December 07, 2011

Subject: Discipleship Africa – December Newsletter

Dear Partners in Ministry,

What a joyous time of year as we pause to celebrate our dear Savior’s birth! We praise God for His birth, His sinless life and His voluntary death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin! It is because of our kinship in Christ and mutual love for Him that we are united in purpose to share God’s love with the world!

As many of you know, Brother Joe Parnell and I traveled to Zambia and on to Malawi, Africa in February of this year. We had a time of encouragement, training and planning with the Emmaus leadership in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. These times of planning are especially important because the Zambian leadership is taking more and more responsibility for the ministry. Brother Mulengwani, Brother Dickson’s Joshua, is doing a tremendous job in God’s strength as he takes a leading role in the transition there.

Across the border in Malawi we were greeted by our dear friends Ross and Sherry Collier who are long time IMB missionaries in Malawi and members of Mobberly Baptist Church here in Longview. Brother Ross has been very instrumental in helping us get the Emmaus Discipleship Africa work started in Malawi, in part by guiding us to godly men and women to serve in our core group there. The core group began studying the Emmaus discipleship courses last year and nine were prepared to graduate when we arrived. We had a wonderful time of encouragement and training followed by an exciting graduation service! The graduation was well attended by friends and family of the graduates. The accomplishments of the graduates were celebrated, the gospel was preached and the challenge of the Great Commission was presented! These graduates have been very fruitful in their work since then. We have received word that 200 or more students have completed the curriculum and are prepared for graduation now; the first fruit of this small core group of graduates. Please pray that I can get back to Malawi soon for graduation and training! At this rate, thousands will develop as Great Commission Christians over the next few years! Brother Ross has stated that discipleship training is one of the greatest needs in this spiritually fertile area where more than 600 churches were planted in Lilongwe last year and tens of thousands are being baptized annually.

During the past seven years since inception of Discipleship Africa, we have seen 37,160 Bible courses distributed with 27,564 courses completed and graded. The significance of the 27,564 graded courses is that an African discipleship trainer sits with a student approximately one hour to discuss and grade each course. This represents approximately 27,564 hours of one-on-one Bible study and discipleship Training! Many of those studying the courses began as non-believers! Only the Lord knows the full impact where potentially thousands of Africans are coming to know Christ and moving on to become fruitful Great Commission Christians! But it doesn’t stop there, a great number of churches (more than forty) have been planted and five public schools started (Village Outreach) using the discipleship process. Just this week I received a message from Brother Banda in the Eastern Province of Zambia thanking the Discipleship Africa supporters. He wrote –

“We write to thank you (for) the sponsorships that you have been giving us in the last 3 years here in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Through ERT correspondence (ERT is a Zambian non-profit organization set up by EGN), the people of this province have benefited a lot through projects like schools and training of teachers and church leaders – interdenominational – through ERT. May God bless you for your outreach money that has been helping us do the various projects.” The three year period he is referring to is the period in which the public schools were started and supported.

Many of the saints in Africa make great sacrifice for the ministry. Ten of our Emmaus graduates have accepted a call to be teachers in the new Village Outreach basic schools in five rural villages, where there are no other opportunities for education. This is a full time commitment for them and we try to support them with a modest living allowance of $25 per month plus some school supplies. The villagers are so committed to having an opportunity for their children’s education that they are spending all of their free time making mud bricks and constructing buildings for the schools. There are 525 students now enrolled.

As you know the work has also spread into death row of prisons, refugee camps, the most remote areas of the country and across the border into Mozambique!

Because of your generosity, we have been able to provide:

• Distribution of nearly 40,000 Bible courses     • Hundreds of Bibles

• Building materials for churches                              • Bicycles for ministry workers

• Construction of a training facility in Malawi      • Medical assistance

• Missionary assistance                                                  • Needy believer assistance

• Gifts of Fellowship for ministry leaders                • Food and clothing for the needy

• Thousands of gospel tracts & the Gospel of John   • Evangelistic events in schools and villages

• Startup and ongoing support of five public schools (Village Outreach) including buildings, teacher salaries, student material and basic food

• Establishment of a Zambian Nonprofit Christian organization (ERT) for conducting ministry activity within Zambia

• Ongoing professional accounting in Zambia for compliance with Zambia Revenue Authority

• Development of Discipleship Africa Leadership Training Material designed for use throughout South Central Africa

As we move out in faith, we trust God for the resources that are needed for the ever expanding work. Here are some specific areas where financial resources are needed:

• Construction funds to complete the Malawi Training Center, $2,000 needed

• Replenishment of Bible fund, $1,000+ needed (We can use as many Bibles as we can get!)

• Replenishment of bicycle fund for ministry workers to extend their range of ministry, $2,000 needed

• Funding for Village Outreach, the ministry of establishing and supporting government sanctioned Christian Basic Schools in remote areas. $350 is needed monthly to support the current schools. We would like to collect as much as $5,000 to establish ten new schools. We have Zambian Ministry of Education approval to establish as many schools as we can support. If ten new schools are established, monthly support for these new schools would be approximately $700/mo.

• General fund for Zambian Leadership expenses which primarily covers travel. $1,000 monthly needed (Zambia is about the size of California and our leadership covers a significant amount of the country monthly to support the work and deliver needed courses and Bibles.)

