Puanjaga Festival

On January 27th and 28th Steve and I did a Gospel Festival in the small village of Puanjaga. It went very well! We were pretty nervous on the first night, because it was raining so heavily in the village that their little “streets” (more like pathways) were so flooded, they looked like tiny rivers! Our festival was scheduled to start at 7:00pm, but at 7:35, there were still only about 12 children in attendance! Thankfully, during the next 20 minutes, people started braving the rain, and by the time Steve started his testimony at 8:oo, we had a good crowd of all ages.

We saw the crowd grow even larger for the second night, and at the end of the night we heard testimonies from people.

My favourite praise report was from a woman who had been carrying intense anger for a neighbor of hers for many years. Later when she was describing it she told us “I would have been better off dead than to be carrying such hatred in me”. BUT as she listened to the Gospel that night, and God’s unconditional love for US, she said she felt God’s love fill her, and her anger for the neighbor completely disappeared! She felt so much joy and love in her heart, even towards the neighbor she had once been so angry with! I think love and joy are always contagious for people.

Here are some pictures:


We rented this little bus to take all our sound equipment and helpers up to the village.

...just because he's handsome.

When we do these festivals, we buy dinner for our helpers (translator, bus driver, sound people, etc.) we buy food packets (usually a piece of chicken, rice, and some vegetable all rolled up in a banana leaf) at booths like this one. (In case you were interested).

Self-explanatory

Setting Up.

Emily Preaching.

Steve preaching.

Everyone during praise and worship.

That smiley woman in the middle is the one I mentioned earlier, who had that hatred for many years.

Steve with local boys.

Emily with local girls.