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