Dear Praying Partners,
Just thought we should add one more Thankful Thought for which you can praise God during Thursday's celebration of His abundant and providential provision.
In our latest update sent a week ago, we shared that the Doctors without Borders organization had approved the donation to the Doropo Medical Center, but that it had been placed on hold after a change of administrators.
It is no longer on hold. This AM we received the note that the donation has been re-approved that that they are doing a stock count. They will then prepare the donation, send us an update, and, as soon as it is ready to ship, they will arrange the transport together with us.
Thank you for walking with us in praying the gift through the process. This injection of medicines, given without cost other than the transport, may help the Doropo medical facility re-establish their stock of medications and confirm the Lord's leading in the lives of the Goumere Community Health Evangelism team to see the Father's will done on earth as it is in heaven.
Happy Thanksgiving.
The Verlin & Debbie Anderson Family
Missionaries in Cote d'Ivoire
Free Will Baptist International Missions
B.P.607 Bondoukou, RCI
Email : vanderson@fwbgo.com
Web : www.verlindeb.org or www.fwbgo.com/Missionaries
Phone : (+225) 07.18.26.43 / 35.91.57.07
Ministry Update from 9/22/07
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
Our family is glad to be back together after the summer apart, and we appreciate your continued prayers for Cason as he settles into Bible College. Reports are good so far from him and others, but being thousands of miles apart is never easy.
It is exciting for us to hear of churches and individuals in the States praying for Muslims during Ramadan, their month of day-time fasting. Although the southern part of Cote d'Ivoire is heavily Christian, Muslims are everywhere here in the north. Our town, Bondoukou, has more than 20 mosques, and we frequently hear the early AM Muslim call to prayer. Many of our friends are Muslims, including mechanics, plumbers, electricians, painters, metalworkers, shop keepers, and neighbors.
Ramadan is a time of high theft in Bondoukou, as young Muslim men break into fellow Muslim's shops, stealing food items so that they can have a huge feast when the sun sets. Last year during Ramadan one of the few murders in town happened, as one of the shopkeepers was killed during a theft.
It is our privilege to share our faith in Christ with them, usually starting with things we have in common: belief in God as Creator and a conviction that following His laws brings blessings in life. Of course, the stumbling block (and their only hope) is the person of Christ and some American lifestyles. We regularly implore God to open their eyes to see the light of the glory of the gospel, in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Cor. 4:4)
This month we decided to share 2 stories about Muslims whom we love very much.
The first is Mai, whom you have prayed for many times. She was saved last summer and suffers persecution from her Muslim family. This past year, a girl followed her around to make sure she spoke to no Christians, and she was forbidden to attend church by her mother. In May, her mother said that if she passed her big school exam (called the BPC), she could go to church. A couple of weeks ago we received news that she passed the exam, despite her mother's many efforts to prevent her from studying! This was a huge affirmation of the Lord's tender care in her life. She is home for the summer, and we have no contact with her, as she is taunted and badgered by her family daily to renounce her faith in Jesus. High school starts soon in Bondoukou, so pray with us that her mother will keep her promise to allow Mai to go to church. It is likely that she will have to sever ties with her family, if the persecution remains so intense.
The second story is below, in Verlin's own words:
"The fifth of July found me beside the hospital bed of a Muslim friend's dying wife. Hope was thin and getting thinner. Their pregnancy had not been properly followed in the north, beyond the government controlled territories. She had eclampsia. By that morning, her body showed shown 6 of 8 critical signs: high sustained pulse rate, high sustained fever, prolonged coma, high systolic blood pressure, uncontrolled convulsions, and low urine output. Any two of these indicate that prognosis is serious. The treating doctor had no magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) to give. After two hours, with the likelihood of her living very small, I simply prayed aloud for her; other missionaries joined in prayer separately.
Muslim friends prepared her husband for the worst, that he should let Allah take her and they told him to be strong, not to cry. I consoled him, then encouraged him to stay beside her and tell her all the reasons he loved her, all the reasons she needed to fight for life. By nightfall, she showed all 8 of the critical signs. I said nothing about her condition that second visit. The family was encouraged because her blood pressure was falling, I just prayed again.
At 4 a.m. the next morning, she was still alive! However, that was not saying much and her breathing was shallow with gurgling. I was at the hospital, but leaving for a meeting in Doropo. Maybe there was some MgSO4 there. During the day, workers prepared and took enough food for the family for two meals. At 8 p.m. I returned with news of where we could get magnesium, but found she did not need it. She could speak to me! Three days later found her going home. Pray for the salvation of this family. The husband knows the truth and will attest
to much of Christianity privately after years of being around missionaries, but will not publicly profess Jesus as the Christ due to the personal cost. Pray for his courage. Pray that the Spirit will not release them of this conviction."
