The Copeland Ramblings/

Ministry Update

It’s been a long time since our last update and and a really long time since our last update about our ministry in Guinea. We apologize for the silence on our end, I suppose it has been hard to write when we haven’t had many answers to share. We want to share with you today what we have been praying about and contemplating so that you can be better able to pray for us and be informed.

When we left Conakry, Guinea at the end of October because of the extremely unstable political situation, we bought round trip tickets because of our intention to return soon to Guinea. Everyone we spoke with expected the situation to calm down after a number of months. Since our departure, the situation in Guinea has continued to worsen. Early in December there was an attempt on the life of the president of Guinea. He was evacuated to Morocco for medical care though since then there has been no real concrete news of his condition. No one really knows how events will unroll in Guinea during the coming months or years.

A couple of weeks ago we were contacted by our leadership in Guinea and told that they did not feel that it was safe for us return to Guinea at this time. It was difficult news to hear. We, along with all of our supporters have put so much time and effort into getting us there and setting us up. The Lord comforted us with a few verses reminding us of His control. Jeremiah 29:11 says “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We have no doubt that God did indeed lead us to Guinea. We may not yet understand fully what he was and is doing but we trust fully in His control. We are thankful for the experiences we had (even the difficult ones) and the people we met, particularly pastor Samuel, our host.

So what’s next? When our leadership in Guinea told us that it isn’t safe to go back to Guinea, they also suggested that we move to Senegal to continue our language and culture study. Senegal is a French speaking West African country that borders Guinea to the north. There is A LOT involved in moving from Guinea to Senegal. Right now, we are corresponding with our leadership in Guinea and also the leadership in Senegal about this option. We are discussing the possibility of completing our language and culture study in Senegal and staying there afterward for our full time ministry.

As of right now, it does not look like we are able to change our return tickets from Conakry to Dakar, Senegal. One option is for me (Norm) to fly to Conakry alone on February 13th (it isn’t safe for Deb and the boys to go) and deal with our belongings and home. I will sell what can’t be moved and pack up what we want to take to Dakar. I will try to find a truck that can haul our belongings up to Dakar. Debra and the boys would meet me up with me in Dakar a couple of weeks later. As you can imagine, the idea of Debra flying with the boys by herself isn’t pleasant, but it is an option we have to look at.  Please pray with us as we explore this option.

To be clear, we are committed to the work that God has led us to: to be a part of reaching unreached people groups in West Africa with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are pursuing this option of moving to Senegal but there are still questions to be answered. We will be sure to share them with you as we receive them.

Finally, we can not thank you all enough for your love, care and support as we have made this big move to Africa and then gone through the unrest taking place in Guinea. Truthfully, it has been difficult for us but we rest in the infinitely capable hands of our Father. We are excited to see where He leads in the coming months.

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask them in the comments, on facebook, by email or phone (805-504-8753).

On this day..

• Crawling - 2007