Servant of Christ or Servant of Sin?
February 2024
Servant of Christ or Servant of Sin?
Those are the only choices, serve self or serve our creator.
One of the reasons His gospel is so often rejected is that we don’t like the idea of letting go of control. Even when it comes to belief in God, people form their own personal beliefs, based on what works for them and their truth. Unwittingly when we don’t believe in the one true gospel, we remain enslaved to sin, being controlled by our sin nature, the flesh. The words of Jesus were not ambiguous. When He said,” If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt. 16: 24-25). This is the Gospel that we preach to men and women behind walls for there is no more wonderful and powerful message than this. I am so thankful for the responsibility and privilege to proclaim Christ -to witness people come to Christ freed form the power of sin, rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into His kingdom, (Col. 1:13).
Most of the people that we reach profess to be Christians. They have attended church and proclaim belief in Christ. Others have come to know Him after their incarceration. While there is no doubt that many are true followers of Christ, we learn that others come to the realization that they are not true Christians. They may have at one time “received Christ as Savior”, yet they continue to live as servants to sin.
In my many years of teaching and preaching His word, His one true gospel, I have found that many professing Christians resist and even find offense to two objective truths of His gospel. The first of which is that we are without excuse when it comes to obedience to His word. This does not mean that we no longer sin, but it does mean that we no longer practice sin. We are now free from the power of sin and we are children of light and because of this, the Holy Spirt indwells and empowers us to follow Christ. This is true of every Christian. We are called to live worthy of Him, above reproach, to love as He loves us. Obviously impossible in our own strength but accomplished by and through His grace. This is what Paul meant when he says, “No longer I who live but Christ lives in me” (Gal.2:20).
Another objective truth that offends, is the fact that we are His bond servants. While Christians are children of God, ambassadors of Christ’s, recipients of His imputed righteousness and blessed beyond description with eternal life in His presence, we are also servants of our Lord and Savior. Yet because of our sin nature and the teaching of false doctrine, we find a way to see ourselves as superior to other Christians. Usually, but not exclusively, this is found in the exaltation of one’s testimony. There is the thought that I am particularly special because of the amazing way “I came to Christ”. Then there are those that find they have special insight and see things in scripture that no one else sees and or that God speaks to them in unique ways, dreams, visions etc. In both cases there is I high regard for self, which always results in less regard for our Lord Jesus Christ.
The fact is that when we follow Jesus, growing in grace and knowledge of His word, the spirit of God, not only empowers and guide us, but forms the character of Christ in us. The more we grow, the more in awe of Him we become, humbly following His example, loving our brothers and sisters as He loves us, and sharing the message of His Gospel to those in darkness and enslaved to sin.
-TIM WAGONER (FUMI PRESIDENT)
Testimony of Margus Crowell
I was born into a household where drugs had its residency. Life was carefree as a child even being a full blown addict by the age of 12. I tried to be normal like other kids but deep down I knew I wasn't like them. Sports came into the horizon and I was very successful until a little injury sidelined my future. So it was back to what I knew best, being a dope addict.
Life had so many twists and turns and it always seemed that life would turn for the better. I just became a better addict, knowing how to shuffle in and out of crowds. I always held a steady job but the methamphetamine helped even with that. Trouble still seemed so far away. I hadnt seen a jail cell yet, nor juvenile hall. Not realizing my life had become unmanageable and I had lost all control, I was simply on autopilot. Like the wind I came and went as I pleased. Tried out the girlfriend thing a couple of times, but I always seemed to get the ones who were not addicts so that never worked. Like a plane spiraling in a downward free fall, all hope and sense of dignity was lost. I began to commit crimes to support my addiction, and still had no trouble with the law. By the age of 25 that came to a screeching halt. I ran into the County jail and headed straight to prison. Unfortunately, I didn't learn my lesson the first, second, or third time and was sentenced to 36 years to life in prison. All I can say is God had a plan for me that I didn't know about. He would set me aside to be used for the kingdom of Heaven. Now this was HIS master plan, I just went along with it. He would have me sit at the foot of the Cross and learn of Him. He had me burning the midnight oil but it was something I really enjoyed and needed. In time He had me become an inmate Pastor and Elder. I pursued my associate degree in theology and a Bachelors in Christian counseling because I seen so many still dealing with the hurts and pain of life as a child of God.
Well, the Lord decided that I had fulfilled my calling of ministry inside the four walls of prison and He released me back into a free society. Wasn't sure what was going to happen because I was far removed from society for so long. But I should have known better when it comes to the God I serve. Yes, it cintinues out here in society
I’m an associate Pastor at International Faith Center in Oakland Ca where the "Call" continues. So what can I say, other than God allowed me to try life my way, and then decided enough is enough. All through the Grace of God He has sustained me and preserved me for something great, to further His kingdom. Today I am known in Heaven and earth as a child of the true and living God.
-MARGUS CROWELL
ANSWERING THE CALL TO DO GOD’S WORK
Dear Brethren and Friends,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has saved us all because of His work on the cross (1Cor 15:1-4). God sees us as holy, when he sees the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins! God sees us as sinners when he looks at us in any way that we could do to please God without being connected to Jesus Christ. Praise and glory be given to our Lord Jesus Christ for using FUMI to reach many souls by giving the Gospel of Jesus Christ to prisoners in Tanzania. It is our mission to reach all the prisoners in Tanzania.
We interview many pastors who need to volunteer to do ministry in prison by filling out our local ministry form, especially if we ask WHY they want to volunteer to do ministry in prison. That is how we recognize the purpose of a person to join the ministry to prison.
WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A CALL TO DO GOD'S WORK
I have learned from experience in doing ministry in prison for a long time and doing God's work for a long time. I have been able to identify Christians with a call to do God's work and people who do not have a call to do God's work. Many times, Christians or pastors who are called to do God's work have been there to build me up spiritually and I love them very much for it as they help us achieve the goals that we set for ourselves related to God's work.