These souls are precious in His sight. Our hearts and minds constantly seek ways to be the hands of Christ extended to them. We believe many Muslims can come to Christ in Cote d'Ivoire, especially if numerous missions would target them specifically and take some different approaches to evangelize them. Pray with us that a Free Will Baptist missionary team will come here to minister specifically to Muslims, as we are beginning to do elsewhere in the world.
Your prayers are vitally important to tear down Muslim strongholds like these around the world, and to infuse us with strength and wisdom for the tasks at hand. Thank you for being partners with us to share Christ and His abundant life with the people of Cote d'Ivoire. What you do is as important as what we do.
Our next update will have CHE news and other ministry information. When there are delays in hearing from us, please know it isn't because there is nothing to tell, but because so much is going on that is it hard to find 2 or 3 consecutive hours to write an update. Don't forget there's detailed information at either www.verlindeb.org or the www.fwbgo.com websites to further see what God is doing through your missionaries!
Grateful for the grace of God that appears to ALL men,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin
PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Salvation of Yaya and his wife, still well after her near-death in July
-Spiritual strength for Mai, and the salvation of her family
-For a worldwide harvest of souls among Muslims
-Spiritual/physical strength for our family; the weather now invites
asthma/bronchitis
Our family is glad to be back together after the summer apart, and we appreciate your continued prayers for Cason as he settles into Bible College. Reports are good so far from him and others, but being thousands of miles apart is never easy.
It is exciting for us to hear of churches and individuals in the States praying for Muslims during Ramadan, their month of day-time fasting. Although the southern part of Cote d'Ivoire is heavily Christian, Muslims are everywhere here in the north. Our town, Bondoukou, has more than 20 mosques, and we frequently hear the early AM Muslim call to prayer. Many of our friends are Muslims, including mechanics, plumbers, electricians, painters, metalworkers, shop keepers, and neighbors.
Ramadan is a time of high theft in Bondoukou, as young Muslim men break into fellow Muslim's shops, stealing food items so that they can have a huge feast when the sun sets. Last year during Ramadan one of the few murders in town happened, as one of the shopkeepers was killed during a theft.
It is our privilege to share our faith in Christ with them, usually starting with things we have in common: belief in God as Creator and a conviction that following His laws brings blessings in life. Of course, the stumbling block (and their only hope) is the person of Christ and some American lifestyles. We regularly implore God to open their eyes to see the light of the glory of the gospel, in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Cor. 4:4)
This month we decided to share 2 stories about Muslims whom we love very much.
The first is Mai, whom you have prayed for many times. She was saved last summer and suffers persecution from her Muslim family. This past year, a girl followed her around to make sure she spoke to no Christians, and she was forbidden to attend church by her mother. In May, her mother said that if she passed her big school exam (called the BPC), she could go to church. A couple of weeks ago we received news that she passed the exam, despite her mother's many efforts to prevent her from studying! This was a huge affirmation of the Lord's tender care in her life. She is home for the summer, and we have no contact with her, as she is taunted and badgered by her family daily to renounce her faith in Jesus. High school starts soon in Bondoukou, so pray with us that her mother will keep her promise to allow Mai to go to church. It is likely that she will have to sever ties with her family, if the persecution remains so intense.
The second story is below, in Verlin's own words:
"The fifth of July found me beside the hospital bed of a Muslim friend's dying wife. Hope was thin and getting thinner. Their pregnancy had not been properly followed in the north, beyond the government controlled territories. She had eclampsia. By that morning, her body showed shown 6 of 8 critical signs: high sustained pulse rate, high sustained fever, prolonged coma, high systolic blood pressure, uncontrolled convulsions, and low urine output. Any two of these indicate that prognosis is serious. The treating doctor had no magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) to give. After two hours, with the likelihood of her living very small, I simply prayed aloud for her; other missionaries joined in prayer separately.
Muslim friends prepared her husband for the worst, that he should let Allah take her and they told him to be strong, not to cry. I consoled him, then encouraged him to stay beside her and tell her all the reasons he loved her, all the reasons she needed to fight for life. By nightfall, she showed all 8 of the critical signs. I said nothing about her condition that second visit. The family was encouraged because her blood pressure was falling, I just prayed again.
