Solar Update - November 2022

New Church Planted With 33 Conversions from a Solar Player

Brother Sunday Nelson Akpan (wearing the tie) is a graduate of CAO Essien Bible College, a Sunset Partner School. When he graduated about 18 months ago, he received a Sunset Solar Player. He moved to an area where a new congregation was needed and began inviting people to his home to listen to the teaching on the Solar Player. The first lesson on the Solar Player is “How to Become a New Testament Christian.” The next lessons are from World Bible School. People began to respond to the Gospel message and request baptism. So far, he has baptized 33 people and now has a growing congregation meeting in his home. They continue to use the Sunset curriculum on the Solar Player to teach the new Christians “how to make disciples and how to obey everything Jesus has commanded.” (Matt. 28:19) He is asking for more Solar Players to be used by these new Christians in other homes and in other towns and villages where the Gospel is still needed.

Plea of a Brazilian Evangelist: “Please Send Portuguese Solar Players!”

Idalicio Pereira Santos, from Salvador, Brazil, was given a Solar Player earlier this year by our Solar Mission team that distributed hundreds of Solar Players in the Amazon region of Brazil. He began using his Solar Player effectively in his mission work in the interior of the state of Bahia, Brazil. He reports that there are many people who cannot read or write in the rural villages where he is working. Additionally, many of them live in isolated areas where there is no electricity. Brother Santos has urgently requested more Solar Players to help in the mission. With your help, we plan to honor his request.

Pray for Open Doors in Cuba

The people in Cuba are hungry and in despair after 62 years of Communist rule and two years of Covid lockdowns. They wait for hours in long food lines to receive permission to buy food, three weeks in advance. Inflation is over 400% on many products and the average salary is between $100 and $160 per month. Because of the harsh conditions, there is mass migration to a few countries open to them for anyone who can afford the huge exit fees. This has impacted many of our congregations in Cuba, who have lost members and even preachers to migration. The truth is that desperate people may become more likely to turn to God. Please continue to pray for the poor and desperate people of Cuba, especially the believers, and for open doors for the Gospel.

Training Preachers

Since 2001, with the exception of two “Covid years,” we have sent teaching teams to Cuba twice each year to train preachers. Over 120 Gospel preachers have been trained and hundreds of people have been converted. The church has grown from 30 congregations to over 125 churches, most in the homes of the preachers or other leaders. Our first Spanish Solar players were delivered to Cuba in 2016, but because of increasing needs, we sent 80 more last April with the preacher training team. These players are now in the hands of recent preacher students, house churches, and new converts.

Evangelism, Conversions, and New Congregations

Recently one of our Cuban preachers, trained at our partner school in Quito, Ecuador, moved to a new area of Havana and began a new congregation in his home. The church has outgrown the house, mostly because of active evangelism, and they have now built a covered patio in the back yard to accommodate the growing congregation.