Joyful Visits

PDF Version: Joyful Visits

The house is very quiet today since our missionary friends with four sons ages 9 to 15 left early this morning. It was a pleasure to have them visit for a week. We were able to show them a bit about what life is like in mid-eastern Cote d’Ivoire and share visions of ministry. We went on a few outings, including visits to a blacksmith, an ostrich farm, and the pictured 17th century mosque. If you visit Verlin’s Facebook page, you can hear a Christmas greeting from around our dinner table. We also enjoyed an agape meal with Ivorian brothers and sisters at noon on Christmas Day. That was a busy day of cooking!

In the midst of the holiday activities, other good works were done. Verlin and Koffi spend eight hours on Thursday in the fields of the agricultural projects to advance land preparations. The progress had slowed as the man engaged to clear pathways was bitten by a snake about ten days ago, and the owner of the land has been recovering from the accident we mentioned two weeks ago. Verlin also had follow-up meetings like that with the president of the local evangelical pastor’s association. A mutual plan to promote yearly meetings of the Global Leadership Summit is developing so that a first year’s funding by outside gifts is replaced by annual local funding. We believe such an effort will contribute to Community Health Evangelism (CHE) becoming integrated into many workplaces and ministries. Discussion also continued on implementing Disciple Making Movement (DMM) Discovery Studies among churches here for a 1st or 2nd quarter 2018 CHE training session.

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for the 3-hour training on how to lead DMM Bible studies that will begin a week from Sunday at a local church here in Bondoukou. Pray it will equip teachers at each level to help others powerfully apply God’s Word in their lives. Also ask that some will respond to the call and join a growing group of believers who prepare for a concentrated effort to reach people of other faiths here.
• On Friday, Debbie was glad to speak with one of the ladies from her fall DMM Bible study. S. has gathered eight women around her to start a study in January. Debbie will mentor S. for a couple of months.
• In answer to your prayers the past few weeks, Verlin was able to pick up Debbie’s medication in Abidjan. Also, on a different and personal level, our primary guard dog-in-training almost died this week. An Abidjan vet gave us advice by phone and now Beau is beginning to gain strength and to eat from Verlin’s hand. We appreciate being spared the need to restart training another canine guard for the courtyard.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last weekly: Risen to Heal  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q3 Report: It Takes Three Makes -  171125.pdf Corrected 25 Jan 2018

2018 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2018-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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Risen to heal

PDF Version: Risen to Heal

It is a wonder how the Babe in the manger transforms the way we think and work. Last Sunday Verlin preached in a remote village where he was able to encourage the church’s Community Health Evangelism (CHE) team. They reach out in 5 different villages now. At one of those sites, they recently learned an important lesson. An Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) came through and built latrines for one community and they were planning to come back and help with potable water issues as well. When they returned, though, the NGO workers found that the villagers were not even using the latrines. Discouraged, they cancelled their follow-up project to help provide a well. It was instructive to the local pastor. He saw that outsiders coming and “doing a project” was ineffective since the villagers did not do the work, nor were they even really convinced that it was important. He believes that the way is now cleared that they can plan future projects that will be community-driven using local resources.

From another meeting, we were thrilled to know that a pastor who uses CHE had government workers come to see his grafted orange trees and grafted cashew trees that have been accompanied with a thriving beekeeping industry. The bees are multiplying fruit production and honey consumption. The oranges represent a new market for him and the town, helping to stem rural exodus to cities here. It is a joy to see how our Wonderful Counselor gives wisdom and innovative ideas to His children that we’ve been privileged to encourage along these pathways of obedience.

Out here, our celebration of Immanuel is minus the lights and glitter of one of Deb’s favorite singing groups whose rendition of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is linked below. Where we worship here will have a Christmas Eve service from 8pm until 11pm. Everyone will return for a short 11:30 am service on Christmas morning, and then we will enjoy a potluck meal together. It is also our joy to have a missionary family with four sons visiting us for about a week. We will have a little more traditional meal later in the day. Whatever your celebration looks like, we wish you a very blessed time of rejoicing in the Son who was given!

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Celtic Woman Sing

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Life and light to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings…
(Clear diction singing via YouTube!)

