Open Doors

The work among the Loron and Lobi people groups is entering a new phase. This month, evangelism outreach will be taking place in two new Lobi villages where some folks have expressed an interest in hearing the Gospel. 

Pray for the Loron Bible teachers as they engage with village leaders, and as they endeavour to communicate the love of Christ to those who have never heard. 

The Loron and Lobi peoples have a very similar culture, but their languages are completely different. A number of Loron believers have Lobi and Loron parents, so there are openings to bring the Gospel to new families and locations. 

The Lobi are a large ethnic group of around 180,000 people scattered over three countries: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Ghana. We praise the Lord for the expanding work among the Lobi people. 

Donald, the lead Loron Bible translator, together with the other members of the translation team, continue to make good progress on the Loron New Testament project. 

There are numerous steps in Bible translation, and it’s encouraging to have a large and enthusiastic team involved. 

Pray especially for Donald, Samuel, Joel, Gerard and Victor as they methodically work with others through the various steps. 

The book of 2 Corinthians has gone through all the necessary checks and is now ready to print. The team is currently preparing for the final verification on the books of Philippians, Colossians, and 1&2 Thessalonians. The check with a Bible translation consultant is scheduled to take place in June in Burkina Faso. 

Our daughter, Laura, and her kids helped us last week to put together some copies of Galatians and Ephesians in the Loron language. We hope to bring these, along with other Scripture and literacy materials, out to Ivory Coast later on in the year. 

Both Marina and I have received the first part of our Covid vaccination. We are due the second part in May. We keep busy with developing Bible teaching and literacy materials, as well as being involved in various aspects of the Bible translation checking processes via an internet-based translation software programme. 

We are in regular contact by phone, email, and WhatsApp with the believers in Ivory Coast. Despite the distance, we still feel very much part of what the Lord continues to do among the Loron people.