Unafraid and Under His Wing

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged for I am your G0d. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10-11

Thank you to everyone for your emails, your skype calls, words of encouragement, and scr1ptures to read!! It has been a blessing today to hear from so many of you and to know of your presence with us through this journey!! Today began in a much different way than the past few days. The last few mornings were just silent--absent of all noise except gunfire. Not this morning...The rhythms of life in Africa were the sounds I woke up to this morning.  Sounds I love so much like the children next door laughing and playing outside, people talking, the neighbor going out in his car, and the sounds of women cooking--pounding of the millet and the clanging of spoons in pots. Then there was the one sound that is difficult to hear each morning--the unhappy  and unending cries of one little baby that lives next door. Even that sound was a blessing today, since the child had been unusually silent the last 3 mornings. I could see green machines, taxis, motos, and people on the street in the distance. I could see the doors of the boutique opened for business and people had returned to the markets to buy and sell. This morning the rhythms that define life here were beating as normal! For that I stood looking out the window giving pr@ise to our G0d.

Things are far from over here, the events that have taken place are still being figured out, and the full rhythm  of life is not yet being played. But today a sense of restoration was happening in my neighborhood. We are still sheltering in place and remaining fairly invisible. We are living out the words of the ps@lmist in Ps@lm 91. I challenge you to read that with me today and maybe every day until this situation is resolved. Will you live with us in the shelter of the Most High and find rest in the shadow of the Alm1ghty? No matter the situations we all face, whether it is a coup in a foreign country, the joy of new life being given to us, the loss of something or someone important to us, or the realization of a life long dream, He alone is our refuge, our place of safety, our G0d and the One in whom we trust!! As our friends, family members, and those chosen to walk with us through this work in M@li, your f@ith and your declarations about our G0d are being tested and tried along with us. Let's believe him when he says, " I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation."

Will you also join us in pr@ying that the people of M@li will choose to live in the shelter of the Most High and find rest in the shadow of the Almighty? Will you pr@y that they will come to know the G0d described by the ps@lmist and understand by experience the salvation He alone gives?

We have at least 2 more days of sheltering and waiting to see what will unfold here. We hope tomorrow to spend our time sheltering by working peanuts at our house. Our friend O continues to go to the market to sell peanuts to provide for her family during this time. When we talked with her today, she said there is peanut work to be done tomorrow. Since we cannot go to her, her son will bring peanuts to us. I must say I did a little jig while we were talking about it. Pr@y for us as we continue to demonstrate J.s.s to her and her family. Pr@y for us to have time with O and her family to share with them about the G0d and S@vior we know as described in Ps@lm 91.

We love you all and thank G0d for you!!

unafraid and under His wing
peeping out at His gl0ry...

Shelter in Place

The L0rd is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know Your name trust in you, for you, O L0rd, do not abandon those who search for you." Ps@lm9:9-10

"How precious is Your unfailing love, O G0d! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings. You feed them from the abundance of Your own house, letting them drink from Your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see." Ps@lm 36:7-9

During this time of uncertainty in M@li, the instructions to us have been to "shelter in place". This morning as I woke up and began seeking G0d and His words for me today, I read the above scr1ptures. I smiled as I saw His intimate connection with us...those who are sheltering in place. He alone is our shelter, our refuge, the One we trust, the One for whom we search. His unfailing love is soooo precious! ALL of us find shelter in the shadow of His wings. He Alone feeds us from the abundance of His own house. He is the fountain of life and the light by which we see. 

My heart and mind spent much of the day, thinking about my M@lian friends and the times of trouble they are experiencing. While I have plenty of food and water, and while I know the One who covers us with His wings, they live day by day. Most have food for today and depend on working to have food for tomorrow. Most do not know the name of the L0rd and live without a relationship of trust in the One who does not abandon us. They do not understand His unfailing love, and they do not have the light by which to see the events going on around them. When I talked with my friend Thursday night, she said, "There is gunfire all around me right now." I had called to pr@y with her, so I said, " Let me pr@y with you now." Her response, "YES! YES!" With every sentence I pr@yed, she responded loudly, "AMINA!" (Amen!)

As I listen to the reports and wonder what will happen in the days to come and question where M@li will go from here, my heart cries out for them to know the L0rd that shelters us, our refuge in times of trouble, the One who feeds us from HIS OWN house, the One who gives us life and light.

