Update on the Scouting Trip

(Note from Thom: A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a scouting trip into a West African country that may become a new field for the Alliance. Nothing is firm, but it's still exciting. I asked for and received permission from two of the members of the scout team to reprint a portion of their trip. Because things are preliminary I've redacted the name of the country in question. I print this so you can share in our excitement about new doors being opened, not because it's any specific tribe or country. You certainly can still stand with us in prayer about future involvement there. The three members of the trip were Joe and Maria Howard (Alliance workers in Mali) and Charlotte Hisle (an Alliance worker in a South American country).)

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Our time in the country of _______ proved these verses over and over. As we met and interacted with Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our unity in Jesus was portrayed as His love was poured over us by the members of the Airport Evangelical Church. What a joy to interact with others from the Family of God. Certainly our lack of the local languages hindered our communication but it could not stop the fellowship we had.

We arrived in _____ and were met at the airport by a contingent of the leadership of the local church where we would minister for the next 10 days. We were invited to participate in their first missions conference. While Maria and I were first included as cultural and prayer support, we were given 6 opportunities to share God’s word when the original 3 conference speakers were unable to attend due to problems in getting visas. So Maria and I shared the various challenges the local church has in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission. We also were given two special seminar times the first on Muslim evangelism and the final one Sunday afternoon on Missions and the Family.

The Missions Conference started on Sunday with Charlotte speaking in the morning worship service. That afternoon was the opening ceremony for the week. We were introduced and every committee of the church was introduced to us. The conference meetings then were held nightly starting at 7:00. During the day Charlotte and the church committee had set up meetings to interview and interact with various church and mission leaders in order to get a feel for the work in the country. The goal of all of this was to see how the C. & M. A. might be involved in future ministry in _______ . What a wonderful time of hearing the history of God’s work of redemption in this primarily unreached country. Evangelical missions has been active since 1940 and the largest church denomination has just over 100 churches located throughout the country. Currently there are several different missions and para-church groups active in building Christ’s church. While the church is growing, Islam is growing even quicker so there is much to be done.

Some quick perceptions:

• Beautiful country with many resources
• Young people everywhere
• Lack of infrastructure due to political unrest over the past 30 years
• Very few personal vehicles, bikes or motorcycles, we didn’t even see donkey or horse carts in the city as we would in Bamako
• Friendly energetic people
• Vibrant believers who love Jesus and have a desire to make Him known to others

Now we are back in Bamako and will spend some time reviewing what we learned and putting it into writing so that the Alliance can make some decisions on future possible involvement. So pray for wisdom for those in leadership to know the Father’s will in this matter.

Serving joyfully,
Joe and Maria