Lost and found

Last week, my friend "Andrew" & I made a trip from Burkina down into Northern Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). We met up with two guys in a main town and then we headed out to the village of "Chicago" in order to secure housing for the two new team members that were coming to live in Chicago and work with the Jula early next year.

We made it out to Chicago and found housing for them, praise the Lord. What left the biggest impression on me though was the destitute of northern Cote d'Ivoire and it's people. The country that was once called "the most stable in all of West Africa" is now little more than a state run by bandits, at least in the north. After crossing the border from Burkina, we were stopped several times at "checkpoints" by the former rebels. Each time, instead of checking our papers or passports, all they did was ask for a "gift." I was expecting this, but I had been holding out hope that now that the peace deal between the north and the south had been signed, some semblance of order would have been restored. I was looking for professional police or military, and instead found young men dressed in all types of ill fitting camouflage uniforms and flip flops. We never felt threatened, instead I became very sad. Sad at the fact that these guys were shaking down people. Sad that a once prosperous economy was still in ruins. Sad that an entire generation of children have now grown up without going to school, since they have all been closed since the outbreak of the war. Theirs is truly a lost generation. The only hope that they have is to find Christ and to give themselves up to His rule, His authority, and His grace.

On a much brighter note, yesterday I visited with "Y"; a young man that I have seen off and on here in Bobo for the past two years. Several weeks ago, I gave Y a cassette tape that told the story of Jesus, and how one can become a follower of Him. Y works at a local restaurant parking motos (motor scooters) for it's customers. Yesterday morning, Y and I sat down at the restaurant, and immediately he began talking about the cassette. He listened to it, and he said that he wanted to do what he heard and become a follower of Jesus. We talked about it some, and he was very excited. I told him how one becomes a follower of Jesus and what it means to do so. He asked me if he could become a follower right then. So right then & there, I led Y in a prayer to give his life to Christ. Y was found. He was no longer lost, but is now a child of God. The Good Shepherd found one of His lost sheep and returned him to His flock.