At 4 a.m. the next morning, she was still alive! However, that was not saying much and her breathing was shallow with gurgling. I was at the hospital, but leaving for a meeting in Doropo. Maybe there was some MgSO4 there. During the day, workers prepared and took enough food for the family for two meals. At 8 p.m. I returned with news of where we could get magnesium, but found she did not need it. She could speak to me! Three days later found her going home. Pray for the salvation of this family. The husband knows the truth and will attest
to much of Christianity privately after years of being around missionaries, but will not publicly profess Jesus as the Christ due to the personal cost. Pray for his courage. Pray that the Spirit will not release them of this conviction."
These souls are precious in His sight. Our hearts and minds constantly seek ways to be the hands of Christ extended to them. We believe many Muslims can come to Christ in Cote d'Ivoire, especially if numerous missions would target them specifically and take some different approaches to evangelize them. Pray with us that a Free Will Baptist missionary team will come here to minister specifically to Muslims, as we are beginning to do elsewhere in the world.
Your prayers are vitally important to tear down Muslim strongholds like these around the world, and to infuse us with strength and wisdom for the tasks at hand. Thank you for being partners with us to share Christ and His abundant life with the people of Cote d'Ivoire. What you do is as important as what we do.
Our next update will have CHE news and other ministry information. When there are delays in hearing from us, please know it isn't because there is nothing to tell, but because so much is going on that is it hard to find 2 or 3 consecutive hours to write an update. Don't forget there's detailed information at either www.verlindeb.org or the www.fwbgo.com websites to further see what God is doing through your missionaries!
Grateful for the grace of God that appears to ALL men,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin
PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Salvation of Yaya and his wife, still well after her near-death in July
-Spiritual strength for Mai, and the salvation of her family
-For a worldwide harvest of souls among Muslims
-Spiritual/physical strength for our family; the weather now invites
asthma/bronchitis
Ministry Update from 8/8/07
There was a pause, Sunday, in the hectic activity of the last three months. It's been so busy alternatively with regress and progress that it's been emotionally draining, even numbing at times. Sunday, I read about restoring Sabbath, and found a kindred spirit who once quipped 'My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered the interruptions were my work'. That statement resonates here. It even reverberates to the bone! It's the way to think of ministry in West Africa andstay in it over the long haul. It keeps you sane. Servants working here with that attitude endure, and leave an impact that reproduces.
Because we've been so long in writing, this overdue and overlong update has been broken into three separate notes focusing on CHE, family, and the other ministries of God we see. This one is about CHE. There are 5 points for prayer.
COMMUNITY HEALTH EVANGELISM (CHE):
Completed a Training of Trainers 1 (TOT1) course in Abidjan with 23 trained. They represented 9 ministries (5 in one facility) and were mostly not from Free Will Baptist ranks. They represented God's touching other evangelical or fundamental groups through us. We invested 40 hours of instruction plus another 70 in preparation, neither counting the travel time, nor the hours given by fellow instructors Alice Smith and Henri Buregea. Results? Two months later: 1) one ministry integrated some of the ideas into their teaching that very weekend and is determining what else they can do to adopt CHE principles; 2) another structures a separate and additional CHE outreach; 3) a group of self-funding Abidjan Christians has done the initial site work and will extend their outreach in San Pedro using CHE; and 4) two other groups feel called, but are waiting on God to provide a means that they can see before acting. Pray for their self-discovery of the faithfulness of Jehovah-jireh (the Lord will provide) and their development of trust in Him.
CHE gardening techniques attract attention. Passersby note that our plantain and bougainvillea plants seem to thrive, while other's suffer during a dryer and cooler than usual rainy season. Selective composting and mulching techniques with credit given to God (Ex.23, Le.25) lead to witnessing opportunities. A recently released prisoner, whose faith has been so piqued, grows loaned seed on 4 hectares of land donated for use with contributed labor. He plans to give a tithe and feed prisoners he's recently left behind. The demonstration garden has not yet even really begun. Pray the piqued become converted, grounded in the faith, and discipled.
A young Christian (our data entry typist) slept with a seductress last year. He tried to hide the sin. He experienced the loss of God's presence. He wanted Him back. She became pregnant with possibly his child. His conscience and her family bothered him. He planned to marry another. He confessed the sin. He's working on the repenting part. He typed and learned from the Bible what was needed to reconcile with God, himself, the woman, and his employer. He listened to other restored Christians. He drew up a plan by himself to avoid the sin, increase his Christian fellowship, and restore the woman using Scriptural verse anchors. He's started working the plan with accountability. Pray for his faithfulness. The unsaved do not understand. Pray Romans 6:18-19 and/or 2Thessalonians 1:11-12 for him.
