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February 10, 2009

Two small coins

Underneath the night-black turban, two bright, imploring eyes and a nervous smile shone from a man’s dark face, as he reached out his hand to give me two shiny coins. “Please pray for me” he said.

I paused in the middle of my preaching in Markoye market place, thrown off-balance for a minute.

During February, we are visiting a number of villages, to preach the gospel, and encourage the pastors working in these remote areas. We are finding a responsiveness that we have not seen in previous years. The people of Markoye have in the past often been dismissive of preaching in the market. But years of faithful, loving witness by the pastor, Christians, and missionaries there has awoken an interest in the message of Christ. Yesterday, we had small crowds of men, women, and children gathering round to listen attentively to the good news of salvation in Christ.

The local Muslim religious teachers expect to be given money to pray for people, or provide any religious service. The people have come to expect this too, and when they see someone they perceive as a man of God, they offer him money to ask for his prayers.

“God bless you!” I said. “We will pray for you, but please keep your money, or give it to the poor. The grace of God cannot be bought or sold. We will gladly pray for you for nothing!”

We are being offered money more and more to pray for people. In village G last week, the villagers tried to give us a goat to thank us for preaching there, and asked us to come back again. It is always an encouraging sign that people are being touched. But it is also a challenge - how do we honour their intention, but at the same time underline that the gift of God is free. “We do not peddle the word of God for profit.” (2Cor2:17)

The crowd at the market were captivated by the exchange, and I picked up on the theme of God’s grace, given freely to us in Christ, as I carried on preaching.

Three times during the preaching, people came to try and give us money, and at the end of the message, we had a small crowd of people coming to ask for prayer. Standing in the market, we laid hands on people and blessed them in the name of Jesus Christ.

Please pray for us as we continue to preach in different villages throughout this coming month. And please pray for people to come to a full understanding of God’s gift in Christ, and that they may respond with faith and joy to receive the new life he offers.

Thank you.

Posted by Keith at February 10, 2009 10:00 PM