| Current Ministry Adventures of Stuart Mitchell Sr. |
| Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 5:41 PM 1st update Dear Friends and Family, It has been a long time since I departed from El Paso and much has happened. Today, I am in an office in Cotonou, and my good friend, Bruno, is helping to type this letter to describe for you the events of the past eleven days. As you recall on the 17th April, Joy`s Birthday, I left her to fly to Paris. In Paris, I was met by brother Ange-Laurent Coddy, the leader of a congregation of French speaking Africans on the north edge of Paris. I deliverd to Laurent some books that he neeed from the United States; he responded by taking me to visit the meeting place where I would share with his congrgation at the end of June. Then, for fun, he took me to stand in Larche du Triomphe and gaze down the Champs Elisées into the heart of Paris. We ran out of time before we could see more, but he promised that some of the women of his congragation would take my daughter Kitty and her friend Jamie Wingrove on a grand tour of Paris. My flight from Paris to Abidjan was met my friend Paul Ayoh and two of his friends. In Abidjan we had a very busy time. On Saturday, about 10:30, one of the drivers came to drive me to participate in the service in a ongoing revival among the congregation where my friend Edmond pastors. It was such a dellight to be with the family of God again, and to watch them rise to a challenge to walk as sons of God in the Kingdom. We wound up the service by prophesying over many people and left about 2:30 to go to eat. Easter Sunday morning, I first went to attend to a congregation where Paul Ayoh pastors; there I had the opportunity to met Bian Gaspard, a wonderful apostle from Gabon. Before I was able to finish listening to his message, it was time for me to leave for another meeting. In this second congregation, I shared about the love of God the Father, and watched with delight as 40 people invited the Holy spirit into their lives. On Monday, I met with a group of local pastors. Initally the meeting was a time of tension and suspicion. It was a joy to watch the love of the Lord melt away the tension. By the time we ended, they asked whether we could meet with them again on Wednedsday. After the meeting, we went and saw many of the youths at the beach, then visted the church leaders at the picnic, and finally on the way back to house, stopped to visit in a home that is operated to help homeless young women from the streets of Abidjan. Despite operating with almost no finances, the young couple operating this home, have created an environment that is clearely anointed by the Lord. From the moment we walked in, we were aware of the Lord's presence. This genuinely is a work worthy of the support of the rest of the body of Christ. Tuesday we did in teaching in the Kumassi Region. Most of the people attending were pastors or their wives. By Wednesday, the temperature and humidity in Abidjan were becoming unbearable. We served a group of pastors in the Port-Bouët Region in the morning. And in the afternoon, we met with a group of pastors in the Deux-Plateaux region. By evening , we returned to Port-Bouët to speak to a congregation where we told them about the Kingdom and the ministry of prophecy. Thursday morning, we were back to Port-Bouët region and ministers to the pastors, and then in the evening met with the congragation in the Deux-Plataux where the Lord moved in the prophetic inistry along wth several mini-messages to the congregation. About half-way through the meeting, I began to feel feverish and sick. By the time we got back to the house, it was nearly eleven o'clock. I discovered my temperature was 102.8° (39.3 C°) I was much sicker than I knew. I took some prayer, antibiotics and aspirins, and spent a long difficult night. In the morning, we went to Plein Evangile for a session teaching leaders. By the time the session ended, it was 1:00 in the afternoon, and the sun was beating down on the tin roof, just 2 feet above my head. At lunch, I realized the aspirin had worn off and the temperature of my body was soaring. After an afternoon of rest, we went to the Abobo region for the last meeting of the week. There about 40 people received the Holy Spirit, and the people learned to prophesy over one another. I was delighted when it was time to return to the house for a good night of rest. Saturday morning, I woke feeling genuinely healthy. The fever had broken, but I continued to rest and pack through the morning. About 1 PM, Paul took me for a light lunch, and delivered me to the Airport. Just after Paul had driven out of sight, the Ivorian airlline informed me that it would not honor my ticket to fly to Cotonou. It seems it is issued through the wrong US carrier. How very frustrating to have to buy a replacement ticket. This is Africa! When