Pastor A

I am finally home and in my own bed! This mission trip could best be described as one of the most awesome, yet difficult, I have ever participated. My heart has been greatly challenged, stirred, and rebuked to have personally seen the ferocious power of Islam and its death grip on 1.3 billion (with a “b”) people. There are 34 million people in Morocco and just three independent Baptist churches. My rebuke comes from seeing and talking with people who HAVE suffered persecution for their faith. They have been cut-off from families, isolated, been arrested, spent time in jail and yet, they continue on! These worldly setbacks have not deterred or shaken their faith in our great God.

I had to ask myself, “What would my response be if I were arrested for simply giving someone a copy of the Word of God?” I met “S” who has been arrested twice. What would I do if I told my mother or father that I had become a Christian and their response, “I don’t ever want to see or talk to you again. You were born a Muslim.” I met at least two people that have experienced this response. I really think I found out what it means to be “lukewarm” in God’s eyes. I won’t say this with a “we” but I will say this for me… I am a “soft” Christian. I love the Lord and my family. But I’ve never had to suffer anything for Christ. I am not implying that I want to suffer BUT I do wonder if I am ready to suffer for my Lord? If the day comes that I am no longer able to give someone the Bible and the punishment for doing so is going to jail; would I merely just stop giving Bibles? I do know this… I have a responsibility to be an “on fire” Christian that is hot and is cold for my Lord. No holding back… no fear of men… no worry that someone at TBT might be offended by preaching the Word of God… I must be actively and faithfully serving Him the rest of my days. continue reading

It is Friday around midnight and I am sitting at the CMN airport (Casablanca, Morocco) waiting for my flight to Frankfurt, Germany at 02:25 Saturday morning.

Today has been very, very long and a most worthwhile day. We had breakfast together with the missionary family and it was a wonderful time of fellowship and recap of the week thus far. I went with the missionary to return the rental car and to have his son’s haircut. Upon returning from these errands we loaded up my luggage and then took one of the pastors-in-training with us to Casablanca from Rabat. This was about 1:15 minute drive. I answered many, many questions from “M” about the ministry, studying for messages, and evaluating potential leaders in the church.

We went to the church location in Casablanca and I took pictures with the men and of the building. There are three rooms (main meeting room for 25-30 and two SS classrooms). We picked up “S” from this location. “S” is scheduled to be voted in as the pastor of this church next Sunday, June 23. He is a dynamic young man that is being used of the Lord in a mighty way. We then headed to a man’s house to do a two-hour Bible study. “M” translated for me so that I could understand all that was discussed. Each man shared a prayer request regarding who he was personally trying to reach with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. continue reading

It is now Friday morning here in Morocco. Today is scheduled to be very busy! The missionary and I will drive over to Casablanca from Rabat. A Bible study is scheduled with a group of new believers followed by follow-up with several who have requested Bibles on their on-line Bible study program. Around 10:00 p.m. tonight I will finally head to the Casablanca airport to begin my journey back to Tucson that will take approximately 27 hours. I fly from Casablanca to Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago to Denver and finally to Tucson.

Yesterday was a great day of ministry here in Rabat, Morocco. The missionary and I met with four preachers-in-training and for several hours taught on a variety of subjects. What an awesome privilege to teach the Word of God and about ministry! After spending this time with this group of preachers we had a group lunch and the missionary’s wife made spaghetti. It was delicious and I ate a lot of it. continue reading

It is now in the early hours of Thursday morning. Instead of going to bed just yet, I will write about today. As I shared yesterday, I am in Marrakech, Morocco where two million people live. I think I saw half of them in the town square today. WOW there are a lot of people here and it is hot.

This morning our team met with the missionary and his family at 8:00 a.m. to begin our day. One of the Moroccan  pastors shared devotions with the group. I had the opportunity to spend around six hours today speaking about a variety of topics with this team that has been assembled here for this week. I answered lots of questions regarding training teachers, training workers, sermon preparation, soulwinning, ministry outreach, discipleship, etc.

