A Baby in the Bush

I imagine this story started out in ordinary circumstances here in an Ivorian village.  A young woman discovered she was pregnant and waited expectantly for the arrival of her new child.  After carrying the baby within her to term, she gave birth to what appeared to be a healthy baby boy.  She nursed and cared for the child as any good mother would.  However, as several days went by there was a serious problem... the child did not have a bowel movement, nor could it because it is missing an anus.  The opening seemingly closed off by an extra patch of skin.  

Overwhelmed by her child's health problem and her own poverty, she decided there was nothing she could do nor afford to help her new baby boy and she could not watch her child die.  Her only solution was to abandon the child, hopefully for someone else to care for.  The shame in openly abandoning the baby is too much to bear, so she picked a spot between two villages not far from the road, where she knew someone would likely pass by and find the child.  

Yesterday morning Delem, the uncle of my good friend Nouffou, found this baby boy in the bush 2 km outside his village, Zamaka.  The crying baby was lying on the ground completely naked in the cool morning air.  Delem removed his shirt and wrapped the child and returned to his village to see what they could do for the child.  He arrived in his courtyard to show the others what he found and to check over the infant.  It is then they first noticed the baby's physical problem.  They headed to the village chief's courtyard to explain what happened and to find a solution together.  

The chief and some of the other village elders decided to send a delegation with the child to the nearby Catholic Mission and clinic.  The sisters at the mission said they would try to care for the child, but he needed to be declared to the police first.  The delegation returned to Zamaka to inform the chief and they prepared to head to the police station in Abengourou.  

Yesterday I was in Zamaka to make my weekly visit to Nouffou and his wife Fatou's courtyard to teach.  However, everyone else from our Bible Storytelling Group was gone so we were mostly talking about life in general.  As we began reviewing the previous weeks story and previewing the stories to come, I mentioned that our next story was about the birth, discovery and childhood of Moses.  At that same moment, Nouffou saw Delem coming in the distance.  Moses' story reminded him of the day's earlier events and the news his uncle was likely bringing.  He filled me in and once Delem arrived he gave us the news from the chief.  They needed a ride to Abengourou so Delem, a lady caring for the child, the chief's messenger and I headed for Abengourou (at this time all I knew was that the child was abandoned and there was some sort of health problem... I thought they meant he was constipated).  

Madame N'Guessan

We arrived at the police station around 5:30pm and filed the report.  The police informed us we needed to go to Social Services and declare the infant there as well.  Since we work with Social Services I called to make sure someone would be there shortly after closing time since it was an emergency.  When we arrived and started the report, the folks from Zamaka mentioned the physical problem.  She took the child and examined him.  It was then that the Social Services Agent, Madame N'Guessan, and I realized the gravity of the child's situation.  We thanked the group from Zamaka for their help, shared phone numbers to stay in touch and Madame N'Guessan and I headed to the local hospital while they headed back to Zamaka.

We arrived at the hospital to see what could be done, but unfortunately the necessary operations cannot be done in Abengourou, but only are available in the commercial capital Abidjan.  There were a few things to get at the pharmacy to help the infant boy, but we had to wait until the next morning to send him to the specialist in Abidjan.  Thankfully, our teammate Christina Skelton is headed to Abidjan this morning and is able to give them a quick and smooth trip to the hospital.  

Now we continue to pray that God will bless this child and work in mighty ways.  Many will ask why this happened.  I believe it's an opportunity to show the love, grace and compassion we are called to live out in this broken world.  I myself consider it a privilege to be able to be a part in God's intervention in the life of this tiny infant boy, that some of the villagers of Zamaka decided to call "Moses".  Be praying for little Moses and his healing.  Pray too for those who are charged with his care.  Pray too for his mother who left him in the hands of God.  May all these events lead us to honor and praise God for His goodness in our lives.

Maternity Project Video

Click on this link to give online for the Maternity Clinic.

Update: Child Sponsorship Program

More than any other project, I am excited to see the long-term impact the child sponsorship program will have in the Abengourou community and impoverished families.  Pasquier and Emmanuel have such a great vision and passion that is infectious.  Please pray for the program and consider how you might take part in the future.  We hope to start  finding sponsors for 100 children in February 2013.

