January 2010 Mali Team Update #1
January 7, 2010
The January Mali team all arrived safely in Dakar Senegal. They left Dakar about 9:00 a.m. local time (six hours later than Texas time) and drove all day. The cross-country road has improved greatly since this time last year, so they had a relatively smooth trip. They have a good driver, but communication with him is somewhat of an issue since he speaks no English (just French and various African languages). They reached Kedougou (in southeastern Senegal) at 8:30 p.m. Their guest house hosts prepared a delicious dinner for them, and they were very grateful for that! All of them are well and in good spirits, anxious for the final leg of the drive into Mali and then into the Yalunka villages on Friday. Please pray that they are all able to rest well tonight and that they have two safe river crossings on Friday. They will go first to Village “F,” the large village where the FBCK hut is located. There are only a handful of believers there, so pray that they will find them and have a good time of fellowship with them to encourage them in their faith. It would be great to find more new believers there since the last team served there in May of 2009.
Audio updates will be attached to these e-mails beginning tomorrow. Thank you for praying!
Pray for the January 6-16, 2010 Mali Mission Team
January 6, 2010
At noon (Texas time) on Wednesday, January 6, Keith Arnett and David Johnson departed for Mali, West Africa. They will pick up Mike Anderson (who left a day earlier) in Dakar, Senegal on Thursday morning. Then they will drive across Senegal, spend the night in the town of Kedougou, and then cross over into Mali on Friday morning. In Kenieba they will pick up Pastor Bart (our African partner and translator) and Silas, another African believer who will be going with the team to the Yalunka villages for the first time. He will serve as a second interpreter, and hopefully he will share his personal testimony of walking on the Jesus road. They will head into the Yalunka villages in southwestern Mali on Friday afternoon.
Here are some specific prayer requests that Keith Arnett (the team leader) asks you to pray for during this trip:
- Please pray that all travel will be smooth, safe, and timely.
- Please pray for divine appointments all along the way to the villages.
- Please pray that the river would be passable (there will be two crossing points on this trip).
- Please pray that other believers in Pastor Bart’s town will be spurred on by their brother Silas’ example to share their faith in nearby villages
- Please pray that the saints in the Yalunka villages will devour the stories, that they will be equipped and eager to share them, and that they will be encouraged with positive responses when they share the stories.
- Please pray that they will find strong churches in at least two of the villages who have been meeting together regularly for worship, prayer, and Bible study. Also pray that these groups will be strengthened during the team’s time there during these days.
- Please pray that any distractions sent by Satan to prevent or disrupt the times of teaching would be thwarted or ignored so that nothing will prevent God’s word from being taught this coming week.
- Please pray that Keith, Mike, and David will each be holy and filled with the Holy Spirit continually and that the difficult physical and emotional conditions would not hinder them from being used by God as His clean vessels.
Here is the main prayer request for FBCK’s entire year of ministry among the Yalunka in 2010: As the Holy Spirit has established churches in several villages, please pray for FBCK teams as they provide discipleship and encouragement to the indigenous saints. Pray that God will raise up strong, biblically-qualified church leaders in each village and that the church will grow throughout villages across the area as the Good News is shared by Africans to Africans.
Mali Team Report 5/27-28/09
May 28, 2009
This report covers Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28. The team (now all together) left Village “X” on Wednesday morning to begin their long journey back to Texas. Their first stop was at the home of the boatman (”Noah”) along the Faleme River who had professed his faith in Christ in November of 2007. He still maintains his faith, although in isolation. The team got to share the gospel with his grown sons (one of whom is studying to be a Muslim cleric), and they are still not ready to receive Christ. After that, the teams headed back to Kenieba, where they dropped off their translators. After some time there, they drove back across the border into the town of Kedougou, Senegal to lodge for the night at an air-conditioned hotel. On Thursday they met in the morning with an IMB missionary there and then headed back across Senegal toward Dakar. Their stopping point after a long day’s drive is Mbour, right on the Atlantic coast. They are about a day ahead of their planned schedule because their translators had to catch an early bus on Thursday back to Bamako (which only runs twice a week). Everyone is doing well physically and emotionally, rejoicing in what God did during their five days in the Yalunka villages! They will be doing some sightseeing around Senegal until their flight leaves late Saturday night.
