Visitors, Bishop, Veterans

We learned a lot and were very encouraged by our visitors, Bob and Craig, from USA. As we visited and prayed at some of the most famous Christian and Muslim locations in North Africa, our hearts were touched forever. Yesterday, we had an encouraging visit with the Bishop of Tunisia in Tunis. He provides the Sousse Church a sanctuary for worship on

Joshua in the cemetery

Sundays. Tomorrow, we drive to Carthage, north of Tunis, to a memorial service at the 27-acre North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Tunisia where 2,841 of our American military dead are buried. They gave their lives to liberate North Africans from Nazi tyranny. Read more at the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial website

Heavenly Father, comfort our grieving veterans and their families. Remind us daily about their sacrifices and their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Bless the Farhos with a safe round trip to Tunis.

Grateful for your partnership in prayer,

Mike and Sue Farho

Driving to Tunis Twice

 
Toyota Hilux 4x4

It will be a quick day trip Wednesday to visit the main duty office. It could be possible for us to purchase a car without paying import duty. It make a tremendous difference in the price. For example, a new 4x4 Toyota 4 door pickup with duty is $48,000 or $26,000 without duty. We are seeking God's will about the real need for a vehicle. Now, we take public transportation or rent a car when we can't walk. We also have two visitors coming this weekend from Omaha's Christ Community Church.

Heavenly Father, give Mike and his friends safe travels. Give grace in the eyes and hearts of the duty agents, to give the Farhos permission to purchase a duty-free vehicle.

Grateful for your partnership in prayer,

Mike and Sue Farho

The Sousse Church at Facebook

Train, Bishop, Prado, Fun

Wednesday will be quite exciting. We will all take the two hour train ride from Sousse to Tunis with the Sousse priest. Joshua will have school on the train. Mike will visit with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Tunisia about a building project and check out the 2006 Toyota Prado we want to purchase. Sue and Joshua will visit with some friends and maybe go shopping. It will be dark before we return home to Sousse.

Heavenly Father, give the Farhos a safe round trip to Tunis. Guide each meeting. Give the strength needed for this busy day. Provide them with the best car for their family.

To see photos use this link http://bit.ly/fbSousseChurchPhotos

Learning about Tunisia

It is fascinating to visit some of the important cities in the southern half of the country. We visited a museum today. It was a large home, for an extended family, built in the 1600s. He said the women had no need to leave their home. The men did the shopping.

Heavenly Father, give the Farhos wisdom as they learn Tunisian customs and culture. Give them travel mercies over narrow roads.

Three more days in USA

Location of Crossroads Christian Church

We arrived home in Omaha this evening. It was a great week of fellowship and insightful messages. We had a very encouraging visit on the way home at Crossroads Christian Church in Evansville, Indiana. John is here tonight to spend some time with us. It is always hard to say goodbye. With only three more days in Omaha, we have mixed emotions, but we are getting excited about our arrival in Tunisia.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the protection you gave the Farhos during their days on the road. Give them quality time with their family this week.

Answering your questions

• Did you say this is a Muslim country? Yes, it is a Muslim country, about 99% Muslim.
• Will you be referred to as mission workers? Please refer to me as an international pastor.
• Are you going to be able to send updates? Yes, we will continue our weekly updates.
• Are there dangers where you are going? There are dangers everywhere, but Sousse is very safe.
• Will I need to guard what I write about Christ? Feel free to write us as you have in the past.
• Will you maintain your websites? Yes, we will continue all our websites. The Sousse Church website, http://soussechurch.org.uk, will be modified as we begin our ministry there.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing such a strategic ministry for Mike and Sue. Encourage them as they meet with fellow pastors and friends in Louisville, Kentucky this week.

Suitcases are packed

However, we still have two more weeks before our departure to Tunisia. We look forward to our eleven days of meetings in Louisville, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana. We leave Omaha on Saturday May 23. We'll be on the road through June 2. We will fly out of Omaha on June 4. It is comforting to know that we will cover all these land and air miles protected through your prayers.

Heavenly Father, give Mike, Sue and Joshua joy and strength for these stressful weeks of travel. Protect them as they drive and fly many miles in Your service!

Need travel prayers

Thursday is the big day. We fly out of Abidjan for North Africa. You might not realize how big Africa is. Our flight will last almost seven hours. After five days, we continue on to the USA. We're pretty much done with all our work at our old house. We moved out yesterday, so the painters could do their job. Main items we have left to sell are our car, motorcycle and treadmill. We'll finish our packing tomorrow.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the strength You are giving Mike and Sue for their huge transition. Give them much grace and mercy as they travel many thousands of miles over the next four months. Be their constant companion.

Farhos are moving

Thank you for your prayers! We sure need them. Our big move has been in the works for a while now, but we are now free to tell you more about it. In three weeks, we'll arrive in Omaha for a four month home assignment. Then in June we'll move to North Africa, to pastor the only church in a city of 220,000 people. We have a huge transition to make, after serving in Cote d'Ivoire since January 1990. Selling everything we own and saying goodbye to many friends is very stressful!

