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True Fulfillment
By Bob Mach
The fulfillment of missionary work comes
from those who have come to Christ and have
consecrated their lives to His service. The Lord
uses these people to encourage us and give
us the desire to continue the Lord’s ministry.

The more that we observe the Lord working
in these people’s lives, the more we wish to see
more lives affected.

We opened the Bingerville church in June of
2000. Right from the beginning, the Abonga
family started coming to our church. The
parents were Daniel and Mary-Agathe. They
came with their children, one of whom was
Mireille (mee-ray-ah). Mireille was not yet 10
years old when her family started coming. At
the time, she was simply one of many children
who were coming to church.

Through my wife Becky’s work with the
children’s ministry in those early years, Mireille
came to a saving knowledge of Christ toward
the end of the year 2000. From that moment,
Mireille’s faithfulness to the Lord has never
wavered despite many challenges. Within the
first year of the church, we buried her father,
Daniel. Six years later, we buried her mother as
well. Although her siblings began to scatter to
different areas of the country, Mireille stayed
in Bingerville. She maintained the home that
her parents acquired and provided lodging for
many members of her extended family.

Mireille finished her education
and was able to seek employment
in Abidjan. In addition to this,
she picked up supplemental work
to support many of her siblings
in addition to herself. Yet, her
faithfulness to the Bingerville
church has remained steadfast.

She taught in our Bingerville
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literacy center where she gave the Gospel to
many throughout the school year.

She is now director of a second literacy center
that we established in a village. This allows
us to continue church services there. She is
actively involved with the youth of our church,
sings in the choir, and has developed a music
ministry with another member of our church.

She writes much of her own Christian music
and has done much special music in our
Bingerville church.

At age 32, Mireille has not yet married but
undoubtedly will sometime in the relatively
near future. Despite the failure of a couple of
potential marital opportunities, she remains
firm in marrying within the Lord’s will and His
Word. Her desire is to marry someone called to
the ministry, and we are truly hoping that this
will happen.

After 27 years of working here in the Ivory Coast,
it is people like Mireille who make our ministry
enjoyable and worthwhile. We
are so thankful to have had a part
in her salvation and Christian
life. She is one of many who
have come to Christ here. Even
more importantly, she is among
those who have completely given
their lives to the Lord and His
service. This is true fulfillment in
missionary service. W
Bob & Becky Mach



God’s Word
Changes Lives
By Abbey Turner
As a young teenager, I heard the words to
this song for the first time: “God’s Word
Changes Lives. Its power cannot be denied.

The lost find salvation; the foolish become
wise. God’s Word changes lives.” It was
also around this time that I surrendered to
become a missionary. I could never have
known how this song and my decision would
go hand-in-hand years later on the mission
field of Uganda, East Africa.

Before leaving for Uganda, my husband and
I began praying that we would be able to find
a good language instructor who would be
open to the Gospel. It was our desire to make
an exchange of knowledge: the instructor
imparting how the language was structured,
written, and spoken, while we explained the
truths of the Bible.

The story of how God brought Lois, our
language instructor, into our lives is a miracle,
and we can say with a certainty that it was by
divine appointment. As Lois taught us, we
would mention things about God and the Bible
throughout our conversations, never realizing
the impact this had on her conscience. However,
one Wednesday that all changed when Lois
confided in us that she had the wrong idea of
church, God, and the Bible. Through tears,
she begged us to help her understand and the
following week, we were able to welcome her
into our home for what we called a Bible Study.

After about three and a half hours of explaining
from the Bible and answering her questions,
Caleb, Lois, Carson & Abbey
she sweetly and tearfully bowed her head and
accepted Christ as her personal Savior. It has
been one of the most memorable moments
thus far on the field, and the testimony of Lois
is proof that God’s Word is still powerful!
Another opportunity I have had recently is
to teach in a kids’ club on Wednesday nights.

Most of the children who attend do not come
from Christian homes, and it has been such
a privilege to watch them listen intently to
every Bible verse, song, and story. One week,
I decided to ask if any of the children owned
a Bible. To my surprise, only three raised their
hands. At that moment, the Lord put a desire
in my heart to provide a Bible for these young
ones. With the help of our sending church, I was
able to personally hand each child a Bible. The
excitement and joy they expressed as they held
their very own copy of the Word of God for the
first time brought tears to my eyes. I realized,
as the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:72, these
kids believed that The law of thy mouth is better
unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Their
sincere love for the Bible is something every
Christian should emulate, and I am so thankful
that God’s Word is still changing lives! W
Grace Baptist Bible Institute
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