Dear Prayer Warriors,
I am back and bring home amazing stories of God's faithfulness and the raging spiritual warfare in the Islamic lands. I can now share with you that we were in Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea Bissau. Mauritania is the most devout Islamic nation I have ever visited. The believers face mountains of human difficulty, yet God is making a way. Some of the things that were learned:
a. Most Mauritanian's pray the five Islamic daily prayers. Since this is a 100 percent Muslim nation, the Mauritanians who do not pray are noticed. Therefore, the believers have the daily stress of conforming or disappearing during prayer times every day.
b. There are around 1000 believers in Jesus and mostly men. So who are these men to marry?
c. When a Mauritanian comes to Christ the house church disciples him one year before they will introduce him to other believers. They do this for security reasons. They meet with some believers in remote areas once every three months so the fellowship is pretty minimal.
d. In the past they averaged one Bible per four believers. They have had little to no teaching materials or Christian materials at all. They told us that were the first group in history to bring in materials for their encouragement. The magnitude of this is still beyond my comprehension. While we can go to Wal-Mart and buy a Bible and some great Christian materials they are not only living in a physical desert but a spiritual desert.
e. Illiteracy is over 50%. DVDs, Audios and Radios are key for this nation. The Jesus movie has been a big help in Mauritania. We brought in many Jesus Movies and other DVD's and MP3 players. Presently there is no Christian radio.
f. We were able to interview the first known believer in Mauritania. He is a house church pastor today and came to Christ in 1979.
g. They do not know of any believers killed for Christ but the persecution is intense. Some of the believers were persecuted during our visit. (Story below) Two weeks ago a believer was found to have a New Testament. His hand was cut off.
Why do I share these details with you? The need for prayer and encouragement in North Africa is great. I pray that these details will help you pray with specifics. Also, we must recognize that Islam is evil but God loves Muslims. Many Muslims are hungry for the Truth but oppressed by the darkness of Islam. Last of all, I share these details to illustrate that while it seems near impossible to worship Christ in Mauritania our God is a miraculous and faithful God. Against all odds they are not only surviving but growing.
Please pray for three Mauritanians out in the desert we visited who are presently experiencing direct persecution. These believers are illiterate; they work only for food and shelter. They are essentially slaves with the only exception is they can leave but with nothing to eat or live on. Our team of eight rode camels six miles into the desert to an oasis where they are living and working. We were asked by the Mauritania's to pray for them. Unfortunately, the camel drivers saw us praying for the believers. At sundown as we went to ride our camels back to the village the camel drivers refused to let us ride because we were "Christians". This began another miraculous story as we reached out and the team loved our enemies and walked back to the village. I will have to save this story for other day. One of the Mauritanian workers at the Oasis wanted to make sure we arrived safely back to the village so he walked back to the village with us. When the sun set the Camel drivers did their Muslim prayers. They noticed that the other Mauritanians were not praying. (Muslim background believers in Jesus Christ) We walked through the desert for four hours and finally arrived back at the village. The parents of the believing Mauritanian from the Oasis lived in the village and told the parents that their son did not pray and he was with "Christians" We found this out later. The parents then tortured this man and found out about the other believers at the oasis. They sent their son to other relatives in other village and the two other believers from the oasis are now on the run.
I tell you this story with a heavy heart and burden for our family in Mauritania. The team knew we were risking our lives by visiting, the last thing we wanted was difficulty for our brothers and their immediate families. As the team looks back, we witnessed God's sovereignty through the whole journey. God's provision was more than evident each step of our trip. Do we only trust God when things are easy and results are good? Of course not, but the flesh hates to see persecution. In these type of events we must put on faith and trust God's word where is says, "Blessed are the persecuted." As we saw God bless us we are trusting God's hand and blessing upon these three believers also. The greatest gift we can now give them is our faithfulness in prayer. Please keep them in your daily prayers. If I get any updates I will let you know. Of course pray for our main contacts in this area because their lives are constantly in danger. We are all martyrs together in our witnessing love of Jesus Christ. Let us all pursue to share all things in Christ.
Below are the prayer requests and I wanted to give you some specifics of answers:
1. In the challenge of working with third world airlines presently Air Senegal does not want to honor the paper tickets we bought and will only accept e-tickets. Please pray for the last minute logistics for favor and wisdom in dealing with problems. A: Two of the men who left early had to buy new tickets but the six of us arrived and had no problems. We were not delayed and God granted amazing favor at the airport. Please pray for Travis and Elliot as they must work out reimbursements for these tickets.
