Ho hum, Nahum?

How do you do with the list of tongue twisters that comprise the (5) major and (12) minor prophets of the OT? What importance do you place on the role played by this odd bunch of doom-and-gloom naysayers? Today our Bible storytelling group of Muslim guys arrived at this important point in the OT chronological plan. We were only able to take a peek into the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah (Nahum, it turns out, is more about Ninevah than Israel). What message brought they anyway, these prophets?

A wonderful one, actually. In the midst of foreign invasion, economic collapse, social chaos, war, decadence, assassinations, and on and on, God's man would speak a message of uncompromising judgment against God's people. The Lord finally had his fill of centuries of idolatry on the part of his children. "Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you,'' declared Jeremiah (4:18). The truth HURT, but God looked past that. The punishment contained promises; the warning also bore a welcome opportunity to repent. These promises focused on the not-too-distant future, like after the seventy years of Babylonian captivity. But they also hinted at something far greater: a coming Messiah.

So today, right here in Abengourou, we were reading verses like Isaiah 7:14: ''The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Or Jeremiah 23:5: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch." And we looked at Micah 5:2: ''But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.''

Seven guys were there today as we skimmed over the centuries of God's faithfulness. PRAY FOR THEM, PLEASE. Pray for Salifou, San-San, Diarra, Yao, Kassoum, and Alassan. Pray that they recognize, even a little, that they're glimpsing into God's eternal plan. Pray that they see Jesus as far more than another prophet. Pray that they begin grasping God's love for them as sinners just as sinful as idolatrous Israel. Lord willing, we'll meet again Saturday (Aug. 23). We'll learn a little more about the Messiah before we slip on over into the New Testament, the place where the star shone brightly over a little stable in Bethlehem...

We propose a toast to IVORY COAST!

On August 7, 1960, Côte d'Ivoire became an independent nation in West Africa. The late 50's and early 1960's saw a majority of African countries leaving their colonial past behind to declare their sovereignty. The ''architect'' of Ivory Coast's independence was a man of short stature and tremendous influence--Felix Houphey-Boigny. They called him the Lion of Africa. History books show him standing next to Charles de Gualle and countless other dignitaries as he labored to lead Ivory Coast into the modern era.

Boigny enjoyed an unprecedented peaceful ''reign'' of 33 years. He died in 1993. The huge Catholic basilica in the center of Ivory Coast has been filled to capacity only twice--during the dedication by the Pope in 1980-something, and for the funeral of Houghey-Boigny. His picture still hangs in many a business and people talk about the good ole days when he was president. His successor, Bédie, was elected in 1995. Our family came onto the scene in 1998 as missionaries. One year later Bédie was run out of the country in their first ever coup d'état. The phrase means ''to strike at the government,'' and it was, unfortunately, a damaging blow both to Ivory Coast's enviable reputation, and to the meaning of liberty for her people.

I can't get too political here, but suffice it to say that Ivorians need your prayers. Today they celebrate a fragile future. As missionaries we aren't here to encourage them one way or another politically, but spiritually to point them to an eternal hope that can only be found in Christ. Official ceremonies began at 7 am this morning in Abengourou. From the screened in back porch where I was sipping my coffee I could hear a band playing a solemn tune uptown. I took it to be the Ivorian national anthem and the whole thing struck me as kind of sad. Then I read this:

''When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world;

the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun'' (2 Cor 5:17, NEB).

Thank you for praying for this place, these people, and this work. Together we serve the only One who is truly Sovereign! --Damon, for the Joneses

Abengourou Market Fire

The Abengourou market caught fire today and more than 50% of it was completely destroyed. No one is exactly sure how the fire started but many people lost their stock and some their savings as a lot of vendors keep their money at the market secure under lock and key. The fire began this morning during the busiest market time. Fortunately there were only minor injuries but because it was so populated and there was so much panic and mayhem, many people took the opportunity to steal and run off with merchandise, and vendors' money etc. The Karambega family, with the diabetic children, whome many of you pray for, lost their earnings as well as their stock.

People have no insurance, of course, so what was lost, is truly lost. Pray for them as they try to rebuild and start from scratch with economic times already so hard. Pray for the population of Abengourou too because this was the main source of goods in town therefore it will difficult for people to find food, meat, clothing etc without paying very high prices.

See photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/damonjuli/MarketFire

What We've Been Up To

The problem with blogging is that when there's not much going on, there's plenty of time to post, then when there's a lot going on, there's no time to post. That's where we find ourselves this month. Busy busy busy...but in a good way.

The kids and I finished up school on July 11th. That was a relief! Now I'm frantically getting lesson plans ready for the 2008-2009 school year starting at the end of August. We're bound and determined to get started on time this year and finish on time. Check with me in a few months and ask how well we're doing. Ü

Our teammates, the Bledsoe's hosted 5 summer interns this year and we spent some time with Casey, Amber, Scott, Teresa and Melissa. We enjoyed having them around, especially for our annual Jones 4th of July complete with tug of war, 3 legged and sack races and all the fixin's of an American picnic. It was great fun. We had them over for dinners on occasion and movie nights and got used to seeing them at the clinic, or on our couch in the afternoon playing with our kids. They all left this week, and we were sad to see them go.

