity, knowledge, numerical strength, but with incredible potential to become a wellspring of life for so many in North Africa and around the world. Their passion and commitment for Christ in the face of many odds puts much of Christ’s body to shame. We’ve been privileged to be a part of the nurturing of this body, as well as being encouraged and challenged by the believers in Tchad, as Moses took a three week trip there early this year.

“No, I’m sorry, we can’t let you on the flight,” the airline worker flatly refused our pleas for understanding… without a visa to Tchad, no one was getting on the plane, he insisted. We explained again and again that with no Tchadian embassy in Kenya it was impossible for Moses to apply for a visa here, and that our hosts in Tchad had assured us that they were taking care of the paperwork. Just the beginning of God’s faithfulness and miraculous providence on Moses’s three week journey into the nation of Tchad…after a mad rush home to print out e-mails of invitation, Moses was allowed on the flight, and was off to the Tchadian capital of N’djamena.

Luke 21:1-4 The widow put in all she had…. We were blessed to see an offering the church in Tchad took for their pastors, traditionally supported by churches in France, resulting in the mentality that “we are too poor to give.” Moses brought a word about breaking the spirit of poverty by giving and our responsibility as a church to support our leaders. The church responded mightily to what God was telling them, and brought money, clothes, glasses, just about every item imaginable to bless their leaders. May we too learn to give generously from what we have, according to the prompting of His Spirit.

FREEDOM, FREEDOM!!! A woman came to me (Moses) during a church conference in the town of Sarh, wondering if she would be able to come to the teaching sessions. I of course told her she was welcome, but she hesitated and asked about the Old Testament laws concerning times of uncleanness. She had just given birth to a baby and knew in the Old Testament that after giving birth, women were considered “unclean” for a certain length of time, and wasn’t sure if she was allowed to come to church. I was able to share with her how Christ has set us free from those physical regulations of the old law, and instead given us His Spirit to guide and lead us. One of the pastors asked in a workshop whether it was okay for a woman to attend church & take communion when she is menstruating… things we take for granted bring bondage because of the level of illiteracy and lack of basic Bible teachings. My heart was broken over the lack of knowledge of how to interpret the Scriptures and apply them to life. Simple teachings were received with so much hunger; people sincerely want to follow the Lord, but lack so much in practical knowledge.

A testimony of the “MOST POWERFUL WITCHCRAFT:” A village pastor was sharing with me how he had preached against the traditional rituals that accompany the facial scarring in the animistic religions (see photo.) He had encountered strong opposition from local witch doctors, and they were doing their best to get rid of him. One night he received a report that they were coming to his house to kill him. Quickly he sent his family out of his home towards the river, and he headed in the opposite direction towards the desert. When his attackers reached his house, they set everything on fire, believing that his family was inside, and then set out behind him to kill him. As he was running away, he looked back and saw that they had stopped and were looking ahead in amazement, but he just kept going. They never caught up to him. Later he was told how they had seen two huge, bright, shining men blocking the path, and were afraid and had stopped. Every time they continued forward to chase him, their path was blocked. The men went back to the village and told everyone how the pastor had the “most powerful witchcraft” they had ever seen. Pray for the Tchadian church, as they face not only the opposition of Islam, but also traditional religions and witchcraft. May they continue to stand strong!

Please pray with us as we plan our next steps toward working in Tchad. Our desire is to see the church there strengthened and mobilised to reach their Muslim neighbors, and God’s Kingdom to grow in all areas of society. Our next step at this point is to spend some time in the US networking, and with family and friends. We are tentatively planning to travel in June. Our apologies that the Tchad portion of this newsletter is so late, it hadn’t gotten sent when Jo went into the hospital, and it was then put off for a while.

Our little girl: As most of you have already heard, our daughter, Gloria Wambui Ndura, was stillborn on March 21. Although we know she is with our heavenly Father, in a far better place, we are still struggling to come to terms with our loss. We had a graveside service and burial on March 24^th. Through this all we have been overwhelmed with support from family and friends – many have given us a shoulder to cry on and continue to uphold us in their prayers and help in practical ways as well – THANK YOU! We are also thankful that Jo did not have a difficult labor, and has had a quick recovery physically. Please continue to pray for us as we walk through this grieving and healing process. Thank you so much for your part in our lives and ministry – you’re an important part of the work God has called us to, and we appreciate you!

Moses and Jo Kariuki - PO Box 59443, Nairobi, Kenya E-mail: mosesnk_98@yahoo.com

Financial support can be sent to: M. & J. Kariuki, c/o YWAM, PO Box YWAM, Cimarron, CO 81220, (checks payable to YWAM)

TCHAD – THE FACTS

Location: North central Africa, bordering Libya, Sudan, Central African Republic, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon

Population: 6.3 million (1995 census)

Religion: 54% Muslim, 35% Christian at least nominally. Traditional African animistic religions are also a strong influence.

Language: French, Arabic, and over 100 indigenous African languages (“Tchad” is the French spelling of the English name Chad.)

Economy: The currency is the CFA (Central African Franc,) with 670 CFA = 1 US Dollar. Two thirds of the people rely on subsistence agriculture for survival. The average annual income per capita is $220 US Dollars.

Politics: Received independence from France in 1960, was torn by civil war between North and South from mid 1960’s, and war with Libya until 1988. Tchad is now ruled by a president and a National Assembly.

Geography: The northern two thirds is in the Sahara, receiving less than one inch of rain a year. Below the Sahara is the Sahel, a hot, treeless plain, and south of the Sahel is grasslands, where most of the population lives. Lake Tchad and the River Chari are main sources of water in the country.