Let Earth Receive Her King! Stories of New Believers November 15, 2023

Your gifts make it possible for LHF to introduce new believers around the world to their Lord Jesus. Meet just a few of your brothers and sisters in Christ:

South Sudan:

My name is Otto Peter, and I’m a second-year seminarian at Concordia Lutheran Institute for Holy Ministry in Yambio. I was raised in the South Sudanese Acholi community. About three years ago, when I was living in a refugee camp, I was given my first Luther’s Small Catechism, which was translated into my mother tongue of Acholi. That’s when I started to know Christ. I quickly organized a small group to study the Bible with other Sudanese refugees using the catechism. It didn’t remain a small group as more and more people showed an interest, so I asked the group if we might meet for Bible study and prayer the following week. Much to everyone’s delight, a sizable crowd assembled on Sunday under a mango tree.

During that period, I was called “abuna,” which translates to “father” or “priest,” because I was the only one leading services and giving sermons on Sundays in the absence of an ordained pastor. At some point, this made me wonder if God wanted me to be their pastor among the people He called together. The idea was confirmed two years later when three other young men from our area and I were offered the chance to receive pastoral education at the seminary in Yambio.
As my people are currently being repatriated to South Sudan from a refugee camp in northern Uganda, it is my hope and prayer that, upon my graduation in 2025, I will be able to serve as the congregation’s first pastor.

Ukraine:

“The war continues to rage,” writes Bishop Slavik Horpynchuk. “Russians launch missiles and kamikaze drones attack us daily, while our soldiers fight bravely to stop brutal Russian hordes that want to take away our freedom, land and lives.
“We continue to preach the Gospel and reach out to many people with the Bread of Life, the Gospel and also with humanitarian supplies, providing also good spiritual food in our books. This is a woman from Kharkiv Region. She is reading “Jesus Never Fails” in Ukrainian. The booklet gives her joy and peace. She knows that Jesus never fails. She has been under Russian occupation and survived. Now in a town liberated from the

Russian invaders, she can enjoy her religious freedom and read God’s Word and hear it preached. The LHF books and all the materials are extremely helpful and necessary in all the areas of Ukraine. They are in a big demand also among soldiers.”

Cambodia:

Sambith Chanary is 15 years old and in grade nine. She was born into a Buddhist family. Her father is a construction worker, and her mother is working as a garment factory worker. Although her parents are Buddhist, they don’t mind if their children are Christians. Blessedly, three of the four siblings have become believers in Jesus Christ (one of Sambith’s brothers usually goes with their father to earn money from construction labor). Sambith became a Christian about nine months ago.
“My eldest sister, who is already a Christian, frequently took me to the church and studied God’s Word through Khmer Luther’s Small Catechism with our young pastor almost every Saturday,” Sambith said.

“Through this process, I felt convicted and told our pastor about my faith in Jesus Christ. Thank God that three of our siblings now are Christians, and thank you to LHF for this good book.”