Week 6

Sa fass menul dowal! (A Wolof proverb "You are late!)

Who is like our God!

We are writing to give you an update on what has been going on here in Senegal over this past week.  God has been at work and is teaching us many lessons through everything.  We just got back from the village today, but we will write more about that towards the end.

Making disciples, don't worry Luke is holding a bible

We continue to share the good news in Sacre Couer III.  We have been meeting up with some good friends that we have made and we continue to meet new people.  God has blessed us with some good relationships that we can share His truth with. We are praying that God will do what only He can do and grow these seeds that they will one day produce fruit.

Last Saturday Luke got a bunch of little pieces of a sea urchin taken out of his foot that had been there since Alex’s birthday (whoops), but everything is as good as new now. God is good! Sunday we got to go to the church of one of the believers that translated for us last time we were here. It was incredible. We were able to worship the One true God of this universe in spirit and in truth with believers from all over Africa. We got to sing “How Great is our God” and “You are Great.” To hear everyone in that room declare the greatness of our God in their native tongue (while we were doing it in English) reminded us how truly great our God is. He is great. He does miracles so great. There is no one else like Him! After church we went to the zoo, and since it was an African zoo they let us feed all the monkeys. It was a good day.

Yalla aji kawe ji

One of the most exciting things has been making a disciple of S, the new believer.  We have been spending a lot of time with him and have been sharing many things from scripture.  Every verse that he reads he is able to explain and comprehend.  It is amazing to see his growth in such a short time!  We have worked with him on memorizing some key verses and he even shared the Gospel with one of his older friends here in the neighborhood!  He is still planning on returning to his country, so pray that God would give us the time we need to encourage him and that God would give him power to share his new faith without fear.

On Thursday, we had our 5^th bible study.  God has been faithful in guiding us and giving us wisdom with it.  We had the Bible study in the lower part of the neighborhood at a local believer’s house.  Three Muslims came and Luke led us in a study on the story of David and Jonathan’s son from 2 Samuel pointing to the grace and mercy Jesus and the riches of eternal life that we do not deserve. The King has offered to adopt us as sons!  We had a long discussion afterward and closed in prayer.  Please pray for this Bible study.  We are trying to encourage the few believers here to continue it as we leave.  We continue to invite people and a few Muslims come each week.  Usually they do not return, so pray that God would bring people who are truly interested.

Best cooks in town!

One awesome story: on Thursday we called M, a Senegalese that we shared with and who is researching scripture, and he did not answer.  Then we got a call from one of his friends who wanted to come to our Bible study.  O translated and told us that this friend said that he wanted to come and hear more about who Jesus is.  Isn’t that awesome?! We had nothing to do with this!  Only God can do these things.  This friend did not end up coming, but we have his phone number so pray that we can meet up with him sometime this week!

Wednesday morning we were able to go help at a Talibé Boy center.  These centers help the children that beg on the streets.  The children have all been given up by their parents to an Islamic teaching system here. They must beg every day and study at the feet of their Muslim teacher.  These centers help provide care, love, and food for them.  We spent the morning there talking with some of the boys, handing out food, and talking with a local believer who has been called to children’s ministry here.  It was a humbling and heartbreaking experience.

1, 2, 3... jump!

We left for the village on Friday morning with O.  We arrived in Gundiaye and met his Grandfather and his grandfather’s children.  They have 6 kids who are all very young.  We ate and lived at their house over the weekend.  Village life is much different than city life and we both learned a lot from the experience.  We enjoyed the squatty potty!  We had the opportunity to share some of God’s Word with O’s family and some of his surrounding neighbors.  We stayed from Friday to Monday and on Saturday we went to a very small village to visit and share with O’s mother.

On Sunday we went to a very small church on the edge of the town.  That day we were 3 out of the 7 people that attended.  The pastor said that many people were farming and gone for the three months of vacation, but the church seems to be struggling.  The people of the village do not seem to be interested in the Gospel at all.  Pray that God will open doors for this church, for O, and for other missionaries to continue the good work there.

Bathing during the rainy season

The village was exhausting and trying, but we got to see much of God’s glory in his creation: the 

beautiful sunsets, climbing the huge baobab trees, cool African rains, and the starry night sky.  It was amazing to see God’s glory on display in this land.

Pray that Jesus’s name would be glorified among these people and that his truth would shine as light in the darkness.  Again and again God reminds us that he DOES NOT NEED US to complete his work here, but He is pleased to use us as his servants.  And how glad we are to be here!

Specific prayer requests:

-Bible study- encouragement of believers to continue it when we leave

-S- discipleship

-We have 2 weeks left, for guidance and wisdom

-That God would give us the DESIRE to share the good news when our flesh is weak

Climbing the baobab trees

Jamming with a Serer

This little guy was thirsty

Journey home

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