• Fund for Gifts of Fellowship for Zambian Leadership, Missionary assistance and needy believers, $1,000 needed monthly

• Funds for medical assistance, $200 needed monthly

As you can see, God can do so much with gifts ranging from a few dollars to the larger gifts of thousands of dollars! You can provide a Bible to someone who has never owned one for $6.00 or finance the establishment of a new school for $500! You can support a school with a monthly contribution of $70 once it is established and make it possible for hundreds of children to get a basic education they could not get otherwise! You can provide a bicycle for $120 and greatly increase the range of a discipleship leader. Because one man rode a bicycle 53 miles with Emmaus courses, hundreds, possibly thousands have come to know Christ and been discipled in a remote refugee camp! Contributions small and large can be used for Training Center completion or establishment and support of a Village Outreach school. Monthly support can be used for leadership expenses and gifts of fellowship, missionary assistance, needy believer support and medical expenses! Your generosity at every level can make a life changing impact on the lives of the dear people of South Central Africa!

Please take time to look at our website www.jerichoroad.org. You will find newsletters, current ministry information and photos including photos of the Village Outreach Basic Schools in the Eastern Province. For your convenience, donations can also be made online on our website.

Well, these are truly exciting times and we look expectantly to what God has in store for the people of Zambia, Malawi and the South-Central region of Africa. There are seven English speaking countries in the region and Emmaus international leadership is very open to us expanding the ministry there!

Isn’t it exciting to see how God can use regular people like you and me to be a part of something that just continues to grow and impact our world for Christ!

Once more, we want to praise God for the tireless work, prayer and faithful support of our partners in ministry. By God’s grace it is making an eternal difference!

Your Brother in Christ,

Eddie G. Napps

President

Jericho Road Ministries

PS – Please remember we have an 8 minute Discipleship Africa DVD that can be used to introduce others to the ministry. If you would like to have DVDs or if you would like for me to speak in your home church, class or small group, please let me know.

Discipleship Africa Statistics

• Emmaus Courses distributed – 34,160

• Emmaus Courses corrected – 27,564

• Average number of Emmaus Courses distributed per month since inception – 405

• Average number of Emmaus Courses corrected per month since inception – 328

• 80% of courses distributed have been completed and corrected with a passing grade

• Over 2,000 students have graduated for the series of 12 courses

• Nearly 90% of those graduates have gone on to be trained as Leaders and begun a home based discipleship work enlisting students, distributing and correcting course, and mentoring their students.

• Approximately 1,000 Bibles have been distributed, many to people who have never owned a Bible

• Emmaus Bible Study material is one of the most widely used evangelistic non-denominational Bible studies in the world.

• Out of 27 African nations, Zambia ranks #3 in total courses distributed in recent years.

• Zambia ranks first in Africa in the percentage of courses completed, largely because it is a one-on-one discipleship process there.

• The work in Zambia was begun with 59 students in 2004 that completed the first twelve courses, graduated and were trained to develop Great Commission Christians through the Emmaus process. The distribution of 34,160 in Zambia since that time is the fruit of the multiplication process.

• The work in Malawi was begun with nine students in 2011 that completed the first twelve courses, graduated and were trained to develop Great Commission Christians through the Emmaus process.

Every need and every problem presents an opportunity. One of our Emmaus Regional Coordinators is surrounded by hundreds of remote villages in rural farming areas. Children in these villages have no access to educational opportunities. One village chief pleaded with Pastor Banda to return and educate their children. He explained that without education, their children had no future.

Discipleship Training in Action

The graduates of our Emmaus Bible study program are generally very enthusiastic about applying what they have learned. Some choose to operate Bible Centers from their home, where they invite friend and neighbors to become students of the Bible, as they mentor and encourage them. Others employ their new knowledge and skills as teachers and leaders in their churches. Some feel compelled to go back to their villages as missionaries and teach the Gospel to their people.

Called to Teach

Ten of our Emmaus graduates with an academic background have agreed to move back to five of these villages and start primary schools for the children. Our Emmaus Bible study material is also an important part of the curriculum, so the children are receiving a Christian education as well as basic literacy and math skills.

Christian Education for Village Children

While our primary focus is on discipleship training, we are ever mindful of the struggle of day-to-day living in developing nations.  Most families can tell you that education is the only means for their children  to escape a lifetime of poverty.  Jericho Road Ministries is supporting the development of schools in five remote villages, where children would otherwise have no opportunity for education. All of our teachers are graduates of the Emmaus Bible Study program and use the courses as a basis for religious instruction in the schools.

What better way to make disciples than to start with the very young before they are indoctrinated with Muslim  and tribal religious traditions. Muslims are very willing to provide schools which teach only the Koran.

In our first school, the response was so great that we had to divide the 115 students into morning and afternoon shifts. Word of the school spread rapidly throughout the villages and we had many requests for more schools. The program rapidly expanded to 5 schools with 525 students and dozens more can be added as resources are available.

Financial needs

FACILITIES – Local communities constructed classrooms from logs, sticks, mud bricks and thatched roofs at no expenses other than their labor. They are now fabricating mud bricks for a more permanent structure with a metal roof. Funds are needed for cement mortar and metal roofing sheets.

TEACHERS – Each of the 5 schools have two teachers. They receive a gift of $40 per month for their service

.                                                                                               Total needed – $400/mo.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES – $50 per month per school.       Total needed – $250/mo.

STUDENT MEALS – $60 per month per school.          Total needed – $300/mo.

TRANSPORTATION –                                                         Total needed – $50/mo.

