Ministry Update from 12/13/2009

Merry Christmas from Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire! While we were gone from home for 22 days on mission business, the dry season arrived. Now our nights are cold (well, 65-70 degrees SEEMS cold), and the air, trees, and furniture are laden with dust, our African version of snow.

During this festive season, we express our heartfelt thanks for your helping us share Christ year-round. Tinsel and toys crowd shop shelves in Cote d’Ivoire. Children throughout the country anticipate gifts. We mourn that most Ivorians have acquired the material trappings of Christmas without knowing the wonder of experiencing Emmanuel, God with us, who made all the material. May the presence of Jesus fill ALL your holiday activities this year!

Joyfully His and yours,
Verlin, Debbie, and Corbin Anderson

LOOKING BACK (Since last writing, we have….)
• Gratefully welcomed Alice Smith, our missionary Community Health Evangelism (CHE) partner, back to the field and together completed the Ivorian labyrinth of paperwork to accommodate our presence here.
• Attended a very informative Transition Workshop in Spain, prepared by International Missions, to answer questions and facilitate our changed financial structure for 2010. We were graciously received and hosted by our Spanish missionaries, and were blessed to worship in the Alpedrete church on Sunday.
• Passed many good times of conversation with our Regional Director, Clint Morgan, about the transformation God is doing here, and our participation in it. We were thankful to share in person during four hours while in Spain.
• Shared a Thanksgiving meal and service in Abidjan with other missionaries, including one FWBBC graduate here with another mission.
• Completed many repairs of our two FWB properties in Abidjan for their maintenance and appraisal.
• Treated 3 bouts with malaria (Verlin 2; Debbie 1), and Deb took an imposed 10 day slowdown due to her back.
• Visited the new 4th FWB church in Abidjan, this one in the Koumassi quarter, where Verlin preached, and we worshipped, with another 7 - 8 believers who gathered in a rented classroom.
• Began meeting with Ivorians who anticipate attending the National Association in Oklahoma City in 2010.
• Continued strategic planning meetings with Ivorian church leadership at four different times, places, and of varied responsibility.
• Restarted with good success the translation and data entry process for CHE lessons and other documents (excepting a hard drive we’ve yet to restore)

LOOKING FORWARD (Upcoming activities include…)
• Ordination Committee meeting at our house on December 19.
• Verlin leaves December 19 (or early the 20th) for a remote village, Taoudi, to discuss with believers the logistics and date for a first CHE training session. They hope to plant and expand the Church using CHE in the region.
• Christmas services with the Goumere FWB Church.
• Week after Christmas, hopefully we will take 3 or 4 days of vacation, but not travel. This will be an experiment, since we normally have to leave home to rest. We do not want to further weary ourselves planning & traveling!
• Jan: ramp up CHE activities in Goumere with meetings and training.
• Jan: begin American embassy paperwork process with Ivorians going to National.

LOOKING UP (Pray with us for….)
• A Muslim man to whom Verlin witnessed during an hour on the flight from Spain while Debbie prayed. His heart and mind were very open to talk. Pray that other believers will water the planted seed of God’s Word.
• Ange, a gendarme who called recently to say he was saved after getting a Bible from us at the Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire border about 2 years ago. Verlin hopes to have lunch with him the next time he’s in Abidjan. Ask the Lord to help Ange realize the importance of attending church, accountability, and prayer.
• Our children in college, Cason and Cara. (This will be Cara’s first Christmas away).
• Charismatic tendency and influence in our church to continue being identified and treated by Ivorian believers and us. Pray for our wisdom to speak and act well as counsel for pastors and lay leaders alike. Cason, Corbin, Cara 11/08
• Serious financial needs of International Missions. Many charitable organizations suffer because of the economy. Our hearts yearn for ministries to continue unhindered. Ask the Lord to guide our government’s fiscal policy and the financial changes at IM in 2010 so that real Good News will spread to even more people and places.