It is late as I write this and the night critters are making their nocturnal noises as usual. The sounds remind me of the thoughts buzzing around in my head. So much has happened in the past week and a half and with all the up and comings it only gets busier from here on in!

Some highlights…mixed with some details…

·4 students were baptized in the pool
·Outreach teams & locations have been decided
·My plans for outreach have been turned around (in a North-East sort of way)
· There have been intense confrontations among some students as we've been around each other too long to hide behind masks now. Thankfully, these have led to a deeper openness and humility within the class. God is so good to give us instruction on how to live right with each other (Micah 6:8).
·We laughed ‘till our sides hurt during an evening of team building in Mandeville.
·Another soul was led to God’s kingdom during evangelism in Salmon Town. Her name is Almida. She’s the grandmother of a boy we met on a trail behind a cemetery as we trekked through the countryside (myself and 2 students). Almida looked somewhat suspicious but she was very honest saying, “to tell you the truth I’m not a Christian.” We listened to her views on God and Jesus and I shared with her from John 1 about having the right to become children of God when we believe in Jesus. I asked if she wanted to ask Jesus to be Lord in her life and to our surprise and glee she said yes! We led her in a prayer of repentance and commitment to Christ and by the time we opened our eyes her countenance had totally changed! She was smiling from ear to ear, giving us hugs and thanking us for coming to visit her. It was awesome! She said she had a Bible so I encouraged her to begin reading the book of John and to visit the church down the hill. Now I must call the pastor to let him know the good news so he can follow up.

Some more details…

About Outreach: I was all set to go to Guyana for the international outreach in January. I’ve been excited about the team I’d be leading there with Steve and getting acquainted with a place where (Lord willing) I’ll help start a DTS and other things next year, not to mention the myriad of adventures to be had in a place like Guyana! Even though I wanted to go to Africa again one day, I had my eye on Guyana and peace came with the preparations. THEN, Jermaine (another DTS staff) was feeling led to The Gambia. As a base, we have adopted a people group there called the Serahule. They live in a village way up river and we send a team there every year to work with a pastor missionary who lives an hour away from it. Seeing that The Gambia team needed 2 leaders more so than the Guyana team where our contacts are quite stable, I offhandedly said, “God, if you want me to go to the Gambia, I’ll go. But I need you to make it very clear to me.” To be honest, I didn’t expect to hear anything in response. Until later that day I was in the office after regular office hours and the phone rang. I wasn’t even going to pick it up because I was preoccupied with something but felt I should take the call. I could tell it was long distance because the voice on the other end sounded far away between faint crackles.
Says the voice, “Hello. Can I talk to John or Marion?”
“They’re not here. Can I take a message?”
“This is Pastor” ( a pastor I had met here a year and a half ago)
“Oh, Pastor from the Gambia! This is Emese. Do you remember me?”
“Yes, I do! So when are you coming to the Gambia?”

At this point I laughed nervously and told him I was praying about it. By the time I hung up the phone my heart was beating so fast as I remembered what I had promised God that morning. Isn’t God so creative in the ways He responds to us? I guess it doesn’t get much clearer than a random phone call from the Gambia asking when I’m coming.

So I surrendered my desire to take the team to Guyana this January and I continue to have peace and a growing enthusiasm about this Gambia team. I will tell you more about it soon.

Stay tuned!
Em =0)