Prayer Request for January and February 2012

When you receive a prophecy, a vision or a word, you want it to come true right away, very quickly and there appears the risk of forcing things and the desire to do his own will and not God’s. This is the school that I’m drawn today and the word of God in Habakkuk 2:3 makes sense in my mind. Added to that the negative reactions I face both by our African brothers and European, sometimes insults, dropping and release from some Christians, discouragement is often at the door.

But on the other hand, we are encouraged by the word of God. Indeed, from reading the Word we find that the prophet has often brought the prophecy in his flesh: to one it is asked to take to wife a prostitute, which was an abomination for a man of God, and he does it (Hosea 1:2). To another it is asked to make a cake and bake it with human excrements (Ezekiel 4:12), yet another to buy a beautiful belt of fine linen and go to hide it, days of walking, to the Euphrates in the cleft of a rock and then return after several days search its remains that were good for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-11)… In addition, many people have received prophecies and visions they have not seen the realization. This leads us to be humble and content ourselves to simply and humbly do what God asks us to do.

What is encouraging is that the more we advance in this vision, the more the Lord shows us that we are not alone and I’m convinced that when He wills, many converge for the realization of His plan. I was very encouraged by the letter I received a few days ago from Brother J.R. Spencer whom I met in Georgetown Guyana. Here is an excerpt from his letter: “A couple of weeks before the meeting I for the first time felt free to share the part of the vision with a brother from South Africa and to my surprise I found he and a select few had portions of the same vision in their minds and hearts. On the way to one of the meetings I sat next to a woman on the bus. She was from Jamaica and worked with one of the Bishops… and behold before I said a word she told me of portions of the vision the Bishop and she had been given. Then at the meeting you shared the vision the Lord gave you and others and it completed all the vision the Lord had shared with me. All this concerning all that I pondering on for a number of years all was affirmed in two weeks by disparate people from differing locations.” It is instructive: I received this letter at a time when I was still facing adversity on this project. Thank you Lord!

Thank you to pray for:

- The contacts made with different movements, brothers and sisters in Christ who have received this vision here and there, and for the coordination of these movements in accordance with the will of the Lord.

- That the discouragement that constantly strikes at the door finds no hold on us and that our zeal for the Lord as part of this project is constantly renewed.

- For the invitation we received to participate, from 15 to 22 May 2012, in Martinique in the national days of memories of human trafficking, slavery and their abolition, with a delegation from Lifeline Expedition. This will give us an opportunity to share more widely the vision.

- That the Lord opens doors that lead us to do His will at any time and for any occasion and closes those that are intended to divert us.

- That He prevents us from any precipitation and gives us the patience to await the fulfilment of this vision that works towards an end and that will certainly take place according to Habakkuk 2:3. That HIS WILL BE DONE!

God bless you abundantly.

Prayer Request for November and December

My trip in the Caribbean made me more accountable to the reality of the project in which the Lord led me. Before this project, I did not consider the impact of the slave trade on the planet demography and its consequences on relationship between black and white people, with the specificity of those between black populations from this ugly trade and white populations on the one hand, and black population of the forced Diaspora and black populations from the continent on the other hand. Until that vision, it is a subject that never interested, nor questioned me.

In my youth, I knew there were some were oversee, brothers called “sugarcane” with whom cohabitation was difficult or even sometimes impossible. Some families advised their children not to bind into the marriage with them because this was always doomed to failure, and for me it was a simple exogenous data which all African travelling to Overseas should take into account and I never questioned why that? When I arrived in France for my studies and faced them for the first time, I realized it was the same for them: we were likewise as concerns that state of mind, but we shared at least one thing, our apprehension of white people.

So it is only from this view that something has changed my view of this situation. It is as if suddenly the Lord has opened my eyes to a world I could only see through a veil. I became interested in this very story, and like miraculously I was put in contact with people, videos, books and events relevant to the slave trade and its consequences in geopolitics, economic and commercial relations, cultural and social relations in the world.

When I started the implementation of this project and I realized that the Lord had entrusted similar vision to other, Western like African, I asked myself why to me too, since a considerable amount of work had already been done in this direction. What could I make more by the vision that I received? The response I received during my trip in October in the Caribbean.

When I arrived at the Hotel where we stayed, the first observation I made is that the ladies at the reception were behaving exactly as our sisters in Africa. They had always attached their faces as if they had something against the whole world. The second is after my speec at the Congress of Evangelicals sin the Caribbean Georgetown 2011 (CONECAR 2011). I realized the bad feeling of black people. It would certainly be relevant to the colonial and slavery situation that this population had experimented: it is when a pastor of Barbados approached me and said this: “brother, until now, I had resentment towards the African who sold us as slaves to whites, but now, after your presentation, and following the call you have just addressed us, I realize that we should and can be Joseph to Africa and give her a helping hand to finish the task and do any other things together.”

I knew the Life Line Expedition had visited the Barbados and made a welk with yokes and chains there, but that a pastor of this country comes to me and tell me what I have heard, this made me realize that there was still much to do and the adventure was worth it!

Thank you to pray for:

- New contacts that were made at the CONECAR to coordinate actions to the reconciliation of peoples involved in the triangular trade and its consequences. Pray that they are successful and that the will of God be done.

