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Their first journey together was one full of
excitement! The two men took a survey trip
to Senegal and not fully understanding French
at the time, got off the plane in the wrong
country! They thought they were arriving
in Senegal which had freedom of religion,
but instead they got off in the strict Islamic
republic of Mauritania! Excited to finally be in
Africa, they started passing out tracts until they
were apprehended by police. They were told
that they were going to be arrested and later
accused of being spies, but Ron, using his quick
smile and humor, laughingly looked around at
the surrounding desert and asked what in the
world would they be spying on? Appreciating
the humor, the police released the two men and
confiscated all of their tracts. They put them in
a small dugout canoe and instructed them to go
across the river into Senegal! Eventually, it was
there on the northern border of Senegal and
Mauritania in the town of St. Louis where the
Bragg and Godfrey families labored for many
years. So began their lives together of faith,
adventure, and love for the African people!
It is difficult to summarize the many years
God gave the Braggs in Senegal, but their
first few years were some of the most difficult.

Ron would often jokingly say that it was only
because of their lack of finances that kept them
from getting a return air ticket and quitting!
It would take a full four years before he saw
his first Senegalese accept Christ. At the most
discouraging time, he was on his knees in his
small makeshift office in the back of the house
praying that God would send him to a more
productive country. At that moment, there
was a knock at the front gate. Four men to
whom he had been witnessing came in and
testified of placing their faith in Jesus Christ
as their Savior! What an answer to prayer and
a spiritual breakthrough! What happened
after that were years of miraculous stories of
God’s protection and provision as well as souls
coming to Christ. Years later, the group of
believers purchased their own piece of property
and organized as the African Baptist Church of
St. Louis, Senegal! The church is still thriving
today under the direction of a national pastor
Malick Diop and assisted by BIMI missionary
Josh Mead.

In June 1991, the Braggs were asked to assume
the responsibilities of the Africa Director of
BIMI. At that time, there were 69 missionaries
in Africa serving in nine countries. In the
decades that followed, God would nearly
double the amount of missionaries and scatter
Grace Baptist Bible Institute
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