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GUARDIAN OF TRADITIONS

This is Madou from the small town of Dara, the main town in the region where we started a church 18 years ago and where we've seen God move powerfully many times. Today there's a big percentage of the population that is Christian. Madou had a very important position and role in the society as he was the "guardian of traditions", meaning the centuries-old traditions of witchcraft, going back to before Mali became a Muslim country. He was in charge of doing the sacrifices to the local spirits, including the big annual sacrifice to appease the town's spirits. Whenever anyone wanted to do a sacrifice, they would bring their animals to Madou to do it for them. As guardian of traditions, he was against all other religions, including Islam and Christianity. He was especially against us Christians because their numbers had increased so significantly in his town, meaning that fewer people were doing sacrifices leading to him making less money.

At the end of July, the power of God hit him in his home, and he fell to the floor. He was completely unable to move and wondering what was going on. He opened his eyes again and saw a person standing in front of him. He said, "I'm Jesus. I love you so much that I want you to be my disciple. I want to save you." Madou could not move at all, all he could do was to watch Jesus. Jesus then touched him on his head, and energy started flowing through his body. He was able to get up and sit down, then he answered, "I will follow you." He then realized that the back pain he'd had for over 40 years after a fall from a tree, that he had taken medication for every day, the doctors telling him he'd have it until the end of his life, was completely gone. He went to see Paul who explained the gospel to him.

Madou, who is 72 years old, is the head of his family. Next week is gathering all the 90+ members of his family so they can hear Paul preach the gospel to them. Then he's going to burn all his magic tools right in front of them.

 

SCHOOL DIRECTOR

Falani is a village that used to be hostile to the gospel, chasing away any Christians that came to them, until the Lord opened the door for us to come in. Today there is a thriving Christian church there that is continually growing, even though the jihadists have told the Christians that they are not allowed to gather any more.

Woyo is the school director of the school (grades 1-6) there. He was also the head of the most powerful Muslim Youth Organisation that funded the operation of his school, and that position gave him a good income. Still, many of his teachers have left the village to find better-paying jobs, and he's had a hard time finding new teachers willing to work at his school. That is also why he didn't fire one of his teachers after he had become a Christian, even though he wanted to.

As time went on, Woyo saw the change in this Christian teacher's life which intrigued him. One day, he was clearly sick when the teacher walked into his office. The teacher offered to pray for him, and he allowed it. He was healed immediately. He was amazed but thought it could have been a coincidence. However, it happened two more times that he was instantly healed after the teacher had prayed for him. He started asking questions, and the teacher shared Bible stories with him. One day he was thinking about those stories and that he wanted to be like the teacher, when the power of God hit him, "a strong force", as he said, and he fell to the ground. He later asked the teacher what that was, and he told him that it was Holy Spirit. Paul then explained the gospel to him, and he started following Jesus.

He's now left the association and has lost all the funding for his school, not knowing how he can continue operating it. Still, he has agreed to teach all our illiterate leaders how to read so they can read the Bible for themselves.

 

QURANIC SCHOOL TEACHER

Bakary was a teacher in a quranic school in the capital until he got very sick and could not teach any more. No work, no money, so the family became more and more desperate. So much so that his wife decided to come to us and ask for rice since we give away rice to people in need every month. We happend to have some at the time (over a year ago) that we could give her which was a great relief to the family.

Bakary then made his way north to his village to stay with his parents for a while and try to get better, then returned to his family in the capital. He was still so thankful for the rice we had given them - in spite of him teaching the Quran and us being Christians - that he decided he needed to come and thank us. It just so happened that he got to our base just as our weekly service was starting. Paul invited him to stay for the service, so he sat down and listened. Bakary was touched by the words he heard Paul speak. At the end of the service, Paul invited people to become Christians, and Bakary responded and went forward. That was a month ago. Bakary's health has been improving since.

What could Bakary do now to support his family? The Christians in the town of Dara, about an hour's drive away, gave Bakary a field to cultivate. However, since Bakary's health is not good enough yet for that physical labor, they did all the work for him. Wow, that is the love of God in action! He's now staying with new Christian friends and hopes to eventually build a little house and have his family join him there.

 

 

CONNECTIONS, CONNECTIONS

I didn't think we'd be able to come to the US this summer, especially after the flight prices had all gone way up. However, Paul had a dream, and one of our grown-up ex-street kids that loves Jesus had a vision of us in the US ministering and surrounded by people that were standing with us. When the flight prices dropped, I purchased the tickets. A few weeks before we left, a third person gave a confirmation that God was sending people to come alongside us to support the vision.

I've seen those words come to pass on this trip and have been amazed at how the Lord works. He's given divine appointments, connections that have been God-ordained, all in amazing ways man would not be able to do. I'm thankful for all of you who read these updates - those who've known me for along time, and those of you for whom this is their first newsletter. Thank you for standing with us and believing in what God is doing in the nation of Mali and beyond!

We now have just over 2 weeks left in the US and can't wait to see what else God has planned. These are some opportunities to see us:

Please contact me if you need any more information about any of these venues.