15-Apr-2011 4:44 PM
Water is for life, but only Jesus can give eternal life
Our final day in Senegal began early for Larry and I. We woke up at 5:30 to go to the airport for Larry's 8:00 am Delta flight. He made it off well, and back at the guesthouse we got to work with a language session.
Following the language session, we made one final trip to Sacre Couer III. Brett and Rick finished mapping their section of SC III, and then greeted and made contacts. In the meantime, our translator, David, took us to his aunt's home in SC III. His aunt, Beatrice, presently attends a Catholic church, but she told us of how God is her provider and how much she loves Jesus. She said that some evangelicals shared the gospel with her many years ago and that she believes it. She was very grateful for our visit. After visiting with this sweet-spirited lady, Mark and I came upon a gardner named Cheik. After we greeted him and told him what we were doing in the neighborhood. He asked us to pray for lots of money. I asked him why he wanted lots of money and he said that it would make him happy. I told him that he had a greater need than money. That piqued his interest. "What is that?" he asked. I told him that money wouldn't help him once he died; he needs eternal life. He needs to be forgiven for his sins. From there, I shared with him about Jesus speaking to the woman at the well in John 4. I compared his focus on money to the woman's focus on water and I shared how Jesus pointed her to her greater need. He listened quietly, but intently as I told him the gospel. He told me that he had never heard that before and that he wanted to know more. We exchanged contact information and prayed together before getting on our way.
We spent the afternoon visiting at the home of Rick's friend, Malik. Malik's wife is Paula's good friend from the last trip--Maimuna. We called up Paula on the phone and she and Maimuna got to speak together. They were both very excited. From there, we went to Dakar's rocky beachfront to help Rick find a baptism spot of U.'s baptism. He will be baptized this weekend! Finally, we returned to the guesthouse for debriefing and packing.
God has been so good to us on this trip and he's allowed us to make dozens of contacts and share the gospel numerous times. Right now, only he knows what is in store for our ministry in Dakar among the Wolof, but no one can doubt that his Spirit is powerfully at work!
14-Apr-2011 7:26 PM
Searching for Nicodemuses
This morning we learned that Nancy's mother (Larry's mother-in-law) passed away last night, so we spent some time trying to make arrangements to get him home early. It was frustrating at times, but the Lord worked it out for him to get a Delta flight Friday morning. That brought much relief. Thank you for praying for that situation.
Later in the morning, we walked along the Corniche (the road that runs along the sea) and then we went to the lighthouse which overlooks the city. At both locations we prayed for God to do a mighty work in this city among the Wolof. These times were very powerful as God pressed on our hearts at once the overwhelming need, but also the reality that this is his mission and he is at work in ways that we cannot even begin to fathom.
While Larry and Brett went to the airport to arrange an earlier flight home for Larry, Mark and I returned to the Sacre Couer III to do some more mapping and geo-spiking. This time we focused our efforts on a elevated section of the neighborhood (what we called "Upper SC III"), and we were able to get quite a bit of it mapped in just a short time.
In the late afternoon, we went back to Upper SC III to greet and engage people. Both groups had some great conversations. Brett and Mark had a conversation with a man named Abdoulaye who wanted to talk about a range of things including American politics. They tried to steer clear of that topic, however, and were able to use a comment the man made about morality in America to point the conversation toward man's rebellion against God and his need for a Savior.
Meanwhile, Larry and I got into a very long conversation with more than ten followers of a
marabout from the Mouride Brotherhood. Some listened intently when we spoke, some were put-off or disinterested, and some actively sought to distract the conversation. They asked some good questions and occasionally challenged what we were saying to them. One man in particular, Omar, was very forceful with us. Even still, I was able to share all of Creation to Christ with these young men. When I finished, I asked if any of them had ever heard that message before and they admitted that they had not. Two of the men said that they knew that the message is very important, and on of them even came to us later away from the group and after we had moved on. His name is Schek. He told us that he had heard of Jesus feeding the five thousand, that Jesus died on the cross, and that he rose again from the dead. He told us that he appreciated what we were doing in his neighborhood and he said that the message is one that people need to hear. Schek told us he wanted to know more about Jesus, so we took down his phone number and gave him a copy of the Jesus film in Wolof. Please pray for Abdoulaye, Schek, Mansour, Bouba, and Omar. Pray that God would press on their hearts their need for a Savior and the hope only to be found in his gospel.
13-Apr-2011 11:25 PM
"How are you going to get 'clean'?"
