My husband and I have been serving in a country in the Sahel of Africa for the past 9 years. I have four children between 5 and 10 years old, so am a busy mom, wife, and global worker. As demanding as life is amidst the sand and dust, in a home with never a dull moment, my heart is full of joy for where I am right now and for what God is doing!
We are church planting among an unreached people group with wonderful teammates from Ethiopia, Australia, and Canada. The people group with whom we work are majority Muslim, we have grown to love them and long to see them know Truth. In the past 18 months we have watched God start to bring some of these people to Himself. It’s been an amazing blessing to pray, to be obedient to what God is asking us to do each day, and to watch Him work.
Last month two men, who are relatives and were the first to believe in our area, informed us that they had another relative in a nearby village with whom they believed they needed to go and share the Truth of Jesus. They went and came back saying how this man, whom we will call Mo*, agreed to read the New Testament for awhile and would come back to them with his findings. After two weeks, Mo returned and stated that he believed it was Truth and wanted to follow the way of Jesus. One week after Mo verbalized this decision, his home – a hut – burned down. He rescued his wife and three children but lost everything else EXCEPT for the center wooden pole of his hut with the New Testament untouched at the bottom of the pole. The village came around to see this amazing “miracle”. Mo responded to the fire saying he was being tested, but “my faith is strong”. Two weeks after his home burned, Mo had a dream that he was being taken down into water and being brought back up again. He called his believing relatives and asked them to come explain the dream. He also told them had two friends from his village who have been reading the unburned New Testament, believe it is Truth, and also want to follow the way of Jesus!
Praise God for how He is working among these people. Please pray for Mo and his two friends to continue to stand strong in their faith and for them to be strong testimonies to those around them. Pray that Mo’s family (wife, children, and other extended family) also choose to follow Jesus. Please pray for wisdom for our family as we work with those who have believed in the last 18 months. Please pray for protection in every way (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) for our family and team as we serve in conditions that are not easy.
*name changed for security
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