I arrived in Cotonou, Benin, I was delighted to find my friend Bruno Gbofoun waiting at the airport. After a nice dinner, I settled into a very comfortable guest house. On Sunday, I was very grateful that I had a very nice sleep, because this was the most intense day of the entire trip. We left for the fisrt morning metting by 7:40. Ministry from that meeting ran directly into the next meeting, so we had no break until 1:45. We drove then to the home of two newlywed professionals. They fed us wonderfully and we had the opportunity to pray over them and their home. We then made a one hour drive to get to Porto-Novo. There we saw about 40 pepole receive the Holy Spirit and promised to come back on Wednesday afternoon to talk about freedom. We left there after 6:30 to make a quick dash for our next meeting. Unfortunatly, on the way, the gas tank of the car sprang a large leak. We had to stop and call for another car, so we arrived late for our last meeting of the day which lasted until after midnight with a time of personal ministry. When we returned to the guest house, I was thinking about how long and nice the sleep would be when Bruno announced to me that we had to meet at the office and go to the radio station early in the morning. As you can see, your prayers have not been wasted. They have been needed and are much appreciated. I will try to keep you a little better informed so the letters are not so long. You probably are as tired of reading this as Bruno is of typing. Thanks for your love and support. Remember Joy. His, thus yours, Stuart. |
| Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 7:55 AM 2nd update Dear Friends and Family, The time here in Africa has been moving very quickly. My health has been good but we have been very very busy. This week we have had morning meetings from 9 to 12 every day and evening meetings from 7 to 10 every night. In between we have had meetings in Porto Novo é days and meetings at the house after lunch the other days. I am looking forward to a day of no meetings while we travel tomorrow to Takaradi, Ghana (about 12 hours driving). In the morning meetings we have been exposing leaders to to concepts of a Church based in intimacy with Jesus and with one another. In the evenings we have been teach the process of discipleship. It has been a wonderfully fruitful time. Many have received the Holy spirit and are seeing the Church as more than an organization and meetings. I will be away from computers for the next few days of travel. I hope to catch up with you again soon. Thanks for your continuing love and support. His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 11:47 AM 3rd update Dear Friends and Family, I am writing this short note from Takoradi, Ghana. The weather is hot and humid. Tim Baum of Texas and Lawrence Asante of Accra, Ghana are travelling with me. Our health is good. Because the travel agent left us with some problems it looks like the trip will run us about $2,000 over budget. Other than that everything is going as smoothly as can be expected in Africa. When we made the trip from Cotonou, Benin to Takoradi, the ride that was supposed to meet us at the border of Togo had evaporated. It simply did not exist. So we had to hire cars to take us into Accra and then on to Takoradi. What fun. This is Africa. The ministry continues to be very fruitful. Tim Baum preached last night and did a wonderful job moving the people toward freedom. Today Lawrence, who is an apostle, served and the people were moved and built in their faith. We love you all. Thanks again for your love and support. His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Friday, May 09, 2003 5:46 PM 4th update Dear Friends and Family, Well all the plans have changed. If having your steps re-ordered by the Lord is proof of righteousness then we are righteous indeed. From last Wednesday until next Tuesday we were planned to be in Conakry, Guinea. We even paid an exorbitant fee for visas so that we could go there. First, the airline said the flight would be delayed until Thursday; then until Friday; then it was cancelled. So Tim and Bruno and I are remaining in Accra, Ghana to serve the people here for an extra 10 days. Please pray for the local apostle, Lawrence Asante as he is helping us plan to fully utilize this time. When last I wrote to you we were in Takoradi, Ghana, along the coast toward the western side of the country. We had come there from a very productive week in Cotonou, Benin. The time in Takoradi was extremely intense. I taught Sunday morning and Monday and Tuesday evenings. The plan was to teach a three part series on Freedom, Intimacy, and Disciple Making – God’s plan for growth of the Kingdom. It turned out that the audience each evening was 80% people who had not been to the prior meetings. So each evening I was having to go back to the basics. The