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