T.I.A.

Sorry for the delay. The internet has been down in our hotel and I finally got on a computer. The past week was amazing! I am continuing to meet up with contacts I have made and continuing to share the gospel with them. I am learning a lot about the culture and growing closer with the students at the university. We have played soccer with the locals which was amazing and eating some very interesting dishes. (Most Senegalese dishes involve an assortment of rice, oniony sauce, vegetables, and some sort or meat/fish/or chicken) As far as ministry is going, I am continuing to meet with Jamil who I believe is very close to accepting Jesus as his personal Savior. I still meet with him most days of the week which has been so amazing. There is still so much to talk about but I am using some weird foreign keyboard and I need to let others use one of the three working computers out of the 15 here. Hopefully I will be able to get on before the week ends.

What a week it has been!

What a week it has been!! I will try and summarize it. Thursday was our second day of ministry and was the start of a great relationship with a couple of guys. Two of their names are Jamil and Amadou and I forgot the other names but they go by various nicknames such as Usher, Obama, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, etc. We talked with them quite a bit and got to know them a lot. Thursday night we had a public screening of the Magdalene film which was based on Mary Magdalene and the Gospel. I met up with Jamil there and he said that the movie "moved his heart and he felt for Jesus." This perked me right up and we decided to meet the next day, Friday. So Friday we met up with him and the other guys and talked about Jesus with them. For me it is really hard trying to get Muslim students to understand the Gospel. They are so based in their religion and it is such a family motivated belief that it has blinded them from the truth. We spoke with the guys for about 4 hours or so which was very tiring. I believe that we learned a lot as well as them. We are going to try and meet up with them regularly and continue to share the truth with them as well. We are also going to try and meet with Jamil by himself because there is something different about him. He asks certain questions that makes him seem very interested in Christianity and he is very open. Hopefully this week we will get to catch up with them and continue to preach the good news!

P.S. Don't take iced beverages and air conditioning for granted. And a washer and dryer.

Gno farr!

I am in Senegal!!! This is my first time on the internet since before briefing which has been very nice! Dakar is amazing. All of the flights ran smoothly. We were at JFK for about 5 hours on and off the plane but eventually took off and made it here to Dakar. Our first couple of days consisted of getting over jet-lag and getting to know the city. There are five members of a STINT (short term internship) team here who have been here since October so they have been a lot of help to us. We met Pascal who is the campus director of Campus pour Christ (Campus Crusade for Christ) which was quite exciting. Last night was our first encounter with the students of the university. It was very interesting talking with them but very challenging. Most of the students are very strong in their beliefs as Muslims but at the same time, they LOVE talking about religion. None of my conversations have lasted shorter than 2 or 3 hours. They could talk forever if they had the chance which is a nice change. Today we actually went onto the university and just started meeting students in pairs. It was a lot easier starting conversations than I expected. You could seriously just say, "What do you think about Jesus?" and the conversation can go from there. I talked with two guys today who are very passionate about their Muslim beliefs. I shared the Gospel with them but they didn't budge at all. Neither party swayed one way or the other but I definitely learned a lot more about the Islamic faith and I grew so much more in my faith. I can't wait to see what God does here in Dakar this summer with the Senegalese and our team. PLEASEEEE pray for the students we talk to that they may find the truth in Christ and want to start that relationship with Him! We will be doing campus ministry for the next 4 weeks then we are going to go to a village nearby just for a time line for the rest of the trip. I won't be on a computer much so expect another update in a couple of days. God Bless!!

Senegal, Here I Come!!

So as of today...I raised the rest of the $5,500!! I can't believe how much God has provided for me in these past couple of weeks. I shipped off the rest of the checks and now that raising support is out of the way, I can focus on preparing for my 6 week adventure in Senegal, Africa! I want to thank everyone that helped me reach this point. I would truly not be able to go unless all of you supported me. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me this summer. Our briefing is from May 12th-15th at a hotel near RDU airport. We fly out about 1pm on Saturday (5/15) from RDU to JFK then from there we fly directly to Dakar. I can't wait to get there and start doing God's work! My next post will probably be from Dakar so get pumped! Please pray for safe travels and my packing abilities.

Almost There!

Wow. In about 3 days, I have received about a little over $1,300! This has been truly eye opening. I have about 2 more days to come up with the rest of the $700 out of the goal of $5,500 but once again, I KNOW God will provide somehow. Keep praying for me! We're so close!

"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love."
-Psalm 147:7-11

One More Week!

I want to thank everyone again who has decided to be a part of this experience by either donating or praying! You guys rock! I have about $2,000 more to raise in one week till I am at the goal of $5,500. It seems like a lot to raise but seeing how God has provided for me in the past, I know that He can do it! The deadline for all of the support is May 9th (1 week from today) so this week is going to be crazy as far as raising support goes. Apparently if all $5,500 is not in by May 9th, I can't go on the trip. Knowing the urgency of this has helped me become more proactive when trying to raise support which has showed to become very beneficial. A lot of money has come in these past couple of days and I just pray that the rest will come in within the next week. The idea came up a couple days ago regarding selling textbooks for people going on Summer Projects. If someone wants to help out people in need of raising support, they can donate a textbook and have the proceeds go to that person's Summer Project. So please pray that lots of people will want to do that and please pray that God will provide the rest of the support this coming up week!

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." -Hebrews 11:6