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The month of April has been unique. “Mama Salone,” as many locals refer to the country, celebrated its 60th independence day. The week leading to the holiday were filled with various riots across the city which included some casualties. Additionally, many Sierra Leoneans have been been celebrating Ramadan, a Muslim, 30-day season of fasting. The city has been more quiet during the day, but the nights have been full of crowds as fasts are broken at sunset. This has been a stark reminder to us of the need to saturate Sierra Leone with the Gospel.

Our family is continuing to lead and serve at New Beginning Baptist Church–Babadorie. We have begun a weekly meeting with the current Sunday school teachers to assist with lesson preparation, but are also using this time to grow these men and women as spiritual leaders within the church.

Prayer Needs

• God’s leading and wisdom as we work to strengthen and grow the local church 
• A successful leadership conference for the Sierra Leonean military chaplains at the end of May
• A smooth and problem-free move into our new home in the upcoming month

If you were praying over our last letter, THANK YOU! Mohammed accepted Jesus as his Savior two weeks ago while meeting with Shaun! As Shaun begins to disciple this new believer on a weekly basis, please be praying for his growth in the faith in the days, weeks, and months to come.

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer & financial support!

The Evans Family

Sierra Leone has been our home for more than a month now, and we are continuing to learn and grow in the culture and ministry here. We celebrated our first Resurrection Day in Africa with our new church family and, just last week, Shaun had an opportunity to speak to a group of young people at a military church camp and promote the Bible Institute. As Covid19 restrictions continue to soften here, we anticipate increased opportunities for ministry. 

We continue to  have new  and repeat visitors, and we praise God for them! One young man has regularly attended and is asking many questions since he first listened to a service from outdoors. While he hasn’t accepted Christ as his Savior, we remain hopeful.   

Please specifically pray for the following: 

• The salvation of a Muslim youth who continues to visit church.
• The salvation of our mechanic, a Muslim man named Mohammed.
• God’s leading and wisdom as we work to strengthen and grow the local church here

We have arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone! On February 20, 2021, we climbed down from the plane onto African soil. God granted us smooth travels and multiple, negative Covid19 tests, allowing us to continue to our residence and granting full mobility throughout the city. Since landing here two weeks ago, we have been learning our new home by exploring the city  and joining the ministry work. We received our shipping container safely and our belongings seem to be fine!

Currently, Shaun is leading services at a local church plant, and our children have begun attending Sunday school class. We are thrilled to share the salvation of one young man after our first service there! Just this past Sunday, the church had a new visitor. We give the Lord praise for these two men and our family’s welcome by this body of believers.

As we continue forward in the work here, please specifically pray for the following: 

• Renewed evangelistic vigor for both the national pastors and local believers
• Our family and Shaun’s extended family as we mourn the loss of his mother and rejoice in her presence with the Lord 
• Our family as we adjust to a new home, culture, and ministry responsibilities.

Lord willing, the next prayer letter you receive will be sent from Sierra Leone! With our shipping container currently floating across the Atlantic Ocean and having received our initial, negative Covid19 tests, our family is planning to travel in just a few days.  We are finalizing our arrangements and finishing the packing of our suitcases as we say, “see you later” to our family and friends. 

During our extended time in South Carolina, we had several opportunities to share Christ and encourage others with His call on our lives. We both taught a young-married Sunday school class while Shaun later spoke on foreign missions at Florence Christian School (Shaun’s alma mater) and preached in our home church’s Spanish worship service. On a personal note, we were thrilled to watch our son, Wes, follow Jesus in baptism!  While unplanned, God allowed these extra weeks home to be profitable. 

We ask your specific prayers in the following areas:

• Protection of our belongings during their transit and arrival through customs
• Safe and negative Covid19 tests (2 of them per person) upon arrival in Sierra Leone
• Travel mercies during our 24 hour trip from South Carolina to Sierra Leone
• Renewed evangelistic vigor for the national pastors and local believers

Happy New Year! We are greeting 2021 with excitement because we know and trust Who is in control! Our family is focusing on the process of moving to Sierra Leone. As you can imagine, it has been a busy time for certain, and we crave your prayers for the upcoming weeks. 

As we plan our move, we–like you–have not escaped the complications of this turbulent time. There have been unexpected hurdles with both our shipping container and our ability to travel internationally this month, causing us to push back our original launch dates. While we are navigating these issues and plan to travel soon, concrete dates are not currently available to us. Although we are a little discouraged by the delays, we are trusting in God’s plan and His perfect timing.  Thank you for your faithfulness in support and prayer!

Please pray specifically for:

• Completion of our shipping arrangements is soon concluded
• Protection of our belongings through transit (sea and air), immigration and customs
• We test negative for Covid19 both before travel and twice upon arrival
• Our families and us as we conclude our time in the states
• The ministry, national pastors, and people in Sierra Leone