On Wednesday January 21, 2009 Bishop Patrick Novak arrived in Freetown along with Marilyn,

Claudia and Paige to begin a two-day intensive seminar for leaders of the ministry using the First Principles Series. The following day the seminar got on the way with about 35 people in attendance. 25 came from the Leadership of  DONE and 10 came from the leadership of the Word of Faith Ministries. The Seminar began at 10am and ended by 4:30pm.
The Team Visit Word Of Faith Ministries

At about 5pm the team, accompany by five members of DONE Sierra Leone Leadership took off to visit Meshack, the Pastor and Overseer of the Word of Faith Ministries. Upon our arrival we were received by the Leadership of The Word of Faith Ministries Pastor Meshack and taken on a tour of the facilities. At the end of the tour an evening service was started with about 300 people in attendance.

We were welcome by the Pastor and General Overseer of the Ministry who spoke highly of looking forward to networking with DONE Ministries. Rev. Browne thanked the Pastor for the warm reception and stressed the need for churches to network in areas of common interest. Rev. Browne indicated that DONE Ministries was open and looks forward to work with the Word of Faith Ministries. Rev. Browne than introduced the member of the team including the local leadership that had accompanied him. During the Service Bishop Novak received word for a lady in the congregation who was suffering from severe pain in her abdomen. The lady showed up immediately. Bishop Novak prayed her for her and she was healed instantly.

The second day of the seminar did not hold as scheduled. Rev. Browne canceled it in consultation with Bishop Novak. There were too many activities to cover with less time. Since it was agreed that Rev. Browne would remain in Freetown for an additional month to continue the training he suggested that the team traveled to Kono and Bo waterside to see and get a first hand account of the work started by Pastor Michael Arona and Pastor George Cole. This was accepted but due to time the team could not visit Bo and Kono at the same time. Therefore it was agreed that the team visit Kono. When the team disembarked from their Monrovia flight, immediately they began their journey to Kono in a four wheel runner jeep. The journey took the team 16 hours to and fro Kono on a rocky and dusty road. In Kono the team spend the night at the Methodist Guest House. The next morning the team was led to the center where a service was held in honor of the team. Gifts produced by the center were presented to the team. Later the team was taken on a tour of the center by its Director who is  the assistant pastor to Michael Arona. The team departed Kona at 12noon, arrived at the airport at 9:30pm just on time to checked in and departed Freetown.

More tomorrow on the trip to Liberia with Bishop Dr. Novak…..

http://obispo.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/02/bishop-dr-pat-novak-visits-freetown-and-liberia.html

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Doris Ba is discussing the training that both Bishop Ba and Rev. Browne were able to take in Aims, Iowa in Nov.  2008.  As you will recall from May Newsletter Rev. Browne along with Dr. Rev. Pat Novak and his team from Santa Clara, Calif. has implemented it in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As Doris shared in her report:
“Senegal:  The leadership training ended on Saturday 28, 2009 on the first series book 4 (Cultivating the habit of the heart) with Bishop Abdoulaye Ba.  He has made such an impact on us in our Dakar church. In this training we were taught how to strategically fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ in this nation Senegal which is about 95% Muslim.  95% of the leaders going through this training were able to find a man of peace and are now continuing study through the first principle (Becoming a Disciple).

The Pastor of our church in the Fissel, village is also going through the first principle with the church in the Fissel village with about forty members. Most of these people in the village are illiterate; therefore they do more practical than theory. They are excited because they are seeing how  this training is shaping their Christian lives and character. Since many of them are from animist and Muslim background, they were still holding on to certain practices, but this training helped them to realize that these practices are to be eradicated if they want to be more effective in evangelism. Many are now going to the near by villages to evangelize.”

Doris is also a gifted seamstress and dress designer.  She has opened a tailoring shop as a micro-enterprise to help other women to learn this trade and be able to take it back to their communities and villages.  This business empowers women economically and spiritually and raises self-esteem and self-respect as well as providing an outreach for the church to allow women to minister to other women and bringing them and their families into the church. Recently she had them make new choir robes for our Parcelles Assainies Church.   They had a successful gowning ceremony for the choir .  It has been such a blessing to the church.

The church also purchased this new lighted sign board.  This Sign board helps direct many Muslims who have questions to ask about Christianity to our church and Mission office.  It also has brought into our church many who are looking for a place to worship.

The children’s department is growing numerically and spiritually. These photos show a recent program given by the children.  They sang, recited Bible verses and did drama.  Many of their Muslim friends attended.

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Pastor A who went through the training will also start the 1st principle in Mbour, and Fissel.  The church in Dakar bought a Motorcycle for Pastor A to help accomplish this work.”

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DONE leadership training in Senegal started on the 20th of February through March with the first series ‘Becoming a Disciple’ a six-session Bible study, and the First Principles of the Faith by Jeff Reed.  Rev. Doris Ba in her report to the DONE Board writes, “The leadership of the churches of DONE Senegal is grateful to God for the leadership training under Bishop Ba.”  The training will be every Friday and Saturday for three weeks.  After the three weeks training, each leader will find a Man of Peace before starting the second book of the first series”.

Bishop Ba started the training by reviewing the Church Planting Movement  (CPM).  It was introduced by David Watson in his Church Planting Movement (CPM) and is being used extensively on the mission fields through out the world.  Our leaders and church planters have been trained over the last several years in this method.  In this method one goes out into a village or unchurched area as a friend and looks for a person who shows concern about spiritual matters.  They then work with this friendship and under the guidance and movement of the Holy Spirit and in time they can disciple and began a cell group.   Rev. Doris Ba continues, “We are convinced that at the end of our training we will be fully trained in “the way of Christ and His Apostles,” and we will be able to reproduce rapid and sustainable churches base on Biblical principles.

Bishop Abdoulaye Ba challenged us at the end of the first session that every leader should begin to find their man of peace.  Before the end of the six sessions many of the leaders had already found their Man of Peace, including our Bishop himself with whom he had now started teaching  Mamadou Ba and his whole family. Many of the Men of Peace found by the leadership in Dakar are now baptized and will start the First Principle training with the leader.

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The church in Liberia continues to grow with 17 new families (average 5 family members) in the past three months. Pastor Sawyer reports of working signs and miracles including deliverance and reconciliation of families. In my family, we continually trust God as our source of strength; who apart from there is nothing we can do.

On the 25th of June, Jacqueline, my wife and I baptized nineteen converts as the family of the first four men of peace. The training of the first four men of peace and their families continues (learn about the man of peace here) and they’re being actively discipled in leadership positions.

The average attendance of Sunday service is sixty-one adults while children forty-nine. We used for the month of DONE the Theme “Believer’s Covenant”. This theme had made significance impact in the lives of the congregation as each one of them made a covenant with the Lord and broke every illegal Blood covenant with the devil.
The church continues to under take its self initiative local materials building. We moved there and had the fist DIVINE worship service there on the 11th of June. The floor is 95% completed and the external plastering   is nearly at completion. The children, women, music and prayer departments are vibrant.
The campaign for soul winning continues as we adopt the STRATEGY 101, method is most efficient as the church received visitors every Sunday.”

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