Lord blessed and many people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. On Sunday evening Tim taught about setting prisoners free from the things that imprison them in their pasts. It was a powerful moment when 200 Africans were praying to set their African-American brothers free from the curses and iniquities passed on to them from their forefathers here in Africa. It was again a powerful moment when these African believers were themselves set free from these entangling things. On Monday morning, the pastor picked us up and took us to his local tailor and the to a fabric store to pick out fabric for our new shirts, his gift to each of us. Following that we went to the meeting hall where Lawrence Asante taught powerfully about walking in the freedom that allows us to put our faith into action. The people were deeply challenged by his teaching and moved to commit themselves more deeply to the walk of faith. Tuesday morning we were picked up again, this time we drove out of the city to Elmina. There we toured a fortress built in 1482 by the Portuguese. It was later used by the Dutch and the British. It was one of the major places where captured men and women were loaded onto slave ships for shipment all over the world. We left the fortress and went to Kakum National Park. Before we got there we had the impression that we were going to ride in the car and see the wildlife. Instead, we walked up a steep hill, climbed stairs up to a platform and then walked among the treetops of the rainforest canopy on a rickety swaying suspension walkway 150 feet above the forest floor and extending hundreds of feet between treetop platforms. This missions work is not for the faint of heart or fearful. Wednesday morning we had breakfast with the pastor and caught a bus at noon for the 5 hour ride back to Accra. After a night of sleep, we spent Thursday waiting for our flight to Conakry that never happened. Friday was spent trying to get the airline to repair the damage they had caused. We are invited to meet with the head of marketing on Monday morning to see what he can do for us. Pray for our brothers in ministry here. They live with the real problem of frequent bouts with Malaria and the many other diseases of tropical Africa. To read all the updates from my overseas travels visit this web page.... http://www.his-family.com/letters.html Thank-you for your continuing love and support. His, thus yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706-C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Email – Stuart@His-Family.Com |
| Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 12:11 PM 5th update Well the airlines messed up our schedule so we were unable to go to Guinea and Burkina Faso. But we are here in Accra, Ghana now and the Lord is giving us things to do. In fact I must make this short because in a little while a group of local Pastors and Leaders will be coming to meet with us. So, I will need to head back to the hotel in a few minutes. Fortunately the Lord found us a different hotel. It has reduced our costs by about half and given us much nicer accomodations for holding small meetings. We are at the State Housing Company Club. But the hotel has no telephone to the outside world. Tim, Bruno, and I are all in excellent health. I trust this finds you well also. Thanks for all your love and support. His, thus yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 11:19 AM 6th update Dear Friends and Family, This is the last time I know I will be able to write to you from Ghana. Tomorrow Wednesday we will do the last session of our seminar in Accra, the Capital. Then we will drive to Koforidua in the state of Ghana called the Eastern Region. The Volta region is further east than the Eastern Region. Then on Saturday morning we will drive to Aflao, at the border of Togo. There Bruno and I will meet Djawan Christophe and cross the border with him to Lome, the capital of Togo. Tim Baum, however, will come back to Accra with Samuel and Lawrence and they will put him on the Saturday night British Air flight to start his flight back to Midland. He will arrive in Midland Sunday evening. The seminar here in Accra has been going very well. After we ministered about forgiveness and getting set free from the past this morning, our driver testified that his life had been changed. We, of course, continue to encounter people more interested in following the Spirit of religion than the Spirit of the Lord. But, this is Ghana, the area religion has ruled for generations. Thanks for all your love prayer and support. By the way, several of you have asked how you could help financially support this work. The answer is make a check payable to the Community Support Fund and send it to my home address. