Join me in my trip to Gabon this summer

Haven't you ever wanted to with your own eyes and experience for yourself what Great things God has been doing through the hands of his servants in Gabon? Well if you do, we invite you to come and join us in His ministry serving with Envision in Gabon, West Africa.

What can you do? - well here's a list of the many things are available:
-Work Project Ministry (basic needs, home repair, construction projects for churches, Hope House Ministry)
-Outreach Ministry (Evangelism)
-Compassion/Medical Ministry (loving children at Hope House, being the hands and feet of God, medical assistance)
-Community Development Ministry
-Church Development Ministry (ESL classes)
-Sports outreach ministries
-Mobile Medical Clinics

How you can Help:
1.Pray for God's guidance as I lead short-term mission teams
2.Pray that God will provide for all my finances of this trip
3.Pray for safety
4.Pray that my team members and I will develop healthy relationships
5.Pray that God stirs your heart to pray for me daily

Romans 10:14-15 "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!' "

Monday, August 1, 2011

Ebel-Abanga continued....



“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” -2 Cor. 9:6-7

God continues to amaze me more and more as I learn to obey and trust in Him.  This past Friday I was called up to be asked if I would return to village of Ebel-Abanga to continue the work on the church building project.  At first I agreed without hesitation, but as time drew closer, I wondered if I should’ve stayed back to help take care of some Interns and a team for the weekend.  But I felt this necessity to go and continue my relationship with the people of Ebel-Abanga and help with the church project. 

So Friday afternoon me and three other local Christian believers took a bush-taxi and arrived around 5:30pm at the village.  God taught me many things this past weekend, and one them is the ACTUAL practice of “praying without ceasing.”  The four of us at the village prayed and prayed until tiredness would take over.  The four of us shared two little beds without mattresses, so we all got REAL ‘close’ to one another this weekend.  Saturday morning arrived and once again the first thing we did before anything, was to pray. 

Saturday felt like one of the longest days of my life, as there were only four of us working on finishing pouring the foundation and laying the brick walls of the church.  But by God’s grace and His strength, we finished the rest of the cement from the last workday and were able to complete the foundation as well as continue a large portion of laying the brick walls. 

Around 5:30pm, we were still working on the brick walls, the pastor (Moiz) asked me to preach the following morning.  He said that it is there custom to allow the visitor to preach on Sunday.  I remembered right at that moment that a few weeks earlier I was asked to preach, and I refused because I was nervous and I didn’t have anything prepared.  But later I felt bad that I had refused and told the Lord that I would agree to preach if another opportunity presented itself.  Ha ha ha, God has his ways!  So I agreed to preach on Sunday morning even though I had not a clue what to speak on. 

Trust me, it was a struggle to understand what the Lord wanted me to speak about on Sunday as I ate one of the best Gabonese meals I’ve ever had.  It wasn’t until late that night did I feel at peace at what He wanted me to share with the believers at Ebel.  Sunday morning came quick and we all had a great time during the church service with a pot-luck lunch afterwards. 

Now for our departure back to Libreville, we had a difficult time catching a vehicle.  There were even empty cars that refused to take us back, so we had to wait quite some time before finally a loaded down pickup truck full of people agreed to take us along.  Then the most amazing thing happened; about half way through our trip back, the four of us had the opportunity to lead one of the men in the back of that truck to know the Lord.  This man who had been smoking and drinking amongst us, God used to start a conversation about how God doesn’t want us to destroy out bodies because our bodies don’t belong to us, but to Him.  Today there is one more person added to the His Book of Life. 

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 remains true in my life as a reminder that when I am faithful to give, obey, offer, and be willing to serve Him and help the needy, that His blessings are bountiful. What if me and the three other men did not go to Ebel-Abanga this weekend, would others continue to work on the church?  Would I have been able to have an opportunity to preach before I left?  Would this man have been saved if another taxi had picked us up to take us back to Libreville?  I don’t know these answers, but I can guess that there would’ve been a very slim chance of these things actually happening.   …”he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.”

This is probably my last prayer letter for my summer in Gabon because I leave this week to head back to Georgia to start up school. Please continue to check my blog as I will periodically be posting updates of what’s happening in my life and where God is leading me. 

>Please continue to pray for the village of Abela-Abanga and for the continuation of the church project and their financial needs.

>Please pray for mine and Vicki’s return trip back to Georgia on Sunday and for readjusting back into work and school.

>Please keep me in your prayers that the Lord will provide for my financial needs to complete this summer trip.