“Pray for us … God will have glory all the time!”
Obstacles and opportunities come in rapid succession for The Jesus Film Riders. Not only do OneWay missionaries ride motorbikes long distances through difficult terrain to reach people in remote areas, they also overcome language barriers and cultural resistance to show the film.
This summer, one missionary returned to the same Sisaala community four times before he was able to show the The Jesus Film to villagers in the upper west region of Ghana. The people there were unfamiliar with the language in his version of the film.
“By God’s grace, I got another Jesus Film with a different Sisaala dialect, and so I decided to go show it to them,” missionary Cyrus Nyamenlewoke explained.
This time, the attendees understood the words perfectly — it was actually their very own dialect. That problem finally solved, he started the film for the nine attendees who had gathered at the school for the showing.
But then two men arrived unexpectedly.
They were both in leadership at the school and told Cyrus to stop the film, saying they were not informed about him using the facility for meetings.
Cyrus knew some of the background of this community. First, they had no church because they said they were all Muslim.
Second, there had been an incident in 2021 and early 2022 involving the first missionary who had come to their community. The people had chased him and his team out of the community, forcing them to leave their things behind until the next day.
The missionary and his team returned and sat with the chief and elders of the community, who were divided on whether or not to allow him to enter the community again. When they voted, by God’s grace, Jesus won! With the elders’ vote in his favor, the missionary began going to the community on Mondays and started meeting with them on Sundays.
That day in June, though, Cyrus had to close the meeting. Still, he wasn’t discouraged.
“We know that God has opened the door, but like Paul said, ‘There are many adversaries.’ Pray for us,” Cyrus shared with his missionary team.
The next day, Cyrus went to meet with the community leaders. But instead of giving them more trouble, the Muslim landlord of that region was angry with the two school leaders.
He told Cyrus, “‘You keep using the school and be strong.”
“God will have glory all the time,” Cyrus said to his team, rejoicing. “He will use Muslims to open the door of communities for the gospel to enter in Jesus’ name!”
Pray for Cyrus as well as Samuel, Reagan, Jonah, Clement and Dela, the five other young men who serve as riders on The Jesus Film Campaign. Pray for God to fill them with His Spirit and power, for them to be bold and strengthened to make the gospel known in these communities in Ghana.
We invite you to join The Jesus Film Riders in their mission to reach people with the hope of the gospel.
It costs about $6,000 to sponsor a rider's work for one year. Whether you are led to donate part or all of that, you can help these men continue reaching people with the awesome news of Jesus Christ!
Learn more in this video about the mission and ministry of The Jesus Film Riders:
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