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 12:29 PM Subject: Seventh Update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, Here I am in Lomè, Togo, trying to type this message to you on a French keyboard. The letters are all in the wrong places. There are three symbols on each of the number keys. For someone who touch types, this would be impossible. Fortunately, I use the biblical system (seek and you will find the key). If I end a sentence with a ; it is because that is what the period key gives if you forget to hit the shift key. I suppose it would be even more difficult for those of you who type en Francais, because you would be missing all the accented letters. Anyway, Bruno and I are in Lomè. We have been joined by another young prophet named Jerry Quarshie. He is from Klikor, in the Volta region of Ghana. He speaks English and Ewe. Ewe is the language spoken in this region of Togo, also. Our time in Koforidua was very profitable. It was a little confusing at times because we were told that we would be doing a 5 session seminar. It turned out that we had a completely different group in the morning sessions from the group we had in the evening sessions. So we really had two concurrent seminars, we just did not know it. But we adjusted after a while and then things smoothed out and worked very well. We really saw some folks grasp the concepts of Disciple making in a Relational Church. Because of the confusion I did not have the other team members teach. But, they handled practically all of the prophetic ministry to individuals. It was a special delight this morning. One young couple got up very early and walked out from town to the retreat center where we were staying. They brought us a gift of some fresh fruit. They were especially delighted because Tim Baum's prophecy over the wife was almost verbatim a confirmation of another prophetic word she had received previously. They were very excited about what God is about to do in them. As we drove from Koforidua to Aflao today, we stopped at Klikor, Jerry's home town. There his aunt fed us a wonderful lunch of fresh coconut milk and meats, kelewele, fried meat, rice, and a salad with macaroni, eggs, lettuce, onions, and I do not know what else. We ate outside under a tree on the edge of the coconut plantation. Next to our table an elderly man was weaving some beautiful material on a traditional loom. Cooking over the fire was a large pot of the spicy sauce that Ghanaians use in many of their traditional dishes. What a nice break it was for lunch. Tomorrow we start four days of intense ministry here in Togo. Thanks again for all your love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 1:06 PM 8th update Dear Friends and Family, God is still wonderful and marvellous. I am still in Togo. Tomorrow we drive to the town of Kpalime. Thursday, we will fly to Mali. This may be my last update for a few days. Thanks for your love and support. Do not forget my faithful wife. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 1:15 PM 9th update We are back in Lomè. The meetings we were promised in Kpalime had never been planned or set up by the people in Kpalime. This is Africa. But we drove up there and after a while a handful of God's people showed up. I shared with them about breaking out of the leaven and traditions of the Pharisees. By the time we finished they really wished that we would stay. But we came back to Lomè for a meeting tonight then some rest before the flight tomorrow. It looks like the leg out to Tombouctou may also fall apart because the airlines simply can not get us there for any reasonable period that does not conflict with existing plans. This trip I am learning daily about the Lord's ability to order my steps. Now if I can just learn to let joy be my first reaction instead of the second or third. I love you all and I will let you know as I can. Thanks for all your love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Friday, May 30, 2003 8:43 AM 10th Update Dear Friends and Family, Bon Jour, as they say in the French speaking world. I am in Bamako, Mali. Bruno and I arrived very late last night. The end of our time in Lomè, Togo was wonderful. After sharing with a baptist congregation on Wednesday evening, I declared Thursday a day of 'rest'. That meant that I slept until I awoke about 8:30am. The I spent the morning catching up with myself administratively. Then from Noon until 5:15pm when we left for the airport, I ate and talked with my good friend Christophe Djawan. It was a precious time of shared love. About 4:00pm another friend, Kwaku Agbetonyo, dropped by. He brought a present for me from the congregation. It is an elegant African outfit, complete with the little hat for my head. And it all fit perfectly. Kwaku drove us to the airport. There Bruno and I caught the flight to Bamako. It left just an hour late. Tonight we will serve a congregation here in Bamako. Then early tomorrow morning we