He Shall Be Called

"The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine...

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: 

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...

Isaiah 9:2, 6

"And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21
"...and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God with us.'" Matthew 1:23

Greetings to YOU ALL and Merry Christmas!!!!

Like many of you these past few days and weeks have been full of activity and experiencing the joys of this season!! In M@li, our weather has changed drastically with morning temperatures in the 50's and the afternoons in the 80's. I spend each morning in my favorite spot--meeting with my Savior by a little fire to heat up some water for hot chocolate and keep my toes warm. These days are always number and can never last long enough...of the joy of the cool mornings with my Best Friend, Immanue!! I pr@y you are having precious moments with Jss these days and that your time with family and friends will be full of the Light He brings to life!! Know that I am thinking of you and giving thanks for the joys you have brought to my life!!

As always, I have spent time thinking about Chr!stmas and what it has meant for me. I have considered what this baby and His purpose in life, death, and r3surrection has meant for me. I have pondered how to express my love for Him to those around me. This all began while sitting at a Baby Naming ceremony for a friend's grandchild. As I took in all the cultural things they do here to present a child to its family, friends, and the world, I began to think about how Jss was presented.

Even before the creation of the world, our Father knew His Son would be sent to us and all throughout the history of mankind, our Father was preparing for the presentation of His Son to the world. All things that happened were orchestrated and put together so that we as His special creation would recognize the gift of His Son and the S@lvation that He would bring to us. Even before He was born, His names were being spoken. they were being given, so that when He was presented to His family, friends, and the world, they would recognize Him. He will be called:

WONDERFUL

COUNSELOR

WONDERFUL COUNSELOR

MIGHTY

GOD

MIGHTY GOD

EVERLASTING

FATHER

EVERLASTING FATHER

PRINCE

PEACE

PRINCE OF PEACE

JESUS

IMMANUEL

GOD WITH US

These were just some of the names He was called before He was born and they are only a drop in the ocean of names we have come to know Him by after His birth. He is so much, so much, so much more than words or names can describe!! What do you call him? Take time to call Him by name and to express to Him who He is to you...after all we are celebrating His baby naming celebration and G0d's presentation of HIS SON to us and to the WORLD!!

Please pr@y for those living in darkness!! May they see the GREAT LIGHT and may JSS--that LIGHT shine on them this Chr!stmas!!

i love you all!! May G0d fill you will JOY, HOPE, PEACE, LOVE, and HIS PRESENCE as you spend time with family and friends this CHR!STmas!!

Beginning from V!llage to V!llage

"One day Jss called together his twelve d!scipl3s and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then He sent them out to tell everyone about the K!ngd0m of G0d and to heal the sick..." Luke 9:1-2

"The L0rd now chose seventy-two other d!scipl3s and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places He planned to visit. These were His instructions to them, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pr@y to the L0rd who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves." Luke 10:1-3

 Yesterday I drove 3 young men  to the village of Da and left them with the chief of the village and another man. As I left the village I cried and gave thanks to G0d for His grace and mercy, His call and His f@ithfulness!! I sang pr@ises to Him at the top of my lungs!! 

You see, the three young men (our first Harvest Team) I dropped off had been chosen by G0d to spend the next 3 days in this village--sharing the Words and life of Jss with the people there. They are 3 young men from 3 different ch.rches in B@mak0 who desire to spend some time with people they do not know in order  to share with them the ONE they DO know. As Jss sent His 12 d!scipl3s, the 72 d!scipl3s, He is now sending these 3 young men. They are D@n, B3n, Yu5. 

G0d had placed the village of Da on the heart of D@n and about 3 weeks ago sent D@n with a couple of friends to see the village, meet the chief, and look for how G0d might be working. The chief welcomed him with open arms, told him he would have a place to stay, and said he looked forward to time with him. D@n also met one Chr!sti@n woman and a man who had just become a b3li3ver. He saw that they had no one to help them grow or w0rship with them. He came home excited and looking for the next step with G0d to go to this village. 

After our arrival yesterday, we went straight to the chief's house where he changed my last name to Doumbia...smile. He welcomed us and explained with whom and where the three men would stay. The man was there with us, so he took them to his house and we unloaded them there. He wanted his picture made with them beside the house they would be staying in. Then he went into his house and brought out a laminated piece of paper. We looked at it and it was his certificate of baptism. He was so excited about it. When I read it all, I saw the date on it. This man had just been baptized November 17, 2013. He too was a new f0ll0wer.

Pr@y for them as they spend time with the chief, with the f0ll0wers of Jss in the village, and as they share with other the G00d News of the K!ngdom of G0d. They plan to have a time of w0rship with the f0ll0wers there as well as anyone else who would join them. Pr@y for G0d to pour out His Sp!r!t empowering these three men to accomplish His purposes as well as empowering the people He is drawing to Himself to b3li3ve. Pr@y for them as they learn and seek to know how we can develop and move forward with sending teams into the harvest from V!llage to V!llage.

Devouring of another kind

Greetings friends who bow with me...

"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of G0d, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to G0d, for He cares about you. 

Stay Alert! Watch our for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your f@ith. Remember that your Chr!sti@n brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. 

In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal gl0ry by means of Chr!st J.s.s. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. All power to Him forever! Amen.

1 Peter 5:6-11

These verses have become the theme for my time here in M since my return in July. I continue to go back to them for strength on what seems to be a regular basis these days. I guess you can say the honeymoon is over and now we are into the real day to day of discipleship, growing, learning, humbling ourselves, and giving all of our concerns to G0d for He cares for us. Daily I find myself preparing for the enemy and watching for him...knowing there will be pain, struggle, and sometimes even destruction. 

While all this hurt and struggle is going on and there are days I just want to run, I want you to know that your prayers and my f@ith in the One who has called me remain the things that give me what I need daily to stand firm and strong...to seek G0d's perspective ...not the perspective of my own selfishness, my own hurt, my own anything. Truly this work G0d calls us to do has nothing to do with us but everything to do with Him and His perspective and His purposes. 

I am learning the truths that we suffer, but He restores! We suffer, yet He supports! We suffer, HE STRENGTHENS! We suffer, and HE puts us on a FIRM foundation!! ALL POWER TO HIM FOREVER!!

