Burden Bearing

PDF Version:
AWA Weekly 250726 PDF

Taste and See (Psalm 34:8)

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation.—Ps. 68:19, NASB

Studies in the Psalms regularly encourage us, whether by listening and meditating or by delving deeper into classic commentaries to discover how prior generations found comfort. Some favorites have included W. Graham Scroggie, A.G. Clark, and Charles Spurgeon. Debbie read from Alexander’s MacLaren’s work that the above verse insists in the Hebrew that our Lord bears our burden ‘day by day.’ As we look to future ministerial changes, she found comfort in the idea that our God travels with us, in the greatness of His might and the long-suffering of His unwearied patience, through all our tribulation, and as He has ‘borne and carried’ His people ‘all the days of old,’ so, at each new recurrence of new weights, He is with us still. Like some river that runs by the wayside and ever cheers the traveler on the dusty path with its music, and offers its waters to cool his thirsty lips, so, day by day, in the slow iteration of our lingering sorrows, and in the monotonous recurrence of our habitual duties, there is with us the ever-present help of the Ancient of Days, who measures out daily strength for the daily load, and never sends the one without proffering the other. (from MacClaren's Expositions of Ps. 68:19 called “The Burden-Bearing God.” Be encouraged by reading his whole exposition here!)

This principle of burden-bearing in the Bible is worth repeated meditation! Coupling the above with Psalm 55:22, Matt. 11:28-30, Gal. 6:1-5, and 1 Peter 5:7 gives a wonderful study. In Matt. 11, Jesus refers to taking His yoke, like a beast of burden. How can an easy yoke and a light burden exist? Nevertheless, coming to Him and learning of Him lets us rest. Likewise, bearing each other’s burdens in Gal. 6 doesn’t weigh us down beyond function, but disperses loads! The load gets lighter when we experience victory at the end of trying personal or interpersonal conflicts. Precious truths.

Come and See (Psalm 34:8)

Burden-bearing friends 25+ years

Verlin rubbed shoulders with numerous “burden bearers” in Kansas City this week at the FWB National Association meeting. Those days provided multiple opportunities to connect with long-time ministry partners and friends, as well as stay up-to-date on denominational news. Debbie continued to bear some of her dad's burden. Pray for closure on a couple of financial issues and for getting some helpers to finish clearing her dad’s storage unit.

Prayer & Praise

• 🙏 We received the last load of supplies for the ramp today. Pray that there are no injuries in the next two weeks of building in the heat, similar to what we experience more often in W. Africa.
   
• 🙏 Continue to pray for a safe presidential election in Cote d’Ivoire this fall. We also have fellow missionaries in several countries in dangerous situations. Pray for wisdom as they navigate safety issues in daily life.
  

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin & Debbie

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 provide support as we maintain 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 - specifying Verlin and Debbie Anderson in the optional Memo.

 

Prior: Trimming the Wick
        - 250719 PDF
Prior Videos: Worth
        - Reflect & Rejoice
 

2023 Q2 Report: Progress and Pain
  -  3-4th Q 2023 Report 250712 PDF

2022 Budget COMPLETED:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2022-Budget.pdf
 
  Something to ask? Write updates@verlindeb.org

AWA represents
Andersons Witness in Africa.
It is also a brand of bottled water in Cote d'Ivoire where we serve.

GIVEONLINE to support these ministries
                                   www.che4a.org

Debbie's Facebook Page

 

Verlin's Facebook Page

Trimming the Wick

PDF Version:
AWA Weekly 250719 PDF

Taste and See (Psalm 34:8)

Aladdin lamps

Since the advent of electricity and solar lights, it seems that only a few campers among our younger friends are familiar with oil lamps, which require maintenance like those the virgins used in Jesus’ parable (Matt. 25:1-13). The story always resonated with us as our parents and we used Aladdin lamps for light during evenings when either the Doropo generator was out of order or utility power was cut. Having oil and trimming wicks made sense. It also gave us many early lessons about preparedness. Jesus’ words and examples apply wonderfully to every area of life beyond the clear reference to being spiritually prepared for His second coming. As we’ve matured in setting and maintaining caring arrangements for our living parents, we've made some physical changes to our TN home to better accommodate them, if necessary, with consideration for our own future safety. This week, Verlin purchased and had delivered the supplies to build a 38-foot-long ramp to ease entry to our US-manufactured home. After traveling to Missouri, he expects to weatherproof, drill, mount, and hammer the lumber into place with the help of friends over the next few weeks! That work, and creating a lower shower entrance, will address the most urgent safety issues.

Someone who has helped us “trim the wicks” in communication for decades is Verlin’s beloved mother, Elsie Anderson. She has maintained a current database of our past and present ministry partners for over 25 years, as well as sending our quarterly printed updates and representing us in many Michigan meetings. We, along with other ministry partners, have saved thousands of dollars and hours of work through her loving assistance. Macular degeneration added challenges to this work a few years ago, which is no surprise, as she is soon turning 90! In the coming months, we will seek another person or group to fill this crucial role. Let us know if you would like to learn how to help or have connections with an organization offering reasonable rates. Some have offered in prior decades, but now the time nears.

