Dear Praying Partners,

I so love this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior!! Tis the season for family gatherings, Christmas cantatas, the Christmas story, live Christmas nativity scenes, church Christmas parties, and much, much more.😉Our prayer is that these days bring much joy to each of you as you celebrate the real meaning of Christmas!!!

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring-you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EACH OF YOU!!!!

I am excited to share with you that the church building project of Pastor Janot’s in Guitry is well underway. The block is being made and the foundation is being dug. Realize this is all done by hand. The cement is mixed by hand and all the blocks made by hand one at a time. The church people are so excited and praising the Lord for all that God has provided. In addition, we have purchased Pastor Janot his motorcycle which will help him reach the some 300 villages in his area of ministry. Thank you all for being an instrumental part in making this happen through your faithful giving!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

In addition, the preparations for Pastor Emmanuel’s visit Stateside in the spring is coming together. Pastor Emmanuel has been working with me for the past 31 years in expanding our ministries in Cote D’Ivoire. We have tried for the past 20 years to get him a visa to no avail. However, there is something to be said about perseverance. This past September, his visa was approved, and he will be arriving in February. What a tremendous answer to prayer.  Pastor Emmanuel is our team leader and oversees all of our ministries in Cote D’Ivoire. He is married and has 6 wonderful children, 4 boys and 2 girls.  He also comes alongside each of our pastors in Cote D’Ivoire and works with them in their areas of ministry. He coordinates a pastoral fellowship with our pastors every three months at one of their churches. These times are used to pray for each other, encourage each other, work through any problems or struggles they may be having, and strategize for upcoming new church plants. The three-day events are rounded out with evangelizing in the evenings by showing the Jesus film in their local villages.  Truly a time of encouragement for each other.  I am so excited to be able to introduce each of you and our churches here stateside to him. What a blessing he will be to each of you as he has been to me😉

In closing, I encourage you to continue to pray for the healing of Denise. She continues to struggle with her health as we constantly are seeking answers as we meet with new doctors. Denise maintains a positive attitude through it all even though she struggles with an uncomfortable pain level. We refuse to accept this as her new norm of life and are looking to Him for healing. God is always so good and faithful!!

We do have a need for her which would be a blessing. The ramp HOP Church built for her is such a blessing as that is the only way to get her into the house with the wheelchair. However, we need to put in a 6-inch-deep cement slab (8×10) at the bottom of the ramp so we can push her to the ramp as she gets out of the car into the chair. The gravel we have now is a constant fight as it is not wheelchair friendly.  The cost is around $4500 to accomplish. It has to be strong enough to pull the car up on it to let her out. Please prayerfully consider helping us with this need😉

Thank you for your faithful prayers and giving in helping us reach Cote D’Ivoire for Christ!!!

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

 

Love, Jim for the Arnolds

 

Prayer Requests:

Healing for Denise. Pray for answers.

Pray for the needed $4500 to put in the wheelchair pad.

Pray for protection and a unified spirit among our Cote D’Ivoire pastoral team as they work together to reach Cote D’Ivoire!!!