Pasquier & Emmanuel - the co-founders of Coeur Ouvert (Open Heart)

Each student registered in the program received a backpack with school supplies and was measured for their uniform.

Everyone waiting patiently on the porch of the mission's training center.

François and Maturin (our social workers) verify the registration and contact information of all the families.

Pasquier making sure all goes well.

Lilian Tro hands out their backpacks.

Each student gets measured for their school uniform.  Our tailor was a beneficiary of our CHE's micro finance program .

Our seamstress also works with the micro finance program, measuring the girls.

Our initial group completed the process.  These children are all in 1st grade.

One of our groups of parents following a training and planning meeting.

Update: Chicken Farm Project

Another exciting new project about to get started.  A big thanks to IDES for their partnership in this new aspect of CHE (Community Health Evangelism).  Below are photos of an example of someone who is impacted by this kind of ministry.  The first photo is of a lady named Djane Djaka.  Read more about her AMAZING story here: Djaka's Story.

The first day Djaka arrived at our clinic with her son Moussa.  She only weighed 66 lbs.

Shortly after she received her first of many visits from our clinic and CHE workers.  Here she is with Natalie.

Djaka and her son Moussa in her garden.  The CHE program helped Djaka get started.

As Djaka works in the garden, not only does she have the necessary nutrition today, but she shares her abundance with others in need in her community.  This picture was taken only 4 months following the first photo!

At their lowest point, both Djaka and Moussa were living on the street with Moussa finding food for both of them.  Today he loves helping his mother raise their garden.

This is a picture of Djaka just 5 months after we first met her.  You can see why she calls herself a walking miracle.

Update: Beoumi Project

Here is the most recent update on our church planting ministry in Beoumi, Ivory Coast.  Please continue to pray for the new churches in the Beoumi Region and the church planters working hard to share God's message of hope through Jesus Christ.  Below are a few photos from the Beoumi work.

Homemade drumset

Douti Didier teaching in the village of Bélakro

Unfortunately vehicle trouble has too often been a part of our trips as well.

Children who gathered to listen to a Bible study in the village of Kouébo-Dan

The house that we are renting to serve as the base of operations and sleeping quarters for our church planters for only $50/month (the bottom floor only) and where the Béoumi church meets for weekly services.

Update: New Maternity

 Here is a quick update on our current status with the new maternity project.  Also, we are still looking for a labor and delivery nurse or mid-wife to come serve with us in the new maternity, anyone interested should contact CMF.  Click on the link to see the job description on CMF's website: CMF Personnel Needs.  Please be in prayer for the project and consider how you can help the women in our region.

Also, I wanted to give you a look at the property and also a picture of the current set-up for the mid-wife's consultation area in our lab.

Maternity & Dr.'s Office

Side of Maternity and Yard (we hope to put a playground where the cement pad is)

Current pre/post-natal consultation area (located inside our lab... notice the backup batteries and lack of privacy)

The blue building will be our social services office headed by our chaplain.  The white buildings will be hospital rooms for patients needing greater care.

Outside view of the property

Officially Anouncing our NEW Maternity Project

I consider it a priveldge to serve alongside those who work at the PIM Clinic.  I want to be abundantly clear, I have had very little to do with any of the daily operations of the clinic.  I work with the current staff in coordinating our various ministries (Clinic, CHE, Church Planting).  The medical missionaries who trained and worked with our current staff did an outstanding job preparing them, but then again they all are outstanding people.  Even though there are no longer any medical missionaries serving at the PIM Clinic, the clinic continues to have a leading reputation not only in our own region, but even nationwide. 

The PIM Clinic is considered one of the tops in HIV care and has the highest retention rate of HIV patients in the country... 15% higher than the second highest rate!  Recently the CDC, PEPFAR (the US government's HIV/AIDS program) and our partner Elisabeth Glacier Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) came to our mission center to hear a presentation about how we function and specifically how we apply CHE in our HIV care and follow-up.

