Missionary partners

The Wheatons had to return to the U.S. a couple years ago because of the increased threat of violence in Burkina Faso. However, they are still heavily involved in supporting national pastor Felix Kambou, his wife Priscilla, and other churches there.

The orphan care facility is currently taking care of 13 babies, some of which have been abandoned by their families. Muslim families in the area have been blown away by the love shown to the babies, and it has been a powerful witness to the love of Christ.

There is also a mentorship program that teaches different trades to marginalized young women coming from nearby villages. The program is led by local women and is connected to the church there.

Prayer Requests:

• That God would guide and provide for the children in the orphan care program and the young women learning new trades
• That Felix and Priscilla would be strengthened as they serve in so many different ways, and that the Lord would keep them in good health
• Pray that God would give wisdom and provide for a missionary and evangelism training school, so that more pastors can be brought up to continue aggressively planting churches in villages

We finished off 2020 with year-end celebrations in our communities. We offered dinner to our families to serve them with a meal and some fellowship. We reviewed our Bible lessons from the season and had an opportunity to share the gospel message. As a ministry we had a year-end campaign with a goal to raise $60,000 as an organization by December 31, 2020. Praise God for his gracious favor and providence, as we were able to meet our goal! 2020 was a challenging year but we look forward to seeing what God has in store for 2021. We will begin our programs again starting in February. We are looking forward to reconnecting with the families and our kids.

Prayer Requests:

1. Safety and health in the current season
2. The ability to proceed with our spring season as we continue to serve our families and share Christ with them
3. I pray to have 1-2 kids this year that I can mentor and disciple.

We'll be taking a trip to Bogotá soon to spend time with other SAM (South America Mission) missionaries who are working all over Colombia with indigenous populations.

We can't have any more than 10 people in our house at one time because of the pandemic, but we'll have a small group of friends over for a Christmas celebration where we'll share a meal and have a time of playing music together. Some of them believe in Jesus and some don't, so it's a cool opportunity for us to get to hang out with them.

With a lot of needs around Christmas time, we want to be able to help people and love them well. At the same time, being able to enjoy Christmas time without just working all the time has been difficult for us.

Ministry in Suwanee Buford has kicked off this week with our first gathering of the semester. The relationships we have built with kids of the last couple of years have taken deep roots and have led to many conversations about Jesus and how he has made them to be in relationship with them. With our campaigners (kids who have a relationship with Jesus or are seeking that out) especially, we have encouraged them in the faith and the opportunity to invite their friends into that same kind of relationship.

Though Young Life's events have had to take different shape this year due to COVID, ministry is thriving through it kids are in front of the Gospel on a regular basis. We are always looking for more folks to get involved in reaching the next kid and the next school! Would you pray for our efforts to find more leaders to reach kids at North Gwinnett middle and high school as well as Buford high school? Another prayer request would be for the safety of our kids, leaders, and staff as we enter into another semester of what God is doing in our town!

Prayer Requests:

• The Lord would provide the rest of the monthly/annual funding we need through new ministry partners (we're at 96%!).
• We would be able to obtain a work visa soon, as there have been some delays on the South Africa side. We are still hoping for a departure sometime in March.
• God would draw near to our family, particularly our kids, in the sadness of the next couple months as we say "goodbye" to lots of people, places and possessions.

The Codys have been serving for years with Campus Outreach in Birmingham, AL. The Lord is now calling them to serve with Campus Outreach overseas in South Africa. Check out this interview with Michael to get to know the family, hear more about their calling to South Africa, and learn what ministry will look like for them once they arrive.

Prayer Requests:

• Health for the family, unity as they enter new challenges
• Humble hearts ready to learn and serve as they learn a new culture, new lingo, and adjust to becoming a minority. Pray against pride.
• Provision of monthly financial support
• New ministry partners who want to reach African college students with the gospel