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TANZANIA TORCH
Rev Hezron
Musalale of Mbalizi-Mbeya, Tanzania, had faithfully served
the Lord many long years before his
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Rev. Hezron Musalale |
path
intersected with InterComm. As a respected Christian
leader in his country, Tanzania, Rev. Musalale was
selected for Advanced Leadership Training at the Haggai
Institute in 1993. Ken Anderson was teaching Audiovisual
Evangelism options.
The problem
Rev. Musalale faced, however, was a lack of financial
resources. He could see the benefit of using Torch Kits
and other audiovisuals, but without a benefactor, they
were priced out of his ability to purchase. "I could
not manage to purchase a Torch Kit in Singapore," he
wrote, "but I’m very much interested to have one."
He and his church were filled
with joy upon learning a Kit was finally on the way. In
April 1995 the Torch Kit arrived and shortly thereafter
his note of thanks - "I’m delighted to inform you about
the safe arrival of your package. I’m very thankful for
the desire InterComm has in extending the Word of God
through audiovisuals. I have already started using the
Kit, and the results are excellent," he wrote.
It took a long
time to receive his first Report, but when it arrived, the
touch of God was evident. He wrote, "We have seen
through the use of the Torch Kit so many souls have come
to Christ. Over the last 4 years, we have started 25
churches and established 50 other preaching points in the
rural remote areas of Tanzania. The Kit has been of great
use, especially in those areas where there is no
electricity, poor roads, and limited means of
communication."
God moved Rev.
Musalale to the big city where our 8 Kiswahili
Language videos became effective. He wrote, "I am
strongly convinced that video ministry in the cities is a
powerful tool for evangelism. I am saddened, however, one
of the major lacks in evangelism today is our failure to
make adequate use of media to attract souls. The response
we continue to see is very encouraging."
One night while
he and his family were out on ministry, a severe
earthquake struck anddestroyed their home. Before
returning, the house was looted. Yet, he wrote, "We
thank God for His protection. We all survived, but we lost
almost everything. Yet, we continue to trust the Lord. We
are praying for InterComm that the Lord may continue
supplying all of your needs for the progress of His work
and for the salvation of precious souls all over the
world."
Rev. Musalale
has paid a huge price in his service to the Lord. It cost
him his home and nearly all of his worldly belongings.
Yet, through his efforts, the Gospel has been proclaimed
to over 46,000 countrymen, and to date 4,623 have accepted
Christ. Thank you for helping us equip men and women of
God of this caliber.
HELP US HELP CHURCHES AND CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS GROW
Make sure they hear what you are saying!
InterComm is
helping churches and Christian organizations put a
personalized interactive CD-ROM in the hands of every
visitor, potential donor and supporter. Our new
Information Interactive CD is a powerful information
reservoir that can be used to answer questions for
potential church members, highlight giving opportunities
for supporters, and clarify needs in the mission of
spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Visitors to
churches leave with a touch of God’s love in their hands,
information about church mission, ministry, outreach and
youth involvement. Potential donors receive a pertinent
and focused message on needs and giving opportunities.
You may view
examples by clicking on this link:
http://www.intercommedia.org/pages/i_interactive.htm
Your referral
of our new information interactive CD to Christian
churches, organizations and businesses in your area would
be greatly appreciated! Please don’t delay - your
assistance is needed today!
SECRET SOCIETY
John and Agatha
Deguah of Monrovia, Liberia write:
"Video and
Filmstrips are rather new to many people in our country,
which has been so ravished by war over the last many
years. Most media was destroyed and public showings were
virtually impossible. We are finding as we re-introduce
media, that Filmstrips and Videos are touching the people
in a very unique way. They actually stop us from leaving
their villages, wanting to see more. Some young boys,
looking at the film, ELEPHANT BOY, were deeply touched
when the wild elephant was taken away from the young man
in the story. In another village an old man brought his
praying rosary and prayer mat to prove that he would not
be worshiping in the Muslim religion any longer. Another
time we were invited by a group to bring our material into
a Secret Society of Devil Worshipers. When they watched
the Filmstrip stories, SNAKEBITE and JUMA, many of them
identified so closely with the story they felt they could
have been the characters portrayed. They openly admitted
that they were living similar lives. We have been very
encouraged by people’s reception to the media."
Overall there were 51 showings, 1,016 audience, 333
salvation decisions.
