Greetings to all. We are doing well and everyone is getting readjusted to life in Abengourou. The past couple of weeks have been busy, but mostly in hearing about the past year and getting updated on where and how the various ministries of the mission have progressed. Here is what is going on...
Djoula Muslim Outreach
The Joneses have continued to disciple a couple who came to Christ in 2007, Fatou and Noufou, and teaching them what a Christian household is to be. Their marriage goes through ups and downs, like many others, pray that they will continue to grow in their faith. Dao, a young believer who was baptised with Fatou and Noufou, has moved to Abidjan looking for work. We helped him get into contact with a church there and try to continue to encourage him and pray for his spiritual growth.
Damon has also been working with several different Chronological Bible Storytelling (CBS) groups this past year. One of them just finished up with the presentation of the gospel, and at least one young man, Salifou, has said he wants to become a Christian and several others are also interested. Pray that the Lord's Spirit would continue to work in their hearts and open their eyes to His message of hope and true peace with God.
One of the most exciting things happening is that we are working towards starting up with a new worship service for Muslim background believers and seekers. Developing an appropriate service will not happen overnight, but will take a couple months of planning and preparations, including creating and translating some new materials in Djoula. Pray that the Lord will guide us as we seek to help the Djoula worship Christ in a culturally appropriate and meaningful way.
I am also gearing up to start in my Djoula language studies. I have a friend who is Djoula just down the road named Abulay. He has agreed to work with me in learning Djoula. The nice thing is that he not only speaks Djoula, but can read it as well, which many if not most of the Djoula people cannot do. Pray that our time will be fruitful, not only in me learning Djoula, but hopefully for Abulay to learn about the love of God through Jesus.
HIV-AIDS/Clinic/CHE Ministries
There have been some exciting new developments in the AIDS ministry during our furlough this past year. The most exciting thing is the new Lab. God has truly blessed the clinic and has given us a tremendous tool for serving those hurting the most. To say that it has expanded our impact is a gross understatement. Dr. Bernie Bledsoe, our team doctor, has done a great job with lots of help from many others, in getting the Lab functional and operational. When you step into the Lab, you could almost forget you were in Africa! We can now do all the necessary testing for our HIV+ patients without having to send off lab work. In the past year the clinic has doubled the number of HIV+ people they serve to over 750 people!
The CHE program (Community Health and Evangelism) has continued to grow as well. CHE in the village of Bebou has grown and matured well. They are in the midst of an antimalaria campaign and soon their Community Health Evangelists will start making home visits with the various physical and spiritual lessons. CHE has been very active in our HIV+ patient support group as well. The first week of April a team from the USA is coming to do a Microenterprise training to help the support group help those hurting and desperate financially. There are many other good things going on with CHE, that I don't have room to mention them all. Pray that the CHE program and her trainners continue to teach people how to transform their communities not only physically and socially, but spiritually as well.
Association of Christian Churches in Ivory Coast
The number of churches and new church leaders continues to grow. Two new churches have been planted in neighboring villages to the town of Abengourou alone... and no missionary was involved! They are also working hard at training potential new leaders so that the churches will be rooted in God's Word. There are still plans to plant at least two more new churches in the Abengourou region by the Association. Pray that their planning would be fruitful and take root.
We are planning our next graduation for our leadership training program the end of April. We are looking forward to five more men completing their training and continuing in their local ministries as well as helping train more new leaders.
Finally, there was some unfortunate news as well. One of our main church and assocaition leaders was suspended this past year for various reasons and has since fallen away from the church. He was one of our regional pastors and the Vice-president of the Association. Pray that God would lead him to the road of repentance and reconciliation.
Gable Family
Finally, I want to mention our family. Part of what has kept me busy is figuring out new regulations and paperwork for Americans. Though God worked it out for us not to have to get entry visas (saving us $1500), we are required to do many other things (i.e. Certificacte of Residency, Residential Identity Papers, Ivorian Driver's License, Exit Visas, etc.). Most of these don't cost too much, but when you're doing it for 7 people it can add up. Thankfully I am the only one getting the Driver's Permit, it costs $300. Slowly I am figuring out what needs to be done and have done most of them for myself, the rest of the family can wait a bit. Most of these things had to be done for me so I could go and return back from my trip to Kenya this week.
Tomorrow, actually today for me now... it's 1:30am here, I leaqve to take part in CMF's Team Leaders Meeting. It is a week long event, so be praying not only for me, but for Stephanie and the kids s well. As hard as it would be in the States, it is a little harder to care for all five of our kids here in Africa all by oneself. I wish there was something else we could do, but no such luck. Please pray also for safe travel for me there and back.
Thanks to all of you who will and have already been praying for us. They are felt. God's richest blessings to you.
Andy
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
little by little the bird builds its nest...
That is one of my favorite African sayings. It seems like so much effort for such a small thing (turning your home back into your home), but it's important to get well situated for everyone in the family. It has been a long week, but it's good to be back in Abengourou, Ivory Coast. I have been wanting to write, but just now am able to get online since leaving the States last Sunday evening, and we still don't have it at our house (more on that later). I thought I would give you a rundown on what our past week has looked like.
