Serving in Ivory Coast, Africa

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3

How one is brought from accepting the Lord Jesus in a salvation decision to answering His call to missions can never be fully described. Only God can so wonderfully orchestrate a life and so carefully mold a vessel to be His heart in reaching a lost one for Him. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13) And so, I pray that you who read on will be blessed as I share just a little about myself but most of all, about the goodness of the Lord.

Childhood Background:
On December 9, 1978, I was born as the first of three children to Robert and Nancy McLaughlin. For the first eleven years of my life, my family resided in Essex Junction, VT where my father worked as a mechanical engineer. I am very thankful that the Lord gave me parents who truly loved the Lord Jesus and desired to train their children according to the Bible. They faithfully attended an independent Baptist church and enrolled their children in the church’s Christian school When I was ten years old, my father led me to the Lord on a Sunday evening after a salvation message. It was at that time that I realized my need for Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my personal Savior. I also followed Him in baptism a few months later.

Call to Missions:
In July of 1990, the Lord led my family to move to Pensacola, FL where my father began teaching in the ministry of Pensacola Christian College. We began attending the Campus Church as a family and enjoyed becoming a part of the college ministry. My high school years centered on school at Pensacola Christian Academy and church activities in the Campus Church Youth Group. It was during this time that I really began to grow as a Christian and desire to serve the Lord with my life, specifically following a retreat during my junior year of high school.

Because this particular retreat was held during a Missions Conference at our church, a missionary was invited to be our speaker. Having recently returned from Africa, he brought with him two large duffel bags filled with pieces of tree bark and preached on the great need for the gospel in Africa. One by one, he held up these pieces of tree bark which were covered with crude handwriting and said, “These are the natives letters to us. They have used this bark as paper and written, ‘Please tell us about the true God. If you are Christians, you will come to us.’ ” I remember how the missionary went on to say that these African people had walked for days to deliver the “letters” to him. They asked him to return to America and bring back more missionaries to go to their villages. Standing before us teens that day, the missionary echoed their message and said, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Rom. 10:14-15a)

Feeling burdened for these people, I accepted the Lord’s call to be a missionary that night. I gave my future to the Lord Jesus Christ to allow Him to write the plan for my life. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to become a nurse like my mother. After accepting the Lord’s call, He gave me a new desire to use nursing as a tool to tell people about Jesus someday on the mission field.

Call to Ivory Coast:
Following graduation from Pensacola Christian College in 2001, I began working at a local hospital in Pensacola while continuing to seek the Lord’s guidance in missions. These last 4 years, I have truly enjoyed caring for patients in the hospital and serving in the Campus Church. Both in church and in a local Bible Club, I’ve enjoyed learning how to teach the Bible stories that first introduce a child to the Savior. During this time, I didn’t know who the people were the Lord had first laid on my heart in high school, but I began to pray that the Lord would give me a unique burden for them so that I would recognize them in His time.

The Lord faithfully answered that prayer in the fall of 2004 when He allowed me to travel in Ivory Coast to help Missionaries Bob and Becky Mach found a medical clinic as a ministry of their church. The Lord had already paved the way for this endeavor by providing both a well-suited building and a Christian Ivorian physician. As we began treating patients there in the clinic, each was given a one-on-one Gospel presentation. So many came with a physical need like a head-ache or an infection, but they left receiving care for their much greater spiritual needs. And what a thrill it has been to see many Ivorians trust the Lord Jesus as their Savior there in the clinic ministry. It touched my heart to see how very open the Ivorian people are to hearing and receiving the salvation message.

Also, the Lord has given us a very unique opportunity in that the city of Bingerville where both the church and the clinic are located is an educational center for southern Ivory Coast. About 2,000 children come from villages all over the country to board in our city during the school year. And we have a wide-open door to reach them! The public schools will allow us to teach Bible for an hour each week to each grade. With 2,000 children, this opportunity is incredible. If we can reach these children with the Gospel, they will carry it back with them into their villages. This public school ministry is just as exciting as the clinic ministry in reaching the Ivorian people for Jesus Christ.

While I was in Ivory Coast, the Lord brought about two events to confirm in my heart that the Ivorians were the people that He first burdened my heart for in high school. The first took place one afternoon in the clinic. It had been a busy morning of steadily treating patients, but now our waiting area was empty for the moment. I sat down next to the Ivorian physician with whom I’d been working the last few days. In the days following, Dr. Kadio taught me much about malaria and parasites, but on this afternoon he told me the exciting story of how the Lord allowed villagers to be saved and a church planted through medical evangelism. He said to me, “You see, my sister, there is much work to be done. There are so many villages that may become opened to the Gospel through medicine.” Though this had been my calling since my teen years, never before had I heard of someone actually using medicine in this way—as a means of paving the way for salvation and church planting.

It was also a joy to serve alongside the Machs in the ladies’ and children’s church ministries. These first-generation Christians had a contagious zeal for studying the Bible and reaching their people for Christ. Just before I flew back to the States, an Ivorian lady shared her testimony and gave me Rom. 10:15b—“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.” Through her kindness, the Lord gave me His answer. In giving me the second half of Rom. 10:15, the Lord faithfully completed the portrait of direction that He began in high school. Even now as I type in these last words nearly a year later, I can only repeat again my thankfulness to the Lord Jesus for leading me so faithfully.

Looking forward to Returning:
After BIMI candidate school in June 2005, the Lord allowed me to begin traveling on deputation the following September. I’d greatly appreciate your prayers that the Lord would continue to pave the way for me to go to Ivory Coast. On my return, I look forward to working under the leadership of Missionary Bob Mach and allowing the Lord to use my life that the Ivorians may claim salvation in Jesus Christ.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

JUSTIN & GRACE HAYES -  REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
C DUANE & BONNIE HEARRON II -  RUSSIA
ROBERT & JEAN HEATH -  MILITARY - EDUCATION COORDINATOR & RELIEF