Mali Team report 5-26-09 PM
May 27, 2009
This report covers Tuesday (5/26/09) in Mali. Keith and Kevin started the day in Village “L,” and they left right after breakfast on the long, very rough drive back to rejoin the other team in Village “X.” They made it without incident by the early evening. Meanwhile, Tim’s team started off the day in Village “Y,” where they also left in the morning to drive over to Village “X.” They made it by about 1:00 p.m. (Mali time), and they spent the afternoon resting. Later that evening, when they were all together, they celebrated the Lord’s Supper for the first time ever with the Yalunka believers. Before the service, they were able to share the gospel again– and FOUR villagers prayed to receive Christ! Wednesday will be their final day in the villages, and then they will begin the long trip back, reaching Texas on Sunday. Please pray that their last day with the people until early 2010 will be productive and encouraging to all. Kevin Dicken (who is a college student from FBCK on his first trip to Mali) gave the audio report this evening.
Mali Team Reports 5-24-09 PM and 5-25-09
May 26, 2009
A lot of exciting things have happened with our teams in Mali since the last report. Today we have three audio reports– one from Keith on Sunday night, and one each from Tim and Keith on Monday. Here are some of the highlights:
KEITH: He and his team have had several opportunities to share the gospel with unbelievers and to disciple believers in Village “L.” Today (Monday) the chief (who professed his faith in Christ with the April team about a month ago) returned to the village. After hearing some more teaching about baptism, he was very eager to be baptized IMMEDIATELY! They had to postpone the baptism until a rain storm passed over, but he did get baptized. He has a strong testimony of his faith in Christ, which he was planning to share with many others from his village on Monday night.
TIM: The time in Village “X” went very well, and on Monday morning they had a time of further teaching in Village “K.” There they got word that the chief of Village “Y” (who was NOT a believer) and his grown daughter both died on Sunday, so they adjusted their plans to get to that village faster. Upon their arrival, they paid a visit to his family to express their condolences and to offer a gift of rice and tea to the family. That gift was much appreciated. They also had further teaching there and went to a market about four miles away across the border in Guinea to buy some needed supplies. The heat was very oppressive, but God provided a cooling rain for the return hike!
The teams have only Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon remaining in the villages, so their time is running out quickly. Please pray that every moment will be used to extend God’s kingdom among the Yalunka people of Mali, that biblically-qualified local church leaders will be ordained, and that many others who have heard the gospel but not yet responded will repent and believe in Christ. It sounds like the rainy season is already beginning there, so these teams came at just the right time!
Mali team report Sunday 5-24-09 midday
May 24, 2009
I heard from both Mali teams this morning (Texas time), and God continues to move in answer to prayer! You can listen once again to firsthand reports from the field via audio recordings (attached), including a word of greeting from Pastor “Bart.”
In Village “F” on Sunday morning the team had a very good time of sharing with a few Yalunka villagers. Two of them committed their lives to Christ, and a very short while later followed Him in believer’s baptism. The team moved on from Falea to Villages “X” and “K” for more sharing and discipleship later Sunday. Please pray for more people to hear and follow Jesus this afternoon (Texas time).
In Village “L” Keith and Kevin have had some good times of sharing scripture with many in that village. Those who have heard express an eagerness to hear more. Please pray for God to draw others to Himself in that village and to raise up local leaders who will be able to continue the growth of God’s kingdom there during the many months until one of our teams can return.
All of the team members are in good health, and they are rejoicing to see God at work changing people’s lives and bringing His light to places where there was only darkness such a short time ago.
Due to some holiday travel, you may not receive another report until Monday evening (Texas time). Please keep the teams in your prayers as often as you think about them!
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