We are so excited to share with you all
that God has done to advance His kingdom these past five days. This was a week of tremendous encouragement
and fellowship for us as we were joined by wonderful friends from our home
church. What a blessing to be
surrounded by their love and support this week.
What an incredible week! We drove out early Sunday morning and joined
the Bantu church for worship. After the
service was over, the church walked about 15 minutes to the river for a baptism
ceremony. The choir led the way with
singing and drums, and the congregation followed. The river is a community place, and as we
gathered for the baptism, others were gathered to wash clothes, haul water, and
bathe. Our pastors were able to share
the Gospel message to many who will not walk through the gates of the church. Ten new believers were baptized this Sunday. It was truly a celebration of new life, and
we were honored to be able to take part in it.
The walk down to the river was tiring,
but the walk up was pretty exhausting.
The African sun, 8,000 feet elevation, two streams to cross, a constant
uphill, and three little boys made for a difficult trek. But it also provided a wonderful opportunity
to see the body of Christ at work as our American and Ethiopian friends
continuously came along side to help get our boys back to the church.
Vacation Bible School was an incredible
experience this year. We hosted VBS in a
small cabalee outside the village of Abebee.
A cabalee is a very tiny village…bigger than just a hamlet of ten or so
homes, but not large enough to have stores or a market. We were invited to Bili Malima by a family of
believers who attend the Abebee church.
They have been eager to start a church in their own cabalee, and were
gracious hosts for this first evangelism effort. We could not have asked for a more picture
perfect site…a very large courtyard area surrounded by the family’s huts and a
huge African tree providing shade. About
150 children attended each day, and they were so wonderfully behaved and eager
to participate and hear about Jesus. It was a perfect situation for us with the
boys; the children were friendly and interested but not overwhelming. The boys had a great time attending Bible
school and making friends. It was a very
fruitful week in Bili Malima. About 200
children, women, and men heard the Gospel, and 15 became new believers in
Christ! A new church has been planted,
and we will go this Sunday to celebrate the first service in Bili Malima!
We spent our afternoons in Abebee at the
new church site. Our ladies led Bible programs
for women each day and told Bible stories to the children gathered around. About 60 women attended the Bible programs
and around 100 children heard the Bible stories. Our hope is that these interactions will fuel
interest and they will come to the Abebee church to learn more. The men on the team helped in the
construction of the new church building and worked to complete the water well
on the church property. We were able to
frame the doors and windows for the church and get the well up and running. Next week we will have the opportunity to
pass out Meals 4 Multitudes at the school in Abebee.
This week has been a wonderful
encouragement to us from a ministry perspective, and we are looking forward to
many more opportunities to serve in the coming weeks. We are doing well in other areas too. Josh has a cold, so we could use some prayers
that it is short lived and the rest of the boys stay healthy. We could also use prayers for good rest; we
are pretty tired at the end of each day.
We’ll be back into town next Friday…thank you for all your love and
support!
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