Bakari

From lef to right: Musaa, Elijah, and Bakari.

Bakari has been a good friend of ours since we arrived in 2005.  He and his brother Wiye have been a real help to us since that time.  They are both professing believers and continue to attend as I teach and preach God’s Word.

One area that Bakari is in real need of help in, and I’d like to ask you all to pray about, is his problem of drinking.  He is an alcoholic.  He can’t stop drinking.  I have recently approached him about this – and it wasn’t the first time.  But, whereas in the past he has denied that he has a problem, this time he did not deny it.  I tried to encourage him to come to our place rather than go drinking (he rides his motorcycle to a nearby village where the alcohol is available).  Even if it is in the middle of the night, I told him that I will get up, make a meal for him, and then he could sleep here.  He really appreciated the thought and invitation and said he would stop drinking.  As of yet he has not taken me up on this invitation and he has continued to drink. 

Pray for Bakari.  Pray that the Lord would impress upon him his need to look to Him for the help to change.  He cannot change himself.  Pray that the Lord would break his pride and he would seek help.  Lastly, pray that he would see the Lord Jesus as the true source of peace and joy and not believe the lie that alcohol can provide that which he is seeking.  Pray for us as we do our best to help him.