- The authorities of Nantes, that they accept our proposal to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the Memorial for the abolition of slavery.

- The Churches of Nantes that they are convinced of the need in the interest of their involvement in the movement for reconciliation. God has given us in Christ, the Ministry of Reconciliation.

- For us. That the discouragement recedes from us and that the Lord renews us in our zeal to serve Him, to obey Him and to put into practice what He commands us.

- That the Lord opens doors that lead us to do His will at all times and closes those intended to divert us.

Prayer Request for October

I'm traveling to the Caribbean from October 12. to 24., 2011. I had to pas through Jamaica, but as with the Life Line Expedition that did not work. I personally believe that it was not the Lord's will. But everything was set up for a mission in Martinique where I will be hosted by the Evangelical Baptist Church during the two weekends of this period. Meanwhile I'll go to Georgetown in Guyana to take part from October 17. to 20. in the Congress of Evangelicals in the Caribbean (CONECAR 2011). I pray that the Lord inspires me in how to communicate the vision of the reconciliation boat.

Thank you to pray for:

- Pastor Paul MOULIN who is hosting me during my stay in Martinique, that he is blessed, him and his family. May the LOrd bless His Church in Martinique.

- That the contacts at the CONECAR with Church leaders, associations and evangelical movements in the Caribbean are drivent by the Holy Spirit and lead to combined actions for the Ministry and for the organisation of the future expediton.

- That the Lord opens doors that lead us to do His will at all time, and closes those that are intended to divert us.

- His protection thoughout the trip in the Caribbean. Pray that He preserves us from all evil and that His will be done!

Prayer Request for August

The city of NANTES is about to inaugurate the Memorial of Slavery in December 2011. We want to participate to this event as part of our reconciliation efforts, with the Life Line Expedition project and the "Yokes and Chains" march and the Maeva Sev boat of reconciliation project. For this reason, Jacques Vigouroux and I have undertaken to get to Nantes from 25 to 29 August. This trip is intended to make contact with Churches, Associations working in this direction and the officials of the City who prepare the event.

Thank you to pray for:

- The brother in Christ that receives us during our stay, may the Lord bless him and his family and that He inspires him to help us in all these contacts.

- The contacts with Churches, Associations and the City officials. That they are led by the Holy Spirit and that these contacts lead to joint actions.

- That the Lord opens doors that lead us to do His will, and closes those that are intended to divert us.

- His protection throughout this journey and especially from any evil. Pray that in any case HIS WILL BE DONE!

God bless you abundantly.

The Project goes on

Many among you wonder why this long silence. Some were concerned about whether I had given up. I thank them for their support and encouragement.

I confess I was discouraged, given the fighting that followed these actions. Noting that the people over whom I leaned had abandoned me in this project, I questioned, wondering if it really was God's will. I realized how could God give such a project to someone like me? Unknown in the religious world, even insignificant in this country, in this city, without any scale (far from it...). I have experimented many oppositions, both among some of our white brothers who felt they had nothing to do with this trade and its consequences, so there was no repentance in this area required; as well as among some of our black brothers, mostly from Africa, who believed that Africans were more victims of this trade and they have nothing to do with this kind of actions. So I began to seek the face of the Lord by fasting and prayer, for doubt began to torment me. I did not understand how this vision could come from God and meet as many oppositions each time an action is undertaken for the start. Then I received this response: Habakuk 2 v3! From that I got it clear from the Lord that He had given rise to other movements that are in the same direction and are to eventually merge together. I got that this stage will be the last, as a conclusion of all others. I then had a conviction that I had to join the other movements that act in the same direction, and then the doors will eventually open.

So I thought it was time to join first the "life Line Expedition" movement. Again I think it's a door that the Lord is about to open, because it is precisely Jacques Vigouroux who participated to the various steps of the reconciliation march "Yokes and Chains" of this movement, encouraged me a lot when the vacuum was around me and despair gradually came over me. I recall the contact with Jacques is due to David Potter who connected us together. We had planned to get to the march scheduled in Jamaica early in October 2011 but now postponed to 2012 and will coincide with the celebration of the jubilee, 50 years of independence of this country.

In the mean time we intend to get to Nantes for the inauguration of the memorial dedicated to slavery. It was scheduled first for September and then October but none of these dates suited us because not only of the MANI Continental Consultation expected in Abuja Nigeria in September, but also because of the "Yokes and Chains" march which was scheduled for October in Jamaica, besides I had to continue with the Congres of the Evangelicals in the Caribbean, CONECAR scheduled in October 17th to 20th in Georgetown Guyana. This program did not allow us to prepare or even to take part in the inauguration of the Memorial of Nantes. It is a relief for us and we see here the hand of our beloved Lord. We hope to mobilize the churches in the region and encourage them to take an active part in this event.

Prayer Request for this time:

- May the Lord renew our strength, our beliefs and His vision in us.
- May the Lord lead us away from any spirit of discouragement or distraction for us to be focused on His vision and do not let ourselves be distracted by ideas, thoughts or directions that do not come from Him.
- May He give us the revelation of those and other movements with which we are called to work on this project.