100 Days in Africa

It’s been the most amazing summer ever! There is nothing in the world I would rather have done than spend 14 weeks and 100 days telling people in Kenya and Tanzania the Good News of Jesus Christ.  After all was said and done, I ended up sharing the Gospel in 117 schools, 17 churches, and several days in markets and such. The teams I worked with were also able to distribute about 40,000 Gospel tracts and over 1000 Bibles.  Overall, I was blessed with the opportunity to present the Gospel to over 33,000 people and over 18,000 made first-time commitments to turn from their sin and trust, follow, and give their lives to Christ as LORD and Savior. These numbers are staggering and hard to believe, but I assure you the last number is rounded DOWN in all cases. My father has written a detailed essay about “numbers,” which is posted on his website and which I encourage everyone to read, entitled “Overwhelming Response To The Gospel:”

http://www.davidstockwell.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=20289&PID=760993

While in Africa, I was in urban areas along with completely undeveloped rural or bush areas. I was in areas that were majority Christian, majority tribal, and even several areas that were completely dominated by another religion that I’m not going to mention by name. I went to some areas where people warmly welcomed the Gospel and begged me to stay and speak to the students for hours, and we went to some areas where we faced heavy opposition to the Gospel. I even had the privilege of being arrested for preaching the Gospel for the first time! Anyway, I could write for hours about all that I’ve seen and done during this trip. If you want details about specific events during the trip, ask me in person or go back and read one of the many previously written notes.

I’ve met dozens of indigenous evangelists and pastors that our ministry has been able to train, equip, and partner with, who are continuing the work now that we are back at home. And I would love the opportunity to return and preach the Gospel to even more people; if God has it in His will for me to do so.

Friends, thanks again so much for all the prayers and support throughout this whirlwind unexpected spectacular summer!

Please join us in prayer for the continued discipleship of the thousands who committed to follow Jesus, for provision in the lives of the local evangelists and pastors, and for God to provide the approximately $5,000 still needed to cover my expenses for this mission.

In Christ,
Steven Stockwell
Galatians 2:20

PS:  For more information and photos from our missions in Kenya and Tanzania, visit www.davidstockwell.org.

New Plan

well, the last time i wrote, we were planning to go to Nairobi. that didn't work out. even though the voting went smoothly, it turns out most schools in Kenya are closed for the entire month of august for normal holiday. we have now "confirmed" that Dan and i are traveling friday to a town in tanzania a 10 hour bus ride away called singida to do a week of ministry before heading back to the states. i don't know anything about this town, but i'm willing to bet that there are some people there that need to hear about Jesus :-) after this period of rest, i am very eager to get into some schools and churches to share the gospel. we don't know much about the specific plans, but we are trusting in God and the local evangelists we are working with for the details. please pray for open doors and open hearts in this town as Dan and i begin the lext leg of this wild trip.

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell

Prayers For Kenya

all right, the plan for now is to travel to Nairobi this weekend... if the elections today go smoothly. Kenya is voting today for a proposed new constitution for the country. last time elections happened in Kenya, there was much rioting and lots of blood shed. as long as there is no major problems this time around, Dan and i should leave saturday for Nairobi and begin school ministry on monday. but we need some serious prayer for these elections to be smooth, honest, and fair. we also need prayer for discernment and direction to see if this is actually where we are supposed to go. Dan and i will be teaching a bible study tonight and friday we are scheduled to speak in 2 high schools. we have been trying to keep ourselves busy praying and reading and witnessing to everybody we come into contact with. but this isn't easy here because very few people can speak fluent english. if there is violence in Kenya about the elections we will probably end up just having to come home, so we are definitely leaning on God to put his hand of peace and provision on Kenya during this vote. Thanks everyone!