Please pr@y these verses over us as often as G0d brings it to your mind!! Please pr@y for 0 and S0 as they are being taunted, tortured, and occasionally devoured bit by bit by the enemy. Our enemy is not happy with their interest and their pursuit of Jss. I ask you to especially pr@y for 0 as she is in a battle from many different sides. I have struggled to understand where she truly stands with G0d and I'm so glad G0d continues to remind me that it is not my job to know where someone stands with Him....it is my job to be His light in the darkness, to be His Presence to love, care for, and demonstrate His righteousness in my own life. I plead with you to pr@y earnestly for 0 as she is torn and twisted from so many directions...home, work, friends, family. It is not easy being the friend of a white person here and even less easy to be a f0ll0wer of Jss along with it. My heart breaks for her, yet I know that truly G0d alone can help her, can reveal truth to her, can RESTORE, SUPPORT, STRENGTHEN, AND PUR HER ON A FIRM FOUNDATION!! Those are the things I pr@y for her...and S0...

Will you join me?

The Big Feast

Greetings and Thanksgiving to you all!!

Thank you so much for your Pr@yers for our Big Feast M@lian Style! It was a great and fun day! I started early preparing my heart to share G0d's story, preparing the house for lots of visitors, and washing the dust off of all the dishes, cooking pots and bowls we would use to prepare the feast! Renting chairs, setting up the garage, then the fun begins. Friends begin to show up and the cooking starts.

So many times before I am busy picking people up and running here and there, getting this or that, but this time...this feast I was able to sit with my women friends who came early and prepare the meal beside them. It was the greatest joy, even though we cried a lot. We had to cut up 10 kilos of onions. So the onions are where we began...peeling them, cutting them in half, then in tiny slices. We were making an onion sauce called Yassa. It is so yummy and requires marinating the onions in mustard, Maggi (similar to bouillon cubes), garlic, and pepper. 

While some were cutting the mounds of onions, others were washing the 20 chicken legs and 20 chicken thighs, mincing the garlic, and preparing the pots for frying. Still others were cooking the couscous...8 packages of couscous. It was just fun! Each group was having a blast and we even had some outbursts of singing throughout our morning of cooking. Oh yea...and of course someone had to be making tea to keep us all going..3 rounds! And yes the day was like the tea...it got sweeter as the day went on!

 After the food was ready we ate...each one until we were stuffed....just as you should on Thanksgiving day! A group of children sitting together eating, a group of women gathered together around the common bowl, and the men sharing food together. A time I will not quickly forget and a time that I give GREAT THANKS to our G0d for allowing us to share together. Everyone was enjoying, laughing, and receiving the bountiful blessings G0d has given!

 After we ate, everyone received a cold soda of their choice! We raised them high and shouted together..."Ala, I ni ce!! Matigi, I ni ce! An be barika da I ye, I ka nyuma koson!!" God, thank you! Lord, thank you! We thank you for your goodness!" The smiles on their faces and the joy we shared in those moments of pr@ise blessed my heart!

We also broke open 4 watermelons! There are no words for the joy Africans have eating watermelon...so let's just get this picture in our minds...we all had watermelon from ear to ear, from fingers to elbows, and probably some on our toes!!





The sweetest part of the day was our time of pr@ise and thanksgiving! We started with pr@yer then sharing together Psalm 136:1-9 to declare who G0d is and how His f@ithful love endures forever.
We had a time for each of us to share things we give thanks to G0d for and the ways He has blessed us this year. One said, "He helped us find out what was wrong with our son. He has been sick all of his life but we did not know what was wrong. We have been able to get help for him." Another said, "I wanted to begin a business selling things in the market, and G0d helped me do that." One said, "I cannot say all He has done for me because the tears come and I cannot speak." We continued on sharing the story of the 10 Lepers Jss healed and discussing all that we learn from this

story. Most could not believe there was only one who returned to give thanks and pr@ise to G0d. We all agreed that as humans, we most often do not give G0d thanks for the things He does for us. We ended with more singing and dancing and pr@ising and giving thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends in Am3rica!! We have celebrated M@lian style and everyone agreed that they want to share this celebration together every year...to join with Am3rica and give thanks to G0d!!

 

 Happy 

Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

American Thanksgiving M@lian Style...headed my way

Greetings and Thanksgiving to you all from M!

This is just a quick note to ask you to join me in pr@ying for tomorrow, Friday. I have invited my M@lian friends over to celebrate Thanksgiving with me M@lian style. I have no idea who will actually come, but no matter what the order of the day is to give thanks to G0d our Father for ALL He has done for us! I am looking forward to being together and enjoy fellowship with what I consider to be my family here in M and to spend time singing, sharing G0d's story, eating together, and just hanging out for the day away from the workplace.

We will be having a feast...chicken (complete with bones), couscous, yassa (a yummilicious onion sauce), brownies, tea and dah(hibiscus tea), and cold sodas. Then we will sing songs of pr@ise and w0rship before and after we feast on G0d's Word. We will talk about the story of Jss healing the 10 Lepers and the 1 who came back to give thanks to Jss.

Please pr@y for us as you read this email and in the morning. When you are waking up the party will be beginning to get into full swing!!

I'll let you know how it goes and how other things have been going this past week!! Love you all and you are on my BIG THANK YOU list to G0d!!

Be Still

"Be still, and know that I am G0d! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. The Lord of Heavens Armies is here among us;  the G0d of Isr@el is our fortress."

Psalm 46:10-11

Greetings everyone!!

My heart is much lighter today and I wanted to thank you for your pr@yers, your f@ithfulness, and your responses to go to the Father on behalf of the people here. Walking with you through this has been a joy and a privilege and I cannot keep silent about how our Father is listening and answering!!

I want you to join me in giving pr@ise to our Father for His Presence, His Power, and His Wisdom! Pr@ise Him for the way He draws His people together in unity to pr@y and to seek His will and His purposes!! Pr@ise Him for being a G0d who listens and responds, who acts for the sake and glory of His name. 

