We've had some wonderful times together with each other and with God. It's an amazing sight to see fifty young Africans, together with fifty others from Europe, America and Asia, all dancing to the beat of the African djembe and worshipping the Lord together. One of the most exciting times was the Sunday evening celebration, when we were joined by Senegalese Christians from local churches, and the joy was so contagious that the youngest to the oldest joined those African King's Kids and crazy foreigners in singing, dancing and celebrating together for more than an hour of spontaneous praise to God.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, we've had teachings about who God is, what it really means to serve Him and others, and how to live and share in a way that means we'll be planting hope in Senegal this summer, and not only planting trees. We've had a missions fair where our young people could meet missionaries who work here in Senegal in ministries of evangelism, Bible translation, reforestation, working with street children, etc. And today we'll have a series of workshops that will prepare the teams practically for their outreach time: we'll cover subjects like health and first aid, how to be appropriate when talking to Muslims, understanding African culture, etc, etc.
Tomorrow the preparation camp comes to an end, and we'll make a long drive up north - six or seven hours on dusty African roads, to the area where we are going to be planting trees over the coming week. We're excited that there have been lots of times of heavy rain over the past week, as this means that the ground is being prepared and it will be possible for us to start planting right away.
Please would you pray for this coming week: for God's grace and protection as our people work long hours in hot conditions on the border of the Sahara desert. Pray that the unity, the joy and the willing attitudes of our teams will be a testimony to our co-workers and government officials that God loves them and cares about the situation of their nation. Pray that we will all know good health and that we'll overcome the challenges of cooking for eighty people in a very primitive setting. Pray that our team members themselves will grow in God as they trust Him for strength in this exciting but challenging project. There will obviously be no internet or electricity up thee, so it will probably be at least a week until you can read another update on this blog. Thank you.