Total cost per month -            $1,000

Monthly cost per school             $200

Monthly cost per student               $2

There are many additional services that could be provided, such as medical screening, vaccinations, nutritional supplements, wheel chairs for the disabled, and of course many more schools are needed. The national department of education has given official recognition of these schools, but no funding is available.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 19:14

What Can You Do?

We earnestly pray for individuals and organizations to sponsor one or more schools at $200 per month. An alternative would be to provide scholarships for 10, 25 or 50 students at $20, $50 or $100 per month.

All contributions are tax deductible and each donor will receive a year end receipt for all contributions. For more information about the Village Schools, go to   Discipleship Training in Africa

Donations may be made through our web site at Donate Online. Payments can be made from any major credit or debit card. PayPal users may also use a checking or savings account. This is a secure web site.

Donations may also be made by direct mail to :

Jericho Road Ministries

PO BOX 3067

Longview, Texas 75606

Two school girls in Chamalenye

Discipleship Training in Action

Priscilla and her husband walked from a remote village in Zambia to a medical facility in Petauke. The distance was about 18 miles and the Priscilla was in severe pain. She was admitted to a hospital and scheduled for surgery. Pastor Banda, one of the first graduates of the Emmaus Bible Study Program, made a routine visit to the hospital to comfort the sick. He met Priscilla. She told him she was very scared because she was sure she was going to die. Pastor Banda taught Priscilla and her husband about the love of God and assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Both husband and wife made professions of faith.

After Priscilla was released from the hospital, she was in no condition to walk back to her village. Pastor Banda and his wife, Lyness, have a tiny house with 5 children, but they made room for Priscilla to stay with them for a couple of weeks to recuperate. During that time, Pastor Banda and his wife had many opportunities to teach Priscilla and her husband. Each day, the husband would walk back to the village and explain to his friends what the pastor had taught him.

People are taught – People believe

By the time Priscilla returned home, there were 15 families who wanted Pastor Banda to come and teach them. After a couple of months there were over 80 new believers and they wanted someone to come and help organize a church.

The village was so remote that there were no roads to get there, only a foot path. The villagers said they would make a road for us so we could drive there. When we arrived, we found almost a mile of new trail wide enough for a car to drive through the trees. We could see many cut trees lying beside the roadway. This was not the typical village where people build their huts close together in a community. These people were farmers and lived some distance from each other. They had cleared the trees and brush at a central location and there under the shade trees they had arranged a meeting place with a table and chair for the pastor and rows of logs for the people to sit on.

After the preaching and singing and all the necessary steps in organizing a church, the people gave the American visitor the honor of selecting a name for the church. This was a mountainous area and the meeting place they selected looked out over a valley to the next mountain. I told them that it reminded me of my hometown, called Longview, because from some places you can look out for a long distance. They liked that name and agreed on a translation of Masomphenya for “long view,” and so the church was called Masomphenya Baptist Church.

Gifts of Gratitude and Plea for help

The members had gone to great preparation for this meeting. They prepared a delicious meal for the guests, including “bush meat” and a vegetable sauce. It was a bit embarrassing, because there was food only for the guests. The members sat on logs and watched us each. Someone remembered that we had purchased some sugar cane along the road, so we got it out of the truck and cut it into short pieces. There was enough for everyone and we were all happily enjoying a meal.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the village headman stood to speak and thank us for coming and bringing his village people together in a special way. Then he made an impassioned plea for us to return and educate their children. He explained that without education, they had no future. The Headman offered us land and a portion of their crops, if we would come and teach their children.

When we returned home, we discussed the possibility of starting a school there. We had several young men in Petauke who were graduates of our Emmaus Bible courses and also had a high school education. With a small amount of money, we were able to purchase some writing books and pencils for students and a primary school text book and some chalk for the teacher. You can see from the pictures that the villagers contributed their work to build a classroom for the students. The response from the children was overwhelming. We now have 115 students (including some adults) and it was necessary to split the group into a morning and an afternoon session.

Can God turn Tragedy into a Blessing?

From a pastor meeting with a frightened woman who feared for her life, emerged a new church with 80 new Christians and a school for 115 children who would otherwise never have an opportunity to be educated. Good news travels fast from village to village, and soon, Pastor Banda was receiving frequent requests from village chiefs to come and start a school in their village also.

This whole series of events is a direct result of the ministry of Jericho Road Ministries. Over the past five years, they have established close to 1,000 Emmaus Bible Centers through out Zambia and have distributed well over 20,000 Bible Study Courses. Now these graduates are becoming true disciples by becoming missionaries and teachers to people in the more remote areas.

Rapid Expansion for Christian Education

As of the April, 2011, we now have five village schools with 525 students. We have ten teachers who are all high school graduates and also graduates of the 12 Emmaus Bible Study Courses. They are all proficient in the English language and basic math skills. We try to give the teachers a gift of $40 per month for their time and work. You might ask, “Are they qualified to teach?” We believe they are if we provide them with the right tools. In the US, we have hundreds of thousands of parents teaching a home school with little or no college preparation. It is our hope to get home schooling materials to Zambia to help support these teachers. If you know of a source where we can get donated educational materials, home teaching or otherwise, you can contact us through our web site at www.jerichoroad.org or email to glenn@jerichoroad.org.

Not only are the children being taught reading, writing and arithmetic, they also get about 30 minutes of instruction each day about the Bible, taught from the Emmaus courses. The example and instruction of the teachers are preparing these children to be new Christians in the near future. If you have any children’s Bible story books that you could donate, they would be most helpful.

