Despite Persecution, Ministry Continues
Jihadist attacks against Christian churches in Africa have been
reported entirely too frequently in recent months. One country
experiencing such violence, heartbreak, and persecution is
Burkina Faso.
Early in 2020, OMS Village Church Planting (VCP) director
Claude Douti spoke with Michel Ouedraogo, the president of the
Burkina Faso Assemblies of God. Brother Michel communicated
that jihadist violence had resulted in the internal displacement of
approximately 200 pastors.
President Ouedraogo asked Claude if OMS could train these 200
pastors to become VCP volunteer trainers. The first group of 59
displaced pastors participated in the initial training session in
February 2020.
VCP is an OMS ministry that uses simple, practical curriculum and
a training center model. Each training center has one VCP trainer
who is an experienced church planter and uses an interactive,
hands-on approach in the training. Each trainer trains as many
as 15 Christian villagers to plant a church in each of 15 villages
where no church exists. The trainer then helps the original 15
churches plant daughter churches in neighboring villages.
Several hundred years after the death and resurrection of Christ,
church father Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the church.” Jesus himself taught in John 12:24, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and
dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Please pray with us that our martyred brothers and sisters have
not died in vain, that the Gospel seed of their lives will sprout
and grow and produce much fruit. Please pray that each of these
displaced pastors will be able to effectively train a small army of
church planters.
8,059 worshiping groups 198,085 decisions 82,097 baptisms
44 OMS Global Impact Report Report Africa