PrayerPoints, July 2022

JULY 2022 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Entrusting the gospel to believers who will teach it to others is key to engaging the growing city of Kinshasa, Democratic Rep и blic of Congo. Ora! strategies effectively equip believers with biblical knowledge to accomplish this. Oral strategies and prayer must be a cen tral to engage this city of 1 6 million people. And what you nave heard from mein the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who willbe able to teach otnersalso. 2 Timothy 22 ESV ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYER BLESSING AND PROSPERITY MESSAGES IN CHURCHES DECEIVE AFRICAN URBAN DWELLERS Similar to .America's Bible Belt, there is a church on nearly every corner in Kinshasa, the second -largest city in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the IMB's Global Cities. Most people in Kinshasa associate with some type of church, wh ether of a mainstream denomination or a self-proclaimed apostle who promises blessings to anyone who gives an offering. I MB missionary Aaron Kuglin estimates that there are over 20,000 churches in this city of 14 million, the capital of the Demo¬ cratic Republic of the Congo. He and other missionaries aim for these churches to be transformed by the Word of God. Congolese need to know that "Jesus didn't die so you could be healthy and wealthy; Jesus died so you could have aright relationship with God,", Aaron said. People are eager for God's blessings, but many don't realize that the blessing is forgiveness from sin. Many who AC a training in a church in Kinshasa, participants practice retelling a Bible story they just learned. faithfully attend church have never been taught to repent. A young woman named Marie attended three or four churches, trying to follow God. Pastors suggested prayers, activi¬ ties, and group memberships, but they never called her to repentance. When Marie went to an evangelism training led by .Aaron and his wife, she realized she had never asked God for forgiveness. She committed her life to Christ and is now a faithful member of the Kuglins' weekly Bible storying group. She regularly goes into marketplaces to share God's Word. As God's truth spreads through people like Marie, churches in Kinshasa can become true places of blessing through the transforming power of the gospel . In May 2022, you prayed fora missionary, seeking to minister to 3,000 indigenous people living in Bogota, Colombia. Now, he has valuable help in the task. ’Thanks to God for putting to¬ gether a 'veteran team'!" he said. "God also provided leaders who are willing to share what they have learned from many years of ministering to the indigenous."