Jonathan and Naomi had their bags packed and their leaving date was set. However, despite it being past the expected date for moving they are still in the capital. Following a series of meetings with the leadership team and those who have many years of church planting experience in West Africa the team are considering whether it would be better for them to start in a different town to where they originally planned with a slightly different strategy to what they had initially intended.
So that is where they are at… please would you to continue to pray for Jonathan, Naomi and the rest of the team. It is an emotional time for them as a family with all the changes and they need much wisdom in terms of direction In moving forward.
It has been a busy few weeks since finishing French study, and far from having a bit of down time they have been crazily busy. Packing, visiting, courses/workshops, home schooling, finishing projects that had been assigned as part of the language programme, sickness…
The highlight of this time has been visiting believers who they know and explaining to them what they plan to do. In Africa, solidarity is a precious value – far more so than in England. There is an expression that your first family are the neighbours who live around you. And this cultural value of “solidarity” has been such a huge help to Jonathan and Naomi as their African friends get on board with the vision for their ministry and see that they are “together” in the work the Lord has placed in front of them.
Jonathan and Naomi’s co-workers have been living in a town nearby to where the people live that they desire to reach. There are huge advantages to living in the village in terms of relationships, learning culture (the “glasses” through which they see the world and will interpret God’s Word) and language. These are key for their ministry but this is not currently possible. Please would you pray for them as a team as they think and pray over the best way to get alongside the group of people to share the blessings of Christ.