The true strength of the clinic is not in its programs, but its servant-minded people.  It's not just a job, but a ministry and testimony to the love of Jesus Christ.  We, CMF together with our national partners at the clinic, believe that God is leading us to make the next big step in serving the people of Ivory Coast.  One of the areas in HIV care that we have struggled with at times is maternity care.  Young women who have HIV still become pregnant and there are special needs and considerations to help the mother and to avoid mother-to-child HIV transmissions.  It has become increasingly difficult to keep our patients' confidentiality and also administer timely and essential medcations to best serve our patients.  This is why we decided to open our own maternity.  By opening the maternity, the PIM Clinic will become the first full-service pediatric AIDS care center in the country.  The CDC, PEPFAR and EGPAF were really excited to hear of our plans.

Our HIV patients now number more than 2,500... and the number continues to grow daily.  The number of expectant mothers also continues to grow.  Combined with Abengourou's lack of good maternity services, we feel now is the time to start our own maternity.  We had originally planned to build a new maternity on our existing property, though it was already crowded, but God presented us with a wonderful opportunity to purchase an adjacent property with all the necessary structures (with space for possible future growth) to start all the services we were hoping to build.  The cost of the new property is one-third (33%) of what it would have cost us to build.  God is good and His plan was so much better than our own.

The total budget for the new maternity project is $84,792.  The purchase of the property is $40,384 and we hope to have commitments for those funds in the next month or so.  The rest of the budget is for equipment and a few renovations of the property.  We are also hoping to receive donations for equipment (incubator, ultrasound machine, etc.) from other groups, so feel free to pass along the info and contact others about this incredible opportunity.  We have already been blessed to have a significant partnering church step forward (Lebanon Christian Church, IN) and pray for many others as well.  Our goal is to start using the new facility by mid-2013.

Please be in prayer for the entire process.  Even purchasing the property could be messy and problematic.  The big issue facing us now is that the property is not "owned" by one individual, but the children of a man who died many years ago. The man had three wives and even though the heads of the children from each of the three wives have agreed on the deal, we are waiting to hear from the others involved.  There are currently 17 people who must agree to our purchase price and sign paperwork.  It just takes one of them to complicate things (i.e. thinking they can get more money out of us or wanting a larger share).  Pray that God would continue to open hearts and doors for the project.

Pray also for new ministry partners to step forward and join us in this new task.  We are hoping not only to have financial partners, but prayer partners and mission project teams (short-term mission teams) participating as well.  We are also praying for someone to serve as a labor and delivery nurse and/or mid-wife during the first intial years (or even long-term)of the maternity.

I also want to pass along my sincere gratitude to the following people who previously served as missionaries in the PIM Clinic: Dr. Brenda Clark (who started the clinic with FAME Canada), Dr. Marvin Clark, Dr. Mike Mawdsley, Juli Duvall-Jones, Henri Buregea, Dr. Bernie Bledsoe (who was instrumental in starting the HIV/AIDS ministry), Carrie Walters and Judy Fish.  Each one of them served faithfully and sacrificially to help establish the PIM Clinic and make it what it is today.  Their impact and influence continues in the lives of those serving today and those receiving care in the name of Jesus Christ.  May God continue to bless you and work through you today.

Progress in the Béoumi Region

Probably our project that I am most excited about is the church planting project in the Béoumi Region.  Last year I shared a story from one of our visits there and the excitement people showed in hearing the truth of God's message proclaimed.  Every time I think about the people in the Béoumi Region and how hungry they are for real nourishment, I think of Jesus' words to his disciples, 

"You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.  Even now the harvest workers are receiving their reward by gathering a harvest that brings eternal life. Then everyone who planted the seed and everyone who harvests the crop will celebrate together." (John 4:35-36 CEV)

From left to right: N'Dri David, N'Goran Emile, Deahon Tro
Three of the five church leaders who joined me on our last trip.

About a month ago we made a trip back to Béoumi to teach and preach to Good News of Jesus.  Many of those who we had previously met gathered together from various different villages.  We studied God's Word together on Friday night, met together Saturday morning, baptized 11 people in the afternoon and evening, then worshipped together Sunday morning. Overall it was a very good weekend.

