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I've been so excited about this, I just can't wait any longer with passing on the news to you

Yesterday I went downtown with two other pastors to pursue our land acquisition. We ended up in this one office where we had to wait for the responsable person for quite some time. The one pastor has been helping me with the church recognition also and I know him pretty well by now. The other pastor was his friend, and I met him for the first time, and he was the "expert" with contacts when it comes to land.

So while we're waiting, he wants to know more about our church, and I share all we're doing. Later the pastor told me that the other guy, working at his desk, listened carefully, which was the reason he suddenly was so friendly to us in the end! He said he's never been so friendly before!

Finally the guy came and opened the maps for the parts of town in his jurisdiction - which is quite big. Earlier I was told I needed to tell them one part of town we'd like to be, so I had a name in mind. As he opened the map, you could see schools, markets, surrounded by houses,. and "culte chrétien" - property set apart for Christian churches and ministries. The goal was to find one of those that is still available.

He opened it to one particular place, like he knew one that was available, and to my amazement it was in the part of town I had in mind. I looked at it and immediately loved it. There are several reasons - besides the inner witness and excitement - that make this the perfect place:

* My former school director's third school - a primary school - is just around the corner.
* There is a hill only a few houses away.
* It's located on a paved road - easily accessible and visible.
* It's not THAT far away from our current location.
* It's 3020 m² or 32,500 sq.ft. or 0.75 acres.

From there, we went to another part of town to ask for available properties, but my heart was already lost to this one.

Why even look further?

Because there is one little problem - nothing God can't solve! While the government has already dedicated it for Christian worship, they have not signed the papers to release it to be given away. They could sign them tomorrow, or in a month, or two, or a year.

BUT I believe THIS IS THE LAND GOD HAS FOR US! And I haven't even seen it yet. On Thursday we're going there to look at it.

Please pray with us that they will sign the papers, so that this land will be transferred to us! By the way, the number in the picture is the plot number.

I'm having a hard time thinking of something else, with my mind already planning the layout of the buildings and all the details of what it will look like. If I could take a picture of what is in my mind, I could already show it to you! ;-)

QUICK UPDATES

* CAR/TRUCK - I still haven't seen it, with Emma repeatedly not showing up or being unavailable. He'll be back in town on Monday, so I hope to also take care of that.

* SEKOUBA showed a lot of character on Wednesday when all his money and his precious harmonica were stolen. It hurt me to see me him hurt, and it hurt me deeply that the thief was Brahima - Sekouba's friend and one of the most regular kids who also has professed to follow Jesus, and I still believe he is serious. More details on my blog page.

* SAMBA is the new street kid that moved in with us a few days ago. To my amazement, he came to our very first Christmas party for street children over a year ago, but only came back this week, telling us he wants to know Jesus. I know I took some risk taking him in so quickly, especially with Sekouba telling stories about him being a thief and lier, but I'm giving him this chance to show he seriously gave his life to the Lord.

* LITERACY class - this week we had three new people, Samba and two other street kids, who started to learn to read and write. Sekouba is making much progress since I started working with him daily, and he is overjoyed at that. We also play computer games together, which is great fun time together, and increases his ability to think logically.

In HIS service,

Claudia