Like all of you, our holiday season was busy – much more so than we anticipated. After all of the end of the semester grading and Christmas parties and programs at Sahel Academy and the local community, we\’ve finally had some time for special projects. For Lois, these have included major changes in the computer lab at Sahel and other smaller computer-related projects for EBM missionaries. Bob\’s projects have included helping with EBM\’s video outreach, laying the foundation for the new church in Baneira, and working through his \’honey-do\’ list. We also enjoyed 4 days of camping with another family in a game park near the Benin border.
The foundations are dug and the first few rows of blocks are laid for the new church building in Baneira. Work will continue this month, hopefully culminating with the roof being put in place by a workteam of students from Sahel Academy by the end of January. Our goal is to have the dedication of this building early in February. Please pray for the testimony that this building is having in this watching community.
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The Christmas program at the EBM elementary French school was as enjoyable as anticipated. Kids are cute all over the world! The gospel through the Christmas story was very clearly proclaimed to all the watching parents. Please continue to pray that those who heard the good news will want to know more.
During the week before Christmas, EBM held 2 different video outreaches. These involved going into a neighborhood and while our team set up all the equipment, local church members went out into the community and invited all their friends and neighbors to come and watch. As both of the outreaches were in poorer communities where most of the residents may not even have electricity, these were \’big events\’. Pray for those who may have heard the gospel for the first time. Pray for the churches who will continue to reach out to those who have shown an interest in what they heard. Continue to pray for Boubacar who attended one of these outreaches with Bob and heard the gospel once again.
On the Saturday before Christmas, one of these churches held an all-day neighborhood children\’s outreach with over 100 children participating. At a special service on Christmas day, so many of these children came back that the church was packed. As there was no room for the adults, Pastor Hassan shared the Christmas story with us in the front room of his home next to the church. Pray that these children will continue to come and hear God\’s Word.
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We were reminded once again this past week as the Tabaski rams were sacrificed in almost every courtyard of how life-changing The Gift of God’s Son really is. For all these who are hearing the gospel through these various ministries, our ultimate hope is that they will make the huge commitment that is required when someone takes Jesus as their Savior in this Muslim community. There is no \’easy believism\’ here in Africa; this decision will change their lives in more ways than most of us can imagine. As you pray, pray for the courage that is required to take this huge step of faith.