Answered Prayers

Wow has it been good to be back in Africa!  Although living without electricity, toilets, and running water again has been a little shock again to us westerners, we received an even bigger shock of joy this week!

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit a school that Martin started for orphan and underprivileged children.  Before our trip Martin emailed us asking for us to bring children’s books, clothes, shoes or ANYTHING we could fit in our bags.  Flying internationally we are able to bring two bags beneath the plane.  So between Dan Chris and I, we decided we all would cram into our second bag whatever we could get our hands on.  By God’s grace Chris managed to find 25 children’s books for super cheap.  Wednesday we were blessed to witness these being books being given to the children.  Few things in life have brought greater joy than witnessing the joy the teachers and students faces!  After we handed out the books the teacher shared with us that the children have been praying for books for a long, long time!  Hearing this reminded of Job 22:28 

Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.  What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways. 

 Keep praying for these children!

Yesterday and today we had the opportunity to hang out with over 200 youth!  We were able to bring the soccer balls that were donated to us.  These boys and girls play every week with ONE soccer ball that is borrowed.  The other balls are home mad balls out of rubber, bound together in the shape of a ball.  Chris, Dan and I each got to read scripture to the youth and share our hearts on why we came.  Pray for some of the Muslim boys and girls who were there today!  Pray as this soccer ministry continues for Martin, that many will come to faith in Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

Tomorrow we will begin building the water rain catchment tank. Please pray Jesus love is revealed.  Also pray for the handful of church planter we will be training to replicate this as an access ministry for Muslim areas.

Soccer Balls, Water, and Church

When I reflect on 2012, I am left awestruck every time by the things I was blessed to see God accomplish.  A few things that come to mind are the life transformation of some young men in Masiphumelele, Muslim's radically coming to faith, healings, and daily miracles released from persistent  and fervent prayer.  If I didn't believe Habakkuk 1:5 before 2012, I sure do now.

"Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."

During my CPx training in Cape Town February - April 2012, I met a humble church planter from Kenya.  When he shared some of his stories, you couldn't help but relate it to Habakkuk 1:5  While doing ministry together in Cape Town our Kenyan friend often planted the idea often about visiting him in Kenya.  Little did we know a year later this would become a reality.  Thursday February 7th - March 11th we will be journeying to together into Kenya and Uganda.  Our team will consist of two of my great friends.

- Chris and I dreamed together about a trip together to Africa via skype in July 2012 while I was in Senegal! Here we are 6 months later about to about to cross the large pond together and land in Africa.  Chris and high went to high school together. He has a passionate heart for prayer and missions.

- My other good friend Dan and I were on the same track team together in college, lived together in Cape Town, and now are current roommates in Minneapolis.  Dan is a man of may things but his integrity and grace stick out in my mind.  I am so blessed to have serve and learn from both of these guys!

One of our main objectives during our time in Kenya is to build this simple Water Rain Catchment Tank. It provides & stores clean drinking water from rain fall!  Justice Water is the excellent non profit organization that helped train some of us in Cape Town.  Our goal for this Rain Catchment Tank is to not only provide clean drinking water, but specifically to assist Martin and some of his church planters to gain access into some of the surrounding Muslim Villages and talk about Living Water!

Our next goal is to run a soccer training camp for the surrounding Muslim villages.  Anytime you combine African villages and a soccer ball, there is no telling how many  people will show up.  Last Friday we generously had 20 soccer balls donated to us by Give A Kick, a non profit organization that sponsors soccer balls!  Our only cost is to pay the expedited shipping fee!

Our last goal is to visit some of the house churches in Uganda. These house churches are located in villages with many surrounding Muslims.  We hope to serve, love, encourage, and pray for some of these churches that God would bless them and use them in mighty ways for the kingdom!


Thanks for all of your love, support and prayers! Check out this blog for more updates in the upcoming weeks. If you would like to be added to my email prayer/trip updates please send me an email at jay-quick@bethel.edu

Angels Rejoicing

After spending nearly 50 days waiting in Ivory Coast, our team was anxious to hit the road again.

If I have ever lacked trust in God’s timing before, I can testify now all the more how he places you where you need to be, more than where you think you should be.  As if that isn’t enough, our God gets you where you need to be and when you need to be.

Despite the month long setback, we made our way towards the middle of Ivory Coast.  We visited 4 villages in the same day, and in all four villages we saw signs of God moving.  Specifically in the second village we visited.  After our time was coming to a close we asked if there was anyone sick or injured we could pray for.  The village enthusiastically said yes as a handful of people asked for specific prayers.  As we were sitting in an open wooden framed grass hut, we prayed for five people.  After we were done praying, every one thanked us before we were going to leave.  But that wasn’t the end.  We felt stirred to pray again , but this time we requested that all of the children around watching laid hands and prayed with us.  This time as we finished praying, an elderly African lady was beaming.  Her smile seemed to reach both ears.  Through the translator she explained to us the pain was gone! She went on to say she was hurt last week carrying a lot of wood and couldn’t turn her back.  She pointed her finger and waved it back and forth signaling no as she started twisting rapidly side to as if she was trying to win a hoola hoop contest!  She explained I couldn’t do this before :)

 

This next story in Burkina Faso has made my trip.  While we were visiting our second village of the day, again we were about to leave before we saw a boy who was blind in one eye.  Of course hoping for our God to move again through a healing, we asked to pray for him.  As we finished praying and started to say our good byes, one of the elders of the community asked us to pray for a girl who was severely burned.  A little later we found out severe meant she didn’t have skin for a large part of her stomach, right thigh, and right hand.  The only treatment she had for her severe burns was wrapping them in leaves.  So we prayed for the girl and began to think what can we possibly do to help this girl out?  While we were processing a man came from the back of the village came and began speaking to our translator/church planter.  This man said he wanted to accept Christ.  He went on to say what we were doing in the village was a good thing.  He had been thinking about accepting Jesus for a while now, but today he made sure.  In the moment when he got down on his knees and cried out to God, I could feel the Angels in heaven rejoicing over this once lost soul.  Suddenly having skipped lunch,  running on lack of sleep, and standing in 100+ degree heat didn’t matter anymore.  The only thing that matters in the end was happening in that moment, I will never forget it.Shortly after the man accepted Christ, he met with a church planter to decide when he would be baptized and when they could set up times of discipleship.

After this man confessed his faith we decided the girl with the burns could not continue in the state she was in.  We elected to drive her to the nearest hospital.  We dropped her off and waited a little while before we left.  When our team was paying for her medical bill we learned she had a disease.  If she would not have been brought into the hospital in the next three days, she would have fallen into a coma and died.  Suddenly the extra month in Ivory Coast started to make a little more sense.

Isaiah 55:9 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We ask that you pray for this village in Southwest Burkina Faso.  It is still very much unreached, and mostly Muslim.  Pray God uses this man who as accepted Christ as a great influence in the community.  Also pray the girl who we took the hospital that she may see the love and light of Jesus in the situation!