There is so much that is new. Today Tricia and I became grandparents for the 7th time. Born to Andrew and Jennifer in Panama today is Abigail Grace. The entire family rejoices in this little girl. As her little brother says, “Baby Abi is here!”
Gary Edmonds
On New Year’s Day I received a message from Jacob in Rwanda. He pastors a young church and leads a training ministry to equip pastors in how to lead their churches in a wholistic ministry. He presented me with a plan to begin a new ministry that he and his friends are calling “A Channel for Healing the Nation.” His belief is that based upon their vision, their relationship with Breakthrough Partners and their trust in God’s promises, together we will be instrumental in helping this dream become a reality.
As I read his vision and plans, it struck me that God is indeed doing a miraculous new thing in Rwanda. People who have experienced the deep trauma of genocide and incredible economic depravity believe that with God profound change can occur in their lifetime. With hope in the creative Lord, and according to His truth, they are convinced that they can be instruments of substantial change.
Gary Edmonds
Last month we spent time with one ministry we work with in Rwanda that reaches out to orphaned and neglected children. They are just starting to work with prostitutes’ children. Already 35 little ones come to the gatherings and are fed, bathed and taught about Jesus. They hope to start a pre-school, giving the children the basics in education. The motivation is to keep these precious children from following in their mothers’ footsteps. Several children gave testimonies at our meeting, saying such things as, “My mommy used to leave me alone at night and I was so scared. And then she always came home drunk and was so angry. But now she has prayed to Jesus and she doesn’t drink anymore and takes better care of me. So I want to pray to Jesus, too.”
Tricia Edmonds
Tricia with Rwandan Children
My heart was overjoyed as I read an email from Jacob, one of our partners in Rwanda, written from a conference hall in Goma, Congo. With artillery fire in the background, he taught a Vision Conference to 50 pastors who “were so excited about the training they received about how to wholistically develop their community. Even though each day was filled with tension due to the advancing threat, the men and women attending wouldn’t leave until the last minute and hungrily received all the materials we shared with them.” God protected the attendees in the midst of rebel attacks and blessed them. As one elderly pastor said, “We can’t liberate our people from dependency and poverty without learning these materials.”
Breakthrough Partners works with courageous and godly leaders who are facing hardships that most of us cannot comprehend. Gas prices have soared to $8 per gallon in Rwanda. Food prices have skyrocketed and availability is scarce. People who ate one meal per day now eat one meal every three days. The result – churches are swamped with cries for help.
We are walking daily with leaders like Jacob to give them encouragement, skills, resources and tools to rebuild lives and devastated communities in the most challenging of circumstances. These leaders need to be strengthened to actually break the poverty cycle, genocide ideology, moral corruption and animistic beliefs. They need wisdom to bring sustain-able biblical solutions to change their nations. This is the work of Breakthrough Partners.
Gary Edmonds
I recently returned from meetings in Thailand focusing on history of the church in Laos. God has truly done some amazing things in that country. Laos still faces difficult times, with some sisters and brothers in Christ facing persecution, yet God is at work. It strengthens our faith when we recall how God has directly intervened in the past.
For example, Christ’s church in southern Laos grew among the rejects of society. A strong church grew up among the population with leprosy. Because of their disease they settled in villages which had been set up for others with the dreaded disease. Missionaries treated them there and allowed them to experience the love of Jesus Christ.
Another group, the “Phi Pop,” was accused of being possessed by evil spirits. Sometimes spirit possession did occur; at other times individuals or families were simply accused by rivals. Just the accusation forced them to leave the village. They set up their own “Phi Pop” villages. People here were particularly receptive to the message of Jesus Christ. In fact, for the average lowland Lao in southern Laos, Christianity became known as the “Phi Pop religion.” Whereas so much of our outreach efforts focus on people with means, Jesus still targets the rejects of society. As one person has said, “If the church will go after the people no one wants, it will end up with the people everyone wants.” A strong foundation was laid for a vital church still growing in Laos today.
Dave Andrianoff
Last week, Charles George, one of the two lead pastors in the Safe Havens Initiative in Cape Town, reported that after my visit one of the area’s chief drug lords attended the Sunday service asking how he could find peace and deliverance. The church leaders in the most violent and impoverished slums are now working together to proclaim and demonstrate the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. Tens of thousands of children and adults are being served and helped daily.
Gary Edmonds
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