The Goumere (goo-may-ray) CHE team does step planning for the first time. Step planning is a group process meant to develop simple, measurable, and written objectives, goals, and interventions that provide for later evaluation and improvement. This may not sound significant in our culture (where so much planning is done that even being spontaneous gets planned), but such redemption of time being done here, at a rural-church level, is rare. It testifies of a
God who changes life and tradition. The team prepares a simple school health screening in Karako. A local doctor has helped and will help. The list of human, material, and community resources is prepared and they're putting the screening together. In the same timeframe, while they sense progress in the work, two CHE team members suffered store thefts costing them months of income. Two others fight to salvage their 2006 bird-flu bankrupted chicken farm from
crushing debt. Another obtained his first computer complete with the resulting learning curve while yet another travels to see family. Is Satan sifting them? Will cares of this world choke their fruitfulness? Pray for them, their ingenuity, and their perseverance in faith.
Well, thank you for making it this far. That's not even all of our CHE news, but it highlights current activities taking a week or more during the last few months. News from family and related ministries will follow in the two weeks to come. For now, believe with us that God is healing Debbie from some longsuffering pains while she's in the U.S. She's helping Cason settle into stateside life and start at Free Will Baptist Bible College. Trust Cason is there on God's call. Know that Corbin is there too, camping, playing, and being with family. Realize that Cara has spent an intriguing summer here in personal growth and ministry. And understand that, in related ministries, there's been a lot more of God-activity here to preserve life, and bring eternal life into view for many others, because of what's being done. Thankfully, those stories are mostly written now, but just too long to add here. That way they can get to you sooner than another 3 months from now.
Blessed to bless others,
Verlin for the Family
Prayer Points:
1) Pray that we never think of interruptions in terms of ourselves, but in terms of what God wants to get done at the moment through us.
2) Pray that budding CHE trainers will bloom and discover faithful Jehovah-jireh.
3) Pray for the conversion, grounding, and discipleship of those being touched through demonstration garden techniques.
4) Pray Romans 6:18-19 and/or 2Thessalonians 1:11-12 for Romeo (the young man) as he learns how law and grace get balanced as God reconciles men to Himself, themselves, and others.
5) Pray for the Goumere CHE team and this team's wisdom in how to best be alongside them through difficult times.
Because we've been so long in writing, this overdue and overlong update has been broken into three separate notes focusing on CHE, family, and the other ministries of God we see. This one is about CHE. There are 5 points for prayer.
COMMUNITY HEALTH EVANGELISM (CHE):
Completed a Training of Trainers 1 (TOT1) course in Abidjan with 23 trained. They represented 9 ministries (5 in one facility) and were mostly not from Free Will Baptist ranks. They represented God's touching other evangelical or fundamental groups through us. We invested 40 hours of instruction plus another 70 in preparation, neither counting the travel time, nor the hours given by fellow instructors Alice Smith and Henri Buregea. Results? Two months later: 1) one ministry integrated some of the ideas into their teaching that very weekend and is determining what else they can do to adopt CHE principles; 2) another structures a separate and additional CHE outreach; 3) a group of self-funding Abidjan Christians has done the initial site work and will extend their outreach in San Pedro using CHE; and 4) two other groups feel called, but are waiting on God to provide a means that they can see before acting. Pray for their self-discovery of the faithfulness of Jehovah-jireh (the Lord will provide) and their development of trust in Him.
CHE gardening techniques attract attention. Passersby note that our plantain and bougainvillea plants seem to thrive, while other's suffer during a dryer and cooler than usual rainy season. Selective composting and mulching techniques with credit given to God (Ex.23, Le.25) lead to witnessing opportunities. A recently released prisoner, whose faith has been so piqued, grows loaned seed on 4 hectares of land donated for use with contributed labor. He plans to give a tithe and feed prisoners he's recently left behind. The demonstration garden has not yet even really begun. Pray the piqued become converted, grounded in the faith, and discipled.
A young Christian (our data entry typist) slept with a seductress last year. He tried to hide the sin. He experienced the loss of God's presence. He wanted Him back. She became pregnant with possibly his child. His conscience and her family bothered him. He planned to marry another. He confessed the sin. He's working on the repenting part. He typed and learned from the Bible what was needed to reconcile with God, himself, the woman, and his employer. He listened to other restored Christians. He drew up a plan by himself to avoid the sin, increase his Christian fellowship, and restore the woman using Scriptural verse anchors. He's started working the plan with accountability. Pray for his faithfulness. The unsaved do not understand. Pray Romans 6:18-19 and/or 2Thessalonians 1:11-12 for him.
