Catch Of The Day

But how about this for a story? A fisherman called Idrissa came here recently. He is a Christian. And this is how it happened.

His friend was fishing from his pirogue in a lake near the border with Chad when he found a small blue book floating on the water. Although in the lake, it was completely dry apart from about 3 pages which were wet. He thought he had no use for it but did not throw it back into the lake.

Instead, when he got home he gave it to his friend who started to read it. This friend, through reading the book alone, believed that Jesus was the Son of God and asked Him to be his Saviour. He was so thrilled with his new faith that he shared what he had come to believe with his friend who had found the book. He too came to believe and now they are both Christians.

The little blue book was a French Gideon New Testament.

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Flood Repairs Show God’s Love to Villagers

When a flash flood swept through Meskine in 2000, hundreds of families were left homeless - and many of them hopeless. However, this disaster soon became a vehicle for demonstrating the love of Christ when MCWA began a year-long project of rebuilding more than 330 homes.

Soon after the flood, our partners worldwide responded with prayers and financial gifts, enabling MCWA to rebuild homes in 12 different neighborhoods. "What we did was absolutely unheard of," said Danny Kennison, who headed the project. "We got very positive feedback from the local populations."

Soon after the flood, Danny surveyed the damaged neighborhoods, determining the loss. Workers salvaged tin roofs and removed dangerous mud walls. MCWA rebuilt the homes with a foundation of cement bricks to protect against future flooding, then finished the walls with traditional mud bricks.

Twenty teams of four men each worked daily at various jobs: digging foundations, masonry, and hauling well water to sites. Nearly 4,000 100-pound sacks of cement were used for the reconstruction project.

Homeowners were responsible for guarding cement and finished bricks, and for providing workers with lunch and water. "Those were exciting days, unloading cement and bringing it to people’s houses," he recalls.

Often, help is promised from other avenues in Africa, but it is never delivered. As a result, people there did not expect MCWA to fulfill its promise to rebuild. Danny said, "Some wondered, ‘Is he really going to do what he said he would do?’" Many expected MCWA to pocket the donations and ignore the repairs.

In addition to the home repairs, Dr. Jacqueline Koster (Community Health Doctor) and her team treated neighborhood wells inundated by flood waters in order to prevent an outbreak of cholera. The treatment required that each well be treated on three separate occasions.

When missionaries kept their word, villagers knew the Christians were different. "When they say they are going to do something, they do it," Danny was told. "They actually did what they said they would do."

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