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| 'Doorkeepers to Gabon' Ps. 84:10 |  |
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| Solvig Life |
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Knock! Knock! Yes! “Boss, there is someone at the gate to see you,” my guard informed me at 9:30 pm. I was just getting ready for bed and wasn’t too keen on seeing anyone at this hour. I walked up to the gate and standing outside was a man dressed in a suit jacket with a suitcase.
“Can I help you?” I asked. “Yes, I’m Pastor So-So, and I need a room for the night.” “Well, I’m sorry we don’t take visitors in at night that don’t already have reservations.” I won’t give you the verbatim of our conversation, simply that he insisted I listen to his story. He was a refugee from Congo and if I only let him get his documents out of his suitcase he would prove it to me. I politely told him that he could not stay at our guesthouse tonight but he could come back the next morning and tell me his story.
Knock! Knock! Yes! “Boss, there is someone at the gate to see you,” my day guard called. I looked at my watch; it was 7:15 am. As I walked up to the gate, I had this sinking feeling that it was the visitor from last night. Sure enough, Pastor So-So was there with his suitcase. I invited him in to our deck by my office to talk. I inquired where he had slept the night and he replied he went into a church that was having an all night prayer meeting and fell asleep in a chair. I then went on to ask him to tell me his story. He began an incredible story about our National Church President and a few other pastors. There were many outlandish accusations being made and I soon began to suspect that this person was suffering from some psychiatric disorders, one of them being paranoid personality disorder.
At this point, I realized I had a delicate situation on my hand that was compounded by the fact that I live in Libreville, Gabon where there really is no such thing as Mental Health or any type of social services to call. So, what do you do?
This story covers 5 days and nights filled with mostly discouraging events of how the mentally ill persons in Gabon suffer. One of those events was the following night when I was again getting ready for bed when I heard some loud yelling outside our wall. I got dressed and went outside to see what was happening. Pastor So-So, not actually a pastor but had worked as a night guard at our largest church, was back in our neighborhood. His name was Dieu-Donne and he was a refugee from Congo.
He had come back to spend the night in a house being renovated across the street from us. However, the owner had dropped by to see the place and was not happy to find the uninvited Dieu-Donne. Well, Dieu-Donne did not want to leave, so the owner began to beat him with a rod. I hollered at the owner to stop and come over so that I could talk with him. He did so reluctantly, but I then explained Dieu-Donne’s mental health situation. He seemed to understand and then left Dieu-Donne alone.
For the next hour, I tried with several others to get Dieu-Donne to leave, but to no avail. Finally, the owner had left and the night guard of the property being renovated decided it was okay for Dieu-Donne to sleep on the porch. I went back inside exhausted and ready to sleep, hoping that all would be calm the next day.
Well, the next morning at 6:30 my night guard informs me that things did not go too well that night. The owner with several people had come back at 2 am and beaten up Dieu-Donne and taken his suitcase, his shoes, & his suit coat. “Where is Dieu-Donne?” I asked. “He is outside our gate!”
I had many emotions going through me at this point. I was extremely angry at those who would beat and rob a person suffering some form of mental illness. I felt guilty for not having done something different the night before. I was disgusted with the mob that had laughed and ridiculed Dieu-Donne. I was upset because the situation had gotten even more complex and difficult to know how to respond. I had trouble praying because I didn’t know what to pray.
During the next few days, I would buy Dieu-Donne breakfast and give him a bottle of water. I would give him some pocket money, hoping that in one of his sane moments, he would go home. He would disappear for several hours but always return. One night he showed up with another individual and this person was convinced that we had Dieu-Donne’s suitcase. I invited the individual inside our compound and began to explain the situation. As I did, the man’s eye began to get bigger and bigger. He told me that Dieu-Donne had told him some story the night before and had slept at his place last night. He opened the gate in a hurry to get home only to see that Dieu-Donne was well ahead of him.
I continued to call several pastors asking them for advice. They in turn attempted to get news out to see if there was any family around. Finally, one morning I was told that if we could get him to the main AVEA II church, there would be someone to come and get him.
I must admit I was a little apprehensive about taking Dieu-Donne in my car for fear he would try jumping out when he realized where we were taking him. His delusions had not changed any but he had also not shown any violent behavior towards me. So my pastor assistant, Sangoye and I asked Dieu-Donne to go with us for a ride and he agreed. We made it safely to AVEA II with Sangoye asking Dieu-Donne various questions to keep him pre-occupied. Once there, we met the local pastor who then took Dieu-Donne into his care.
