Team Report – #438S
| Location: | North Africa (Sahara) |
| Date: | Jun 28-Jul 11 2004 |
| Sending Partner: | STEM SHARE, Bemidji, MN |
Saints in Sahara Sand
Sand Streets
The men on the team had prayed far into the night, when at 3:00am they sensed they were to prayerwalk around a nearby mosque. Cautiously, they prayerfully walked the sand streets around the mosque, proclaiming the Word of the Lord, and experiencing both the tension and the joy that comes from being on mission for the Father. What occurred there in the spirit realm may not be fully known, but this STEM SHARE team made it abundantly clear wherever they prayerwalked — through an English Conversation Club, through serving Christian workers — they had decided to join their Father in calling the Unreached People Group in this desert nation to worship the King of kings.
Sand Dune
Atop a sand-dune overlooking the city we ducked to enter a plywood shack with a tarp roof. Three rounds of mint tea and a meal of sand-seasoned couscous later the team had a precious time of prayer with two of the few believers in this land. As we raised our voices to the Father on behalf of this land translation ceased to be important as the love of Christ crossed any barriers.
Stone on Sand
An upper room … an ancient stone city … a vast sea of sand. In this setting the team may have unwittingly made history. In this city, revered as holy by the Muslim world, the team observed the Lord’s Supper. It is conceivable, even likely, that they were the first Christians ever in that place to remember the body and blood of Christ in that way. In a land that has been in the grip of Islam for centuries, simply taking communion was an act of spiritual warfare. The significance of this should not be underestimated. In our hearts, faith rose up that perhaps this group was the first, but certainly shall not be the last!