2. Pray for team unity. A team this size has great potential and I believe we have a great team. But a team this big is diverse and the enemy wants to divide and conquer. Pray that when we are tested that we will recognize the spiritual battle and stand on the unity we have in Christ. A. In the desert on the way home we were attacked with the persecution, cramping, dehydration, stomach cramps, asthma, low blood sugar and two people fell off their camels. (The camel drivers hearts were softened by our love eventually and let some of them team ride camels on the way home) At one point more of our team was hurting than doing well. Yet we ministered to one another and remained unified at every point. These difficulties allowed us to love our camel drivers.
3. As the Lord's Prayer directs us please pray against temptation to rely on our flesh for wisdom and give into any kind of sin whether that be living by sight instead of faith. Pray that we are protected from the enemy of our souls and move with courage, faith and love. A. We were surrounded by danger and spiritual darkness this whole trip yet the team had peace and boldness. I did not feel at any time the flesh lift its ugly head. At one point our left front tire had a flat. Our driver felt it pull to one side but was unaware of the flat. We drove over 100 miles on this flat and in the desert he was driving at over 80 miles per hour. Consequently when we discovered the tire it was destroyed but the lives in the car intact. Praise God for his protection!
4. We will be delivering over 1000 pound of ministry goods. Pray that they arrive safely and find their way into the hands of hungry souls. A. All the bags were eventually delivered without any customs check! Seven of the bags came two days late and yet no check from customs. This was one of the many miracles. A few years ago there was someone with Bibles trying to come in and they were arrested.
5. Pray that we bring tenderness, discernment and understanding to the needs of the Muslim background believers. Pray that we serve them with love and encouragement. A. The Mauritanian beleivers reported that they were encouraged by our visit and all the resources.
6. We will be trekking through the desert on some days. (Even on camels and donkeys to meet believers) Pray for the strength over our bodies and from disease. A. See the stories above.
7. Pray that every member sees the spiritual needs of these countries so that they can serve those needs and then bring the stories home to you. A. We were all changed by this trip and have many stories and a passion to do more.
8. Pray for our families at home. It is much harder for them than for us. A. Our families faced spiritual challenges at home yet the Lord supplied their need and grew from the experience.
I am back and bring home amazing stories of God's faithfulness and the raging spiritual warfare in the Islamic lands. I can now share with you that we were in Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea Bissau. Mauritania is the most devout Islamic nation I have ever visited. The believers face mountains of human difficulty, yet God is making a way. Some of the things that were learned:
a. Most Mauritanian's pray the five Islamic daily prayers. Since this is a 100 percent Muslim nation, the Mauritanians who do not pray are noticed. Therefore, the believers have the daily stress of conforming or disappearing during prayer times every day.
b. There are around 1000 believers in Jesus and mostly men. So who are these men to marry?
c. When a Mauritanian comes to Christ the house church disciples him one year before they will introduce him to other believers. They do this for security reasons. They meet with some believers in remote areas once every three months so the fellowship is pretty minimal.
d. In the past they averaged one Bible per four believers. They have had little to no teaching materials or Christian materials at all. They told us that were the first group in history to bring in materials for their encouragement. The magnitude of this is still beyond my comprehension. While we can go to Wal-Mart and buy a Bible and some great Christian materials they are not only living in a physical desert but a spiritual desert.
e. Illiteracy is over 50%. DVDs, Audios and Radios are key for this nation. The Jesus movie has been a big help in Mauritania. We brought in many Jesus Movies and other DVD's and MP3 players. Presently there is no Christian radio.
f. We were able to interview the first known believer in Mauritania. He is a house church pastor today and came to Christ in 1979.
g. They do not know of any believers killed for Christ but the persecution is intense. Some of the believers were persecuted during our visit. (Story below) Two weeks ago a believer was found to have a New Testament. His hand was cut off.
Why do I share these details with you? The need for prayer and encouragement in North Africa is great. I pray that these details will help you pray with specifics. Also, we must recognize that Islam is evil but God loves Muslims. Many Muslims are hungry for the Truth but oppressed by the darkness of Islam. Last of all, I share these details to illustrate that while it seems near impossible to worship Christ in Mauritania our God is a miraculous and faithful God. Against all odds they are not only surviving but growing.
