August Newsletter 2026

4 days ago

3 min read

A trip to the village of Ndungu Kebbeh, never disappoints. Our colleague Alison is staying in the city near us while we discuss and plan ABWE’s future in The Gambia. Unfortunately, this requires traveling back and forth to pay employee salaries and maintain the village ministry while it stays mostly vacant. Traveling alone on a long journey is never fun, so Michele joined as her travel buddy. Every ferry ride brings an adventure filled with loads of people, vehicles, and every barnyard animal you can imagine, along with the possibility of the ferry breaking down between ports. Praise the Lord, God was with them and provided a quick crossing. Michele brought homemade cookies, since it is customary to bring a gift when returning from a trip, and she, of course, has not seen them in a year. One long-time employee asked for prayer, as many do, and after her prayer, she said, “In Jesus’ name, amen,” which she had never done before despite years of hearing the gospel and praying with ABWE missionaries. Please pray for her as God continues to open her eyes to the power of Jesus’ name.

Planning and preparations for mission trips, school, our ministry, and all future plans amount to a full-time job. God attends to the details even when you’re sitting in the dark. As rainy season blows into full swing, as does a much-expected lack of electricity. Some years, the second we hear rain hit the tin roof, the electricity cuts out. Nowadays, more and more people have air-conditioning, and it overtaxes the power grid, or the power plant runs out of fuel. The power company, however, puts out a notice that they are starting a load-sharing rotation. Thus, the power company rations our electricity in shifts, cutting it off for up to 12 hours each day at different times. We treasure our generators; unfortunately, this increases the cost, as fuel is more expensive than general electricity costs.

In this planning stage, we decided to try our hand at the British school system here in The Gambia. Danielle had requested to attend a Cambridge school since before our furlough, so when we arrived, contacting the schools topped our list. The schools require entrance exams, and their system differs greatly from our homeschooling, so Michele spent hours this month prepping both Luke and Danielle for the exams. Fortunately, they passed and entered a brand-new season of private school.

Every month has wins and losses, and the Internet counted among the losses, disappearing for hours on some days and crawling at the best of times. Last month, the Internet crippled Michele’s efforts, taking her almost a week to send out the newsletter. She had it finished and ready to go, but the Internet refused to cooperate. God gave us a win and answered our prayer; fiber-optic Internet has reached our compound.

Prayers & Praises

~ Pray for Patrick’s father Bruce’s cancer treatments.

~ Pray for Alison as she settles into Gambian city life.

~ Pray for Joan Schmitz on her well-deserved furlough

~ Pray for Alyssa as she starts a new semester of college.

~ Praise God for good internet and communications

~ Pray for our planning and preparations for the upcoming months of ministry.

In Christ,

The Reeds - Patrick, Michele, Alyssa, Danielle, and Luke

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