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last weekly: Happy Native  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q3 Report: It Takes Three Makes -  171125.pdf Corrected 25 Jan 2018

2018 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2018-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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Zeal for What?

PDF Version: Zeal for What?

Isn’t it amazing the energy expended and time devoted to find the perfect gift, or prepare a feast, or attend all the gatherings during the Christmas season? Do you ever wonder what would happen if hordes of people exerted the same zeal to faithfully share the Prince of Peace? Hmmm.

One of the men we have mentored to lead Disciple Making Movement (DMM) Bible studies, and who made available the land for the agricultural project, had a rough week. While we were in Ghana, he was in a motorcyle accident that left him a bit hobbled. That has not diminished his zeal to enact his step plan to see 5,000 people come to Christ in our region, though. While Verlin visited him this week at his home, he shared that he had recently made contact with over 150 friends and former co-workers that he knows nationwide to encourage them to use DMM and Community Health Evangelism (CHE) in ministry. Enough people expressed interest that he has now added plans to create an NGO.

We have been asked to share during the Sunday School hours of a local church after the holidays. The desire of the pastor is that we show and train the various groups of the church how to lead a DMM Bible study. It is our prayer that this will grow the faith of believers there. Hopefully some of those trained will set themselves apart to host Bible studies in their homes for people around them who would never attend church. Also, Debbie was happy to learn earlier this month that one of the ladies in her Bible study is gathering a group of ladies in her neighborhood to begin a DMM Bible study. Debbie will mentor her for about two months. Praise the Lord with us for these people who are zealous for things that will have eternal impact!

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for M.s complete healing from his motorcycle accident. Also lift him up as he coordinates with friends and fellow-workers in several different places to get DMM Bible studies and CHE ministry going.
• This week the Department of Pharmacy prepared the permission letter for Debbie to receive her medicine by UPS! Ask for grace as we travel to Abidjan on Monday to handle residence paper issues, get Debbie’s medicine, and meet with co-workers about CHE ministries. Abidjan’s day-long traffic jams are notorious around Christmas, so pray for an extra measure of patience, too!
• One of our prayers for you, and for ourselves, is that we will show unflagging zeal all our lives for the Kingdom of God. May His zeal be our zeal. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders…of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end…the zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (taken from Isaiah 9:6-7)

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last weekly: Happy Native  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q3 Report: It Takes Three Makes -  171125.pdf Corrected 25 Jan 2018

2018 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2018-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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Happy Native

PDF Version: Happy Native

In the last century, a popular thought in cultural anthropology was propagated that missionaries harm the cultures they enter. It was believed that nationals were quite happy before the missionaries arrived who “forced” their culture and religion on local tribes. Listen to a story from last week in the village where our agricultural project is under way. See if you agree with these older anthropologists.

An old man, let’s call him Mr. K, was the first person to welcome Verlin and M. into the village. When he heard the plans for our agricultural project, he served as a man of peace who encouraged the village chief and leaders to bless and participate with us, even in Discovery Bible Studies. Last week we learned that the younger members of the village beat Mr. K, trashed his house, and burned his most valuable possessions in a fire. Why such violence? As we understand the story, Mr. K has four grown children, three of whom have suffered tragedies. One son moved south to find a job and died unexpectedly. A second son was held up by roadside bandits and shot in the groin, robbing him of reproductive abilities. The third child, a daughter, was recently bitten by a snake in a field. Because of all these sad events, the extended family consulted a renowned fetisher (witch doctor) in the region. He said that Mr. K was at fault for his children’s sorrows, claiming their dad used sorcery to curse them. As a result of the fetisher’s pronouncement, the village youth felt they were justified in hurting the old man. The tribal king in Bondoukou feels otherwise. He has brought Mr. K into his courtyard for protection until the case is judged in the traditional way, and possibly in civil court, too.

