Bringing hope to drug addicts and prostitutes

n A service in progress at Abidjan’s Revival Church which runs the mission for drug addicts and prostitutes

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire — As well as being the Marketing Manager of the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire (BSCI), Pierre Seu is a pastor who runs a mission in a poorer sector of Abidjan’s sprawling suburbia. Working among drug addicts, prostitutes and homeless people, he has seen first hand the importance of the Bible in bringing hope to people.

“It is important that these people have access to the Bible in their own language,” he explained. “Bible knowledge helps build faith.” And faith and hope are in poor supply among many of the people who come to the mission for help. Most of them are under 20 years old and have turned to drugs and prostitution in an attempt to escape the reality of the poverty and hardship facing them.

The mission is part of the Revival Church and is based in a predominantly Muslim area. Some of the people who have taken refuge at the mission are Christian converts and have come under pressure from their families and the community at large to renounce their new faith. Some have succumbed to the pressure but others have stayed committed to the Christian faith.

Fostering good relations with people of other faiths, however, is one of the aims of the mission, explained Mr Seu.

First anniversary

“We want them to see our work as contributing positively to the community,” he said.

“We celebrated the mission’s first anniversary in March and it went ahead without any problems. We consulted the local leaders before organising the celebration, which is important in relationship-building. We always try to promote the Gospel and evangelise at events like these.”

Through the Bible Society, Mr Seu is able to obtain Portions and Selections in local languages, both for his mission and for the 11 others that have sprung up outside the capital. These, too, were started by him and his colleagues.

Rural missions

“We used our holidays to go to the countryside and evangelise villages,” he said. “This is how the rural missions started and they have been very successful. With more financial backing, however, we would be able to do more and provide more Scriptures for church members and evangelisation.”

One Scripture that is having a significant impact on the communities with whom the missions are working is the Bible Comic recently published in Baoulé, based on the Gospel of Luke. (Please see WR 362/11 - 09.01)

“This Bible Comic has given us a marvellous opportunity to reach the people our missions focus on,” he explained. “We can only hope that the BSCI will continue producing these Scriptures and make them easily available for this type of work.” (WR 363/17 - 10.01) [PHOTOS]