Following a service in Serekunda, Pastor Senghore met a woman, who had walked 4 hours from Madiana to attend a Christian church service. He gave her a lift home and could see that her village was in need of its own church and told me "they cannot come to us to hear the word of God, so we must go out to them!"

Pastor Senghore began regular visits to Madiana holding services under a canopy of palm leaves to keep off the blazing sun, or pouring rain. After a visit it became clear, that we could encourage him as well as fundraise, in order to help build a church in Madiana. (Pastor Senghore had previously built a church in Serekunda and knew of skilled tradesmen he could employ.) A piece of land was purchased and prayed over, then a well dug for close access to water. After the Sunday services in Madiana, local men, women and children fetched water, mixed cement and built blocks to dry in the sun. Muslims and Christians worked together in building the community church.

Relationships have been formed through regular visits from people within the Brackley Baptist Church and in February 2018, we witnessed 400 people from both The Gambia and Senegal celebrating the dedication of the magnificent 'Madiana Community Church.' The church has solar panels, the only light in the area, which has encouraged all-night prayers. This in turn has resulted in the people in Madiana praying for us just as we do for them! The land is large enough to build a Christian school which is desperately needed for 50 children, so in 2019 the footings have been dug out and work has begun again in furthering Gods kingdom...

We plan to visit Madiana again in February 2020.