Word from PR, 4/23/07

[ed. note - It appears that Pastor was very tired at the time of this writing, which is to be expected based on the content. I have taken the liberty of making some slight spelling and grammatic corrections to make reading easier. In addition, certain sensitive information has been removed or replaced from the body of the text. - SF]

Wow! What can I say at this point. So very much has happened. We arrived on Friday and moved into our rooms at the "Y". We drove around some and became familiar with the area, exchanged money, ate and had devotions and debriefing. Everything takes a while here as you well know. Saturday we called moses' brother. He was here, just down the street from where we were staying. He was working [but] he got permission to take off work and directed our steps. We had wanted him to take us to [a specific village]. He first stopped us by the other brother's house just outside of [a different village]. We were greeted very warmly. We shared some and were invited to come back on Sunday for dinner. We all felt like God was doing something there. We went to [our original destination] to the family farm. Their mother was precious. She is not yet a believer. There were many people there. All seemed to be extended family. We met the oldest sister who is blind and prayed for her. We shared the gospel with the mom and several teenage girls. There was a great reception, but no one received Christ. Still we sense this will be a place of His peace. This will be an important part of the puzzle. On the way back [we] stopped back by the first house and were warmly received by the entire family. We talked for some time about spiritual things. They are Catholic background with a deep hunger for spiritual things. They simply have not yet had that relationship. We left overjoyed for the things God is doing. We ate supper, debriefed and prayed until after midnight together.

Yesterday was Sunday. [We attended a Baptist church where the pastor] taught on fasting in Sunday School. He preached on the questions God asks from Gen. 3 and 4, 'Where are you' and 'where is your brother'. He did a great job. the singing was marvelous. We sat and talked to the pastor. There are 3 Baptist churches in The Gambia. The country requires all churches to register to be in existence. [God] has invited us to reach the Mandyako people and plant baptist churches and he has the infrastructure to begin the process. God is amazing.

At one point Aaron asked if we were catching a vision for the work here yet. David said no [and that] it was running over them. This is a great team we can all be proud of.

We went back for supper at the home that invited us. God worked in amazing ways as we witnessed to the lady of the house. She was an amazing lady with great questions. She is so close. The Catholic background makes it necessary to think about the things we are telling. She could not get away from the truth. We all expect to get back there tonight to find that she made that commitment after we left. All the while Kelly and Becky were outside with about a dozen more sharing the story. There is a great spirit in this house. It would be easy to see God begin a church there [in that village]. We are excited. We spent the evening debriefing and praying and singing. no one wanted to go to bed. The Spirit of God is mighty here. The team is excited.

We are all well. We are all excited. All of us are energized by the power of the work God is doing and the bright future for things in the Gambia.

Keep praying for us. I know you will.

Every corner we turn reveals another piece of the puzzle God has already placed on the table. It is a rush. It all comes so quickly it is difficult to process it all.

We do not always have the time to get here to communicate. We have postponed things to do this. We need to communicate. The fields are ripe. Laborers are needed.

Rick