Fred in the Village: Day 20
Mandi JohnsonDay 20: Clarity
Today was a good day and the first day we woke up late around 9:20am. Everyone was cold this morning and sleep was hard after last night’s rain. So we were all wearing jackets this morning, and everyone was quiet. It wasn’t until breakfast at 10:30 that we even started talking. After breakfast we all got fully ready for the day and went out for mercy ministry. The first hut we visited was the home of Annette. This name might sound familiar to the 2023 AEM US team because she was one of the last people they visited before returning home. Once we realized that, we said our hellos and went on our way.
Mercy Ministry
The second person we visited was a women named Evangeline. The reason I remember that name is because that’s what I want to name my daughter one day. We visited with her for a bit and learned that she was saved. We celebrated that she is a follower of Jesus.
At the next hut we visited we met a women named Marita. Her husband died in 2005 and she has six kids but five of them have grown up. The youngest still lives at home with her, but she struggles paying for his school fees. As we talked to her we learned that AEM built her a hut some time back and provided a goat [Kids4Kids] which has produced an offspring. So we celebrate in that! Once we learned a little about her we cleaned up her compound. When the cleaning was over we talked to her about her faith, but it wasn’t just her we talked to.
We were talking to the seven other men, women, and children around (they were her neighbors). As we explained the gospel to them they all said that they believed in Jesus and that they go to church regularly. We explained that going to church doesn’t mean you’re born again and they said they understood that.
Still Jabeth knew the lady at the house had never made a personal decision to follow Christ and was stuck in sinful living. She said “you’re right, I don’t think I’m saved.” So when Jabeth explained the gospel to her something flipped and she understood it. I feel like the difference between the rest of the team and Jabeth explaining it, was the fact that Jabeth went straight to the point and called her out. On June 28, 2023 Marita gave her life to Christ. Once we prayed with her we headed back to the AEM compound and it was about 3:40pm, and we were surprised by how late it was already.
Once I got back I washed my clothes(hand washed). David was also helping me and as we washed I was telling him how I have been mad these past two days for no reason. Like I was getting annoyed at every little thing, and David told me how he couldn’t tell, and that was the problem. I was hiding my anger inside from people. What I realized was the enemy was getting a foothold in my life where I haven’t been praying as much and reading my Bible these past two days. David told me I just needed to pray, so that’s what I did I prayed and listened to worship music. I know some of you won’t believe this, but after a few minutes of worshiping God I felt this sigh of relief like I could breathe. I don’t know how to explain it…
“Because I’m on a mission trip and I don’t have people I am close with the devil can try and use my loneliness, doubt, and unclearness to bring me away from God. “
Fred Johnson
My verse for the day is Romans 8:16-17 and my prayer for the day is that the devil’s schemes to push me away from God will not work, and that I get closer with God. ~ Fred
P.S. – I saw the very end of an African wedding tonight. It was pretty cool!
African wedding procession on bodas.