It is a sad thing, not a happy one, to live under the fear of evil spirits and witchcraft and so justify evil. It frustrates everyone where the strong can ‘rightly’ abuse the weak, where selfish gain can delay the acquisition of legal documents and be ‘blessed,’ and where students sleeping with their professors to get passing grades is judged ‘good.’ It is true that we know many “happy natives.” They are those whose sins have been forgiven and who no longer fear death because they trust in the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus! They live in growing hope and confidence, certain of their eternal destiny and eager to share the Good News with others to bring shalom into their families and communities. Thank you for helping us multiply their numbers!

For a better understanding of our paradigm of service, read the new social science view of missionary service that confronts rather than accommodates. It underlies The Surprising Discovery About Those Colonialist, Proselytizing Missionaries published in Christianity Today in February 2014. You can read the full article in this downloadable PDF by clicking the document image. The theories of Thomas Sowell in Race and Culture also provide insight to the huge impact missionaries make for generations while they live separately yet within a culture (Jn.17:13-17).

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for a good resolution to the village conflict with the man of peace. Ask that the wrongs will be righted and that the Gospel’s increasing influence will draw many souls to Jesus (I Tim. 2).
• We thank the Lord for the trip to Ghana where we had several informative and encouraging conversations with our CHSC mission director, Greg Seager. It was a joy to share a meal with one of the three Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) missionaries who serve in Ghana, too.
• Pray for the information-sharing and planning meeting of AISEC, the national CHE network in Cote d’Ivoire. AISEC will meet this upcoming Saturday, the 16th, in Abengourou.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last weekly: Stamp & Stomp  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q3 Report: It Takes Three Makes -  171125.pdf Corrected 25 Jan 2018

2018 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2018-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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Stamping and Stomping

PDF Version: Stamping and Stomping

This was a “take a deep breath and get things done at home” week. In the picture you see Verlin and Koffi making a multi-layered screen that they placed in front of the Toyota truck’s radiator to protect if from insects. We drive through a bunch of them! A mechanic made a protective screen last year, but it only lasted 16 months, so Verlin experiments to see if time will give his home-made version a stamp of approval. He also prepared our monthly financial report, among many other things like ongoing project planning and Bible study training with Ivorian partners in ministry. Debbie prepped for our Christmas mailing, thankful that Verlin’s mom kindly agreed to stamp and send it from Michigan since the Ivorian postal system is unreliable. Also, Deb spent a frustrating number of hours dealing with the Ivorian Department of Health’s requirements to get permission for importing a medicine she takes daily. Her doctor misunderstood about a prescription renewal while she was stateside, and so, for the first time in 17 years, we are caught on a medical paperwork merry-go-round. We must have a special document from the USA pharmacy, and a stamped letter of approval from the Ivorian Health Department before we can receive a UPS package in Abidjan in December. Her blood pressure medication is not available here.

Our passports should get a workout with some stamps as we travel Monday through Thursday in Ghana. Christian Health Service Corps’ (CHSC) director, Greg Seager, is visiting three missionary families at their places of service in Ghana. We plan to meet him in Accra for some conversation time right before he flies out. He expects to visit Cote d’Ivoire at a later date. We thought we would not see him on this far-flung African tour, but when a planned December CHE training was delayed until early 2018, we found the window of time to travel “next door.” Greg and his wife Candi are greatly gifted servant leaders of our mission, and it is always a time of learning and blessing to interact with either of them. Hopefully we can accomplish some Community Health Evangelism (CHE) coordination while in Ghana, as well.

As rain season transitions into dry season, we have had an invasion of large red ants in our house. This usually happens once or twice a year, but it is worse this time and certainly has put a damper on our habit of walking with bare feet! Ant poison and white vinegar have helped a little, but the floor stays littered with the ant carcasses we have stomped. Maybe we could make a bundle with a spin-off country hit. Our version would be “These Shoes are Made for Stompin’”!

