Hello friends, I am indeed alive though I have been without WiFi and therefore without contact with home. I am typing these on my phone, and when I find WiFi, I will be able to post them. I feel like a sailor writing in a log; which I kind of like since I have always wanted to be a sailor. It has not yet been a week that we have been here in Côte d’Ivoire which blows my mind because truly it seems like it has been at least a month.
My team and I are in the village of Diabo being housed and served by the kindest most compassionate people! We have come to serve them, yet everyday they make us feel like royalty. My prayer is that God may bless them as much as they have blessed us.
Whenever we go on walks outside of our little compound, all of our hosts: the pastor, our translators, the boys who play drums at the church, and other church members usually follow; and there we are: a strange parade through the village streets.
This week, for ministry, we walked through the town and stopped at houses to talk to the lovely people of Diabo about Jesus and the freedom He brings. Some used to follow Jesus, but had felt spurned by the church and let that extinguish the fire in their hearts. We were able to talk to them about how the church is made up of humans and humans make mistakes, but Jesus never lets us down. We cannot let the mistakes of men determine our relationship with the God of the universe. And church is there for believers to worship the Savior, lift one another up in faith, study the Bible to learn about our God, and encourage one another to serve and make disciples, and focusing on God with community. It was an honor to talk and pray with these people. There is such an extensive process of greeting in this culture, shaking each persons hand, sharing the “news” [small talk], telling the important news you wish to talk about, and then once more shaking everyone’s hand as you leave. Each gathering starts and ends in a big mass of shaking hands and a scurry of people.
At the church, Hannah preached a mini message, I told my testimony, and we stood up in front and sang our worship songs. Many times we have such short notice to prepare, but it has been a good challenge. Each of us are learning what it means to fully sit in God’s hands and let Him lift us up off the ground [where we were certainly most comfortable].
I am terrified and very excited to see what is in store for this next week!
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