Recognition of our Village Schools

The National Education Director and Council of Village Chiefs have examined the village schools and give their official recognition and support. However there is no funding available to support the schools. The village elders gladly organize their people to construct a classroom from logs, sticks and grass roofs. When food is available; they also provide one daily meal for the children. Many of the children are orphans and this school meal may be the only meal they have that day.

We have a letter from one of the chiefs over many districts, which reads in part:

This is to certify that the Masomphenya Christian School does exist in Chief Nyamphande’s chiefdom in Kafonda Area. The Royal Establishment shall be grateful if you can assist them with whatever help, so that they can advance their noble objectives.

Thank you. Yours in National Services,

Chief Nyamphande

What Does the Future Hold?

There is such a need for education of rural children in Zambia, that we could easily double or triple the number of schools this year if funding were available. The Muslims are also at work in the villages. They often go to existing schools and offer to build new schools buildings and provide teaching from the Koran, provided that the Bible is removed from the classrooms. We have ready and eager children. We have willing Christian teachers who have proven themselves in the Emmaus Bible Courses. What is needed is financial support from the USA.

What is the Cost to Educate Zambian Village Children?

Where schools exist in urban area, families must pay close to $200 per year for each child. Consider that the average wage is around $30/mo., it would take over half a years earning to educate one child. More than 50% of children never attend even one year of school. Less than one in ten of those who start ever graduate from high school.

Our village Christian schools operate on a budget of about $180 per month for over 100 children. For less than $2.00 per month, one Zambian child can receive a Christian education. Some families have pledged to support 10 or 20 students or more through monthly contributions. 100% of the funds donated go directly to the village schools. We believe this to be one of the most cost efficient charities in the world. Each donor receives a receipt for a tax deductible donation. Jericho Road is a recognized 501c3 non-profit organization.

For more information, go to www.jerichoroad.org. There is a link to make online contributions there. Or contributions may be mailed to:

Jericho Road Ministries

PO BOX 3067 ●  Longview, TX 75606

= Cost to educate one child

Leadership Training in Zambia

Eddie Napps and Joe Parnell conducted a two-day leadership training session with our Zambian team leaders. They then continued to Malawi to conduct our first graduation of Emmaus Graduates.

Zambia Leadership Team

Malawi Graduation

Malawi is now officially working the Emmaus Bible Centers program with eight new Bible Centers, but these are not ordinary Bible Centers. We have as our starting team, eight of the top pastors in all of Malawi. These men were hand picked by Ross Collier, our IMB missionary. They are well know leaders in Christian ministry. Their students are now other pastors, who will take the program to their congregations. Malawi is unique in that we are starting with only the capital city of Lilongwe with over two million people. This will be a much more efficient operation with only local travel involved. Graduates will eventually be taking the program to more remote parts of Malawi.

Malawi Leadership Team

November 29, 2010

Subject:  Discipleship Africa – November Update

Dear Partner in Ministry,

What an exciting time it is, as we see God slowly, and in His time, revealing His expanding purpose for us in South Central Africa! As I pen this letter, Zambian nationals are leading the largest number of graduations we have seen in the history of the ministry with an anticipated 500 newly equipped graduates in 22 cities, while across the border in Lilongwe, Malawi precious saints are forming 33,000 bricks by hand for the new Emmaus Course distribution and training center in preparation for what could be explosive growth there!

The Zambia work continues to expand under the national leadership of Brother Dickson; however Mulengwani, his apprentice, continues to learn and take the lead in many areas. Mulengwani is a very gifted young man, who we feel God is preparing for the national leadership position. While we are very grateful for Brother Dickson and Brother Mulengwani, we are also very grateful for the commitment and faithful service of three other Zone Coordinators, forty four Area Coordinators and some 1,400 Bible Center Correctors!

For years now, Brother Banda, our Zambia Eastern Province Zone Coordinator, has equipped and sent men to remote areas of Zambia and Mozambique with God’s word and the Emmaus material. His purpose was to establish preaching points to share the gospel and equip the new Christian using the Emmaus courses. This has resulted in 17 known new churches and three public schools! Through an initiative called Village Outreach and under Brother Banda’s leadership, the Zambian Government has approved the establishment of multiple Primary Schools for children who would not otherwise have an opportunity to receive an education. Teachers have been enlisted and the Bible and Emmaus course are taught as part of the curriculum. We praise God for this opportunity!

Across the border in Lilongwe, Malawi we are positioning for what could be explosive growth. Lilongwe is a bustling city of more than 2 million with approximately 60,000 new people moving in each year. Brother Ross and Sherry Collier, IMB missionaries to Malawi for more than 20 years and members of Mobberly Baptist in Longview oversee church planting and growth there in Lilongwe. With more than 600 established churches prior to this year, there have already been 220 new churches established since July of this year! This translates to more than 30,000 new converts and young Christians who desperately need discipleship in God’s word. Brother Ross anticipates 15,000 baptisms this year alone! In a recent email from Brother Ross he told me that “our greatest challenge is discipling those we lead to Christ as well as developing leadership for the next year’s work in church planting.”

Brother Ronny and I went to Zambia then Malawi in June of 2010. We traveled more than 1,700 miles in Zambia to encourage the saints and have leadership meetings there. We traveled across the border into Malawi and began the Emmaus work in Lilongwe. We are planning to return to Malawi in January 2011 to graduate, train and send the initial group out to begin the multiplication process. It was just six years ago that we trained and equipped 59 people in Zambia and now there are more than 1,400 Bible Center Correctors!