We returned to Sacre Couer III this morning and spent the early hours mapping and geo-spiking the neighborhood. We moved quickly and were able to complete the entire neighborhood before the end of the morning. Even still, the Lord allowed us to make a few good contacts including a Catholic college student who let us pray with him.
From there, we took a time of rest and tried our hand in the artisan village near the coast. Our group of four guys had very little interest in shopping, however. Stan told us that he had never spent so little time in the village.
In the afternoon and evening, we returned to the SC III and walked the neighborhood again--this time much more slowly. We spent time praying that God would break down spiritual strongholds in the neighborhood. And there are many.
Toward the end of the day, I had a conversation with a Muslim man who is my age named Abbib. The conversation began with him explaining that he had a headache from drinking alcohol last night. I gave him some ibuprofen and tried to steer the conversation in a spiritual direction. I asked him why he drinks so much and he told me of how his Muslim friends tell him that he shouldn't. What followed from him was a tangled mess of Islam, Rastafarianism, reincarnation, and alcoholism. The conversation lasted for over a half hour. He told me that he believes a person has to be "clean" to have eternal life. I asked him how he planned to get clean and he said that he has a spiritual advisor. Throughout the conversation I asked God to help me bring clarity to his confusion, and toward the end I sensed God leading me to be forceful in showing him his need for a Savior. I said, "God's Word says that everybody dies, and after that comes God's judgment. Abbib, is your spiritual advisor going to stand beside you on judgment day?" I told him that Jesus is the only one who could represent him before God because he died for the forgiveness of sin; he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. At that point, the shop owner asked us to move the conversation outside because his shop was getting crowded. I gave Abbib a copy of the Jesus film and encouraged him to watch it. I told him that I would pray for him to really consider what is at stake in what we talked about. Pray for this young man that God would bring him out of the confusion and spiritual blindness; that he would transfer him from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of his beloved Son.
12-Apr-2011 11:58 PM
A devout Muslim admits he believes Jesus died on the cross
After a restful night's sleep, we began the day with another session of language learning focused on greetings, numbers, and additional vocabulary. From there we made on final trip through the SC III VDN neighborhood. On group investigated future potential alternate accommodations while the other group went to the Shalom Church and school to see the extent of that church's ministry to the community.
The afternoon and evening were spent in a new neighborhood, Sacre Couer III. This neighborhood is adjacent to the VDN neighborhood. We took a similar approach in this neighborhood, this time working east to west. We made numerous contacts with people in the community. Brett and Larry's group had a gospel sharing encounter that lasted over an hour with two men: Ibrahim and Abbacar. Abbacar was very steeped in the Qu'ran and he adamantly wanted to share him Muslim faith. Despite this, however, Abbacar did show an interest in what the team had to share. For example, he does believe that Jesus did many miracles and that he was born to the virgin Mary. He even said that he believes that Jesus died on the cross--something the Qu'ran explicitly denies. The team shared with him about how Jesus is the bridge across the divide that separates us from God. They shared Jesus' words from John 14:6 where Jesus says that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through him. Pray for these two men; that God might use the seeds that were sown in their hearts this evening to bring them faith in Christ.
11-Apr-2011 11:45 AM
"I will die a Muslim"
Praise the God who loves to save for his goodness in giving us so many opportunities to share his gospel today. The day began with some Wolof lessons for how to take a taxi, and after a little practice we were set to go. We returned to SC III VDN neighborhood for a final full day of mapping and engaging there.
Brett and Larry by God's grace ran into our friend Ibrahim from the first day again. They had not met him, so they were joyfully surprised when they found out that it was the same Ibrahim that we had spoken to. So they were able to share with him some more. Mark and myself had a couple of opportunities to share the gospel with men in the neighborhood named Amadou and Niang.
Some of our most interesting conversations today happened in taxis. One driver, Alpha Omar, was especially open to hearing the gospel. He said that he was a Muslim but that he had many Catholic friends. I asked him if he knew the story of Jesus and he admitted that he knew very little. He said that he wanted to know everything about Jesus and that he wanted me to teach him. We traded contact information and gave him a copy of the Jesus film in Wolof.