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for the paperwork to be processed quickly so that Debbie can get her medication.
• Ask for safe travel to and from Accra next week and for our director’s safe return to Texas. Pray that our time together will be fruitful and encouraging.
• Thank the Lord for regular opportunities to speak shalom into the lives of people around us. Pray that the special outreaches of many churches during the Christmas season will be effective in introducing people to Jesus.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last weekly: Mouth Full  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q3 Report: It Takes Three Makes -  171125.pdf (Corrected 25 Jan 2018)

2018 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2018-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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It Takes Three Makes

PDF Version: Anderson_Report_17_11_25.pdf

Hopefully our 2017 weekly updates and quarterly reports, like this one, encourage you. The Lord is at work in Cote d’Ivoire, and we rejoice! Do not think, though, that the victories are won without serious struggles and setbacks. As we age, we realize that one very helpful example we can offer as missionaries is how we react during suffering or trying circumstances. When people break promises or malign righteous living; when resources wane, health fails, or corruption reigns, what are we to do? What do we do? Interestingly, we find that almost any problem can be helped by taking one of three approaches. With the Lord’s help, we can “make do,” “make better,” or “make new.”

Make Do (Tinker)

Africans are well-known as bricoleurs (bree-coe-lurz)—a French word that means they can tinker or “make do” with the limited resources around them. You only have to see the public transport vehicles with goats tied on top, children making toys from street trash, or women fanning husks away from dried peanuts to admire their ingenuity.

Using what the Lord has placed in our hands and community is a key concept in Community Health Evangelism (CHE). We use local resources to find solutions to a myriad of problems. For that reason we do such things as eat moringa and manioc leaves for nutrition, drink papaya leaf tea to help prevent diseases, learn to make things like car wash soap, and encourage churches to use Sunday School materials that they can afford to reproduce.

Recently one of our Ivorian co-workers started a Bible Club in his yard. Each Saturday afternoon at 1:30, around 45 eager children meet under an avocado tree and sit on locally made benches to hear stories from the Bible. They start asking the teacher at 9:00 in the morning, “Uncle, is it time yet?” This class will probably never have a room with tables and chairs, and certainly never see videos, puppet teams, or take home crafts. Yet because he keeps it simple and meets in an open place, parents of other religions let their children participate. This process can be easily repeated in other settings.

(7-x-7 provides more of the story).

Make Better (Treat)

Other times making do is not enough. It is not okay to accept: malnutrition in children, diarrhea ravaging villages, corn yields well below world averages, or women hurting their backs as they carry heavy loads of firewood, charcoal, or water on their heads for years.

Every problem listed above needs an intervention, an improvement to make the situation better. When CHE is taught house to house, it injects hope into the community. It might mean people grow moringa to address malnutrition, or they may decrease diarrhea and make women’s lives easier by heating water and cooking with solar heat. Men can see crop production multiplied by practicing biblical principles and agricultural techniques taught in Farming God’s Way.

The majority of our ministry focuses on training Ivorians to abandon their fatalistic worldview and embrace Christ-honoring change as we model CHE. Our goal in the next ten years is to see the several hundred people already trained multiply to become several thousand ambassadors who touch hundreds of villages in every government district nationwide.
(More at The Son's Light)

Make New (Transform)

Some ways of thinking and behavior have no redeeming value. We do not need to make do or make better sins like human trafficking, female genital mutilation, or paying bribes for services. Those things need to be transformed by repentance and faith in Christ. He is the One who, after all, “makes all things new! (Rev. 21:5)

One of the challenges in pagan cultures, as is often now the case in the secular culture of the USA, is that people often do not see sin as sin. That is one reason why the Discovery Bible Studies are so important. We all need to evaluate our beliefs and actions by the truth of Scripture. Thankfully, as we sincerely and regularly study the Word of God, the Holy Spirit shines the light in our hearts and begins to transform our way of thinking. Then He empowers us to actually live differently. We become living Bibles for those around us. As Titus 2:11-12 puts it, the grace of God that brings salvation to all people also teaches us to live righteously and godly in this present world. This is hope and help that unbelievers do not have. It is why we desire and labor to see hundreds of these Bible studies spring up all over Cote d’Ivoire and be linked together to do good works through CHE. These issues and yet others were addressed and applied during the Western Cote d’Ivoire training mentioned in the 7 x 7 update.