I confess I did not sleep much last night. I got up around 2 am and sat still with Him, pr@ying and seeking Him alongside you. I confess I really could not even put into words what I wanted or needed to pr@y. I also confess I still do not know how our Father is going to work all of this out, what the road looks like that will walk as we follow Him, or how He will use this for His glory. These are the few things I know and saw Him do today:

• Soften the heart of my friend who had closed the door to communication with me yesterday
• Open that door of communication this morning
• Open the door for me to sit among my people today, to listen to their hurts, and walk with them in this difficulty
• Open the door for me to speak Truth about G0d, His ways, His plans, and His purposes
• Open the ears of my friend to consider that the Truth that G0d had the power to stop what is happening but He didn't, to consider that if He didn't stop it, then whatever He is doing will be better than what they had before yesterday, to consider that we need to seek G0d and His will and surrender to whatever He has planned for their work, to consider that G0d is for them and He will never throw them away.
• Opened the way for us to work through this together for the good of everyone on the street and for the glory of G0d

Please continue to seek G0d's face and pr@y for this situation. Many, if not all of these women, bear the responsibility of providing for their children and families with little to no help from their husbands. Most of them are asking themselves how will I take care of my family....it is about the day to day survival...not the luxuries of the life you and I experience. Please pr@y for wisdom and boldness as I walk with them through this. Pr@y G0d will reveal Himself, His Truth, and His Plan to them and especially that through this trial, they will come to understand the personal relationship our Father longs to have with them...to help them, to provide for them, to guide them, and to pour out His grace, mercy and salvation.
I also want to give thanks and pr@ise to our Father for my visit to the doctor. I am doing much better. She did some blood work today to check things out and I will get the results from that tomorrow. Her instructions today were to "go to the street and spend some time with your friends, drink tea, and enjoy being out of the house." That is just what I did and G0d showed His Power and Presence.
One other thing to give pr@ise to our Daddy G0d...He is the One who prepares us and orders the moments of our day, the steps of our feet. He does all of this without our understanding so much of the time. I say this because Sunday a week ago I felt compelled to BE STILL with Him, to know that He is G0d, and to claim the Truth that He WILL be honored among the nations and in all the earth. I had the sweetest time with Him that day and He did a major work in my heart, in my eyesight, and in my mind. So much changed that day and the battle with the enemy lifted in so many ways. It was that next Tuesday that the doctor ordered me not to work, to stay home and rest, to take my medicine, and recuperate. Talk about  BE STILL and KNOW....7 days of not going out, not running like a crazy woman, not coming home exhausted. In those 7 days, G0d showed me how He was being honored, how He was at work, how He chooses to use us...He doesn't need us, He chooses to use us. Sweet, sweet time of gentle reminders and remembering my place before G0d. Oh how He orchestrates every detail of our lives...He is Sovereign...He is worthy of our Pr@ise!
Give HIM all the pr@ise!

"Rain and snow fall from the sky.
But they don't return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat.
That's how it is with my words. They don't return to me without doing everything I send them to do." 

Isaiah 55:10-11

Greetings to all of you, my friends and co-laborers!

Last week, my neighbor came to me to tell me he would be leaving to go to his father's village. He has been living next door to me studying with to be an Imam under the leadership of the Imam that lives beside me. G0d has allowed me to build a good relationship with these two men, their wives, and their children. We laugh together, we share food with each other, and we spend time talking together. Many times they have been sick and have allowed me to pr@y in the name of Jss. Our G0d responded with healing when they were embracing death. We walked together through the difficulty of losing the son of the Imam...a tough time for all of us, yet G0d's compassion and love was expressed in real ways. We have rejoiced over the arrival of a son in the life of this man who came to me last week.

When I went home, I told him that I was going to spend some time with my parents. I explained it had been a long time since I had seen them, and I told them their ages. He was so moved by the fact that my Father was almost 80 years old. From that day on and since my return, there has not been a morning or an evening that he did not greet me and ask about my father. He always gives me this blessing for my father... "May God give him good health and life until he is102."

We talked a lot about his going to the village, what he would be doing there, who was going with him, and when he would come back. I must admit my eyes filled with tears and still do as I think about it.  After I had expressed my sorrow in his leaving, my giving him the road to go, and after I had blessed his journey, an amazing thing happened. He knocked on my door again. When I opened the door, with tears in his eyes he placed a coin in my hand and asked me to give it to my father. I had the hardest time keeping it together in that moment. It was not the moment to cry but my eyes and emotions, even now, were difficult to control. I told him my father would receive it and I thanked him so much!! The coin was approximately $1 in monetary value, but its true worth is incomparable in this world. For some unknown reason at this point, G0d has connected this man to my father in a way that probably none of us can really know or understand. He has never seen him or met him, yet he considers him every time he sees me.

When I shared this story with my father, he asked me if i could give this young man one of the mp3 radio players that has God's Word and songs of Truth on it. He wanted to give him a gift that would give him an opportunity to hear more about Jss and understand G0d's great gift to us through Jss.  I told him,"Yes, I can do that!" You have to know also that my dad is a Gideon and giving G0d's Word to someone is part of who he is.

After talking with my dad, I went the next day with D@n to give the mp3 player to him and to express my father's gratitude for his gift and his continual blessing of health and life until he was 102. He was so happy to receive it and he could not wait to begin listening. He went with a huge smile on his face into the house to listen with his teacher. I don't know how long they listened that night, but when I went out the next morning they were listening. His first words of greeting were "Thank your father for me! The words and songs on this radio taste so good!" He left that afternoon and I was not sure when I would see him again. To my surprise, this past Monday evening when I came home, my father's unknown son, Sole, was sitting outside my house along with about 10 other men, his teacher,
the 3 women of the house and all the children. He and his older brother had come back before heading to their father's village. They were listening to the radio and talking with one another. I don't know what G0d has planned for this gift from a father to an unknown son, but I know the words and songs he is listening to on that radio have power to bring life and salvation.

Please pr@y for Sole, his teacher, and all those who may listen to G0d's Words with him. Pr@y specifically for G0d's Sp!r!t to be poured out every time the radio is turned on and for understanding to be given to those who listen. Pr@y for The Truth to be revealed, for courage to walk in The Way, and for The Life to be place in the hearts of Sole, his teacher, and all who listen with them. Please pr@y for the s@lvat!on of these brothers and sisters of mine!!

Give Thanks

I want to first thank you all for your prayers and your personal involvement in my life and ministry!! You have been an encouragement to me in so many ways...many of you have taken the time to email, encourage, and cheer me on in the fight of f@ith and the struggles we all face in this world!! I am happy to say and to tell you that our G0d, our Father and our L0rd has heard all of our prayers and He has made Himself known is so many personal ways!!

This past Sunday I took the morning to just spend alone with Him! It was the sweetest time of honest confession and sincere surrender and His response was to draw me close and show Himself to me!! He helped me to see things I have not been able to see and He helped me to refocus my eyes on His perspective. I just love how personal and intimate our God is with us and how He leads us along His Best pathway. I love that He doesn't leave us out there wondering and wandering on our own...He beckons to us, calls to us, and draws us and at just the right moment He reveals Himself to us!! He shows us where we are going astray in our thinking, our actions, and our attitudes. He changes our perspective and suddenly His peace, His love, His joy flood in and the load of this life is lighter.