will leave on the é' hour drive to Tombouctou (most Americans pronounce it Timbuctoo). We will arrive in time to serve on Sunday morning and stay through Wednesday evening. Then we will make the long trek back to Bamako. We will minister here from Friday through Sunday before going to Dakar. It is almost certain that I will not get internet access in Tombouctou. So until late next week, I continue to love you and appreciate your love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 9:27 AM 11th update Dear Friends and Family, Well this afternoon I got my passport stamped as the official proof that I have been to Tombouctou. God is doing wonderful things here. We are teaching a seminar about making disciples. It is being well received even though it seems to flow a little more slowly than usual. Perhaps more important, our presence here is being used by the Lord to speak healing to broken relationships and peace and reconciliation in a community filled with hostility. I am always amused that so many people think that ministry takes place primarily in meetings where we make speeches. In reality the far more important ministry takes place in the quiet conversations around a meal or while walking along a street. In many ways the reason we stand up and make speeches is because it is the speech that validates us as gives us the opening to sit and share heart to heart with the people. This morning the local Baptist pastor took time to give us a wonderful tour of Tombouctou. He is a delightful man and the brother in law of the Assemblies of God pastor who is our host in the community. Tommorow, he has invited us for lunch. The trip into Tombouctou was truly exciting. Not long before we were to turn off the main road to come accross the trail that leads here, the main belt in the engine of our car broke. Through a series of small miracles the Lord rescued us from being stranded in the desert and gave us a replacement car at a lower price than before. But all of this took a bit of time. As a result instead of crossing the wilderness area during daylight we crossed driving through the night. This had the advantage of being much cooler. It had the disadvantage that it was very hard to see where the trail passes through the desert. Thank God for a skilled driver. Several times he demonstrated great skill as he avoided getting stuck in the soft sand dunes of the desert. There were many times I thought of my friend John who has a Hummer which is designed even better than our four wheel drive Toyota for driving through desert sands. At about 4:30am Sunday we arrived at the Niger River. We slept awaiting sunrise to find the ferry which would carry us to the other side just 20 kilometers from Tombouctou. Shortly after we arrived we cleaned up and began our day with an 8:00am radio broadcast. Twice more during the day we went to two other radio stations to share with the community. In addition we taught in the Sunday morning service and again in the first session of the seminar in the evening. We will continue the seminar tonight and Tuesday night and then leave early Wednesday morning to return to Bamako. Thanks for all your love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 12:34 PM 12th Update Dear Friends and Family, This is the last update I will be able to send to you from the ancient city of Tombouctou. Tomorrow morning, very early, we will roll out of bed and start the trek across the wilderness to Douentza. There we hope to visit with the YWAM team. My friend Paula Brander we will not be able to see until we reach Bamako. It was amusing to me that this week she is again in Koutiala translating, that is where she was when she volunteered to translate for me when we first met years ago. The seminar sessions here are going very well still. But for reasons that I do not fully understand the sessions here are much shorter than they are other places in Africa. As a result, we cannot cover as much material. Last night we set people free from their pasts. Tonight we will share the vision of the Discipleship Relationship. There is a difficult Spiritual battle raging here. There is a deceiving spirit here that continually produces distractions from the riches of revelation. It is as Jesus said, “The cares and concerns of this world rise up and choke out the Word of Spirit and Life that has been deposited.” Join us in praying for the Lord to break up the fallow ground of Tombouctou. By tomorrow night, as the Lord gives grace, we will be in Bamako for a good night of sleep in an air conditioned room. Then we will start the Bamako seminar on Thursday for the people of Bamako. Please pray for me and for the people there. I am sure that the Lord wants me to see and share some things there that I have never shared before. I find my spirit seeking a fresh and deeper revelation for the people. I know this will