Chikondi Baptist Church, there in Lilongwe has offered a free piece of property in a location where land sells for $9,000 an acre. The saints are currently forming and “firing” 33,000 bricks for a facility that will be large enough to house the discipleship materials and serve as a meeting and training facility. This is very timely as shipment from Germany of more than 20,000 Emmaus courses just arrived in Malawi. We are very grateful to Brother Ross for the ground work he has done to make the facility possible!

As we press on, we trust God for the financial increase needed to support this awesome growth. We are confident that where God guides, He provides! We are praying for God’s provision of $60,000 to support the growth in 2011.

Multiply your gift through the end of 2010! – A small group of very generous ministry partners have pledged the sum of $8,000 as a matching fund. This means that for every dollar that is donated up to $8,000, they will match the amount, doubling the amount that is donated to the ministry! We hope you will pray about this unique opportunity to financially support the ministry as we press on in obedience to our Lord’s command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations….”

Tell others about Discipleship Africa! – We have a 5 minute DVD that can be used to introduce the ministry to others. Just let us know if you would like a copy. I am also available to speak to individuals, churches or civic groups about the ministry.

Thank you for your partnership in the ministry through your fervent prayer, volunteer service and financial support!

Together and by God’s grace, we are making an eternal difference!

Your Brother and co-laborer in Christ,

Eddie G. Napps

President

Jericho Road Ministries

July 23, 2010

Subject:  Discipleship Africa – July Update

Dear Partners in Ministry

What a privilege it is for me to serve alongside each one of you as we press on with the precious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has been six years now since we began the journey together in Zambia. The work has now been established there, it has spread to Malawi, and the door of opportunity has opened for three additional countries in South Central Africa.

In Joshua 12, Joshua recounts the victories the Israelites had experienced in the conquest of the Promised Land. In a similar way, in God’s strength, many victories in the Discipleship Africa initiative have been accomplished in the great nation of Zambia. A growing work has been established there and Zambians are taking the lead in the ministry. Additionally, all policies, procedures and leadership training materials have been established and documented in a format that can be easily reproduced for other countries.

But Joshua makes a transition in Joshua 13:1 that takes me from my comfort zone and challenges me!

Joshua 13:1 “Joshua was now old, advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, ‘You have become old, advanced in years, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed.’” HCSV

On our recent trip to Zambia and Malawi, Jim Flemings, Emmaus International Coordinator, said the additional South Central African countries of Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia did not have established Emmaus national works and that he was very open to us leading a work there when we are prepared.

With the work in Malawi having been initiated on our recent trip, I feel Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia are potentially on the horizon. This is a God size undertaking, however! These countries are vast and have a much greater Muslim influence. To move forward in these countries, godly men and women with pure motives have to be identified there and a business infrastructure will have to be established. As in Zambia, the business infrastructure will have to include establishment of a national nonprofit organization (NGO), professional relationships with banking, legal and accounting firms, and with the national revenue authority (their IRS).

Please pray for our board as we make critical decisions regarding future steps in the ministry. Please also pray for God to provide the needed leadership here and in Africa, and for the needed financial support. Ask the Lord how He would like to use you in Discipleship Africa!

Together and by God’s grace, we are making an eternal difference!

Your brother and co-laborer in Christ,

Please click here to see July 2010 Newsletter

December 11, 2009

Subject:  Discipleship Africa – December Newsletter

Dear Partners in Ministry,

What a joyous time of year as we pause to celebrate our dear Savior’s birth! We praise God for His birth, His sinless life and His voluntary death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin! It is because of our kinship in Christ and mutual love for Him that we are united in purpose to share God’s love with the world!

As many of you know, I have felt like a prisoner in chains as the demands of business here have made me a prisoner to my vocational calling. While I have not been able to travel to Africa for more than two years now, I do have the awesome privilege of working with ministry leadership in Zambia, virtually daily, by exchanging email and an occasional telephone conversation.

The great news is – It has become their ministry now as they are effectively undertaking virtually all in country discipleship work. As a result my job now is to encourage, mentor, direct financial transactions, facilitate the supply of courses into the region, and maintain course distribution records.

The Emmaus discipleship work in Zambia continues to experience rapid growth, and we will never know this side of heaven how the Lord is and will use this work to impact the people in this region of Africa. It has been five years now since I first traveled to Zambia with courses packed in checked luggage and shared in beginning the work by training 59 church leaders. To date we have distributed more than 21,000 life changing courses, countless people have been saved, countless more believers have been strengthened, many churches have been planted (17 at last count) and many more existing churches have been strengthened through the advance training of Pastors and leadership. The work has spread into the Death Row of prisons, refugee camps, the most remote areas of the country and across the border into Mozambique!

As I pen this letter, graduations are being held throughout Zambia. Graduation services celebrate the accomplishments of Emmaus students, then challenge and empower them to go reproduce themselves as Great Commission Christians (Matthew 28:19 – 20 and 2 Timothy 2:2).

Graduation services are very special this time, however! Because of your generosity, we are making 350 Bibles and 20 bicycles available, through leadership, for the discipleship work there. Dedicated donations from individuals and members of two local churches have provided more than $6,000 for Bibles and bicycles to be used in the discipleship work!

