Hand-picked for this team

DAY 5

I got a great night's sleep on Thursday night much because Jenn let me use her Chilly Pad.  I loved this thing and want to buy one for home.  You just wet it and it stays damp and cold for a LONG time.  So, I slept with it on me all night and that really helped keep me cool and comfy.

On Friday, we really started to see God work in Kiri village.  Two people accepted Christ today as their savior in Kiri.  When all 17 of us met for dinner and debriefing this evening, we heard of so many awesome stories happening all around at each team's community.  One team even encountered demon-possession and their nationals performed an exorcism!  And this all happens in the Baptist Church, people!  This is not hokey or weirdo stuff to them.  Although we may never witness such a thing happening in the U.S., the spirit-world is so much more real in Africa.  The people know this and they struggle with dappling in the occult, including visiting witch doctors.  By the end of the week, several teams had had an experience with demon possession.  It was very interesting and eye-opening for me.

The best thing that happened today was how God used mine and Amanda's testimonies to specifically speak to individuals at Kiri.  First, we visited a man named Muni Joseph and his family.  It was a very sad situation.  Joseph had been a student at the Bible college when he started getting sick.  He was diagnosed with AIDS and left the school.  He looked frail and seemed very defeated, but Amanda shared her testimony and spoke to the people in such a powerful way.  It brought me to tears!  Although Joseph is already a believer, I felt like God really used our team to encourage him and his family.

Then, we visited another family and shared the gospel.  The ladies kept talking about how they go to church, and they thought that was enough to be okay with God.  This is MY story.  I've been in church my whole life!  But, I shared that at some point, I had to make the decision to surrender my life to Him and realize that my works (going to church) isn't enough to save me.  Only Jesus saves!

I couldn't help but think how cool it was that God picked us all for a specific reason to be on this trip.  He knew the people we would meet and when we would meet them and how our stories would touch their lives.

We had yummy rice and beans again for dinner and some fried potatoes, which were oh-so-yummy!  The ladies at the compound really did work so hard to keep us well-fed.

Us and the family we shared with today