Come and See (Psalm 34:8)

Monday through Wednesday of next week, Verlin anticipates attending business sessions at the National Association of Free Will Baptists’ meeting in Kansas City. He may catch up with friends and ministry partners while also hearing business and ministry reports. Text or email him if you would like to meet at a specific time or have a meal together. Debbie will remain in Tennessee, helping her father with several time-sensitive concerns.

Eddie, Debbie’s dad, celebrates his 86th birthday on July 27th! The last eight months have been difficult, marked by Sandra’s passing and two moves. If you want to send him a note of encouragement or a birthday card, please message Debbie on Facebook or reply to this email. We will provide his address or phone number, or convey a message on your behalf.

Prayer & Praise

• 🙏 Thank the Lord, our US passports arrived safely on Monday. Now to get one or two W. African visas!
   
• 🙏 Pray that key Ivorian partners adopt communication solutions since Skype no longer works for direct calling. Losing the low-cost service in June complicated our ability to speak with several ministry partners in Côte d’Ivoire who do not use smartphones with WhatsApp while we are in the States.
   
• 🙏 Praise God for the decades of faithful help Verlin’s mother has provided us all, in addition to her many roles in the local church! Her presence and work have blessed countless people, both locally and globally. Pray that a new communications assistant team emerges or steps forward soon.
  

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin & Debbie

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 provide support as we maintain 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 - specifying Verlin and Debbie Anderson in the optional Memo.

 

Prior: Fireworks and Floods
        - 250705 PDF
Prior Videos: Worth
        - Reflect & Rejoice
 

2023 Q2 Report: Progress and Pain
  -  3-4th Q 2023 Report 250712 PDF

2022 Budget COMPLETED:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2022-Budget.pdf
 
  Something to ask? Write updates@verlindeb.org

AWA represents
Andersons Witness in Africa.
It is also a brand of bottled water in Cote d'Ivoire where we serve.

GIVEONLINE to support these ministries
                                   www.che4a.org

Debbie's Facebook Page

 

Verlin's Facebook Page

Progress and Pain

PDF Version w/ financial summary:

Anderson Report 250712

Promising Progress

Although many ministry partners receive our weekly updates via email, those who rely on printed quarterly reports have not received news from us since late 2023. The news listed below highlights some developments as we triumphed over many COVID-19 symptoms while caring for our family, completing numerous physical and cognitive tests, and Verlin traveling back and forth to Africa twice! (He’s spent 9 of the last 18 months there.)

Receiving CHE certificate

Two more years of Community Health Engagement at the university (based on CHEvangelism training) lifts the total number of Ivorian medical professionals and leaders prepared to over 500. The approach becomes increasingly integrated into the nation's public and community health practices, as well as in churches, each year. A participating pastor testified that the Lord had convicted him that his church was self-focused. The 2023 Level 1 CHE training spurred him to plant two new outreaches that expand witness and win souls. The results prompt neighboring countries to seek training so that their nations can experience similar improvements in HIV reduction, malaria prevention, treatment for tuberculosis, leprosy, and other health gains for local populations. CHE Cote d’Ivoire now impacts hundreds of communities in life-changing ways, opening doors of witness to reach many more. Your ministry partnership with us reaps great eternal benefits!

• One Ivorian public health leader remarked on the need to have CHE teams in each sub-district (like county seats in US states). He collaborates with regional governors and assistant governors, conducting research in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO). His suggestion, being investigated for feasibility, is to have CHE teams in each sub-district. This goes beyond teams in each of the 22 districts, which we have prayed to see since starting in A.D. 2000. May it be so!

• The two year leprosy intervention test in western Côte d’Ivoire merits sharing more details. During the publicly and privately funded joint effort, 185,749 people were registered and screened for leprosy. The screening effort found one case of leprosy per 1,000 residents, rather than one per 10,000—a significantly higher incidence than expected. Beyond treating the actual leprosy victims who continue to be monitored, 5,490 family members and friends in contact with patients also received preventive medications.

• The CHE teams, led mainly by believers, were the vehicle used to enter 60+ villages; they addressed other issues, too. Women cleaned markets; men built new classrooms; children learned to wash their hands to prevent illness. Residents heard the Gospel during house visits from Ivorian CHE workers, who continue addressing other problems in their communities. In some locations, CHE committee members or trainers introduced Discovery Bible Studies.

•

Sack farming

Other CHE-trained pastors and lay people continue ministering in smaller but powerful contexts. One pastor makes inroads with youth and Muslims by utilizing sack farming and other agricultural and health improvements to create opportunities for witnessing. Over 40 people expressed interest in CHE training when he returned from 2024's UFHB training expo. Another faithful in our region continues to conduct Discovery Bible Studies and implement agricultural improvements among unsaved friends and villagers. He may already have in hand the final legal papers proving he owns land that will be dedicated to a joint CHE agricultural project with us. Verlin will know that status when he returns to Côte d’Ivoire.