The need for Bibles in Zambia is great! Students cannot study the Emmaus courses without a Bible! Available Bibles are taken apart to allow multiple Zambians to study God’s word. This is something that is hard for us to understand here in America! I have said, for now, if a student completes the courses and graduates, they may keep the Bible, if not, it must be passed on to another student. Please join me in praying that we can continue to do this in the future!

Bicycles are a ministry tool. One dear saint rode a bicycle 50 km (31 miles) to a very remote refugee camp to share Christ through the Emmaus courses.  He continued to support the work through repeated trips to mentor and supply needed courses. Today, December 11, 2009, the first graduation service will be held there, the fruit of his tireless work is being seen! In another area, a graduating student rode a bicycle 70 km (43 miles) with his wife on back to attend graduation! One bicycle recipient said he had been paying 10,000 kwacha (about $2.00, typically two days wages) for the use of a bicycle to do the Emmaus work. All this to say – bicycles are a vital tool to expand the work and reach the lost for Christ in Zambia.

Your faithfulness and the faithfulness of the saints in Zambia, has not gone unnoticed! We have just been empowered to take the Emmaus Bible Centers method into Malawi! Lord willing, I will travel to Zambia to encourage the saints there, then go on to Malawi to begin establishment of the work there. It will be great to get back to Africa, please pray I will not be detained by my vocational work here and be able to return to Africa in June 2010.

On the home front – we are excited to announce that we have a new website that will have the facility to post photos, newsletters and current ministry information; and, for making online donations for your convenience. Check out our new website at www.jerichoroad.org!

Well, these are exciting times and we look expectantly to what God has in store for the people of Zambia, Malawi and the south-central region of Africa. There are seven English speaking countries in the region!

Once more, we want to praise God for the tireless work, prayer and faithful support of our partners in ministry. By God’s grace it is making an eternal difference!

Your Brother in Christ,

Eddie G. Napps

President

Jericho Road Ministries

PS – Please remember we have an 8 minute Discipleship Africa DVD that can be used to introduce others to the ministry. If you would like to have DVDs or if you would like for me to speak in your home church, class or small group, please let me know.

November 19, 2008

Subject:  Discipleship Africa – 3^rd Quarter Report

Dear Partners in Ministry,

We have so much to be grateful for in Christ, and we are praising God for what He is doing in the lives of the people of Zambia! In addition to the rapid growth of the discipleship work, we are also seeing great strides being made in the area of Zambian leadership development! All Emmaus graduations and leadership training were planned and conducted by Zambians this quarter. We praise God for that! This is truly a milestone in the ministry!

Brother Dickson our National Coordinator, assisted by local leadership, has just completed graduation services and leadership training in 5 of the nation’s 9 provinces. Four hundred six (406) students graduated and 334 students were trained to draw courses from the local Bible Center and multiply the work.

It is always encouraging to see the joy in the faces of the graduates as they prepare to go with the precious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their job will not be easy, but their reward will be great when they hear our Lord say “well done thou good and faithful servant.”

We are also happy to report that in God’s strength, the discipleship work has greatly expanded as well. We have just completed our fourth year in Zambia. Four years ago, I had the privilege of training 59 students to share Christ’s love through the Emmaus process. Today we praise God for 834 Emmaus Bible Centers, 41 Area Coordinators, two virtually full time Zonal Coordinators and a full time National Coordinator. Since inception we have distributed 15,991 courses on a one-on-one mentoring basis, averaging 333 courses per month. As a result of the rapid growth of the ministry, however we are now averaging 599 courses per month in 2008!

The Emmaus courses serve many purposes. Equipping the saints is one of the most obvious. Many of our students are pastors who have had little or no formal training. They also encourage other church leaders and teachers to take the courses. We also know that many students are making first time decisions for Christ. Only the Lord truly knows the Kingdom growth, but I am confident it is great! Attached you will find many unedited testimonies.

There is one application of the courses, however which we had not anticipated – training of outreach missionaries to people in the villages. In the Eastern Province, we have one pastor (Pastor Banda our Eastern Province Zonal Coordinator) who has trained 17 Emmaus graduates to go with him into surrounding villages and preach to the people. He then assigns one graduate to go back and teach a message from the Emmaus courses each Sunday. The village people speak little or no English, so the missionaries translate the message to their native language. Seventeen village churches have been planted in the area of Petauke through this process!

One of the student/evangelists moved from Petauke to the town of Lundazi north of Chipata last year. He showed the courses to his pastor, who requested a meeting with Pastor Banda. As a result 50 students studied the full series of courses and graduated last month. These graduates are now going out to the villages each week to teach the gospel message in about ten villages. The outreach effort of these two towns (Chipata and Lundazi) is reaching up to 2,000 people each week in surrounding villages!

We are greatly encouraged by such reports as they give us just a glimpse of how God is using the Emmaus process to reach people for Christ and develop Great Commission Christians in this region of Africa.

We are very excited about the progress to date and look forward with great expectation to what God has in store for the people of Zambia.

We praise God for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support! As you can imagine we have many opportunities to invest in the ministry financially as we sustain rapid discipleship growth and plan for the future.  In addition to expenses associated with printing, course storage and moving leadership and courses around the country by large buses, mini bus and automobile, we also have a need to purchase Bibles for the great number of students who do not have them and bicycles for areas where walking is the only option for conducting ministry activity.

Please remember we have an 8 minute Discipleship Africa DVD that can be used to introduce others to the ministry. If you would like to have DVDs or if you would like for me to speak in your home church, class or small group, please let me know.

Thank you again for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support. By God’s grace it is making an eternal difference!