As I share this story, I’m not sure what has happened to Dieu-Donne. I keep expecting him to show back up at my gate and wonder what my next response should be. I honestly have no idea of what I should or will do next.
Our days in Libreville are rarely boring and the nights are often shorter than we want. However, this is where God has called us to serve HIM for the past twelve years. We are ever grateful for your prayer support and words of encouragement.
Serving as Gate Keepers,
Arnie & Cheryl Solvig with our girls, Nicole, Stephanie & Katie
HAPPY JULY 4TH FROM THE SOLVIGS IN GABON!
Life has quickly taken us into summer here in Libreville. We are enjoying our cooler dry weather and nice breezes. The rains have stopped and the sun is a little more distant, but we rejoice in the truth that GOD’S son – Jesus, the one and only, doesn’t grow distant even when the weather patterns in life change! He is our Light and the one we can trust in every area of our lives! Praise the Lord!
June has given us a bit of rest from day to day visitors, but we will be stepping up the pace this next week and through out the month of July.
JULY REQUESTS for PRAYER June 29 – Dr. David Change arrival / depart 10th of July June 30 – Kaitlyn Ike departure July 1 – William & Marcia Piepgrass arrival July 2 – Roy & Kathy Solvig, Beverly Arnold arrive – YEA! July 3 – Mary Cloutier departs for Home Assignment in PA July 7 – Dr. Joel Cho Arrives / depart 17th of July July 10 – Thelander family return from Home Assignment July 12 – Solvig family switches places with Karen Fitch for 2 weeks July 22 – Ann Nagel Arrives / departs 30th of July
August 4th through the 9th will be our families last Field Forum in Gabon! Arnie and I have been on this organizing committee for almost every year and will have several things to do in the next month to help pull it all together. Our desire is that during our time together as missionaries, we will be refreshed, challenged, and drawn closer to the Lord. Please pray that our ears and hearts will be open to God’s servant, Pastor Bill Giovenetti (from CA), as he speaks to us daily. Also pray for Arnie’s Parents, Roy & Kathy Solvig, and Bev Arnold, as they will be leading VBS for our kids at Field Forum.
Pastor Sangoye – We are so grateful that Pastor Sangoye is back in Gabon and working hard with Arnie. Please continue to pray for their work relationship and mentoring in this administrative position. Pray that Pastor Sangoye will be able to get better rest. He often only sleeps for several hours a night!
Throughout the past 3 years, we have asked you to pray for Celine’s family. Recently we feel God has really begun to work in the life of her oldest daughter who is not a believer in Christ. Her name is Rytchey. Please pray for her salvation. Pray that she would turn to Christ with all of her heart and follow Him. We know God is at work and we believe that your prayers will help her choose Christ. Your prayers are also an encouragement to Celine who has been a faithful testimony through some recent hard times.
We would also like prayer for our future. We are not sure what God has for us after our year here in Libreville, and would like for you to begin praying with us for God’s leading for our future. Pray that we will trust God for whatever He has for us whether it is in the USA or another overseas placement.
We want to say a Thank you for those who have asked us to pray for them. We HAVE prayed and we felt glad to be a part of what God is doing in your life! Thank you for allowing us that privilege. Thanks for all your continued support - The Solvigs
SOLVIG SALUTATIONS After our many busy months, May has been a breath of fresh air. Visitors have still come and gone, but we have also had some breathing space. God knows just what is needed and when! His timing is perfect! Thank you for keeping us in your prayers this past month. VACATION This next week, our girls will be dreaming about their upcoming summer vacation! Only five more days of school and they will be officially on vacation – yeah! It will be a bitter-sweet day for us after having been part of the American International School of Libreville for the last seven years. This past year has been a difficult one for us with serious internal school problems which led us to the decision to not continue there next year. God has been faithfully teaching us about His love and provision for our girl's education. We will be taking a big step a faith as we start the adventure of home schooling our girls! I think we (Mom & Dad) might be more excited about the arrival of summer vacation next year!!! THANK YOU'S TO THE LORD!! · We had an awesome concert with Trace Bundy at a friend's home. He blessed many with his God given talent and testimony. · Our recent visitors, Dave Pagliughi, Brian Thomas, Jason Kalb, & Dr. Mark Nichols, were a blessing to Bongolo. · Thompson's were granted their work permit cards (Carte de Sejour) · STMO groups are beginning to arrive and have a positive impact. If your church would like to send out a large group of 15 or more persons to do ministry in Gabon, please contact Tim Brokopp at STMOGABON@gmail.com for more information. · The two day airport strike is over! This created a lot of stress for the Van der Rijsts who were trying to get