Make A Way

To keep up the alliteration, we would have to find a verb for tenacity, but here is the point. For over 17 years, the Lord has made a way for us to serve Him in Cote d’Ivoire. Usually He has used your prayers and gifts to accomplish that task, and we are so grateful. There have been times of abundance and times to tighten our belts, but always the work has continued. This is a season of ministry where we budget carefully and try to spread larger expenses over several months. We have a few projects and repairs on hold. We also make do with two computers that need to be replaced (one’s screen is going bad and has a row of keys that no longer type; the other overheats from time to time if a cooling pad is not available). Praise the Lord, though, CHE trainings have not been delayed due to our lack of funds. Since January, the American dollar has fallen in worth from over 600 to around 550 francs per dollar (a greater than 10% drop in purchasing power). All these details are reminders to us that each donation received truly matters and that the Lord arranges things we cannot control to get done what He desires be done. There is no amount too small to offer. Infrequent or annual gifts help cover budget shortfalls and unexpected surprises. Some of you have been financial partners for almost two decades! We are humbled and blessed by that faithfulness.

PRAY ALWAYS

• Pray that we as a couple will continue being faithful examples of lives transformed by Jesus. Ask for wisdom and stamina as the pace of our ministry continues to speed along.
• Continue to lift up new believers who are persecuted for their faith. Ask for steady income for two unmarried women whose families do not assist them.
• Pray for all the trainers in the national Ivorian CHE network (AISEC). We have a rapidly filling schedule for 2018 and the believers trained to share the Gospel with CHE in the past few years need steady follow-up and encouragement. We do not want anyone to fall through the cracks simply for our failure to be able to follow with them. The current president of AISEC anticipates a dozen trainings next year; Verlin and I anticipate more than twenty.
• Pray for complete funding so that we can continue to work unhindered and meet expanding responsibilities in the national and regional networks of CHE and the CHSC.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Please see our Anderson Report 17_11_25 to confirm 3rd quarter donations you may have made and the 2017 or 2018 budgets if you are so inclined. We regularly provide the most recent information that we are able to compile via the links that follow the next paragraph.

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last written: What a Mouth full!  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q2 Report: HUPLA (web) -  171007.pdf
2017 Budget: CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-Budget.pdf
2018 Budget:CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

Something to ask? Write: updates@verlindeb.org  AWA represents Andersons Witnessing in Africa

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Mouth Full

PDF Version: What a Mouth Full!

A question we are frequently asked in churches about life in Africa is if we eat “American” or “African” food. The answer is yes! We enjoy many African dishes, and about 90% of what we eat is available from the local market or stores. Most holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, we celebrate in African style while trying to influence with biblical principles. However, two holidays that we like to celebrate with Americans each year are Thanksgiving and the 4th of July. Those days we go the extra mile to have traditional American fare, and to take time counting our plentiful blessings with others. The gourd pictured here, purchased at our local market, is the closest we come to pumpkin! It will be peeled, boiled, mashed, and used to bake pie, bread, and a dish that tastes much like sweet potato casserole.This upcoming week we will be in Abidjan on business, and we have been invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with dear missionary friends. Even the hot weather will not dampen our spirits!

Friday and Saturday, Verlin participated in a six session presentation of the 2018 Global Leadership Summit (GLS) in Abengourou as planned. One of the extra blessings that he enjoyed was briefly catching up with someone whom he encouraged to be trained in leading Disciple-Making Movement (DMM) Bible studies. We were thrilled to learn that the pastor is in a second generation of training others to lead DMM Bible studies. He shared that these will soon begin third generation efforts and he is encouraged by how the Discovery Studies are helping the church mature spiritually and grow in number. Conference events like these help us follow-up and connect like this, as well as coordinate planning to launch new efforts. This time, multiple conversations were held with separate groups of decision-makers about beginning Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministries in three separate communities.