Please pray for three Mauritanians out in the desert we visited who are presently experiencing direct persecution. These believers are illiterate; they work only for food and shelter. They are essentially slaves with the only exception is they can leave but with nothing to eat or live on. Our team of eight rode camels six miles into the desert to an oasis where they are living and working. We were asked by the Mauritania's to pray for them. Unfortunately, the camel drivers saw us praying for the believers. At sundown as we went to ride our camels back to the village the camel drivers refused to let us ride because we were "Christians". This began another miraculous story as we reached out and the team loved our enemies and walked back to the village. I will have to save this story for other day. One of the Mauritanian workers at the Oasis wanted to make sure we arrived safely back to the village so he walked back to the village with us. When the sun set the Camel drivers did their Muslim prayers. They noticed that the other Mauritanians were not praying. (Muslim background believers in Jesus Christ) We walked through the desert for four hours and finally arrived back at the village. The parents of the believing Mauritanian from the Oasis lived in the village and told the parents that their son did not pray and he was with "Christians" We found this out later. The parents then tortured this man and found out about the other believers at the oasis. They sent their son to other relatives in other village and the two other believers from the oasis are now on the run.
I tell you this story with a heavy heart and burden for our family in Mauritania. The team knew we were risking our lives by visiting, the last thing we wanted was difficulty for our brothers and their immediate families. As the team looks back, we witnessed God's sovereignty through the whole journey. God's provision was more than evident each step of our trip. Do we only trust God when things are easy and results are good? Of course not, but the flesh hates to see persecution. In these type of events we must put on faith and trust God's word where is says, "Blessed are the persecuted." As we saw God bless us we are trusting God's hand and blessing upon these three believers also. The greatest gift we can now give them is our faithfulness in prayer. Please keep them in your daily prayers. If I get any updates I will let you know. Of course pray for our main contacts in this area because their lives are constantly in danger. We are all martyrs together in our witnessing love of Jesus Christ. Let us all pursue to share all things in Christ.
Below are the prayer requests and I wanted to give you some specifics of answers:
1. In the challenge of working with third world airlines presently Air Senegal does not want to honor the paper tickets we bought and will only accept e-tickets. Please pray for the last minute logistics for favor and wisdom in dealing with problems. A: Two of the men who left early had to buy new tickets but the six of us arrived and had no problems. We were not delayed and God granted amazing favor at the airport. Please pray for Travis and Elliot as they must work out reimbursements for these tickets.
2. Pray for team unity. A team this size has great potential and I believe we have a great team. But a team this big is diverse and the enemy wants to divide and conquer. Pray that when we are tested that we will recognize the spiritual battle and stand on the unity we have in Christ. A. In the desert on the way home we were attacked with the persecution, cramping, dehydration, stomach cramps, asthma, low blood sugar and two people fell off their camels. (The camel drivers hearts were softened by our love eventually and let some of them team ride camels on the way home) At one point more of our team was hurting than doing well. Yet we ministered to one another and remained unified at every point. These difficulties allowed us to love our camel drivers.
3. As the Lord's Prayer directs us please pray against temptation to rely on our flesh for wisdom and give into any kind of sin whether that be living by sight instead of faith. Pray that we are protected from the enemy of our souls and move with courage, faith and love. A. We were surrounded by danger and spiritual darkness this whole trip yet the team had peace and boldness. I did not feel at any time the flesh lift its ugly head. At one point our left front tire had a flat. Our driver felt it pull to one side but was unaware of the flat. We drove over 100 miles on this flat and in the desert he was driving at over 80 miles per hour. Consequently when we discovered the tire it was destroyed but the lives in the car intact. Praise God for his protection!
4. We will be delivering over 1000 pound of ministry goods. Pray that they arrive safely and find their way into the hands of hungry souls. A. All the bags were eventually delivered without any customs check! Seven of the bags came two days late and yet no check from customs. This was one of the many miracles. A few years ago there was someone with Bibles trying to come in and they were arrested.
5. Pray that we bring tenderness, discernment and understanding to the needs of the Muslim background believers. Pray that we serve them with love and encouragement. A. The Mauritanian beleivers reported that they were encouraged by our visit and all the resources.
6. We will be trekking through the desert on some days. (Even on camels and donkeys to meet believers) Pray for the strength over our bodies and from disease. A. See the stories above.
7. Pray that every member sees the spiritual needs of these countries so that they can serve those needs and then bring the stories home to you. A. We were all changed by this trip and have many stories and a passion to do more.
8. Pray for our families at home. It is much harder for them than for us. A. Our families faced spiritual challenges at home yet the Lord supplied their need and grew from the experience.
Praise our Lord. Just heard for Travis and wanted to let you know he is doing well and things are going awesome. He will try to call one more time before he goes on to his next destination. Please keep praying. He moves to his next place on the 11/20 arriving home 12/5. Thanks Charman
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