I want to thank you for pr@ying for me and for those with whom I am working. The enemy is in retreat mode...I know this may be for only a moment...but for this moment we give pr@ise to our G0d. He has been victorious and He has overcome the battles. Our G0d has used these struggles and battles to teach us and to show us how to fight the enemy.

Give thanks to Him today for the opportunities He has given us to grow and understand Him in greater ways. Thank Him for continuing to use songs to teach the women on the street. Monday morning as O and I were driving downtown we heard 2 new songs on the radio...songs that spoke to her heart. She began teaching me what they were saying. One was about Peter's words to beggar outside the temple..."Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jss get up and walk." The song simply talked about all the situations we may face...no money, no food, no clothing, no this or no that... Jss has come so get up and walk. Later in the day we were listening to the mp3 player while we were working. A new song she had not heard before came on. It was about the women of the Bible (Deborah, Ruth, Esther, Abigail, Hannah, Lydia, and others) who gave their best and their lives honored and glorified G0d. Needless to say, we listened only to that song all the way to the market and home. I watched as she processed that song and the reality that her life and her work could honor and glorify G0d. She is searching and seeking to understand this new walk of f@ith and life. Please continue to pr@y for her as she discovers the realness and personal intimacy that G0d desires with each of us. Give thanks to G0d for the ways in which He Himself is teaching and leading O to walk with Him. Please pr@y for O as she teaches what she learns with others on the street.

Thank you again for holding us up in the challenges and the struggles of this life!

Praising

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, I found myself wide awake and unable to sleep. There was a heaviness in my heart. So I believe G0d revealed to me that I needed to get up and just pr@ise Him...to stop pondering so much and start pr@ising. So I did...and I realized really how long it had been since I just stopped to pr@ise and give thanks to Him. It was a sweet, sweet time of fellowship with Him, and I realized how much I needed to share with you all that He has been doing. Its not that it is BIG, HUGE, life changing things...but the sweetness and tenderness of His Presence at work...again small glimpses of His Glory in the sometimes difficult days of adjustments and changes.

G0d continues to use the small solar powered radios to reveal Himself, to teach His ways, and to fill the hearts and minds of the people on the street with His truth. I want to personally thank each of you, your churches, and your workplaces that have donated these radios...God is using them for HIS GLORY! Let me tell you how....

Ladies on the street...

A group of ladies all working side by side on the street...on their stand sits a radio playing songs about Jss. One lady says, "That is a great song!" They begin to talk about it and what it means. Each lady adding her thoughts. I love that the Old Woman among them who follows a different road sings and shares her thoughts...taking in the TRUTHS as well.

A young woman...around 18 years, with 2 small children...she is working with one of the ladies and you can see that she looks up to her as a role model and mentor. A song is playing and "the mentor" picks the radio up. She calls the young woman to lean closer to her. She begins quietly asking her to listen and then asking if she understands. She quietly explains the meaning of the song to the young woman.

After a difficult few days of spiritual warfare and a confrontation early in the morning, this same lady pulls out the radio and sits it on the table. She begins listening and a song comes on that speaks to her. She turns to her friend and says, "Did you hear that?" She explains to her friend that the song is saying "If you have a trouble or a problem comes between you and someone else, be careful. Satan will come and sit with you and lead you down the wrong road." Then she looks at me and says, "Did you change this song so that it would be the next song I would hear?" You see, we had just had this discussion, this same battle of Satan trying to destroy, lead astray, and cause division. Of course I had not changed the song and my language is not good enough to even know that the song was on there. It was my first time to hear the song. G0d knew it was there, and I love how He used it at just the right moment to teach, affirm, and solidify a truth that is vital in our walk with Him.

Men on the Street...

Shortly after we returned from a conference, one of the young guys (Amad) on the street asked me for one of the radios. My translator had gone to the village and I do not like to give the radios out without someone talking with them about what is on the radio and finding out a little about why they are asking for one...are they really seeking G0d or do they just want a cool radio... So I asked him to wait until the translator got back from the village and we would talk about it. A few days later the brother of our friend who died was standing talking to one of the women about the radio and about how he had been listening every Saturday and Sunday to the teaching of Good News on the radio station in the city. He was asking about the radio she was listening to and what was on it. Later, he came and asked about getting one. Again, I asked him to wait for the translator to return from the village. So when he returned, he sat with the two of them and talked. He sensed a great interest and a great opportunity for G0d's Words to penetrate their hearts and lives. We gave each of them one of the radios. This week we talked to one of them about what he has been listening to on the radio and what he remembers about it. He said really the words in the radio are hard. He has realized really that he is not living like those words. We had a chance to talk with him about the importance of honesty and recognizing that we are all sinners. He shared with him how he too was a sinner but there was one difference between them. Jss has forgiven him and has given him eternal life. They continued to talk and he continues to listen. Pr@y for his salvation and his acceptance of the gift of forgiveness through Jss. Pr@y for the opportunity to talk to the other man about what He is hearing and how it is impacting him.

Pr@ise G0d for the sound of His Word and the Songs of His Truth being played everyday on a street corner!

more pr@ising to follow....

Tidbits of News

Greetings everyone!!

I continue to be overwhelmed and awed by our G0d daily...I seem to live in a state of being behind in declaring His Gl0ry to you all! At the end of the day I am overwhelmed with things to ponder about G0d and His work, so I think I will write to you all in the morning...then in the morning, I find myself in awe to the point of wondering "How do you put all this into words?" I am going to attempt to just get started...It may be more of a dumping  than a declaring...only time will tell...smile...enjoy the gl0ry of our G0d...smile

C@therine's last day:We started the day as normal and C@therine had gifts to share with some of our friends. After going to pick up ice to deliver downtown, I did my solo wound care assignment. For months C@therine has been caring for the wound on S0's ankle and I will be taking that over until it is healed completely. Then we had planned to go to lunch with O and her daughters. C@therine gave her gifts and had one thing left she wanted to do...pr@y for O and S0. We gathered at S0's business and he asked C@therine, "Will you tell me one last story to remember after you are gone?" She agreed. Then a peanut gallery began forming again as we waited for O and S0 to complete some business. She told the story of Peter Walking on Water. After the story, one of the men in the peanut gallery began asking questions:

According to you, is J.s.s a prophet, a messenger from G0d or the S0n of G0d?
According to you, is J.s.s coming back again?

