Monday, December 12, 2011

Drama...and Revival!!!

This has been a wild and busy couple months of ministry for us here in Libreville.


We began in November with our French version of the drama, "The Judgment". We had done it once before in the beginning of 2010. At that time we had to rent a facility but this time we were able to do it in our own building. We put on the drama for three nights and had a great turn out each night with 49 people making a decision to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for salvation.



On the second night of the drama we arrived at the building to find that it had been marked for demolition as part of a greater project to 'clean up' Libreville before the African Cup of Nations that will be hosted here in January. We immediately set the saints to pray with calls to the Tucson church and others to join with us.

On the Sunday morning after the building was marked, a man came in and gave his life to Jesus. He had seen the drama the night before and was so moved that he was awake all night thinking about it. While talking with him at the final night of the drama I realized that he was not only a police man but that he also ran the tractors that demolish the buildings. He informed me that he would do his best to steer clear of our area till the final moment. Here are some pictures of the 'clean up' around town.



The next couple weeks were difficult for our church not knowing what would happen with our building. We thank God that after a couple of weeks, the government decided to suspend further demolition until after the tournament. I would like to thank those of you who prayed for us during that time and sent notes of encouragement. Your prayers made all the difference in the circumstances here.

Before we began the drama, I received a surprise phone call from a good friend of mine; Pastor Ed Gutierrez. He informed me that in December he would be preaching the Harvester's in Cameroon and that he and his wife Julie realized how close it was to Gabon. As they began looking deeper into it they realized that the price of the ticket would be the same if he stopped here in Gabon first. I was over-joyed. It had been a couple months since our last revival and I knew it would be after March before we could schedule another one. The timing was perfect, especially to follow up with the new converts we were expecting from the upcoming drama.



When Pastor Ed arrived, the timing could not have been better for us and for the church. As many of you already know, Sara and I owe much who & where we are today to Pastor Ed and his wife Julie. They were the Youth pastors in Tucson while we were in our teenage years. If it were not for my relationship with Pastor Ed at that critical time in my life, I know for a fact that we would not be here in Gabon, and may not even be preaching the gospel. His stay here was refreshing to my spiritual life and edifying for my family, which was a bonus, because he really came to minister to the church.



Pastor Ed brought such a maturity of ministry during his week here. He is a great man of God and a tremendous preacher of the gospel. The last fifteen years he has been building a powerful work for God in Fairfield, California. Each and every sermon was directly from God and perfectly timed for our church. He connected immediately with the congregation, even having most names memorized by the third night. The people were excited and grateful and the revival built momentum with each night. By the end of the week, we had seventeen people saved and fifteen filled with the Holy Spirit.



I would just like to take a moment to thank the faithful members of the Fairfield congregation, many of whom I know well, for your investment in sending your Pastor to Africa. You have no idea how much impact he has made on our congregation and in this nation. I would like to encourage you to continue. Continue your giving. Continue sending your Pastor to bless the nations of the world. Continue your monthly support of the church in Cameroon. Continue being a blessing to your Pastor and his wife. It is only in eternity that we will truly see the impact we are making now. May the Lord bless you to continue...



Intertwined in all of these events going on we were able to have a couple water baptisms; one before the revival and one after. We baptized eleven people in all and have seen a great increase in our church. The disciples are growing and taking new converts under their wings and God is being glorified. Please continue to pray for these new converts.



All of this must be said with the deepest gratitude towards the saints of the Tucson congregation who faithfully support us with their notes/calls of encouragement, prayers and finances. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you.