Hundreds Accept Christ in Senegal

January 28, 2014

By Evan and Jewel Evans, serving in Dakar, Senegal

The following is an adapted excerpt from two reports by the Evanses, staff workers at Dakar Academy—a boarding and day-school program (K–12) largely for the children of international personnel.

Last weekend, more than 6,000 people heard the good news in and around the large bush village of Diohine, Senegal. Nearly 140 participated in the evangelistic outreach—a biannual  school event—including regional pastors who served on ministry teams as translators, prayer warriors, and speakers.

Not Bricks and Mortar

One of the trip’s purposes was to lay a foundation for a church the teams planned to build for members of three cell groups in the village. We were disappointed permission wasn’t granted to do so before our arrival.

But we learned that God was, indeed, laying the foundation for His Church in Diohine—not through bricks and mortar, but in the hearts of the people.

God Moved Powerfully

As the Word was proclaimed during the evening evangelism campaigns, hundreds of people clapped and shouted, “Jesu! Jesu!” So many people responded to the invitation to accept Jesus that we could not count them.

Our students prayed for the sick and experienced God’s love and transformational power. Members of our drama team prayed for a young girl, lame in both feet, who walked for the first time in her life. Her parents, followers of West Africa’s predominant religion, said their daughter was free to become a Christian if she desired; they also said they would remove the fetishes from her arm.

After our child evangelism team ministered in an outlying village, the chief asked them to return to explain the gospel. A small team went back the following night, and more than 1,500 heard the good news preached! Once again, hundreds of people raised their hands when the invitation to follow Jesus was extended.

Jerome, who grew up in Diohine and led one of the evangelism teams, excitedly shared that because of the love of God exhibited through our ministry teams, village officials were impressed to grant permission to build the church’s foundation. We didn’t have to push for this.

Opposition

We now understand why there was so much opposition from the enemy related to this outreach. In the fall, Evan was admitted to the hospital for heart problems; we then received word from two more workers who had health issues and were unable to assist with the outreach. We’d never had this many roadblocks before.

What the enemy knew, but what we didn’t know until we arrived in Diohine, was the people’s readiness for the gospel in this region. Thank you for your prayers!