COTE D' IVOIRE: IS THE WORK FINISHED? Answering a Vital Question About One of Free Will Baptists' Most Successful Fields   Find out more about the ministry of Free Will Baptist International Missions by visiting their website: www.fwbgo.com.

FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS, Free Will Baptist missionaries have evangelized, preached, and planted churches; rescued lives medically and spiritually; developed discipleship and Sunday School materials; trained pastors; built churches, a clinic, and a Bible institute; worked in Christian publishing; taught Bible classes; visited prisoners; ministered to children, youth, and women; worked in maintenance; initiated Community Health Evangelism; and served at International Christian Academy, meeting the needs of missionary children in West Africa.

Their passion to win the lost and build mature, reproducing saints has taken root in Ivorian believers, who also long to see Free Will Baptist works expand. The labor has not been in vain.

Is the work finished, then? What ministry opportunities exist for the next 50 years?

Jerry Pinkerton, veteran missionary of 37 years insists, “The need for missionaries in Ivory Coast still exists. There are unreached people groups in this land bordering the 10/40 Window.* Islam and Catholicism are rapidly growing.” The former field chairman concluded, “Needed are those who are called of God to give many years of their lives for the purpose of winning the lost and building His Church.”

Pastor Jérôme KAMBOU, (above, center with Clint Morgan, right) president of the Ivorian National Association of Free Will Baptists, recently noted three areas the national church desires to see grow:

• Groups of believers formed through lay people in areas of Côte d’Ivoire where Free Will Baptist churches do not exist.

• Expand witness into neighboring countries like Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

• Multiply bi-vocational workers—tentmakers who will respond to the Lord’s call to plant churches as they serve in various jobs.

Current Field Chairman Verlin Anderson adds, “In cooperation with the existing church, it is critical to develop inexpensive and relevant children’s and youth ministries, while continuing theological training.” Anderson cites a need for “mature and zealous Free Will Baptist examples with whom to worship, labor, and learn to avoid the charismatic tendencies rampant on the African continent.”

Short-term teams and missionaries can spearhead joint church plants with the national church. Many Muslim and animistic peoples in the nation remain untouched by the gospel. Teams focusing on Muslim evangelization, Community Health Evangelism, gospel story-telling, and other means to reach the lost can break new ground in Côte d’Ivoire and West Africa.

Anderson issues a challenge to a new generation of Free Will Baptists: “God is still working in Côte d’Ivoire. Hear His voice and join us. Be His answer to the call, ‘Come and help us!’”

Regional Director Clint Morgan concludes, “When we see all that has been accomplished in Côte d'Ivoire we may be impressed, but if we could see where the work is going under the present and future leadership I think we’d be awed.”

* The 10/40 window extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees north of the equator and contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world.

Looking Ahead to the Next 50 Years

• Target unreached people groups

• Fuel church planting movements

• Spread witness to surrounding countries

• Expand CHE

• Evangelize Muslims

• Train more workers/pastors

• Recruit more missionaries