After talking much about  his questions, he told us how truly he was a M.slm, but they have not shown him the true way. He knows J.s.s is in their book but they have told him nothing about who G0d is, who J.s.s is. He said, "I even went to the Chr!sti@n ch.rch and I have talked with many Chr!sti@ns, but no one has convinced me." He went on to say, "I have never heard words like yours today and they are words of truth and power. Today, I am convinced!" I explained to him that these words were not our own, but that G0d Himself came near to him today because He wants him to be convinced about who J.s.s is and what He has done for him. We left him with a question and told him that we would meet again to both share our answer to that question and to hear his answer to the question.
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Two days later he came to me and greeted and then asked if we could talk the next day. We set up a time. As the enemy would have it, one of the ice trucks for their business broke down and he was unable to sit with us and talk. He did come to apologize and let us know why he was unable to meet.

Please pr@y for Baso as he ponders and thinks on the question as well as considers all the things we talked about the day G0d poured out His Sp!r!t and came near to Baso. Pr@y for J.s.s to reveal Himself to Baso in dreams and visions, to pursue Him until Baso understands and receives the gift of s@lvation G0d has prepared for him.


C@therine's Safe Arrival:After a few glitches and changes in C@therine's ticket home, she arrived safely back in N0rth C@r0lina. I received word from her and her family that she is safely in her mother's hand. Her journey was eventful, but she was well taken care of by the airline. Please thank our Father at least one more time for the work He did in and through C@therine during her time here in M@li. The light of His Presence shone brightly through her daily!!

C@therine...keep seeking Him, serving Him, and shining brightly for His gl0ry!!

Well Done Good and F@ithful Servant

"The Master was full of pr@ise, 'Well done, my good and f@ithful serv@nt. You have been f@ithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!'" Matthew 25:21
Today, we celebrate the goodness and f@ithfulness of G0d's serv@nt and witness--C@therine McGrady or Kadia Kanu as she is known by those to whom she has been G0d's serv@nt and G0d's witness! She completes today the purposes for which G0d has called her to M@li and she will be boarding a plane to begin the next part of her serv@nthood journey with Chr!st!! I believe today that G0d, our Father, HIs S0n J.s.s., and His H0ly Sp!r!t are all standing at the throne, watching with joy and pleasure at the work their serv@nt K@dia has done here in M@li. I am certain that He is saying to her the same words recorded in Matthew 25:21..."Well done, my good and f@ithful servant..."

As her supervisor, her friend, and her teammate, I too say with great pr@ise to our G0d, "K@dia, Well done, G0d's good and f@ithful serv@nt. You have been f@ithful to follow the L0rd and S@vior who lives and moves and has His being within you!! Let's celebrate the amazing, incredible, awesome things we have experienced!!! It has been an amazing journey watching our G0d do what we both know ONLY HE COULD DO!! Let's celebrate that it doesn't end today, that our G0d will continue to use all that He has done these past two years to impact the peoples of M@li as well as impact you and I for the rest of our lives! Let's celebrate that your walk and serv@nthood with Chr!st through this life is only beginning! It is true what the verse says, 'You have been f@ithful with this small amount', so G0d will be giving you more responsibilities. Accept them and declare His gl0ry wherever He leads you. Let's celebrate that we walk with the One True, Living, Real, Personal G0d...His Son...Our S@vior! I love you, and thank G0d for allowing our feet to walk this part of life's pathway together!! Keep following your heart for G0d!!"

Please join us in pr@yer for C@therine as she flies out of M@li today and starts the long journey home. Pr@y for her as she begins the sometimes difficult part of this journey when half of your heart is in one place and the other half is in another. Pr@y for G0d's Presence and Strength to be with C@therine as she continues to follow Him. Pr@y for each of 3 flights and for her reunion with her family tomorrow (January 26). Already we have seen G0d smoothing out the journey. Originally she would arrive on the 25th and the weather in NC was going to be 0 degrees, snow and ice. Her flight was changed and now she will be arriving on the day after with predicted temps in the 40s.

Thank you for your f@ithfulness as our pr@yer partners to pr@y for C@therine in her journey of f0ll0wship!! If you, your S.nday School class, or your ch.rch would like to have C@therine come and share with you about what G0d has been doing, please feel free to ask her. She would love to come and share with you and continue to declare His gl0ry!

LET'S CELEBRATE THE LIFE AND WORK OF J.S.S. THROUGH C@THERINE/K@DIA TODAY!!

G0d of Angel Armies

"Make the L0rd of He@ven's Armies holy in your life. He is the One you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe." Isaiah 8:13-14


Greetings again to each of you!!
Wow!! I cannot tell you how much it has meant to have your personal words of encouragement!! Thank you for taking the time to respond and demonstrate the love of Chr!st to me!! What a gift and a blessing!!

This weekend we received communication from the US embassy  that they would be sending home the non-essential personnel...basically the family members of those working are in the embassy. They have also encouraged people to consider the high risk of t3rr0rist threats and consider leaving M for a time.

Some of the m!ssi0n community will be leaving to do their work in other places...most who are leaving have options of working with the same people groups or continuing what they do here in neighboring countries. Some of them are not planning to leave yet...they are waiting and watching and continuing their work here...knowing and being prepared to leave quickly if necessary.

I wanted you to know that I have had such a peace about being here during this time and know that God has specifically given me this time. He has been faithful to this ministry to do what He said He would do...He has poured out His Spirit on us and on the people with whom we are working...He is bringing salvation and discipleship to those He is drawing to Himself.

When some of the organizations voiced that they would be leaving and asked me my plans and if I would like to join them, I wrestled with that. Suddenly peace was not present and I again found myself "not thinking" like many of those around me.That was truly my struggle...not the struggle to remain here and trust G0d but the struggle with not being like everyone else and not thinking like them and wondering if i was wrong in my peacefulness.

Since the fighting in M began I have been out and about all over B@mak0 doing what G0d has asked and put before me.  He has been F@ITHFUL to guide, protect, and be powerfully Present with me. As I sat with Him yesterday and meditated on what He has been showing me in His word and listening to Him… I had an interesting experience.

I was laying down and an audible "to me" noise startled me...it was like when someone comes up behind you to scare you and they grab you making some kind of noise in your ear. Then in my left peripheral vision I saw and image... It was the silhouette of a human face and chest...inside the head Jesus was standing in a white robe with His arms stretched out to the front and sides. I tried to look closer to truly see what the silhouette was but could not determine exactly what it was. I was not sure if it was the thing that scared me or if it was me...either way the message was clear to me. Jesus was in the middle of the scary thing or He was in the middle of me, and He was with me no matter what.

