Trip Recap: Cote d'Ivoire

Name: Joanne Sopt
Organizations: Baptist Mid Missions
Ignite! Training Attended: July 2008
Country, City: Cote dIvoire, Abidjan and San-Pedro
Dates of Teaching: November 2008 and February-April 2009
Translations Used: French

Brief Summary:
Cote d'Ivoire located in western Africa was once the model for African development; however, due to civil unrest, it has lost that standing. Missionaries, Steve and Gayle King, have witnessed the up’s and down’s in Cote d'Ivoire; therefore, they understand the urgency of giving the locals all the tools needed for the ministry to continue if ever evacuation is necessary.

A business began in November 2008 with the primary purpose of financially supporting the local Bible school run by the Kings. The Crown material was instrumental is laying a proper foundation for this business. All of the subjects, such as ownership, integrity, and finances, were well received, not because it contained Western ideas, but because it contained God’s instructions on how Christians are to live and conduct business.

Following the start of this business, several other seminars took place in San-Pedro and Abidjan, all well intended. Money issues create a large amount of problems in Africa; therefore, it was a pleasure sharing some Biblical solutions to these problems and imparting ideas on how to correctly manage a small business. The work that was completed was just the beginning as the pastors, church and business leaders, are now spreading this training to others.

Results:
Taught 182 church and business leaders, with 45 of the pastors and church leaders signing covenants to teach 100 other people by September 2015.

Best Practices:
Having completed several seminars, the smoothest seminar was our final one. The following practices helped:

• Having a PowerPoint presentation that corresponded exactly with the notes
• Asking people to sign the covenant during Day 1 of the seminar in order to get the materials prepared for the final day
• Being very strict with the principle that the material (in-depth notes) could not be distributed before the covenant was signed and before the seminar had ended
• Anticipating the questions that people were going to ask in order to have answers for them (for example, how much interest should a Christian charge)
• Having sufficient time for questions
• Including practical sessions, such as how to write up a business plan, which the people greatly appreciated
• Adding as many local examples and problems as possible. For example, being honest in the American culture does not mean the same thing in an African context, so need to give specific examples

First seminar for Bible school business:

Jean, a recent Bible school graduate, and pastor commented on how the ownership section was very insightful. He also commented on how this material showed that the Bible is not just something that you read and forget while doing business, but something that needs to be the center of all business dealings.

Second seminar at missionary’s church:

Andy Messer, an American missionary, really appreciated the material, saying how it was so relevant and useful in a place such as Cote d’Ivoire. It was a big blessing for him to teach it to his congregation.

Third seminar in San-Pedro for pastors and business leaders:

The current Bible school students who attended had the following things to say:

• The material was very enriching, well-explained, easy to understand
• The material will help with having a family in the future, specifically on how to set-up a budget
• Had never participated in something like this before. Helped him understand better who is God and what His part is in our daily lives. Before, he thought everything was for himself, but actually, EVERYTHING belongs to God.
• Learned that all of the solutions to our problems can be found in the Bible.

One pastor had specifically prayed for material such as this for his church congregation, so he was thrilled once he had heard about it. He has already taught the material to his congregation.

One of the church leaders at a local church in San-Pedro attended. He learned several things, one of which being how the church funds are to be used. He had the idea, after attending the seminar, to give a portion of the church’s money to an Ivorian missionary. It took a step of faith, since the church is relatively poor, but the entire church agreed. In a matter of days, they had seen this gift double, as someone gave the church a very unexpected gift that was more than double their original gift. The cycle of giving, as explained in the notes, was made very evident.

Fourth seminar in Abidjan for pastors and business leaders:

One individual stated that it was life-changing. He knew that his life was not in order financially, and this was exactly what he needed in order to get his life back in order.

Pictures: