I learned so much in our first month in Cote d’Ivoire about how beautiful differences are in the body of Christ. The Lord made us so uniquly to fulfill a role within His kingdom, but partners us together to reach those He is seeking in very personal ways. The ministry we had the honor of partnering with in month 1 was the embodiment of what Jesus calls us to be as the church.
Marius and Angeline
These two are a power couple. Marius follows-up with and does life with them in such a way that exemplifies what it means to make disciples and truly reflect Biblical discipleship. Not only that, but also possesses the quiet humility of a true evangelist. Angeline carries authority both in the physical and the spiritual. When she speaks, people listen. Just like Jesus when He was walking on earth, she possess equal parts boldness in sharing Christ and making sure the urgency of the message is known, but does it with such loving gentleness.
Jean Claude and Izabelle
These two are a perfect example of a spiritual Father and Mother. Both have such a gift for preaching and a desire to help people understand the weight and the commitment of choosing to follow Jesus. Jean Claude’s main goal is to urge one to make a decision based on their own heart and soul. He sees people very individually and makes it clear that their relationship with the Lord is their own and does this primarily through a very fatherly tone. Izabelle played a huge part in making us feel welcomed and loved as mothers do. Not only did she cook for us and keep us from being hit by cars, but she also very much mothers the young truck drivers in the ports. She comes to church every Sunday to translate from French to the native language of the truckers, but she could quite honestly lead the service all on her own. Her insight and explanations when it comes to Biblical interpretation is truly inspiring.
Remi
This man is such an encourager. There were very few times that he did not have a smile on his face and on those rare occasions it was most likely due to the fact that something was causing an issue for someone else that he wanted to correct. This positivity projected directly to us and played a huge role in giving us confidence and room to grow in so many ways. When we would stumble or be at a loss for words, it would be very easy for us to look to our translators or hosts to pick up the slack. Remi on the other hand would use that time to encourage us and remind us of ways we were already equipped to share the gospel. He would offer a suggestion or chime in so we could collect ourselves and then hand things back over. He very much looked at our time with the ministry as an opporunity for us to tap into the tools we already possessed and see the Lord work in our obedience in being willing to use them.
Translators
David
David has very much a teacher’s heart. Not only is he actually a primary school teacher, but he approaches ministry in alot of the same way as well. He desires that the men that are being poured into are able to think about these soul defining ideas for themselves and in true teacher fashion he does this in the form of questioning. It is so important that as people are beginning the journey of their Christian walk that they are able to process through the first steps of their faith or learn what type of questions to ask to get them started and David is really good at recognizing this. We saw this a lot in our everyday interactions with him as well whether that be him making sure we had context for the conversations being had in several languages or in him keeping up with our fast English. He sought to create understanding and help in answering questions, even if he had to make it up sometimes 🙂
Parfait, Fidel and Aniset
I don’t think I have ever seen three men walk in more confidence and annointing when sharing the gospel and it was physically evident in them everytime we stepped foot in the ports. There were several occasions where men would stop them specifically even before we initiated and asked to hear what they came to share because it was clear they possessed something desirable. Fidel was the translator I worked with the most and I learned so much about how to answer questions I had never thought of before and do so in a way that pulled in both Biblical and life experiences. I saw a tangible representation of what it meant to be quick to listen and slow to speak in all of them and how that was so important in opening the window for the gospel to be shared very directly with more willing and open hearts.
The scripture lists evangelism as a spiritual gift that some possess more strongly than others, but I think many on our team realized that we are all equipped and capable of evangelism in some form. Each encounter was different, every translator had their own familiar method that was successful for them. Some of the men needed to be heard first, some needed to hear first. Sometimes the character of Jesus came in the form of a story from when He was on Earth and sometimes a bridge between the Koran and the Bible aided in building understanding and creating dialogue. Some days we spiritually felt and tangibly saw the Lord working, other days you wanted to break off a piece of your own faith and give to the person in front of you just so they could experience even a small piece of the Father’s love. But what we all left confident in, was that the gospel never comes back void and the Lord is there, alive and active especially through the ministry that our dear brothers and sisters remain with.