Your Brother in Christ,

Eddie G. Napps

President

Jericho Road Ministries

May 31, 2007

Subject:  Discipleship Africa

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Having just returned from Zambia, I am so happy to report to you that we are simply experiencing Explosive Growth! Praise the Lord!  The number of students, graduates and course distributions is roughly 50% greater than projected late last year and the excitement there is incredible.  We held graduation services for 340 graduates and many leaders said they would have double the number ready for graduation by the time I return in the fall!  The local church is being strengthened and many are being saved.  What an awesome experience it is to see God at work in such a powerful way!

The challenge for us is to develop systems and procedures to support the growth and provide an uninterrupted supply line of courses.  At the current rate of growth we could be distributing 100,000 courses annually within 2 to 3 years with more than 2,000 Zambians equipped to reach and disciple their countrymen for Christ.  While we are focusing on Zambia now we are seeking God’s leadership in developing a system that can be used in many other African nations.

Here in the U.S. this rapid growth has been supported by many volunteers who unselfishly give of their time and talent so the work can go forward.  We currently have volunteers who do graphic design; design, program and maintain our website; keep our Jericho Road Ministry books including financials; make deposits and maintain our donor database; do all data entry and keep the books for Emmaus Road Trust in compliance with Zambia law; design and program software for our discipleship database that tracks the discipleship process and the performance of Regional and Area Coordinators and Correctors in Zambia; data entry for the discipleship database; type information for our discipleship manuals; make telephone contacts; design PowerPoint presentations and more.

In Zambia the groundwork is also being laid so that we will have needed assets such as a distribution center, vehicles and inventory control systems and equipment.  We now have our first asset in Zambia!  Out of absolute necessity, we purchased a vehicle on our last trip.  It was a blessing to be able to purchase a well-maintained 2002 four-wheel drive Ford truck from the Baptist International Mission in Lusaka for $10,000.  We had $6,000 budgeted for vehicle rental this year alone!  A local businessman will be traveling to Zambia with me in October of this year to begin initial planning of a distribution center and a Buckner International representative will also meet us there to discuss cooperative work.  We are trusting God for all of our needs and that is no problem; we serve a God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills!

Volunteers are also working to strengthen the discipleship work in Zambia.  An evangelism team will also be traveling to Zambia with me in October of this year.  Our goal is not only to speak at graduation services and celebrate their accomplishments, but also work to strengthen their resolve to reach the lost.  The evangelism teams will work directly with leaders in door-to-door, one-on-one evangelism to reach the lost and model the process.  We pray God will use these teams to help our leaders there to become even more bold and effective in their witness.  Please let me know if you would like to go with us in October to lead an evangelism team.  We have opportunities for both men and women!

As you know, Glenn and Geri Erwin answered God’s call and are currently serving in Zambia.  Glenn is serving as General Manager of Emmaus Road Trust, our nonprofit organization in Zambia, and assisting our National Coordinator Dickson Kasongo in the selection and training of leadership in the discipleship process.  In addition to our National Coordinator, we currently have 3 Regional Coordinators, 22 Area Coordinators and will have approximately 500 Correctors after training in June.  The Lord is using both Glenn and Geri in a wonderful way to share God’s love as they reach, equip and encourage the people of Zambia.  It is very rewarding work, but not easy.  Please pray for them as they travel up to 1,800 miles monthly to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

While we were in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia Brother Dickson Kasongo’s nephew died and even though we tried, we were unable to get him home in time for the funeral.  Just yesterday I found that the young man’s mother, Brother Dickson’s cousin died quite unexpectedly.  She was in her fifties.  As I spoke with him by phone you could hear the loud crying in the background.  In the same conversation I learned that the mother of one of our most faithful Area Coordinator’s also died the same day in a village hundreds of miles away near Glenn and Geri. Please pray that Brother Glenn and Geri can make it to Nyimba in time for the funeral.  They bury their dead very quickly in Zambia.

While there are many demands of us in the ministry we must press on.  There is no guarantee of tomorrow and the pressure from false teachers is relentless.  When I was at the airport in Lusaka earlier this month, I saw what looked like hundreds of Muslims arriving by airplane and they have an agenda as well. Mosques are being constructed in the major cities and Watchtower buildings dot the landscape.  Zambia is a spiritual battleground and many countries in the region are watching to see how Zambia will go.

It is such a privilege, however, to serve with each one of you as we “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” in obedience to our Lord’s commandment in Matthew 28:19 – 20.  But now we need your help in getting the word out about the ministry God is empowering through Jericho Road Ministries.  We hope you will enjoy the enclosed DVD, but more importantly we hope you will use it to introduce many others to the ministry.  We will be happy to furnish additional DVDs for this purpose if needed.  Just let us know.  The enclosed return envelope also has a place to record the name of others who might have an interest in receiving our Go Jericho Road Newsletter (coming soon) and Good News Letters.  Please take advantage of this opportunity as well.  I will be happy, to the extent my schedule allows, to speak to churches, classes, men and women’s groups, clubs and fellowships, and small groups in your home about the ministry.  I have many photos and testimonies to share.  This is another wonderful way to introduce others to the ministry.  We are looking forward to having many new Ministry Partners join us as we press on to reach the great nation of Zambia for Christ in our generation!

Together and by God’s grace, we are making an eternal difference!

