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FINANCIAL MIRACLE

It was Good Friday, and I had to stop at our Malian bank. A friend had made some comments, and so I asked how much was on our bank account that I knew to be empty. Our construction superviser was also with me. Both our mouths dropped as we heard the amount. Someone had transferred $30,000! That was enough to finish our house and then start the next building. Praise God!

Since then, the bathroom has been done, the fans installed, the handles mounted on the doors and the windows ordered. They still have to do the kitchen and paint the house, inside and out.

Kossi has also started the next building - the Dining Hall. We are praying for it to be done before the start of rainy season, since it will give us a place to do our services inside. It will also serve as class room. And during the night, we will open it up to street children to have a safe place to sleep.

Also, our Christian carpenter Caleb (see picture) will move into one of the storage rooms for the time being, since he is desperate for a place. He wanted to try to get to Europe illegally, but thankfully he has given up his plan. He and his wife and two children will live with us. Caleb will have a workshop, and teach our teenagers some carpentry. While I'm in Europe in April, he is teaching them once a week how to carve little figurines.

As you can see, our future dining hall will have lots of purposes until the rest of the buildings are built.

EASTER IN THE VILLAGES

In Bamako we showed the MATTEW film (life of Jesus), the following day THE PASSION, and then we had our Easter service that was definitely very unique as the Lord did not respect our program but changed everything (see blog for March 23).

On Monday I sent Paul with three of our teenagers to the villages. One of the villages that has come to the Lord last year had been calling us for weeks and weeks, pleading with us to come and show MATTHEW. Over 400 people gathered for the movie. Paul led Bambara worship to start with, when a huge snake came into the gathering, slithering towards Paul. The villagers killed it. Paul said it was bigger than his arm.

The people loved the movie, and the following morning about 70 people stayed to listen to Paul preaching, while most people had to go work on their fields. After the message, they started praying for the sick, and nearly everyone was healed.

The most memorable was this young boy in the picture. He couldn't walk on his own; his father had to hold him up, and he was constantly trembling. They prayed, and the Lord healed him. The boy walked away on his own, without help for the first time in his life. Praise God!

RISING PRICES

By now we have all heard of and experienced the rise of costs for food and other articles. When food prices increase, it's the poor nations that suffer first and extensively, as already poor people find themselves unable to feed their families any more. In neighboring Burkina Faso, food prices have doubled, and people riot against the government. There have also been demonstrations and people killed in our other neighboring contries like Ivory Coast and Senegal. We thank the Lord for calm in Mali right now, though our food prices are also rising. Rice is now more expensive than ever, and I'm concerned how things are going to develop in the weeks and months to come, when things are traditionally hard before the rains start and the harvest is brought in.

Thankfully, our God is the God of multiplication, and we trust Him to feed us and the 60 people we feed daily or nearly daily. Let's pray for Mali and West Africa, that the food crisis would be averted. Pray that we would be able to help out those families on the brink of starvation.

QUICK NEWS

•        Car - We bought a new engine for our pickup to make it run again, which ended up costing us $3000. But for some unexplainable reasons, we continue having to repair it regularly. We'd like to also put a new engine into our old car, since we really need a second vehicle, which would allow us to go into the villages more. That second engine is much cheaper because it's a smaller car; it would cost us just over $1000.

•        Abdias - Our 14-year-old Abdias can finally see! We sent all our boys to have their eyes tested, and only Abdias has really bad sight. He got his glasses just last week. Now he can read what I write on the blackboard. We thank the German NGO CCARA for making this possible.

•        Schooling - While I'm in Austria, a graduate from our Bible School who is a teacher and also assistant pastor, is using his free time to teach my teenagers. I'm very thankful for that. After his first morning with them before I left, he told me that their level is high, and they could be able to go to regular school next year. So now we're working towards bringing them up to a certain level in all subjects so they can go to a private school next year. That will free me up considerably; I would be able to teach our little handicapped boy Hama, as well as do a literacy class and French class for adults again.

•        Help for Hama - I went back to the organization that had given us Hama's walker, and showed them the progress he's made. The director was so excited! She went off and gave us specialized crutches so that Hama can walk on our unpaved property. Now he'll be able to learn to walk really independently. Praise God!

•        Paul's Schooling - Paul (my main assistant) is finishing High School this year, with his final exams beginning of June. He can't wait to be done with it and focus on ministry, and I as well am looking forward to having him full-time. However, there are serious problems in the educational system in Mali, and the government is discussing whether to have this year not count. That would mean, that Paul and every other student has to do this academic year all over again.

I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God's Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. (Phil 1:4-6, MESS)

All HIS,

Claudia