February Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,

This new year that the Lord has given us has started off with lots of
new blessings and challenges. I am so thankful for the opportunity that
we have to serve the Lord of the Harvest here in Ivory Coast.

During the first week of this year, we were informed by the United
States Embassy here in Ivory Coast that from now on, one must have a
visa in order to enter the Ivory Coast. Since the war started in 2002,
the Ivorian government has not been issuing visas; and they have not
been enforcing the laws concerning foreigners residing in Ivory Coast.
This year, however, they obviously have decided that those laws need to
be reinstated and reenforced.

The only problem is that, as with any new system, one must know where to
start. So, I have been in and out of a lot of government offices trying
to get a grasp on what we need to do in order to reside and function as
missionaries here in Ivory Coast. It seemed as if our Heavenly Father
held my hand and put me in contact with exactly the right people. Now
we know what we need to do, and we are unraveling the extremely long
roll of red tape.

We have had some really big blessings already this year in the church in
Belleville. There is a man who has committed to read his Bible through
in three months. He is on track to finish that! The teen Sunday school
teacher's father accepted Christ and is now becoming very faithful.
Until a few weeks ago, he had been completely closed to the gospel. It
was such a blessing to see him accept Christ! Then, Mr. Kesse, the man
who has committed to reading his Bible through in three months, started
going soul-winning with us. Last week, he was able to be there when we
led a lady to Christ. He got so stirred up about telling people about
how much Christ loves them! God is doing a work in Belleville in spite
of us!

We were able to conduct an evangelistic campaign in the village of
Donkoi. There is no electricity in that village. We took a generator
and were able to show a film. The entire village came out for the
meetings. Several people accepted Christ as their Savior including
three couples.

Last week, during our missions conference, Danny spent 36 hours in the
hospital with a severe bacterial infection. I stayed at the hospital
with him while Laura was at home with Gilbert and Bonnie. I had a very
bad sinus infection, and so Danny and I were sick together. We are all
doing much better now, and we thank everyone for their prayers for us.
Pastor Romeo was able to conduct the services for the missions
conference, and the people were greatly encouraged to do more to see
people saved.

Your friends and ambassadors to Ivory Coast,

Joseph, Laura, Gilbert, Danny and Bonnie Consford