We would like to thank you for praying for our Thanksgiving weekend outreach to the Koulouck area. We returned from the weekend physically exhausted but spiritually invigorated by the experience.
Our school theme this year is "Refresh!" and we pray that this outreach weekend brought spiritual refreshment to dry and dusty Koulouck. We were able to minister to over 1800 people through drama, childrens Bible clubs, a medical team, and evening evangelism campaigns. The medical team set a new record in providing healing care to 260 people. We did meet some resistance in that the drama team was refused access to 2 villages, and in another village, after receiving initial permission and setting up for their program, they were told to leave. But they were able to present the Gospel in 6 villages during the course of the weekend. In addition to the ministry teams, we had teams that painted 2 different churches, a team that built and placed roof trusses, a team that built 23 benches, and a team that cleared, leveled, and installed goals for a soccer field. We initiated the soccer field by having a soccer game on Sat. afternoon between the DA boys and the village soccer team which ended in a tie. At half time, we were able to present the Gospel using the wordless soccer ball. We left uniforms and 2 wordless soccer balls for the village soccer team. In addition to all this, we had teams working steadily on hauling and filtering water to keep us hydrated for the whole weekend. You can imagine how much water a group of 120 people can go through in such a dry and dusty area. There was no electricity or running water where we camped.
Before we left the DA campus, we reminded the 120 going on the weekend of the need to be FLEXIBLE. This ended up being the key word for the weekend as we faced all kinds of glitches here and there. We had vehicle break-downs, a couple of items were inadvertently left behind, and our planned schedule had to be revamped as we went along. But in spite of the inconveniences of these curve balls thrown our way, the attitudes of the students were exemplary and God's name was still glorified and lifted high in the Koulouck area. In fact, many times when things do not go as planned, it's then that we are able to show God's supernatural grace in the face of difficult circumstances.
The weekend culminated in a combined worship service involving Dakar Academy, the International Baptist Church from Dakar who have also been ministering in this village, and the local African believers. Following the worship service, there were 5 believers who were baptized. This was a special celebration. There will be a small team that will return to Koulouck to finish off roofing the church, hopefully before Christmas.
Please continue to pray for the believers in Koulouck. We heard a number of times of how encouraged they were by the ministry of our students and staff this weekend. It is a privilege to be a part of what God is continuing to do in advancing His Kingdom in Senegal!
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