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell

My First Exorcism!

sunday was a great day, spoke in a church early and then drove a few hours into Masai land where a church had recently been planted to preach and attend a baptism service. that was awesome! today was great too, dan and i did three schools. the first was pretty normal, but the second was particularly memorable. we shared the gospel to around 300 students and about 150 committed to give their lives to Christ. however, after we spoke two girls were brought out who were screaming and writhing around and we were told they had been possessed by demons. it was pretty much exactly as the bible described, they would scream a shrill disturbing cry that got continuously louder until we told the demon, " LEAVE THIS GIRL IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST!!!" then both girls almost went to sleep and then awoke with a calm spirit just like nothing had happened! isn't God soooo good? she spoke swahili, so i don't know everything that was said, but both girls prayed to receive Christ and both seemed at great peace. one was a "christian" and one was from the specific group i'm not supposed to mention by name... the last school was awesome because it was so large. it is a boarding school with a christian headmaster, so he invited us to come after school hours and to speak as long as we wanted. we gave an extended program to the 1500 students and over 900 committed to give their lives to Christ not counting the 400 that said they were already born again before today!

don't know exactly what is happening in the future, but dan and i are fairly certain we are done in Tanzania. please pray for double portions of discernment for us about where we are supposed to be next.

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell

Mlandizi and Chalinze, best week yet!

BWANA ASIFIWE!!! (praise the lord in Swahili) this was probably the most epic week of ministry i have ever been a part of. dan and i went into an area that is over 98% traditional tribal religions, witchcraft, and mostly a specific group that i'm not supposed to mention specifically... at least it WAS 98% before this week! we spoke in 34 elementary, middle, and high schools. i spoke in 19 schools to about 6500 students and saw about 4250 students commit to give their lives to Jesus Christ as LORD and savior!!! we even planted 2 churches on accident lol. we faced some heavy opposition from that specific group in the area but God is so good and kept the doors open for us all the way! i have never seen an area that was so ready for an awakening and so in need of the good news of Jesus Christ. i think the Holy Spirit is about to sweep the entire region and a multitude of people are about to give their lives to Christ... most of the schools we spoke in said that we were the first Christians to visit their area, we were definitely the first western evangelists to visit there in most of their lifetimes. most of the students in the schools had never even seen someone with white skin in person! God is so good! we are back in Dar for the week and hopefully will be able to visit many schools.

please continue to pray for us as we seek God's will for where and when we are supposed to share the gospel! thanks so much!

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell

Main Week in Dar Es Salaam

This is the first major project that we have attempted in Tanzania, so we didn't know exactly what to expect, but i personally was praying for more than this. the 7 americans spoke in 24 schools this week, 6 less than i did the week before last by myself lol. we were able to do some very productive ministry though. we were still able to reach several thousand people with the message of Christ. also, the tanzanian church leaders seemed to start to get what our ministry was all about by the end of the week and seemed excited to continue going into schools after we leave. also, my father had an opportunity to spend several hours with the archbishop of the entire anglican church for all of eastern africa. so we might be able to do great things with him in the future. we also just finished the conference today which went very well. dan and i are preparing for our upcoming month of ministry. next week we will be in a town about 1 hour north of Dar, but we still don't know any plans for the weeks after that. the rest of the american team is heading home tomorrow so please pray that they have a safe flight home and pray that we will have great ministry opportunities in the weeks ahead. i don't have a clue when the next time i'll be able to find a computer with internet access, so i'll try to keep everybody up to date but it just might not be possible :-( love everybody and miss home, but love telling people the good news about Jesus!

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell

Whole New Country

arrived in Dar late saturday night after over 24 hours on a bus. woke up after 4 hours of sleep and preached two services at church starting at 7:00 AM :-) resting today and preparing to start school ministry tuesday. internet here is pretty good but costs money per minute you are on it so i don't know how often i will be getting on. and i will probably not have time to tag anyone in any future notes, so if you want to keep up with me just check my profile every few days to see if i have added anything. please pray for all of us as we minister to many thousands of people here in Tanzania.

P.S. i just found out the date of my return ticket to the states... AUGUST 23rd!!! hahaha i will be here for another month :-) i'm not even sure which country i will be in next but i know that God is good and all i want to do in life is follow him!

In Christ,
Steve Stockwell