We wish you a Joyful Christmas!

Click image to enlarge

As we considered taking a photo of our family to send you, we decided that it wasn't a good idea. Sue is the only one wearing a shirt! As many of our partners are shivering with record cold temps, we are sweating in the typical tropical heat of Abidjan. We've had daily rain and RealFeel(R) temps over 105°F, with the humidity dripping at about 90%. Do you feel warmer yet?

You warm our hearts as we thank our Heavenly Father for you. Your prayers are the best gift we receive each day. May our Father's love warm your hearts, even in the frigid areas of His creation. May your Christmas be filled with His abounding joy!

With love and gratitude,

Mike, Sue, John, and Joshua Farho

http://farho.us

Ramadan is over

The fasting month of Ramadan finishes with the celebration of Feast of Breaking the Fast (Eid al-Fitr), or the Little Feast (al-Eid saghir). It occurs at the conclusion of Ramadan and is held on the first day of the month of Shawwal. For most Sunni Muslims, that was today. For most Shi'a Muslims, that will be tomorrow. West African Muslims are mostly Sunni, so today was a legal holiday in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, where nearly 50% of the population is Muslim. The Lebanese population here is mostly Shi'a Muslim, so they will celebrate their Little Feast tomorrow. Learn more about Islam at our website: http://islam.farho.net

Heavenly Father, we ask You to reveal yourself to Muslims through dreams and visions. Open Your arms to them in new and wonderful ways, so they can trust in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, for forgiveness.

John recovering well

Your prayers for John's recovery from shoulder surgery are being answered. He is still having some trouble sleeping, as would be expected with his surgery and his arm brace. He's working some every day at Gold's Gym. Soon he will be going away for 3 weeks at US Army National Guard Camp. That will be a challenge!

Ramadan is off to a smooth start here in Abidjan. I'm visiting my friends in the morning. Traffic is crazy in the evening as frazzled, starved and thirsty people are in a hurry to get home for food and water.

Heavenly Father, thank You for touching and healing John's body. Give him strength and good sleep at night. Continue to give our friends dreams and visions about Jesus our Christ and Savior.

Grateful for simple pleasures

Downtown Abidjan across the lagoon

We're grateful for so many little things in our lives here in Africa. It's true, we miss much about our lives in the USA, but God meets us here in simple and pleasant ways. As I was making my visits today on my motorcycle under a clear blue sky, cool breezes were blowing off the Atlantic Ocean. August is simply the best month to be alive in Abidjan. Before putting Joshua to bed tonight, we enjoyed another simple yet precious pleasure. We watched a one hour resume of today's Olympic events on French TV5.org.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the beauty and cool weather in Abidjan. Give Mike, Sue and Joshua much joy as they serve You in this city of about 6 million needy souls. Open doors each day to share the love of Jesus. Protect John as he serves at the Nebraska Army National Guard Camp this week.

Taxi strike day 3

The strike continues. No danger to most people, just a huge inconvenience for those who use them to shop and get to work. There is a strike of government workers planned for tomorrow.

Here are some photos from http://Abidjan.net:

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!

Taxis on strike in Abidjan

This photo by Abidjan.net pretty much sums up the problem. No taxis, means no way for most of the population of this city of nearly 6 million to get to work. The taxi drivers are on strike because they can't afford to buy fuel at the rates they are authorized to charge. The drivers set up road blocks to stop people from taking other forms of transportation. We were warned that there could be trouble, so we've stayed here in our neighborhood.

Heavenly Father, help the people in Abidjan to find ways to make ends meet during these extremely inflationary days. Give the government authorities wisdom as they try to calm down the situation.

Fuel went up 44% this week.

Overnight, the price of diesel fuel for our vehicle went from $4.93 to $7.10 a gallon in Cote d'Ivoire. Gas is now $7.19 a gallon. We're grateful that our vehicles get great mileage. How much do you pay for fuel?

We went to the grocery store today and stocked up. All food items will soon cost more, because of the increase in fuel costs. We're finding ourselves doing more of our visits by phone, to cut ministry expenses. We're as careful as we can be about making any purchases for our ministry that will influence the cost of our work here. Our Toyota gets much better mileage than our old Peugeot. We drive our tiny Suzuki Samurai or motorcycle when possible. Last year, we used our Farho Work gifts to purchase a laser printer. It dramatically reduced our printing costs compared to our inkjet printer.

We're grateful for your generous and sacrificial gifts to send us here to share the Good News in Abidjan. What ideas can you share, to help us lower our ministry expenses?

Sue robbed at traffic light

Sue was stopped in traffic at a large intersection, when a man who appeared to be a beggar with a wounded arm, forced open the driver side rear section of the convertible top of her Suzuki Samurai. It was pouring down rain. The assailant was wearing a bandage wrapped around his entire right arm.

She screamed and honked her horn as he crawled into her car. No one helped her. She pulled her cell phone out of her purse to call me. Then the light turned green. She tried to escape, while he continued to climb into her car. He was able to enter and jumped into the front seat, as she crossed the intersection. Continuing to scream at him, she stopped around the corner and shoved the tall man out of her car.

She was so shook up that she was unable to call me on her phone. She drove straight home. Then she saw her purse was gone. She told Joshua and his French tutor to call me. I drove directly to the scene of the crime. The police were already there for another robbery, maybe even the same thief. They explained to me that the bandage was probably concealing a steel bar used to bust open car windows to steal purses. They left to search for the thief.

I couldn't get Sue to answer our house phone. I assumed her cell phone was stolen with her purse. So I drove home. Sue, Joshua and the tutor were gone.

She left with them to search for the thief and her favorite purse! They found witnesses who saw the man with her purse, but they didn't find the thief.

Heavenly Father, give Sue peace after this traumatic event. Help her to sleep and feel Your protection. Deliver the Farhos from danger. In Jesus Name! Amen.

Policeman needed $12

I was witnessing to two policemen who stopped me Yesterday. One said it was his birthday and he needed $12 to buy some "sodas" to celebrate. We talked for a long time. He turned 32 years old. I told him I don't give New Testaments to everyone, but since it was his birthday, I gave him one. His buddy had to have one too. They both kissed their new New Testaments and thanked me profusely. I told them they were for reading, not storing on a shelf. They promised they would read them daily.

Where have you been, I missed you!

On my way home from visiting Lebanese today, several police pulled me over. When one came to my window I said, "Where have you been? I missed you! We're afraid to go out when you aren't here on the side of our roads."

He responded, "We're back now!" There were four of them, so I gave him four Scripture Gospel booklets titled How to Know God by WMPress with Scriptures about salvation in Jesus Christ.

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!

Computer-Electronics-Air Conditioner Junk Yard

Visited a computer-electronics-air conditioner junk yard this afternoon. It consisted of shack after wooden shack, full of AC parts, TVs, computer parts, and much more. One fellow was taking AC compressors apart for usable pieces. Two boys were breaking up circuit boards to remove the transistors, resisters and other part that could be resold. One shack had stacks of ink jet printers that didn't work. Another had stacks of old computer monitors, many which didn't work. One man actually had some new computer accessories. He had a table full of power sources for computers and other devices. On that table, I found a power supply for a 1984 Commodore computer!

I was there with George, one of our Lebanese believers.

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!