Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love
In the spring becomes the rose.
—“The Rose,” by Bette Midler
Winter snows are foreign to hot, sandy, northwestern Senegal. But for a few walled courtyards harboring red and purple bougainvillea and the occasional sunburned rose, vegetation is sparse. In this barren landscape—a metaphor for the spiritual and physical poverty burdening Africa’s westernmost edge—a small Alliance team faithfully plants seeds of the gospel.
“Our recent Easter celebration and outreach at church, the Dakar Academy (DA) girls’ soccer event last month, and our access ministries account for hundreds of seeds planted,” observes Becca, a team member.
Sharing the Son’s Love
In partnership with the YN Center, a local fellowship, Becca and her colleagues address community needs through holistic ministries, including a girls’ and boys’ vocational school, medical and prison outreaches, and Bible studies.
As a result of this consistent demonstration of the Son’s love, team members report new signs of spiritual openness this spring among area residents, followers of West Africa’s predominant religion.
“God is using our prenatal clinic to open doors into families in crisis, allowing us to save babies who would have otherwise been aborted,” adds Becca, an RN. “When one of our staff suffered a recent health crisis, the attending doctor said he’d had two dreams about Jesus. Another man recently reported his marriage is being healed because of prayer.
“In addition, a group of four to five teen boys is meeting weekly with our teammate, Eric—also engaged in a weekly prison outreach—to study God’s Word,” she continues.
Village Ministry to Restart
“And we are excited that a ladies’ group that was on hiatus is restarting in a nearby village, where several women gather to learn sewing and handcrafts and also hear the Word of God,” says Valerie, who ministers in the village with her husband, Mike, alongside YN Center members.
“A kids’ club and soccer outreach among the village youth is providing additional opportunities for gospel seeds to be planted.”
Budding Spiritual Interest
New signs of spiritual openness also are apparent among the 50-plus students attending the girls’ vocational center at the YN facility. “Although the gospel is part of the school’s curriculum,” Becca adds, “in years past it hasn’t seemed to sink into hearts; this year there’s a much greater response.
“Recently, I sat in for the morning Bible teaching, and it was amazing how intently the girls listened. I also was astounded by the prayer time—the girls knew their prayers would be answered, and they couldn’t wait to share their requests and praises. The faith in the room was electric.”
Five-Color Bracelet
Results from last month’s DA girls’ soccer outreach illustrate the new spiritual hunger observed. “DA team members used a simple five-color bracelet and the ‘wordless book’ (each color represents a biblical truth about salvation) method to present the good news to the first-year girls’ school students,” says Valerie, who teaches at the girls’ center.
“Third-year students helping with lunch ‘eavesdropped,’” she continues. “They approached a teacher and said, ‘That lesson needs to be on the next exam because it was so important!’ The girls insisted that the whole school needed to hear this message and asked for it to be taught again as part of the morning devotion time! I was asked to present the gospel to our 60 students and teachers a couple of weeks ago.
“We love the increased openness we are seeing lately!”
Photos courtesy of an Alliance international worker
Pray
“This is a spiritual battle that requires warriors in prayer if we are to see a victory and a harvest,” Valerie adds. Becca agrees: “Please pray that God will give the harvest!”
Join the Alliance family in praying for our workers in West Africa and worldwide, who are taking the good news to some of the most spiritually dark places on earth. Use the Alliance Prayer Requests to assist you.