“For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:3
Greetings,
It is my great joy and honor to share the good news of God’s work in Djibouti, one of the more challenging countries where we work due to restrictions of faith. Last week, our Regional Director, Dr. Yared, was able to visit LIA Djibouti and report back on the significant progress made in line with our mission.
Please join us in giving thanks to God for protection over our Country Director. As you might remember, his life was in grave danger only a few months ago and he was asked to stand trial because he was suspected of evangelizing. He was acquitted and this situation has become a platform for the Lord to demonstrate His protection and favor in the eyes of the government. Our Country Director now has direct contact with the Vice President of the country to ensure his safety and the continued progress of LIA’s work. Furthermore, our Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) work has had such a significant impact on the nation in such that the program was highlighted twice on national television! This has opened many doors for us and we are ever grateful.
Though we are unable to overtly evangelize in Djibouti, we have seen staff and beneficiaries give their lives to Christ and join the underground Church. Since becoming involved with LIA, two staff members have become believers, seven children in our OVC program joined an underground bible study, 18 hospital patients who received visits from our underground Church volunteers committed their lives and were baptized, and four HIV patients participating in our ECD program received Christ as their savior. I ask you to join me in rejoicing over these victories and praying for the protection of our new brothers and sisters as they strive to live out their faith in a restricted country.
Each of the three programs LIA is engaged in Djibouti have experienced great success that can only be attributed to God’s favor. The OVC program has blossomed into a larger project, providing caretakers of vulnerable children with business and skills training, as well as health education and positive parenting advice, and providing children with biblical-based counseling. Several caretakers have begun their own businesses that will help them support their families and 153 school-aged children are currently enrolled in the program. Furthermore, there are more than 100 other children enrolled in our early childhood development (ECD) programs, and we have seen great success with their mothers through micro-loans, public health education and business training. Our local church partner has been invaluable and reaped much fruit through their hard work and volunteer efforts. Love has bonded all of our field teams together towards a common goal of total community transformation.
We lift this progress up to the Lord and thank Him for all of his goodness and favor towards LIA. May He continue to use this ministry for His glory. While there has been great progress, there are still many challenges that lie ahead, and I ask that you continue to uphold the LIA Djibouti team in your prayers for continued protection, provision and success. Pray also that they would continually be renewed and refreshed by the Spirit day-in-and-day-out.
Thank you for upholding the ministry up in prayer.
In Christ,
Florence