Pr@y with us for the s@lvation of souls, the protection of a great nation, and the will of our G0d to be accomplished among the people who live here. Pr@y for the people of this country to be drawn to the One who loves them with an unfailing love and protects them from the dangers that seek to destroy them.

We continue to be safe and protected and continue to wait and watch. The gunfire stopped around lunch today and there were more people out and about as well. Some tried to go to the market to sell or to buy but found very few out buying or selling with them.

The airport and borders remain closed.  The price of fuel has doubled and trucks are not tranporting food from the villages. Food in the city will become more scarce as days go by. The curfew is still in place until Tuesday, March 27th. The army still has control of the city, and things seem to be going ok for now.

With these things happening in the city, the doors for the rebels in the north to advance their cause are opened a little wider. Please pr@y for the cities and peoples in the north who are being ruled and impacted by these forces and their agenda.

Thank you for your pr@yers, your emails of encouragement, and the sweet support you are showing to us!! We love you all and thank G0d for you!!

trusting in His name...

He Brings the Village to You

The last two months we have not been able to travel to the village where we work. With every day, the desire to go gets greater and greater. Just when you begin to wonder and ask G0d, "What do you want us to do?" He provides the answer...He brings the village to you!

The other day we met a young man from the B@ye area living in B@m@ko. His name is Yousou and he is D@fin. He is the only f0ll0wer of J.s.s in his family, and he has moved to B@m@ko to study law in the university. He is having some problems here and so we invited him over to listen to his struggles, encourage him, and pr@y with him for a solution.

We discovered he is living with his aunt, Asa who has 9 children. She has been married twice and her recent husband is involved in drugs and left her in October. She is a seller of traditional Afr1can medicine which also involves black magic and calling on spirits. Everyday she goes out to sell this medicine to provide food for her children and Yus. Some days they have food and some days they do not. They are living in an unfinished home that does not belong to them. The owner returned and found them living there. He told them they must find another place. Yus goes to school two days a week and tries to find work in construction the other days to help with his transportation to school and with food for the family. He wants to move away from this family but he sees the struggles of his aunt and does not want to leave her alone to care for all of these children.

After listening, we talked about how he is a light in the darkness of his family and how his presence among them is G0d's presence among them. We pr@yed for wisdom to know what G0d wanted to do for Yus and his aunt, for G0d to provide a home for them, and food for them. We asked G0d to provide work for Yus, and for Him to make Himself known to Asa and her children. We sensed G0d saying to us to provide a gift of grain to Yus and his aunt. We sent Yus and Dan, another Malian f0ll0wer who was meeting with us out to find out the prices of grain here in B@m@ko. When they came back together we went to purchase the bag of grain and take Yus home. When we took him home, we discovered he is living less than one mile from us.

A few days later we set up a time with Yus and Asa to come by to visit and greet them. What a joy to meet Asa!! In M@li, one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone is simply to come to their home to greet them. She welcomed us, had prepared a mat for us to sit on, and poured out her thanks to us for the gift of grain. She began to tell us her whole story and how the day before she received the grain, she had called her husband to tell him she had NO food to feed their children. He was no help. She told Yus there was no food and that her husband was not going to help them. She was crying all night. When she came home the next day from selling her medicine, Yus gave her the gift of grain. She went into her room and cried. She said she did not know what she was going to do to feed her children, and then there was a bag of grain. We talked with her about how G0d had provided that bag of grain for Yus and her family, and how G0d sees and knows all of our problems. We encouraged her to give thanks to G0d and to know that G0d is the One who sees her, watches over her, and provides for her. It was a day of beginnings..the beginning of a new friendship, the beginning of Asa understanding the unfailing love of G0d, the beginning of more opportunities to meet and share G0d's Word with Asa, the best beginning of all is the beginning of the One True G0d demonstrating His power and provision for this family when the gods they have been trusting have failed them!

Please pr@y for Yus, Asa, and their family...

Ask G0d to provide a home for them to live in
Ask G0d to reveal Himself to them as the ONE TRUE G0D, THE ALL POWERFUL G0D
Ask G0d to provide work for Yus so he can get to school and help with the family needs
Ask G0d to show Asa that there is no power or provision in selling the Afr1can traditional medicine and to lead her to a new kind of work
Ask G0d to do the miraculous with the bag of grain and make it last longer than it should, just like the widow and her son that feed Elijah