We just got back from visiting with more of Pastor Mendy’s friends. One, a pastor who had faced a lot of persecution Including rocks being thrown at him and men coming in and threatening him while he was preaching. Talk about a distraction!
But the story I must share with you is of the second person we met. I’m not going to give his name, but the story is amazing! For clarity purposes, we’ll call him Aaron. (Again, not his real name.)
We went to the first night of the crusade tonight. In a word, it was amazing! We met under some trees with a small stage and plastic lawn chairs for people to sit in. There was a very basic sound system, some drums and a keyboard. That’s it. Nothing special. I will post some pictures on my twitter account. The amazing part? God.
Over 230 people came to hear the Gospel! They walked, came in cars, ride donkeys, I even saw a van full of people with people sitting on the top of it! Rick was very gracious and let me preach tonight. God moved in such a way that when I finished Pastor Mendy gave an alter call and over 10 people came forward to accept Jesus Christ! Praise God! After that, Pastor Mendy asked that anyone who was suffering with any kind of sickness come forward. They did and all the pastors, Rick and I included, prayed over them. The entire night was just amazing.
We are back at the hotel now. Tomorrow Pastor Mendy will pick us up at 10:00 am and take us into town to meet people again, then tomorrow night Rick will preach at the crusade. Pastor Mendy said there will be more people there tomorrow night, and still more Sunday. I can’t wait!
In Christ,
jon walton
Greetings everyone! Let me put minds at rest, Rick and I are both doing very well. Neither of us are feeling sick or in any kind of danger.
Pastor Mendy took us to meet the ambassador this morning. He is very nice and has incredible knowledge about The Gambia. He is from Kentucky, which lead to us talking college football! You really never know what God has in store for you on a trip like this!
After meeting with the Ambassador, pastor Mendy took us to see the land he had bought to build a church. (He is currently renting a space, an it is somewhat small.) The land is in “the bush” as he called it. And while it wasn’t a jungle, it was wilderness. We drove until the “interstate” turned to a dirt road, far from town and most people. When we arrived he showed us an area 100 x 200 meters. Then he told us God had provided this place and he wanted not only to build a church here, but a Christian School as well! It was really amazing. Standing there with Pastor Rick I said, “So many people in America will never understand this. There aren’t words in the English language to express the sights here. You have to put your feet on this ground and see these things to understand.” Thinking back on that, it rings more true now than even then.
We left that location and Pastor Mendy took us to meet some young men he is training up to be pastors and see the place we are going to be preaching in the crusade. There, we meet Paul, one of the young men who described what the people here in The Gambia needed to hear. “When I preach about sin, it gets the people’s attention.” He said. “They need to hear that God will not bless them when they are drinking, and fornicating, and stealing. That brings God’s Judgment. But, when they obey God, that is when God can bless them.” Sounds so familiar. They may not live in the same way we do, but there are some things in this human life that transcend culture.
Tomorrow night we start the crusade. Pray that God would give us the words to preach and that God would open hearts of the people we are speaking to!
In Christ,
jon walton
P.S. The app I have to post this blog is not allowing me to post pictures here. I am putting some on my twitter account and Facebook.
We have made it safely to The Gambia and have checked into our hotel. We have been greeted warmly by everyone so far. i cant wait to see what all God has in store for us!
We are both doing well health wise with no sickness, and God has already given us strength! As soon as we got checked in, Pastor Bidwell Mendy asked if we would like to go to his prayer meeting at his church. We actually wound up both preaching. It is amazing to think we are in Africa sharing about Jesus!
Tomorrow we will go to the embassy to meet the ambassador. Then we will be going out to the village where we will have a Gospel Crusade Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Pray that Jesus would go before us prepare hearts even now.
Thank you again for all your prayers and support!
In Christ,
jon walton
Rick and I have made it safely to Brussels. We are both excited to get to The Gambia and are both feeling well.
In an awesome moment, I met a wonder lady by the name of Gloria from Italy on the way here and had the opportunity to minister to her. She got scared due to turbulence on the flight, so I took her hand and prayed with her for our safety. All due to our first flight getting canceled. I’m so thankful Jesus knows what He is doing!
I don’t know when our next update will be. I am uploading this over a roaming data network and there is no free wifi here that I have found. Next chance I get, I will, but it may be a few days. Thanks for your prayers.
In Christ,
jon walton
We have landed safely in Philadelphia. Now it’s on to the next flight and to Brussels. Thanks for your prayers and I will update again when I can!
In Christ,
jon walton
We are in Knoxville, but there has been a slight change in plans. Our flight to Chicago was canceled. Not big deal for our God though. We are on flight #2588 on US Airways to Philadelphia, then catching a flight to Brussels from there. All making it in time for our next flight to The Gambia. As Rick said when we checked in, “God’s sovereignty. We weren’t suppose to be on that one.”
Thanks for your continued prayers! I’ll update when I can!
In Christ,
jon walton
