Ivory Coast
Paul and Marina Briggs from Northern Ireland work with the Loron people of West Africa. Until 2002 they were located in the Ivory Coast, but with civil unrest there New Tribes Mission thought it wise to withdraw their missionaries.
Paul and Marina, along with other NTM missionaries, moved across the border to Burkina Faso to continue work with the same language group located in that country. They have made brief trips to the Ivory Coast to encourage Loron believers, but recently, for the first time since 2002, they felt it was safe to spend the night there.
‘It was great to be able to spend quality time late into the evening with the believers and village folk’, Paul wrote. ‘These are exciting but difficult days in the work among the Loron people. The Lord is building his church among them and we are thrilled to have the privilege of being involved in a small way in what he is doing’.
An NTM translation consultant will help Paul make the final check on the book of Acts later this month. When that is finished and the book is printed, 40% of the New Testament in the Loron language will be complete.
Last week 17 Loron believers were baptised in the local swamp near a small remote church, and this Sunday 20 more believers from another village will be baptised.
Towards the end of last year, one of the Loron believers from the Ivory Coast began weekly radio broadcasts over the Southwest Gospel Radio station, which is accessible to 60% of the Loron people on both sides of the border.
