MALI MISSION MARCH09: Three more baptisms in Village Y, more Scripture taught, departure for Senegal

Click here to play message

The last two days in Village Y, the team has had sweet times of worshiping and teaching Scripture. Yesterday, they had the blessed opportunity to lead three young men into salvation, and then baptize them.

The team has now split up, with Pastor Barry, the Journey Girls, and translators returning to Bamako through K’ba, and Keith and the missionary heading toward Dakar. Their long journey will soon be over, with Keith arriving back in Texas on Sunday afternoon. Please pray for safety in travel.

Praise God:

· for building and refining His Church in Mali this week;

· that Scripture is God-breathed and effectively used by Him to instruct and purify us;

· for the many seeds of the gospel that were planted this week (may they be watered and harvested in His timing);

· for Greg Pruitt’s willingness to spend many years of labor in translating the Bible into the Yalunka language;

· for using Penny Warner as an integral partner on this trip to Mali;

· that someday we, along with many from the Yalunka tribe, will be around His Throne giving Him glory:

Revelation 7:9-10

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

¹⁰and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

**Thank you for playing a crucial part in this trip through your prayers!**

MALI MISSION MARCH09: Worshiping and training in Village Y

^{2 Tim 3:16} ”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Click here to play satellite phone message from Keith Arnett

This evening, team worshiped with church in Village Y. They were told there were three people who want to follow Jesus. Part of the team’s teaching included an invitation to walk on the Jesus Road. PRAY that those three, and many more, will choose to follow Jesus. PRAISE GOD that He provides a way for men to be forgiven of their sins and be redeemed.

Because the Yalunkan-speaking missionary has been along, the team has been able to test the understanding of the believers in all the villages. They discovered two areas of confusion (regarding the role of works in salvation and regarding the Holy Spirit). The concepts had been confused in the process of translation. PRAISE GOD that by His design, this Yalunkan-speaking missionary, is a part of the team, and that the misunderstanding was discovered before it was too deeply entrenched. PRAY that teaching from scripture will be clear, and that no confusion would remain.

A man with a heart condition, who chose to walk on the Jesus Road only two months ago, died recently. PRAISE GOD that this man is in heaven today! PRAY that his family will be comforted, and that they, too, will choose to follow Jesus.

On Thursday, the team will continue teaching and encouraging the believers in Village Y. PLEASE PRAY that they would be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, and that God would begin to bring forth leaders in that church.

PRAISE GOD, BECAUSE HE IS MOST WORTHY TO BE PRAISED!

MALI MISSION MARCH09: Praise God – effectiveness of Word, one saved, 13 baptisms

We’ve received an update from the team. All is well!  Praise God for His hearing and answering so many of our prayers!        Click here to play satellite phone message from Keith Arnett

ISAIAH 55:

¹⁰ “As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Scriptures (in Yalunkan) that have been read and taught the past few days:

Genesis 3:1-8

Mark 8:34-38

Romans 3:10-20

Mark 7

Mark 4:14-end

PLEASE CONTINUE PRAYING that the team will be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading in every area.

MALI MISSION MARCH09: Communications down…please continue praying!

It has been over 52 hours since we’ve had communication from the team, possibly due to technical difficulties with the satellite phone.  We are still anxious to hear the result from Village F of their sharing the creation to return story, reading those scriptures in the tribal language, and showing the Jesus Film!

The team was scheduled to greet and teach in Village K today (Monday), where there are 33 brand new believers awaiting baptism. They were then to go to Village X to sleep and have an evening teaching time with the believers there. On Tuesday, the team, the believers from Village X, and new believers from Village K were to walk as one body to a place where baptisms can be performed. What an exciting time that will be!

Though we don’t know for certain what’s going on in Mali right now, we can rest assured that God is still faithfully working out his plan and has things under control. In the meantime, let’s continue doing our part by praying:

PRAISE GOD:

Psalm 117

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.

2 For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD.

• Thank Him for his faithful watch over and care for this team.

PLEASE PRAY, ASKING GOD that:

• His Name would be highly praised among the Yalunka;
• seeds of the gospel planted in Village F will sprout and grow into a righteous harvest;
• the teaching of new believers in Village K will be clearly understood and that more will be drawn to walk on the Jesus Road;
• believers in Village X will be spurred on to a new level of commitment to Christ;
• the baptisms demonstrating new life in Christ will stir everyone in the area to seek Him, who has power over death and the grave;
• whatever is hindering contact with the team will be resolved.

BASQUE TEAM: Photo update

Today we will meet with the Erwin’s to discuss the evaluations from the Basque folks.

BASQUE TEAM: Seeds planted through language interchange

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