Sunday
We had a nice last American church day at Lebanon Christian Church, who has been hosting us this past year. It was good to get to say thank you to the church for helping us out so much and say goodbye to the many new friends we have gotten to know this past year. We also enjoyed our last round of Arni's pizza with the Faust family and Schoolers.
In the afternoon, our parents had already loaded most of our bags for us (which we are thankful for, yet strangely suspicious of... :) ) and we loaded up for the airport. Check-in wasn't too bad and a "hey, that is really nice!" to the Indy airport and their family security check-point line. It made getting through security much easier and less hectic. We boarded the airplane for a long flight to Cincinnati, okay it was 30 minutes. We walked down the concourse and straight onto our plane for Paris with no problems.
Monday
The Paris flight was 8 hours long and during the night. Thankfully, there were a lot of empty seats and we got to spread out a bit. Most of the kids slept through much of the flight with only a few outbursts, but they did pretty well. We have decided that the Paris airport is our least favorite airport to date. Still, the kids did pretty well during the 3 1/2 hour layover, spending most of their time coloring and going to the bathroom.
The last flight was good and I will give a shout out to the Air France personal entertainment tv set for each seat. The boys were good to go for all 6 1/2 hours, watching cartoons and playing video games (genius!). The girls took advantage of it too, but did a little more seat swapping. Olivia did really well too.
We arrived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in the evening and made it through immigration, customs and the parking lot in about 45 minutes without any trouble (or so we thought... more on that later). We got to the Baptist guest house, ate some good Vietnamese food, visited with the Jones family and then crashed into bed. It was hot, but not too bad since it was the evening.
Tuesday
After sleeping in a little bit (8:30 am), Ellie and I went with Damon to a couple stores to get a few necessities then pick up our boss (David Giles, CMF Director of Church Planting) and his wife Linda at the airport. Ellie was just taking it all in with that, "this looks odd" kind of look on her face. Once we started walking through the stores, she started to warm up... especially when she saw some candy in the check-out line.
Damon picked up David and Linda while I went to the airport bank to get some cash. We went back to get everyone else and off to lunch, the grocery store, and then back to Abengourou. Thank you Lord for air conditioning in our truck. I'm sure it won't work next week, but it made a huge difference on the trip home. We got to Abengourou around 8:30 pm. We just settled in a bit, ate, sent the kids to bed, and Steph and I headed towards bed around 1:00 am after sorting our baggage.
Wednesday
We tried to sleep in again, but were awaken at 8:00 am by our doorbell, welcome back to Africa! Stephanie spent all day sorting, I spent much of the day running around town getting supplies, groceries and visiting a few people and friends along the way. It feels really good to be back. The kids played with Isaac, our teammates the Bledsoes, several times throughout the day. The seemed to have a good time. I also worked on trying to get connected online to no avail.
Have I mentioned that it's hot?
Thursday
Our nanny showed up this morning so our kids spent much of the morning getting to know Larissa again. Steph was sorting and doing tons of laundry. I started sorting my stuff and the electronics that we brought back with us. That was when I found out that our bags didn't make it through the airport untouched. Our brand new Canon camcorder was stolen out of the box. Nothing else seems to be missing (even all the cords and battery for the camcorder!), but if that's the worst thing to happen, then we are doing okay. It was really disappointing though. I was looking forward to taking video of the kids and also doing better about posting videos of the ministry. I guess that will have to wait until ??
I also ran around town getting more necessities that we didn't think of yesterday and passed by the clinic to see friends, the workers at the clinic and the new Lab. It is really nice. I was both excited and wowed by it's appearance and usefulness. It is already helping out greatly.
Friday
We are getting closer to getting settled in. The living room looks normal, but the bedrooms still have a ways to go. We started pulling things out of storage. Looked at some of the clothing and asked, "Why did we keep this?" The kids were happy to see some toys they hadn't seen in 14 months. I tried the Internet again, but no luck.
In the afternoon we went to the Jones' house for a pool party with everyone else in the mission. We celebrated David and Kate's birthdays. The pool never felt so good! Afterwards, we all went to my favorite restaurant in town, a Lebanese place. We sat on the roof top with a nice breeze enjoying the meal, company and evening.
Saturday
We tried hard to finish getting things in order. I went out and bought us a new TV. The kids were excited to get in their electronic fix and watch a few movies. I went out again to spend more money.
In the evening, I worked on our dryer and was able to get it working again. Steph and I stayed up late again, but pretty much got the house in order. There is still a lot of laundry, but that too is slowly getting smaller.
Sunday
We went to church in the new church building at the clinic. It was very nice. There is so much more space, they already have more people than they could ever hope to fit in the old church building. It was also good to see a lot of people we had not seen yet. It was a good confirmation that this is where we are to be.
