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Go out to the roads...“Then
the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country
lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full”
(Luke 14:23).
May 2015, Ingebrigt Hoset was
invited to Nairobi, Kenya, by the church Calvary Covenant Centre. The
church is founded by bishop Jefferson Nyatuka. They have 200 churches
around Kenya, and more than 60.000 members. Our mission was to preach
on a pastors- and leaders’ conference, teach in their church, and
evangelize in the streets together with a team from the church. We are
familiar with preaching in conferences and churches, as well as outdoor
crusades and evangelical campaigns, but we are not well-acquainted with
this kind of street evangelism. We teamed up two and two, and walked
around in selected parts of the city in the morning, sharing the gospel
with those we met. In the afternoon the teams gathered, and drove
around in a truck loaded with powerful speakers, playing music and
sharing testimonies and the Word of God. This was a successful way of
reaching people, and more than one hundred received Jesus as their
Saviour on the streets!
Here are some pictures of people we met 17-year old Levi Munene was one of the first Ingebrigt shared the gospel with this day. He listened and came to faith. A grateful Levi after becoming a believer.
An angry, young man
For the street evangelism,
Ingebrigt teamed up with pastor John Alusiola, one of the nine pastors
in Calvary Covenant Centre. The first morning we prayed with eight
people to salvation. The people were very open to the gospel. We met
people with many different needs. One of them was Gideon, a young man
in the early twenties. When he noticed Ingebrigt from a distance he
started shouting “I am so angry!” while hastening toward
us. When asked why he was angry, he replied that he was hungry and
unemployed, and asked for money for a cup of tea. Ingebrigt did not
carry any money, because of the location they were on, but instead
offered him the gospel. We did not have bread, but offered him the
Bread of Life. Not often have we seen such an instantly change in a
person, from showing aggression one moment, to meeting Jesus and
becoming a winner of souls the very next. After receiving salvation,
Gideon brought John and Ingebrigt to his house where his friend
Frederick were, and after 3-4 minutes he also came to faith. Then,
Gideon brought John, a nine-year old refugee from South Sudan who was
an orphan, and he also came to faith! In many ways Gideon reminds us of
the young man described in Judges in the Bible, who was frustrated with
his life, but had a visit that changed everything for him. Everyone who
came to faith were registered with name and phone number for further
follow-up.
Gideon, Frederick, John and Ingebrigt outside Gideon's home. The children
Jesus tells us to let the little children come to him, for
the kingdom of God belongs to them (Luke 18:16). I Kenya, as well as
other African countries, there are many children out on the streets,
and whenever something out of the ordinary takes place, they show up.
This is a pictures of some of the children we met.
When we take a count of those who have been saved, we do not count the children, because they may copy the acts of those around them, without having faith themselves. However, God look to their hearts, and he alone knows who have come to faith in Christ. One of the places we preached, a sports team flocked around us. For a while they “forgot” why there were there, and were busy talking to Ingebrigt and touching his white skin. It was a time of laughter and great joy! The meetings
Ingebrigt teached at a pastors-
and leaders’ conference with more than 80 pastors, bishops and
other church leaders. The teaching was well-received, and the listeners
took notes so they could share the message in their own churches.
Others would check to see if what was preached was according to the Bible. At the end of our trip Ingebrigt preached at two Sunday services in Calvary Covenant Center. More than 2000 people attended. Bishop Nyatuka closed up the final meeting, and told the church that this ..was the message the church had been waiting for! We are so grateful to God, that he uses the ministry given to Word of Freedom to bring his inspired word to the nations! Some of the attendants at Sunday service. Pastor John Alusiola and Ingebrigt Hoset outside Calvary Convention Centre.
Closing words
While Ingebrigt was in Nairobi he received several invitations to both Calvary Convention Centre and other churches, to preach at pastors- and leaders’ conferences as well as evangelical campaigns. Before leaving we had already decided on two new trips. This trip to Nairobi was a time of visitation, where people got saved and the people of God got encouraged. We look with excitement for this to be continued! |
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Webmaster: Dan Hoset | Word of Freedom, 6650 Surnadal, Norway |