Dear friends and partners in ministry,

THANK YOU. As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, we are grateful and awed to the Lord for all He has done for us and through us. We also want to thank every one of you for your prayers and support throughout the years and for your commitment to see lives changed for eternity! We truly cannot do what we do without your support and prayers. Looking back, it’s clear that everything that has been accomplished is due to God’s mighty power that is at work in Gambia.

Investing in the future of our staff and equipping them has been on our heart.

Rose

We hired Rose as the school secretary and office administrator about three years ago. From the beginning, we saw her tender heart towards the children and her passion to guide and council the older girl students, but she needed more training. Through Shared Blessings sponsorship, she has been attending a course offered through SOS Children’s Village, an organization working in Gambia since the 1980’s. Rose is doing her internship and will graduate in December. We have already noticed her growth in knowledge and skill and she beams with joy and confidence.

We thank God for Rose and the gift that she is to the ministry.

Princess

Princess is another young woman whom we believe was brought into our lives for a special purpose by God. We were driving from Faala Village when we passed her on the road and about 50 meters further, Sol stopped the car and said we should go back and give her a ride home as there were no taxis in the area. So, that’s how we met Princess.

We discovered that she is a believer and an amazing young lady who actually went to high school at the SOS Children’s Village School. After that day, she continued to stay in touch so we invited her to see the school and we shared with her the vision that God has put on our hearts for the Gambian people.

She wanted to be a nurse and go to nursing school but had not yet been accepted. While she waited to reapply, she volunteered at a children’s shelter close to her house. She worked at night, holding babies and caring for them and with every child she cared for, her heart was moved to love and care for the unwanted and destitute. She is 22 years old and lives with her mom since her father passed away a while ago. She has wanted to bring home a few babies but her mom kept reminding her that they are struggling to survive as it is.

After counseling with Princess, she agreed to go to SOS and complete the same Social Workers course that Rose is enrolled in so that she can be equipped to follow her passion and care for children in a different way.

Because of your generosity and support, Shared Blessings is able to sponsor Princess so she can begin the one-year program on November 6th, 2017. Princess has also been a key participant in the rice distribution outreach in two villages along with the rest of the staff. While she is attending the social worker course in the evenings she has been volunteering at our school, Emmanuel Mission Center, during the day. She teaches the kids worship songs, arts and crafts, talks to the parents who come to inquire about their children, and helps in the office and classrooms.

We also have had the opportunity to invest in both young ladies spiritual growth and maturity as they attend the leadership classes we lead with the staff and ministry partners. We couldn’t be more excited to see how God is going to use them to impact their generation!

Indigenous Pastors and Leaders

God has also been giving us favor to work with a group of indigenous pastors and leaders in order to equip, empower and support them to go and do the work that He is calling them to do in the villages and remote areas.While most other ministries are focusing in the urban area, we have an amazing opportunity to reach out towards the west side of the border – for now. The Gambian evangelical Church is small, and committed believers are few.

Please join us in prayer for the following areas:

• Pray for Gambians to have a vision to reach their own people.
• Pray for wisdom in knowing how to support those who do move into more isolated areas.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit might set the indigenous Church free from the restraints of fear and lack of confidence.
• Pray that Christians might minister powerfully and effectively to their fellow Gambians.
• Pray for nominal Christians to discover a genuine life in Jesus.
• Pray for more workers from among the native people.

God is preparing this nation for a great revival. He is building His Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We are humbled and excited to be a part of what He is doing by the power of the Holy Spirit in these last days, all He needs is our obedience.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving, praying and believing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and take time to be grateful for everything He has done for us.

Blessings and much love,

Sol and Manuela Bah

If you’re going to shop on Amazon (Christmas is coming), why not use smile.amazon.com and look for Shared Blessings as the ministry to support so that a percentage of your spending will support our work in The Gambia?