Warm Christian greetings from rainy Bamako, Mali. We are well in spite of the unique stresses associated with pioneering a new field. We have certainly had to learn new things as our experiences differ so greatly from those we had in Ivory Coast. The Lord has a way of not letting us get too comfortable, of stretching us. Spiritual warfare has become a daily necessity, not just a book title or a seminar theme. It’s so different putting into practice what one has learned in Bible School!

In the natural, we have had to struggle with extreme heat (140 degrees in May), dust and its devastating effects on all our equipment, new varieties of tropical illnesses, flooding at the school, and recently, electricity shortages giving us as little as 5 hours a day of electrical current.

But these have been the least of our difficulties. Spiritually, we have met concerted resistance by Muslim authorities for every step forward we’ve wanted to take. A simple request for church land, made to a Muslim mayor, often inspires the local Muslim leaders to officially protest. Already granted pieces of property have been taken back because of just such pressure.

Socially and culturally, we’ve dealt daily with bumper car traffic (not just vehicles, but also donkey carts, animals, the insane and the careless) and we’ve anguished daily over the effects of poverty, pollution, and ignorance. We’ve endeavored to understand a self-effacing “opaque” people who are hard to “read” and understand, even among our Christian brethren.

Yet, considering the context, it is no less amazing what God is doing in this country. The American Assemblies of God has been part of the solution for the woes of Mali.

Sacrificial giving from you, our friends, has injected new enthusiasm and hope in Malian Christian hearts. Speed The Light has purchased a vehicle for each of the missionary families, and four motorbikes for the national leadership. Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade provided funds for starting the Bible School French library, and for translating course textbooks into Bambara. Etta Calhoun funds purchased beds for the school. Overseas Relief bought rice and millet for our students when, two years in a row, their fields were ruined by floods. Light For The Lost has poured thousands of dollars into International Correspondence Institute (ICI) evangelism literature, AIDS pamphlets, and Bibles in several languages.

Because of your involvement in construction, in three short years we’ve seen the purchase of property for a Bible School, and the construction there of a twelve bedroom dormitory building, a double classroom building (with two offices, though still unfinished), an administrator’s residence, a water tower, and even a bread making kiln. Three large churches, the first ones for this fledgling national church, are up and running even before completion. Thank you to everyone who shared financially in this!!!

Our Bible School had its first full year of studies with four missionaries and four Malian pastors and three translators (French to Bambara) sharing the teaching load. Each Bible School student works with a Bamako pastor on the weekends. Child evangelism has been given priority with both special training courses for pastors and a children’s literacy and evangelism program.

Numerically, our pastoral force and the church membership has more than doubled, and we’ve formed our first two districts. One of our pastors has been sent for training to our Advanced School of Theology in Lomé, Togo. Women’s Ministries is being set up in some of the churches, and all literature in French from ICI University is available to our churches.

We’re one year away from furlough, from visiting your churches and sharing God’s vision for Mali with you. Please continue to pray for our strength and perseverance on this particular front. Having the confidence that this is God’s time for Mali has not changed the necessity to do battle. Rejoice with us in the incredible progress that has been made. To God be the glory!

David (Faouzi) & Linda Arzouni

P.S. Please click here to read a special testimony from our daughter Tami.