Dear friends and partners in ministry,

God promised to never leave us or forsake us, to be with us always… and this season we need to cling to these particular promises more than ever before. Our return trip to Gambia was harder on Sol’s body than we expected, the travel took a toll on him like never before and we had to take a few days for him to rest and recover. His health continues to be a day by day-not sure how he is going to feel-kind of situation and we ask for your daily and continual prayers for him.

Sunday School Flourishing

We are encouraged to see how things have been developing here in our absence and that is what keeps us going and focused on the goal that is before us. The Sunday School program led by Mr. Biango was the highlight of our week, as we watched the children singing, learning and having fun. What brought even more joy to our hearts was seeing Mr. Biango’s passion while teaching them. Most of the older children who attended for the last few years are not coming to the Sunday School anymore; a younger crowd of about 30 children are now attending. This was an eye opener for us to realize how we only have a short and valuable period of time when the children are available and we need to take advantage of every minute we have with them to teach them God’s word and His love for them.

We would like to ask you to pray for the kids that have moved on—that the seeds that were planted in their hearts will grow and produce fruit in due season. Here are some of their names: David (the kids called him the pastor, he has a calling and anointing on him, he is about 15-16 years old now, John, Nelu, Bartholomew, James, Mari, Madeline, Awa.These are just a few that we remember. God knows each one of them by name and He knows where they are. He has a plan and a future for them, we trust and surrender them to Him.

Vision to Place Christian Teachers in All Area Schools

We met with our ministry partners, Janet and Beram, and we shared our vision to place dedicated teachers who would teach the Christian Religion classes with compassion in the area schools. They were excited and confirmed with us that this has been on their hearts too and they had been trying to figure out how to get started. Janet shared that she knows of Christian Religion teachers that had to return to college to pursue a different degree because they were not able to obtain a teaching position for the subject or the pay was so low they could not survive on it. This was a confirmation of what God had put on our hearts. Please join us in praying that God will send us teachers who are passionate to share the Gospel in a classroom setting. These teachers would see each school as a mission field.

We also met with Eugene, Julious and Biango, our own Christian Religion teachers, to strategize and mobilize them to be a part of this vision at our school and then beyond to other area schools. We planned that they would train the rest of the teachers by sharing the same curriculum and strategy and using materials that are friendly and non-offensive to share the Word of God with Muslims and non-believers.

The country as a whole has a sense of freedom and people are ready for a change. It reminds me of the time when Jesus came into our world as a baby, people were tired of oppression and wanted a new government to save them. Gambians have been oppressed for 22 years and people are ready for something new. Even though they expect “that new good thing” to come from a new government, we pray and believe that just like back then, the only new thing that can change their world is the presence of Jesus in their lives and hearts.

Pray With Us

• For God prepared opportunities to share His love.
• For open doors that would fulfill the vision of placing teachers in multiple schools to teach God’s word and truth.
• For the teams that are coming in February, March and April to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to have their spiritual eyes open to the needs around us.
• For the teachers at the school to work together in unity, collaboration, of one mind, one goal and for the One and only, Jesus.
• For our health and safety here, especially for Sol’s healing, the restoration of his digestive system and for strength.

God is our Rock, an ever-present help in time of trouble. We are here by his grace and we trust fully in Him and His power to carry us through this season of our lives.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support, prayer, giving and partnership. We cannot do what we do without you.

Sol and Manuela