Monday, January 23, 2012

Blessed Assurance

Classic mirror shot - including a cameo of the photographer!

Mindee was on the cooking crew this year. She taught her fellow chefs a little trick - using a matchstick to help alleviate the used-to-be-inevitable tears from onion dicing!

We had to document this rare event - Mike and Mindee actually SEEING each other on Outreach! (Normally we have very different roles and are often stationed at different work sites.)

Mike getting a shot of the roofing crew while Mindee gets a shot of him!
(See bottom left corner.)

Here's the shot Mindee took of Mike from the above picture...

Side note about the evening evangelism campaigns: 1000 people heard the gospel over the weekend. 2 of those villages heard the gospel for the very first time!

(Exciting news: 100 people in all responded to the salvation message)
Strength. Joy. Assurance.

These were the characteristics of this Outreach weekend. Despite numerous obstacles, including two tire blow-outs, two vehicle break-downs, luggage lost and spilled on the highway (yet luckily recovered quickly), and scads of technical difficulties, we were still able to accomplish what God set out for us. IN SPITE of our short-comings!

Strength. Many staff and students struggled with exhaustion and sickness before going on this trip, yet felt a supernatural strength and energy during this gruelingly laborous weekend.

Joy. Despite the onset of stress that generally accompanies this busy time of year at D.A., numerous people testified that they were filled with a pervasive, all-encompassing sense of joy as they toiled, worked and ministered throughout the weekend.

Assurance. Several of our student leaders confessed that they had been wrestling with doubts before going on this weekend. One such student shared that not only did he lead a Muslim man to the Lord one night, but he did so AFTER God used him to heal the man through the power of prayer! This 17-year-old who, a few days ago had been expressing doubts, announced publicly: "Jesus exists. It's irrefutable."

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Outreach Weekend is back!

Dear Friends and Family,

Tomorrow morning at 5:00 we head out for our second outreach weekend of the school year. There will be nearly 150 of us this time who seek to meet the physical and spiritual needs of thousands of Senegalese, all in the name of Jesus.

We will be in and around the same areas we worked in last November and look forward to reconnecting with some of the men, women, and children we have met before. In our last blog we told of how a village chief became a Christian at our last campaign. Since then his wife has also become a believer and we hope to meet more from his village who have since stepped out in faith to follow Jesus.

Please pray for us this weekend, for safety for us, for the Good News to be proclaimed and for people to hear and respond.

There are so many logistics involved in an event like this, and so many things that could potentially go wrong. We trust in God to provide for our needs and to work through us DESPITE any mishaps.

We also believe that this weekend could not be successful without prayer support from all over the world. We have a prayer chain here in Dakar where people have volunteered to pray during specific times of day and night AROUND THE CLOCK so we are bathed in prayer. We ask that you would consider doing the same and choosing a specific period of time during the next three days to lift this outreach up in prayer. Mark your calendar, set an alarm, and pray for us.

We can't thank you enough for your support.

We'll be sure and check in early next week when we get back!

Mike and Mindee