Make Mistakes

Taste and See (Psalm 34:8)

The biggest mistake you can make in your life is to be always afraid of making a mistake.--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

None of us likes to be pushed outside our comfort zone. That’s why it is called a comfort zone! Yet the Christian walk of discipleship is peppered with daily choices when we must stretch our verbal faith into action. Perhaps it is trusting God’s Word about a subject when we have believed the opposite all our lives. Or garnering the courage to witness to someone for the first time. Maybe we choose to risk a lifestyle change that others oppose. Or, in the case of Bonhoeffer, he boldly opposed the totalitarian Nazi regime, which eventually led to his imprisonment and death, just days before the Allies freed the region where he died. His book, The Cost of Discipleship, is all the more powerful because he embodied its life-changing principles until his dying breath at age 39.

The camp doctor who witnessed his hanging on April 9, 1945, described it this way. “I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, before taking off his prison garb, kneeling on the floor, praying fervently to his God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.

Come and See (Psalm 34:8)

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Drilling holes
This past week offered the joy of having our granddaughter, Chelsea, stay with us. She learned in simple terms that it's okay to make mistakes by trying new things. She stained wood for the first time and helped Grandpa measure distances using a right angle and measuring tape. She watched Verlin wield a Dingo with a 12” auger so that he could dig 32 post holes in 48 hours, instead of it taking maybe two weeks to do the same work manually. It challenged her and encouraged her to help build the ramp, which will bless great-grandparents who visit. She learned to make homemade sauerkraut with Grandma and committed to working on her multiplication tables so that 6th-grade math would be easier. There was good food, games, reading, and an outing to a park with water spouts in between!

In the Community Health Evangelism context, Verlin engaged with CHE-trained brothers and sisters via WhatsApp as they try new things for the glory of God. A Lobi pastor followed through on a plan to dry and pulverize guava leaves, then vacuum-pack the powder for sale to fund ministry. Another exchanged advice on care for sickle cell anemia, sharing how to use eggs and oranges to diminish the frequency of attacks and gaining an increased appreciation for moringa leaf powder to treat the same. This week, the Ivorian CHE coordinator, Emmanuel, finished a second year of CHE training in a nation where Americans cannot enter. Working with leaders there, they set up a committee to spread the witness of Christ and begin positive interaction with the public health department using the model we pioneered in Cote d’Ivoire. It is a country known to be brutally repressive at times. The men are committed to doing annual training sessions.

Prayer & Praise

  • πŸ™ Praise God, our friend safely entered and exited another African nation to complete a second CHE training. He followed up on safe travel information Verlin provided earlier in the year, and all went well. Pray that the growing team works well together and keeps their commitment to host a training every year. May they continue to positively expose and include the Public Health Department to grow outreach.
     
  • πŸ™ Pray that Verlin makes good progress on the ramp this week.
     
  • πŸ™ Pray for a FWB International Fellowship happening in Cote d’Ivoire this week.
Your partners in the Gospel,
Verlin & Debbie
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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: Burden Bearing
        - 250726 PDF

Prior Videos: Worth
        - Reflect & Rejoice

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

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

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