We also hosted a team from Springfield MO through Extend Global. Erin, Debbie, Nicole and Jeff spent two weeks with us and were such an easy team to have around, we wonder if they really "got their money's worth". They helped us visit our Djoula Muslim friends and invite them to Tess' baby naming ceremony on the 20th, then they helped us prepare for the great event. I use the word "prepare" loosely, as we invited 25, "prepared" for 40, and ended up hosting between 60 and 75 people. Talk about making a meal stretch!

Tess received the Djoula name "Rokia" rhymes with "Nokia" and although i'm not really keen on the name, we were able to host our Djoula friends, share in one of their traditions, and at the same time share the gospel with them, as one of our church leaders shared a message from the Bible before the ceremony began.

While the Extend Global team was here, they did a LOT of praying. Everywhere we drove, everywhere they walked, every courtyard we visited, they prayed. We were able to see some amazing fruit to their prayers, one of which has to do with the Bible storytelling sessions with Salifou and Sansan at the car wash. I'll let him tell you more about that later, but God is working and it's amazing to be a part of it.

If you're interested in reading about the team's trip, their blog and photos can be found at http://www.web.mac.com/john_erin. It was great to have them and we hope they went away touched blessed from this part of the world.

Coming Saturday July 12th!

Do you remember that we had begun Bible storytelling with a group of HIV+ patients who are members of a support group? They're part of a group known as ''People Living With AIDS'' or PLWA. Well, we've been reorganizing our storytelling group since our return from Ghana and having baby Tess. A new group will begin meeting this coming Saturday! Eight people signed up in June and we're going to try to meet every-other Saturday. To make it easier on them, we'll plan to serve a little meal before everyone heads home.

Please be praying for this group. One of the original members will be joining us, and this is a mix of about 2/3 Muslim and 1/3 Christian. We'll furnish you some names once we see who attends. But pray now for their hearts and their homes touched by this awful illness. Thanks!

Our Lopsided Bible

Monday morning's chronological Bible storytelling session with SALIFOU went well. We were in Exodus 19 & 20 and taking a good look at the ''decalogue,'' aka the 10 Commandments. Thank you for praying because it became a good lesson on the foundation of the whole Old Testament, or Alliance as we call it in French. Read Ex. 19:3-6 and you'll see what we're talking about.

The Bible is, admittedly, ''lopsided.'' A good three-fourths of the content talks about the old covenant formed with ancient Israel and how they were incapable of fulfilling their part of the covenant agreement, i.e. obeying the law. In a nutshell that's the story of the Old Testament: God chooses Abraham and forms a chosen people, gives them the Law through Moses, and Exodus through Malachi shows how they messed up royally.

So I was trying to help Salifou, Kassoum, and San-San see something very important for people with virtually no Bible background: if three-fourths of the Bible talks about the old covenant, what's this last part in the back, the ''new testament,'' for anyway?

Pray for us as we meet again Wednesday morning, about 5 am Missouri time. Thanks!

It's July 1st! Happy Canada Day, to our Canadian friends up north!

Bible storytelling with Salifou continues to move forward. Since we meet outdoors the rain poses a problem some days. But yesterday we listened to the parting of the Red Sea. It might surprise you how many people living in Ivory Coast have never actually seen the coast, nor the ocean. Nevertheless, this most famous of miracles from the Old Testament is still pretty impressive when people hear it for the first time.

We're moving toward the 10 Commandments, of course, and the importance of God's covenant with a (dis)obedient people. Please pray that our Muslim listeners will begin seeing that human effort to be good can only take us so far. Pray they understand that salvation is free and it's only found in the spotless Lamb of God.

Attending Monday 10 am June 30th was Salifou, Kassoum, Stephan, and a new guy named San-San. He's Lobi, a people group up north who is Muslim-background. He was very interested and wants to attend the next session. Lord willing we'll meet Thursday July 3 at 10 am GMT.

On a personal note, this past Sunday, June 29th, was a big day for me (Damon). It was my 30th ''rebirthday.'' (You would have never guessed I was ''thirty-something'' huh!) The day gave me a chance to tell the kids how I became a Christian, why and how I was baptized at Gasconade Christian Service Camp, and how the Lord has been so faithful. It also made me think of people who had such a big impact on my life: Mom and Dad, Crocker Presbyterian Church, Gary & Linda Squires, my best friend Little Gary who took me to the Christian Church, Mac & Reva McMillan, Charlie Worstell, and others. What John 1:16 says, ''From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another,'' seemed especially true on Sunday as I thanked God for the significance of 6/29/78. It's part of my personal story of what Jesus did for me, and part of why I'm here in Africa.

Thank you for helping us tell the Old, Old Story of Jesus and his love!