Marriage Encounter

Marriages around the world require care and attention. Without that, we hurt one another and destroy relationships that are vital to our lives and to others. We had the privilege of being part of an organization committee to launch a new ministry called Marriage Encounter. The weekend is made up of invited couples who are given the blessing of a free weekend in a hotel, where they encounter one surprise after another, all linked to writing to your spouse and talking through issues that have otherwise been covered over. The sessions are centered on three couples sharing their testimonies of how they went from troubled and hurting marriages to healing. Through the weekend, God does some amazing things.

Our weekend that we helped organize was August 13-15. We had a total of 17 invited couples who enjoyed the weekend. Some amazing things happened that put couples on the road to healthier marriages. One example was one couple, where the husband, due to his job, was in danger of losing not only his wife, but also his whole family. Through the testimonies and the dialogue, he made the choice to change jobs so as to save his marriage and family.

The next weekend is being planned for March 4-6. You can pray for us as we help get ready for this next event. Pray for the follow-up of the couples from this past weekend. We could use your help financially to help sponsor a weekend for one couple. The cost is about $350 for the whole weekend and a changed marrage. Not a bad return!

Creativity in Evangelism

One of our districts here in Burkina Faso organized their 3rd "Evangelistic Bike Rally". During a one week period, 115 bikers visited 56 villages in 4 different districts. In each village, they would stop in a public location, such as the market, a crowd would gather. They would sing a couple of songs, someone would give a presentation of the Gospel. At the end, people would be invited to begin a relationship with the Savior, and off they would go, leaving a person or two behind to follow up on those who would respond. They saw more than 200 people make a decision to follow Christ and entrust their lives to Him. Pretty creative, isn't it? It's wonderful working in a free country where these kinds of things are possible.

Internet Problems

It has been some time since I have been able to open up my blog. Our internet connection was out for nearly 3 months and even when we had internet, it would sometimes refuse to open up a website. Needless to say, we were a bit frustrated. Thus the long period of silence. So, here we go again. Thanks for your patience.