{"id":7683,"date":"2019-08-20T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T09:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=conexion&p=7683"},"modified":"2019-09-13T14:44:21","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T14:44:21","slug":"aidas-dream","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/aidas-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Aida\u2019s dream for Equatorial Guinea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meet Aida. 23 years old. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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This is her story. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A phone call  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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It was a unique childhood. Her friends called her mwana<\/em> <\/em>ntang<\/em> <\/em>(white girl). They taught her how to play with a stick and tyre. At the age of seven Aida moved from Equatorial Guinea back to Spain. But it was too late. The country and its people were already firmly in her heart. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In Aida\u2019s final year at university in Spain, she had a chance to go back: a two-month internship at a school in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. Her reading book during that trip was Lindsay Brown\u2019s Shining Like Stars<\/em>: page after page, Aida was captivated by the stories of Christian students making a difference in their countries. It sparked a dream within her: a desire to hear the stories of Christian students from Equatorial Guinea making a difference in their country. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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On her return home, Aida received a phone call, which changed the course of her life. It was a GBU Spain staff worker: Aida, would you consider moving to Equatorial Guinea to pioneer a new movement? <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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What timing! As she prayed, read the Bible and spoke to other Christians over the following few weeks, it seemed unmistakably clear that God was opening the door. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Not alone  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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That was 18 months ago. Since then, GBU Spain have been helping Aida prepare to move to Malabo. IFES supported her to go to World Assembly in South Africa. Hearing the stories and struggles of other pioneering staff and students helped her to adjust her expectations: this was not going to be an easy move, but she would not be alone.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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I know it\u2019s going to be difficult. And I am not the best person to go. You could find others who are better trained or more experienced. But I trust God to provide for me and mould my life for what He\u2019s calling me to do.<\/em> <\/p>

I\u2019m willing to do it because I\u2019m not alone. I know God is with me, and the rest of the IFES family. Maybe I won\u2019t see great things. Maybe I\u2019m just planting one seed which will never grow up while I\u2019m there. But it doesn\u2019t matter. God has big plans for this nation. I\u2019m learning that sometimes God\u2019s timing is not our timing; God\u2019s way of working is not our way. <\/em>  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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<\/use><\/svg><\/i><\/i>GBU Spain<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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Starting from scratch  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Aida wants to reach students. But what\u2019s the best way to start? Ideas were sparked while listening to others at World Assembly: English clubs and music lessons \u2013 for both Christians and non-Christians \u2013 and other ways too. It\u2019s going to be hard: most of the undergraduates there are a couple of years older than her, and the majority are male. But despite the potential challenges, Aida has a peace.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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I know I\u2019m not there to be a leader or a director. I\u2019m not there to impose my familiar IFES Europe way of doing things. I\u2019m there to build a team and work together with them to start an indigenous movement. And God-willing, that will happen \u2013 first in one of the faculties of Malabo, and hopefully on other campuses in Bata as well.<\/em>  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Beauty and brokenness  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Aida loves Equatorial Guinea. She loves the way you\u2019re never alone there: if you\u2019re out in the street, someone will say hello and walk with you to where you\u2019re going; if you\u2019re at home, there\u2019ll be someone knocking on your door, wanting to come in for a drink. She loves the hospitality, the way of life, the smells, the colours, the diversity. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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But, like any country, there is brokenness here too. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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While most people are nominally Catholic, animism has a grip on their hearts. When a baby is born, the parents present the baby to the spirits for \u2018protection\u2019. When someone is ill, they go to the witch doctor. When someone is angry, they might have their enemy cursed. While the younger generation practise it less than their parents and grandparents, it\u2019s still deeply embedded in the culture. For young believers, it\u2019s hard to break away from it. And for an outsider, it\u2019s hard to challenge it without causing offence. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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It would be easy to feel overwhelmed by such signs of darkness, but Aida is trusting God to work: <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cI believe the power to change is in God\u2019s Word. As we read the Bible together at university, I\u2019m praying that God speaks to us and shows us where we are putting our faith in things other than Him, the one true God.\u201d<\/em>  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The country has big dreams, but few resources; many feel hopeless and frustrated. But Aida and the Christian students have a different hope to share \u2013 a hope which is not based on humans. It\u2019s a hope that can change the heart of each individual, each campus, each community. This is Aida\u2019s dream.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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“IFES family, imagine we are all gathered together in 2023, and standing here: a sister from Equatorial Guinea saying their movement is ready to join IFES. Will you join me in praying for that reality?”<\/em>  <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Aida is being supported by the IFES Breaking New Ground<\/a><\/em> project.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n \n \n <\/svg><\/span>\n Find out more about IFES pioneering ministry <\/span>\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":7711,"template":"","area":[513,591],"theme":[8,1214],"class_list":["post-7683","conexion","type-conexion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area-equatorial-guinea","area-spain","theme-breaking-new-ground","theme-pioneering"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAida\u2019s dream for Equatorial Guinea · IFES Conexi\u00f3n Blog<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n