Week 5

Yangi si jamm?  (Jamm rek!)

We wanted to give a quick update on what has been going on this week.  Monday, we had a very good 

devotion and have been working through 1 Timothy with  O, our translator.  We have been explaining the true meanings of the words grace, mercy, and propitiation.  We continue to share the gospel with people in the neighborhood.  That night we visited our friend Y, who is a night guard, and had a deep spiritual conversation with him.  He shared with us that God has sent him a dream 6 times telling him that he must go and tell others in another country (his home country being the Gambia).  He said that he is just waiting for the right time as right now he does not have the means to go.  Our question is, why does God only appear to Africans in dreams?!?  He shared with us how God appeared to him in a dream at his salvation.  Y shared with us that he could not say no to the Lord’s calling. Wow, God is powerful changing the heart of even a Muslim man.

Playing guitar

On Tuesday we met up with our French speaking friend from Quebec, Helene, again and visited several homes.  The first family we visited was M and his sister.  We had no idea what would turn out from it, but his sister spent much time talking about her beliefs.  We shared the good news with them and had a very long discussion.  Please pray for that family.  After that we visited our old friend, S, but she wasn’t home, so we sat down with her mother (who has a really weird name we can NEVER remember, so we call her ‘Mama’).  She shared with us that she had converted from Catholicism to Islam since she was a child.  We shared with her from different Bible passages and we think that she is slowly seeing the truth.  Pray that she will see the truth and not worry about how long she has been following Islam.  Many times people end up like this: “Okay, I see that is truth… but I am Muslim, and I cannot change.”  Please pray that people would count the cost and see that Jesus alone provides the spring of water welling up to eternal life, and that God would change their hearts.

Luke and Helene with our new friend

The most significant event of our week was Tuesday night.  We met up with our friend G and M.  We 

sat down to dinner together and began to discuss scripture.  Both are from different countries and speak French, so Helene did the majority of the sharing.  She walked through Ephesians 2:8-9 and John 3 focusing on how salvation is by faith alone and the importance of the new birth.  We broke out in joy when she asked M if he had been born again.  He replied, “Yes. Tonight, when I believed that I am saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ.”  It was so awesome to see how he understood the scriptures and how the Words of Jesus brought His soul to life.  Pray for him and pray that we are able to continue to meet with him and disciple him.

Sunset off Ngore Island

On Wednesday, we celebrated Alex’s birthday and went to Ngore Island.  The island was beautiful and 

we went swimming with a bunch of people off the rocks.  It was a nice break and a good experience. Leave it to Luke to step on a sea urchin… (we think)

On Thursday, we went out and were able to meet up with M (from Tuesday night) and walk through some scripture from Romans with him.  G brought some resistance to us sharing with him these foundational truths (we were in his shop), so please pray that God would give us further opportunities to share.

That evening we had our 5^th Bible study.  A local believer, T, lead us in a study on how Jesus is the Lamb of God.  That night confirmed in our hearts that God wants us to leave D’s house and find a new place to meet with the Wolof that are coming.  There have been quite a few things that have hindered the Bible study at D’s house, so it looks like the Spirit is telling us to trust in the provision of another place.

Swimming off the rocks at Ngore Island

So, the most important part of this blog is our plea for prayer.  We need a place to meet so that T and O (both Senegalese believers who have shared that they want to continue this Bible study when we leave) can continue when we leave in less than a month.  We have listed our very specific prayer requests below.  God’s plan could be to grow this small Bible study into a church one day, as we know that a local church is a body of believers meeting to worship and study the Word in obedience to Jesus.  We are here to share, disciple and trust that the fruit and future are in the hands of God.

Our plans this weekend were to visit O’s village about 3 hours outside of Dakar, but God changed our plans for several reasons.  So, we are planning to go next weekend.  Pray for that trip that God would open doors to the Gospel.

