Wrapping Up for Christmas

Last year I had the GREAT privilege of spending Christmas in Mali. It was great and I enjoyed being here to celebrate in a new place with my friends! This year God gave me the gift of Thanksgiving among the P people...celebrating my gratitude toward Him for the work He is doing among the nations. My time in Mali will come to an end tonight as i board the plane to head to Paris, then Cincinnati, and then to Charlotte. God is wrapping up this adventure and giving me one of the greatest gifts of all--Christmas with my family!! It has been 3 years since I have spent Christmas with my family, so the gift God has wrapped for me this year is precious! I look forward to opening the gift moment by moment! I am praying for you and your families as well...praying your time with the special people of your life will be filled with the unwrapping of special memories moment by moment...whether they are biological family or friends who make up the family around you!! Merry Christmas!!! Emmanuel has come!!! God is WITH US!!

From village to village

Jak, his nephew Bak, Lori P, and I spent this week traveling from village to village scouting out the activity of God. Our first day, we headed down the dirt road that sometimes looked more like a path to visit 3 villages and their chiefs. At each village we were met with the usual Malian hospitality...greetings, the best available seats, and great pleasure at our coming. One chief was talkative and very interested in our return to share stories from God's Word. One chief was so overwhelmed at our coming that all he could do was touch his heart and say, "Pa pa pa! They came to see me!" Then he proceeded to bless us over and over and over. He was an elderly chief with the most precious glisten in his eyes. He too was open to the stories being shared in his village and would not give us to road to leave until he had gifted us with a chicken. The last chief was working in his fields a great distance away, but as hospitatlity goes here...He came to greet and visit with us. He too gave us a chicken. In all the villages we prayed for the chief, the people, and the needs expressed by the chief.

The second day, we headed in the opposite direction to visit 2 more villages. What a fun day we had. We added Wa to our team and set out to greet more chiefs and see where God was working. Our first village had many connections to the village of Kar. The chief was very open to us and we were even greeted by the father of one of the women in the women's storying group in Kar. He was very interested in hearing the stories from God's Word. What a great surprise! We took our picture with him and then showed it to our friend. She was soooo excited as she looked at it and said, "That's my dad! That's my dad!" The second village was very open to us as well. There was one man there who sat with us, ate lunch with us, and showed great interest in the J.s road. He asked many questions and even wants to follow. There are a couple of things he is concerned about so he talked with us about those things. Wa went to greet a friend of hers and while she was gone, the village all crowded around us to just watch us. There was a curiosity and a hunger to know what would bring us to their village.

Please pray for God to prepare the way for the coming of His Son and the Good News that comes through Him. Pray for churches to adopt these villages and engage them with the Good News of J.s. Pray for the man who was so interested in following the J.s road to have the courage to follow, wisdom to discern the Truth, and peace to surrender even if it seems too hard.

Courage and Confessions

As we went to the village of Kar, this week we asked God for some specifics concerning our friend Wa. We went to sit with her the first night in the village and found her sitting alone listening to the stories from God's Word. She was singing with the songs after each story and enjoying the peace of the night in God's Presence. God continued to show us His work in her heart. We asked what she was doing the next day and she said nothing. We invited her to go with us to visit some new villages and greet the chiefs. We explained we were going to do God's work to see which villages are open to hearing God's stories. She agreed to go with us. What a joy to have her, to watch her join in our pr.yers, to hear her confessions that God's work was good. Again we sat with her before bed talking about the day. It was our last night in the village so we boldly asked her where she stood on the J.s road. Then the greatest confession of all came from Wa...just as we pr.yed...She confessed that she wanted to walk on the J.s road. She said it was good for her. The next morning LP sat with her and explained more about the birth and death of J.s and how He was the final sacrifice. Wa understood and continued to confess that there is power in J.s name and that His road is the only way! PRAISE God for hearing and answering our pr.yers for Wa! CELEBRATING Christmas with a new joy in our hearts!!

Storytelling over Warm Coals

We sat inside Wa's house for a spicy meal of Tigadigana (spicy peanut sauce, my favorite)because of the cool nights in Mali right now. They are so refreshing! The shovel filled with hot coals from the fire makes it feel almost like sitting by the fire at home. After dinner, all we needed was a good cup of hot chocolate as we sat around talking and telling stories. Wa had already told me the stories of Creation and Adam and Eve's disobedience, so we began sharing some of my experiences at the beginning of my time here in Mali. Lori P told her the story of the demon possessed man and then we shared with her how we had seen God's power do the same thing through the prayers of the volunteers who were in village S. Wa was amazed and declared, "J.s' name has power over the demons, there is power in J.s' name, the J.s road is the only way." Pray for the warmth of Wa heart toward Jesus to be fanned into hot coals that will warm those around her to the truth about Jesus being the only way to God. Pray for Wa to make the confession with her heart that she wants to believe and follow the J.s road. Pray for us to boldly ask where she stands on that road.

Like Daughter, Like Mother

During our morning rounds to greet the people of the village, we saw one of the women who has been leading the story telling in her family. We had planned to visit the previous afternoon so she could tell me a story she had learned while I have been away. Because of our travels we were not able to go. She called us out on it with a laugh, but we told her we would be there shortly. So we did...we went to her courtyard, greeted, and then asked her to share a story. It was great! She began telling me the story of Creation! She did great, and Lori P helped her get a few details in order. After telling us the story, she took off and told us to come with her. She led us to her mother's courtyard...if she had to tell the story then so did her mom. We smiled as we watched this young woman continue to lead and hold accountable those who were studying with her. We stood and listened along with 8 other women and over 14 children. The mother went beyond the Creation story and into the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience. We celebrated with them how God has given them the ability to learn, understand, and share His stories. We did a short dance to celebrate! Please pray for us this coming week as we challenge them with some questions about these stories and go on to share more with them. Pray also for us to discern how these stories are impacting their hearts and how God is working to draw them to Himself.

Looking for God this Christmas

Today I was reminded of the story of Elizabeth and Zechariah which led me to remember Sarah and Abraham and even Abi and her husband...how easy it is for us to forget that God wants to show His Power to us! He wants to show Himself to us! He wants to reveal to us that HE IS REAL and worthy of our FAITH! He wants us to know this Christmas season that He is Emmanuel...GOD WITH US...no matter the struggles we face, the hardships we must overcome, the battles we must fight...He wants us to look to Him, asking and believing Him for our needs and our desires! What do you need? What desires do you have that only God can meet?

The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever

His Word is True...Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! I continue to marvel at how God works, shows His power, and makes Himself known to people in the same ways as He always has!! In June 2008, a team came to tell the story of Hannah among the Samogho women...it was the beginning of God developing a hunger in hearts of the Samogho women to know and understand the stories of God...the testimonies of people both past and present to the greatness and power of the One True God. It was also the beginning of God spreading His Story from woman to woman and village to village. In December 2008, another team came and God placed in our path a young woman from another village who had heard the story of Hannah from some women and told us she had been unable to conceive a child. She asked us to pray for her. We talked with her about the faith of Hannah to believe God for the gift of a child. We boldly prayed for God to do the same in Abi's life that He had done in Hannah's life...give her a child! This week as we went to greet and visit in the same courtyard where we met Abi, the woman we went to visit began telling us how we had prayed and now she is pregnant! She had two praises for our God...first that we had prayed for her rice harvest and God gave her the best harvest ever. Second, that we had prayed for Abi to have a child and now she is pregnant. Abi now lives in a neighboring country so we may not have the opportunity to celebrate with her the gift of this child, but nevertheless we celebrate the God who is the same yesterday (Hannah's Day), today (Abi's Day), and forever!!