After a looooong 24+ hours of travel & living January 17th twice (time zones are weird), my team and I finally made it to Abidjan, in Côte d’Ivoire Africa. The city is similar to LA (population wise) and has a constant hustle and bustle feel. I’m fairly positive I hear a car beep at least every 3.6 seconds, but I’m not counting.
Our first day on the World Race, we met our ministry hosts and arrived at our apartment for the month. I will be posting an entirely separate blog on the apartment itself, so stay tuned for that. We then explored a little of the city to get acquainted with the area. The first official day was a whirlwind, and it feels like so much has already happened.
For the month of January, my team was assigned “trucker ministry” in Africa. I had the same question you’re probably thinking now, “What does that even mean?” Well, we found out quickly. We went with our translator to a port in Abidjan where men from all over Africa drive to and then sit in a field literally underneath the semi-trucks for up to 1 month, waiting for their cargo in the blazing heat. So… what did we do? We sat with them of course. Our first day of ministry consisted of sitting underneath semi-trucks in the dirt talking with these men.
2 things I learned on the first day of ministry: One, 90% of the people we will be talking to over the next month will be a very specific population- Muslim trucker men. And two, I couldn’t help but notice how much easier it was to approach strangers here than I would ever feel in America. A lot of people in the states are either closed off to discussing religion because they’re afraid to offend someone, or they simply don’t have the time to just sit and talk with a stranger because they are too busy. Let me tell you, it is very different here. All they have is time. After all, they just wait for their cargo as the day passes, sometimes up to one full month before getting it. I found it amazing that they weren’t just simply listening to what we had to say, they were genuinely engaged, receptive and intrigued. After hanging out with about 13 strangers in the dirt underneath semi-trucks for 2 hours, two of these prior Muslim men boldly decided to accept Jesus as their savior and 3 more said they would like us to bring Bibles to learn more about it. This was day one. I can’t wait to see where this month takes my team. We are ready for it!
Here is a picture of my team & I hanging out with the truckers.
“Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on.” Commissioned, they left. They traveled from town to town telling the latest news of God, the Message, and curing people everywhere they went” (Luke 9:1-6, Message Translation).
