Recap of yesterday's events (Nate's givin' out Rubdowns)

The Jada, Kennedy, and eventually Cheyney story.
We began the morning by splitting off into our street evangelism teams and Kennedy and I (matt) went through a small village outside of Takoradi. We met and prayed with three specific groups. The first group was about 10 males sitting on the side of the road. They were eagar to listen, and we eventually prayed with them to rededicate their lives. The next group was a group of mothers who we eventually found out were all Christians. We prayed blessing and healing upon their lives. Lastly we met up with a man who was wearing a U.S.A. T-shirt and we used that as a lead in to talking with him. He was a hairstylist and and spoke with him for 45 minutes. Then it rained. It rained. And it kept raining. And then it rained somemore. Then Kennedy got wet. Then it rained again. Then it rained some more. Then more rain came. It did not stop raining. Then it rained again. Then it started to downpour. Then the rain came harder. Then it rained. Rain. Later that night, we seperated into 4 groups and everyone spoke at different churches. Cheyn, Ken, and I spoke at a church up in this village. Ken and Cheyn gave their testimonies and I gave a message. It went very well. It was awesome how God took three very different stories, and brought them together to speak one powerful message. We spoke from Romans 5 and talked about persevering through struggle, and Pastor Daniel came up after we finished and asked people to come forward if they needed prayer for their personal struggles. Three people came up and we prayed with them. It was very powerful. Then we got mugged. No really, they gave us mugs. It was great. *Kennedy laughs evil*.

Thanks for reading,

Matt, Christina, Emily




Nasty Nate and Cheyney.
Cheyney and I left with Pastor Ben to evangelize to people in a village outside of Takoradi. Once we arrived, we found some women who took us behind their house so that we could talk to them without so much noise. The place they took us to was filled with flies and kids, but we tried to not let that stop us from witnessing to them. All three of us were able to bounce well off each other. Cheyney kicked butt on her testimony and the questions we asked them about Jesus made them want to know more. Despite a few moments of being uncomfortable, it was great to see God move! Thankfully he delayed the heavy downpour of rain to fall until after we led all fifteen of the listening people to receive Christ! While it was raining hard for the next hour and a half, Cheyney and I entertained the kids through dancing, singing, and nonstop pictures with Cheyney's camera (btw for those of you who want more videos, she made plenty of them with her camera:). After that, Cheyney and I were sadly split apart to go to different churches with the other groups. Read about Cheyney's experience above with Matt and Emily, and mine below with Seth and Mel


The Seth and Mel Pair.
Seth and I have been paired for three days now and we have made a pretty good team. Our gifts compliment one another and we are able to communicate and converse with people well as a pair. So, you can imagine our initial fear when we were split apart as soon as we left the bus. We set out in our village with our translator Salume and a member of the local church who knew english (Maxwell). We immediately approached a group of men who were working on a truck. We asked them to stop and listen for a while and they did even though it was a little reluctant. Within five minutes of initiating the conversation, Maxwell stole Seth from our conversation to go talk to another man. We both shared a wave of fear of being separating, and we both immediately began praying. We both shared our testimonies to the different groups. After talking for a while with the men, one of them decided to accept Christ! It was interesting because I was curious about the sincerity of the men. I kept stealing glances of Seth and noticed that he was praying for a teenage boy. Apparently the man that Seth went to talk to had a similar testimony to Seth and he wanted Seth to share the story with a boy who was working for him. The man made the boy stop pouring cement (a big deal) to listen to Seth. After that prayer, Seth went over and talked to another teenage boy. While there, a young girl listened in on the conversation and gave her life to the Lord. Seth led her in prayer as well! Seth and I reunited after this, took pictures, and then moved on right as the rain came. We were talking to a local pastor at the time and took shelter on a porch alongside the highway. We were stuck under the porch for about 45 minutes where I had the opportunity to talk to a 17 year old girl. She couldn't go anywhere, and I know that God wanted it that way. Seth played with Salume's 10 year old son (yay! he finally got to play with a kid) and I shared the gospel with this girl. Her family is Muslim and she decided to give her life to the Lord as well. This is a big deal. Once I prayed with her, she told me that she would be kicked out of her house if she told her family that she wanted to go to church. She has been on my mind and heart ever since. Please pray for her to have courage and ask that the Lord bring her family to know Christ! It broke my heart. We don't have to struggle with these types of persecution very often at home. After the rain let up, she ran home and Seth and I headed to the bus!
Nate joined us for our evening service. We walked deeper into our village and we followed the sound of the loud music coming from the church. Here is the story through Nate's eyes: I went with Seth and Mel to a church that had about forty people in attendance including lots of kids. Seth and I both gave messages and while we didn't plan on this, both of them were very similar b/c they both talked about living the life God wants us to live. Having God speak through you is an experience like no other! To top it all off, at the end of the service the kids in the audience entertained the church with a choreographed sign language dance!


