Jewels in God’s Kingdom

An Amazing Fact: Did you know that Africa mines nearly half of the world’s diamonds? The Kimberley Diamond Mine in South Africa is the world’s largest and has extracted nearly 15 million diamonds. The nearby Cullinan Diamond Mine produced a 3,106-carat diamond, the largest ever. From it came the Great Star of Africa, which sits atop the British Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.


Like many of God’s lost children, Amos was a diamond in the rough.

Diamond mining in Africa is harsh, to say the least. The labor is dangerous, workers are often treated poorly, and encampments are typically unsanitary. Thousands of miners have died from accidents and disease.

It reminds me of the missionary labors of the early apostles. Their lives were constantly threatened by severe conditions. Yet these hard workers were driven to share the precious truths of the Bible and seek out converts—just like the team of workers you support in Africa, who are right now seeking out buried gems for the kingdom.

And Amos was one of those gems who became a bright jewel in God’s crown. As the Old Testament describes of God’s missing children: “The LORD their God will save them in that day. … For they shall be like the jewels of a crown” (Zechariah 9:16).


A Rough Character

Amos was the town drunkard and was so mean that his wife left him. He also hated Sabbath-keepers, whom he harassed and ridiculed whenever he had the chance.

How would you like to share your faith with a rough character like Amos? If you were doing door-to-door witnessing, you might even be tempted to skip his house. But that’s not what happened when two AFCOE Africa evangelists, whom you helped equip and train, walked down his street.

There is an unusual twist in this story—Amos’ eight-year-old boy, Shadrach, liked to attend the local Sabbath-keeping church and had been faithfully doing so for three years. But Amos refused to join him.

When AFCOE evangelists Adulufu and Fred went to Amos’ village to conduct prophecy meetings, they met Shadrach at the church. The boy told them, “I want to be your friend,” and then invited the evangelists to meet his father. The good-natured men happily agreed.

You’ve heard me say this before, but I’ll say it again: The most powerful way you can witness for Jesus is to follow His example of being a good friend first. Nothing opens hearts like genuine kindness.


Listening to Truth from a Bar Stool

One day, Adulufu was passing by Shadrach’s home and decided to visit. The boy was delighted to see the AFCOE evangelist and introduced him to his dad. “This is my friend,” Shadrach said to Amos.

“This is your friend?” his father asked.

Shadrach replied, “Yes, he’s the preacher I’m listening to at church.” Amos was so impressed that Adulufu befriended his young boy that his prejudice quickly melted away. When Adulufu invited Amos to attend the nightly prophecy presentations, he agreed to go. But his hatred of Sabbath-keepers kept him from entering the church, so he sat across the street in the village bar and listened from there.


Cutting and Polishing

After listening to Bible truth from a barstool for a week, Amos worked up the courage to slip into the back of the church. He sat in the shadows, embarrassed to be among Sabbath-keepers. At the end of each service, he would quickly disappear into the night.

But during the last week of meetings, Amos approached Adulufu with tears in his eyes. “Sir, I have been listening. Tell me, will Christ really forgive me of my sins?”

Adulufu replied, “Yes.” Amos, however, doubted that God would forgive all of his many sins. But the AFCOE evangelist assured him, “Brother, you are here because Christ wants you to have a chance to be saved. He is just waiting for you to surrender your life to Him.” Amos burst into tears and asked what he must do to be forgiven. Adulufu gently replied, “Repent and be baptized.”

Friend, don’t miss what happened here. God used you to break open the heart of Amos and lead him to Christ. Your gifts are training more workers like Adulufu to find these diamonds in the rough!

In fact, you made it possible for more than 37,000 personal Bible studies to be given and helped 2,906 souls get baptized in 2022.

But there are many more souls who still must know about Christ’s love.


Explosive Mining Opportunities!

Amazing Facts’ presence in Africa is growing. Our AFCOE Africa discipleship training program began in Kenya, expanded to Uganda, and is now reaching into Ethiopia, the Congo, and South Sudan!

But to keep pace with the soul-winning opportunities for training more disciple-makers and teachers of truth, translating more Bible lessons, and conducting more live evangelistic meetings—over 40 are already scheduled for this year—we urgently need your friendship and help. We must reach the more than one billion souls there with God’s lifesaving present truth.

We have bold evangelism plans in Africa, anticipated to cost $260,000. When you give a loving gift of $25 this month, you will provide Bible study materials for 166 souls. Your generous gift of $50 or $100 will help train more soul-winners. And a diamond-sized gift of $1,000 will help conduct a full evangelistic series and harvest 12 gems in baptism for Christ. Will you join us this month by making a sacrificial gift today? Whatever size gift you give for Amazing Facts global outreach, God will multiply the difference it will make for His eternal kingdom!

I wish you could see the beaming face of Shadrach as he watched his father, Amos, get baptized. The man who once hated Sabbath-keepers now says, “I am so happy! By His grace, I will be a committed follower of God forever.” Let’s find more diamonds for the kingdom of heaven!

Mining for more souls,

Pastor Doug Batchelor

President, Amazing Facts International

Amazing Facts is a non-profit, donor-supported ministry.
We greatly appreciate your prayers and financial support.
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