Heavenly Father, give Mike, Sue and Joshua Your strength as they work long days and nights. Comfort them and their friends as they say goodbye. Thank you Lord for this exciting opportunity to serve You in North Africa.

Our 25th Anniversary and Travels

Can you believe it? Sue and I celebrate our 25th Anniversary tomorrow. Today, we celebrated Joshua's eleventh birthday. We're in the midst of much change right now. One month from today, we'll be arriving in Omaha, Nebraska to speak at Christ Community Church. Then we'll be on the road for four weeks speaking in churches. We're blessed to already have a furnished apartment in Omaha. A major need now is a vehicle to drive during our four months in USA. Do you have one we could use to drive all over the USA?

Heavenly Father, nothing takes You by surprise. You knew Mike and Sue would be together more than 25 years. You know their need for a reliable car. Provide one for them even before they arrive in USA.

Joshua didn't want to leave Kairouan

It's great to see how Joshua makes friends. He's a great example to all of us. He said, "I would rather keep freezing to death in Kairouan, than leave my friend!" He was thrilled today to play with his best friend in Tunis. We're looking forward to seeing our friends in Abidjan too!

http://AccuWeather.com says the RealFeel® Temperature is 48°F in Tunis and 105°F in Abidjan. So you know we will have another major adjustment to make as we fly back to Abidjan on Thursday. We also have important meetings starting on Sunday.

Heavenly Father, help the Farhos adjust smoothly as they return to their home in Abidjan. Give them strength and joy for their meetings.

Travel Monday to Kairouan, Tunisia

After an exciting week of visits and learning in Tunis, we head south tomorrow to Kairouan, Tunisia. It is the most holy city for Islam in Africa. We'll study spoken Arabic there four weeks. It will be exhausting, but well worth the work.

Our host in Tunis requests your prayers for his family. They are currently living in the USA, getting special help for their youngest son. It is difficult for his wife with three kids in homeschool and the baby with doctors and such.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good week so far for the Farhos. Give them a safe voyage tomorrow. Please provide good helpers for Sharon in the USA.

Walking and visiting

This is our life now and for the next 6 weeks. We've made several new friends already.

Thanks to your prayers, we have Internet on our phone. Don't expect long messages or perfect spelling!

Heavenly Father, thank You for meeting all Mike, Sue and Joshua's needs as they travel and study Arabic.

With love,
Mike and Sue Farho
http://Farho.us

Summertime in Abidjan

Many of our friends and neighbors have already left Abidjan for the summer. Others will be leaving over the next few weeks. Most are flying home to Lebanon or France. Summertime is the most beautiful season in Abidjan. August is the average coolest month at 80 F. May through July, we get a total of more than 44 inches of rain. For comparison, May through July are the wettest months in Omaha, NE, totaling almost 12 inches of rain. Helena, MT gets less than 12 inches of rain in an entire year. See your city's normal rainfall

During these cooler and wet months, we spend more time with the folks who can't afford to travel. We will miss our closest friends and neighbors who will be far away.

Heavenly Father, we ask You to open new doors and windows for ministry in Abidjan. Guide the Farhos and the leaders of the Modeste Church, as they continue the construction that the recent Omaha Team is financing.

Home to Abidjan Friday

It was a great time of encouragement to be here with our friends in Senegal. Joshua had non-stop fun with his friends. We enjoyed worship led by Evan Evans. We were encouraged by the messages preached by Pastor Tim Foldy from Edgewater Alliance Church. Sue even went on a horseback ride along the beach with Karen Foldy.

This week, we're visiting our Senegalese and Lebanese friends in Dakar. As we returned to Dakar Monday, our friends Walid and Lina's grocery store was closed. Lina's father died at 11 am. He caught a staph infection last month in the hospital.

Heavenly Father, comfort Lina, her mother and her sisters as they grieve the loss of their 70 year old father.

Home from Tunisia, on to Senegal

Hope you had a Happy Easter!

We had a great time exploring Arabic language study options in Tunisia. We were also able to visit what Tunisia claims is the fourth most holy city in Islam. It is also the location of an excellent Arabic study program. In a couple hours, we head to the airport to fly to Senegal for their Field Forum. It will be an encouraging time of recharging our batteries, with great fellowship and a guest speaker from a C&MA church in Florida. We will also follow-up with our Lebanese and Senegalese friends there in Dakar.

Heavenly Father, continue to strengthen Mike, Sue and Joshua for their further travels. Encourage and strengthen them during the next ten days in Senegal.

On the Road in North Africa

We're out of Abidjan since Sunday evening. We are in North Africa, looking for some alternate Arabic language study opportunities. Our tutor in Abidjan started at the university a couple of years ago. We've been unable to find a good teacher to take her place. Our various other teachers don't know Arabic grammar well enough to answer our questions.

Heavenly Father, help Mike and Sue to find a great course where they can study Arabic. Protect them and keep them healthy while they travel.