I had
a privilege to visit Assie Koumassi village. It is a well known village because
there is a United Methodist member, ARMAND by name; who is a prophet. Many people are traveling from all over the
country to visit Armand for prayer, deliverance and healing. In this village,
there is a UMC church building and a prayer camp building where Armand is
performing miracles.
Inside the prayer camp. Hearing more stories from Arman
As Methodist,
I know the name of prophet sounds unfamiliar in our church context… but when
God gives you an opportunity to learn from others we have to see and analyze with
God’s wisdom before assisting the church to keep our faith and our Methodist
heritage. We all know that a prophecy is the ability to relate biblical truth
in a timely and relevant means that offers interpretation of historic or modern
messages from God. (Acts 2:14-36; Roman 12:6; Ephesians 4:11-14). My concern is
the way many people are looking for healing and deliverance through the prophet
but they look like living under fear and don’t have assurance of salvation.
Something
we can reflect on is what I have observed to see thousands of people running to
the prayer camp but only hundreds of members are at the church of the
village. Many are looking just for their
deliverance or healing but not to be a church member. Those who came for deliverance, they don’t
like to return where they came from if they are not healed. They prefer to stay
around the prayer camp in any condition until they will see the hands of God. It is really bad to see the conditions
within the camp where hundreds of families are living. Ignorance is a big disease and the church has the
mission to teach people.
Many people have constructed small houses where they are living to wait for their deliverance and healing. The condition is not good at all.
The Bible says in John 8:31-36 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had
believed him, “If you
abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are
offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you
say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who
practices sin is a slave to sin.
35 The slave does not
remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed.
There
is need of much training to fight ignorance in rural areas. Evangelism, church
planting and discipleship are my main assignments which will help to set free
those who are living with fear and without hope. My program is to train and provide
effective leadership for the development of vital congregations filled with
faithful disciples.
The United Methodist Church in Cote D’Ivoire
is well established in the Southern region and the Northern region is under
church planting program. Our slogan for evangelism is every town should have a
United Methodist Church and in the South region where all big cities are reached,
the slogan is every village must have a UMC congregation. The current statistic is estimating 60 % of population
is Muslins; 30% represent Christians and 10% are Animists (African traditional religious).
The Northern region is dominated by Islam and Animism. To do evangelism and
church planting in this part of the country needs more efforts, strategies and prayers.
You can get involved at many levels; offer
prayers, financial support, resources, encouragement, perhaps join a travel
team, or ideally, lead a team into mission. All churches should have a
heavy investment in supporting missions as well as serving in missions; across
the streets from our churches and homes, around the world, and in all places
between where the love of God can be shared and nurtured. SEND YOUR SUPPORT TO ADVANCE # 3021990 For Leadership Development and To my missionay advance is # 3021390. You can visit www.umcmission.org
hello I would like to correct the prophet name. His name is Anoh Benoit
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