Africa Recap: Part 1

Well I’m only two months late getting this posted. Yes, the school year is in full swing. I have a lot of fun things to share about ministry and life at MSU, but I fear if I don’t get this posted first it may never happen. And A LOT happened while I was away. This is coming in three installments. When I think about my time in Africa this summer I think about three things.

1. This summer was incredible for my own personal growth. I went into the summer knowing God was going to use me, but what I didn’t expect was how much he would change me in the process. It’s really easy for me to forget that God cares more about my heart than my ministry. He was gracious to remind me of that this summer. I came back to the States refreshed and as in love with Jesus as ever.
2. The second thing was ministry with the American students we took with us. We had a team of 9 students, 6 staff, and 1 sweet little baby boy. 6 of the students were from Missouri State. Again, the Lord surprised me in this area. Before we left, I thought a lot about ministry with the Ivorians. I knew God would work in our students’ lives. I just didn’t realize how much. And I definitely didn’t realize how much I would love meeting with the girls I got to disciple. I discipled Leslie, Renee, and Kelsey over the 6 weeks. More on them later.
3. Finally, I have a lot to tell about ministry with the Ivorians. The Lord did a ton in my heart and the hearts of the students on project, but he also was faithful to produce fruit in students in Cote d’Ivoire. Even though we were there for 6 short weeks I truly believe the impact we had will be eternal (by God’s grace).

Sharing the gospel on campus in Abidjan.

Typical scene on campus: sitting with students sharing doing the Follow-Ups.

I’ll get to each of these topics this week so be checking back for the rest of the updates. First I’ll start with ministry with Ivorians. The whole point of the trip was to share the gospel with college students in Cote d’Ivoire so I’ll start there.  We were there for 6 weeks so I could go on forever about all the cool things that happened while we were there. However, I hate reading really long emails, blog posts, and articles so I’ll limit it to a few stories. There are a couple that really stick out to me from the summer:

• A few weeks into project I shared the gospel with a large group of girls. Unfortunately, I was interrupted halfway through because the teacher came into the classroom we were using. “African time” means that classes don’t start on time and teachers sometimes just don’t show up. The girls I was sharing with were waiting for their teacher to arrive and were studying while they waited. The girls were really tracking with me and seemed really interested. I was disappointed because I only got halfway through the Gospel.  I managed to get each of the girls’ phone numbers, but in that large group of girls one girl stuck out to me: Susan. Interestingly enough, a few days later, Renee, one of the girls I discipled, was sharing with a group of students on campus. One of those girls was Susan and just like me, Renee was drawn to her. Susan had grown up Catholic, but didn’t quite understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus. After Renee explained the gospel to Susan she invited her to do follow-up lessons that explained the basics of the Christian faith. Although we had completely separate encounters with Susan, Renee and I managed to figure out we wanted to track down the same girl. We spent the next 4 weeks walking through 6 follow lessons with Susan. I think the highlight of my summer was watching Renee teach Susan what it meant to walk daily with Christ. God used Renee in a big way to help Susan grow. By God’s grace we were able to get Susan connected with women involved in the Cru movement there and she plans to continue discipleship with one of the leaders. I’m so thankful for her growth and excited to see how the Lord continues to change her life and use her to reach her campus with the gospel.

Renee, Susan, and I after one of the Cru meetings. 

Renee taking Susan through one of the Follow-Up lessons. 

• A lot of our time was spent doing follow-up lessons with new Christians. One of the days on campus I tried getting in touch with girls that I had been meeting up with. No one was available and one girl I was supposed to meet up with had to cancel because of transportation issues. I was at a loss. We started walking around, attempting to find new people to share the gospel with. As we walked around we prayed and asked God to lead us to someone who needed to hear the gospel, someone who was ready to surrender their life to him. Not two minutes after we said, “amen” a fellow staff member, Davy, called me and asked us to meet him by this large tree near the English department. Confused, we walked over there and found out that a young man had approached Davy and the group he was meeting with and asked what they were doing. Davy explained that they were talking about Jesus and studying the Bible. The young man introduced them to his friend, Lisa, and told them she needed to know about God. He asked them to share with her and walked off. So Davy called us to come share with her. We knew right then this was the divine appointment we had prayed for. As we sat with Lisa it was obvious her English was very limited and we didn’t have a translator with us. We slowly walked through the gospel with her, completely unsure if anything was sinking in. The communication barrier was something that was frustrating to me all summer and this was no exception. I kept praying the Lord would bridge the gap and help us understand each other. When we got to the end we asked her if she wanted to receive Christ into her life and surrender to him as Savior and Lord. Lisa said yes! Skeptical, I asked her follow-up questions. What it meant to be a Christ follower, why she wanted to surrender, and how she could be sure she was now a Christian. In that moment it was totally clear she completely understood what that commitment meant. She explained so clearly why she wanted to follow Jesus and she ended praying and surrendering her life to Jesus. It was the most random, crazy thing I’ve ever experienced. God gave her understanding and completely changed her heart. I was so humbled to be a part of Lisa coming to Christ. 