Then I went to church and found out some others were leaving and the struggle happened again. So I sat down to write an email to you--our prayer partners-- to ask for prayer as I seek G0d’s answer to my question. As I did, I was reading some scriptures I wanted to use and God led me to another one in Isaiah 8:9-10...I read those and they spoke to me. (Please take the time to read them.) They were just saying to the nations go ahead huddle together and prepare for battle...call for your councils of war but they will be worthless and you will be crushed ...develop your strategies but they will not succeed...FOR GOD IS WITH US! But I didn't stop there. I kept reading and that is where G0d spoke to the struggle of my heart...in Isaiah 8:11-14. It says...

“The L0rd has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does. He said, ‘Don't call everything a conspiracy like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the L0rd of He@ven's Armies h0ly in your life. He is the one you should fear, He is the one who should make you tremble, He will keep you safe.’”

With that my heart was settled and a peace that cannot be shaken came over me. I don’t know how long He will have me stay but He gave me the peace to follow Him and to stay to finish well what He has called me here to do during this time here,  so that when He sends me home I can do what I need to do there before returning back to Mali. He took away the pressure to do what others are doing when it goes against what lives within me.

Since He allowed me to return in May last year I have known that every day I may have to leave and I am living with that reality-- making the most of every single day with my people and with Him. I know today I may get a call from the embassy saying we need to be ready-- the plane is on the tarmac. I also know G0d may allow me to stay and spend this time strengthening His f0ll0wers, making Him known to others, and completing what I need to complete before returning home to do the MANY things I need to do there before returning to M to keep serving Him here.

Truly I only know today what I need to do...but I wanted you to know what is going on with me and what G0d is doing and saying...I know you all will pr@y and you will walk beside me as I continue to serve, share, and live out Christ among the people to whom He has sent me. Please lift up all of us who serve here...those who are going to other places for a time as well as those who will remain here. No matter where we are ...our hearts are here with the people of M! 

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PLACE BESIDE US IN THIS KINGDOM WORK!!

Whom Shall I Fear

Greetings my family, friends and family of f@ith!

I thank G0d for you and for your footprints beside me as we journey with Him through this life and this world! With His Presence and your presence with me, there is power to live out the life J.s.s has called me to live and to accomplish His plans and purposes for my time here in M@li.

You have been pr@ying with me for M@li and the situation here. You have sent much encouragement and your pr@yers have been a source of power, courage, and hope! On the day after the fighting began, I was skyping with our r@dio partner at KSBJ in H0uston. She shared a song with me that I had not yet heard, probably because it came out that day...just as God would have it...smile! I want to share the words of that song with you...it is called,

 "Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)" by Chris Tomlin.

"You hear me when I call, You are my morning song
Though darkness fills the night, It cannot hide the light
Whom shall I fear?

You crush the enemy Underneath my feet
You are my sword and shield
Though troubles linger still
Whom shall I fear?

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side

My strength is in your name
For you alone can save
You will deliver me
Yours is the victory
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side

Nothing formed against me shall stand
You hold the whole world in your hand
I'm holding on to your promises, You are F@ithful
You are F@ithful, You are F@ithful
I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine
The G0d of Angel Armies is always by my side"

This song has been playing over and over and over and over since that day and it has been a strength for me in these days when the enemy seeks to destroy the country and the people to whom the G0d of Angel Armies has sent me. It means so much to me because it expresses the very message G0d has given me to share with those who have chosen to follow Him. In this culture where blessings are the first and last part of your time with someone, G0d has placed these blessings for those I meet along the way...especially those who have chosen to follow J.s.s.

"May J.s.s walk before you!"
"May J.s.s walk behind you!"
"May J.s.s sit on both sides of you!"

During these times of struggle and personal persecution, we have talked much about the protection of G0d and how with Him there is nothing to fear or worry about. If He is with us, then it does not matter what others do or say to us.

Please pr@y for us this week as it will be C@therine's last 4 days here. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be having a time of celebration to give thanks to G0d for sending C@therine to serve here in M@li, a time to give thanks to C@therine for her work here, and a time for C@therine to speak to those who have been invited. This will be a time of pr@ise and w0rship as well.

Pr@y for G0d's Gl0ry to be declared and for the finishing well for C@therine as she walks her last steps here and takes her first steps into the next plan and purpose for her life with Chr!st as His servant and witness!

Pr@y for C@therine as she sings the song "Whom Shall I Fear" as she walks into the unknown, into the unfamiliar, into the yet unseen....

Hoping in Him

"Put your hope in the L0rd, travel steadily along his path. He will honor you by giving you the land. You will see the wicked destroyed."
Psalm 37:34


Greetings from M@li, from us, and from those for whom you have been pr@ying!!

I want to thank you for all the thoughts and pr@yers you have sent to us to encourage us and share your love with us!! Thank you for your concerns for M@li and for all that is going on here. G0d is listening and we are putting our hope in Him!!

Really there is not much news to tell that maybe you have not heard already on the news where you. The fighting continues to remain north of the c@pit@l although the fighting stretches further across to the west from where it began. B@mak0 remains calm, quiet (other than the planes landing and taking off to bring and transport troops and equipment from other parts of the world), and life/work continues to be lived as normal. We have not seen or heard any kind of g.nf!re or disturbances since I wrote to you last. We have been able to do all that we had planned to do and even enjoy the wedding of O's oldest daughter. It was a day full of fun, food, laughter, singing, dancing, and so much more!!

One thing that is different in B@mak0 is the many taxis, businesses, and motos that are hanging the flags of Fr@nce and M@li to show their gratitude to the armies of both Fr@nce and M@li for risking their lives to take back the northern part of their country from the r3b3ls. Everyone is thankful for the actions of Fr@nce to come and help with this problem in M@li. Please give thanks to G0d for this during your time with Him. If they had not come, things would be VERY different today. Thank Him for the other nations and troops who are coming to help out as well!! They are needed and much appreciated. This problem will not be resolved from the air alone...these r3b3ls are smart, crafty, know their terrain, and evil when it comes to strategy.

Please continue to pr@y for the innocent lives being used as human shields and for the children who are being forced to fight for these r3b3ls.

Please continue to pr@y for the troops who are fighting around the clock to push back and capture these !sI@m!sts, to stop them from their m!ss!on to impose their l@ws and r3l!g!on on others.

Please pr@y for the troops, the M@li@ns, and for us to have eyes to see the invisible, to see danger before danger comes, to hear the very v0ice of G0d guiding us as we continue to travel steadily along His pathway.

Please ask our Father to give us this land back and allow us to see the wicked destroyed quickly...in ways that can only be explained as truly the work of G0d on behalf of M@li.

