“Hey, brother. There have been more challenges in our village from local church leaders. They have stopped me from building an Adventist shelter in the village. I need prayers. This will not stop me from sharing the truth.”

I received this text message from Josh, one of our faithful church members (see the April 2025 issue). I love this guy. He has incredible persistence in sharing the Bible with everyone with whom he comes in contact. He was recently transferred to a new village, four hours downriver from us, to be the local school headmaster (what those in the West would call a school principal).

This area has been dominated by a brand of animism that has sold itself to the people as Christianity. While many of its members welcome the idea of learning more from the Bible, its leaders can be antagonistic toward anything not approved by them.

Josh’s wife is from this village, and for the last year she and Josh have been consistently sharing with their relatives and neighbors, helping them and studying with anyone willing to listen. Many people have responded positively, and one man has even donated a piece of land in the village so they can build a small shelter to worship under on Sabbaths. This action upset the local church leaders, who ordered Josh to stop building, prompting him to text me his prayer request. We began to pray.

The next day, I received a follow-up message from Josh. “Brother, the shelter will be built. God is good all the time. The pastor and some church leaders are very sorry after they tried to stop me from planting an SDA church. I am praying for them.”

I was thrilled! It seemed like the doors were opening for the work to move forward there. However, it was not long before the tide shifted back.

“I am talking more with local church leaders about planting the SDA church. They made a statement. ‘No SDA church here. This is our land. Look for another place.’ Please, I need your prayers.”

Josh is undaunted! His request for prayer did not come from discouragement but was a request for reinforcements. Please pray that Josh will have wisdom and discernment, and that, by God’s grace, one day an Adventist church will be planted in this village as a light for their community.

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