The Goumere (goo-may-ray) CHE team does step planning for the first time. Step planning is a group process meant to develop simple, measurable, and written objectives, goals, and interventions that provide for later evaluation and improvement. This may not sound significant in our culture (where so much planning is done that even being spontaneous gets planned), but such redemption of time being done here, at a rural-church level, is rare. It testifies of a
God who changes life and tradition. The team prepares a simple school health screening in Karako. A local doctor has helped and will help. The list of human, material, and community resources is prepared and they're putting the screening together. In the same timeframe, while they sense progress in the work, two CHE team members suffered store thefts costing them months of income. Two others fight to salvage their 2006 bird-flu bankrupted chicken farm from
crushing debt. Another obtained his first computer complete with the resulting learning curve while yet another travels to see family. Is Satan sifting them? Will cares of this world choke their fruitfulness? Pray for them, their ingenuity, and their perseverance in faith.
Well, thank you for making it this far. That's not even all of our CHE news, but it highlights current activities taking a week or more during the last few months. News from family and related ministries will follow in the two weeks to come. For now, believe with us that God is healing Debbie from some longsuffering pains while she's in the U.S. She's helping Cason settle into stateside life and start at Free Will Baptist Bible College. Trust Cason is there on God's call. Know that Corbin is there too, camping, playing, and being with family. Realize that Cara has spent an intriguing summer here in personal growth and ministry. And understand that, in related ministries, there's been a lot more of God-activity here to preserve life, and bring eternal life into view for many others, because of what's being done. Thankfully, those stories are mostly written now, but just too long to add here. That way they can get to you sooner than another 3 months from now.
Blessed to bless others,
Verlin for the Family
Prayer Points:
1) Pray that we never think of interruptions in terms of ourselves, but in terms of what God wants to get done at the moment through us.
2) Pray that budding CHE trainers will bloom and discover faithful Jehovah-jireh.
3) Pray for the conversion, grounding, and discipleship of those being touched through demonstration garden techniques.
4) Pray Romans 6:18-19 and/or 2Thessalonians 1:11-12 for Romeo (the young man) as he learns how law and grace get balanced as God reconciles men to Himself, themselves, and others.
5) Pray for the Goumere CHE team and this team's wisdom in how to best be alongside them through difficult times.
Ministry Update from 4/30/07
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
Just a few days after we completed the CHE training seminar, Verlin asked if the teaching had been useful. Pastor Kobenan's face glowed as he responded with enthusiasm, “It was just what we needed!”
Thank you for praying during the 40+ hours of teaching in mid-March. The Goumere Community Health Evangelism (CHE) team studied topics like “How to Give Your Personal Testimony” (which they all did by the end of the sessions), “Objective Setting and Step Planning,” “How Jesus Taught,” “Forming a Committee” (in the village), instructions on filling out report forms for CHE, and other administrative and evangelistic subjects. The team wrote a health lesson on typhoid fever, since it is a serious problem in our region, and practiced sharing lessons that they will teach in the village.
Daniel, our guest trainer from LifeWind International, inspired the team. His CHE team in Togo , fluent in English and French, has planted two churches in the past two years. Our team was able to ask him many questions. He challenged and encouraged them for the upcoming tasks. Thank you, Daniel, and thank you, Lord!
Immediately after the training ended, Verlin spent 5 days in Ghana getting our vehicle repaired. There had been transmission problems developing for months, but no time to go. Mechanics in Kumasi , Ghana , get original Toyota parts that are frequently not even available in Cote d'Ivoire due to dealership problems. The parts and labor cost less than half, the travel is shorter than to Abidjan , and the mechanics more qualified to boot! Our 11-year-old vehicle and the condition of the roads make major maintenance and repair a regular part of life. We want the Toyota to last many more years despite heavy use.
Easter found us celebrating our Lord's resurrection with the Goumere church. Friday night, they had a service with communion and feet-washing, always a precious occasion. Sunday morning worship was then followed by an annual fellowship meal. In addition to praising the Lord for the victory He won for us all over sin and death, we were also thanking Him for sparing Cason's life on Saturday evening.
