Story number 4 for 7 Mar 2003

(Ivory Coast)–Elsewhere, the crisis in the Ivory Coast is no respecter of borders. As the violence plaguing the area spills into neighboring countries, some mission groups have found themselves faced with a stalled ministry. Yet, the indigenous churches of the Ivory Coast are more active, because this is an issue of ‘community’ to them. SIM’s Mark Rogers explains. “When the church doors are open, it’s expected that everybody will be there. ‘Group’ is so important in Africa, and group activities and opportunities for oral teaching,[that] if you don’t support your group, if you don’t make yourself available for oral teaching, then you are saying that you do not care to follow Christ.” In difficult times, believers are coming together for prayer and outreach. Rogers believes their gathering speaks volumes of their testimony. “They’re saying, ‘If you are a Christian, your life will be different’, in that, you enjoy being with others of your own kind, with your Christian family. So, that is their way of getting people together and also of teaching as often as possible.”