“The seed is the word of God. … I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” (Luke 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:6)
D.R. Congo: A year ago, the September 2025 ROCK Review took us up a mile-high mountain in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, to our Congolese team’s surprise, more than 600 people made the hike hoping to receive a KING of GLORY book in Swahili or French. The team had carried “only” 85 books (= 85 lbs.) up the mountain. “Many people left very happy and others were disappointed,” our colleague reported. But gospel seeds were planted. And believers equipped. Since then, 3,000 more books have been printed and distributed in villages, churches, hospitals, and refugee camps.
The planting and watering continue. Last month, our Congolese brother and his team held chronological gospel meetings and KING of GLORY distributions in seven villages. He writes: “We chose these villages because: 1) People themselves invite us after hearing of the books, 2) There is a great need; many do not understand the gospel well, and 3) Local churches ask us to come help and equip them.”
“I travel by moto-taxi and shared taxi-bus. I can be away from my family for 1–2 days. The teaching I do is simple: Using the KoG book as a guide, I explain God’s story from Creation to Jesus. People love the book because it is in easy Swahili, it has pictures, and it explains God’s whole story clearly from beginning to end. [As seen in the thumbnail,] people came from all over to participate. We used this latest gathering to distribute books and share a meal together in the joy of the Lord.”
Last month, God provided funds for ROCK International to finance another printing of 8,000 French and Swahili books for the DRC once we complete some final text and formatting adjustments (we are always looking to sharpen our multilingual tools—such as adding QR codes). Our colleague continues, “Invitations keep coming! One mother asked, ‘Why did you leave our area out? Come to us also!’ Even military soldiers are being touched by the words in these books and are asking for Bibles!”
Iowa, USA: The pictures at the bottom of the thumbnail come from this year’s Testify Training Camp (where they graciously invited me to speak) and its outreach at the Iowa State Fair. Mornings were devoted to evangelism training; afternoons and evenings to putting it into practice. Seeds were planted and watered. God worked. (ROCK provided 30,000 KING of GLORY cards and hundreds of books.)
One of the approximately 40 trainees told us how Nate’s book PROSPER: Enjoying Intimacy with God has impacted her: “It has influenced my life in amazing ways…. It has brought the Scriptures to life for me! It’s blessing my sister too. She gives PROSPER to any high school graduate she knows.”
From mountain villages in Congo to crowds at a State Fair to all six continents—how blessed we are, with you, as “God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9) to watch Him make the seed grow
