What a difference 40 days can make! Here are some highlights of our past 6 weeks.
Two days before our CHE (Community Health Evangelism) team was to conduct the town meeting in Krako, the chief of the village unexpectedly died. That immediately delayed our plans, as the village began the traditional 40 days of mourning and rituals common among Kulangos when a leader dies. Actually, for the first few weeks, they did not even say he had died, but that his “tooth hurt.” It was only right around burial time, about a month later, that they began to use the word “died.”
The Goumere CHE team continued to make visits, offering their sympathy and taking a gift for the funeral. It is just now time for the village to consider CHE again. The death of the chief who does not seem to have dampened their desire for this outreach. We pray that the next chief will become a great advocate of CHE.
During this same period, Debbie unexpectedly had surgery to remove an ovary on October 16. The following 6 weeks were a time of slow healing, and Verlin and the children have had to pick up many duties as she recovers. We thank the Lord that the tests for cancer came back negative.
The past 40 days have been very difficult for Mai, the recently converted Muslim teenager. She returned here to Bondoukou for high school, but is being lodged in a Muslim home, and told not to ever go to church, visit Christian homes, or receive Christian friends at home. She has hidden her Bible at a Christian neighbor's house, where she can hopefully slip away at times to read. Although Mai has lost some weight from food deprivation and stress, her faith is strong. Last Saturday, she went to Christian youth group, which meets at a reading center, not at church, and gave her testimony. She still is hopeful that her family will weary of their tactics, and allow her to worship Jesus, yet it is possible that her relationship with her family will have to be severed.
In a recent letter to a Christian friend, Mai spoke of how the persecution keeps her under constant stress. To demonstrate how she felt, she drew a girl crying, but holding tight to the cross in one hand.
High school has started almost 2 months late because of the presidential election that was supposed to occur in October, but which was delayed until next year. Cara and Debbie had hoped to have an English/Bible class outreach already going, but it now looks like January is the earliest time they can begin.
In May, 2007, we will have been missionaries with Free Will Baptist International Missions for 10 years. Time has flown. What a privilege to serve Christ in Cote d'Ivoire ! For the first time in almost a decade, though, we need to report that our mission account is barely in the black. It is our desire to complete this term without plunging into a deep deficit or interrupting ministry due to a strong Euro. In light of Debbie's illness and busy field ministries, we have not been able to communicate this need more than this byline. Our stateside assignment is scheduled for the summer of 2008.
Our hearts are full of thanksgiving this season, as we reflect on the Lord's goodness. How blessed we are to serve the ever Faithful One, and to have you as ministry partners!
Blessed to pass the blessing on,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson
PRAYER REQUESTS
- The village of Krako : that the newly chosen chief will allow CHE to proceed, and that the entire community will unite to work.
- Debbie's continued healing after surgery. She is having some blood pressure fluctuations and some other symptoms probably related to hormone changes.
- Mai: for physical protection (some Muslim families here try to poison their children who want to follow Christ), and for spiritual encouragement, since she has been told to have no contact with Christians.
- English/Bible study that Cara and Debbie hope to start in January.
- Financial needs for our mission account.
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