Hope and Encouragement Hits South Sudan

Our team just returned from South Sudan! We witnessed the Spirit of God sweep through the events we conducted and hundreds, if not thousands, of lives were impacted and saved! We give the Lord glory for the work HE did!

Church leaders traveled from throughout the region to gather in the capital city of South Sudan, Juba, for a 3-day Leadership Development Conference. The 75 pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and various church leaders who attended the conference heard solid, practical messages and testimonies from the Bible with the following theme—“Encourage, Equip, & Empower!” Bible teacher Mike Scalf, Pastor Todd Patton, SNGM Board Member Chris Heitman, and myself, poured our hearts into the lives of these men and women of God!

Many of these South Sudanese leaders had faced some level of persecution, war, and trauma in the past after decades of living under radical Islamic rule while South Sudan was part of Sudan. This was the first conference since South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011 that was held specifically to help, equip, and provide resources to the church leaders…what a privilege it was for our ministry! Many of these leaders received a much needed “boost” from the Holy Spirit that will help them enter into the next phase of ministry before them. Several church leaders rededicated their ministries and even their lives to Jesus Christ! Others received emotional hope to help them process, on a deeper level, the horrible traumas they experienced in the past. We distributed 30,000 pieces of evangelism materials in their local Arabic language, and also gave 4,000 discipleship booklets…each church leader was given approximately 50 discipleship booklets and 75 evangelism tracts that they in turn will use to train other leaders and members of their churches. It was your support that enabled our ministry to provide the transportation, food, and resources, so these church leaders could have a “retreat” away from their busy lives and ministries! 

The response we saw to the Gospel of Jesus Christ during our numerous evangelistic outreaches in local churches and schools was clear and penetrating. We watched over 1,400 students, teachers, and others express personal repentance of sin by turning to Jesus as their Savior and Lord! After one service a young South Sudanese man approached me and said, “I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior…TODAY!”

In addition, we conducted a 3-night “open-air revival” with the goal of helping grow a newly planted church. The Spirit of God moved as 217 individuals publicly asked Jesus to be their Savior and Lord! This new church, Blessing Network Church, has already begun the follow-up of these new believers and will be baptizing them in a local river.

Over the past month the Lord Jesus Christ did life-changing work through both our projects in India and South Sudan! Thank you to those who prayed and gave support to help us see individual lives and entire families changed through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Sincerely,

Scott Nute

The Janitor’s Vision! Birth of a movement.

At the age of 23, while I was the janitor at the Baptist Student Union in Las Cruces, New Mexico (my hometown), I used to have sporadic “impressions” in my mind during my janitorial duties of preaching in front of large crowds of people. These were rather vague, intangible flashes that mystified me and over the years, for the most part, I kept those impressions to myself. As I write this today, at the age of 46, those “visions” from over two decades ago have just become reality. Last week, as I slowly approached and stood at the pulpit for our Crusade in Machilipatnam, India, it all came flashing back to my mind, those dormant “janitor visions” from so long ago. As I stood at the pulpit in silence for a few seconds before the crowd of 17,000 people the first night (over 30,000 were expected the second night), I slowly absorbed that special moment that is now engraved in my heart for eternity! As I—the ol’ janitor—finally stood before that crowd that God had me waiting and preparing for the past 23 years…I felt at home!

God moved tremendously through the more than 1,000 churches that joined together for this project! After many months of prayer, fasting, and preparations, the Indian Body of Christ brought thousands of their non-Christian family and friends to the Crusade to hear the Gospel. When over 600 people came forward publicly the first night to surrender to Jesus Christ, these conversions greatly angered a local “anti-Christian faith group,” who “publicly objected” to the second night of the crusade happening. When news spread of this “objection,” hundreds of local church leaders and Christians publicly protested against the “objection” and we were able to go ahead and conduct the final night of the crusade—this was a huge victory for the churches! Then, just as the victory celebration began, it started to thunderstorm and a downpour literally flooded the crusade field just before the service was to begin, with winds blowing so hard it knocked over and damaged one of the sound system stations. Due to this storm it became impossible to conduct the final crusade service so it was canceled. However, in spite of this storm, 1,486 “rickshaws,” which are basically the Indian versions of a taxi, had already arrived at the crusade from across the entire region, bringing over 22,000 Indians to hear the Gospel, and another 214 rickshaws en route were contacted and told to turn around and go back due to the cancelation. These many thousands sat in the rickshaws in the rain until the final word was given of the cancelation. Each person was given a salvation tract custom made in the local Telugu language, and then they returned home. It was because of the generous support from our ministry partners that we were able to rent a total of 2,526 rickshaws carrying over 37,000 people to the two-night crusade, and this does not count the number of people living in the immediate area that either walked or had their own transportation to the crusade. The mild “disappointment” we all felt due to the storm cancelling the final crusade service was easily surpassed by a high level of supernatural joy and praise…it was a time of complete victory! To say the least, this was a miraculous and deeply moving experience for all of us!

