Refugees with names and stories

Martha Rafuto (not her real name) is a single mother of 5 children, ages 5-20. She is a refugee from the Congo. She is also a “political widow.”

In the Congo, she married a man who already had one wife. Polygamy is a legal custom in her culture. As his second wife, Martha gave Mr. Rafuto five children over two decades of marriage. They lived on a family farm, growing maze and raising chickens. When war broke out, the whole family was ripped from their homeland. 

She and her husband, and his other wife, and all their children, had to flee for their lives – literally dodging bullets. They found safety in a UN Refugee camp in neighboring Tanzania.

When the family registered as legal refugees, the UN told Mr. Rafuto that he had to choose one wife, that he couldn't have two wives and be a legal UN supported refugee. So, he chose wife #1. And Martha became a single mom. She lost her home. She lost her farm. And she lost her husband. 

The Celtic Way of Evangelism

The Celtic Way of Evangelism

George Hunter, in his research for his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, saw a theme in the spiritual story of Christians he interviewed. They felt they belonged and were loved and were valued before they believed in Christ. After experiencing life with Christians, they realized they too believed. Then, as a public expression of that belief, they were baptized or confirmed. 

Hunter documents how the United Bible Societies in England actually quantified this in their research. They found that all 511 Christian converts in their study had had similar conversion experiences. They first experienced friendship and community from Christ-followers, and their personal decisions to become Christians took time. 

Jesus tells us to make disciples and to teach them, but we tend to morph those commands together. We act as if teaching is how we make disciples. In reality, making disciples requires doing and being the church together, and, along the way, teaching one another the truths of the Scripture. Many have said, “Faith is about three-fourths caught, and one-fourth taught.”