In Christ,

Assan ak Abdou
(Luke and Alex)

Prayer Requests:

-God’s provision of a meeting place

-Wisdom on how to make this transition

-Preparation of T and O to keep this going when we leave

-Further discipleship and continue Gospel sharing with already made contacts

Alex drinking ataya with some mechanics

Birthday lunch

Our new best friend

Our friend invited us to dinner

Week 4

African drum circle

Welcome to the newest edition of “What God is doing with two sinners in West Africa!” We are reminded daily how undeserving we are of this opportunity. It’s crazy to think that we have already been here a whole month, and it is absolutely amazing to see how God has been working in us and through us. Especially in us. We have both learned more in this one short month than we have in any other single month of our lives. We were talking last night about how hard it would be to answer the question, “did you have fun?” Well yes, we’ve had fun, but not the normal idea of “fun.” It’s been hard. Physically draining, emotionally difficult, and we are dealing with constant spiritual warfare. But we can both say that this has been one of the most spiritually fulfilling times of our lives. We are forced to have a complete dependence on God, and that is the best place to be. We know, and are reassured over and over again, that we are never going to “convince” anyone of the Gospel. The hearts of these people are so hard. They have been taught one thing their entire lives, why should they listen to us? This Gospel is foolishness to the world. We have hope because we know that God is in absolute control. We know the truth, and it is just our job to proclaim it as truth. His Word never returns void. This Gospel is the power of God to those who are being saved. We may plant, we may water, but it is God who grows. He is the one that changes hearts. This is the hope and comfort keeps us going every day. So yes, we’ve been having a blast, but it is because we have been witnessing the work of God.

This week was a week of great encouragement. God opened up many doors for us to share the Gospel, to disciple new believers, and for believers to encourage us. We went to the same Wolof church that we went to the first week. It lasted just as long (from 9am-2pm) and it was just as great. After church a couple invited us over to their house for lunch. The man was a Wolof Muslim, became a follower of Jesus, went to a Bible institute, and now his job is to reach every home in Senegal in the name of Christ. He has an incredible testimony, and it was so good to be able to fellowship with him and his wife. He also wrote a book about the difficulty of reaching the Wolof people, and we bought it from him, but it’s in French, so we might need some help reading it.

After lunch we went to a Missionary Center where the International World Changers team had been doing children’s camps all week long. They got to impact hundreds of kids by telling them the story of Jesus Christ. It was awesome to be able to be part of that ministry on Sunday. We also got to go walk a couple of neighborhoods with them on Monday. It was good to be able to spend some time with fellow Georgians. Especially Mrs. Shirley. She liked to feed all the stray cats.

Kids at Grand Yoff with IBC

Throughout the week we have continued to meet new people and share the good news in Sacre Coure 3. On Monday, we had a good discussion with 3 guys sitting on a park bench in the upper part of the neighborhood. It was good reasoning with them and pointing out truth in the Scriptures. That night was a very impactful night. We have a friend, Y, who has been a believer for several months, and who is a night guard that we hadn’t visited in a while. So, we visited him and were able to talk to one of his uncle’s from the Gambia. Here is D’s story (not word for word):

“I became a believer about a year ago after I came to Senegal looking for work. The missionary, R, had shared with me the news about Jesus Christ and I didn’t believe it. Then one night an angel appeared to me in a dream and told me that this was the way to get to God and that I had to believe in it. So, I believed and am now telling people about the good news! Ever since I told my Muslim family in the Gambia, they have rejected me and wanted nothing to do with me. I have 3 daughters and one of them got sick. She passed away 2 months ago because no one in my family would take care of her. My wife must live with her family because mine will not help her. Sometimes I think about these things and my mind wants to get angry, but my trust is in God.”

Friends

Pain, hardship, suffering. This man has both counted and experienced the cost that Jesus talks about. Would you give up? We would all be tempted to, but God is faithful. He gives us the faith that we need to stand up under these impossible burdens. For nothing is impossible with God! (Luke 1:37)  Please pray for D and his family.

On Tuesday, we shared with a group of guys and university students underneath a tree across from a local university. Many were listening and were interested in the life of Jesus and what He teaches. We even met a Wolof man that has lived for the past few years in Marietta, GA! Small world? We got his number and may be able to meet up with him later.  That night we were able to lead the new believer from our first week here, S, through some scriptures on the Gospel, evangelism, and suffering. This time of discipleship was incredibly encouraging. We can see God at work in his life. He is really getting it and we can see growth in him. Pray for this new believer- for his faith, witness, and that God would give him a genuine hunger for His Word.

