Dear friends and partners,

Our lives are enriched by every experience we go through, whether joyful or painful, because God’s grace and love is sufficient to carry us through. Such is the season we are going through because of Sol’s health issues. Through it all, we’ve experienced God’s love and grace in ways we haven’t seen before and it continues to unfold. Thank you for your love, prayers, cards, support, and caring for us; we so appreciate every one of you and your extension of love to us.

The Price of Following Jesus

In our previous newsletter, we shared the story of “Mama” and how she gave her life to the Lord because of the outreach efforts we conducted in her village last year. Here is more of her story unfolding:

Mama woke up one night, smelling smoke. When she rushed to the front door to get out of her house, she realized the door was tied shut from the outside. Someone had deliberately set Mama’s house on fire and tried to make sure she wouldn’t be able to get out. Mama called out to a neighbor who came and got her out. After that, Mama went to live with Janet for a while because she realized the villagers had tried to kill her because of her belief in Jesus. When Janet finished her maternity leave and returned to the city, she took Mama with her to protect her from more harm.

God’s Provision in the Midst of Suffering

One of the reasons Mama’s husband left her was because she was not able to have children, though Mama longed for a child. One day, Mama went to the corner street shop for her daily food supplies when a 10-year-old girl came in, crying uncontrollably. Mama took her aside and tried to comfort her, but the girl did not respond. The girl’s father soon came into the shop and explained his wife and the girl’s mother had just passed away. Mama offered to take the girl home with her to comfort her and she went willingly. When the father came for his daughter the next day, she didn’t want to go back with him. The father and Mama agreed that Mama should keep the girl and take care of her. The girl is now called Little Mama and is loved and cared for and Mama’s heart’s desire to have a child is being fulfilled through this unusual circumstance. And that’s how God brings beauty from ashes, hope from despair, healing from hurt—that’s the power of the Gospel!

What Else is Going on in October?

Donated Furniture and Supplies

A couple of months ago, we received a very large donation of used school furniture and supplies from Lacamas Elementary School in partnership with Grace Church. Lacamas Elementary School closed down and they had to get rid of everything. Their unwanted items became such a blessing to us and the school in Gambia!

With the help of volunteers and friends, we were able to move all the donations into Cornerstone Masonry’s shop so we didn’t have to pay for storage while waiting to arrange a container to be filled and shipped to Gambia. Our intention was to purchase a much needed 12-14 passenger van and load it into the container with the furniture, but we soon realized we would need two containers sent out in order to fit everything. The first container is on its way to Gambia and this week we purchased the van which will soon be prepared to be loaded up in the next container to be sent out.

Changes at Emmanuel Mission School

Emmanuel Mission School went through some big changes this year, but all for the better and with the purpose of moving to a new level of ministry to the children and the community. We hired a new Principal and a Deputy Director to bring better structure and direction to the school as a whole and to enlarge our influence in the community. Please pray for Mr. Daniel, the Principal, and Mrs. Janet Foon, the Deputy Director. They are both strong believers, spirit-filled, and desire to see “His Kingdom come and His will be done”—in Gambia and beyond.

A Hedge of Protection

In this season of our lives, I have been reading the book of Job more often and one thing that stood out to me was that God had placed a hedge of protection around Job, his family and everything that God had blessed him with. Satan was unable to touch Job while he had the hedge of protection over him.

Please join us in prayer to ask the Lord to keep a hedge of protection around the Shared Blessings ministry, the school, the children, all the ministry partners on the ground, and all the ministry partners here that are praying, giving, and supporting this work. Together we are going to see Gambia saved and His kingdom be established in this nation that so desperately needs a Savior.

We cannot do what we do without you, your prayers, support, and dedication to this cause.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Sol and Manuela Bah