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray that our Ivorian brothers and sisters who lead DMM Bible studies will be effective ambassadors for Christ, leading many people to Him. Debbie led her last planned study of the year for the first group of ladies being encouraged to lead studies in Bondoukou on Thursday. She has asked them to consider in prayer with whom they will meet in the New Year. Verlin continues to follow-up with the guys who have been active previously, either regularly or irregularly.
• Follow-up on Million Village Challenge commitments is ongoing by phone, email, and visit. On Wednesday we travel to Abidjan to begin the process of renewing our residency papers and check with some of whom we’ve trained. Ask the Lord to help all go smoothly.
• I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Ps. 34:1-3). May our mouths always be full of His praise, even more than the delicious food we eat this week! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last written: SonLight  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q2 Report: HUPLA (web) -  171007.pdf

2017 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2017-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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The Son's Light

PDF Version: Anderson_WEEKLY_171111.pdf

Four members of AISEC (the national CHE network here) finished the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) training in western Cote d’Ivoire a week ago Friday. Verlin spent an additional 6 days traveling north to south in the west contacting people who have started CHE ministry in the past, or who desire to be trained. Although some of the trip was challenging because of hazardous roads, he was thrilled to connect with people in eight different places. If trained, they would start CHE ministries among six different groups in various areas. The contacts were glad to learn that training can be offered locally, and we are pleased to think of the lives that will be transformed when the Son’s light breaks through. We look forward to being reunited as a couple this weekend, after two weeks apart.

One of the joys of interacting with other believers during travel is learning new methods and technologies they use. Verlin met a retired missionary whose parents started the Swiss Bible mission in western Cote d’Ivoire. In addition to the blessing of hearing how the gospel entered that region in early days, Verlin also learned of an appropriate technology that this brother is developing. The Son’s light in his life invigorated his creativity to find an excellent use for our plentiful African sunlight! The picture you see shows this missionary’s example of a way to heat water without using wood or coal. In villages without electricity, or in situations with limited fuel, this solar energy option would work well, using resources that are all produced locally. A common aluminum cooking pot is painted black on the inside, and a glass layer keeps the heat trapped inside. It provides low cost hot water for cleaning and bathing. Research is in process to see if the temperature is hot enough to purify the water for drinking.

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for the Global Leadership Summit meeting in Abengourou this upcoming week. About 300 people from the region will participate Thursday through Saturday, including Verlin and friends from Bondoukou. The conference is designed to equip lay leaders like teachers, farmers, bankers, and so on, to work diligently and to share the gospel effectively in their work places.
• During the following week of Thanksgiving, another CHE training will take place in Abidjan. It is likely that we will participate. Ask for good preparation and participation for the gospel’s sake.
• We thank the Lord for the regular, faithful giving to our mission account! Keep asking for new financial partners to be added so that we can continue the work unhindered.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last written: 7 X7  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q2 Report: HUPLA (web) -  171007.pdf

2017 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2017-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

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Verlin's Facebook Page

7 x 7

PDF Version: Anderson_WEEKLY_171104.pdf

There was no Internet connection available at the training site this week. That slowed some of our communications, and those of three volunteer Community Health Evangelism (CHE) and Disciple Making Movement (DMM) trainers with their offices, but it seemed to enhance God’s communication to the heart of every participant. Jesus’ leading each to obey became evident through testimony during the Discovery Bible Studies and the CHE practice activities. Friday’s planning session charted a vision to coordinate starts in six locations scattered throughout Western Cote d’Ivoire. After checking with several other programs, they found that the Lord leading us to them ‘scratched’ where they ‘itched’. This will keep us ‘hopping’ in 2018,

considering our other activities. It also confirmed Verlin’s growing conviction that a conference series and a circuit teaching ministry will have to develop this coming year. Multiple groups embracing CHE and DMM need regular communication in order to be encouraged by shared experiences and so strengthen their network. This time, the grandson of the family that presided over the church’s founding Swiss Bible Mission dropped by to excitedly discover that the Lord has given us much in common to do, maybe even together!

At home in our own neighborhood in Bondoukou, an Ivorian brother trained in CHE and DMM began a Bible Club for early elementary aged children. On his lunch break they met every day under an avocado tree to hear a story from God’s Word. He encouraged the few early in the week to invite friends. By Friday, there were 39 children who came! Some of these little ones are from other faith families who would never be allowed to go to church. They have agreed now to meet once a week on Saturday afternoons for their Bible club. This group made 7 new startups in 7 days. We expect new starts from these to exceed 7 x 7 groups in the next few years.