Asan with a famous musician

On Wednesday, we spent the afternoon at a missionary couple’s house that has been here for many years. We got to share our stories and listen to theirs; we both left feeling extremely encouraged. One of the most impactful things they challenged us with is this question that they said they often ask themselves, “Are you more devoted to the cause or to Christ?”

That night, Luke went out with O to hang out with some friends that we have made since being here. We got to share with a young Wolof Muslim guy that we had met who plays guitar. He was very interested, and listened intently as we shared the Gospel with him. As he was leaving, we gave him some information, and he said that this was the first time that he ever heard a too-bob (white person) talk about God, and it made him very happy! We’ve seen him again since that day, and he is still very interested in what we believe. Please pray for M, and that God would draw M to Himself. We then shared with A, a man that previous teams have shared a lot with. We had a good discussion over Attaya (Senegalese tea). A left us to go to bed, and T, a young man who has been a believer for 10 years, joined us. We got into a deep spiritual conversation that was extremely edifying to all of us. God used this time immensely. We closed our discussion in prayer then started singing “Our God is an Awesome God” in Wolof (Yalla Aji Kawe Ji) with our arms around each other as we walked back home. Little did we know that this was God’s plan to set up a divine appointment. As we were walking and singing a man got up off a bench and approached us. I thought it was a homeless man that was going to ask for money, but he ended up being one of God’s children with an amazing story. To make a very, very, very long story short this man, R, was a pastor in Liberia before he was evacuated as a refugee to Gambia, after some troubles in Gambia he had been living on the streets for 2 months in Dakar away from his wife and 7 kids. We told him why we were here and we got to encourage him, and he got to encourage us. We prayed with him and told him that his story reminded us of the story of David in the Bible. What your enemy means for evil, God means for good.

Throughout the week we have continued to invite people to our Bible study on Thursday evenings. This Thursday we had 2 Wolof Muslims that came along with several other believers. Alex taught the story of Moses including Israel’s slavery in Egypt and God’s wrath in the plagues. We talked about how the 10^th plague reveals our need of a sacrifice and how it points straight to Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. After the story we had a very good discussion on the meaning of these things. R, the Liberian Pastor, shared that, “It is for this reason that God has kept me here. I will pray that God will continue to use this.  It is because of the music Yalla Aji Kawe Ji that I came!”

Best dancer of the night

Friday turned out to be a very interesting day. We met up with Hélène, a summer missions intern from Canada working with New Tribe Missions that we met at O’s church. We went to a huge university to share the good news with university students. God opened up so many doors to share that we were overwhelmed with it all. We reasoned with many people about who Jesus really is and what He came to do. That night we had dinner at a new believer’s house. This woman, F, became a believer a year ago and invited us over. We spent the majority of the night sharing the Gospel with her mother who is a Catholic. We shared with her that baptism cannot save us rather the blood of Jesus and His work on the cross. We pointed out how Romans 3 talks about justification and what it means to be declared righteous.  We reasoned until 1:30 in the morning about everything!  We were all very tired but overjoyed to see how God used us that day.

Prayer Requests:

-S (new believer)- Hunger for the word, understanding of the Gospel, boldness to share

-D (Gambian)- family in the Gambia, God’s provision, encouragement in this time of trial

-A- a Muslim who is very interested in Jesus

-Our strength and sensitivity to the Spirit

-R and S/G- missionaries here

-Wisdom and guidance for our Thursday night Bible study

-Learning Wolof

-For God to continue to change lives for the glory of His name

In Christ,

Assan ak Abdou
(Luke and Alex)

Making friends

Week 3

Greetings from Dakar, Senegal!

