Mission Report From Mark Garrett
REPORT FROM: MARK & CANDY GARRETT (SENEGAL W. AFRICA) December 19, 2017 God's salt in the salt flats of Senegal.
The DA Outreach on Thanksgiving weekend took the team to the Saloum River delta. No mountains here! The striking flat terrain, littered with salt collecting basins, greeted the team on the way to the ferry. This was a reminder that the team was to be salt (and light) in this corner of the world as God's witnesses to His power and love.
The river town of Foundiougne has a mixed population of Serere, Wolof, and Pulaar. The outreach touched people from each ethnic group and will have some very long-lasting effects.
The DA team of 125 fielded several teams: Campsite, Food prep, Foundation, Drama, Kid's Club, Welding windows, Painting, Medical, Village film showings, Evening evangelistic campaigns, Prayer, & Sound/Film crew.
The Foundation crew tackled the largest foundation yet attempted on an outreach. They dug and poured the base for a new Christian school with three classrooms!
Local children love the kids clubs and the Drama Team. These teams performed for about 1,000 people each!
Anne was part of the prayer team while Mark translated the health complaints of the locals from Wolof into English so that the medical staff could efficiently focus on the problem at hand. The medical team consulted with over 375 people!!!
Bryan supervised the sound crew for the evangelistic meetings and worked with a DA student to film the many facets of the event.
God was watching over Mark and the 30 DA students he was shepherding in a local bus. The bus had a smoking front wheel bearing! In spite of the unlikelihood of finding a mechanic AND the part on a Sunday afternoon in a small town, we found both! The driver of the bus had an extra wheel bearing with him! PTL!
God also gave Mark an open door to share the Gospel in Wolof with three guys on the side of the road where the bus was being repaired. He read Jesus' teaching from John 10. Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. It turns out one of the men is a herder of cattle and sheep and goats!
Thanksgiving weekend 2017 brought many blessings to the Dakar Academy outreach team! There is nothing better than seeing how God can use ordinary believers to grow His church and to be His hands, feet, and voice.
Praise God with us for His working through us in Senegal!
_Mark Garrett is a Missionary in Senegal; He is the son of Cecil and Betsy Garrett of Winchester, KY