Cason was riding home on his 50cc motorbike, and prepared to make his left turn onto our road. He checked his rear mirrors and began the turn. A Mercedes horn blared and then the car whizzed by him from behind on the left, narrowly missing our boy by a few inches. Then the driver lost control of his vehicle and smashed into a tree. Numerous eyewitnesses testified that Cason was not at fault, but that the gendarme driver (sheriff – military blend of civil authority) was speeding greatly. Cason doesn't know why he had the sudden urge to jerk back to the right when normally he would have sped up his turn so that the car behind him would have the free path. We simply praise God for planting that thought in his brain and controlling his acts. Everyone said if Cason had not jerked back, he certainly would have died as the Mercedes broadsided him.
In subsequent weeks, the gendarme asked us for money and for insurance information even though the two vehicles did not touch. He's in a world of financial hurt, having totaled a car about to be resold and incurred medical expenses due to his hurt leg and head. He tried to get one of our eyewitnesses to ‘help him out' by changing his testimony of the accident. That would increase his chances of getting insurance or civil suit money. The man refused, though, telling the gendarme that he was driving far too fast, and that Cason was not at fault.
This situation has consumed many hours of Verlin's time as we followed legal and cultural advice from many sources. Pray with us that all will be resolved soon, and that no earthly recriminations except those yielding God glory will be experienced.
Enormous changes soon begin in our family . . . the nest starts to empty! Cason graduates this spring and begins studies at Free Will Baptist Bible College in the fall. Debbie will spend the summer in the USA helping him get settled, and checking out a pain in her side that has never disappeared after her surgery last October. Corbin also gets to visit the States during the summer, thanks to help from family. Cara and Verlin will hold down the fort in Bondoukou, with Verlin continuing CHE work and other field responsibilities, and Cara getting a chance to build some home economic skills.
We have two large projects that we want to complete before Cason leaves, one being our web page and the other being the formatting of the large CHE Operation's Guide in French. We need many uninterrupted hours to succeed in this goal, particularly for Debbie to complete text and Cason to format it. Cason has contributed greatly to our ministry this past year already, but to finalize these 2 projects would be a great ending note for him of his time as an MK in Africa .
For those of you who pray regularly for Mai, the persecution from her Muslim family has increased. Continue to pray for her and for Wisdom to guide her and us. English Bible class is going well, but Mai has been unable to attend for two months. Remember especially to pray for the unsaved girls in the class. Oh, for the time to chat about other ministries, including prison and translation project witness opportunities. We will try to include some of these stories next time, but some are being shared on the newly released IMpulse 3.4. You can get your copy from the totally revamped and sharp looking FWBGO website that our denominational support team has developed at http://www.fwbgo.com/shop/?action=search&column=category&search_param=dvd
It has been a difficult month, dealing with Debbie's continued pain in her side and some follow-up medical tests, while also learning about serious illnesses of friends and family in the States. People we love dearly need the touch of the Lord. He is Jehovah-rapha, the Source of all our healing, and Jehovah-shalom, the Source of all our peace.
Thank you for lifting these burdens and praises to Him!
May His peace rule in our lives and in yours,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson
Just a few days after we completed the CHE training seminar, Verlin asked if the teaching had been useful. Pastor Kobenan's face glowed as he responded with enthusiasm, “It was just what we needed!”
Thank you for praying during the 40+ hours of teaching in mid-March. The Goumere Community Health Evangelism (CHE) team studied topics like “How to Give Your Personal Testimony” (which they all did by the end of the sessions), “Objective Setting and Step Planning,” “How Jesus Taught,” “Forming a Committee” (in the village), instructions on filling out report forms for CHE, and other administrative and evangelistic subjects. The team wrote a health lesson on typhoid fever, since it is a serious problem in our region, and practiced sharing lessons that they will teach in the village.
Daniel, our guest trainer from LifeWind International, inspired the team. His CHE team in Togo , fluent in English and French, has planted two churches in the past two years. Our team was able to ask him many questions. He challenged and encouraged them for the upcoming tasks. Thank you, Daniel, and thank you, Lord!
Immediately after the training ended, Verlin spent 5 days in Ghana getting our vehicle repaired. There had been transmission problems developing for months, but no time to go. Mechanics in Kumasi , Ghana , get original Toyota parts that are frequently not even available in Cote d'Ivoire due to dealership problems. The parts and labor cost less than half, the travel is shorter than to Abidjan , and the mechanics more qualified to boot! Our 11-year-old vehicle and the condition of the roads make major maintenance and repair a regular part of life. We want the Toyota to last many more years despite heavy use.
Easter found us celebrating our Lord's resurrection with the Goumere church. Friday night, they had a service with communion and feet-washing, always a precious occasion. Sunday morning worship was then followed by an annual fellowship meal. In addition to praising the Lord for the victory He won for us all over sin and death, we were also thanking Him for sparing Cason's life on Saturday evening.