We can’t believe we are finishing up our 3^rd week here and we are so humbled by how God has been working.  This past week a group from International World Changers came from the States to do some mission work in Grand Yoff, another neighborhood in Dakar.  On Saturday we got to spend some time with them and some Senegalese believers and non-believers.  We played a game of basketball and soccer, did a relay, drank Attaya (a strong Senegalese minty tea that symbolizes friendship), and watched the Jesus film.  Then on Sunday we went to an English speaking church that is held in Dakar’s international school.  We got to meet and worship with many missionaries and local believers and were very encouraged by it all.  We cannot imagine how many stories of Gospel work, suffering, hardships, and joy are contained within the lives of that community of believers.  Psalm 13 was preached on and we all sang “It Is Well” and found encouragement for our souls.

On Monday, we began our week of evangelism and discipleship in Sacre Couer III.  God continues to open doors even if it feels like we are moving slowly at times.  The heat, the language, and the strongholds of the enemy are all continual reminders of our need to rely on the Lord’s strength and set our hope in things that are eternal.

These verses have been a refuge to us: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We have continued to find opportunities to share the Gospel throughout the week.  We met a large group of young guys who get together in a park everyday and reasoned with them about Jesus, the Bible, and our need for salvation.  They were playing guitar so we joined in and showed them some English worship songs.  It can be difficult to share the Gospel with a Muslim, but praise be to God that He can soften a heart of stone.  “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29.  

On Tuesday we received a call from a Muslim man, M, who is an artist that the team in April met.  We shared with him for a long time and he ended up taking it as truth saying that he wanted to research some more.  We gave him a French Bible and pointed out some key passages.  He said that he would come to our Bible study, but did not actually show up.  Hopefully we will be able to share more with him about the Bible and Jesus Christ.

On Thursday evening we had our 3^rd Bible study here.  O, our translator, was our teacher this week and led us through different passages found in the Gospels.  When we asked O ahead of time what he was going to teach he said, “What Jesus said about himself.”  Then Luke asked him, “From where?”  He replied indignantly, “The Bible!”  There you have it, the Bible, in its entirety, is what we need to study and use to disciple all people.  This week there were not a few of us- the three new believers, one of their friends, several local believers, and 3 Muslims.  The 3 Muslims, who it is our main goal to reach, did not come until the very end.  Pray that God would give us another opportunity to further share the Gospel with them.  We have been working hard to invite unbelievers to the Bible study, but many of them are either busy or say they will come but do not show up.  We continue to see that is God who leads a Bible study, it is God who leads a discussion about the Gospel, and it is God who leads us in “triumphal procession to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.” (2 Cor. 2:14)  We cannot manufacture the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We must trust, lean, and rely.

Friday morning we met with S, the new believer from our first week here, and walked through some Bible passages on evangelism and discipleship.  A believer from Togo named Sara* accompanied us and we were able to encourage her in her faith as well.  S has been afraid to share his new faith with his family and Sara has already experienced persecution from hers.  Sara asked what she should do when her family asks her to stop talking about Jesus and to stop going to church, so Luke shared with her a passage from Acts 4.  When Peter and John were told to stop talking about Jesus, they said that they must obey God rather than man and that they cannot but speak of what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:19). We also shared some other passages about suffering and persecution with both of them. We cannot even imagine rejection from our families, but persecution is a very real thing here. All we could do is share truth and encouragement from God’s Word. Please pray that both S and Sara would not be afraid to share with their family and friends what they have “seen and heard.”

We visited some djembe makers! They taught us some new beatz.

We have been able to partner with R, the local M here, and meet several people.  On Friday night we were invited to a Senegalese wrestling match!  We had a good time and got to experience something that is very important to their culture.  One of our friends won his match and we got to celebrate with his family, friends, and neighborhood in the street!  We danced and played the drums with them.  Looking back on it, this was a true African celebration!  It was a lot of fun and we are going back tonight for their celebration festival.  We believe that as we continue to build relationships with the lost people here that God will continue to open doors for His truth to be shared, and He will be the one to open their hearts that they may see Jesus Christ as Lord.

