There was a moment during the Haggai Leader Experience (HLE) that changed everything for Mathios Deng. When he heard Haggai’s mission, to end the lack of the Gospel everywhere until the whole world is reached, he understood that his presence there wasn’t an accident, but part of a divine plan. Before the HLE, he hadn’t been serious about evangelism. After his experience, he felt a personal responsibility to share the Gospel. 

“I am like the watchman who blows the trumpet to warn the people that the coming war is the war of sin, and to turn their eyes to Christ the Savior.” (Ezekiel 33:1-16)

Mathios is a Haggai Leader in South Sudan where reaching people outside the city can be costly. There’s no reliable transportation to distant villages, Bibles are scarce, and covering basics like generator fuel or a rented sound system requires money the local church can’t provide. Evangelism demands real sacrifice in finances, time, and physical effort. But the Lord has given Mathios opportunities to go beyond the city anyway, and people of different ages and backgrounds have accepted Christ as a result.

The HLE sharpened more than his evangelism strategy. It changed how he moves through ordinary moments. One afternoon at a restaurant, he overheard a woman speaking in anger towards her brother. They’d been estranged for years and she’d sworn never to speak to him again. Mathios prayed quietly that the Lord would fill him with his words of peace, and he approached her. He pointed her to what Jesus taught about forgiveness, that we must love one another and forgive each other’s sins. Otherwise, how can our heavenly Father forgive us?

He spent two full days with her, patient and persistent, while the Lord softened her heart. Eventually she agreed to call her brother and reconciliation happened that day over the phone. Mathios invited her to church and he continues to pray that the Lord will open her heart fully and bring her into his peace.

That reconciliation wasn’t an isolated moment. Across South Sudan and the villages beyond the city, Mathios is meeting people where they are, sharing the Gospel with those struggling with addiction, walking alongside the weary who’ve lost hope, and offering what he can to those in need. Last year alone, five people who were far from Christ accepted him as Savior, were baptized, and are now active members of the church in his city.

For Mathios, restoration wasn’t a single dramatic moment but a slow, faithful work. It’s the work the HLE commissioned him to do, and it’s the work he shows up to every day with the conviction that the Lord placed him there for exactly this.

written by Leah Alexander