Send Relief teams are working along the Ivory Coast in West Africa to bring relief and assistance to vulnerable communities.
Because of your gifts, we were able to provide 150 widows and orphans in one at-risk region with food, clothing, hygiene items and school supplies, as well as train nearly 100 church leaders in storytelling evangelism. Dozens of people have already come to know Christ as a result!
A recent project focused on these efforts was not looking as promising, however, and team leaders were beginning to worry. The village local who was supposed to serve as a guide for national volunteers was threatened by his community leaders and told “not to help the Christians.” As the truck carrying volunteers and supplies made its way to a village, they were dumped at an abandoned shelter crawling with insects and bats.
Exhausted and discouraged, the team unloaded and regrouped inside the shanty. A neighbor who had witnessed this process had pity on them and brought water for quick baths and refreshment after their long journey. After washing up, the entire team felt led to go on a prayer walk and pray specifically over the village they were left in. That night, it rained for hours on end.
The next morning, the team awoke to the village’s spiritual leader, an imam, at their door.
He said that the community had been experiencing a severe draught for several months, and the situation had gotten so dire that they had pooled their money to sacrifice a bull, to no avail. The imam continued to say that he believed their prayers had ended the drought and, much to their surprise, apologized for not welcoming them properly.
After some weeks of conversation with the newly befriended imam, the team was actually able to obtain some property in the village on which to build a church—the very plot of land they had felt led to pray over at the start of their journey.
God is on the move in West Africa. Please continue to pray for these new believers as they face persecution.
Published August 25, 2021