Thank you everyone so much for your contributions and prayers for the most amazing experience I was blessed to be a part of. God did so many amazing things. My team and I started off flying from Springfield to Chicago on the 1st and then flew from Chicago to Brussels, Belgium in an 8 hour flight. From Brussels we had a six hour flight to Dakar Senegal. We then got into a van where we drove 16 hours to the town near the tribe where we stayed for the night. We finally got into the tribe on the 4th day after having to cross the Gambia river in a canoe in order to get to the tribe. There is a reason these people are unreached (haha) this was made very evident this time.
Since I had been here just 8 months before, the entire time traveling I was just hoping they would remember me and remember what we did last time we were there. Walking into the tribe the woman who really took me under her wing the first time there came rushing up to me and gave me two really big hugs. She kept screaming my african name Tigida and went up to everyone around telling them how I had come back. Everyone had remembered me and welcomed me back as if I was coming home. It was such a great feeling coming back to some of the most amazing people I have ever met.
We went there to share the gospel only. So in the mornings we would go out in pairs and share to families scattered all around the courtyard. People we made connections with the first day we would try to be intentional with the rest of our trip. We also were able to show the Jesus film which was in their language and it walked through the story of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. It was a cool experience seeing that movie in that language knowing they could understand it. People would come to the places we were at just to spend time with us and it felt like they just welcomed us home the way they desired to make us feel like we were a part of them. These people are so loving by nature that my heart just longs to know what their life would look life if they had Jesus as their number one savior. Many of them know the gospel, it is just hard for them to give up everything know they like their husband/ wife and kids to follow Jesus. (That is what would happen if they chose to follow them.) It was sad for me to see how close some of them are to accepting Jesus, but that the cost of them accepting something that is different than everything they have ever known is too great. It really challenged me thinking, if I knew I would loose everything I knew to follow Jesus would I? This was a very convicting thought I had weighing on me while in Africa and I would encourage you to challenge yourself to ask yourself the same question. Some of the most encouraging parts of the trip were are two translators who really did choose to follow Jesus and lost everything they had including their family. There family shunned both of them for a long time and yet they went on believing and preaching the good news of Jesus. That is what faith can do, and that proves that with God anything is possible no matter the trying circumstances. I think about them all the time and they challenge me everyday with how they live their life. My team and I are hopeful and truly believe God is bigger than this situation and can be king of the peoples hearts someday giving them the courage that he is more than anything this world has to offer. That is why we will continue praying and loving on these people the best we can with Christ's love.
Here are some pictures of the trip. :) I hope you can see a glimpse of how amazing God is through them.
Joshua 1:9
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