Cason was riding home on his 50cc motorbike, and prepared to make his left turn onto our road. He checked his rear mirrors and began the turn. A Mercedes horn blared and then the car whizzed by him from behind on the left, narrowly missing our boy by a few inches. Then the driver lost control of his vehicle and smashed into a tree. Numerous eyewitnesses testified that Cason was not at fault, but that the gendarme driver (sheriff – military blend of civil authority) was speeding greatly. Cason doesn't know why he had the sudden urge to jerk back to the right when normally he would have sped up his turn so that the car behind him would have the free path. We simply praise God for planting that thought in his brain and controlling his acts. Everyone said if Cason had not jerked back, he certainly would have died as the Mercedes broadsided him.
In subsequent weeks, the gendarme asked us for money and for insurance information even though the two vehicles did not touch. He's in a world of financial hurt, having totaled a car about to be resold and incurred medical expenses due to his hurt leg and head. He tried to get one of our eyewitnesses to ‘help him out' by changing his testimony of the accident. That would increase his chances of getting insurance or civil suit money. The man refused, though, telling the gendarme that he was driving far too fast, and that Cason was not at fault.
This situation has consumed many hours of Verlin's time as we followed legal and cultural advice from many sources. Pray with us that all will be resolved soon, and that no earthly recriminations except those yielding God glory will be experienced.
Enormous changes soon begin in our family . . . the nest starts to empty! Cason graduates this spring and begins studies at Free Will Baptist Bible College in the fall. Debbie will spend the summer in the USA helping him get settled, and checking out a pain in her side that has never disappeared after her surgery last October. Corbin also gets to visit the States during the summer, thanks to help from family. Cara and Verlin will hold down the fort in Bondoukou, with Verlin continuing CHE work and other field responsibilities, and Cara getting a chance to build some home economic skills.
We have two large projects that we want to complete before Cason leaves, one being our web page and the other being the formatting of the large CHE Operation's Guide in French. We need many uninterrupted hours to succeed in this goal, particularly for Debbie to complete text and Cason to format it. Cason has contributed greatly to our ministry this past year already, but to finalize these 2 projects would be a great ending note for him of his time as an MK in Africa .
For those of you who pray regularly for Mai, the persecution from her Muslim family has increased. Continue to pray for her and for Wisdom to guide her and us. English Bible class is going well, but Mai has been unable to attend for two months. Remember especially to pray for the unsaved girls in the class. Oh, for the time to chat about other ministries, including prison and translation project witness opportunities. We will try to include some of these stories next time, but some are being shared on the newly released IMpulse 3.4. You can get your copy from the totally revamped and sharp looking FWBGO website that our denominational support team has developed at http://www.fwbgo.com/shop/?action=search&column=category&search_param=dvd
It has been a difficult month, dealing with Debbie's continued pain in her side and some follow-up medical tests, while also learning about serious illnesses of friends and family in the States. People we love dearly need the touch of the Lord. He is Jehovah-rapha, the Source of all our healing, and Jehovah-shalom, the Source of all our peace.
Thank you for lifting these burdens and praises to Him!
May His peace rule in our lives and in yours,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson
Ministry Update from 3/1/07
Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
The past month has been dizzy with activity; the next few weeks hold a
similar promise. We need continued strength and wisdom for upcoming
endeavors, so thank you for praying with us.
1. Verlin and Cason traveled to Abidjan February 15 to welcome Brian
Ellison and Victor Albright from Nashville. You see the fruit their labor through Impulse DVDs available at International Missions. It was time for Impulse to come to Cote d’Ivoire, so be sure to get your copies in months to come!
Verlin showed Brian and Victor FWB ministries in northern Cote d’Ivoire for 8 days, and then they spent their last 6 days with the Pinkertons in Abidjan. Thank the Lord for safe travel, good health, and good footage.
We appreciate their work, especially how they create visual stories that enable us all to pray more clearly for FWB ministries around the world.
2. The Trainer of Trainers II seminar is scheduled March 6-15 for our
Goumere CHE training team. We are delighted that Daniel Kpowbie is coming from Togo to help us. He is a LifeWind International trainer (the new name of Medical Ambassadors International) who has been involved in successful CHE ministry in Togo, as well as helped train workers all around West Africa. It will be a huge blessing to have a French-speaking African who has seen Community Health Evangelism at all phases to encourage our team, and help train them. We look forward to exciting, although intensive, meetings together.
