Later today, my family and I will board a plane for a short furlough in the U.S. My heart is full thinking about the wonderful people in our lives whom we will not get to see for the next two months. They truly are our joy and our crown (Philippians 4:1; I Thessalonians 2:19). I wish I could bring them all to the States with us and introduce them to you, but I will just mention several of them in this letter. I am looking forward to introducing them by video and by testimony as our family visits different churches over the next couple of months.
Our Sunday school class member Esther is a teacher in a public school. She messaged me yesterday that she had the opportunity to present the Gospel to her school children in the school’s morning devotional time.
On Monday, I visited our class member Stephen. He is ill with heart issues. You should see the concoction of eight different drugs the doctors prescribed to him. It seems like a shotgun approach to me. Looking up the drugs online, I found that they are trying to treat malaria, seizures, diabetes, and the heart issues all at the same time. Some of the drugs contradict one another in a major way. Brother Stephen says he gets sleepy and must take a nap after taking his pills. No wonder! Please pray for him.
God has been doing a great work in the life of Patrice. I invited him to church in March 2018. He got saved in Sunday school the first Sunday he attended. He has not missed a week since. He is now faithful to all of our services and brings visitors often. He has recently started going soul winning with me. Saturday, he and I were able to win 5 of his friends to Christ. Then yesterday, he went out soul winning with another class member Osei. Each of them won 1 person to Christ. People here are so receptive to the Gospel! Patrice and his visitor Anthony also volunteered to be baptistery workers, filling an important need.
In our Bible college earlier this month, I was privileged to teach on the life of Christ to Stephen, Isaac, Collins, Louis, and Dominic. Also, two gentlemen in their 70s paid me a visit last week; John and Thomas have both received two-year diplomas from our Bible college. They both traveled some distance to express their desire to continue in our Bible college and earn their bachelor’s degrees. Due to their age, they are hoping I can put them in a “fast track” program. I am humbled by their continued desire to learn.
Our family would appreciate your prayers as we travel between Virginia and Minnesota over the next couple of months. Pray that our family will be a blessing to those we meet. Pray that God will give us boldness to win souls for Him while in the States. (May God lead us to Americans who are as receptive to the Gospel as most Ghanaians.) Pray that God would help us stir up many believers to do their part to fulfill the Great Commission. We still have a few open dates while we are in Virginia in June; if you know of a church that might be interested in hearing from a missionary to Africa, I have a missionary whom I can recommend.
Your servants and His,
Mike, Maria, John, Joy, Faith, and Ben Sarver