Rewatching the video, I realize that there are some mistakes, and I don’t seem too happy. Sorry. I don’t like being in front of the camera. Behind the camera I have nothing but a huge smile!
It’s sad that Month 1 is over. This month has flown so fast. Here is how I joined Jesus on HIS mission this month.
Trucker Ministry—We partnered with the local congregation and their trucker ministry. Our daily ministry host, is such a Godly man. Everything he says and does, reflects God. He is on fire for sharing the Gospel. Every Tuesday through Friday we went out to the port and talked with the truck drivers and apprentices. These men could wait weeks for their next load. They lived in and under their trucks, just waiting. Many were open to listening to us, and what we shared about the Gospel. In the Islamic religion, they believe their salvation comes through their five pillars: prayer 5 times a day, fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage to Mecca, giving alms to the poor, and confessing their creed. They even make sacrifices. Their religion is based off of doing things to get something. They earn their salvation. We share how God sent His son to die for us. How Jesus was the final sacrifice for our sins, and we don’t have to do anything to earn it. God calls us to have a relationship with Him. Confess Him in our hearts. Many Muslims struggle with the idea of a free gift, and trusting that God forgives them, and we are guaranteed salvation through our belief. Their heads cannot wrap around the idea of doing good deeds, because God calls us to love our neighbor. On Sundays, we would walk the ports and invite the men to church. We had church at a local restaurant near the port where we prayed, sang, and had a bible story discussion for the sermon.
I’m not going to lie. Ministering to Muslim men is no easy task. Many are set in their ways, and are strong in their faith because that is how they were raised and could be shunned if they left the Islamic religion. I wouldn’t trade this month for anything. It was an amazing opportunity to reflect on my own faith and how to defend my beliefs. Our team was comfortable with simply planting the seed of God. We know that that seed of God will be watered (hopefully) and will sprout and be harvested by more people in their life.
We had a few men accept Christ and choose to leave their religion. One-man Vivian was even baptized!
Children’s ministry—Every Wednesday we would go to the slums and help with children’s ministry. This was my favorite place, I couldn’t help but smile. This place was so humbling. We partnered with a couple from the congregation, who have so much compassion on the children in this area. Many of the parents were lazy and couldn’t afford a birth certificate, so the children could not go to school. So they would go and talk with the parents and explain to them the importance of school. They would even help financially. They would then hold Sunday School type classes on Wednesdays for the kids. Every time we went there the children would chant “Les Blanca Sont ici!” which means “the white people are here!” They were so happy to see us. The joy of the Lord was definitely in this place.
Every Saturday we would go to a school. At both places we would perform a bible skit, sing songs, and play games with them.
I probably could talk forever on this month. God has a mission for Abidjan, and this congregation. Many amazing things are being done at the port and through children’s ministry. I am honored to be a small part of that mission. And my prayer is that God would bless this congregation even more and pour out the Holy Spirit onto them.
