Back to Africa: Ruthanne Returns: From spiritually dry to overflowing

So yesterday we got back from outreach. Once we had unloaded all the vehicles, everyone went home, freshened up, ate supper, and then went to the evening service. The service was a time for the people who went on outreach to share with those who stayed back and prayed about what happened and how God moved. A video will be posted somewhere, but I thought I would put in what stuck out to me from what people said.

The brick team set a record and and made 1,561 bricks with 50 bags of cement. Some of the teams were so efficient they were spitting out a new brick every 30 seconds - 15 seconds was the impressive fastest!

Some of the bricks

Part of the medical teams ministry was foot washing as a symbol of the way Jesus washed his disciples feet. It gave such joy to both the person washing and the person receiving the washing.
The VBS team talked about how they wanted to do their presentation but they chose to wait until the people in the mosque were done praying before they started the generator and such. As it happened the VBS presentation started right when the men started walking out of the mosque and some of them came over to see what was going on. The team was able to hand out tracts and even a megavoice. A megavoice is a little solar powered MP3 player that has parts of the Bible (usually New Testament, I think) on it for people to listen to in their own language.
The mural team did 12 murals - more than they had ever done before. Normally the mural team does a picture depicting Jesus and the woman at the well on the wall of a church, but the churches in this town were of thatch. So instead the murals were done in a school. The teacher in a classroom got to pick what they wanted on their wall. The teachers were told, "Every time you look at the picture, think of God and remember that God loves you. Remember that this is an animal that God created. When you see the picture, think 'Jesus loves me'."

An antelope

Each night, besides the regular big campaign there are satellite campaigns. This year, the child evangelism (VBS) team went to a village and it was so responsive that the chief of the village requested that a satellite campaign come out to them so they could hear the gospel once more.
Some of the students commented on how inspiring it is to hear the Serer men praying. They pray so vibrantly, really believing God will pay attention. And if nothing happens, they just keep on praying. As one student put it, "They shout to God and bother him, bother him until he has to pay attention."
The medical team was not always able to heal a person, sometimes all they could do was put saline solution in the eyes and pray. But the medical team is a way of reaching the people in a non-religious way - but the people know that you are doing it for religious reasons. After seeing the work that the medical team did, a prominent person said "We need to make sure this church gets a foundation."
The drama team got to pray for people more than they have in the past. During one of the presentations, the drama teacher and her husband, the driver, were approached to pray for someone's healing. And once it started, it didn't stop! There was little girl who was crippled before she could walk who was brought over for prayer. They prayed for her and nothing happened so they went on. But the driver kept feeling like they should go back and pray for her. So they went back and prayed. Then they went on to others, and then they went back to her. The driver kept thinking "This isn't too big for God." They kept praying and then at one point, the translator said, "In the name of Jesus, walk." And she did! A bit later, when the father saw what happened, he told the drama team that if his daughter wanted to become a Christian, he would allow it. He and his wife are both strong muslims, but seeing this touched his heart. The drama team learned later that this was a village that was very restrictive against Christians.
Satan and Jesus were boxing during the trip. There were several instances where something would go wrong, but exactly the right person would be around to fix it. For example, the drama team's spare tire fell off their vehicle as they were driving and the person in the next car was DA's maintenance guy. As one student put it, it was as though Satan went to God and said, "Hey, can I mess up the drama team's tire?" and God said, "Sure, as long as I can choose where and when it happens."
God can use anyone. As the drama team were praying, one of the students thought, "We have a bunch of clowns praying for people in the desert."

Some of the clowns

The painting team was able to finish their entire project. Their project was to paint the inside and outside of a little chapel with two coats. They were able to do so with time to spare, so they then went to where the murals were happening and painted the wall around the mural to make it stand out a bit more.

It says, "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life."

Writing it on the wall again.

Hard to tell, but the floor was pretty broken up!

We redid part of the floor because it was breaking up

Overall, the outreach was really great. There were things that didn't go as planned, but God doesn't work according to our plans. We were able to share the gospel and show Christ's love in many ways - and that is what was important.

Please remember to keep the people of Diohine and the surrounding villages in your prayers. The pastors in the area now have to do follow up to disciple new believers and see how many confessions of faith were sincere.

As for myself, I will definitely be going on another outreach. For me, the weekend wasn't life changing, but it was good to see the people, to be a part of bringing the Word to the world.