May Newsletter
We are settling into the guesthouse ministry and preparing a place for you so we can move into church planting. We have four apartments available and can house up to 24 people, so start praying about sending a team. Michele has spent much of her time unpacking and updating the guesthouse with new sheeting, linens, and decor. She even drafted help from BIMI (Baptist International Missions, Inc.) missionary Sarah Jenkins, who has a beautiful servant's heart. She has stayed in the ABWE guesthouse many times over her years of service here in The Gambia and was a joy to have to lend a helping hand.
Almost all the linens have been replaced in the kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms through much work. Thanks to the many donations from our supporters from over a year ago who adopted beds and rooms when we were packing our shipping container. Now the apartments look more like hotel suites.
After much unpacking and reorganizing on Patrick’s part, he spent time getting his bearings as the Mission Director. From how to file tax forms to making sure our NGO (Non-Government Organization) is within acceptable parameters so we may stay in the country. He also made some connections with a few local pastors to seek out needs.
One of the connections made is with a thriving church that God is using for His glory. As we cleaned out much of the guesthouse’s abundance, we had close to 30 chairs stored that we are no longer using. We prayed about what to do with them, and the Lord led us to reach out to this church. We were unaware, on that Monday, the deacons met about not having chairs for the children's church, and removing chairs out of the main sanctuary into the children's areas was a problem. They started praying about how to solve this problem and thought they would have to add this to the building project they already had in motion. We called them that Wednesday, and before Sunday service they were placed in the classrooms ready to assist in teaching the next generation. God is good.
The same church was holding a fundraiser for their building expansion which we were happy to attend. We were blown away by how well the event was run and really enjoyed ourselves. They even asked us to be part of their family Sunday, which is something they do whenever there is a 5th Sunday in a month. Alyssa, Danielle, and Luke were happy to be part of the events and even got a part in the youth worship dance routine.
Praise and Prayer Requests
~ Pray for God to send more labors to The Gambia.
~Pray for coming partnerships with local Christians.
~Pray for us to find God's leading for His glory.
~Praise God for His leading and direction
~Pray for Michele as she disciples her language helper who is a new believer.
In Christ,
The Reeds
Patrick, Michele, Alyssa, Danielle, Luke
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