The Drinking Water problem in Bakanou A village

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8

As a missionary, I have visited several times Bakanou A village. The village is full of natural beauty and resources, but it has the highest number of people lacking access to safe, drinkable water. It is situated at 85 Km outside of Abidjan city in Cote D’ivoire. The village has a strong rural United Methodist Church where the members are very committed to fight poverty.  The village has almost two thousands families but with two boreholes only; sometimes the purity of the drinking water from the boreholes is questionable.

       

When there is no water; the villagers are using water from a stream which is not near the village. There is a problem obtaining good drinking water. The villagers and specially women are carrying water in pots on their heads; and there are several miles between the village and the stream. The water which is coming from the stream is always contaminated with diseases such as bilharzia, sleeping sickness, river blindness, guinea worm, and malaria. Besides these, diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and pneumonia continue to kill children in record numbers. Bakanou A village has a small medical center without a maternity. 

                                       

                         The only village medical center. Two rooms for two thousands families.

One or two boreholes again will take care of the water needs in the village. The villagers can’t afford the pumps, or the necessary equipment to have the boreholes drilled. Ending Poverty begins with clean water. Without clean water, the possibility of breaking out of the cycle of poverty is incredibly slim. Would you take a minute and see how you can help others. Let us come together to transform lives to get access to safe water. You can make a huge impact.  You can help to bring positive change in Bakanou A village.

  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me … And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25: 35, 40, ESV)

                                                Children at Bakanou A village with firewood 

                                                         Left is a plantation farm

                                                     The road to Bakanou A village. 

                                    Pastor Vry Thierry Joel at Nazaret UMC, in Bakanou A village,

                           calling church members for a fundraising on community project.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:35,37 ESV

Innovation and strategies to plant new UMC churches in Cote D’ivoire

It is a great opportunity to be part of this new innovation project of the Cote D’ivoire annual conference. Every district has sent one or two church planters who are local missionaries.  The Cote D’Ivoire Annual Conference is the first conference in Africa to set up a new school to train local missionaries who will be sharing the God News of Jesus Christ throughout the country and in the region to plant new UMC Churches.  Each district will support their candidates in this new adventure of faith. 

                                            This picture was taken after a sending service.

15 local missionaries from different tribes, men and women of faith are going out of their communities to partner with God; who called them to plant churches. 

                                                        During our workshop

Offering Jesus Christ to the world outside the fellowship of the local church is a primary task of all Christians. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, said "The world is my parish." Besides welcoming people into the fellowship of the church and helping them become and grow as Christians, the local church must have an evangelism ministry that reaches beyond the congregation!

                                                 Prayer time

Your prayer and support

Our brothers and sisters will need our prayers and supports.  Consider to pray for more people to witness.  Jesus specifically asked you to pray to the Father and ask Him to send workers into the field (Matt. 9:37-38).  What is the field?  It is the world of sinners.  Who are the workers?  They are people like you.  Jesus wants people to find salvation and enjoy eternal fellowship with Him.  He wants you to preach the Gospel.  He has given the command "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations..." (Matt.28: 19).  Your witness for God may or may not be verbal.  But either way, you need to pray and ask God to give you strength, love, and insight.

Evangelism is:

·         sharing the good news of God’s love with people who have not heard it before,

·         Preparing people to make or renew their commitment to Jesus Christ,

·         Participating in God’s mission to transform the world.