Painful Parting

Debbie’s beloved mother, Sandra Payne, passed into Jesus’ presence in December 2024. We rejoice that she enjoys heaven’s comforts, having served Jesus gladly and faithfully! Her passing cascaded change for the family, especially Eddie. Debbie spent all of 2024 assisting both parents as Verlin traveled, and 2025 thus far, helping her dad move twice. Eddie navigated an extended stay in a rehab facility and currently lives with his other daughter and adjusts to single life. Debbie will engage in additional months of support before transitioning into a less time-consuming role. We expect to travel apart and together while completing time-sensitive ministries and caring for others through 2025.

During challenges to our written faithfulness, your faithful partnership blessed us beyond words. Two quarterly financial reports accompany this news. We will send more reports than usual this year. Remember, you can contact us at ANY time with specific financial questions about any month. Our financial reports are current through June 2025. Only life’s demands and the anonymous format we use to convey information delay this means of sharing financial news.

 

Your Partners in the Gospel,

Verlin and Debbie

If you wish to view or print only the catch-up quarterly reports, you can view them as a picture or PDF:

  3Q 2023 JPG or the 3Q 2023 PDF 

  4Q 2023 JPG or the 4Q 2023 PDF  

 

Report text alone link: Anderson Report 250712 

Family pics taken since choosing to serve as missionaries.

 

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 provide support as we maintain 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 - specifying Verlin and Debbie Anderson in the optional Memo.

 

Prior Weekly: Fireworks and Floods - 250705 PDF
Prior Videos: Rejoice and Reflect
        - The Great Story

 

2023 Q1 Report: Go, Stay, Give
  -  1Q Anderson Report 230513 PDF

2022 Budget Info:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2022-Budget.pdf

Something to ask? Write updates@verlindeb.org

AWA represents
Andersons Witness in Africa.
It is also a brand of bottled water in Cote d'Ivoire where we serve.

GIVEONLINE to support these ministries
                                   www.che4a.org

 

Debbie's Facebook Page

Verlin's Facebook Page

Fireworks and Floods

PDF Version:
AWA Weekly 250705 PDF

Taste and See (Psalm 34:8)

Cookeville fireworks

Family, friends, flags, fireworks, and floods: it has been a remarkable Independence Day weekend for the United States. We morphed from jubilant celebration to collective grief, praying for precious little girl campers and many others overtaken by Texas flood waters. All day long, while praying for the still unrecovered Americans and first responders, Debbie’s thoughts turned to the Matthew 24:39 passage about the flood. “…They were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away.” How interesting that Jesus stated the same shock and awe of Noah’s era will occur when He returns to earth the second time. None of us wants to be taken by surprise in that moment.

Despite the sorrow, we cannot help but reflect on the best of American culture as well. Thousands of compassionate people have descended on or will descend on the devastated region to provide organized help in various ways. This contrasts dramatically with the relatively sparse help offered in Third World countries like Côte d’Ivoire. For several consecutive years, flooding and landslides have plagued the economic capital, Abidjan, on the coast. In May 2025, it occurred again. Last year, the government demolished homes in high-risk areas but failed to really help the affected citizens relocate. In addition, little to no infrastructure changes were made to prevent it from happening again. And so, the cycle repeats yearly. Indeed, there is no place like the United States for recovering from disasters. We have been blessed by our heritage. (Proverbs 24:16)

Come and See (Psalm 34:8)

Our week was a hodgepodge of activities, including family, friends, and fireworks—thankfully, minus the flooding. Debbie helped her father in his new location for three days. Verlin sought cost-effective sources for the ramp, supervised the removal of dangerously leaning trees on our property, handled vehicle maintenance, and visited friends and neighbors who were ill in Cookeville. We approach completing our last financial reports that will balance our books with our mission!

Prayer & Praise

• 🙏 As you pray for the flooding tragedy in Texas, pray again, as in the past, for a resolution to flooding and landslides in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Ask the Lord to give leaders and citizens compassion and foresight to make infrastructure changes that prevent disasters successfully.
   
• 🙏 Thank the Lord our passports were processed quickly! We received notice that we’d receive them within two weeks, although we will still be unable to travel internationally for at least six weeks.
   
• 🙏 Pray for strongholds to be broken in Ivorian communities remaining resistant to the Gospel.
  

Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin & Debbie

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 provide support as we maintain 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 - specifying Verlin and Debbie Anderson in the optional Memo.

 

Prior: Thrivers not Survivors
        - 250628 PDF
Prior Videos: Worth
        - Reflect & Rejoice
 

2023 Q2 Report: Pruning Priorities
  -  2nd Q 2023 Report 230722 PDF

2022 Budget COMPLETED:
CHSC-0118_ANDERSON-2022-Budget.pdf
 
  Something to ask? Write updates@verlindeb.org

AWA represents
Andersons Witness in Africa.
It is also a brand of bottled water in Cote d'Ivoire where we serve.

GIVEONLINE to support these ministries
                                   www.che4a.org

Debbie's Facebook Page

 

Verlin's Facebook Page