the little sprout

Mom and Seth started their long journey home last night I know they were excited to get back to everyone, but sad to leave us here. The month they were here flew by! They did a great job jumping in and joining us with our work; from visiting at people’s houses to filtering water. They really did great here. We went to a little French getaway spot just the 3 of us for a weekend and we just had the best time together. It means so much to me now that they aren’t just my Mom and brother who live in America, but they are part of the Sunni culture. They know our names, our family and friends, our food, and are experts at the clothing! Thank yall so much for the prayers and support. We really had the best time and it is going to make a huge difference to me when transitioning back to the States! Love you all and See you soon!

Not only have I enjoyed mom and Seth being here, but our Sunni friends have really enjoyed getting to know Dupare’(Mom) and Adama(Seth). One day Moses left a list of hard questions with us. Questions a lot of people who follow Isl@m here have, he told us he was not doubting, but that other people were only trying to disturb him and he wanted to get other opinions and talk about things with other believers. One day we did sit down to discuss, Moses said that he really enjoyed being able to talk with Adama about those sorts of things and maybe he could again before they went back to America. This past week we all sat down together again and discusses and towards the end, the subject of Eli and some of the questions he has, the man who we believe wants to follow, came up. Moses then offered to meet with Eli and talk about the questions with him. This was a huge. Eli has been asking about a Sunni man who has chosen to follow so that he could talk with them, well Moses hasn’t told anyone yet that he has chosen to follow, and now both of these men will meet together to discuss about God’s Word! We don’t know when this meeting will take place, but hopefully very soon. Ask the LORD to open Eli’s heart to receive Him, and that Moses would be filled with wisdom and courage as he meets with another Sunni man who is seeking the Truth.

It has been a huge blessing to have Mom and Seth here. This past month has not slowed down one bit. We are still moving a long in our story set, but most importantly, we know we are where the Father wants us right now. Moses is still very willing to find time to meet with us to get stories crafted and then we are also starting to test the stories. Testing means we take a recorded copy of the story to a house where we try to play it in front of a few different people at least once. Then we play it back phrase by phrase and we ask questions to make sure the story is making the same point as God’s word and to make sure it is understandable.

Here is some of the really great stuff God has been doing with testing our stories. Our Aunt’s family, the same family with the premature baby a few months ago, we were fearful that we might have to eventually dust our feet of from that house. It seemed that many times when we would mention the Son’s name our family wasn’t too happy about it. Well after the doctors came and saw the baby, barriers have been broken down and we are closer to them now than ever. So as we finished the creation story and we were going out to test it, the Father closed the doors to one house but opened the doors to our Aunt’s house. The first time she heard the story she said ” I understood every word in that story”. We then proceeded to let the other ladies listen to the story and then start to ask questions. It went so well and brought up a lot of spiritual conversations. When we called her a few days ago to tell her we had another story she told us to come any time. Well we weren’t there 5 minutes when she asked us to play the story. The story we are testing now is the Fall. It ends with God sending Adam and Eve out of the garden and shows how the relationship between them and God was no longer perfect. I am so amazed at the Father’s timing in everything. He does soften hearts and leads us down roads that we aren’t sure what the outcome will be, but in the end He does receive the most glory.

Continue to remember and plead on behalf of our Aunt’s family. She left this morning to go back to Yosemite, but the other ladies that we plan to test the whole story set with, they will hear the whole story set which will include some difficult stuff. Our story set clearly says there is no other way to the Father except through the Son. This goes against everything that they have been taught. I also ask yall to start praying for me as my term starts to come to an end. We possibly could have said goodbye to our Aunt for the last time because we don’t know if we will have the opportunity to go back to the village or if she will come back to the city. I only have about 3 months left here and the goodbye will start to become more frequent. I know it is the right time to go home and I am excited to be with family and friends again, but I am also very aware of leaving the family and friends I now have here. It will be hard to leave this people group knowing that they are an unreached people group that needs a chance to hear and to leave a people group that has cared for me like one of their own.