Building Blocks

In the remote area of Mali where the P@n@, the D@fin, the Ful@ani, the D0g0n and so many other people groups live, there is little to no access to radio or television. We are partnering with Malian missi0n@ries and followers of J.s.s to build a Christi@n radio station. One of the followers and 2 helpers spent the last month making blocks to be used for Radio Kantigiya (Faithfulness Radio). As I looked out over the blocks, I gave thanks to Father for His work among the nations and His faithfulness to restore all peoples to Himself. He longs to reconcile every person and establish a right relationship with them. He is pursuing a love relationship with the P@n@, the D@fin, the Ful@ni who live in this area. Radio Kantigiya is one of the building blocks for establishing a strong foundation of f@ith in those who choose to follow the J road. It will provide opportunities for songs of f@ith and stories from Father's Word to be broadcast into every village in this area. Tens of thousands of people will hear about the news of J.s.s. Radio Kantigiya will also provide health education opportunities, community awareness events, language lessons, community development, children's programming, Biblical theater, community announcements and information, etc.
Please pray with us for the full funding for this project to come in. If you would like to contribute to the completion of this project, please make checks out to Isaiah 61 with Radio Kantigiya on the memo line. Send donations to HSI PO Box 1975 Cleveland, TX 77327.

Ala, an be barika da i ye i ka kantigiya koson!
God, we praise you for your faithfulness!

A Day of Favorites

Sund@y in the Samogho village was filled with favorites! After a morning of greeting throughout the village and checking on the little boy who had been burned, we gather for a time of w0rship. We sang a ton of songs...well i don't know if songs weigh anything, but we sang and sang and sang. It was fun! Ann even found herself reading Bambara, singing and keeping up with the tune of the songs. It is always fun to recognize the tune and realize it is one of your favorite hymns. Now you are singing it in another language! Kind how heaven will be, I imagine.

After our praise session, we told favorite stories. The missionary told the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace...she didn't just tell it to the children...she had them act it out! She made the school teacher the King and had 3 young boys bow at his feet. Then she told how 3 young men refused to bow down to the King, and they were thrown into a fiery furnace. She wrapped her arms around them and covered them to show how God protected them and how the King saw 4 men in the furnace. It was a favorite moment in the day to see the faces of those young boys and even the school teacher understand the power and protection of our Father for those who choose to follow Him. We continued with Jak's favorite story about J.s.s telling his followers to throw their nets out over the other side of the boat after they had fished all night and caught nothing. Jak's thoughts about that were simply this, "We have to always be ready to obey God. When we are tired and just don't see the benefits, we just continue to do what He said and He will bless us."
Ann's favorite story was next. She told of the Beattitudes and Jak read it from the Bambara B.ble. We focused on the last part where J.s.s tells how Father blesses you when people mock and persecute you. It was an important Word for the teacher who came to w0rship with us.
Fanta's favorite story for the day was the temptations of J.s.s. During that time in the wilderness, J.s.s was tempted but each time He was able to fight those temptations and be victorious because He knew what His Father had said. He could use the Father's Word to fight.
Which one is your favorite? Have you read these stories lately? Read them and see what Father has to say to you!

Father's Pursuit

Two Samogho men have been on Father's heart for years, and He has been pursuing a relationship with them. One is Isa, the man who desires to be the Good Soil. Several years ago his confession about J.s.s was only to say that he would beat anyone in his household who chose to follow the J road. His confession this trip was that he himself wanted to follow the J road. He confessed it is the best road, the only road. His struggle to follow is the same as many Malians...the pressure from those who have power over you...your father, your friends, your family members, the other men of the village. The J road is tough for all, but especially tough for those who follow first.
The second man, educated and an educator, reads and understands many things. He has heard stories from his friend Jak, a follower of J. They spend time talking about the J road. A couple of years ago, this teacher confessed he could not follow because he was afraid of his father and the reality that his father would disown him. Several months ago, his father died. Since then, there has been an openness and a freedom evident in him. He came to sing and w0rship with us the Sund@y we were in the village. He listened and joined in with us. He even played the role of King in the story of the Fiery Furnace.
Please pray for these two men. Their earthly fathers, families, and friends may not understand or may even disown them, yet the Father of all Creation longs to restore His relationship with them. The Father of all Creation is pursuing them. Pray for courage and power to overcome their fears and choose to follow the only road.

Home and Renewed

Hi Everyone! Greetings from America!
Ann and I made it back to the USA after a long journey home! We had mechanical difficulties in Mali before we left so we sat on our plane for 4 hours waiting for the difficulties to be fixed. This caused us to miss our flight from Paris to Houston and caused us further delays in getting home. We made it in late, but we excited to share with our families and friends what Father had done. We arrived at Ann's home just a few minutes before a new day began ...that new day was Ann's birthday. I stayed long enough to see her birthday come in so I could sing to her...Then it was off to home and bed.
We have been home 10 days now...and are both feeling completely here and renewed from our journey! Thank you so much for praying for us and for walking with us on your knees! Thank you for following our journey on the blog!
There are a few more details we want to share with you so stay tuned...now that we are in our right minds again we will be blogging about those. I will also begin blogging the journey of the next team soon. We will be taking a group of college students to serve in Mali so please stay with us, pray, and joined us for the preparation and fulfillment of the call on these students lives.

Leaving

Well the time is getting closer for us to fly out of Mali and make our way home. We've had fried chicken and green bean casserole for dinner and are awaiting a final shower to refresh us before our 16 hour journey by plane to the USA.
We just discovered that our plane left Paris 2 hours late and is scheduled to arrive at the time we were suppose to depart. Please pray for the plane to arrive earlier than projected and that we will not be up all night waiting to get on the plane or to take off. We trust Father to orchestrate our departure from Mali and our arrival in USA. We look forward to seeing you as well as blogging a few more details of our time here in Mali.
Thanks for taking this journey with us!! We have enjoyed it so much!

Great Day in Bamako

We arrived in Bamako yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. We ate nems(Vietnamese egg roll)...yummy! I can't believe I've been in Mali for 3 weeks and these were my first nems!! I really like them so... We had them again today for lunch. We ate dinner last night with veteran missy's-- the Thompsons. We had a great time just visiting with them and sharing with them some of the details of our trip.
We spent the day today packing to leave tonight for the USA. After packing, we headed out to go to early check-in-- one of the best things about Mali. You can fully check-in, turn in your luggage, and get your boarding passes long before your plane leaves. So all we have left to do is shower and pack up our carry on luggage. Really nice!! We also ran some errands today and wrapped up some last minute business. We spent a few minutes with our Malian friend-- A. It was great to see her again and love on her one last time.

Compassion for the Hurting

Shortly after the "official" greetings had taken place, Wa told us about a little boy who had been burned in the cooking fire. She was very concerned about him and was in a hurry to take us there to take some medicine for him and to pray for him. Her heart was so tender for this toddler who had badly burned one foot and then fallen into some hot ashes and coals. He had also burned his bottom and private parts. Wa had already taken all the leaves from the aloe vera plant at Lori Ps house before we arrived. We found him being tenderly cared for by his mother who had been doing a great job comforting and keeping him protected from infection. Lori P gave her some aloe gel to continue soothing and helping to healing process. Bintu prayed for the little boy and his mother.
Please pray for protection from infection and the complete healing of this little boy. Thank Father for the heart of compassion He has placed within Wa and how He can use her to demonstrate His compassion to the people of the village. Pray for Father to use Wa and her faith in Him to lead others in the village to recognize Him.