RickSugden Author / Speaker

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REMOTE VILLAGES

Our ministry is on the cutting edge of pioneer missions. We go into places where no missionary has gone before. We do this to hold open-air evangelistic meetings, win the lost, and organize them into new independent Baptist churches. Sometimes the villages are so remote that we have difficulty reaching them. The roads turn into cow paths. Here is an example of one of our attempts to get our team into a village that has very little access. We were able to arrive at the meeting place, win the lost, and organize them into a new local church. As you can see, however, it is not always an easy task to get into these remote areas, but the joy of sharing the gospel, seeing the villagers gladly receive Christ, and seeing a church planted in their midst is indescribable!

10 w

THE MAN WHO COULDN'T DIE

In this village in India, I met a man who told the story of how he lost his big toe. He is a farmer and was irrigating his crops in his field. In such places, power lines are not securely fastened to poles. They are carelessly draped across anything standing upright. It was turning dark, and he accidentally stepped on a section of a power line that had fallen. The electricity was so strong that he could not free himself. He laid there half the night being electrocuted until there was a power outage. The villagers began to call him "the man who couldn't die". His testimony gave me a hearing from these villagers. Most were saved, and a new church was started there.

17 w

ROADSIDE MARKET

In Ghana, everyone must have some kind of business in order to survive. This family only has a few chickens and a small garden, but it is enough to be able to keep a constant supply of something for them to sell to those who pass by. When does their business close? It doesn't: they will lie down next to their stand and spend the night right there when it gets late. They cannot risk losing a sale. Where we plant churches are among the poorest places in the world. In this case, we saw 789 trusting Christ as their Saviour, and Adom Baptist Church was planted.

23 w

WELCOME TO INDIA

In India, guests are greeted with great honor. Garland, made of freshly cut flowers, is placed around visitors' necks to honor them and give them a great welcome. We had just arrived at a new village when they put these beautifully smelling garlands around our necks, and then they had us walk behind a marching band of sorts to announce our arrival. What an amazing experience. Immediately after, we held evangelistic meetings that filled the entire main street with people. Those who trusted Christ as their Saviour were then organized into a new Independent Baptist Church!

29 w

CONSTRUCTING THE CHURCH BUILDING

Before crossing the border from Kenya into Uganda, we held open-air meetings in Kenya along the way. We also had meetings where we planted a church in our previous Kenya meeting. Though the people were impoverished, they pulled their resources to establish a meeting place. One man had some ground he wasn't using. Others gathered large and small branches to construct a poll building. What a blessing to see God's people work together for His glory!