November 2023
Matthew 9:36-38 “When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’”
“Compassion literally means ‘to suffer together.’ Among emotion researchers, it is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering. Compassion is not the same as empathy or altruism, though the concepts are related.” Quotation taken from Compassion Definition | What Is Compassion (berkeley.edu)
I was reminded today of our Lord’s statement in Matthew 9 when I read a message written by Mudasir and translated and sent to me by Alamadin. The message describes what has happened recently in the Zalengei region of Darfur. “Dear brothers and sisters, the Hasahisa IDP camp is destroyed by RSF. Many people were killed. Hundreds of youths were taken away and no one has heard from them or knows where they are. Many young girls were raped. All the houses were looted. People are moving around like animals without a shepherd.”
Unfortunately, the news from Nyala in South Darfur is about the same. This is the city to which CRM enabled 270 people to evacuate from Al Geneina, and 78 families from Zalengei. Those evacuations were made when Nyala was deemed safe.
The other believers CRM enabled to evacuate were moved to the Jebel Marra Region. Thus far, that region has not experienced fighting. However, the question on everyone’s mind is “how long with it remain that way?” Last week, Adam received an offer from the leader of a group which is based in Jebel Marra. The leader said, “if you can obtain Bibles and Christian literature, we can take them there from South Sudan. We agree with you, Adam, that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and that faith in Him is the way for our people to be released from the bondage of Is**m. We have 35,000 children enrolled in the schools we have opened, and many adult continuing education centers. If you can get Bibles, we will see to it that they are distributed.”
Another “face” of the Sudan war was seen in Kampala last week. CRM had helped two young brothers to evacuate to Kampala from Khartoum through South Sudan. Both suffer from chronic kidney disease. Upon arriving in Kampala, they were registered with the UNHCR, and taken to a hospital so they could resume kidney dialysis. Sudanese believers living in Kampala raised enough money to pay for their first dialysis sessions. CRM sent $1,500 to help the young men settle in, and to pay for more dialysis sessions. Alamadin delivered the money and made the picture of the elder brother, Ibrahim.
He told Alamadin that day “my brother and I represent the younger generation. We are followers of Jesus, and we will correct the mistake by our ancestors in receiving Islam by sharing Jesus. That is the hope for Sudan.” Ibrahim died that very night, leaving his younger brother in the care of the Sudanese believer who had helped them since arriving in Kampala. Adam asks we pray for our Lord to do a miracle of healing in the body of the remaining brother.
Please pray for the believers in Darfur seeking God’s provision and protection during such chaos and violence. Give as the Lord leads. Pray for the leaders on the ground, both in Uganda and inside Darfur, as well as for the leadership of CRM. We want to be used by the Lord Jesus to see the hope of Ibrahim, and thousands of other younger Sudanese Christians, come to realization; a nation of people who have thrown off the yoke of a false religion for faith in the one and only Savior, Jesus.
The picture below was recently made of many of the Darfurians CRM enabled to evacuate all the way to Uganda. Your donations enable CRM to provide for rent on houses, payment of school fees, medical care, and food. The most recent arrivals are being involved in Bible teaching and learning English. Your giving has enabled us to make a down payment of $2,500 on the 2 acres of land, leaving a balance of $5,000. The leaders have recently registered an organization with the Ugandan government which will allow them to own land, have a bank account, and act in a more official capacity.
India
Pastor Raj has set the dates for his third Story Cloth training event in southern India. They are November 21-22. CRM provides the funding for these events. As we reported earlier, Raj was blessed to make audio recordings of the 42 stories of the first cloth in two other languages of India, Tamil, and Malayalam. CRM will send more funds to Raj to enable him to load those recordings on to SD cards so he can distribute them to those who attend.
The current ruling party in India has a history of making life very hard for Christians. Most of the persecution is happening in northern India, however the threat of it is nationwide.
Maasai of Tanzania
The Maasai leaders Mikaeli Tatile and Emmanuel Lazier, report they are seeing much fruit come out of the giving, prayers, and labor of CRM’s efforts in 2022. Those efforts include the two bush evangelism teams of July and August, and the September Handeni Story Cloth training.
Those short-term teams delivered hundreds of Story Cloths and micro-SD cards, dozens of MP3 players, and 14 projectors. Four new churches have been planted, and the Sevier Heights team has provided funding for the building of three church roofs.
The Handeni training involved Maasai and MBBs from the areas of Dodoma and Kigoma. The areas in which Handeni and Kigoma are located have been dominated by Is**m for centuries. Your prayers and gifts will enable CRM to step through the doors of opportunity which have opened because of what happened this year.
Oloika Children’s Home, Kenya
A CRM sponsored team of 25 members will minister to the 116 children of the Oloika Children’s Home, which is in southern Kenya, and carry out an Acts Story Cloth training for 20 church leaders. The event will happen January 8-12. Through the generosity of CRM’s donors, each child will be gifted with two pair of Bata shoes. The team will take out many supplies to be utilized both during the event and afterwards. Those include school supplies and athletic equipment. All donations designated for this event which are not used during that week will be given to the home to help it establish a garden which will help them become more self-reliant.
CRM’s Board Meeting and
Fund-Raising Efforts
In our last newsletter, I asked you to pray for the October 12th board meeting. The Lord answered your prayers. The board was unanimous in voting on amended bylaws and new policies which should place CRM in a better position for fulfilling its mission of “Empowering gospel movements among least reached people.”
Please pray for the CRM board as it seeks to implement its strategies for making the best use possible of its website, and for beginning to utilize social media. Some board members have recently resigned after many faithful years of service. Please pray the Lord will direct CRM’s leadership in selecting new board members.
Please do make note of the fact that we have changed the mailing address of CRM to read: Calvary Road Ministries, 7713 Corryton Rd., P.O. Box 73, Corryton, TN 37721.
CRM is once again active on its Facebook page and is now on Instagram at: @calvaryroadministries Please “Like” and “Follow” and share both accounts with all of your friends. Thanks!
As I conclude, let me thank you for taking to heart the prayer requests in this newsletter, and for your consistent giving to CRM. As indicated above, the tidings from Darfur make it clear that the lives of all believers not already in Jebel Marra are in direct danger. Please pray for the war to end. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide all followers of Jesus. Pray that many Darfurians will be drawn to Jesus as they see the difference He makes in the lives of His sheep. Pray that the Lord will show us how to make use of offer to ship Bibles and Christian literature into Jebel Marra. “Lord Jesus, we are tempted to feel overwhelmed given all that is happening in our own country and in the world. Please direct our thoughts and make straight our paths. Let us never feel comfortable standing on the sidelines. Use us as your agents of transformation. Amen.”
David Crane, President
Calvary Road Ministries