In His service,

Eddie G. Napps,

President

Jericho Road Ministries

Newsletter – November 27, 2006

Dear Friends and Partners in Ministry,

I have just returned from my second trip to Zambia this year and I have much to report!  It is spring time now in Zambia and the trees and plants are blooming and beginning to bear fruit.  It is a very beautiful time of year.  In much the same way I feel the Emmaus ministry is moving into a new season of growth, positioned to bear much fruit!

As I look back I am amazed, though I shouldn’t be, at what God has accomplished in such a short period of time.  It was just two years ago last month, when I first began bringing Emmaus discipleship courses into Zambia as check luggage.  In October 2004 and again in May of 2005 we packed five parachute bags with 360 courses each, called out to God for their safety and protection, and headed for the airport.  The bags were at limit – 70.0 pounds each, but God was faithful, and all 3,600 discipleship courses arrived safely in Zambia.

By the end of 2005, 2,511 courses had been distributed and 1,915 were successfully completed by students with a passing grade.  Student graduation services and training workshops were held in eight major cities that year and 58 graduates were trained to draw Emmaus courses from depots and begin reaching and discipling their countrymen for Christ. In late 2005, an additional 20,415 Emmaus courses were shipped from Germany, and again in early 2006, graduation services and workshops were held, but this time the activities were held in 10 major cities for 129 graduating students!

By the time I reached Zambia on my last trip in October an additional 3,614 Emmaus courses had been distributed and 2,459 had been successfully completed by students.  We currently have a National Coordinator, a Regional Coordinator in the north, 15 Area Coordinators in 13 cities, 170 Correctors, and hundreds of students! Praise the Lord, the discipleship multiplication process has been ignited in Zambia!

We praise God for the rapid growth, yet we take very seriously the responsibility we have as stewards of the ministry God has entrusted to us!  Much of our time and energy is spent training Zambian leadership and establishing organizational structure and procedure to support the rapid growth and to build on the model that can be used in other countries.  We have also setup a non-profit organization within Zambia, Emmaus Road Trust, to conduct ministry activity there and to import Bibles and discipleship material duty free.

But we must not be deceived; Zambia is a spiritual battleground that much of Africa and the world are watching.  Michael Howard, an 18 year IMB missionary to Zambia, said he believed that once Zambia is reached for Christ, south central, if not all, of Africa could follow.  Those promoting false religions are very aware of this fact and are willing to pour large amounts of time, energy and money into Zambia to promote their false doctrine.  Muslims are willing to dig water wells and provide housing if recipients will acknowledge Allah.  They are willing to build schools if the Koran will be taught there!  Watch Tower buildings are being constructed all across Zambia while many Christian churches have no roof!

But for the Zambians, the urgency is very personal!  Zambia has a population of approximately 12 million and with the average life expectancy at 37 nearly 20% die each year from AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.  Possibly hundreds of thousands of Zambians step into eternity each year without knowing Jesus Christ as Savior.

It is for this reason that we must press on and do all we can now to reach Zambia for Christ!  While working in Zambia, we must also be preparing to move into neighboring countries with the precious life giving Gospel and the discipleship process.  There are seven other English speaking African countries in the region, Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and five of these countries border Zambia!

Our Lord Jesus commanded us to “Go therefore and make disciples…” and we did.  He told us we would be His witnesses “…to the end of the earth”, and we are.  Thank you for traveling the road with us as partners.  It has been a wonderful journey thus far, but I would expect that we have only just begun!

In His service,

Eddie G. Napps,

President

Jericho Road Ministries

Together, and by God’s grace, we are making an eternal difference!

Special Thanks –

• Jericho Road Ministries Partners in ministry who faithfully pray and financially support the ministry.  Prayer keeps us going!
• Jim Gillett, his wife Jean and the team at Ireland Outreach International in Ireland.  Jim introduced the Emmaus Bible Centres process to me in 2004 and traveled to Zambia with me on 3 different occasions to train and mentor me.
• Martin Vedder, the team at Zentralafrika Mission in Germany, their supporters and volunteers for providing 20,415 Emmaus Courses
• Wendy Arnold, Donna Chung, Glenn Erwin, Joel Geaslen, Nancy Kelsey, Tim Lewis and others who volunteer time, energy and talent in the ministry here at home and in Zambia.
• Our Jericho Road Ministries Board of directors for their Godly leadership, wisdom and guidance.  Charlie Bachtell, Donna Chung, Glenn Erwin, Scott Hamilton, Jay Johnson, Eddie Napps, Mark Wallis

Special Needs –

• General funds for the work in Zambia.  General expenses in Zambia include Gifts of Fellowship for National and Regional Coordinators and their travel related expense as they move around the country training and working with the 15 volunteer Area Coordinators and Correctors.  These funds would also cover the cost of bringing nationals together for training, graduations and workshops.  Total approximately cost per month $1,500 or $18,000 annually.  This fund does not include the cost of U.S. team traveling to Zambia for training, graduation and workshops.
• Funds to purchase 300 Bibles, 20 Bibles for each of the 15 Area Coordinators. The Bibles would be kept by the Area Coordinator and available to loan to Emmaus students who do not have a Bible.  As you would expect, a student must have a Bible to study the Emmaus discipleship courses.  Total approximate cost $1,650.
• Funds to purchase a bicycle for each of the 15 Area Coordinators.  A bicycle would be assigned to each Area Coordinator and would be used for transportation to visit Correctors and Students in the discipleship work.  Total approximate cost $1,500.
• Funds to cover shipment of a container of Emmaus courses from Germany.  Approximate cost if courses are donated $20,000.