We'll stay in contact. Please feel free to email us and let us know how you are doing, ask questions, or whatever. Thanks for praying for us. Keep it up!
Andy
Sunday
We had a nice last American church day at Lebanon Christian Church, who has been hosting us this past year. It was good to get to say thank you to the church for helping us out so much and say goodbye to the many new friends we have gotten to know this past year. We also enjoyed our last round of Arni's pizza with the Faust family and Schoolers.
In the afternoon, our parents had already loaded most of our bags for us (which we are thankful for, yet strangely suspicious of... :) ) and we loaded up for the airport. Check-in wasn't too bad and a "hey, that is really nice!" to the Indy airport and their family security check-point line. It made getting through security much easier and less hectic. We boarded the airplane for a long flight to Cincinnati, okay it was 30 minutes. We walked down the concourse and straight onto our plane for Paris with no problems.
Monday
The Paris flight was 8 hours long and during the night. Thankfully, there were a lot of empty seats and we got to spread out a bit. Most of the kids slept through much of the flight with only a few outbursts, but they did pretty well. We have decided that the Paris airport is our least favorite airport to date. Still, the kids did pretty well during the 3 1/2 hour layover, spending most of their time coloring and going to the bathroom.
The last flight was good and I will give a shout out to the Air France personal entertainment tv set for each seat. The boys were good to go for all 6 1/2 hours, watching cartoons and playing video games (genius!). The girls took advantage of it too, but did a little more seat swapping. Olivia did really well too.
We arrived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast in the evening and made it through immigration, customs and the parking lot in about 45 minutes without any trouble (or so we thought... more on that later). We got to the Baptist guest house, ate some good Vietnamese food, visited with the Jones family and then crashed into bed. It was hot, but not too bad since it was the evening.
Tuesday
After sleeping in a little bit (8:30 am), Ellie and I went with Damon to a couple stores to get a few necessities then pick up our boss (David Giles, CMF Director of Church Planting) and his wife Linda at the airport. Ellie was just taking it all in with that, "this looks odd" kind of look on her face. Once we started walking through the stores, she started to warm up... especially when she saw some candy in the check-out line.
Damon picked up David and Linda while I went to the airport bank to get some cash. We went back to get everyone else and off to lunch, the grocery store, and then back to Abengourou. Thank you Lord for air conditioning in our truck. I'm sure it won't work next week, but it made a huge difference on the trip home. We got to Abengourou around 8:30 pm. We just settled in a bit, ate, sent the kids to bed, and Steph and I headed towards bed around 1:00 am after sorting our baggage.
Wednesday
We tried to sleep in again, but were awaken at 8:00 am by our doorbell, welcome back to Africa! Stephanie spent all day sorting, I spent much of the day running around town getting supplies, groceries and visiting a few people and friends along the way. It feels really good to be back. The kids played with Isaac, our teammates the Bledsoes, several times throughout the day. The seemed to have a good time. I also worked on trying to get connected online to no avail.
Have I mentioned that it's hot?
Thursday
Our nanny showed up this morning so our kids spent much of the morning getting to know Larissa again. Steph was sorting and doing tons of laundry. I started sorting my stuff and the electronics that we brought back with us. That was when I found out that our bags didn't make it through the airport untouched. Our brand new Canon camcorder was stolen out of the box. Nothing else seems to be missing (even all the cords and battery for the camcorder!), but if that's the worst thing to happen, then we are doing okay. It was really disappointing though. I was looking forward to taking video of the kids and also doing better about posting videos of the ministry. I guess that will have to wait until ??
I also ran around town getting more necessities that we didn't think of yesterday and passed by the clinic to see friends, the workers at the clinic and the new Lab. It is really nice. I was both excited and wowed by it's appearance and usefulness. It is already helping out greatly.
Friday
We are getting closer to getting settled in. The living room looks normal, but the bedrooms still have a ways to go. We started pulling things out of storage. Looked at some of the clothing and asked, "Why did we keep this?" The kids were happy to see some toys they hadn't seen in 14 months. I tried the Internet again, but no luck.
In the afternoon we went to the Jones' house for a pool party with everyone else in the mission. We celebrated David and Kate's birthdays. The pool never felt so good! Afterwards, we all went to my favorite restaurant in town, a Lebanese place. We sat on the roof top with a nice breeze enjoying the meal, company and evening.
Saturday
We tried hard to finish getting things in order. I went out and bought us a new TV. The kids were excited to get in their electronic fix and watch a few movies. I went out again to spend more money.
In the evening, I worked on our dryer and was able to get it working again. Steph and I stayed up late again, but pretty much got the house in order. There is still a lot of laundry, but that too is slowly getting smaller.
Sunday
We went to church in the new church building at the clinic. It was very nice. There is so much more space, they already have more people than they could ever hope to fit in the old church building. It was also good to see a lot of people we had not seen yet. It was a good confirmation that this is where we are to be.
We'll stay in contact. Please feel free to email us and let us know how you are doing, ask questions, or whatever. Thanks for praying for us. Keep it up!
Andy
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