Fati

She has a beautiful smile. The first thing I noticed about her - the blue upper gum. Malian women do this to beautify themselves. But, Fati has asked us how to remove it. She moved to Abidjan years ago trying to earn money for her family. She's all by herself living with "distant family."

Emily and I visit her every Wednesday morning and Sunday afternoon while she sells vegetables. Sometimes, Emily or I will try to help bargin, but no one takes us seriously. So, we sit with Fati and tell her Bible stories.

Pray for Fati to hear and understand. She is a wonderful friend.

West Africa Summit

If any of you are interested in participating in what God is doing in West Africa I encourage you to attend the 2008 West Africa Spring Summit and Student Summit. The summit, located in Greenville, South Carolina, is April 2-5. Sessions include dialoguing with West Africa missionaries, discovering partnering and engaging opportunities and discussing strategy options. The last two days of the Summit, high school and college students will gather to learn how they can be a part of reaching the lost of West Africa. For more information and registration, visit http://www.rockycreekonline.org/.

Go West Africa magazine

From an extreme change in lifestyle to the extreme challenge of reaching a staunchly Muslim people, the stories found in the new Go West Africa magazine share the heart and passion of IMB missionaries and volunteers in West Africa. Read about their lives and ministries in the Winter 2008 edition of Go West Africa magazine.

Emily and I wrote the stories (and took some of the pictures along with William Haun, Justin Veneman, Amanda M. and Judy M.). Mary Beth and I worked on design and layout. And many West African missionaries and believers helped us get the information we needed to inform you.

I encourage you to order a Go West Africa magazine here (for free) and see how God can use you in West Africa, whether praying or volunteering.

Cup of Nations

During the last month, all of Africa talked about football (for all you Americans it's soccer). Sixteen countries sent a team to represent them in the 2008 Cup of Nations was held in Ghana. Cote d'Ivoire, my current place of residency, sent their team--the Elephants! We were favored to do really well and we did wining three games until Egypt and then it went all down hill. We lost to Egypt and then to Ghana to place 4th.

No one was out, no rooming the streets or going to the store for the inhabitants of Abidjan when Cote d'Ivoire was playing. All eyes were glued to the TV. And when we scored, Deron pushed mute and we could hear the cries of joy ringing out through all of Abidjan. If we won, motorist drove around town with flags, honking horns and flashing lights to rejoice in victory.

We all wore our colors with pride.

But, to loose, oh the terrible loses. No one cried for joy, no dancing in the streets, no flag waving. Just heads held in humiliating silence. It took days to recover. Thanks Cote d'Ivoire for a great experience at true team loyalty.