Part of the days scheduled activities was to travel up in the mountains outside of Marrakech where thousands live; yet, there is not a single known believer. Islam has a grip on this area and most of Morocco. The people have never heard about Jesus Christ and what he accomplished at Calvary 2,000 years ago. In fact, there are only three Independent Baptist missionaries in the entire country of Morocco, a country that has a greater land mass than the size of Texas. Can you imagine that? THREE! The need is great. Have you ever driven across the state of Texas either E to W or N to S? Can you imagine if there were only three Independent Baptist pastors in the entire state? This is the way it is here in Morocco with millions upon millions who have never even heard once about the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. continue reading

Much has happened since my last update… it is now Wednesday morning and I am in Marrakech, Morocco. This is a city of two million people that has no Baptist work of any kind. But before I write about Morocco…

It was a sad and tearful good-bye as I left Jennifer in Kampala. I know she will do well but I can only imagine how “scared” she will be to be in a third-world country with virtually no “creature comforts” as we know them. I know that she will come back a very changed y0ung lady and ready for all that God has before her. She had a pretty good cold when I left so I know that will not help her for the first few days.

Marvin took me to the bus station at 9:30 p.m. and it was quite an experience. It was dirty, smelly, and full of people that did not have my best interest at heart. I boarded the bus as soon as the door opened. The bus was not that clean but it worked. We drove eight hours before we arrived in Kampala (an even scarier experience) and I was thankful to see my name written on a piece of paper as a crowd of 25 or so crowded around the bus with everyone screaming “taxi”. We retrieved my luggage from below and walked to his taxi (a car with a broken door handle and a seat that was falling apart. We then drove another 1:15 minutes to Entebbe. continue reading

Sunday was  a great day! Grace and Peace BC had 83 in their Sunday morning service. This church is just five years young! It is remarkable in so many ways what the Lord has accomplished through Marvin and Jewell Wright. Their crowns will be immense one day in heaven for their faithful and tireless labor of love for the Ugandan people. There were three visitors from the Congo today. The nine nursing students were also in the service as first time visitors. These people love to sing. I hope to post some of their singing on FB once a connection is possible.

We began with SS at 9:30 a.m. (there is much set-up prior to that as four locations are used) and then had our service at 10:45 a.m. It was a privilege to preach God’s Word here in this remote part of the world. For 45 minutes everyone sat perfectly still, took notes, and listened intently. It was amazing to watch the reactions and interactions with the members and visitors. continue reading

Saturday has now come to a close and “WOW”, this day has been busy! We began this morning at 7:00 a.m. with a service and prayer time. I must confess that when Marvin said we would meet at 7:00 a.m. that I wondered how many would show up considering everyone walks or rides a bicycle. To my surprise (and shame) over 20 adults showed up for this prayer service. I preached on five areas that each one of us should pray for every single day in our life. We then had prayer time that lasted for 45 minutes after the preaching time. These people are serious about their faith and it shows in this ministry.

After prayer time we took the Bible college students into the town of Arua to pick-up personal supplies at the massive market where there are thousands of people. It was hot and humid so it did not take long to break out into a sweat. I’m so thankful for the DRY heat in Tucson! Jennifer went with us so that she could see the market. She was the absolutely most beautiful white girl in the entire market… oh, she was the only white girl in the entire market. She would have still been the prettiest but she had no competition in this event. continue reading

It is Friday evening and another day is coming to a close; that is, around 8:00 p.m. The electricity goes out between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. It is dark, really dark here after the electricity is off. It is so very different to live in darkness for 10-11 hours a day. It is so different to only have electricity two to two and one-half hours per day. Yet, the Wrights make it and even seem to thrive. I am spoiled! To carry a flashlight after 8:00 p.m. is quite different. Going to the bathroom or reading or just laying in bed… the flashlight is your security blanket.

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We are now coming to the end of another day. Electricity is on for about an hour up to two hours per day. It is amazing to me that this is the way of life and everyone is fine with this setup. There are no complaints or concerns that there are no lights, computers, electric appliances, etc. Lights are used until 8:00 p.m. and then it is off to bed.

Last night is rained very hard for a long time. It was delightful to listen to the rain and to smell the rain. There are no windows in the house so you can feel the breeze and smells from outside. Today it has really been humid. For Jennifer and I it has been magnified as we are not accustomed to humidity in Tucson. I’ve been sweating all day… yuck! continue reading

This trip has been good but very long. We finally were able to enter the airport at 6:30 a.m. to check-in at Eagle Air. I reserved our seats on-line but have yet to pay. As I approached the counter, remember this is a third-world country and airport, there is one young lady and her English is elementary at best. I have yet to pay for our tickets and somehow we were able to take of this after swapping money back and forth several times for all bills had to be newer than 2006. Frankly, my eyes were so tired that I could not even see the small print on the bills so I had to pass them to this young lady so that she could read them. We were finally able to pay for the tickets when she then had me weigh our luggage. We had to pay $25 for each suitcase. That is expensive when you think of American prices. I told her this was much more than America and she said, “Have you seen the plane you be flying in?” continue reading