April 21 2007 Newsletter #56 from the Moores.

Dear Family and Friends,

“According to the Bible, our lives are lived in the midst of an invisible spiritual war. One of the most dangerous things we can do is simply to ignore this reality. We accept the Bible as true but we often live as though the battle existed in some far-off mission field, not here in our city. The fact is, there is a battle raging over your city and it is affecting you right now.” Winning the Battle for Your Neighborhood, by John Dawson, 1990.

Greetings from Guinea! We have grieved as we heard the news about the shooting spree that took place at Virginia Tech University! We especially grieve as we heard that the young man who did the shooting came from a Christian family! We pray for them and for all the families of the other young people who were killed. Daily we pray for America! The United States needs Jesus as much as the Moslems in Guinea need Him! We can not give up in our efforts to share the love and hope that God gives freely to us with a world who so desperately needs something to cling to – something to hope for – something to live for!

Our first few weeks back in Guinea have been full of activity! We were finally able to make a trip to the Baga villages along the coast! It was so good to see our pastors, evangelists and their families again and to hear of what God has been doing!

In the village of Mare we were surprised to meet yet another little boy added to the family of Evangelist Dieu Donne. This makes seven boys for him! Tom reminded him that he had said he was going to let his wife rest. He just smiled and said that he was going to fill the church! J (Dieu Donne and his family are in charge of a large agricultural project which is part of the self-help program for our pastors and evangelists. He is raising his own workers! These little boys work side by side with their dad and mom in the fields and in taking care of the many fruit trees we have planted.) Three people came to the Lord last year! This is a miracle in this Moslem village! (Moslems don’t come to the Lord in mass. They come one by one as God gives them an understanding of who He is and what He has done for them!)

In the town of Kamsar, three people were baptized on Easter! The church people built a beautiful little baptismal behind the main building! It was used for the first time at Easter! The school in Kamsar is going well and we thank God for Pastor Joseph Kofta Camara who leads the work there. His wife and son are just getting over typhoid fever. Please pray for their complete healing. Also Pastor Joseph is the one designated to come to the States in June for the International Congress which will take place in Spokane, Washington, during our convention. Please pray that God will give him favor as he goes for his visa interview this next week. We would like Guinea to be represented at the convention!

In the town of Boffa we saw Pastor Jacob Soumah and his family. We met the newest little member of their family – Marie Therese. She is five months old and makes number six for them! Six people came to the Lord in Boffa last year! We thank God for how He is growing His church in Guinea! There is a new bauxite mining operation that is starting in the area and several of the people from there are coming to the church!

Pastor Philip Tolno also came to Conakry from the Forest Region. He is over the four churches in that area. We thank God for protecting him as he takes his motorcycle to the four villages each week visiting the evangelists, encouraging them and teaching them the Word. He told us of an accident that had taken place there. There are big market days in different villages and towns each week. Usually it costs 8,000 FG (about $2) to take a truck to the market. However, there was a large truck whose driver said he would take people for 4,000FG (about $1). So around one hundred people packed their products to sell at the market into the truck then they climbed in on top of everything. As the truck was going over a bridge, the bridge broke. The truck started to tip to one side. First all the people who were on top of the truck fell onto the rocks below! Then all the produce fell on top of them and finally the truck fell onto the rocks! Over seventy people were killed including four church members from one of our churches! What a tragedy! Please pray for the families of these people and for the church that is dealing with the loss of some of their people!

Every day, as we start the day, we ask God for His protection over us and we pray for the nation of Guinea! There are very few dull moments here! This past Monday we were standing on the veranda talking with some young men. We saw three military helicopters fly overhead. About fifteen minutes later we heard a MIG take off from the airport (which is right down the hill from us). These are old Russian MIGs and they make a terrible sound as they fly overhead. Suddenly, as the MIG came into view it burst into flames! Then there was another loud noise as the pilots ejected from the burning plane. The MIG began to turn one way then the other. We were praying!! The MIG was headed toward the area where our new US Embassy is! Also if the plane went down in any of the massively packed neighborhoods lots of people could be killed! Shortly after the pilots ejected from the plane we heard a loud explosion! People from our neighborhood left what they were doing and ran toward the direction the plane had gone. We later found out that the plane had hit the top of the new telecommunications building (that the Chinese had built for Guinea). The building was right across the street from the US Embassy! No people were killed and there was little structural damage done to the telecommunications building! How we thank God for this miracle! The Chinese Embassy has said that they will repair the damage done to the building.

Thank you for your continued prays for Had. We have seen her since being back. At the moment she is okay. She explained that one day as she was walking down a street she looked up and saw one of her uncles sitting in his car by the road. She knew that if she tried to run he would come after her or send someone to catch her. (She’s been down that road before!) So she walked over to his car and greeted him. He asked her if she was still a Christian. She said that she was. He said that he wanted to talk to her about it. So she kept calm and said that she would meet him at another uncle’ home that evening to talk. He told her not to forget as she walked away. She said she wouldn’t. However, she never went to her uncle’s home. She knew they had another agenda. One of her father’s sisters, from their home village, has recently declared that she will find a way to hurt or kill Had because she is a Christian! She’s having special curses against Had read by an imam. These are curses that she will either go crazy or get very sick and die because of leaving Islam. Had does not believe in these curses because she knows Jesus is with her and He has already saved her from so many attacks from her family! The family is still asking her to call off the curses that she put on her older sister. (They don’t believe her when she tells them that she never put any curses on her sister causing her to become blind.) Had’s older sister has gone to Dakar to seek treatment for her eye problems. Her eyes are completely open and one would think that she could see but she is now completely blind! Had is still praying for her sister’s salvation. Please continue to pray for God’s protection for Had and for the salvation of her family. Thank you.

Thank you for your prayers not only for us but also for the nation of Guinea! Please pray that God will give the new prime minister wisdom as he makes changes in the government and leads the country. Pray for continued peace.

Once again we want to thank each of you who give financially to help the work of God go forward in Guinea. One day, the Moslems – saved by grace – will thank you “for giving to the Lord!”

Don’t let an opportunity go by to give a witness for Jesus! We are living in the last days and Jesus is coming soon!!

In His Service,

Tom and Sherry Moore