July Prayer Letter

We would like to thank each of you for your faithful prayer on our behalf.  God has been so good to us, and we know that it is because of your prayers for us!  This past month, we have seen many victories and have gone through some discouraging things as well; but all in all, we have seen the hand of God moving here in Ivory Coast.

The evangelistic campaign that was held in the village of IRFA was such a blessing to that small church.  The pastor of that church also pastors another church in a different village.  He holds the service in IRFA from 8:00-9:00 and then walks to his other church in Abbe where he preaches from 10:00-11:00.  The week after the campaign, he was late to his second service because he was so excited about what God was doing in the first church!  The man who sold fetishes (things that are used in spirit worship) in IRFA got saved during the evangelistic campaign.  It was the talk of the village when he showed up at church the following Sunday.  He made it known that he would no longer be selling fetishes; he just wanted to attend church and work in his fields for the rest of his life.  Praise the Lord!

This past month, we held another campaign in the other village for the same pastor.  The village of Abbe is much larger than the village of IRFA, but that village has electricity.  With electricity comes one of the greatest hindrances to the gospel – the television.  The crowds were not as large because many people were more interested in their evening television programs than going to an evangelistic meeting. We did, however, see twelve adults saved, and many children also came forward during the invitation.  Please pray for these new converts in the village of Abbe.

At the risk of sounding like a complainer, I would like to inform you about a situation that is developing here in Ivory Coast.  Before I do, I would like you to know that God is taking very good care of us; we have not missed a meal or not been able to cover our debts, but we do covet you prayers for us and the people here in Ivory Coast.  In the past few months, the value of the dollar has been on a steady decline.  Just as we were getting our budget adjusted to the loss, the fuel prices shot up from $4.90 per gallon to $7.50 per gallon.  Along with that, the food prices have gone up to cover the extra cost of transportation.  Just in the past few weeks, we have seen a dramatic increase in the outgoing part of our cash flow.  God has been so good to us!  He has given us some of the most faithful supporting churches, and for that we are very thankful.  Thank you for holding the ropes there at home.

Bonnie is now a little more than a month old.  She is doing very well, and we are all so thankful that God gave her to us.  In the month since her birth, we have all been down with one illness or another.  Gilbert and I both had malaria. Danny had bronchitis and was on the verge of having pneumonia.  Laura got a bad cold and cough along with her recovery from the c-section.  Praise the Lord, we are all doing much better now!