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!