Month 4!

Praise God for everything that has been happening this past month. The month started with a spiritual retreat with some of the Bethlehem Christian Academy (BCA) leadership in West Africa. This is where everyone gathered to discuss the ministry activities that have occurred so far this year. This was also a time to plan for all the things that are going to happen. During the retreat we came together to worship our Lord Jesus. We prayed together about everything going on. We stayed up until about two in the morning worshiping, praying and reading the Word of God together.

I had the privilege to attend a traditional wedding that lasts three days. The wedding celebration began on Thursday night. This is when the bride is in her village and the groom is in his. Most people arrive on Thursday. As people come, you go around, greet them, and visit with those who have arrived. The women will all come together and help with cooking. I think I have gotten pretty good at chopping onions without a cutting board. (If I don’t cut myself, I count that as a win.) At around one in the morning Friday the groom and anyone from his village that wants to come goes to the bride’s village. At about 8 or 9 in the morning the groom brings the bride to his village and everyone follows. Friday is the main day with music, dancing, amazing food, prayer, giving thanks and more. The music and celebration continued until very early Saturday. I am not sure when the music stopped, I fell asleep at 2:30 am. Then when everyone got up on Saturday, the bride greets people. The women examine all the gifts, and most people leave in the afternoon. It was a lovely wedding, and I am very grateful I got to attend.

The work in the BCA schools is amazing to witness so much is happening. The people serving here in West Africa are doing a wonderful job. Their example of sacrifice and service inspires me. The students in the school in the town where I live are doing very well in their classes. Both the teachers and parents are happy with what they are accomplishing. I got to be a part of a parent teacher conference with many of the parents. This was a time when BCA leadership could share about the school’s vision and what’s next.

I was able to travel to another one of the BCA schools in West Africa. There are six in the country that I live in. This school has 19 kindergartners. The school has opened many doors for the Pastor that is over the school. When his family moved to the area, they began ministry and built a church. They were not greeted by their neighbors and were struggling in building relationships. This is a very big deal in this cultural setting. He shared with me that after the school was started, many people began to come and greet. Even the major of the village expressed gratitude for the school. The well that was put in right next to the school was also appreciated. The students at the school come to a kids’ club on Saturdays. There, they are taught the Word of God. If it was not for the school, these kids would never have come to the kids’ club.

This past weekend there was a church planting and evangelism training that happened at the BCA office. I live in the apartment right above the office. There were over 20 church leaders that came to the three-day training. The training days were very long but very good. I had the honor of getting to go out evangelizing after the first day of training. The group I went with included the leader of church planting in the south of the country. It also included a church leader whose house was burned down a few months ago because he is a Christian. We went out and met a man. We began to talk with him. He was very open. He gave us chairs to sit and also had tea made for us. During our time with him, one of the men I went with shared his testimony. He also shared the Gospel. Then he translated while I shared my testimony. We talked with this man for over an hour, and he asked that we come again and share more. Please pray for this man. Pray that his eyes will open to see the truth in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray that we get to return and share more with him.

Thank you for all your prayers and support for the work going on here in West Africa. Please continue to be in prayer for zeal and endurance with the ministry work that is happening here. This summer is full of teams, trainings, and camps. There are also many other ministry projects going on. Please keep all these things in your prayers.