The God who sends the rain...

When I left Senegal on Wednesday, we had sent our medical team up to the north of the country to hold clinics in the villages of Widou and Mbar Toubab…. but the government officials of the Great Green Wall had told us that there had been no rain up north yet, and that they wouldn't be able to transport us to the planting zone until there had been some days of rain to soften the ground and make tree planting possible. This meant that we had to seek the Lord and make contingency plans for our tree planting teams - both in terms of accommodation and ministry opportunities. Over the past two days, they've been serving practically in the town of Thiès, as well as partnering with local Christians for a time of prayer walking and interceding in different places for specific needs that God put on their hearts. 

In particular, they felt prompted to pray for the Talibé children - little kids who are begging in the streets to bring back money to their marabout. (Click here to check out an interesting article about Senegal's supplicating street kids.)

On Wednesday night after dinner, the teams got together to pray for rain, and asked God that it would be raining when they woke up the next morning. Sure enough, they woke up on Thursday morning to discover that the rain was pouring down in Thiès. But when they phoned the medical team up north, they were told that there was still no rain in the planting zone. Back they went to prayer, realising that they had to pray even more specifically this time. After breakfast, they stood outside and reached their hands towards the north, praying that the rains would fall up there in the planting area. Later in the day, they got a phone call from the medical team to say that the rains had begun to pour down on the northern villages. The young people were so excited to see that their God has the power to answer such very specific prayer requests and to send the rain in exactly the place they asked Him to.

The latest plan is that the government transport to the Great Green Wall will probably be available tomorrow, 16th, and so the teams will be able to travel north tomorrow and begin planting on Sunday. Please continue to pray with us that the rains will keep falling and that this will be a testimony to the power of the God of the Universe.