With My Own Eyes and Ears

His F@ithfulness R@dio...the fruit of all that G0d had placed in my vision 8 years ago!!! It became a reality in 2013, but this year 2014, I saw it and heard it with my very own eyes and ears!! I have longed for and waited for this time to actually see and hear His F@ithfulness R@dio on the air and to stand beside those who serve their community through this work.What a joy it was to peer in the doorways to see it in full operation.


On that first trip to the village 8 years ago, my friend, R!ta, and I were traveling to a remote part of M to see what G0d was doing among 3 different people groups. We were doing the study Bel!eving G0d together as we traveled. In that study the writer asked the participants to place a blue string around their wrist to remind them of the 5 statements of beli!eving G0d. We looked in the markets that day but could find no blue string. but G0d had a more lasting plan for providing us with a reminder.

Along that journey we saw this incredibly beautiful bluebird. One like I had never seen and one like I have never seen since. Every day as we journeyed to the village and while we were in the village, we saw this bluebird. It became our Bluebird of Bel!ef. To this very day, on every trip to the village and during every stay in the village, this Bluebird of Bel!ef has gone before us and flown beside us all along the way. Even when it was evident that our work was moving to the city because of the trouble in the n0rth, G0d brought this Bluebird across my path to show me He was indeed going before me and preparing the way for this change. This 2014 journey back to the village was no different. On the first morning when I woke up after staying the night in the r@dio station, I went outside to spend time with G0d. I looked up and there sat the bluebird on the tower watching the station. Pr@ise filled my heart and joy consumed me as I experienced once again the very REAL and PERSONAL Presence our our G0d affirming His work, His plans, His purposes!


I had fun looking at all the equipment and seeing how it all works to proclaim the G00d News of Jss throughout this remote area. The workers told me of how the children would come every Saturday morning to be on the r@dio. They would each have a chance to greet their parents and their friends on the r@dio. This is just one of the many creative ways the r@dio is making itself a part of the community.



On Sundays, the whole day is dedicated to Chr!st and making Him known through music, G0d's W0rd, and other Chr!sti@n programs.

After spending a couple of nights at the r@dio station, we headed to the P@n@ v!llage. The chief told us how he listened to the radio every day and how he no longer listens to anything else except His F@ithfulness R@dio!! It was a double blessing to be able to personally sit and listen to His F@ithfulness R@dio while we were there!! While we were eating or while we were just sitting around visiting, the r@dio was playing ...just like it was playing in compounds all over the 80 kilometer radius to which it was broadcassting!! Fullness of Joy!!!!

The Year to Return...2014

Two years since I have been to the villages and the peoples to whom G0d sent us... two years pr@ying for their protection through the difficulties their country faced... two years believing G0d to be the S0verign L0rd over all things, all situations, all peoples... two years knowing He loved them and was with them more than I could ever imagine!!





 

2014--the year to return... the year to see what G0d has been doing... the year to rejoice in HIS F@ITHFULNESS!! I cannot express to G0d how grateful I am for the opportunity to go back and see those I have missed so much!

For me and for my heart, it was a full circle experience. I was with all the people who began this journey with me.  I was seeing the lives of those He had changed as we w0rshipped together. Where there was once only one f0ll0wer choosing to live the hard life of Chr!st in front of those in his v!llage, there were now close to 20 worshiping together. We spent the day talking about G0d's Word and looking at how to live that out in the culture of !dol w0rship.

It was a great discussion and the levels of f@ith were evident as we struggled through what f0ll0wing Chr!st looks like as a P@n@ f0ll0wer.

A favorite moment was when the f0ll0wers wanted to sing a song where they had changed the words into their own language. To see their response to that...instantaneous dancing and praising G0d in ways they can only do in their heart language!! What a joy to witness!!

A hard moment for me was the news that one of my precious friends I would sit with under the tree and learn language with had passed away 2 months before our arrival. She died giving birth to her 5th child. The child also died. My heart was and is still heavy for her husband and the 4 children she left behind. As we sat with her husband, he expressed his emotions in ways that are rarely seen here. Please lift him up to our Father and ask Him to comfort and bring salvation to this man and his whole household.

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!!