I'm BACK!

...so i heard that West Africa is known as the arm pit of africa...and after living there for the past month, i can definitely see why...

it's hot. dusty. dirty. third world. a place you know exists because you've seen the pictures, watched the videos in church. but then you step foot...

and it's real.

the poverty. the hunger.

but even greater....

the depth of the darkness. it's mind blowing to look into the eyes of a muslim woman and see only hopelessness. darkness. no peace....

to know that you have the hope she needs. the answers she's looking for. the rest and peace that she can't find no matter how hard she tries. no matter how many times a day she prays. or bows down to an idol that cannot save...

...to sit in her home only a few feet away from her and hold this message of His HOPE...it makes me catch a tiny glimpse of understanding at Isaiah's words when he said "your word is in me like a fire, burning away at my bones, and i am weary of holding it in.

indeed i cannot."

His words of life just waiting to be unleashed. waiting to be planted.

40/40 was really hard. We spent most of our time w/ translators going out into either “neighborhoods” within the city…or villages….talking to people, practicing greeting them in an appropriate way culturally, and trying to have as many spiritual conversations as possible…it was really hard not knowing the language, or customs, or I mean…anything…it feels so restricting when you see people, and know that they need the hope that you have, but you can’t talk to their hearts because you don’t speak the same language…

i learned a lot though...about storying...how to tell the stories in God's word in normal, every day conversations.

...at the name of Jesus, we witnessed our taxi driver break down and and quietly weep. pray that he will find life in that Name, and not in the name of any other god.

...we got to speak peace over a sick muslim woman. pray she will find not just physical healing, but spiritual healing as well...in His Name.

...we got to share the gospel with a chief, and a large crowd that gathered around him. he claimed he could not follow Jesus, because it was his responsibility to sacrifice to the idols in order to keep the peace for the village. pray the scales fall from his eyes so he can know that peace is found in Christ ALONE.

...after sharing the gospel with a group of muslim men, one came up to us and said, "i would follow Jesus if it were not for the fact that I could only have one wife. i want to have many wives, so i will not follow Christ."...pray that this man would know that Jesus is worth more than life itself...true satisfaction comes from Him, not many wives.

...West Africa is not an easy place...i have a new respect and appreciation for those who have gone before me, settled in that land, and spent years proclaiming the gospel to the people there. But, it's worth it...Jesus is worth losing the comforts of this world...so other people can know. It's easy to say that, but it's true... His grace is sufficient to sustain.

in Ghana, we stayed w/ a family of farmers...they grow corn, millet, beans, soy, etc.

...our homestay mom cooking our lunch...it's like going back 500 years...but, it works for them...somehow ha

...our homestay family...they were a joyful family, but for some reason, they don't smile for cameras.

...we got to share creation to christ w/ these orphan children...

...fu fu (i'm not sure how it's spelled)...but, you eat it w/ your hands...it's like the texture of plado, dipped in slimy sauce. you don't ask what it's made out of. right?...you just pray. hard. and dig in. literally.:)

...we visited a secondary school...which is like a college for us...and this was there living quarters. I will never complain about the size of my dorm room again.