Dispelling the Darkness

  The Rio Coco River region is, in all its inherent natural beauty and dangers, all that one might imagine a remote tropical rain forest to be. In 2003, when the Lord opened the door for Messiah Project to begin an outreach in the area, it wasn’t the lush natural landscape or the gently flowing river, not even the extreme poverty that stood out the most. What became so apparent was that of a region literally void of the Word of God. There were hundreds of thousands of people who had never seen God’s Word or heard the true Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

    Before we had even located property to begin building the work, the Lord made clear one of his purposes for leading us there. That same month, we were contacted by a ministry located in Indiana called World Missionary Press (WMP). WMP has printed Bible literature in over 315 languages and has been printing and shipping the Word of God around the world for over 47 years, blessing millions of people.  They said it had been almost fifteen years since they first began to look for a contact person to help with the translation of their literature into the Miskito language. Would we be willing to help? We gladly agreed!

    Being new to the area and not knowing the language the next thought was, “Ok Lord, how?”  How do we get this much needed literature translated correctly from English to the Miskito language?  Little did we know that the Lord had, right there in Waspam, a Miskito brother in Christ named Onofre Zamora. Onofre works as a professor of education and is fluent in English, Spanish and Miskito. It was truly a divine appointment and Onofre was so excited to see the literature that he graciously agreed to do the translation.

     In November of 2004, some 22 months later, the first shipment of God’s Word in the Miskito language arrived in Waspam in the form of evangelical scripture booklets. We had received almost 250,000 of the booklets, making Miskito WMP’s 316^th language.

     Since that time, our staff has diligently traveled hundreds of miles of river by dugout canoe, working tirelessly sharing the “Good News” of Jesus with tens of thousands of fellow Miskito Indians. It has been, for the vast majority of the people, the first time they have ever seen the written Word of God.

     The Lord declared in Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

    Since that time the impact of God’s Word into a region once so spiritually dark has been nothing short of miraculous as the Light of His Word continues to dispel the spiritual darkness. Doors have opened to preach the Gospel in many schools and the literature is being used as part of their educational curriculum.

     Through the power of God’s Word practicing witches have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, destroying their instruments of witchcraft. The Lord in His mercy has healed many of their illnesses. In many villages along the river, people who were once so skeptical are now joining in to help us distribute God’s Word.

    In one village where God’s Word was strongly resisted at first, the Lord raised up a powerful new church. In addition to their four joy filled services each week, the members are committed to obeying Jesus’ command to “GO AND TELL OTHERS”. Each month they travel by small dugout canoes and push polls, making their way to other villages along the river to sing and preach the Good News of Jesus.

    From our ministry location in Waspam, the literature’s distribution network continues to expand, now reaching well into Honduras. By ways only the Lord could have made possible, His Word is reaching into areas that extend out over a hundred mile radius of remote jungle terrain. Many of these areas are only accessible by foot. There are also a growing number of the local merchants asking for the Bible literature to give away to their customers. Earlier this year the mayor’s office began Monday morning devotional meetings using the scripture booklets.

     These are but a few examples and only the beginning as the fruit of God’s Word continues to multiply. More and more people are coming to Jesus and in turn are sharing their faith with friends and neighbors. 

    We know the world situation is becoming worse with each passing day; the signs of the times are all around us. But let there be no doubt; God’s Word is alive, powerful and true for we are seeing Bible prophecy coming to pass. 

Acts 2;17a; “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh”…(conviction of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of men)

Acts 2;21  “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  

II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.”