Mentoring leaders, encouraging the saints, and evangelizing unreached villages in the Western Region of Ivory Coast, West Africa.
Discipleship and mentoring is the key to developing strong pastors and leaders. Due to the war GAP has experienced difficulty maintaining a consistent program in the Bangolo district where our original churches were established. However, the door of opportunity has opened for us to go into the area where our work first began and revitalize the work.
This is the region where many wonderful stories originated such as when the late Zoe Gaspard, chief of Guiri, gave his heart to the Lord. It is where the first church grew from 23 to more than 350 adults in a short 18 months and the children’s program rapidly reached 440+ kids. The Gospel spread like wildfire from Guiri to other villages. Then war came and devastated the area. Rebel troops ravaged homes, burned villages, and people literally ran for their lives, hiding in the “bush”, living on whatever they could find for months and even years. Churches were scattered and horrific stories of murder, molestation, and sufferings beyond imagination engulfed their lives. Crops were destroyed and lives were changed forever. Pastor training basically came to a halt among the Gueré believers because we could not get into this war zone. Not even our national leader dared trek through the Gueré territory as it would mean certain death for someone from the Yacouba tribe. Churches eventually regrouped and mission preachers and workers have longed for the Bible Institute to be brought back to their region.
GAP is seizing this moment of opportunity. Pastors from the USA are headed to the “bush” to teach “Principles of Spiritual Growth” and “The Exchanged Life” studies. National pastors, workers, and Christians from a broad area of the west will gather for an intense 30 hour “block” study in Bangolo. We pray this will be a time of refreshing for every Christian as well as strengthen and encourage pastors and workers. Our hope and prayer is that the area might remain peaceful enough for the institute to maintain regular Bible courses. Pray for PEACE in Ivory Coast and pray for the Gueré people.
This important & exciting conference took place during the dates – June 17-25, 2013