Little by Little

Construction projects and friendship evangelism continue in Senegal a little at a time.

Greetings from Senegal! As always, God has been good. Our big news is that the Mbirdiam Evangelism Center is almost finished! We are still working on the upstairs, but we finished the downstairs enough to have an inaugural nature Sabbath with Bethel Church, our English-speaking Seventh-day Adventist church in Dakar. The members of the Bethel Church are a diverse group, with people from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Senegal, Guyana and Martinique all in attendance. 

The weather cooperated for our special Sabbath retreat, and we had a wonderful time. In the morning, we had an interesting Bible study of the first two chapters of Acts. After a nice vegetarian lunch, we took a walk in the neighborhood. Later we continued our discussion of Acts in preparation for increasing our evangelism in our communities. We hope that this will be the first of many nature Sabbaths spent here in Mbirdiam.

We still have some work to do downstairs, but as they say in French, “petit a petit l’oiseau fait son nid” (“little by little the bird makes its nest”). We need to install doors, buy light fixtures and connect the wiring to the power source. We do have power in the meeting room so we can run a fan—a great blessing on hot, dry days like our nature Sabbath!

As for the upstairs, we have started construction on the kitchen and another room using some leftover bricks. We need to install a water reservoir to supply the bathrooms downstairs. The end of our construction project is in sight, however, and soon the center will be able to host retreats, vacation Bible camps, workshops and other activities for the church and the village. The village children are asking for another vacation Bible camp and the chef du village would like more health seminars. We are planning an inaugural activity for the village very soon!

The seasonal rains came late, but came plentifully once they started. They came so late that a call went out in the Christian community for corporate prayer. There had been only two brief rains in the Dakar region and the farmers were struggling. We prayed, and that very morning God sent a light shower. Then, later that evening the sky opened up with a heavy downpour that lasted several hours. Since the rains started, they have been coming regularly—at least once or twice a week. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

My neighbor Diatou had another mini stroke right after I returned from a large women’s retreat in Ghana. I realized that after she started doing better, she had returned to her old eating habits. The family had changed her diet to help her improve, but they continued eating their normal way—so it was all too easy for her to go back to her old ways as well. After this second stroke, her two eyes closed. She could see, but she had to hold her eyes open with her hands. As I visit, I am continuing to counsel the family on the importance and urgency of lifestyle changes. Since they have started to feed Diatou differently again, her blood pressure is again decreasing, and recently one eye has opened. Old habits are hard to break, but we continue to pray together and ask Jesus to help her. Please pray that God will open the family’s spiritual eyes and strengthen them to make the necessary sacrifices for everyone in the family to eat properly.

Thank you for your prayerful support!  

Location
Senegal

Author
Deborah Ndione and her family are missionaries working near Dakar, Senegal. Deborah uses medical ministry, English tutoring, women’s ministry, children’s ministry and other simple methods to make friends to invite to Christ’s Kingdom.

How You Can Help
Pray that Deborah’s center of influence will be a blessing to her community. 

Pray for continued opportunities for Deborah and the other Christians in Senegal to share the love of the Father with their Muslim neighbors.

Give to the work in Senegal by sending your check marked “Senegal” to: 

Mission Projects International 
PO Box 151
Inchelium, WA 99138

To give online, visit: missionspro.org/donate