UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES

 I’m sitting in our house writing this blog on Word because I don’t have wifi access. I want to try and update you all as much as possible but it’s very difficult. The weather here is beginning to turn into Conakry weather. It’s just beginning to be very hot and sticky! Yuck!

Matt and I have really enjoyed our meetings with D. He’s been over quite a few times for diner and we’ve enjoyed long talks about various topics. So far our past two Saturdays have been spent with D. Together we’ve been exploring the city, trying African foods, shopping, and even working out. We also met his aunty who is a big shot radio journalist who travels the world. We spent about 3 hours in her court yard with her family just conversing. She and her family were very kind to us and invited us over for a special African dinner sometime. Well as we’ve been hanging out, there has been numerous times where we’ve gotten to share little testimonies of Gods Grace in our lives. Usually when he’s over at our place he asks a lot of question concerning Christianity. He often explains Muslim beliefs and traditions. One night as we were chatting over dinner, I asked him to explain what he believes about the after life, sin, and the way to salvation. He explained very clearly what the Koran taught about paradise and hell, sin and forgiveness. The whole time we were praying patiently waiting for the right time to explain the true gospel. After about 20 min of Islam doctrine, he finished off by asking the question, “So I heard that some Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God?” and the door was opened for the gospel. 

I shared that night like I’ve never shared the gospel before in my life. We went from the fall of man and everything that encompassed, to the law then into the high priest on the Day of Atonement in detail. Then we talked about the prophets and the 400 years of silence which lead to John B then to Jesus. Explaining to the best of my ability who He was as fully God and fully man and the reason why God Himself needed to come down to satisfy His wrath against our sin. Then we talked about the cross and went back to the Day of Atonement with the high priest, talking about how the whole bible points to the coming and the work of the messiah and how Jesus was that fulfillment. Then to the resurrection and how that proved that it was finished, God’s wrath was satisfied and now to all who repent and believe in this Jesus can have forgiveness of sins and a new life. It was pretty intense. Praise God! The spirit was moving and gave me the utterance. For Africans they love to listen and tell stories so I told it like one long story and Matt even said that it looked as if he was just engaged in the conversation. Almost always when a person’s phone rings here during a conversation even an important one, they’ll excuse themselves out of the conversation especially if it’s the person’s girlfriend. D’s girlfriend must’ve called about 4 times during it and He didn’t flinch. Later he told me something that he’s never said before and that’s that he still has lots to learn. He doesn’t know which way is the truth. He is a Muslim but he doesn’t know if it’s the true way. We then shared that he needs to find which way is the true way. That He cannot accept both teaching as truth which most Muslims ignorantly do. It is either Jesus and his teachings or Islam. He said he must discover more and that convos like these are very important. Please pray for D. I know the spirit is speaking to his heart.

We’ve been taking Conakry by storm! Haha well not really but we’ve just been exploring our area of the city which is called Kipe and the surrounding areas. We walk down to the main road which is about a four minute walk. When we get there we can go shopping at the many boutiques (little food and random item stands) or jump in taxis to go further down Kipe. Recently we’ve been testing out the taxi service here. There are seven people to a taxi (even if you’re a bigger guy like me). The other day I felt so bad because I was smashing, well actually every time when there’s four in the back seat I feel bad because I’m smashing everyone;) but their very nice about it. “c’est bon” it’s good, they say. The taxi fare ranges from about 500gf (around 10cents) to 5000gf (aprox $1) depending on the distance you travel. Last week we went all the way down to Medina market all by our selves and met up with J. That was a great feat for Matt and I being that Medina is about a 30 min drive away from our house. The Guinean people are extremely friendly to us. I’ve been to four different cities in west Africa now and Conakry is by far the friendliest. They are always greeting us with big smiles, cava or bon jours (how you doin or good day). We are learning that it’s very important just to stop and try to make conversations with people we meet. We have met so many people thus far and we’re hoping for chances to share the truth about Jesus with them. We had our first taste of Guinean food last week. It wasn’t bad, they eat a lot of various types of sause with rice. My favorite dish so far is Poulet Yassa (chicken with an onion sauce on rice) which is served at this Senegalise restaurant 10 min from my house. Speaking of cultural encounters, we attended our friend’s wedding this past week. Mr. K is the head of the English department at the school we’ll be working at. It was the civil ceremony not the traditional which is held in the mosque. It was very interestering… oh and did I mention it’s starting to be hot and humid.

Le lessons du francias est tre difficile pour nous d’ici a ma maison, mais pas que nous somes American et mes amie de Barak Obama nous pouvons plus faire! I think that says the French lessons are very difficult for us here at the house, but because we are American and friends of Baraka Obama, we are more than able to do it! Haha, you French speakers sorry if I slaughtered that. So anyway we’ve been doing the French lessons 2hrs in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I failed my French midterm last semester but for some reason the Lord has been just brining it all to me haha. Matt is also picking it up, it’s all just a matter of time. Oh my goodness the humidity is something else!

We appreciate all your prayers, emails, and notes, rocky

Prayer Request:
Salvation for D and the others we make contact with. Jesus often comes in dreams to Muslims.
Continued unity, brotherhood, and selflessness among Matt and I. Division will destroy the mission.
Ps 27:4-5-Abiding in the Lord. Acts 1:8-The Empowering and anointing to be His Witnesses.