Ministry Update from 06/26/2010

Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,

May passed without you hearing from us. As we reviewed the activities the Lord placed in our path, it became obvious why! After more than 60 work hours of preparing and participating in the Ivorian FWB Leadership Forum in mid-May, we headed to Abidjan for two packed weeks of work.

During that time we . . .
• Spent 5 days for car repairs (a part problem for a required suspension fix)
• Met with one ordination candidate
• Read the charismatically influenced paper of a 2nd ordination candidate
• Purchased parts to repair household goods or keep electric current stable
• Helped pastors Samuel Kaibio and Paul Amiezi prepare for their trip to the U.S. for the 75th Celebration of International Missions during the 2010 National and the International Fellowship of FWBs
• Completed some currency exchanges with subsequent 3 hour trips to the bank (that’s wait-in-line time!)
• Renewed international driving and transport papers
• Visited three of the now four Abidjan FWB churches
• Traveled to Agnibilekrou on public transport for a national Education Committee meeting
• Sent our coworker Alice Smith for a much-needed visit to her ailing mother in West Virginia
• Made 4 trips to tax offices to close a 5-year mission property issue
• Paid taxes and completed other treasurer responsibilities
• Familiarized a new team with how to handle financial disbursements for the Bible Institute and Theological Training by Extension program (TEE)
• Completed 16 years of home schooling as Corbin completed the 8th grade
• Shopped for 2 months of groceries and completed a financial report
• And JOYFULLY received Cason and Cara, our two collegiate children, back for the summer.

As we finished in Abidjan, Verlin ate some spoiled sardines and became violently ill for a day. God healed, and we returned north for scheduled meetings. Correctly chosen antibiotics, some rapid material copying, and he was off to Bouna to expose the 5th Ivorian Bible Institute class to Community Health Evangelism (CHE) principles. 17 hours of teaching with some new material while recovering made this the most trying CHE session he’s ever led. While there, he also encouraged some pastors and visited a former preacher who has returned to the Shepherd’s fold as a sheep, rather than an under-shepherd, due to sexual sin.

After four days at home to retool, he drove to remote Taoudi and shared a village format CHE Vision Seminar June 17-20. He preached too! 12 interested believers and an itinerant pastor completed the introductory training with enthusiasm and appreciation. They anticipate forming a team of 8 to 12 trainers in the year. We are eager to see how the Lord will use their outreach and pray for the healing of a regional schism of Christian brothers.

Verlin met with the ordination committee the following Tuesday. This particular candidate meeting demanded more than 35 hours of preparation the prior months in reading and research. The 6 hour meeting delayed acceptance of the candidate until some further interaction clarifies his doctrinal understandings.


A planned trip to Doropo with a Christian doctor, and part of his team, was canceled. We hope to reschedule the trip and allow their testimony to be heard by Doropo clinic staff. God has used the Abengourou Ivorian CHE witness to minister to over 1,400 AIDS patients using CHE, touch more than 4,000 others, successfully start a rural program, and see their churches adopt CHE as their means of outreach. The trip was canceled when their AIDS ministry in received unexpected government visitors to learn from and recognize their program as a model for holistic treatment. We pray to reschedule the visit and encourage the Doropo hospital staff to pursue this means of ministry. From conversation with health and NGO professionals, it appears God maintains a wide open door for them to use this in their region.

In the mean time, Debbie not only held down the fort at home, but expanded its outreach! This past Sunday afternoon, she had the introductory meeting with the ladies of the Goumere FWB church and began training them with CHE activities for home visits. Next week they will discuss how to prevent malaria. She and Alice anticipate teaching physical needs lessons with biblical instruction to help the women improve health in their homes and reach out to their neighbors. She spent over 40 hours proofreading and correcting translations into French of a Church Planting Movements booklet, an article to avoid dependency issues in churches, and a booklet on Free Will Baptists and Church Government that was distributed at the Forum (they are being read, too!). That list does not include countless hours in recent weeks getting nearly 100 English CHE lessons ready for use in French, supervising the text re-entry of Sunday School material for a TEE course, cooking most meals, home schooling, and prepping with Cara to bake and decorate a cake for a July 3rd wedding.

This is our joy, to expend ourselves for the sake of the gospel in Cote d’Ivoire, building-up the church of our Lord Jesus here. Please pray with us that we can carve out some days of rest in late July before Cason and Cara return to the States. We need some time apart before we hit the ground running again in August.

Thank you for all you do. Your partnership sustains us, as we see the Lord constantly helping in situations beyond our strength and number. He is faithful to hear and answer!

Gladly serving Him here together,
Verlin, Debbie, Cason, Cara, and Corbin Anderson