The curse of Malaria

Every 30 seconds a child under 5 dies of Malaria in Africa. Malaria in Cote d'Ivoire is increasingly caused by the chloroquine-resistant Malaria parasite. It kills 63,000 children under the age of 5 a year here. That's more than 7 small children every hour in Cote d'Ivoire. Adults are also killed by Malaria.

We're grateful for your prayers for Joshua. He is doing very well. Please pray for Joshua's African French language tutor, Gerard. He is sick now with Malaria. When we visited the maternity section of the main Ivorian hospital in Abidjan last May, the doctors thanked God for President Bush. They said many lives have been saved here because of the USA gift of free vaccines and medications for pregnant women and children under 5 years old.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for being our Healer. Thank You for healing Joshua's Malaria and John's shoulder. Please heal Gerard and strengthen all three of them.

Joshua Malaria update

Joshua slept well last night. The very strong medication and your even stronger prayers are healing him. He had some headache all day, but is sleeping now. I woke him up and gave him his last pill at midnight GMT last night.

He's doing OK at home school this morning. Now he'll need a couple days in the house to recover. That will be torture for him. We might have a friend come over to play Legos with him.

Thanks for taking the time to pray for Joshua! We praise God for you!

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!

Pray for Joshua. He has Malaria

Please pray for Joshua. He has Malaria. We gave him a treatment right away. We're trusting in God to heal him. More than seven young children die every hour of Malaria in Cote d'Ivoire.

Heavenly Father, we trust You to heal Joshua and take away his severe headache and nausea. Help him to get back on his feet again. In Jesus name. Amen!

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!

Wonderful news and sad news

So many important things have happened. We want to share them all: Radwan's wife is pregnant, Pastor John's new baby died, Nassif's Malaria, a Lebanese wedding, John's promotion to sergeant, Joshua's blue belt, and more! You'll have to click on links to get more information.

The greatest news came during the surprise phone call this afternoon from Pastor Gavin at Christ Community Church (CCC) Omaha. He called to let us know that the team completed their fund raising for their recent ministry with us. All the funds we needed for the orphanage supplies and Modeste Church School came in! In addition, the CCC College 8:08 group is partnering with the Modeste Bambara Church for their future facility construction plans. They will focus on raising funds for this project this fall.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this sad and wonderful news. As our Lebanese sister Hyame says, "Everything that comes from God is good." Help us to see Your love in everything!

Fauzi has a twisted colon

We weren't able to have church at Fauzi's Sunday. He's very sick with what seems to be a twisted colon, that happened with the passing of kidney stones. He won't go to the hospital, so he is getting by with IVs at home. It has been complicated with a case of Malaria. We've been able to visit him for prayer daily. It really hurts us to see a dear friend suffering like this.

Heavenly Father, heal Fauzi and take away the pain and fatigue he is suffering. Use these days to draw him closer to You.

Our son John is leading a team of college students to Cote d'Ivoire next month. We're busy preparing for their housing and ministries in our seminary, a village church and and an orphanage. Tomorrow, I'll be visiting the orphanage and church with one of our pastors. If you want to support John financially, ask us how. He is raising $3,000.

Gospel wasn't Good News for Fahed and Sami

"The Gospel is only Good News if it arrives on time." Carl F. H. Henry

Fahed and Sami are two Lebanese men who died last weekend. Fahed loved his family deeply. We had an appointment to pray with him Friday morning. I was sure in my heart he would open his arms to Jesus as Savior. His pancreatic cancer took his life just one hour before our visit. Sami was a new arrival to Abidjan. He was a computer geek/genius. But he couldn't find work. He wrote a bad check for several thousand dollars. He overdosed on pills, on his second day in prison.

Heavenly Father, use Mike and Sue to bring the Good News to many Lebanese in Abidjan. Comfort Fahed's ten children as they grieve the loss of their beloved father. Heal Hyame as she grieves the loss of her brother and recovers from the Malaria that hit her hard Saturday after Fahed's funeral.

Hyame has Malaria

It was a very difficult week for Hyame.

• Her brother died on Friday morning.
• She rushed down from Bouake to be at his funeral on Saturday morning. Muslims do their best to bury their dead within 24 hours.
• Now she is sick in bed with Malaria.

Heavenly Father, heal her body and comfort her as she grieves the loss of her brother.

Send us your questions advice, comments or prayer requests!