Pastor Emile batizes Patrice, an exceptional young man
who has an unquenchable thirst for God's Word.  Patrice has
already started evangelizing three neighboring villages.

We were disappointed to learn that our first man of peace who originally hosted us during our first couple of visits turned out not to be much of a peacemaker.  In fact, we had hoped to baptize as many as 60-70 people during our trip, but apparently during the time since our last visit, he mislead both us and the original group of people we worked with.  While he was not able to profit from us, he extorted a large amount of money from this group.  It wasn't until our latest visit that we learned of the depth of his deception.  Much of Saturday morning was spent dealing with the problems created by him.  While it was somewhat discouraging, this group of people are still hungry to hear God's Word.  What the devil meant to tear down, God protected and reinforced as the truth came to light.

The folks in Béoumi gave me a "chiefly" gift.

Our short visit to Béoumi was not our only efforts, but one of our pastors, N'Dri David, stayed behind to teach, preach and encourage the new believers.  He will be spending three months ministering in the Béoumi regions.  Since our departure, he has baptized 15 more people, started churches in two different villages and began three new cell groups in three other villages.  Though David is only 35 yrs. old, he has been a church leader for over ten years.  He himself said that he has never witnessed such a desire to hear God's Word as the people in Béoumi have.


So far, even though we have had some difficulties, God continues to bless to outreach in Béoumi.  We are so excited to see how God will lead the new believers and the exciting things He will do through these new harvest workers.  Please continue to pray for the people of Béoumi.  Pray also for David as he works tirelessly serving our Lord, spreading his Good News.  Pray also for Pastor Jean-Claude and his family.  David will be coming back home in May, and Jean-Claude will replace him out in Béoumi starting in June.  Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.  May God guide us in bringing in a harvest of many souls!

Church Planting Program Changes

One of the main tasks that has kept me busy since arriving is helping the Association of Christian Churches in Ivory Coast (AECCI in french) to get reorganized and rejuvenated.  An important element in church planting here is for fellow christians (especially fellow pastors and leaders) from different Christian churches to come together for mutual prayer and encouragement.  The sense of belonging to a community is essential in the African worldview.  The crisis stemming from the election took its toll on many of the Christian churches.  People lacked money and resources and coupled with security issues, they were not able to freely travel.  Many of our village churches felt disconnected, discouraged and some had a sense of abandonment.  


I made a point to visit at least a couple churches in each region to get reconnected with our church leaders (currently there are 20 Christian churches).  We tried to deal with a few small disagreements and nagging issues that developed during our family's time out of the country.    Following various meetings, including the appointment of the national leadership for the next three years, a spirit of unity and common vision was restored.  Our Meningitis vaccination campaign had a lot to do with healing the sense of abandonment.  We are looking forward to following God's leading among us.


A few changes came out of these meetings that will help us long-term.  We have moved from a top-heavy leadership structure to a greater focus on groups of churches collaborating in local ministry.  Decisions will be made according to the felt needs of the community instead of those at the top, who are removed from their situation.  


The old structure, during times of crisis, handicapped the local churches which considered themselves dependent upon the national leaders.  When the national leaders had difficulty visiting and communicating with one another and the various churches, the churches often waited to hear from them.  When they didn't, they quickly became discouraged.  While we have tried to establish autonomous churches with local leadership, the reality is there exists a real need for them to be networked and working together to accomplish the Lord's work.  The question before us was how to keep churches connected, have a national identity (which is also important to them) and yet have the decision-making and the ministry more focused on the local level.


We retained the basic national leadership structure and these leaders will be focused on helping discover a common vision for our churches and overseeing the larger projects (i.e. the church planting project in the Beoumi region, national convention).  We are hosting a leaders retreat, lead by the Association leaders, where we will devote our time studying God's word and praying together, seeking His will for our lives and His church in Ivory Coast.  During the retreat, church leaders living in the smaller regions (also called church clusters) will meet to discuss how the Spirit of God is leading them within their regions.  We want the work to be focused on God leading us individually and yet collectively.  We desire our plans to be Spirit-driven and Bible-based applied both locally and nationally.  We hope to grow within while reaching out into new areas.