• Another highlight for me was seeing old friends I met in February. The very first day on campus I prayed that I would run into my friend, Anna. In February I shared the gospel with her and talked with her for a long time about Jesus. Anna is a Muslim. She had so many questions about what it meant to be a Christian. When I left in February I felt like she was SO CLOSE to inviting Christ into her life. I didn’t have her phone number and had no way of contacting her. So I asked God that we would run into her and no lie, within five minutes of being on campus there she was. It was such a joy to see her smiling face. Throughout the 6 weeks we briefly saw each other. One afternoon, Renee (an MSU student I discipled) and I sat with her and talked for hours about our faith. I asked her tons of questions about Islam and we discussed how Christianity was different. Anna expressed a ton of fear in her religion. She didn’t know how good was good enough. She admitted that she wasn’t a very good Muslim and wasn’t sure if she was going to heaven or not. My heart broke as I talked to her. She is so entangled in lies and fear of what her family might do if she surrendered to Jesus. Ideally the conversation would have ended with her praying to receive Christ. That didn’t happen, but I’m still so hopeful. That fact that we can sit down on a college campus with a Muslim and talk openly about religion is a tremendous blessing and extremely rare. I love Cote d’Ivoire for that reason. It is still a place where these conversations can happen without fear of repercussions. I’m hopeful that Anna will continue to be curious and ask questions. I’m hopeful because God IS moving in her heart. I’m hopeful because I was able to give her a Bible through her friend, Jacob. I’m hopeful because she messaged me on Facebook and said, “hi dear!!!!!!!!! miss uuuu!!!!!!!!! i just received ur gift from jacob and i have been so moved by ur lovely msg. hugs and kisses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I’m hopeful because two of my best friends, Kelsey and Chrissy, are STINTing in Cote d’Ivoire this year. They will be spending the entire year doing ministry on the same campus I was on, meeting the same people I did. I pray and hope with all my heart that they get to see Anna let go of fear and the lies and accept Christ as her personal Savior. I wait with expectancy for that message from my friends that Anna is now our sister in Christ.

Anna, Renee, and I on campus. Please pray for Anna to surrender her life to Jesus. 

My dear friends and former roommates Kelsey and Chrissy. They have arrived safely in Cote d'Ivoire. Please keep them in their prayers as they transition to life and ministry in a foreign country.

• Final story that sticks out to me was when we traveled 6 hours north to Bouake. There is a smaller university in that city that we always go to. This trip is not comfortable… at all. I went there in February when I was there for 10 days on the vision trip. It’s a lot more rural. There aren’t as many of the modern conveniences available like in Abidjan... such as water that actually runs. Our shower stopped working and we had to take bucket baths which basically means you fill up a bucket of water and try to make it work. There are plenty more bugs (my worst nightmare). The drive there is long and very bumpy. And to top all that off I got pretty sick while I was there.  Despite all of that I look back at Bouake with fondness and here’s why: God showed up big time. There are no full-time staff in Bouake and yet their Cru movement is growing and producing great fruit. And I haven’t even gotten to the best part. We took Ivorian students from Abidjan with us to Bouake. They spent a week sharing their faith! It’s incredible to me how students over there just get the Great Commission. Some of the students we took with us had been Christians less than a month, but that didn’t stop them from sharing their faith. Unfortunately in America it’s really, really challenging to get students to share their faith. Even if they’ve been Christians for years. I love that the Ivorian step out in boldness and share the good news of Jesus with their peers. I pray that kind of understanding of the Great Commission makes its way to college campuses in the U.S.  I’m so thankful for their willingness to step out in faith. Through a translator, Stephen, I was able to share the gospel with a man who didn’t speak any English. Again, it’s humbling to be a part of that. God didn’t need me. Stephen was more than capable sharing the gospel on his own, yet God allowed me to share with this man and see him surrender his life to Jesus. Even in the midst of discomfort God showed us his power. And because of that I can look on our trip to Bouake with fondness.

Sharing the gospel with students in Bouake. 

My good friend, Barnabas. We met 3 summers ago in Mali on my very first trip to Africa. Thankful for his friendship and willingness to come visit me in Bouake. He's a great man of God. 

Those are the things that stick out most to me. Like I said, I could go on forever! If you want to read more about the trip you should check out Kelsey’s blog. She was one of the girls I had the privilege of discipling. She aspires to be a travel writer someday and is an excellent communicator. If you want to read more stories from a student's perspective click here: Kelsey's Blog. There will be more coming shortly! Up next: ministry with American students. 

This is Kelsey! Her blog is excellent! Check it out. 

Susan and I at one of the Cru meetings. I adore this girl!