Month 1. West Africa. Côte d’Ivoire.
We are in the city of Abidjan, living in a villa with one of the other teams from our squad. After settling into where we’ll be living for the month, there was already some adjustment on what true flexibility looks like. As I shared in my last blog, this is pioneer month for our squad. World racers have never been to West Africa before so we have the opportunity to plow some ground and build relationships with our ministry hosts for future racers.
It has been really interesting to see how different the living conditions are just between our teams who are spread out throughout the city working with different ministries. Thirteen of us are living in one villa and we’ve had easy access to running water, hot showers, nice warm beds, AC, a kitchen with a stove and refrigerator, and wifi! In just the first week, we have already celebrated two world race birthdays and it was so fun!!
This past Sunday was our first church service. First, we attended a French speaking service for the worship and so the pastor could introduce us to the congregation. Then literally up the sidewalk is the English speaking service. We attended that service for the teaching.
During our mornings, I’ve really been soaking up some devotion time and scripture. This past week the Lord was speaking to me about comfort. The verse that really ministered to me comes from Isaiah 54:10, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
My prayer for this month: we trust completely in the Father over what ministry looks like for us. Good health, strong beings, and joy in our hearts as we love on each other and on those around us – and to love them well!
The youth of the church have been spending a lot of time with us. We had the opportunity to go out for a day to a nearby city called Plateau for some evangelism. First, we started at the bus station and met some young people, one girl is a Christian and sings for her church. She sang for us. After that, we were asked to leave but I do believe we sowed a seed. That didn’t stop us!! We walked across the busy road to check out the markets for some more ministry time and meet the locals. We broke up into groups of three or four with a translator. Two of the markets were fabric shops and we found out the ladies are Christians and I had the opportunity to pray over them, it was so cool to see their reaction when I asked if I could pray..they were totally receptive!
Everyday has looked so different, but what’s been consistent is getting to know the youth of the church we are serving with, La Maison de la Destinée which means The House of Destiny. This is the English speaking church I mentioned earlier. With this group, we visited the pediatric department of a hospital in the city of Treichville and prayed over all the children and their families. Many of the children were sick from malaria or sickle cell, or other things that were receiving early treatment by the doctors and nurses. It was definitely a hard experience, but I personally loved it and felt so blessed. As we would finish praying with one family over their child, someone would walk out of another room and ask if we would also pray for them.
One of the children was very sick, he had an accident while fishing one day and injured his calf and back but never told his parents. Soon after, it made him very sick and took over his entire body. He has a bloated chest with every single rip showing and his neck is very swollen, he is currently bed ridden. The translator I was with is also a friend from the ministry we’re serving alongside this month. After praying, he asked if the mother had a bible and she pulled it out for us. We laid our hands and prayed over it, whatever we opened to we would read over the child. The scripture we opened to was 1Corinthians 15:12 and it says, “But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”
There’s no mistake we opened up to this scripture, God knows!!
At the end of our visit, as we were saying our goodbyes and thank yous to the staff for having us, I had this very peaceful feeling in my heart that God is on the move here and he used us today to love and pray for the beautiful children of this hospital. This won’t be our last and I’m excited for what else He has in store for us. He wrecked my heart that day for the sick and the lost, knowing that His word is powerful and as you speak it with authority miracles will happen and His truth will be heard and received!
I plan to post more photos, but right now this is all I can get to load! Also, I am just under 80% from being fully funded!! Please consider supporting me the rest of the way by clicking on Support Me on the left side of the home page. Thank you all for your prayers and support, this first month has been amazing and we have 10 more to go!! Ahh!!!!
