Daloa Day 1

Many Challenges and Great Victories

The first night of our Gospel Campaign here in Daloa, Ivory Coast has just ended. The atmosphere was electric. The devil has tried hard to keep this campaign from happening – a great indicator that we are about to witness a mighty harvest here. Despite many obstacles we have had to overcome here, something extraordinary is taking place.

On the road, en route from the last campaign site, our technicians ran into difficulties at the Ivory Coast boarder. They sat for six days waiting for clearance. Last Friday, they still had not been released. The border control office closed for the weekend at 5 PM and wouldn't open again until Monday. 5:00 came, and they still had not received their paperwork. This meant that they would not arrive in Daloa on time. The campaign was in jeopardy. Ten minutes after 5:00 the paperwork arrived and although the office was technically closed, they were miraculously allowed to cross the border.

When they arrived in Daloa, there was another problem. A dispute was taking place among the family members that owned the field where our campaign was to be held. The outcome was that, despite a previous agreement, they would not allow us to the use the ground! This presented a huge challenge. Where else could we meet? All the posters, banners, TV and radio spots were advertising that location. Finally, a new field was found, but there was another problem.
The field was far from ideal. Parts of it were covered in garbage piled more than 10-feet high! Our amazing team, led by Winfried Wentland, went to work. They used three front-end loaders to fill and haul away nine trucks of garbage to the municipal dump. It took two days just to clear the field! But it was ready just in time.

Despite the many challenges, and push back we have received from all sides, when we arrived on the field tonight it was packed!