AVANGELISM IS POWER
Evangelist Thomas Abugah of Kumasi, Ghana writes:
"The Torch and
Video are both effective tools for evangelism and
challenge sinners to receive God’s grace in a more
effective way than we find with traditional preaching of
long sermons. The mood of viewers, watching HOBO & THE
RUNAWAY was challenging. From it people saw the need to
return to Christ by confessing in repentance. In the
Filmstrip of JESUS, people sobbed, as He was nailed to the
cross. They came to the realization that He bore our sins
on the cross for us. The Torch is a very effective means
of evangelism. People are coming to Jesus via these
showings, and it is all very encouraging. AVangelism is
power. I have made it a special feature in my ministry of
evangelism and church planting."
6 showings, 602 audience, 128 responding to salvation.
HEARTBEAT
by Ken Anderson
HEARTBEAT this
month begins a series of articles covering my many years
of travels. You’ll meet some of the wonderful people that
helped us over the years and learn a little about some of
the Projects we produced with either major segments or the
entire film taking place in and around the Holy Land. What
follows is segment #1.
In my early
life as an audiovisual producer, we wanted to develop a
student evangelism film centered in Israel. We wanted to
highlight the stress faced by Israeli and Palestinian
Christians. George, the CEO of a Jewish Mission in the
USA, offered to help us survey Jewish Christians in
Israel, providing many good leads through correspondence,
which we hoped to contact upon arrival. I accompanied
George on one of his upcoming trips, and upon arrival, we
spent a good bit of time in Haifa but connected with no
one.
George asked,
"Do you know Wayne King, the American missionary
residing in Nazareth?" "Sure do." I responded. He had
helped us on some other production work we had completed.
We traveled on to a boarding school where George had
arranged accommodations for the night and enjoyed a
festive dinner with students and teachers. Wayne King also
joined us. After dinner, we moved into the parlor with a
dozen of the students. One of them, about 18, set up a
Projector and Tape Recorder. Wayne had worked with some of
the students, who had helped record the dialogue for one
of our current films into Arabic. The audio tape ran a
little faster than the 16mm Film Projector, and with
simple on and off adjustments the Arabic track maintained
reasonably close lip sync to the drama. "This film is
tremendously popular all around Arabic communities in
Israel." Wayne told us. "Many will come to Christ
as a result of the work these boys have contributed."
The next
morning we made a quick survey around the area, as Wayne
showed us possible locations for a future potential film.
Then George drove us south to Nablus, where we also met
numerous Palestinian Christians. We had tea with a pastor
who voiced keen interest in our proposed film project.
From Nablus, we drove over to the River Jordan, and then
headed directly south toward Jerusalem. At the northern
outskirts of Jerusalem, we came to the print shop of our
long-time friend, Victor Smadja. Victor and his 2 sons
appeared in our film, STRANGERS
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Plug Into The Source
Of All Power! |
FROM GALILEE.
He is a commercial printer, normally in his shop from
early morning until late at night. Shortly after first
meeting Victor, I apologizedfor bothering him with such a
busy schedule. "Oh no," Victor explained,
"always go to a busy man, if you want to get things done.
There are 24 hours in a day, and if you have a very very
busy day, get up an hour earlier, and you have 25."
Victor also publishes Christian books, which are
distributed and sold all across Israel. Even back then, it
was Victor’s conviction that there were hundreds of secret
believers across Israel already. Known Christians like
Victor, however, can expect persecution. His apartment
once was set on fire and his car destroyed. "Our
suffering is nothing compared to that of Christ," he
told me.
It was Friday
and getting late, and I remembered on a previous trip to
Israel we had arrived on Saturday. Nothing could be sold
on Saturday according to law. Those wanting to eat must
purchase their meal tickets on Friday by 6:00 p.m. to use
on Saturday. Fortunately, we found a man who would
dispense with some tickets so that we could get a meal
following some weary travel. It was Saturday again, and
all Israelis had ended work late Friday night to observe
their Sabbath Day of rest. No work could occur on the
Lord’s Day. After 6:00 p.m. Saturday evening, however,
when the Sabbath had concluded, Victor gave us directions
to visit a family in another area of town. As we neared
the location, we began to see ugly posters here and there,
and then a wall completely covered with the same posters,
denouncing the family with whom we were visiting. What
solid gems these Israeli Christians were.
The first to
meet us was a young man in his early 20's, known all over
Israel as first viola in the national symphony orchestra.
Symphony music was almost as popular as rock.
(To be continued in segment #2.) |
