Dear friends and partners in the work of the Lord, What a mighty God we serve- His mercies are new every morning, His love endures forever; and because of His love and mercy, Muslims are coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior!
Soon after we returned to Gambia last year, I read a book about how thousands of Muslims in Africa are coming to know the Lord. My heart was moved and I longed to see that kind of revival in Gambia. I remembered reading to “focus on a few to win many”- which is very hard to do at times when 98% of the people around us don’t know Christ!
At the beginning of January, we decided to start a Discovery Bible Study, like the one mentioned in the book; what’s different about this Bible Study is that it helps Muslims discover the God of the Bible for themselves, a God full of love and compassion for people, rather than a vengeful God that’s never pleased no matter how much they try to please him by doing good deeds. We read the Word of God together and discover God’s character portrayed through different passages of the Bible. It is a great way to involve everyone, instead of one person doing all the talking. I have come to understand that the Muslim religion doesn’t allow people to make choices for themselves, nor does it give them satisfying answers for the huge struggles of life, and they can’t ask any questions! Many Muslims don’t read the Qur’an in a language they understand, they memorize it in Arabic, and the teachers tell them what it means. Reading the Bible together allows them to think and make their own decisions.
For the first two to three months we had two Muslim men attending regularly and a Christian man, Mr. Mendy, who works as the security guard at the school. We read through different passages from the Old Testament that revealed God’s love for people and His plan for saving us through the Messiah that was to come. When Onyife came to join the group, from the very first, we noticed that he was very interested and open to the Word of God. Everything he heard was new to him, and he said he had never heard the stories of the Bible told that way before; he enjoyed it very much! We found out later from him that his stepmother was a Christian, but she had never told him about the gift of salvation through Jesus.
By late April our group had grown to 10 – 11 people every Sunday – some Christians and some Muslims.
Hassan, one of our staff teachers, moved right next to the school in April and the following Sunday he started to bring his 3-year-old twin boys to the Sunday School classes, and he joined the adult Bible Study. One day Hassan asked us to pray for his wife who was at home and very sick. She had been throwing up for two days. When he returned home, his wife was moving around the house and felt much better and she had not thrown up since that morning. He said to her “You know, we prayed for you at church, that’s why you are feeling better!” Hassan recognized that God had answered prayer for his sick wife. Two weeks later, Hassan and Onyife accepted the Lord in their hearts and put their trust in Him to be saved. Onyife’s smile hasn’t left his face since that day, and his eyes shine with passion as we teach them the word of God.
I picture Onyife as a sponge immersed in water, absorbing every word that he hears! Hassan is at a childlike stage of understanding, he wants to see and experience the power of God and we thank the Lord for healing his wife and revealing Himself to Hassan in a way that his heart understands.
Mr. Mendy, the security man, is so hungry to learn more of the Bible. He was raised attending the Catholic Church, but this is very different and refreshing to him! Whenever we ask for prayer requests, he always wants us to pray that he would know God more and be the spiritual leader of his family.
As our hearts long to see more Muslims come to know the Lord, we cannot forget all the seeds that are being planted in the hearts of 270 children at Emmanuel Mission School. Every child in the school has the opportunity to hear the Word of God and to learn about God’s plan of salvation for mankind. We know that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” so we continue to sow in the lives of our children. The seeds that are planted need watering and nurturing and one day they will come to bloom and bring fruit! It is our hope and prayer for Gambia to see changes by the power of God manifested through the next generation!
“Prayer is the greatest weapon that any disciple maker can wield, and God’s people are using it around the world at this very minute! Prayer takes the spiritual battle out of our human realm and puts it fully into God’s hands, and not even the power of hell can stand against His mighty Spirit!”
We’ve spent a lot of time praying for this nation, for the hearts of people to be open to the truth of the Gospel and we believe it all starts with Muslims being discontent and dissatisfied with their own religion. We have been praying for the leaders of the Mosques and for the teachers of the Qur’an as they teach and pray “lead us in the right way”, that God would reveal to them the only way through Jesus Christ!
Please continue to pray with us that Muslims will have dreams and visions of Jesus, for the truth to be revealed to them in a life-changing way that they cannot deny! The battle is won in prayer and we cannot do what we do without your continued support in prayer.
We are so blessed to have you in our lives and to have you stand with us in the gap for the people of Gambia. God chooses to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things! May God also do in you that which is “exceedingly, abundantly beyond all you can ask or even imagine”. He loves us all so much!
Sol and Manuela Bah