Mebar

Check back here often to read stories of the Mebar church and fellowship with them in the name of Christ.

We began teaching in Mebar in the spring of 2004. In the summer of 2004 there were around 50 people baptized Although, since that time, many of those folks have become complacent, there is a core group of about 15 to 20 that meet every week and are maturing in Christ [I thought here would be a good place to perhaps mention people like Naangmin-nona (I know it is not spelled correctly but I didn’t want to take the time to do the font) and others I couldn’t think of the names of any of the other movers and shakers in this congregation.]

May 25, 2008
Noah taught his first lesson this morning! The Carter family was in the village of Mebar for their Sunday worship service today. There was a good collection of core members from this church despite the demands on work schedules at this time of the year. Amy had a prepared lesson on the Parable of the Sower that Noah taught with her. Also, two women said they would like to have a special baptism service at a future Friday meeting (scheduled for June 6th).

Chad
Posted: 06/27/2008 8:30 am - GMT

14 March 2008
For two weeks in a row now, this church has surprised me. I basically gave them a \'put up or shut up\' speech a few weeks ago, and they\'ve really responded well. They seem to be putting forth a lot more effort in getting themselves to their worship services, and they are actually doing some of the things they agree to do in between teaching times! I\'m praying that this trend will continue. One exciting thing is how fired up they are about figuring out how to do Christian marriage ceremonies. At least three of the couples in the church are brainstorming about what a marriage ceremony would look like minus the enormous party (many Dagara never get officially married b/c they are expected to host a lavish party for everyone they know -- consequently, many people can be married for decades without a marriage!). They know the Lord wants them to be married if they are living together; they are trying to figure out how to follow God in this area of their lives while still remaining Dagara in culture. It\'s a fun (albeit frustrating at times) experience.

Andy
Posted: 03/16/2008 9:30 pm - GMT

2 March 2008
This was a really great (for Mebar, that is...) church service! We arrived later than intended (a pattern our family seems to be falling into...), and discovered the church already through with their praise time and in to a reading from Mark 12 (they have been working their way through the gospel slowly). We prayed for several sick people, took communion together, and had some time to chat about what they want to do as far as lessons go. Basically, I told them that they need to start putting forth some effort, that there are plenty of churches that have not had all the teaching time they\'ve had that are far more mature. In the needed round-about way, I told them to give up their spiritual milk and start working on some meat. It was a challenging conversation, but one that has been coming a long while. They asked me to start teaching them in the early afternoons on Friday; I told them that I would, but if they showed a lack of interest (as they have so often in the past), that I would be forced to go elsewhere to a village church willing to work.

Andy
Posted: 03/05/2008 10:44 am - GMT

22 February 2008
Here we are sitting in the shade at a wedding, giving gifts to people we don\'t know, looking for a dude that is not here ... and drinking dolo. That is how my brother summed up some of our time out at Mebar today. Today was an unscheduled visit to this town to try and find the folks responsible for attendance at church. We found a couple of church members and visited with them. Then we went looking for the man in charge of the attendance book. This afternoon their were four wedding feasts in progress and apparently people were making the rounds. Kyle, Naanngmin-Nono and I dropped in on one of the wedding feasts to look for Saan-ba-ire. In order to be polite we needed to great the bride and groom and then we gave a small cash gift (40 cents). They welcomed us and sat us in the shade to enjoy the festivities. Unfortunately, Saan-ba-ire was not there so we then went to his house. He was not at home either so we left the new attendance book with Naanngmin-Nono and we will need to revisit this village.

Chad
Posted: 02/28/2008 8:19 pm - GMT

9 November 2007
I stopped and chatted today with several of the Christians. It was nice to see them, even if nothing was happening for their midweek Bible study (they stopped a while ago apparently). I chatted for about a half hour and then headed on up the road. This church continues to be a frustration to me. On the one hand, I love them very much -- they were the first church I primarily planted, and I\'m good friends with a number of the members. On the other hand, they have always been a pretty lukewarm bunch of folks that will come when they are being spoon-fed but will adamantly refuse to step up and take any kind of leadership on their own. Pray that God will change their hearts and raise up some reliable leaders.

Andy
Posted: 11/13/2007 9:33 pm - GMT

08 April 07
This church did not meet on Easter Sunday because many of their members were at a funeral in another village. Please pray that this church will have more zeal to seek the Lord in worship and other meeting times. Donatien is teaching our family lessons in Mabar and on last Friday he waited over two hours after the scheduled time before people came. Once people showed up they had a great lesson, but it takes a while to get everyone there. Pray that this church will be set aflame with the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Archie
Posted: 04/13/2007 10:20 am - GMT

16 March 2007
Today was a good goodbye. There was a funeral, so the numbers were down, but I had most of the faithful women. We spent time in prayer, with four of the women joining me in interceding for their church, the preaching of the word, their families, their authorities, and the needy. It was a great way to say \'See you in six months!\'

Andy
Posted: 03/22/2007 11:43 am - GMT

9 March 2007
For the first time, I gave into the urge to get on to these folks (I have always felt the Lord softening my tone, but today He either spoke too quietly or I ignored Him better...). They had promised me that they would be able to carry on the Bavule preaching point once I left, but yet no one has made the effort to show up since I stopped taking the truck. I laid a little Matthew 21 on on them about the two sons, one of whom says he won\'t go to work but then does and the other son that says he\'ll go and then doesn\'t. They mainly just laughed it off nervously, but it hopefully made some kind of an impact.

Andy
Posted: 03/22/2007 11:39 am - GMT

5 new baptisms in Mebar
\"Andy had the privilege of witnessing the birth of five new Christians in the village of Nyi-Kpier, followed by five more a couple weeks later in Mebar. Most of the new brothers and sisters had been attending for a long time, so we are grateful to God for bringing them into his church.\" -quoted from Dagara Digest

Aaron
Posted: 10/26/2006 9:40 pm - GMT