Greetings! I feel like I need to re-introduce myself since it has been such a long time between posts. I offer my apology but no excuses. I simply have not been diligent in this area. Hopefully you have been kept up-to-date by my twitter feed with which I am a little more disciplined.
The year has gone by so quickly. I last reported to you in December concerning the outstanding revival we had with Pastor Ed Gutierrez. We have not had a set of revival meetings since that time but we have had revival. God has been steadily building His church here in Libreville.
We followed the revival in December with a season of fasting and prayer in January, praying for God to continue to give us breakthrough in this nation. That same month we started a New Convert's Class and by the end of February graduated eight people. We took time at the end of February to celebrate the four year anniversary of the church here in Libreville.
In January and February, the nation of Gabon hosted the African Cup of Nations which is the continent’s premiere soccer event. Many people flooded into the capitol which presented us with extra evangelism opportunities.
March was a special time for me and my wife as we celebrated fifteen wonderful years of marriage. I’m so grateful for a wonderful wife that is willing to lay down her life for the will of God. She has been far beyond what I could have ever dreamed for and I cherish her with all my heart.
In April we began to prepare our hearts as a congregation for the Tucson Conference that was coming in June. We started a season of prayer and fasting every Friday night. These times of prayer were powerful for the congregation as we gathered together to seek His face and direction for our lives. Each week we had between thirty to forty people participating in the fasting and evening prayer meeting.
It was in late March that the owner of our building approached us about moving to one of his other buildings that was much larger. He saw that the building we were in was getting small for us and offered for us to look at the other one. The new building was three times larger but would require a lot of work. We were able to negotiate a price that would be a step of faith for our congregation but which was also a generous offer from the owner.
In partnership with the Tucson congregation we were able to put down the required amount to secure the building and we began work. It was a lot of work!!! We had to put down a subfloor, build a bathroom, paint, put up lights and electrical outlets, build a stage and a storage room. We finished most of the work by the end of April and had our first service on the 29th. It was a glorious time! Over the ensuing weeks, God began to bring increase to each of our services.
In June we left for the Tucson Conference and it was AWESOME! We were able to see all of our family and friends and were refreshed by the word of God. We had two people from our church here in Gabon join us for the conference. They paid their own way, had a great time and I believe that their lives will never be the same. They have returned recharged with a fresh vision and insight to what God is doing in the world.
We returned to Gabon to a rather pleasant surprise; the church had grown while we were gone. The Sunday we returned was our largest attendance ever with 131. Since then we have not had a Sunday morning service with less than a hundred people in attendance. The disciples not only did a wonderful job running the church but also in evangelizing and locking people into the church. The church feels different since we returned; things happen now, with or without us. God is moving and the people have taken ownership of the church.
Since January, we have prayed with more than 150 people in our services and on our outreaches. We have baptized 22 in that same time and God is building His church, one soul at a time.
We started a New Convert’s Class when we returned and are set to graduate 19 by the end of August. Please pray for us as we are planning our first revival of the year in September with Pastor Set-son from Namibia. The paperwork is in process and once his visa is approved we will be looking forward to a powerful time in the Lord.
Thanks for your patience with the blog and in reading this posting. I pray that it blesses and encourages you to continue praying for us and seeking the will of God for your life.