Prayer Requests:

-S (new believer)- problems with his aunt, scared to tell family about his new faith

-Sara- a Togolese believer experiencing persecution

-God to continue to give fruitful relationships with people in SC3

-God would continue to bring people to our Bible study

-That the believers would continue the Bible Study when we leave

In Christ,

Assan ak Abdou
(Luke and Alex)

A man getting water from an open well in some farmland in the middle of the capital city

Abdou Jassey with one of his new friends

A green spikey fruit that was really sour and had the consistency of a pumpkin

Week 2

Grace and Peace to you in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord from Dakar, Senegal! We have just finished up our second week here in Dakar, and it is going to be very hard to try and put into words everything that God has been teaching us. We serve a great God who does great things, amen? Amen! We have been so encouraged by those of you who have been writing us and telling us that you love us and are praying for us. Thank you so much for being a part of this mission endeavor. Please keep praying! We need it, and the people that we are proclaiming the Gospel to need it! Prayer is a means by which God lavishes His grace, so we humbly ask you to continue to intercede for us and for those who are hearing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Many of you are familiar with the famous quote from John Piper, “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not.” God desires the worship of His creation. He has called us here to Senegal, not because He needs us, but because He has chosen to use us as vessels to carry His Gospel to those who have never heard. We are here not just because the Great Commission tells us to go, not just because we love the lost who are perishing, but because we have a burning and passionate zeal for the glory of Jesus Christ. There are thousands upon thousands of people here who spend their entire lives trying to impress a false god. They are devoted to their worship, even more than some Christians, but their worship is in vain.  They are not worshiping the one true God. No one can worship God apart from Jesus Christ, nor can anyone please God apart from the blood of Jesus. Pray that when these people hear the good news of Jesus Christ that they may recognize their sin and realize their need for a savior. 

Praise be to God that we have already seen this happen four times! We told you about the salvation of a Muslim man last week, but we got to see three more salvations. Literally hours after our blog post last Saturday we went to a Bible study, and three men from another country were there. They had been around church for a while, but they had no real idea of what the Gospel was. By the end of that Bible study all three of them had confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. Glory to God!

On Sunday our friend O took us to his church. We got there at 9 o’clock in the morning and did not leave until 2 o’clock. It was a little different than the normal church routine that we are used to, but man do those people love Jesus! It was so incredible to be a part of. We got to worship God in a new language. It was moving to see their passion and worship along side our brothers and sisters. This past Sunday was mother’s day here, so happy mother’s day to every mom who is reading this right now! Sunday afternoon we headed to the coast with R, several Senegalese believers, and S the new believer. That evening at sunset O baptized S as a symbol of his new life in Christ and as a profession of faith to the world. In other words, he "went swimming." 

We spent Monday through Thursday walking around the neighborhood that we have adopted meeting new people, building relationships with people that we’ve met, and sharing the good news with everyone. We’ve made a lot of really good contacts so please continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to see, their ears to hear, and their hearts to understand. We invited a whole bunch of people to the Bible study that we started on Thursday nights, and Praise God that there were 13 of us! This included the 4 new believers from last week, 5 believers that were already there, 2 Muslim men, and us. After a time of prayer, Luke taught about how justification before God comes by faith and not by works. The two Muslim men listened intently as we continued to share with them. They did not believe that night, but they are interested, and they are researching. Please pray that God will open their hearts and draw them to Himself.

God is working in mighty ways here, and it is our prayer that he will continue to use us for His glory. Here are some things that you can pray about:

For us:

-That we will delight ourselves in the Lord and desire the glory of His name above all else

-God’s work in our holiness (breaking down pride and self-righteousness)

-Humility in sharing the Gospel

-Dependence on Him

-Boldness to proclaim the Gospel in all circumstances

-To be filled with the Holy Spirit

For the lost:

-That God would open hearts and tear down walls

-That He would supernaturally make the spiritually dead alive in Christ, that God would even appear to them in their dreams.

-Pray that God would pour out His love, mercy, and grace directly on them so that they can do nothing but accept the free gift of Jesus Christ.

For the believers:

-That God would continue to give them comfort and strength in the face of persecution.

-That God would use them as instruments of salt and light so that those around them can see His goodness.