Furthermore, the following day, due to the previous night’s storm, our Leadership Development Conference (LDC) had to be spontaneously moved to another venue, a storm shelter building. Church leaders worked all night to make new preparations, and in spite of the storm and last minute changes, an overflow crowd of 1,136 pastors and church leaders from throughout the entire Machilipatnam region attended our LDC. Mike Scalf, director of New Life Endowment in San Antonio, TX, and I delivered encouraging messages on church leadership, ministry vision, and other topics. Because of the gracious support from you, our ministry partners, we were able to distribute 1,000 Bibles to the pastors and 86,000 salvation tracts. The church leaders were deeply grateful for these practical resources that will help them strengthen and grow their churches and ministries!

Our team leaves in two weeks, October 20-31, to Juba, South Sudan for Stage 1 of our project. Please join us in prayer for the 3-day Leadership Development Conference we are conducting that will bring in church leaders from throughout the country for a time of focused Bible instruction from gifted American church leaders. We will also speak in many local schools and churches, and at an outdoor “open-air revival,” and begin the Mobilization Training for Stage 2 of this project to be held in October 2014.

Look at what your financial support and prayers have done…thousands of souls were reached in India and hundreds of church leaders were better equipped for ministry! And now it is time to do the same in South Sudan…Thank You for helping us impact lives!

From India, to South Sudan, to the world…with the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Scott Nute

The gods are at war! 1,136 Indian churches unite!

The gods are at war! India is the second largest country in the world with a population over 1.2 billion people. For over 4,000 years India has been under the control of the satanic dark gods of Hinduism, which claim over 330 million different “gods.” Over 82% of the people in India are Hindu, and their society operates within a national caste system that believes you are born (reincarnated) into your particular “social class” based on how many good “deeds” (Karma) you did in your previous “lives.” In other words, reincarnation and Karma are the foundation of Hinduism in India, and these millions of dark Hindu gods are at war with the One True God of Light for the souls of men, women, and youth throughout India. We are going there to help set many souls and lives free! The war is over, the God of Israel has defeated these millions of dark gods and we are going to proclaim light, freedom, victory, and eternal life in the Name of Jesus Christ!

Please join us in prayer for the souls of the Indian people we will reach September 19-21 in Machilipatnam, an area on the east coast of south central India. The word spread rapidly after we began mobilizing and training local churches many months ago for this project that consists of a full-day Leadership Development Conference (LDC) and a two-day regional Crusade. Now there are 1,136 churches involved in this project! Due to this large number of churches joining together, we could see up to 3,000 pastors and church leaders attending our LDC, and attending and bringing people to the crusade. Yet, as of today, we only have the budget for 1,000 church leaders to attend. So, as God provides, we will do our best to encourage, love, train, and equip as many Indian church leaders as the budget allows. We are praying for the Lord to provide an additional $12,000 so we can bring in, train, feed, and give resources to the additional 2,000 pastors and church leaders.

Another opportunity we have in India is to print our own unique Gospel salvation tracts that our India Coordinator wrote. These tracts were written with a full understanding of the Indian culture, which means a higher percentage of Hindus will read them, keep them, and pass them to family and friends. The cost for 100,000 of these custom-made tracts is $4,000. In addition, as we are able, we will also give Bibles to pastors and church leaders who attend our conference. We are not allowed to take Bibles and Christian materials into India, so we will be purchasing the Word of God on location in the local Telugu language. God willing, we hope to purchase 3,000 Bibles for $6,000.

It is because of you, our caring partners, that we will see many Indian families, youth, and children set free from darkness by Jesus Christ! And, what a joy it will be to watch the Lord strengthen the Indian Body of Christ throughout the Machilipatnam region! Thank you for your support and for lifting these needs up in your prayers!