A PASTOR OR A CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT CALLED TO DO GOD’S WORK
A Christian who is not called to do God's work, cannot dedicate himself to doing God's work, until he is told to do God's work and if he is not told that, then he cannot do it. Many are forced to do God's work to earn financial income and because of this, they only do the one job that they have been told to do. They cannot volunteer to do another job other than those they are interested in. Christians with this attitude cannot enable God's work to go forward. I finished my Bible training in 2007. After I finished, I volunteered myself to preach the Gospel and plant a church in a place and then started volunteering myself to do ministry in the prisons near me. When my fellow students with whom we finished Bible college could not go anywhere to do service, they were waiting to be sent by missionaries to open a church. I would say that is not having a call to do God's work because often those who have no call to do God's work no longer receive the financial support, their services come to an end and the work of God is dead. Some who started serving in prison had no calling, so I told them to stop serving. Also, there are Christians from the church who were recommended to serve, and I told them to stop because they had no vocation. They were just doing service as part of earning income and they were discouraging others to continue to do God's work and constantly complaining and blaming. A pastor with a call to do God's work is very rare, and we pray every day that God will bring workers to his field so that the ministry will move forward and grow. A person with a calling to do God's work is one who is committed to doing God's work and he serves God happily and relies on God for all his needs. He cannot be a person to blame when things are difficult, and he does a lot of work with a small allowance. We need to find pastors like this so that God's work can move forward. No one can kill the ministry he is doing, no matter what challenges he goes through. That's how Christians were in the first century in the Bible.
WE VISITED THREE PRISONS DURING CHRISTMAS AND TWO PRISONS DURING THE NEW YEAR 2024.
By God's grace we were able to visit five prisons in Mbeya. We were able to visit three prisons during Christmas and two prisons on New Year's Day. We were able to preach for one hour in each prison and we thank God we were able to buy soap and distribute it to throughout the prison. Every time we entered the prison, we gave prisoners the opportunity to witness the things that God has done for them throughout 2023. We found many testimonies of how God blessed the prisoners in that prison and how they developed their faith in God. We were able to pray with all the prisoners who needed prayer and this day was a day of evangelism. We went with a worship team when we went around the prisons and we had a great time. We need to pray that there will be an opportunity to support musical instruments for serving in prisons for evangelism to prisoners. We thank the FUMI office for enabling us to purchase and provide for the needs of the prisoners. We presented them during our service visit to the prison during the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The prison officials were encouraged by the help given for it is possible that the prisoners had a shortage of soap in the prisons.
EX-PRISONER TESTIFIES HOW GOD WAS A HELPER WHILE IN PRISON:
Haruni was a prisoner in Ruanda Prison where he spent 10 years for the crime of involuntary manslaughter. He testifies that when he was in prison, he was sick with coronavirus and was separated from his fellow prisoners. During this time, he was kept in the mortuary waiting for his death and every day they came to check if he had died. He was not given any treatment for his illness, yet by the strength of God, he recovered. The officers and his fellow prisoners were surprised to see that he had made a full recovery. Haruni was one of our disciples who was in Ruanda Prison and when he got out of prison, he looked around and started attending the church that I attended. After he got out of prison, he found that his wife was married and had given birth to two children with another man and that she had sold the house that they had built together. Please continue to remember him in your prayers. CHECK THE LINK of the video where he gives his testimony
Prayer requests:
-Bibles for the prisoners
- for workers to do ministry in the prison and the grace to be helped with the fare every month to find a way to go do prison ministry.
- help to find a way to buy a gearbox for my damaged car
- to enable me to get the children's fees to go to school
Thank you for your prayers, and your support to help send the mission of Jesus Christ -to reach people who have not been reached by the Gospel in prison.
PRAISE TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST:
- 37 prisoners have been baptized in the year 2023
- We have started serving in 3 new prisons -please remember in prayer the pastors who volunteered to serve in those prisons.
- We thank God for giving us good health to continue doing his work and being faithful to provide us with our daily food.
In the Lord Jesus Christ whom we serve,
SAMUEL MWAKASUNGULA
Thankful for your Prayers and Support
Since our last newsletter I had surgery on my neck. Unfortunately, most of our state prisons are not conveniently located. The average drive time is over four hours, one way. The drives have become more difficult as the pain in my lower neck and shoulders has steadily increased. I had one of my deteriorating disks removed and it has helped, somewhat. I am so very thankful for your prayers.
I especially want to thank the men and women that have been moved to support FUMI, financially. Every year I am amazed at the support we receive, unexpectedly. One of those supporters was Owen and Alice Mitchell. They were dear friends of mine for many years and their oldest son, Mark was my best friend and a wonderful brother in Christ. Owen and Alice have gone to be with our Lord and are now with Mark and Scott, two of their amazing sons. Kent Mitchell is the youngest of their four children and he also ministers with us inside the prisons. Owen and Alice faithfully supported FUMI throughout the years and graciously left us over $16,000 from their estate, Wow!
Special thanks to the Reeder family as well. Bob Reeder is also with our Lord and Savior. He served and supported FUMI for many years. His wife, America sent us much needed support as well as their son Paul and his wife, Aimee, every year.
Another heartfelt thank you goes to my church family, Grace Bible Church of Fair Oaks. Their support has been such a blessing and encouragement to remain faithful. Thank you to those who are moved to give anonymously, you’re amazing.
One more huge thank you to the FUMI staff and BOD for their support and to all those who attended our annual banquet last October. Thank you for your essential financial giving. I must mention the faithfulness of my family members, my sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews and my father. They attend every year and supply most of the auction items.