Another driver, Ishmael, presented us with a very different encounter. Our translator, making small talk, asked him if he was a Muslim. He said that he is a Muslim, that he has always been a Muslim, and that he will die a Muslim. I asked him if he had peace with God and hope for eternal life and he said that he did. He asked if I did, so I told him that Jesus had taken the judgment of God against me for my in on himself so that I could have eternal life. I asked him if he knew anything about Jesus. He said he was not interested in Jesus at all. I said ok and sat back quiet. After a few quiet moments, he said, "But you can tell me more about Jesus if you want to." So I shared my testimony and then shared how no one is born a Christian. I shared how Jesus said that we must be born again; that we are under the judgment of God and that we need to be forgiven for our sin. At this point we arrived at our location. When we got out, we handed him a copy of the Jesus film and he looked at it skeptically. I told him it was a gift for him and then jokingly added that he could watch it and no one would no. He took it.
A final highlight of the day was the fellowship we enjoyed as a team around a plate of the traditional Senegalese dish Thebou Dieune--fish and rice. Everyone participated in the food adventure and had their fill. I think everyone even liked it. Continue praying for us as the days are long and tiring. We are trying to remain mindful of the fact that they are not nearly long enough. There is much work to be done. Pray also for these gospel sharing encounters that we've had; that the Lord would bring great fruit from our feeble efforts.
10-Apr-2011 11:48 AM
Worship at the Keuru Yalla
We began today by joining with Rick's church family at the Keuru Yalla. This church is within walking distance from Rick's home. The services were in French and Wolof and the church is made up primarily of West African people other than Wolof. Rick's primary reason for attending this fellowship apart from his need to be connected with a church family, is so that he can bring his friend "U" to church with him. U is a young man that Rick had the opportunity to build a relationship with and who our November team had the opportunity to share the gospel with. Since then U has come to faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, he can't stop talking to his friends about his new relationship with Jesus Christ. It was so encouraging to hear U's testimony of faith. His English vocabulary is very small, but when he speaks about his faith in his native Wolof tongue he could talk for hours!
Later that day we spent more time mapping the Sacre Couer III VDN neighborhood. Mark had the opportunity to share the gospel with another man named Ibrahim. He asked for a book that had the story of Abraham in it, and so we told him that we would bring him a solar-powered mp3 player called a "Mega-Voice" that would tell him more about the stories of Abraham and Jesus.
After another long day, we retired back to the guesthouse for a time of sharing and prayer.
9-Apr-2011 11:45 AM
Abraham's faith and God's faithfulness
We arrived before 5 o'clock in the morning and, after a short time of orientation, we hit the ground running in the first section of the Sacre Couer neighborhood--the VDN III. We split into two teams with one mapping the neighborhood from north to south and the other mapping the neighborhood from south to north. Our first goal was to begin praying for the neighborhood as we walked through it and to engage as many people as possible. We recorded contacts with a number of individuals, and using "Geo-spiking" we are going to be able to match names, photos, telephone numbers, and other notes with GPS locations. This will enable future teams to track down our neighborhood contacts. We were able to have spiritual conversations with a number of people. One man, Ibrahim, joked with me that I needed a Senagalese wife. I told him that I already had a wife. He said that that was ok because in his religion it was perfectly appropriate to take more than one wife. I shared with him that God's Word says that only "two will become one flesh." I told him that polygamy is man's way, but not God's way. This led to a natural conversation about sin, and Ibrahim was challenged about his sin. At first he said that he had never sinned, but then quickly admitted that he had just lied. His face turned solemn with conviction. I asked him if I could share with him the story of the man in the Bible who shares his name--Abraham. He said he had heard this story from the Qu'ran, but I told him that God's Word has so much more to say about Abraham. I told him about how God counted Abraham's faith as righteousness; how Abraham believed God's promise. I told him that it wasn't because Abraham prayed enough or fasted enough or gave enough money to the poor or said the right words that God accepted him. Rather, God accepted Abraham's faith. This led to a conversation about God's provision for the forgiveness of our sin in Christ who bore our judgment for us. Ibrahim heard the gospel of God's grace and afterward we prayed together.
Another goal was to note different businesses, schools, and other cultural institutions in the neighborhood. Hopefully this will be useful information to our other teams who go as well. At the end of the day, the Lord brought a couple of believers across our path who took us to the home of a pastor. While we weren't totally sure about the gospel commitment of this fellowship, it seems that God may be at work in this neighborhood already through their efforts. Perhaps he has led us to a potential partner in Sacre Couer. Time will tell.
Bombarded with the discomfort of landing in a new and very different culture, trying to learn the basic Wolof greetings, and operating on little sleep and jetlag, the team retired for the night exhausted. But God's grace throughout the day was sufficient and he gave us much strength. On the whole, our first day in Dakar proved very productive.