-That their fire for the Gospel would continue to grow and never diminish.

We ask great things from a great God.

Great and amazing are your deeds,

                        O Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

            O King of the nations!

Who will not fear, O Lord,

            and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

            All nations will come and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.

                                                Revelation 15:3-4

We love you all! Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayers! Keep them coming!

In Christ,
Assan ak Abdou

(Luke and Alex)

 Home cooked Chebu Gen!

 Catch of the Day

 Two great looking guys

Bearded African Mermaid

Week 1

Yangi nos?

We are writing to you from Dakar, Senegal to give an update on everything that has been going on here!  The Lord has been at work over the past 5 days using us as instruments for His Name.  We arrived at 8:30pm on Monday and got settled into our hotel room.  That night we enjoyed a local Senegalese dish called Yassa (chicken and rice with an onion sauce) and hit the sack.  The first day we got on our feet and met with R, an IMB missionary, and O, a Wolof believer who will be our translator for the majority of the time.  Many of you will know that O has been a believer for less than a year and a half, and I tell you that God is at work mightily in his life giving him a hunger for the Word and a zeal for the Gospel.

On Tuesday we met with S, a very nice woman who lives in SC3 and seems to be interested in what we have to say.  Then on Wednesday we met with a believer that lives in SC3 that has been hosting a Bible study on Saturdays.  We spent time with him and met his whole family who are all very strong believers.  His wife used to be a Muslim but is now a believer and follower of Christ.  We enjoyed a time of prayer, Bible study and worship at his house.

After D’s house, we began to meet with other contacts that we have within the neighborhood to give them pictures that Yaya and Fatu (a couple from our church that has been to Senegal twice now) gave to us as gifts for them.  We met with M, P, K and others.  An interesting meeting that we had was over lunch when we met a guy from Milwaukee that is involved with Peace Corps and has mostly been working with the Mendinka people.

That night we met with a local friend from Gambia who works as a night guard a few blocks from our hotel.  This guy actually gave Alex his Senegalese name Abdou Jassey.  We opened up a conversation with the night guard that works next to Y every night and were able to share the whole Gospel with him.  He listened intently as we told the stories of creation, Noah, Abraham, Isaiah, and the coming of Jesus Christ along with His death and resurrection.  We focused on sin and how it separates us from the holy Creator of the universe.

Throughout the week we have met with many people and shared the Gospel with quite a few.  We continue to look people who are open to the Gospel are truly interested in the life of Jesus.  We have met several believers within the neighborhood that have come from other countries and we felt God leading us to have our first Bible study in SC3.  D, one of the believers, allowed us to meet in his home on Thursday evening with 6 others (8 of us in all).  We planned on this just being a meeting of believers so we could discuss how we could work together and best reach the neighborhood with the good news of Jesus Christ. But God had different plans. We started the meeting with 7 of us being believers, and one Muslim man that our church had met during a previous trip.  After a time of prayer, Bible study, and hearing the testimonies of everyone in the room, we turned to S, the Muslim man, and explained to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God was definitely at work. That night S gave His life to Christ and confessed Him as Lord.  HALLELUJAH!  We were humbled and amazed that God works all things together in His own timing for His glory.

What amazes me most is how God has been working through an entire church, CFBC, in reaching this neighborhood of Wolof, Serer, Pulaar, Nigerians, Muslims and Catholics alike.  Every trip that has come has had a significant impact on these people and has had a hand in the fruit of this ministry.  We have been encouraged to know that there are so many praying back home and interested in what the Lord our God is doing here in Dakar.  Continue to pray that the blind would see and that dead hearts would be brought to life by the sovereign hand of the Most High God.

In Christ,

Assan ak Abdou

(Luke and Alex)

O also helped us translate a song into Wolof!

Li mooy bes

Bes boo Yalla sake

Béke na ci lo

Yalla moko def

This is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice and be glad in it!

 Discussing Scripture over lunch

Two tailors that we met and had Attaya (Senegalese tea) with

 Out for Pizza!

Senegalese national dish: Chebu Gen

Sharing a Bible Story next to Muslims studying the Quran