Please pr@y for all the people to see The Way, The Truth, and The Life--J.s.s!

Happenings in M@li

"Hear me as I pr@y, O L0rd. Be merciful and answer me!  My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "L0rd, I am coming." Psalm 27:7-8

Greetings everyone!! I want to thank each of you for your pr@yers for M@li, for your words of and for your willingness to bow down beside us on behalf of the people of M@li!! God is listening and He is answering.

On Friday, France joined with the M@lian army to stop the progress of the r3b3ls and !sIam!sts toward the south. They were successful in that mission and the f!ghting to retake the n0rthern cities continues. The battle is far from over so please keep pr@ying. I have a friend that is sending us news bites and summaries so I will share some of those with you below. Use them as points for pr@ise and pr@yer as you continue to "come and talk with" G0d.

The President of Mali declared a state of emergency. A state of emergency is just a declaration by a government that allows it to suspend some normal powers/ add some new ones. Typically it allows the government to temporarily suspend some rights or freedoms. In reality it shouldn't affect us too much on a day to day level. What it means in practice is that there will be more patrols around in Bamako. You can be stopped and asked to show ID at ANY time, your car can be searched - without a reason needing to be given. Also the right to demonstrate/protest is often suspended. I believe that is the case here right now. At the moment I have been told that public meetings are still permitted, but it is advisable for large groups of Westerners to not meet in a public place for the time being. This just makes good sense, while we wait to see what will happen in the coming days.  

800 bad guys were attacking Konna. France intervened when they saw the shockingly poor performance by the Mali military. (their words) They were using fighter jets and helicopter gun ships.

A French combat helicopter pilot was killed in the fighting in Konna.   :(   He was hit by light artillery fire, taken to a hospital in Mopti where he died.

There are currently about 550 French soldiers engaged in Mali. Most in Bamako for protection of citizens and military training purposes. Troops from neighboring West African Countries began arriving today (Monday) and the next few days.

In BKO Friday night a demonstration of joy erupted spontaneously in thanks to the French for intervening. The M@lian citizens are thankful for help of the French  and the ECOWAS troops and they themselves are doing all they can to help out. A blood bank was set up for people to donate blood to help the wounded soldiers--1000 M@lians lined up to give blood, the blood bank could only handle 131 people a day...Citizens helped arrest 30 people from the North who had come into 2  neighborhoods

France said they have 3 main objectives:

1 stop current offensive

2 comply with UN objectives (training, logistics

3 stabilize, provide security for our citizens and european community

There has been the bombing of weapons/fuel/supply depots in many of the key areas in the north. Bombing will continue in the north as necessary. Four more fighter planes have flown in from France to help.

The Ansar Dine Lieutenant was killed, bad guy reinforcements were stopped and turned around by air forces, the r3b3ls are retreating in the eastern areas to the northern town of Tesalit.

The U.S. has offered to provide intelligence, logistical support and in-flight refueling for French aircraft

Algeria has opened its airspace up to the French and has closed its border to M@li...it is a vast desert border and difficult to close. They are also talking about troops. Algeria has the largest army on African soil.

One BBC article wrote: What has really struck us is how up-to-date their equipment is, and the way they've been trained to use it," the official said."At the start, we thought they would be just a load of guys with guns driving about in their pick-ups, but the reality is that they are well-trained, well-equipped, and well-armed.

France is on high alert because of possible repercussions on French soil, here in M@li, and their interests around the world.

There are many meetings scheduled this week ...the world is focusing on M@li

Monday bad guys entered the picture from the M@urit@nian border and took control of the town of Di@baly and are moving south from that direction. There is heavy fighting there and the M@lian army and French fighter plans are engaging these r3b3ls. Speculation that the town of Diabaly and its people are being used as human shields. :( please pray for these scared sweet M@lians...this is also in an area where some friends of ours have worked

The MNLA (those who began this take over of the north in April 2012) stated today that they are ready to turn and work with the French to fight the !sIam!sts and r3b3ls.

We continue our work and relationships here...making J.s.s known and d!scipling those who have chosen Him. For such a time as this we know where true salvation comes from and we know that now is the time people are more open to hearing about the hope we have in J.s.s.

Please use these tidbits of information and allow G0d to guide you as you pr@y for the situations. This is w@r so please pr@y for the innocent who are in harms way daily. Pr@y for the s@lvation of the people of M@li as well as the turning of r3b3ls to the One True G0d. Pr@y for the gl0ry of G0d to be seen and recognized, for eyes to be open to the Truth about J.s.s., and for hearts to receive what He has done for them.

good articles :

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-13/france-sends-more-warplanes-to-mali-in-vow-to-beat-rebels.html 

http://bridgesfrombamako.com/2013/01/13/merci-francois/

http://theaviationist.com/tag/operation-serval/

Come and Talk with Me

"Hear me as I pr@y, O L0rd. Be merciful and answer me!  My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me." And my heart responds, "L0rd, I am coming." Psalm 27:7-8

Greetings to my f@ithful pr@y-ers!

I shared with you in my last email that I woke up that morning with a heavy heart! There was an urgency in my sp!r!t that I really could not explain. An urgency for the new f0ll0wers of Jss, an urgency for the people of M@li, and an urgency for His work here. Some words of a friend we had recently visited in K0ut!ala kept ringing in my heart and mind. She said, "We are fasting and pr@ying for M@li for 70 days." I have not been able to shake the heaviness of heart, the urgency in my sp!r!t, and the words ringing in my mind. So I come to you to ask you to join me in response to G0d's prompting.

Today, the M@lian government declare M@li to be in a st@te of em3rgency. The fighting has begun in the northern cities of M@li. The M@lian army is fighting against the !sIam!st groups and @l QAd@. F0r3ign help has come in from Fr@nc3 (possibly others) and other tr00ps from n3ighb0ring countries will be on the ground in M@li within the next couple of days. So the time for action has come. At this time the action is only in the n0rth3rn part of the country, yet we know that it is possible and very likely for ret@liat!ions to happen the c@pit0l c!ty.

I share this with you today to let you know we are doing fine, we are continuing with our daily activities with some adjustments and precautions. I share this with you to ask you to join me in pr@yer for M@li. Through the heaviness of my heart, I have heard G0d say, "Come and talk with me." Like the Ps@lmist, my response is "L0rd, I am coming!"