The Littlest Church That Could... (Marty & Jaclyn)
We did evangelism in Shama Junction, the most remote of all the places our team evangelized that day. We had to drive further than the rest of the team up into the hills, but we could see the ocean from the village, which was super cool! When we arrived we met Elijah, the local pastor for the less-than-a-year old church. This church was nothing more than 6 wooden poles and a tin roof. (And five wooden benches!) With the help of our translator, Pastor George, we spoke to and encouraged many men and women in the town, and encourage them to attend our service that night. Most of those we met with had some connection with the church, whether family of current attenders, or friends. So in this way it was different than the first two days when we had talked to random people we came across in the town. We had the chance to talk to one gentleman whose wife was an attendee of the church, but he had not yet attended, and was 'waiting' to give his life to Christ. I (Marty) challenged him to be the spiritual leader of the family; that God had designed the man to lead and to guide his wife and children into their relationship with Christ.
Returning that night, we were uncertain what to expect. We expected possibly 8 people, but were surprised to find barely 10 adults and over 30 children! Praise the Lord for His unexpected blessings! We sang two worship songs and were asked to sing a third, and then we each spoke for a short period. For Jaclyn this was the first time she had spoken in front of a large audience of any type, especially a church setting. Our plan for our sermons for the night had been to focus on being obedient to the word of God. We each used portions of our testimonies, including times when God had called us to be obedient to His leading, even though it made no sense at the time, or was difficult. One of the highlights was praying for the children in attendance for God to protect them and set them apart from the spiritual warfare the encounter in the schools on a daily basis. Also, 3 adults gave their lives to Christ that night (one of which was the husband I had spoken to earlier)!! PRAISE THE LORD!! It was evident the Holy Spirit was in that small 'shelter', as His presence was clearly felt!! Our biggest dissapointment was that we couldn't stay longer and had to leave so soon. But we left with a bag of avocados, a parade of children ushering us goodbye, and trusting that God would provide for them as they continue to grow in their faith.

Thanks for your prayers! (Marty & Jaclyn)

Rain couldn't stop us...
Jake and I, though Jake will deny it with every part of him, make an amazing team! We work really well together. He is such a good speaker and...well I'm good at smiling. Which is is big deal when there is a language barrier to overcome! We were the first group to get dropped off at a village with our translator Frank (who is basically the bomb). We went straight for the first place we could find where the people were willing to stop and listen. This happened to be a hairdressing salon. The women listened to me and Jake speak so intently even though they couldn't understand us! It was amazing. The group of women said they were all Christians, so Jake and I just encouraged them with a testimony and a short word from the Bible. I gave my testimony. The women all listened and understood and were touched by it. Jake then told the parable of the Lost Son, which produced many questions. Not so much biblical questions though. They were moral questions. Like is it wrong for me to fight someone that wants to fight me. There was one girl who told us her story about her previous relationship with the church. She became pregnant outside of marriage and the Christian church she has recently attended had suspended her from coming. She asked Jake and I who was in the wrong. This was such a tough question, that I had to stop and think for a second. I told her it was sad that the church had suspended her in her great time of need for support and the Lord. But, I told her it was more about her relationship with God, not just about going to church. So, these sort of questions definitely kept Jake and I on our toes for a while. Then, it started to rain. And, immediately I thought that Satan was trying to prevent us from spreading the good news. But, there are other ways to share God's love and grace with people. Jake and I along with Frank went under some shelter where there were boys kicking around a soccer ball and we joined in with them. They had fun and enjoyed our time with them. So, even though it rained, the devil still didn't stop us from showing our love toward these people!
(Jake talking now)
Just to clear the air, I don't mind working with Kim...she just gets on my nerves sometimes!!! haha...j/k. That same night, Kim and I traveled to the same village where we would be sharing in a Chruch service there. Upon arrival, we met with the pastor of the Chruch and he lead us to the building. Not your typical Church from our previous experiences here in Ghana. There were only two lights and six bench pews, but the Lord was still in that place. Kim, with the help of Frank as our interpereter, gave an amazing testimony and I shared a word of encouragement with the people. There were eight adult women, two men, and about 10 children who attended. When we arrived, they had already started their time of worship and we just joined along. Kim and I recognized some of the worship songs from previous services along with a few new ones. We didn't notice any of the people that we had talked to early that day at the Church service with the exception of one young boy about the age of nine. As Kim and I shared, there were time when Frank would elaborate for an extended period of time. Kim informed me later, from what the pastor of the Church had told her, that he was restating what we had said in a different dialect. Overall, Kim and I had an awesome experience in the village!


Jake and Kim.