10/6/08

And with the prairies I am calling out Your Name!

The other teams have gone into town to finish some paperwork before the container lands. I stayed behind to finish typing the update we will send to Preach today. It’s a perfect morning to give my loved ones and prayer partners an update as well.

It’s fascinating how things that were once so enthralling, are rapidly becoming an accepted part of life. One goes to sleep about 10, and wakes up when the generator (and the fans) turn off. I’m getting used to the dirt and the smells, but it also helps that our hotel is out in the country and a couple hundred feet off the highway. Plus I think those prayers you guys keep sending up are paying off. I have one of the coolest, breeziest rooms in the building. Plus it gets cleaned first, which means the bucket of water is cleaner when they get to the room.

The roads are still as crazy. Potholes everywhere. Drivers swerve into oncoming traffic to miss them. Plus there are no shoulders and no stoplights, so traffic is always stopping in the right lane to let people off or pick up passengers.

A local official came by the other day and let us get a year-long visa for about $20 – which is $40 less than we paid for the 30-day visa -- so I’m clear to come back if God so wills.

I did have one morning where I felt a little queasy, and it didn’t help that we kept having to traipse through the market. One can only look at so many dead fish lying in the African heat before it gets to him. Thankfully, though, God’s grace has always been present and up-chucking has remained absent.

The people here are quite friendly. Our nightly meetings for the team have been increasing steadily as locals stop by to see why the blancos are singing. Last night I think we had 5 locals, and 2 of those have attended more than one meeting.

We moved our meeting to the front porch two nights ago. It’s cooler, and we help discourage the ‘hourly’ traffic that the hotel starts receiving about 8pm. It’s kind of cool. Adultery is common here. Many men have a wife they live with and one or two other households they maintain. An accepted way of living. One could truly call them ‘ignorant’. But when you’re holding church service on the front steps, they take their prostitutes elsewhere. Just shows that there is truly ‘a law written on the heart of man’. Oh, that God might reach that heart, both here and at home.

The focus of our nightly sermons has been on “When ye pray…When ye fast…When ye give…” It’s been very stirring in my life. By the time we get back, we will have had about 5 years worth of revival meetings crammed into one month.

The other night I was praying when I felt like singing “When Troubles Assail Us”. Couldn’t remember anything but the first line. So I sang it a few times until another phrase came, and then another, and pretty soon I was getting blessed with the whole first verse. Abel – a seminary student from Cape Verde – heard me singing and stopped by. In our broken English/Portuguese we talked about God’s greatness, and then sang “God is So Good” together in Portuguese. Talk about getting blessed. But who was it that came over and told Abel the gospel? Who funded his church? His seminary training? And here I am, rewarded by another’s labor and rejoicing with him under the beautiful stars.

A local kid named Brandon wrote me the other day. He speaks English and wants to be at our meetings, but his work keeps interfering.

Guinea-Bissau is surrounded by 4 Muslim countries, but is still open to the gospel. And the people are hungry. It’s a perfect place to launch a counter-attack. But it’s gonna’ have to be God’s counter-attack.

It’s nice to get to look heavenward and not worry about toiling and spinning for awhile.

Pray for you guys every night.

Q

………………………

Talkin’ Daniel in the den of lions

Talkin’ Jonah in the belly of the whale

Talkin’ three Hebrew children standing in the furnace

Fiery furnace

But the fire didn’t burn them

And the lions didn’t bite

And the Lord reached down

And you can be sure, baby, everything turned out right.

You meet the Lord in the furnace long time before you meet Him in the sky

- Rich Mullins