Rachel–the moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew she would be special to me this month.
We walked nearly an hour to the place where the conference would be held. As we waited, we joined the natives in dancing. Before I made it close to the group of dancers, someone grabbed my hand and pushed me into the middle of the circle.
And there she was–her piercing eyes staring into mine as we had a dance-off. Her smile was beautiful and radiating. I felt as if I was staring into the Lord’s face.
I wanted to know her name. I wanted to know her story. I wanted to disciple her this month.
Rachel has lived with us this past month–she has prepared food for us and served us very well. Like her sister, she is deemed “ugly” because of her dark skin and coarse hair. She works very hard and is treated poorer than the rest, but she does it with a smile on her face.
She is constantly inviting me to join her–in cooking, fetching water, and dancing (of course). This girl never runs out of energy. She is the energizer bunny of Africa.
She shared part of her testimony the other night. She has lived a life of “impurities”, but she has chosen a life of following Christ.
I had the amazing opportunity to baptize this beautiful girl this past week–in a small stream within the forest! It was my first time baptizing and it brought me so much joy to be apart of this beautiful life here in Côte d’Ivoire!
Rachel (Left) and Rontat (Right); Rontat is 13 years old and grew up in witchcraft. We baptized her as well!!
