Wading War Stories

PDF Version:
AWA Weekly 260829 PDF

Taste and See (Psalm 34:8)

One semester in college, Debbie made the mistake of taking piano as an elective. It had nothing to do with her major and was not a good choice for her. Most students taking instruments were in the music department with advanced skills. She only had about one year of formal piano lessons before college, and could rightly picture her GPA plummeting over botched-up Bach. After one particularly humiliating lesson, her professor remarked, “Well, that was a bit like wading through mud.” Since then, Debbie has worked to improve her piano skills, but never for a grade that would appear on a college transcript!

That teacher’s response brought smiles over the decades, especially since getting things done in a third-world country often feels like “wading through mud.” Rushing in the African heat with less-than-stellar resources is a good recipe for frustration (at the least), or a mental breakdown (at the worst). Neither is unusual for missionaries in various settings! Learning that most of the world operates at less than American speed is important. In most places, productivity measures matter less than relationships. That said, the Father’s work is often done better on foot or bicycle rather than by car or jetting across continents. Jesus’ pace of life and the daily challenges on earth He surmounted and had recorded for us demonstrate this. Sometimes, having a day when all you accomplish is offering a clean cup of water in His name is enough.

Come and See (Psalm 66:5)

Coming soon!

Verlin arrived in Abidjan today, after a week of packing time-packed with errands and preparations to be there for a month. Getting lessons to the twenty+ CHE trainers who will participate at the university expo showcasing three or four levels of training was a challenge, as always. Some had trouble opening files from MS OneDrive via a link sent to their phones via WhatsApp; some only wanted the link. He hired an Ivorian to spend six hours copying and pasting the lesson files into separate WhatsApp groups for each training level as arranged in the OneDrive folder. It seems everyone can access the materials now. He also verified the price and agreement to build a second cement bridge over the second water drainage ditch surrounding half our rental home/office, creating the potential for a moat! 😊. The second bridge will let people enter through our smaller gate without jumping or walking a plank and, later, let a vehicle enter on that side once again.

Debbie is thankful for two Cookeville brothers in Christ who advised and installed a water pressure reducer at our home this week. One more project complete! She has not yet received her endocrinologist's final recommendation. The last blood test result became available late this week.

Prayer & Praise

• 🙏 Pray that the missionaries you know adapt as the Lord intends. Some must adjust to the pace of life and resourcing where they work; others must lovingly model change so that abundant life via cultural exchange gains witnesses. Ask the Lord to teach us to be content and thrive in all circumstances.
   
• 🙏 This year, the university CHE team does not have a photocopier available on campus that they have used in the past eight of the prior eleven training expos. Pray Verlin successfully integrates a volunteer from AISEC (national CHE org.) and another from the UFHB (university) as he evaluates and supervises printing several thousand pages of handouts correctly next week at a new location. The out-of-town trainers and the organizing UFHB team develop a new lodging relationship with an auberge for future guest trainers.
   
• 🙏 CHE trainers will travel from central and eastern Côte d’Ivoire while others arrive from Togo and Ghana to lead sessions during the university training being held Sept. 7-11. Pray for safe journeys, good health, and spiritual awareness as they interact with attendees.
  

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: Press on
        - 260822 PDF
Prior Videos: Among So Many
        - Worth
 

2024 Q1 Q2 Report: First Resort
  -  2024 Q1 Q2 Report 250906 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.

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