Dear friends and partners in the ministry,
Do you hold something dear to your heart that you would love to see brought into your home this Christmas? Perhaps you have wanted to purchase a treasure for that special someone? Jesus bought us a special treasure over 2000 years ago. The cost was His own life; the purchased treasure was for us. Christ still longs to see all of His sheep brought into His fold.
Living in Gambia is a daily reminder of how many are still lost needing to be brought into His family. The economical and religious oppression that people are living under is so similar to times 2000 years ago. Some recognize the oppression and some just live from day to day, not knowing that God has a wonderful plan.
Islamic influence from the Arab world is pushing for the fundamentalist teachings; more women are wearing the black burka; Islamic schools and Mosques are being built all around the country to ensure the spread of Islam to the next generations. We don’t loose heart because our hope is in the Lord! Despite all we see going on around us, we know that the time is closer than ever for Jesus to reveal himself to this nation.
So what is our approach in the midst of all of this?
Since our arrival, we have been focusing more and more on training emerging leaders and those who are bold in their faith to share the Gospel. In October, we had the privilege of hosting a team from the States, along with Dan Lucero, the Foursquare Area Director for West Africa. They ministered in Bissau and Senegal and on their way back to the U.S, they stopped in Gambia for a three-day leadership training for about 40 believers from different churches. Afterwards, we followed up with some of the attendees and found out how they were challenged to trust in God to fulfill His vision; some were given a new vision on how to reach the lost and some were pushed out of their comfort zone to step out into deeper water. We are excited to see the national believers taking the Great Commission to heart and being bold in sharing the Gospel with the Muslims. We’ve been praying for God to send workers, for the fields are ripe and ready for harvest, but we were thinking about workers from the states. God showed us that the workers are here; they just need to be trained and equipped!
We have been meeting weekly with a smaller group for training on how to minister to Muslims in a friendly and effective way. We teach them how to build bridges by finding common ground instead of being confrontational, beginning with Creation (this is a more palatable place to begin with Muslims) and not with Christ! It’s so amazing to see how excited each one is to learn how to pray and talk with our Muslim friends! From one week to another, they go out and put into practice what they have learned and are seeing that it works!
We are also continuing with the Discovery Bible Study with the two Muslims that are seeking and the other two that gave their lives to Christ a few months ago. We have been studying the book of John through the help of the Visual Bible DVD, and also watching “God’s Story- From Creation to Eternity.” It’s easier to understand the Bible as they watch it brought to life, and their hearts are being moved by God’s power.
The children at the school are learning and coming to understand the bigger picture of God’s plan. They are studying the Old and New Testament and are also doing a comparison between Islam and Christianity, the Qu’ran and The Bible. Please continue to lift them up in prayer, that God will unveil their eyes and hearts, and that the bondages of tradition, superstitions and the Islam religion will be broken by the power of Christ.
Our work is not only among the Muslims but it also extends to the “Christian” community. In our Sunday School Classes we have about 40 children that attend regularly. They are mostly from the Manjago tribe who are originally from Guinea Bissau and in Gambia they are known as Christians. We discovered that they go to the “marabout” or the witch doctor to find answers to difficult problems or to put curses on each other for different offenses; they have shrines and idols in their houses and they dedicate food and sacrifice animals to the idols; they have many superstitious beliefs, just like the Muslims. We started addressing these issues with the children and in our Discovery Bible Study where we have some Manjagos and you can see how uncomfortable they get! But we stand on the word of God, and show them from the Bible what God’s word teaches and we pray that their hearts will be convicted by His truth. Please pray for the Manjagos, that God will deliver them and that their lives will be honoring to the Lord and be a testimony to the unsaved.
God is doing an amazing work in this nation and we believe He is about to do even more, beyond our imagination. We continue to give them the truth and the only hope to have peace – through Jesus Christ!
Your faithful partnership is vital to us and to the work of God in this nation and we cannot thank you enough for your commitment to reach the lost! Please continue to pray for the children at the school and for the believers that are being equipped to go out and share the Gospel. Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower the believers, giving them favor and wisdom as they share His truth with the Gambian people.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!