Dear friends and partners,

Thank you for your faithful prayers for Sol’s health and restoration. We have been seeing different naturopathic doctors and are slowly starting to see improvements. We know God can heal Sol and ask you to please continue praying for his complete healing. We also ask for prayers that we are able to look to God for our joy in this time of sickness. We know we serve an awesome God!

Baby Arthur Abraham is here!

This story unfolded a few months ago and is worth sharing! In April, our ministry partner, Janet, went to the hospital to deliver a baby boy. She texted us she was going to a local hospital because it was what they could afford. We advised her to go to the private hospital and see the doctor she had seen the last 2 months of her pregnancy. We are glad she did because the next day, we found out she had an emergency C-section due to the baby’s cord wrapped around his neck. Because of your faithfulness, we were able to send her $1000 to cover the delivery and the one-week hospital stay.

The next day, Janet called us in tears, explaining the baby needed surgery because his intestines were exposed which required another $1000 to save his life. Although they didn’t have that money, we told her not to worry about it and to just take care of herself and her baby. It took a day and a half for the doctors to do all the lab work and prepare him for the procedure. We prayed and know many of you also prayed with us for God’s mercy.

During the night, Sol woke up suddenly and felt the Holy Spirit telling him, They need to name the baby! In Gambia and many Muslim nations, the culture and tradition dictate that a baby is not named for 8 days. We texted Janet in the morning, telling her what the Holy Spirit clearly said to Sol during the night about naming and validating the child because God knows us by name. They took it to heart and named him Arthur Abraham, the father of the nations. A few hours after they named him, the main tube that was inserted through his nose to his tummy came out on its own and by the morning, he was doing so well they released them the next day. The doctors all said this baby is a miracle and wondered how this happened as they’ve never seen anything like it before. Janet was able to testify that it is indeed the power of God and because His people prayed. Even now as they go in for checkups, the doctor still says this child is a miracle!

The reason people don’t name babies for 8 days is because in the old days, parents waited to see if the babies were going to survive before they named them. I (Manuela) was previously unaware of this and Janet was also unaware, but assumed it was just part of the culture. Once it was explained it’s like a death sentence for the baby for 8 days, Janet said, “I know I’m going through this so I can teach other mothers and people not to do it.” Many traditions practiced by the Muslims are being adopted by the small Christian population in Gambia and they don’t understand the significance of why they do it. This is a great opportunity to teach and educate the Christians we work with about the significance of their actions.

Please continue to pray for Baby Arthur as we received word he has developed an infection in the area that the surgery was performed and he is now on antibiotics for the second time. We believe God will finish what He started and all glory will go to His Name!

Meeting physical needs creates opportunity to share the Gospel.

Last year during the rainy season, we were able to help people affected by the heavy rain and distributed rice bags to two villages. The lady in the picture with the pink scarf is named Mama and was one of the people who received a bag of rice through Janet’s ministry in the Sanyang village. Mama continued to come to Janet’s ministry and shared with Janet that her husband was abusive to her for not being able to have children. Janet told us she had never seen a woman cry so much—Mama used her scarf to wipe her face and had soaked her scarf with her tears. Janet prayed with Mama and counseled her, sharing the love and hope we have in Christ and soon after that, Mama gave her life to Jesus and is eager to be baptized! When Mama went home that day, her face was so bright and full of hope that her friend came to Janet and asked what Janet did because Mama came home a different person and was able to sleep and rest for the first time in a long time.

Several days later, Mama found the house empty because her husband (who has another wife) cleaned up the room and left her. In order to survive, Mama goes to the fishing market where she carries bowls full of fish from the boat to the merchants to get paid. She then buys fish, brings it to the village and sells it to the neighbors. But during the rainy season, it is very hard and dangerous to travel from the village to the ocean on sandy and muddy roads. Therefore, Janet continues to show God’s love by allowing Mama to work in Janet’s garden so she can sell the produce.

God is bringing the chosen into His Kingdom, one by one. It is so exciting to see the people we’re supporting be the ones bringing in the harvest. It’s all about empowering the local believers to do the work and fulfill the great commission.

We cannot do what we do without your faithful support and prayers, and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your commitment and faithfulness to His Kingdom work.

Blessings and have a safe summer,

Sol and Manuela Bah