Jesus and Chickens

Praise God! He is always with us. Even when we can’t see what He is doing, we know He is working. I am very grateful for how God has been growing my faith during my time in West Africa. I am honored to be a part of the work God is doing here. I cannot thank all of you enough for joining in the work here every time you pray. Prayer is powerful and it is necessary if we want to do anything that has eternal impact. We can’t serve, love and follow someone we don’t talk to. So, thank you to everyone who has been talking to God about me and the work He is doing here.

Over this past month I have been focusing a lot on language learning. However, I did not want to become too focused on learning language that I forget why I am doing it. I knew I needed to find a way to be sharing the Gospel while I learn language. Normally, I have many opportunities to share when I am with a team. I often share in the villages. There are no teams coming now and I want to share with the people who live close by. So, I was talking with my friend Arnold that also wanted to go out and share.

One evening we went out and met a group of women. About seven were there when we started sharing. Only five stayed to really hear the Gospel. Two of the women asked great questions about who Jesus is. We encouraged them to pray and ask God to reveal to them who He says Jesus is. We continued walking and praying for guidance. Then, all of the sudden, an old man across the road called to us. He told us to come over and talk with him. After greeting and sitting down he started the conversation about how big God is. It was a great start. We were very excited. God had literally had this man call out to us. We knew God wanted us to share. Arnold began sharing. Once he started explaining about Jesus dying on the cross, the man became very upset. He did not agree with this. We continued the conversation and gave a response for why we believe what we believe. He did not want to hear anymore. We did not want it to turn into an argument. I have not known anyone that has gotten saved after they were argued into salvation. We asked the man if we could pray for him. He said no. He believes Jesus never died on the cross and is not coming back. We said goodbye and thanked him for talking with us. Arnold and I talked as we walked away. We both had peace and were so excited. We know that God used this man, who is currently rejecting Jesus, to bring us to share the truth with him. It is not our job to save people. That is all God. All we can do is share the truth. We must pray that God will open their eyes. Only then can they see that Jesus is the only way to be saved. Please be in prayer for this man that God would show him who Jesus really is.

We continued on and met two women and began sharing with them. The one lady was very interested in everything we were saying. She said she loves Jesus but wants to know more. More people came, and she preferred to have this conversation without others listening. That is because it can bring persecution. We invited her to meet with us again sometime and she really wanted to. Then we started walking back to my house and there was a group of people sitting and having tea. We went and greeted them and they asked us to sit and join them. Arnold translated for me and after some light conversation I began sharing my testimony and then the Gospel. One lady was really listening and asking questions. We were almost finished sharing the Gospel, Arnold was explaining who the Holy Spirit is. She looked at me and said, “I can see you have the Holy Spirit.” This shook me. I was so honored. I was stunned God used someone that does not yet know the Holy Spirit to make my day and touch my life. She was very open to talk again. I hope and pray we get to go back and share and visit more.

Language learning was one thing I was worried about when I was planning to come to West Africa. I am dyslexic, and English was always challenging for me in school. I could only imagine how difficult another language would be. I brought this concern to God many times before I left. He kept reminding me that He knows all about my dyslexia. I know He wanted to ensure I understood that speaking the new language is His accomplishment, not mine. God gets the glory. This past week, I was tested to see how much of the language I know from what I have learned so far. I scored 93% on the test. I know I have much more to learn than I currently know. However, I am very grateful to God for getting me this far. Don’t limit what God wants to do in you because you think you can’t. God can! That is all that matters in the end. Thank you to everyone who has been praying over my language learning. Please don’t stop. I still have much to learn. I know God will be with me every word at a time.

A life long dream came true for me in an unexpected way almost two weeks ago. Bass (one of the leaders of BCA and TNI ministries in West Africa) and I got chickens. 100 chickens! They live at my house and I have very much enjoyed having them. I started thinking about why I love chickens so much and have always wanted them. My conclusion is that I love them in all stages of life and death. The eggs of a chicken can be made into so many wonderful meals. The baby chicks are so adorable. The adult chickens are absolutely hilarious if you spend enough time with them. Then you take a dead chicken and fry it. You can only thank God for creating something so delicious. So, the next time you eat a chicken I encourage you to praise God for make such a creature.

Please be in prayer for the people that Arnold and I got to share the Gospel with. Continued prayers for my language learning. For the next 33 days, I will be traveling to do village ministry and more. I will spend one week in the village where Canaan has been serving for many years. From there, I will continue my journey. I will spend three weeks traveling to meet with pastors and visit church plants all over the country. The last two days I will be gone I am going to lead a women’s conference. Please be in prayer over all of these things. I am so grateful for your prayers and support.

Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.