A new Islamic head of family shared with me his distaste of
what I.S. (Islamic State) is doing in the Middle East. We were traveling together
in the discomfort of common transport in Cote d’Ivoire. It was a seven hour
bumpy ride with stops for oil or water from Abidjan to Bondoukou . . . lots of
time to talk even though both of us wanted the impossible after a busy week of
encouraging development here – a nap on the way! My bench seat partner stated
his dislike for the beheading of two Americans by I.S. sympathizers. He then
asked if I agreed with him that only force truly brings good into this world to
correct such acts - a commonly expressed Islamic worldview opinion here. 
I shared that my greater concern than the reporters' lost
lives was the mindset that placed bombs among women and children to protect the
arms! Citing commonly accepted Biblical history, resorting to force was shown
as not being our God’s first response. Roughly sketching the image of a fruit
bearing tree from Darrow Miller and Disciple Nations Alliance, my hope of
abundant life in Christ was explained. The visual aid helps explain how
individuals and whole cultures miss out on our Creator’s blessings when they
mistakenly accept lies as truths. With evident interest, he listened as I
shared various consequences that stemmed from beliefs . . . and that armed
violence is our Creator’s last ditch response to correct wrong ones. In this
life, it is only authorized for civil governance when all other efforts to
protect and sustain life fail and it’s never effective through generations to
impose a particular way among men. The process simply affirms God’s eternal
rules that allow life to flourish. Abundant living requires first a willingness
to sacrifice self-interest, a willingness to suffer to do good, if progress it
to be made for all. Jesus life modeled this for us. He did not agree, but more
importantly, he did not disagree. He then told me of some Pakistanis that had
recently visited in his home who appeared to be supportive of I.S. is doing. He
had reported them to local police for investigation. We are to share again. You
never know what can be learned and shared from traveling in the discomfort of a
UPS like van with windows! I am personally aware of travelers becoming
Christians, answering calls to ministry, and others considering Christ’s claims
on their allegiance.
This story is an appropriate cap for the CHE (Community
Health Evangelism/Education/Engagement) trainings recently completed in
Abidjan. They enable practical plans to improve the public health for all
participants via the government ruling over all, whether they consider
themselves Muslim or Christian. The carefully shared Christian worldview
equipped participants to move forward together, embracing common beliefs yet
allows for public divergence of opinion. On the ground, Christians are
energized to share their faith more vibrantly as one that can lead all to
peace. To express the Living Hope active in this outreach, next week I will
share with you a translated follow-up note that came today. It's indicative of
the several written hopes and the many others orally shared by this year’s
thirty-seven enrolled participants - most who were heads of departments or part
of national agencies – none of whom were professed secularists or atheists. 
Today I met with the nurse who leads the CHE team that was
trained to reach in a Muslim village in June 2013. We discussed their progress
and trouble-shot together what had slowed it. They were just a little uncertain
of themselves. In looking over the list of participants at Abidjan training, he
identified his boss and a leading co-worker, both of whom are Muslim. The
higher-up had stated his very clear intention to facilitate CHE training in his
region. Is it not amazing how God can plan all of our steps!
Next week as I
travel, I'll try to get out a short wrap-up of the knowledgeable Christian zeal
breaking into gospel sharing health care as I visit the West African CHE
Internship center before boarding a flight from Accra. In the mean time, please...
1. Pray for those
trained in CHE in Bondoukou to regroup and prepare for the opportunities of
evangelistic outreach that the Abidjan training is forwarding their way. I met
with the head of the pastoral community and shared with another to the praise
of God's glory.
2. Pray encouragement
for the community of FWB leaders in the region. One recently suffered a
break-in and theft. Prayer given that day focused on leading their community to
Christ to minimize thefts.
4. Pray that Christians will find a way to keep Bibles
regularly delivered at low cost to the area. It is expected that the 48 in two
boxes that were opened today will be gone tomorrow. Thirst for God's Word
remains high. It is more underreported than the violent clashes that still
happen on occasion between militant groups.
5. Pray for the Muslim seekers of truth to hear from Jesus
in their sleep and in their waking prayers, including the fellow I witnessed to
during Saturday's drive. 6. Pray for our worker and his bride. They welcomed
ATTA Kobenan Ezekias (that's Hezekiah) into their family yesterday at 5:30 AM
GST. He's a well nourished, content one that profited from his mother's
consuming moringa oleifera leaf powder prior to discovering she was pregnant.
Father, mother, child and in-laws are all happy.
Gladly serving Him,
Verlin and Debbie
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