Riding the cattle truck to Belle Anse and doing a prayer walk there takes 70,695 Fitbit steps. That's equal to 29 miles walked, according to Jess Faust's Fitbit that tracked all of the bounces, rattles, and steps from Peredo to Belle Anse a couple of weeks ago. 

As the interns and team from Fowler Christian Church (Fowler, IN) loaded into the cattle truck and Land Rover, the air was full of excitement and anticipation for our prayer journey to Belle Anse. Four hours later - or approximately 35,000 steps later - everyone climbed out of the vehicles to survey the scene in Belle Anse. 

As we met Destin and found a spot to eat our peanut butter sandwich lunch, we divided the team into three groups: one led by Jude, a translator; one led by our intern supervisor, Allison; and one led by RoRo and Destin. The groups headed off in different directions hoping to cover as much of the town as possible in two hours before we met back at the vehicles.

When planting churches, we know that one of the keys to a plant being successful is having a good relationship with town officials and politicians. RoRo had been praying for an opportunity to meet the mayor and to start building a relationship with him. But so far, he had not been able to do so. 
 

RoRo and Destin's team started prayer walking through a small section of a house/hotel that RoRo stayed in as a teenager on vacation. We met the owner, Luke, who was about RoRo's age, and found out they had spent quite a bit of time together that summer. They hadn't seen each other in about 20 years. It was a happy reunion! 

As we left, we walked down the street to see the building that we are renting for the church. We spent a few minutes praying and taking some photos. 

As we turned the corner, we spotted a hotel that RoRo wanted to look at for possible future use. About the same time, Destin entered the hotel with a middle-aged man and introduced him as the mayor of Belle Anse! RoRo had been to Belle Anse on three different occasions and tried to meet the mayor with no success.  

We didn't find out until we were doing devos back in Peredo that just a few minutes earlier across town, Jude's group had stopped right in front of the government offices to pray. Our intern, Faith, prayed for God to open doors and to help us have favor with the mayor. God did just that as we met the mayor at the hotel! And we saw a new door open for the work in Belle Anse.

After the talking with the mayor, the group walked toward the beach to pray and meet some of the boat drivers. On the way back to the vehicles, the mayor saw us and pulled us over into a crowd of about 20 people. He asked when we would be back and some other questions about where we were from in the United States. 

I felt God tug at my heart, so I asked the mayor if we could pray for him and the town of Belle Anse. He said, "Yes." Right there, in the middle of the street with over 20 people watching the interaction, I laid my hand on his shoulder, we bowed our heads, and I prayed for him, his family, and the town of Belle Anse. Not only did RoRo, Destin and the team get to meet the mayor, but we were given the opportunity to pray with him as well!

God opened another big door through the power of prayer! Please celebrate and thank God with us! And continue praying for this community as they open their hearts to Jesus!

Cameron Mayhill

Director of Development