Four months ago, Rachel*, one of e3’s Strategy Coordinators, felt the Lord lay on her heart a specific district in Africa. So when she and a team recently traveled to another area in Africa to prepare for upcoming mission trips, she planned to explore that district too.
“I felt strongly that we needed to begin work there in September,” Rachel said. “We have been praying about this area for months, and the weeks leading up to and during the trip I prayed specifically for God to show us exactly where He wanted us to go. This district is close to an area where we have worked the past year, but we don’t know anyone in the district – whether there are any churches or what the spiritual atmosphere is.”
But when their schedule left only the last day of their trip to explore this district, Rachel felt a bit dismayed. When their host drove for hours into the bush until the dirt road turned into a footpath – and their destination was still not in sight – Rachel’s dismay grew.
“It was almost 2 p.m., and our time was running out,” Rachel said. “So I asked the driver to stop, and I reminded everyone what our goal was: to identify area churches we can cast vision with and be good candidates for us to work with. We prayed, and then our host pointed the driver back toward the main road. He knew of a church in that direction. He didn’t know the pastor or much about them, but we could at least stop.”
Eventually, Rachel and the team came to a church building and saw a small group of people inside. A woman came out to greet them.
“She said they were pastors and leaders from the churches in the district, and they were meeting to discuss how they can reach the lost people in their villages!” Rachel said. “Turns out, they had formed a “Unity Group” of eight churches from six denominations to partner with one another to evangelize the lost around them. We all realized God had led us there at that exact time – an answer to prayer at literally the 11th hour for us!”
So Rachel and the team spoke further with the Unity Group, casting vision and sharing plans.
“They drew us a map of the locations of each church in the group,” Rachel said. “We are now making plans to bring a team of volunteers in September to begin equipping them with new tools to accomplish their vision. I am more than excited about what God is doing, how He is confirming His plan with perfect timing.”
*Names have been changed to ensure safety and anonymity.