I am inviting you to choose 30 minutes or hour of the day or night as your specific time of pr@yer for M@li, her army, her people, her f0ll0wers of J.s.s. I am asking you to set a particular time aside to call out to our G0d for His mercy, His intervention, His gl0ry, His s@lvat!on, His Sp!r!t, and His army to be poured out on M@li. I would love to see us fill up every 30 minutes of the day with people bowed continually before our Father! If G0d leads you, I encourage you to join me  and my friends in K0ut!ala in some type of fasting. Please just ask our Father how you can be a part of His army fighting for His work in M@li, and do whatever He leads you to do. As the Pr3sid3nt of M@li declared...this is a st@te of em3rgency. We His people, who have seen His gl0ry and His Sp!r!t at work here, must bow down and call out to Him...we must come and talk with Him!!

Thank you my f@ithful knee benders!

Matters of the Heart

" If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you." John 15:18-19
Greetings to you all!!

First of all, THANK YOU ALL for your support of C@therine in her journey here with HS! in M@li!! It has been awesome to walk alongside, to work alongside, and to watch the work of G0d in and through C@therine! He has impacted many lives through C@therine as she has surrendered to Him and He has lived His life through her! Please continue to pr@y for her as she walks through these next 2 weeks...they will be tough in so many ways as she shares her heart, her life, and G0d's plans with those to whom she means so much! Please pr@y for her as she returns home as well...it will not be easy re-entering a culture that is familiar but is no longer fully her own...her life has forever been altered by the culture and people of M@li! 

Secondly, I come to you because I woke up this morning very early...my heart heavy for the people of M@li. First of all for the people with whom we spend time with daily. During the visit of our friends this past 2 weeks, we had 2 more confess that they want to f0ll0w J.s.s. and one who is being pursued by G0d with passion and purpose. She too has recognized tr.th and is making a decision about what she will do with this tr.th. My heart was heavy because those who have chosen to f0ll0w are experiencing very real and personal p3rsecut!on. Their families and their work companions are expressing their dislike and hatred for the choice they have made to f0ll0w. While I know and understand and give great thanks to G0d for His gift of s@lvat!on and et3rnal l!fe, this morning my compassion and empathy was on overload and my heart was crying out to G0d on their  behalf!! I know that the struggles of this life do not compare to the joy of His Presence With Us moment by moment as well as for all et3rnity! Still my heart hurts alongside them as they walk out the reality that the w0rld now hates them and doesn't mind showing it. Yet, I consider and contemplate the GREATNESS of being chosen to come out of the w0rld, to walk daily in the light of His Presence, and to know the joy and peace of His s@lvat!on!!!

I ask you today and these next few weeks to boldly pr@y for G0d's Presence and Protection over those who now belong to Him..who are seeking Him....O, S0, young Ou, M, and MM. Pr@y for courage, faith, strength, wisdom, joy, and perseverance in all circumstances.

Thirdly, I come to you because my heart was also heavy this morning for the country of M@li and ALL of her people! Since March and the C0up d'3tat, M@li has been unstable as a country and has become an open field for the influx of extreme !sl@mic r3beI groups. They have taken over the northern 2/3 of the country and are trenching themselves in for the certain battle that will take place. Their goal...to make Mali an !sIamic state, impose Sharia law through the country, continue their open field of drug, gun, and human trafficking through the S@har@ desert, and whatever else they want. There has been movement of the r3bels over the last few days...movement toward the south. Most say this is a show of muscle because there are meetings tomorrow and this week about how to resolve the problems of M@li. We have begun to see some protesting in the city...protesting the lack of action by the government to free the people of the north.

I ask you today and these next few weeks to boldly pr@y for the people of M@li, for G0d to intervene and show His own might and power over these r3bels. He has begun a work here that the enemy does not like, and these r3bels are serving that enemy. Pr@y for the protection of the innocent people of M@li who are suffering under the rule of these extr3mists. Pr@y for G0d's invisible army to fight for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Pr@y for the f0ll0wers to be strengthen and empowered to speak of J.s.s during these times of uncertainty, thre@t, and struggle.

Thanks for being the people I can come to with the matters of the heart...i thank G0d for you all!

Glimpses of G0d's Gl0ry in His Sanctuary

"I have seen you in your sanctuary and gaze upon your power and glory." Psalm 63:2

W0rship in His Sanctuary
On December 9th, S0 made the choice to go to ch.rch to w0rship with other believers...he did this on his own, without anyone going with him! When he returned to his business, he was radiant with joy, amazement, and pr@ise for G0d and His ch.rch! He enjoyed every moment of his time there and described EVERY detail to us from the music and the musicians, to the cleanliness and coolness of the building and the bathroom, the taking of the offering and the way they seated the men, women, children, to the P@stor and those who stood with him, and to EVERY detail of the message that was given! Since that day, he has closed his doors to business until after ch.rch on Sundays and has made being with G0d's people the first part of his Sundays now.

While S0 was at church that day, O sat on the street saying, "Next Sunday, I will go to ch.rch." She could not stop thinking about S0 being at ch.rch and wondering what he was experiencing. She could not wait to sit with him to hear all about it. This was the first time I have ever seen O seriously consider leaving her business on Sundays to go to w0rship G0d with other believers.The next week she had a wedding and was unable to go to with S0 to ch.rch. Even though she was unable to go, I continue to see G0d orchestrating details so that at just the right time O experiences Him in His sanctuary. During the week, we all sat at S0's business and S0 shared with O every detail about ch.rch. We practiced saying our names and where we were from, explained the offering and how that happens, talked about the singing and the message. For the first time O had a clear picture of what to expect as she planned to go to ch.rch the next Sunday.

The next Sunday, December 23rd, the Sunday before Chr!stmas, we all went to ch.rch together. O, Kadia, and I met S0 at the ch.rch and enjoyed a great time of w0rship. An indescribable joy overcame me as I sat with my friend and experienced G0d's people, G0d's ch.rch, and the w0rship/fellowship of G0d with her for the first time. The first song that was sung was about the promises of G0d...not the same song we always sing..but a NEW song. She loves learning new songs, so she listened one time through then joined right in singing!! It was a day to pr@ise a day when we all saw Him in His sanctuary and gazed on His gl0ry!!

Chr!stmas day also found us all in His sanctuary gazing on His gl0ry..the gl0ry of Him sending His One and Only Son to give us life now and forever!! We celebrated with a different group of G0d's people Chr!stmas day and the celebration was GREAT! We sang and w0rshiped--the children shared scr!pture, songs, and dancing with us, then different people groups shared pr@ise to our G0d in their own language...truly an international w0rship of the baby born to save us!!

What glimpses of Him did you see this Chr!stmas?