Dear friends and family,

Every miraculous story starts with a small seed. Over time as it’s planted, watered, and nurtured, it grows into something beautiful and unimaginable. In our last newsletter we wrote about our vision seeing God’s power changing lives, one child at the time, one family at the time, one village, and one country at a time. This year, we are fervently asking God for a breakthrough of the spiritual strongholds of Islamic religion in Gambia, to free the captives from the lies of the enemies, to reveal the truth of who Jesus is, and give us the nation of Gambia!

We are praying for the Holy Spirit to reveal His love and truth to the hungry hearts and to manifest His power in ways we cannot even imagine as He has done in the past! We are praying for God’s glory to be revealed to us and through us: to see His Kingdom come and established in the hearts of people and the whole nation of Gambia. We believe with all our hearts our God is able to do beyond anything we can ask or imagine according to His Word!

The Dampha Family

Because Gambia is a predominantly Muslim country, Christians end up marrying Muslims, converting to Islam and raise their children in the Muslim religion.

This is the case of the Dampha family. The mother was raised Christian, but converted to Islam after marriage. The family has three children and Binta, the oldest girl, attended Emmanuel Mission School. Because the father went to jail for nine months, the mother could not afford to send the children to EMS and sent them all to an Islamic school. Islamic schools are 100% sponsored by the Saudi Arabian countries and provide religious studies of the Islamic faith.

Once Janet, the EMS director, realized what happened, she talked to the mother and explained that she could send all three children to a Christian school and would not have to pay for anything. The mother agreed and all three children were provided with new uniforms, school supplies, text books, and daily food.

It is because of your faithfulness, support, and prayers that these children’s lives are being transformed and impacted by the love of Christ! It warms our hearts to know the children are eating a hot meal every day and are learning about the love of our Lord Jesus. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for loving the lost and investing your lives in the Kingdom of God!

Empowering the Believers to do the Work – Pastor Modou

In December we held a seminar at the school with the aim of equipping believers how to minister to Muslims. There were 36 pastors, leaders, emerging leaders, and former Muslims who attended. Pastor Modou, a former Muslim, was invited to teach how to build bridges between Christians and Muslims. He has a powerful testimony of how God changed his life!

Pastor Modou was a pious Muslim from childhood, acquiring knowledge about Islam and the promise to fight for the spread of his faith. He taught in different Quranic schools to achieve his early dream of converting the non-Muslims to Islam. He promised to take the mantle of leadership from his father, an Imam, who preached how to convert people to Islam. When Modou was arrested due to his zeal and sent to Mile Two Central Prison in Banjul, he met some missionaries from WEC International who preached the Gospel to prisoners. Modou heard the truth about Jesus for the first time in his life and cherished the message.

When he was released from prison, he visited the WEC International office and found the missionaries who shared the Gospel with him. They continued to share the Good News with Modou, providing evidence about the truth. He converted, travelled to Ghana for theological studies, and returned to Gambia fully committed to preach the Gospel. After his conversion, Modou faced persecution in Gambia and in Guinea, where his parents were from, and has been rejected by his parents, brothers, and sisters. But his bold testimony has impacted many countrymen since he was one of the first Fula men who became a Christian to share his experience. His congregation is 90% Fula worshippers, all from Muslim backgrounds. The Fula tribe are known to be devoted to Islam, but God is able to penetrate through the hardest of hearts! To God alone be the glory!

The believers at the seminar were excited, empowered, and asked for more seminars to continue their training. We see firsthand that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few; therefore, we are excited to see so many believers interested in learning how to minister to the lost and step out of their comfort zones to share the Gospel. Please continue to pray for the hearts of the Muslims to be open to the truth of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to reveal to them who Jesus really is. Our focus this year is to pray fervently for God to give us a nation! Prayer is the only answer and your prayers can move mountains—it touches the heart of God and changes the world.

Thank you so much for your commitment to pray, give, and support the work of God in Gambia. We cannot do what we do without you! May God give you abundant joy this year, filling your hearts with hope and expectation for His promises to be fulfilled in your life according to His mighty power!

Blessings and much love,

Sol and Manuela Bah