For rescuing souls out of darkness with the light of Jesus Christ,

Scott Nute

Help us to impact lives in India & South Sudan

Summer is here! Many of us will be with family and friends celebrating the warmth and fun of summertime over the next few weeks. As you go about your plans, please know how grateful I am for all your support!

Some of our dear friends in India—our coordinator and his wife—were recently struck with heatstroke as the temperatures went beyond 120 degrees! Over 500 people throughout India have died the past four months from heatstroke. Can you imagine living in that type of heat day after day with little or no air-conditioning? Please team with us in prayer for our co-laborers in India!

Once the severe heat subsides, we are traveling to India next month to conduct a two-day, region-wide, evangelistic crusade. Church leaders from hundreds of local churches were equipped by our India coordinator to train their congregations to bring non-Christian friends and family to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ at the crusade! And, we have been told they are expecting a great turnout of church leaders for our Leadership Development Conference! Many, if not most, of the church leaders attending are from tiny churches and in need of encouragement and love. We look forward to sharing our hearts and lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ, along with presenting focused training sessions and giving each attendee ministry resources.

Plans continue to move forward for Stage 1 of our South Sudan project this October! We are taking a team of Bible teachers and preachers to speak at our extensive 3-day Leadership Development Conference. Due to a gracious contribution of literature from the missions department of my home church, Houston’s First Baptist Church, we will distribute 5,000 booklets of discipleship materials to those who attend the conference! Thank you, my caring home church, for helping us “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

At this moment, I come to you humbly and boldly and personally…to let you know that we need help—your help—and I am asking you to please consider sending our ministry a financial gift today, the most sacrificial and generous donation that you can. Giving typically goes down during the summer because people focus on vacations and other personal expenses, yet the Kingdom of God still goes on because throughout the world people are dying daily without Jesus Christ! We have taken a step of faith for these upcoming projects in India and South Sudan and the Lord will provide! I have been praying earnestly for God’s Spirit to move the hearts of His people to join us in this step of faith so that women, men, youth, and children in India and South Sudan can have the opportunity to hear the eternal, life-changing message of Jesus Christ! Thank you for walking by faith with us and for giving by faith to send us!

For souls going to heaven, I am sincerely yours,

Scott Nute

Preparations to impact India and South Sudan!

We all find deep fulfillment when doing something to unconditionally help another person…can you remember the last time you helped someone and felt that mysterious satisfaction? Because of our ministry partners like you, we are, and will be, giving help to people in tremendous need around the world. Please pray for the following:

Philippines Project update: We received the following update from a Philippine pastor, telling of more lives changed in his church as a result of our multi-church project conducted in their area this past February, “We are so blessed because we are harvesting souls for the Lord. The crusade helps a lot. As of now we had 5 gays [homosexuals wanting to change their lifestyles] who are actively attending church and more than 10 new young people who committed their lives to Jesus Christ and now serving the Lord. The other churches want to extend their big thanks for the last crusade here in Mindoro.”

India Project (September 16-23): Dozens of churches in the area of Machilipatnam, India are focused on praying for their friends and neighbors to come to know Jesus during our upcoming Festival Crusade. Hundreds of pastors and church members have received training to both counsel new converts at the crusade and to help nurture them spiritually after the crusade, connecting them to local churches! We will also host our Leadership Development Conference that brings encouragement and training to the local church leaders.

South Sudan Project, Stage 1 (October 21-31): The anticipation grows as preparations continue for our upcoming 3-day Leadership Development Conference in South Sudan. The conference takes place in the capital city of Juba, where up to 500 church leaders from throughout the entire country will join us, including rural village church leaders we will be bringing in. We will gather for a time of worship, inspiration, training, and revival…a time to get re-empowered and re-energized for the task of reaching South Sudan for Jesus Christ! The conference will be held in the largest church in the country, the Anglican Cathedral, with Biblical sessions presented on church leadership, evangelism, discipleship, family, and other vital topics. Our team will also conduct programs in several schools, and hold our Mobilization Training for Stage 2 of the South Sudan project, that will include a region-wide Festival Crusade in the fall of 2014.

Would you please do me a favor? Would you tell one of your Christian friends or family members about our ministry? God can use you to bring new partners into our ministry that will enable us to reach more lives globally with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Helping and serving the nations in Jesus’ Name,

Scott Nute