Dear Ministry Partners,
Though Tammy and I are serving in Jamaica and haven’t been in Burkina Faso for better than three years now, the work is growing both numerically and spiritually, and none of what you’ll read here would ever have happened without your investment.
I recently received a message from Pastor Samuel in which he asked forgiveness for not having communicated for such a long time. He explained that he had been suffering from Chromium related Glaucoma and that he had been very preoccupied with retraining a multitude of young people who had been displaced by terrorism from the eastern part of the country because they had come with false doctrine well established in their thinking.
The need was so intense that he had begun teaching two extra Bible studies per week specifically aimed at correcting the false doctrine. Those young people had come from churches that had once been evangelical, even Baptistic, but which had so strayed from Biblical truth that three young people who had previously believed themselves saved have been converted.
Those three, though not having been convinced they were called to vocational ministry, asked Samuel to give them the training necessary to defend their faith from the Bible. I’ve quoted the last part of my conversation between Pastor Samuel and I because it demonstrates that he has such an unusual view of himself for an African pastor. He said…
Continually pray to God for me that because of this evolution I do not fall into pride but that I always remain humble and serve the Lord with total submission.
I then responded…I’ll do it my brother. One thing that helps us stay humble is the awareness that everything we do that has real meaning is done by God. When we become proud, we begin to trust our flesh rather than the Holy Ghost and destroy the very things the Lord has built through us. It was so good to hear from you and we will pray for you and for all those whom the Lord has given you to shepherd.
Samuel closed by saying…Thank you very much. Advice well received and I believe that by the grace of God I will do it. I made an unconditional commitment that God would do with me what He would do with me. Thank you very much, and may God renew your strength and bless you abundantly and richly. My wife and I love you very much.< Please pray for Samuel, his family, the people he’s shepherding, and those whose doctrine he is attempting to correct. The Lord has really blessed his work, but a multitude of challenges always comes with such ministry success. Again, your investment in Samuel is continuing to produce fruit in the lives of the next generation of Burkinabe believers. Thank you for your commitment to missions, and please pray that we’ll see similar results in Jamaica!
John & Tammy Cooley, Jamaica