George and Barb Zarris Prayer Letter: No Other Gods

NO OTHER GODS

It was Tuesday, the second week in September. Every member of the Akuble Clan in the poor fishing village of Prampram, Ghana, gathered to observe the family ritual established by their great-great-grandfather more than 100 years before. The object of their attention was a hand-hewn, four-foot-tall wooden deity, which was housed in a special room in the family hut. Thirty family members gathered outside, while the clan leader entered the hut, slit the throat of a goat or chicken, and allowed the gushing blood to pour over the idol. Incantations and ritual prayers emanated from the room. The sacrifice was accepted if the stomach of the flopping chicken pointed up. It was rejected if the stomach lay flat. For young Andrew Martey, it was all very confusing. One year the sacrifice was rejected, but the family fared no worse. The next year, the sacrifice was accepted, but Andrew’s family was destitute. Andrew tried to pray to the wooden block, but nothing happened. Only once did the god react. When Andrew’s hungry uncle took some of the meat from the sacrifice, cooked it, and ate it, he died two days later.

Life for the Martey family was challenging. Andrew’s mother earned a bare existence for her five, fatherless children by selling cooked kenkey (“a staple something like mashed potatoes”) in the market. Andrew had no education until age ten, when Andrew’s uncle offered the opportunity for Andrew to live with him in Accra and begin attending school. Eleven years later, Andrew graduated from high school and secured a job teaching English and math to eight-year-olds in a private school. Although his circumstances had improved and his future was brighter, Andrew felt an indescribable emptiness.

In July 1974, Andrew (age 20) and a friend were walking in their neighborhood when Magdalena, a Presbyterian young lady about their age, invited them to a crusade in downtown Accra to hear Missionary David Dickerson. Looking for something to do that night, they went. What Andrew heard was astonishing. The speaker talked about someone Who had died, resurrected, and was coming back to earth again. Andrew had never even heard the name of Jesus, but his heart was stirred. He responded to the invitation and accepted Christ as his Saviour. Later, he joined the Dansoman Baptist Bible Church, pastored by BIMI Missionary Roger McCrum, and served there faithfully for 10 years. Wanting more Scriptural knowledge, Andrew
attended the Ghana Bible Institute and graduated at age 35. Then he moved to Minna, Nigeria, to assist his former college professor, Solomon Owolabi, with a newly planted church. Nine years later (1994) when Pastor Solomon moved to start a Bible college in the South, Andrew assumed the pastoral role.

For 37 years, Andrew Martey has served the Lord in Minna, Nigeria. Recently, radical Muslims have turned Northern Nigeria into a religious slaughterhouse. Boka Haram and Fulani tribesmen have burned Christian villages, kidnapped or killed thousands of people, and forced captive Christian girls to marry Muslims. Two of Andrew Martey’s parishioners were kidnapped, and only through the fervent prayers of the church members, were they able to escape. The situation is so grave that the government has told its citizens to arm themselves. (Guns are forbidden in Nigeria.) Door-to-door soul winning is so dangerous now that Brother Martey has determined to expand his media outreach by adding a third radio station on which to broadcast his program. He has courageously secured three slots per week on Bagbiggi Radio (an all-Muslim station) at a cost of $170 per month. Ten Muslim radio listeners have recently been saved, including one Muslim station manager (pictured front).

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Would you, your church, or your business support this Christian program on an all-Muslim station in Nigeria? Send gifts to CRI, Box 3132, Munster, IN 46321

IRAN

Testimony from Afshin Shabakeh 7 TV (Iran Alive)

During college, I installed residential satellite dishes. It always amazed me that most Muslim families requested the Christian channel, Shabakeh 7 TV. One homeowner told me she gave her life to Christ because of the Christian channel. Curious, I began watching too. Years later while working on an offshore oil rig, the head electrician witnessed to me. Finally, in 2018, I called Shabakeh 7 TV and accepted Christ. Soon after, I moved to Qatar, where I worked as an oil-exploration geologist. When Islamic state agents realized that I was a Christian, persecution began. My son was expelled from university, my daughter was denied schooling, and I was seriously injured after being thrown from the second floor. Days later, when I woke up from a coma, my Muslim mother was standing over my body holding a cross.

“Son,” she said, “at age six we brought you to Tehran to treat a severe infection in your teeth. In the hotel, a strange woman came up to us, hugged you, and prayed in your ear. Then she gave me this cross and said, ‘Your son will grow up to be an engineer. He will be a child of God and will father a son and a daughter. Never take this cross away.’” I was shocked! Forty years earlier, God had chosen me, and I never knew it! Brothers and sisters, please pray that I regain my ability to walk so that I can be a faithful servant of God.

(Editor’s note: The Qatar Oil Company has filed a case against Afshin on charges of apostasy, betrayal of country, and propaganda of Christianity at work. If he repents and proclaims that he has been deceived, he will receive medical benefits and disability. He has refused and decided to trust God instead.)

UKRAINE

Revival! Testimony: CRI Broadcaster Paul Dudka
We started our camp in a mountain village with 56 kids, and it was okay. But then more and more kids kept coming, along with their parents. We are running out of money to feed such huge crowds. The whole village has been stirred up, and 736 people came to hear the Gospel of Jesus. Over 100 were saved. We had packages with food, and everything is gone! Please pray for revival in mountain villages where people have NEVER heard the Gospel of Jesus. There is revival even with war planes fly overhead!