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March/April 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
We are quite thankful for all your prayers and support for the
ministry here in Bingerville. The church is continuing to
develop well. In the last three months, the church itself has
met all of its financial obligations including its missions
program. We are getting ready to expand our Sunday school
department from six classes to nine. Our clinic and literacy
school ministries are expanding and reorganizing for the better.
Our school building is nearing completion, and our church
building has been completed through the foundation and ground
floor level.
Occasionally in our prayer letters, we like to give you a
profile on one of the individuals who has been reached through
your efforts to help us here. In this letter we introduce you to
Fatoumata Zaré (pronounced Za-ray), who is a 32 year old lady in
our church.
Fatou’s muslim family came to Côte d’Ivoire from Burkina Faso
before Fatou was born. She was born here and grew up functioning
as a nominal muslim while her parents were much more devout in
the Islamic faith. During her adolescence, Fatou gave birth to
her daughter Ange. About the time that we arrived in Bingerville,
Ange’s father had decided to remain illegally in Italy after
traveling there on a tourist visa.
Fatou visited our church in September of 2000, and made a
decision to accept Christ as her Savior. She went through a
couple of years of indecision in her Christian life. When we
returned from furlough, she was baptized and became very intent
in her service for the Lord. When we officially established
church membership, she signed on as one of the charter members
of the church.
Fatou has gone through many challenges in life. Her older sister
has been chronically ill for years now, and Fatou is the only
person available to care for her often having to pay for her
medicines. When Ange’s father sued for custody, Ange was put on
a plane for Italy in June of 2005, and Fatou has not seen her
since. Many other trials have made life quite difficult for her.
In spite of these trials, she has remained faithful. No church
member brings more visitors to church than Fatou. She works in
our Sunday morning services to help mothers with babies so they
can take care of their children and hear the service at the same
time. She often helps our daughter Morganne with her
development.
Fatou has felt a burden to work with the deaf; however, she is
hindered in doing so since as a muslim child she received no
education. To overcome this obstacle, she has enrolled in our
literacy school to improve her ability to read and write, and
she will then continue with learning sign language. Fatou may
well be the first member in our church to minister to the deaf
of Bingerville. She greatly appreciates your prayers.
We do as well. Please continue to pray for our ministry
especially for funds to finish our church building.
Most sincerely in Christ,
Robert C. Mach
B.P. 551
Bingerville, Côte d’Ivoire
W. Africa
Tel/fax 011-225-22-40-10-26
RobertCMach@cs.com
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Construction Progress |
Fatou |
Fatou working with Morganne |
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