be an important time. I invite you to join in the battle with me. On Sunday, in Bamako, will be another important time. A number of different groups of Christians, who have not met together previously, are going to come together to celebrate their unity in the Lord for the first time. This celebration has the potential to become an important seed in Bamako and in Mali. But like every seed it has the potential to produce either good fruit or bad. Please, pray for the Lord’s protection over this celebration. Because these coming days will be very busy, I do not know whether I will be able to get to an internet connection or not. But until I do remember, I love you and appreciate your support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 8:21 AM 13th update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, I am in Bamako, Mali. Last night we taught the first of four sessions of the seminar here. The Lord said not to teach the seminar I have been doing on making diciples. So we are on an adventure following the Holy Spirit. For a beginning, last night we taught about having the expectation to be used in the Kingdom of God. Then we started talking about loving people, the beginning of relationships and ministry. Tonight, only the Lord knows what is next. We deeply appreciate you love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Monday, June 09, 2003 6:49 AM 14th update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, We leave Mali today. Bruno went home this morning. I miss him already. I fly to Dakar tonight. The time in Mali has been very fruitful. The folks in the seminar on practical Kingdom ministry skills were blessed and blessed each other richly during their practice sessions. On Sunday we served at a grand celebration of Pentecost with mora than 800 attanding at the Palais de Congress. We shared about the effects of slaves become kings in Africa. We shared the vision of the Church modeling servant leadership as the only hope of the Continent. I look forward to seeing many of you soon. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Friday, June 13, 2003 8:58 AM 15th Update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, Greetings from Dakar, Senegal. Dakar as you may recall is located at the most western tip of the African continent. My daughter Kitty and her friend from Amarillo, Texas, Jamie Wingrove arrived last night just 2 hours and 6 minutes late. Right on time by African standards. In a few hours the 3 of us, together with Michel Andrade, the apostle from Dakar, will board a flight to Praia, Cape Verde Islands. The Cape Verdes are a nation formerly a Portuguese colony about 300 miles off the coast, west of Dakar. There we are scheduled for an all day seminar for the pastors and wives on Saturday and then evening seminars open to the public Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. These seminars, together with sharing with the congregation on Sunday morning will make a very full few days. Fortunately, the days here in Dakar have been less intense, except on Wednesday. Wednesday we were with the local pastors from 9:30 to 1:30; counselling with a young man from 3:30 to 6:30; and leading the weekly Bible study from 6:30 to 9:30. God has been good and the times are very fruitful. We are bringing a greater depth to the thinking of the Sons of God here. Last night, one of the saints there awoke in the middle of the night as the Lord called her to pray for us. Such love is deeply appreciated. Thank you all for all your continuing love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart |
| Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 7:44 AM 16th Update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, We are here in the Cape Verde Islands. The weather and the islands are beautiful. Kitty and Jamie are doing wonderful works as part of the ministry team. During the last 24 hours there have been strange spiritual attacks against the ministry. Confusion, distraction, and dissention seem to creep in at the strangest times. Religious traditions seem to loom large over the islands. While traveling to another city to minister the Lord revealed spiritual strongholds to Jamie and Kitty reminiscent of the Frank Perretti novels. Your joining us in prayer will be appreciated. As always you are very special to us. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 12:34 PM 17th update from Africa Dear Friends and Family, The grace of God is good and He is very patient with His Family. Thank you for your prayers we are already seeing things transformed here in Cape Verde. Today I am a little pressed for time. Tomorrow we leave early in the morning so this is likely my last update until I get to Paris. Your love and support are deeply appreciated. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 8:34 AM 18th Update from France Dear Friends and Family, This is Thursday afternoon in Paris. We arrived here last Saturday morning after an all night flight from Dakar, Senegal. Saturday Kitty, Jamie, and I were like walking zombies. On the way from the airport to the home of Pastor Ange-Laurent Coddy we drove through the city and saw the Eiffel Tower. When we arrived at the house we were fed the first in a continuing series of wonderful, scrumptious, meals that have added pounds and inches to each of us. Then we each went to bed for an all too short nap. In the evening we went to see more of Paris walking from the Arc d’Triomphe along the Champs Ellyses and later driving to view the Eiffel tower lighted with a new strobe light system that is awesome to say the least. Sunday morning we ministered in the worship service. When Jamie sang the Spirit of the Lord spoke to everyone in the room. I taught about hearing the Lord. Since then we have been running non-stop in a series of meetings, meals and personal ministry times. On Tuesday night we returned home at about 2:00am. We were up again at 4:45am to take Kitty and Jamie to the airport. They were a very important part of the ministry. The people here miss them already. God is moving in many wonderful ways. In addition to the obvious current ministry, He is also establishing the groundwork for later ministry here in France. One group of believer from another city an hour away have been coming to receive the Lord here. Thank you all for your love and support. ===== His, thus Yours, Stuart Stuart B. Mitchell 706 C Espada Drive El Paso, Texas 79912 United States of America Stuart@His-Family.com |
| Thursday, June 26, 2003 Cotonou 4:40 PM Beloved in Christ, As you all know, I had the priviledge of being a part of Brother Stuart’s ministry team as he toured around some West African countries from April 26 thru June 11. Everywhere we went, the Lord had a busy time bringing assurance of their salvation to many, filling them with His Spirit and love and power, and setting them free from their past. He seemed to be excited to find out that these handful of earthly vessels have totally availed themselves to be used by Him. As we presented to God’s people the vision for the work the Holy Ghost is doing throughout the body of Christ in our generation, one could easily notice the little knowledge some of us in Africa have about concepts like the Kingdom of God, kingdom living, hearing God, the fivefold ministry and its functionning, the ministry of the saints, the kingdom principles for finances, etc. As a matter of fact, the Gospel itself is simple. But we’ve made it a very complicated stuff through the traditions passed down to us by the colonial missionaries that came to Africa hundreds years ago. When Tim Baum from Midlands, Texas, joined us in Ghana, he enriched the ministry with his personal special skills and love for God’s people. Tim does not just teach and prophesy. I also watched him share around pills, enzymes, tablets, in order to rescue sick people : a woman who got bitten by a snake in Accra, and other persons with bouts of malaria, fatigue, sleeplessness (including myself !), etc. Ministry is a whole. And it did not happen just from platforms or huge beautiful carved oak tree pulpits. In fact, some of the most fruitful teachings we had took place at meal times, or as we traveled from one city to another (Cotonou-Porto-Novo, for example), and in home groups. Of course, though very enjoyable, they were also hard times for the only one interpreter on the team, for I had to talk as much as everyone else did ! Having assisted brother Stuart in co-ordinating this leg of his trip, I would wholeheartedly like to appreciate the following princes and princesses in the Kingdom who truely made our stay easy, by giving us their time, staff, ressources, and accommodation facilities : Josué Ahounou (Benin) Samuel Ofori (Ghana) Lawrence Asante (Ghana) Bernard Asare (Ghana) Christophe Djawan (Togo) Marc coulibaly (Mali) Mohammed Bouya (Mali) Hortense Palm (Bukina Faso) Not forgetting the Catholic brethren at Sévaré, who gave us beds and dinner over a car break down during our highly adventurous journey to Tombouctou. And last but not the least, Sister Shannon Dee Bailey in New York. As a faithful team member, she is still keeping the base through her Internet assistance, by sending each one of you copies of the updates from the frontline. What a wonderful gift she is to the body of Christ ! Those are some of the things God did through and with us recently thanks to your prayers and support. I’m now back in Benin and have fully recovered from this long and tiring but exciting mission. However, let’s remember Stuart, Kitty and Jamie, as they are right now dealing with anti-God strongholds and helping build up the church in France. Merci beaucoup et que Dieu vous bénisse ! Bruno Gbofoun, Your brother. |