The Future Church Leaders of San Francisco

Maria and five village men studying to be church leaders of their communities

     These men and Maria, who travels with me, have been studying for the last three years to complete the Bible institute course requirements to be installed as pastor, assistant pastor, and deacons for their communities. They are nearly finished and the men will receive their credentials under the Assembly of God to operate in the roles they are studying for.  Maria will be under another denomination and so will operate under them. The AOG ordination process is quite lengthy but they can operate as a pastor or church leader until they complete the process.

     I am very proud to say that since they have officially become an Assembly of God church four years ago they have grown tremendously in their knowledge and application of the Bible in their lives, sharing the Gospel, and leading their small congregation in church services. Nilton (the man with his thumb up), who is studying to be the pastor, has been very active in reaching out to neighboring communities with the Gospel and many have responded.

     Just last week while we were together Nilton arranged for us to meet with his wife's family in a near-by village called New Hope in order to present the Gospel and it went miraculously well. His wife Paula's father had been practicing shamanism for quite some time (the ability to contact the spirit world through a trance state and divination for healing and other needs) and was strongly opposed to us as Christians coming to his house to talk about God. He even threatened to throw his grandson out if he did not cease to talk to him about the Lord. Now, he was not only agreeable to hear about the Lord but was willing to have his whole family sit and listen to the Gospel message as well. This may be due to his wife battling with the Covid virus and had to be hospitalized that he, apparently, could not heal. For whatever reason he had a change of heart that even Nilton was surprised at. After the message and prayer for healing as we said our good-byes he actually invited us back!

Nilton sharing the Gospel message

     While this is a huge breakthrough in this family we are still planning a 3-day outreach in November with the rest of the village to encourage those who have accepted he Lord but have not committed to live for Him and to those who have yet to enter into a relationship with Him. This village, like so many others, have people that accept Christ but do not commit to live for Him. It's the parable of the sower in action and so must be dealt with on a spiritual level.

Francisco Jr. preaching in a Sunday morning service

     Another great development is that the more timid members of the Bible institute, Fransciso Jr. (pictured above) and his brother Richar have been actively participating in leading and preaching in the church services for their village. They had not done this before due to the intimidation of public speaking but over the last several months they have really come out of their shell and are sharing confidently, especially Francisco Jr. This is very important because they must be able to minister boldly to those around them if they are to fulfill the call of God on their lives and, praise God they are doing it!

     God is truly on the move through this small but mighty body of believers and will continue to bring them into everything He has called them to. I want to thank each of you so very much for praying for our brothers and sisters in San Francisco, to reach their people with the Gospel. It is truly miraculous to see where they've come from and where they are now. Blessings to each one of you for all that you are doing to make this happen!

Together in the Harvest,

Sharon Malcolm

Missionary with

Go To Nations since 1998