3. Cote d’Ivoire FWB missionaries and Clint Morgan, our Regional Director,
meet with leaders of the Ivorian Church on Saturday morning, March 3. Our African brothers and sisters face huge challenges, and some crucial issues will be addressed that day. We cannot emphasize enough how everyone present will need the guidance and illumination only the Lord can give.
4. Following that meeting, the national pastor’s retreat will convene to
continue through March 6. Ask the Lord to refresh our pastors and give
them tools for ministry.
5. Cara and Debbie had their fourth English/Bible class with teen girls
this week. There are 7 girls participating. Mai, the recently saved teen from a Muslim family, has attended twice. Although her mother still refuses to let her go to church, she has come to the class at our home.
We praise God for this, but we are concerned that she did not attend this week, after coming last week and giving her testimony on video. Pray for special strength as she faces daily opposition. Last week her Bible was taken from her room. She found it and took it back. This kind of pressure is continual.
6. The 40-member Hanna Project, Save a Life II team ate lunch with us on
Tuesday, February 13, and Wednesday, February 21, going to and from Doropo. Thank God with us for the many people touched spiritually and physically by their love shown in Jesus’ name.
In summary, would you please note the following dates and intercede for all these needs?
-March 3: Meeting with African leadership and missionaries -March 3-6: National pastor’s retreat -March 6-14: CHE training seminar in Goumere with guest trainer from Togo, Daniel -Wednesdays, 3:00 pm: Cara and Debbie’s weekly English/Bible class -Mai and the struggle with her Muslim family
Thank you for your part in sharing the gospel here. Knowing we have ministry partners like you is a constant encouragement to us!
May Jesus alone receive the glory in all these things,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson
The past month has been dizzy with activity; the next few weeks hold a
similar promise. We need continued strength and wisdom for upcoming
endeavors, so thank you for praying with us.
1. Verlin and Cason traveled to Abidjan February 15 to welcome Brian
Ellison and Victor Albright from Nashville. You see the fruit their labor through Impulse DVDs available at International Missions. It was time for Impulse to come to Cote d’Ivoire, so be sure to get your copies in months to come!
Verlin showed Brian and Victor FWB ministries in northern Cote d’Ivoire for 8 days, and then they spent their last 6 days with the Pinkertons in Abidjan. Thank the Lord for safe travel, good health, and good footage.
We appreciate their work, especially how they create visual stories that enable us all to pray more clearly for FWB ministries around the world.
2. The Trainer of Trainers II seminar is scheduled March 6-15 for our
Goumere CHE training team. We are delighted that Daniel Kpowbie is coming from Togo to help us. He is a LifeWind International trainer (the new name of Medical Ambassadors International) who has been involved in successful CHE ministry in Togo, as well as helped train workers all around West Africa. It will be a huge blessing to have a French-speaking African who has seen Community Health Evangelism at all phases to encourage our team, and help train them. We look forward to exciting, although intensive, meetings together.
3. Cote d’Ivoire FWB missionaries and Clint Morgan, our Regional Director,
meet with leaders of the Ivorian Church on Saturday morning, March 3. Our African brothers and sisters face huge challenges, and some crucial issues will be addressed that day. We cannot emphasize enough how everyone present will need the guidance and illumination only the Lord can give.
4. Following that meeting, the national pastor’s retreat will convene to
continue through March 6. Ask the Lord to refresh our pastors and give
them tools for ministry.
5. Cara and Debbie had their fourth English/Bible class with teen girls
this week. There are 7 girls participating. Mai, the recently saved teen from a Muslim family, has attended twice. Although her mother still refuses to let her go to church, she has come to the class at our home.
We praise God for this, but we are concerned that she did not attend this week, after coming last week and giving her testimony on video. Pray for special strength as she faces daily opposition. Last week her Bible was taken from her room. She found it and took it back. This kind of pressure is continual.
6. The 40-member Hanna Project, Save a Life II team ate lunch with us on
Tuesday, February 13, and Wednesday, February 21, going to and from Doropo. Thank God with us for the many people touched spiritually and physically by their love shown in Jesus’ name.
In summary, would you please note the following dates and intercede for all these needs?
-March 3: Meeting with African leadership and missionaries -March 3-6: National pastor’s retreat -March 6-14: CHE training seminar in Goumere with guest trainer from Togo, Daniel -Wednesdays, 3:00 pm: Cara and Debbie’s weekly English/Bible class -Mai and the struggle with her Muslim family
Thank you for your part in sharing the gospel here. Knowing we have ministry partners like you is a constant encouragement to us!
May Jesus alone receive the glory in all these things,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson
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