Pay Attention

West Africa is an area where it is not difficult to share the Gospel. Of course it comes with its own challenges, but the people here are so devoted to keeping the peace that it is easy to share what you believe. Since arriving, most days we have engaged in conversations about God with multiple people. We use the Bible to teach English, have Conversation Clubs where we teach Bible stories, and have discussions about the truths of the Bible. The issue has been that no matter how many times we share, and the countless times the leaders here have already shared, the students here sometimes just don't seem to understand.

I have always heard that no one can accept and understand the Bible as truth without the working of the Holy Spirit, and I've never seen that so clearly displayed as I have this summer. We passionately share our own experiences with God, and we try to "reason and persuade" as Paul did when he spoke, but it always feels like there is a block in communication. I think that what I've discovered is that people don't really listen on their own. Like the story of the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16, we need God to open our hearts so that we can pay attention. We need God to move before we can experience the truth of His Word. 

Please pray for our team as we continue to share, that we won't tire of speaking truth.

Please pray for the people of West Africa, that God would allow them to hear, understand, and believe. 

-Hailey
English in Africa