Africa

Greg Anderson and Barrett Hendrickson

I have a friend in North Africa who is sharing the Gospel with people in an area of the world that is hostile towards Christians.  God has called him, his wife, two daughters and son to serve Him by living in and amongst Muslims in a place that does have a great recent past when it comes to the treatment of Christians.  His purpose is to show the people of North Africa the love of Jesus by living in their city and conducting regular, everyday business with them, hopefully finding a place where the Holy Spirit opens their ears to the presentation of God’s love for them.

I hope this letter finds you in a place where you know that as well.  Nothing is more important than recognizing that God loved us so much that “for our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

One of the ways that we show we are God’s righteousness is by living out that faith, and telling people who Jesus is.  My plan is to visit my friend in Africa.  While to some, it may not seem like the greatest time to go, I believe it is time for me to step out of my comfort zone and open my worldview to include what being part of the persecuted Church might look like. 

I, and another friend named Greg are going to visit our friend. Our trip will occur this Summer from June 25th to July 7th.   We pray that our presence will provide good encouragement to our friends.  Living in this area is joyful but difficult for this family.  They will benefit by having friends come and work with them in their context.  Specifically we will serve the local community by participating in a kids summer camp while we are there.  This camp will focus on kids learning English and sports.  Greg will be teaching English while I will be helping by leading music and teaching sports.  There are others coming from different parts of the the United States and Europe to participate in the camp as well.  All this is to build bridges for this community to the gospel.  

I am specifically writing you for prayer.  We need individuals who will pray for us and our friends. Please pray that our wives kids will continue to be awesome here in Pittsburgh while we are serving with our friends.  Pray for God to make His will incredibly clear in our lives.  Pray for the people that we come in contact with, that they will “have ample cause to glory in Christ” because of our being around. (Philippians 1:26)  Pray for peace in this area that has had recent turmoil. Pray that our friends would be encouraged and feel loved and supported by our church community.   Pray for the ongoing work in this part of the world.

Hebron Church has already generously supported us financially.  However, you can feel free to support us financially if the Lord leads you to do so.  We are being asked to raise money to help support deferring the cost of putting on this camp.   Primarily we are asking people to pray for us as I have indicated above.  Please let us know if we can count on you to pray for us during our time in North Africa.  Feel free to call or email if you are able to commit to praying for us. We will also post on Twitter and Facebook a daily prayer request, leading up to our trip, or if you'd like, here is our prayer list:

May 27-31-logistics of camp

27-That the building will be open and a great place for students to go

28-That students will show (get rides, walk...ext.) up to learn English

29-Pray for God’s hand in the set up going on now to prepare for camp

30-Pray that there are enough materials and equipment gathered for camp.

31-Pray that all the equipment and materials are ready and useful

June 1-6-security of camp

1-Pray for a general security of camp

2-That God would make camp a safe place for students

3-Pray that there would be openness about Christians sharing their faith

4-That God would provide safe arrivals and departures to and from camp (students and staff)

5-Pray that the police are open and available to protecting camp if needed

6-There would be no problem for the American camp staff getting into North Africa

June 7-13-how to share Gospel stories
7-Pray that God is equipping the leaders and Interns to do His mighty work
8-Pray for the workers, that God will give them a clear mission and plan how to share the amazing message of Christ’s love.
9-Pray that God is changing and preparing those coming from the US to share the Gospel.
10-Reassurance and peace that God will use them to do His work and spread the Gospel.
11-That the Holy Spirit will be present and clearly seen as the workers look for ways to share the Gospel with locals.
12- The stories used will be understood by the students and parents
13- That fear, and satan would be quickly pushed aside, allowing the staff to speak of Jesus

June 14-20- Interns-energy, leadership, focus
14-That God would bring high energy to all leadership
15-Pray that God would fill leadership with His presence
16-Pray that God would give wisdom to leadership in being aware of their surroundings and able to make quick decisions.
17-Pray that God will prepare the interns for a summer in their new surroundings
18-That while learning English, students and family will see the love of Christ in the camp staff
19-The time between arrival and the start of camp will be restful and jetlag quickly disappears
20-Pray that evenings after camp will be great time of rest and reflection

June 21-25- Contacts with families of students.
21-Pray that the frustration of communication would be minimal
22-We and more importantly the workers, are/is welcomed as part of the community
23-Relationships would be started with the staff and students/families
24-Pray that we would be invited into homes to share meals with students and families
25-Many North Africans would come to know Christ through our time together