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Cuba - I recently received this e-mail from one of the church planting missionaries, who attended the recent conference on Worship in Holguin, Cuba, “You and Garry were used by the Lord to move us to worship in a far deeper way, than we have ever known before! The Lord is continuing to use the truths that you taught in this conference in a powerful way in our lives. God is multiplying the effect of this conference of true and acceptable worship in all of our mission and house churches in the Holguin district.

Kenya - An e-mail from a Kenyan pastor named John which states, “For the last 3 months I have been pondering over the possible ways of translating the Christ-centered Evangelism Manual into a course, which would be used to instruct all of our 300 trainees of our “church-based leadership training” in Kenya. I was blessed beyond measure by the conference you held in Jinja, Uganda. Throughout my life and ministry, I have never heard such a Bible-based and Christ-centered presentation of our mission of evangelism. My perception of evangelism has changed forever, for the better! Another pastor and I are planning to hold several local conferences to train other church leaders in “Christ-centered Evangelism”. These are grand truths that we cannot help but to hold out to other genuine believers. If all of these believers will embrace these truths and apply them practically to their lives, the ministry of evangelism will never be the same in this region.”

UGANDA - A pastor from Uganda writes, “We have followed up with our pastors and leaders from many different districts, after the ‘Christ-centered Evangelism’ conference here in Uganda. I am happy to let you know that the pastors have been both humbled and transformed through the teaching on ‘Doing God’s Work; God’s Way; for God’s Glory!’ All of them are pleading for your return to give us more teaching from God’s Word. We desperately need the sound doctrine of the Word of God in our nation. Our team of pastors are working ‘hand in hand’ in preparation for your next conference in Entebbe, Uganda later this year. Thank you for obeying the Holy Spirit and coming to Uganda, Bro. Ed.

KENYA INTERPRETER - The first pastors’ conference that I had the privilege of teaching in Kenya took place in Bungoma, Kenya. My interpreter for that conference was Pastor George Wafula. George is not only a pastor, but he is also a Bible college professor, both in Kenya and Uganda. This week, I received an e-mail from Bro. George, in which he writes,“The first time that I heard ‘Christ-centered Evangelism’ was 6 years ago in Bungoma, Kenya. My eyes were opened to these truths, as God began to speak to me in a powerful way. For the next couple of months after this conference, I saturated my heart with these teachings, prayerfully asking God for His illumination. I saw for the first time, that the vast majority of the churches in Africa had gone astray from the Word of God, in the area of evangelism. I asked the Lord to forgive me personally, for attempting to do HIS WORK in man’s ways. I purposed in my heart that I was going to act on the truths that I had received. Since that time, my understanding about this vital work of evangelism has been transformed. I went back to the church where I pastor, and began having meetings with my key leaders, teaching them ‘Christ-centered Evangelism’. When I knew that the leaders had grasped these truths, I then spent a number of months teaching my entire church, with great results. I have since been invited by other churches, to teach these essential truths. As a professor of a Bible College, God has given me the opportunities to pour these same truths in to many hungry students in Kenya, Uganda, the Sudan and other nations! I travel extensively in Kenya and some parts of Uganda, to teach pastors in our schools and in their congregations. I have used these precious opportunities to teach the truths of ‘Christ-centered Evangelism’. As the pastors and leaders go to the Word of God, they see that these truths are directly from God. I have witnessed many of them cry to God for forgiveness for attempting to do God’s work in man’s ways. God has transformed many of their churches. It is a trustworthy saying, that these truths are changing East Africa, one person at a time and one church at a time! I am so thankful that the Lord joined you and I together, Bro. Ed. God has helped me greatly in my ministry through these teachings; as well as the teachings of the beatitudes, concerning living a “Christ-centered life”.

NICARAGUA - Pastor Curtis Maynor writes, “All of the pastors have returned to their churches, and are teaching and applying these glorious truths that we have learned during our national conference.” The Lord amazed us once again, by opening a door to teach “Christ-centered Evangelism” to the pastors of the Evangelical Mennonite Conference of Nicaragua, during the first week of January. Rev. Maynor Curtis, one of the leaders of this denomination, had attended the “Christ-centered Evangelism” conference last July in Grenada, Nicaragua. He testified at the end of last year’s conference, that he had received so many blessings and that the Lord had worked powerfully in his life. Upon returning home from this conference last July, Pastor Curtis, contacted me and issued an invitation on behalf of the Mennonite denomination to come in January 2010. He requested that I teach these same truths to the National Pastors’ Conference of the Mennonite Denomination. I knew that this was a Divine appointment from the Lord, so I gladly accepted.

Preparations for the trip to Nicaragua took place. However, just a few days before I was to leave for Nicaragua, I came down with acute sinusitis, bronchitis and a prostrate infection, on top of the chronic neuropathic pain that I always deal with. Because I was so sick, both Dianne and I were truly struggling with the possibility of canceling the trip. The night before I was scheduled to leave, I battled throughout that evening, about whether I should cancel the conference; or should I attempt to get on the plane and go to Nicaragua. Finally, only a few moments before I was scheduled to leave for the airport, I purposed in my heart that I was going to get on the plane by faith; and if I collapsed, I was going to collapse preaching the Word of God. Reluctantly, and with tears of concern, Dianne brought me to the airport. While checking in, I discovered that my flight had been canceled, due to mechanical trouble. Now we were forced to call Nicaragua and tell brother Maynor that I would be delayed for one day. The Lord had mercy on me and gave me one more night to recover. On the next day, I made the flight; but I was still very ill throughout the flight to Managua. But brothers and sisters, by 8:30 the next morning, when I stood to begin teaching “Christ-centered Evangelism” I was empowered by the grace of God with His strength and stamina. I preached that day until 4:30 in the afternoon! It was awesome to experience the strength and power of God, through this weak clay pot!

The Evangelical Mennonites of Nicaragua come from an “Anabaptist” background, just as Baptists in America. But, just as many Baptists in America, they have moved far away from their doctrinal roots, concerning the message and the methods of evangelism. During the first day of teaching, I sensed a great deal of tension from a small group of pastors. The teaching was revealing the reality that in recent decades, many Mennonite preachers and soul-winners, including those in the audience, had been attempting to do God’s work in man’s ways! They had been attempting to carry out God’s great mission, by using the techniques and tactics of men; instead of using the means of God. Throughout the almost 2 hours of “questions and answers” at the end of the first day, Bro. Maynor and I could feel the tension in the air. However, by the middle of the second day, the powerful truths from the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit had graciouly revealed the errors of the humanistic gimmicks and gadgets, and had replaced them with the doctrinal foundations of how to do “God’s work; God’s way; for God’s glory”! There was much public repentance and revival which occurred among the pastors and leaders. By the middle of the third day, the pastors were literally breaking into simultaneous applause upon hearing God’s Word, as the Lord, by His Spirit, was causing them to return to the plumb-line of His Word. Upon the conclusion of the conference, the very pastors that seemed to be resisting these truths on the first day, were now ON FIRE with a desire and determination to return to their churches and teach the precious truths that had been revealed to them.