‘Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no-one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would betoo many to declare’. Psalm 40 v 5
Hi everyone and Happy New Year! We hope you had a great time over the holidays. It was lovely for us to have my (Robert) parents with us for Christmas and thanks to all those who sent gifts and treats out for us with them! We really appreciate it and are thankful for all your prayers and support to us as a family over the past year. There isn’tthe same Christmas buzz out here and for many it is just another day. In fact, there were workers at our next doorneighbour’s house all Christmas day knocking down walls so it is a reminder that most do not know Jesus and there is such a huge mission field here.
SENEGAL UPDATE
Over the past few months, I (Robert) have been doing research into football outreaches that already exist here in Senegal and also praying about the opportunities for Ambassadors. I asked a few others to be on a small volunteer leadership team that will work alongside me and all are on board so it’s good to have them involved!
Seby de Vroome is a Dutch missionary working with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He is married to Jeana (USA) and they have 4 boys. Seby was actually on one of the early Ambassadors playing tours back in 2002 and so it is great to have him involved. He supports PSV Eindhoven!
Dave Cousens was born in England but raised in the USA. He is married to April (USA) and they have 4 daughters and work here with Avant Ministries. Dave is a big England and Spurs fan!
Kevin Williamson is a Scottish missionary with WEC, is married to Debbie (NZ) and have 3 kids. Kevin and I went to boarding school together as kids and he was on a few of the Senegal tours that went out from NI.He’s an Arsenal fan unfortunately.
I am very grateful to have others on board who have a heart for the people here and are willing to get involved and serve in this way. There are certainly lots of opportunities, but we feel we need to go slowly and so our goals for 2019 are to:
Meet with local church leaders to share the vision of Ambassadors
Look into registering Ambassadors legally in Senegal
Visit all existing football outreaches
Host an initial coaches training course
We would value your prayers as we begin to establish the work here. Pray for unity for us as a group and for wisdom and discernment as we plan for the future. It is 14 years since our first tour to Senegal but it is great to be able to connect with some who we worked with then and see how we can be part of what God is doing here.
CONGO UPDATE
I plan to visit Congo in March to run some further coaches training. The church denomination we attended when we were there have asked us to train more of their churches so it could be quite a big group. Please pray for all the plans for this in the coming months. Seby is planning to join me and we hope that this will give him a greater insight into the work of Ambassadors and how things could develop here in Senegal. Iain Williamson who works alongside me on the Africa Leadership Team will be coming from England and it will be great to also have Adam Patton join us as he and his wife spent 6 months with us in Impfondo when we lived there. I’m really looking forward to getting back outthere and seeing everyone again.
It was really nice to have Matt and Grace Dobson with us for a short visit before Christmas. We visited Goree Island and also just had time to catch up and let them see some of our life here. Matt is chairman of the Ambassadors board in Northern Ireland and has been involved since the very beginning on tours and playing for the football club.
