What Happens in the Desert Stays in the Desert

A shot from our trip out into the desert after a day out on the dunes!

Life has been pretty chaotic these last few weeks. I have graduated from G42, the discipleship school I was going to, and have been working on what the future might look like to come back Spain for good and work with Burn 24/7 and the church network here in Malaga. I just started the visa process so you prayer are appreciated!

Last week I returned from a trip that was a real answer to prayer. For a few months we have been talking about what it looks like for Burn 24/7 here in Spain to support the Church of Malaga as it supports efforts around the world and as we explore what it is like to blend together worship and ministry. Earlier this year an opportunity came up to make this happen and we went for it! Out of respect for our contacts friends who work full time, I’m not going to share the location specifically. So for now we’ll just call it the Sahara Desert.

It was my first time into North West Africa and I’ve always wondered what work would be like there. Many of the countries there are heavily Islamic and can have oppressive governments against any other beliefs systems, some even make it illegal to convert from Islam period.

Pablo and I leading worship for Easter Mass. It was the biggest attendance since 1975!

It was a strange situation, but since we went over Semana Santa, the Catholic week of festivities before Easter, we were able to be open with what our intentions were. Where we went there was a Catholic church that had been there for over 50 years, and while there was policeman outside the door 24/7 and the locals weren’t allowed in, we were still able to pray and worship freely as foreigners. Most days we prayed and worshiped for 8 hours while others were out working. We even got to lead worship during Easter Mass on sunday. It was such an incredible example of Christ’s body working together and pushing disagreements aside for a common purpose of God’s glory.

Playing guitar at the beach as one of the deaf girls was enjoying the music as she felt me playing!

I think one of the things I admire about working in countries that are oppressive towards Christianity is that the only way anything happens is if God shows up. While this should be our philosophy for everyday ministry, sometimes in countries that have more freedom our privileges and programs can get in the way of God having complete control. This is what I love most about spending time in worship as well. I think it was about 2 years ago when I started to see that the purpose of worship on the field was to constantly remind ourselves that intimacy with the Father and taking time to praise him was worth it, and that work done outside of this place isn’t on the foundation that God desires.

Not only did we get to spend time in prayer and worship inside but we got the opportunity to bless a local school and their special needs class by taking them to the beach and brining music to them. The kids in this class ranged from being down syndrome all the way to deaf. In this society, like many, having a special needs child can be a shame to the family and community. Just for these kids to be in some type of schooling in public was a blessing.

One of the locals making us some tea in the desert…can’t say it was my favorite, but definitely made with love!

It’s crazy how you can create an atmosphere with music where people are enjoying themselves, singing, dancing and having a good time in a way that they are worshiping with what their creator put inside of them regardless of if they know his name or not. By the way they responded I could see the joy of the Lord in their eyes and I know it’s not something they will quickly forget. God as put eternity in the heart of man and I believe he was speaking in ways that we will never know sometimes through us but often outside of us!

The whole week was full of connections being made, governments showing favor, people being healed both physically and emotionally and so many being refreshed by the power and love of a Father God. Honestly I have always been a bit skeptical about seeing fruit in the physical from something like worship or prayer that seem so spiritual as I think many Christians are, but there just seem to be so many coincidences that there comes a time when you throw your arms up and just admit that it works even if we don’t know how! I’m so excited about the doors this trip opened up and how it will affect what we do in the future.

Again I wish I could be more detailed, but if you would like to know more info of what I did please feel free to email me with questions at aboehm88@gmail

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