Prayer and Praise:

• Pray for the newly started Bible Club in our neighborhood. Ask that these tender, open hearts will receive new life in Christ over time.
• Ask for safe travels as our pickup goes from one remote town to others before getting to coastal regions to follow-up older or budding CHE programs. This past week was one of great interaction and Spirit-led teaching. Twenty were equipped to multiply the sharing of the Gospel through CHE and DMM. A preaching Yacouba deacon, who did not directly participate since he is uncomfortable communicating in French, earnestly thanked Verlin Friday night. He is eager to hear more from the five participating members of his church. He repeated several times that the meeting ‘did them all good’.
• We praise the Lord for your ministry partnership that made this training possible along with the dedicated Ivorians taking vacation time from work to share among the Yacouba. Continue to pray that the Lord will call additional monthly donors or annual contributors and so fill the $700 to $800 average monthly budget shortfall. Please share the www.che4a.org link or mailing address in the PDF edition header if you have friends or fellowships interested in joining with us through financial support and prayer.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last written: Go West  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q2 Report: HUPLA (web) -  171007.pdf

2017 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2017-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

Debbie's Facebook Page



Verlin's Facebook Page

Go West

PDF Version: Anderson_WEEKLY_171028.pdf

Treatment for malaria, dysentery, a back spasm, and cholera. Check. Clothes and toiletries for two weeks. Check. Lessons and supplies for a Training of Trainers 1 (TOT1) in Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Check. A case of bottled drinking water. Check. Tools and supplies to pull out of a mud pit, bridgeless stream, or sand pile. Check.

Packing for travel in rural Africa is always an adventure. We prepare for a CHE training that will get under way on Monday in western Cote d’Ivoire, within just a few kilometers of the Liberian border. A development agency of the third largest evangelical denomination in the country asked for CHE network training as a follow up to the Million Village Challenge gathering that met in September (Fan to Flame, Sep 9). So from various directions, CHE trainers will converge in the small town to provide the week-long instruction to others desiring to become trainers and to use wholistic CHE approaches in ministry. We are thrilled to think how this outreach can bring hope and wholeness to a very needy region that regularly suffers from poverty and violence. After the training, we anticipate some more travel to two other regions in western Cote d’Ivoire where some long awaited CHE follow-up needs to happen.

We do not know if there will be Internet capacity at the training site and in the week to follow. Neither of us have traveled to that region, so you might not receive an update from us next week.

Prayer and Praise:

• We praise the Lord for your ministry partnership that helps make this training possible! We wish you could see the enthusiasm and hope of Ivorians after a week of in-depth equipping. Continue to pray that the Lord will call additional monthly donors or annual contributors to fill the $700 to $800 average monthly budget shortfall. Share the www.che4a.org link or mailing address in the PDF edition header if you have friends or fellowships interested in joining with us.
• Ask for safe travels to and from the remote town where the CHE training will take place. It is the end of rain season here, and so the condition of the roads might be an issue. Pray for a week of great interaction and Spirit-led teaching that will equip the learners to share the Gospel through CHE. Ask for good health and clear understanding for everyone participating.
• Pray for the translation of the New Testament into the regional Koulango language that was undertaken by SIL. One of our FWB pastors from Bondoukou serves on the committee managing the process. Pray that the whole cycle goes smoothly and quickly.

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin and Debbie

Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) is a mission of dedicated medical professionals who participate in the CHE Global Network. Together, in a loose affiliation of individuals, churches, denominational and nondenominational agencies, we share God's Light and Truth through Community Health Evangelism (CHE). Verlin and Debbie accept donor partners to contribute as led to maintain support as we resume residential ministry to expand CHE ministries in Cote d'Ivoire under the auspices of CHSC & Ivorian partners. Tax deductible contributions by check are to be made payable to the CHSC with Andersons #0118 written on the memo line. Mail to CHSC - PO Box 132 - Fruitvale, TX 75127. Give online via the CHSC @ www.che4a.org (3% fee) or TDF (0% fee).

Last written: Fret Not  PDF
Last Video:Farming God's Way Anderson_WEEKLY_170610
2017 Q2 Report: HUPLA (web) -  171007.pdf

2017 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2017-Budget.pdf

GIVE ONLINE to support these ministries: www.che4a.org

Debbie's Facebook Page



Verlin's Facebook Page