The hope is that these church clusters will help fulfill the need for connection and shared responsibility while giving a greater sense of ownership for the decisions being made.  These decisions will come more directly from felt needs and God's leading on how to minister to those needs.  The Association will help organize the various activities whether they be CHE based (Community Health Evangelism), leadership training or evangelism.  Our goal is to simplify things and have people follow God's leading instead of someone else's plan.

Nestor Assamoi

Besides helping them work through the reorganization process, the mission has also taken back the oversight of the leadership training program.  We have hired one of our graduates from the leadership training program, Nestor Assamoi, who also serves as the Associate Pastor here in the Abengourou Christian Church.  I am excited to be working with Nestor.  He did a great job continuing to oversee the leadership training program in his local area despite the crisis during this past year.  So be praying for Nestor and I as we try to reorganize and jumpstart the program.


So I would ask you all to be praying for the following requests:


-Our Leaders Retreat taking place this month March 14-16.  Pray that God's Spirit and His word would move in us and guide us in our decisions.
-Nestor and I as he adjusts to his new position and the small modifications being made to improve the leadership training program.
-Good collaboration among the church clusters in their planning and organization.

Meningitis Vaccination Campaign

Short video of various people receiving life-saving vaccines.

Many of you are already aware of our vaccination campaign against Meningitis that we started the first of December.  In the end of November, we had two church members and five HIV+ patients from our clinic die from Meningitis.  The local hospital reported about ten cases during the same time period.  Since it was just the beginning of the dry and dusty season (when Meningitis is most prevalent), our mission decided to act quickly and not wait until more people contracted this dangerous disease.

We were overwhelmed and incredibly blessed by the quick and large response to our appeal for support for this campaign.  Within just the first week, we were able to raise over $7,500 through over 100 online donations simply through spreading the word through Facebook and word-of-mouth.  We ended up surpassing our original goal of $10,000 to provide vaccinations for 3,000 people.  By the end of February (today), we have vaccinated over 5,000 people and have had zero (0) new cases of Meningitis among our patients and church members!  Thank you all for your efforts in spreading the word and giving to save many lives.


Within the first couple of weeks we vaccinated all our mission staff and families, along with most of our HIV+ patients (who are especially vulnerable to Meningitis).  We expanded the campaign to include the churches we work with in our community development programs here in Abengourou.  We also did vaccinations in all of the communities where we currently have churches.  Almost all of these communities and churches were overwhelmed with gratitude for the assistance provided.  Most of these communities are still struggling with the aftermath of last year's conflict stemming from the election.  Many felt as if they had been ignored or forgotten.  There was a renewed sense of rejuvenation and hope within them.  


We truly say thank you to everyone who participated in the vaccination campaign with your prayers, donations or just sharing about the need here in Abengourou.  While cases in Abengourou have decreased (only a small handful at the local hospital since the campaign started) other regions have been reporting serious outbreaks as well.  People who work for the public health system have said that our quick action has made a huge impact in our area.  Thanks for being a part of saving lives.

A few quick comments

Greetings again everyone.  Since arriving back here in Ivory Coast last October, I have barely had enough time to sit down and gather my thoughts, let alone write them down.  I hope to write a series of articles about what has been going on instead of one massive article that few would take the time to read.  Our family is doing well and things are progressing in the mission.  We have definitely had our "challenges" since getting back, but praise God for showing His faithfulness in the midst of the obstacles of life.


Some of the topics I will be sharing about in the coming days and weeks include:  Meningitis Vaccination Program, Changes/Reorganization in the Church Planting Work, Obstacles and Difficulties along the Road, Béoumi Church Planting Project, New Maternity Project at the PIM Clinic, A Nice Visit from a New Friend, Update on the Djoula Muslim Outreach.  Keep an eye out for these new articles so as to keep up with how God is moving here and how to pray for the work in Ivory Coast.  Blessings and peace to you all.