to their daughter's graduation in Dakar, Senegal. God opened the doors at the last possible moment for them to make it! LOOKING FORWARD! *June 4th - Graduation of our Gabon Senior - Nathalie Van der Rijst (Dakar Academy) *June 6th - Last Day of School for Solvig girls *June 8th - Good-bye to Kelly McLallen, our girl's teacher at AISL for the past 6 years! *June 8th - Bongolo Medical Visitor, Lizzie Griffin from England *June 14th - Special IBB graduation for Pastors *June 18th - Van der Rijst's family depart for their 3 month home assignment *July 2nd - Arrival of Arnie's parents & Bev Arnold to visit and lead VBS in August *July 3rd - Farewell to our missionary friend Mary Cloutier As we continue our ministry here in Libreville, we are grateful for your prayers. Please know that we would love to pray for your requests as well. We wish we could sit down and drink a cold glass of sweet tea with you. Maybe next year we will get the chance! With lots of love, Arnie – Cheryl – Nicole – Stephanie - Katie
SOLVIG MAY SALUTATIONS!!! We cannot believe that is already the 10th of May. Our Guest House has been filled again with many special people giving us the opportunity to share in their lives and ministry. We have had a variety of visitors: C&MA missionaries, Operation Christmas Child representatives, Translation ministries, Construction guys, doctors, an auditor, missionaries with SIL & Navigators, Phone repair person and the STMO (short term mission office) hub team. Thank you for praying for our visitors this month. We have felt God’s strength and wisdom as we dealt with unseen problems throughout the past several weeks. This verse seems to sum up our recent experiences. Titus 3:14 “For our people (Arnie & Cheryl) should not have unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs.” We are so very grateful for the return of Pastor SANGOYE who is training as Arnie’s replacement for 2009. He was able to have a profitable English learning experience in Kenya. His cultural adjustment went well and he has come back with an eagerness to speak English and serve Bongolo Hospital as the business administrator. Please remember Arnie and Pastor Sangoye in prayer as they work together this next year. Pray that God gives each of them wisdom and insight to be able to solve the many problems that come up.
Our house worker and friend, Celine had a death in her family this month. Her Alliance church had supported Marie Joelle with many prayers when she was sick. These prayers ministered to her unsaved family members and now they want to go to church. Please pray that God would use the death of this family relative to bring other family members to Christ. Pray also for Celine, that she would be able to be bold for Christ among her family. Future Schooling for the girls: Thank you for praying this past month for decisions we needed to make concerning our girls education. Our girls will no longer be attending the American International school but will be home schooling next year. We are all very excited about this new adventure in education, but are also a bit concerned about how things will flow. Prayer Petitions * Steve Von Gunten return and departure back to USA – May 9th * Saturday May 10th – Concert by Trace Bundy www.tracebundy.com with friends * Dr. Mark Nicholes departs May 16th. * Medical student Kaitlyn Ike arrives May 28th. * Construction workers Jason Kalb and Dave Pagliughi depart May 13th. * Next year’s educational challenges. May God give us incredible patience and wisdom! * Great Commission Sunday - pray that God will encourage our churches to give generously to help support the GCF. This year we were asked to cut back 30% on our budget – an impossible task! As you turn your hearts to prayer for us this month, please pray that God will continue to work in our hearts, our visitor’s hearts and that we would be instruments of HIS work and not of our own desires. Hugs from the Solvigs in GABON, Arnie, Cheryl, Nicole, Steph & Katie
WOW!April is already here bringing us a jam packed schedule full of new and old faces at our guest house. We always look forward to meeting new people and welcoming back visitors that have already been here!
God answered several of your prayers for us in March. The girls’ birthday celebrations went extremely well. We had a great beach party with lots of yelling & screaming girls. Our parental stress mounts as we now have 1 teen, 1 tween and 1 “tween-wanna-be” in our home!!! Our time in Bongolo was superb! We got to experience tubing down the river for 3 hours with several visitors, watching how the locals make baskets & learning a new game, Mafia. Cheryl had the privilege of observing two cataract surgeries and was able to see the amazing miracle of the eye close up! Nicole got to meet several of the children & babies at the pediatric ward with her new friend, Ellie. Stephanie and Katie spent as much time as their parents would allow swimming at the pool and playing with their friends Luke & Sarah Thelander. Arnie did nothing but rest and watch his car get repainted. We all are thankful for our awesome week at Bongolo! Prayer Retreat! This year’s retreat was a new experience for us as it was held in Bongolo. Since most of our missionaries are working in Bongolo, get-togethers such as Prayer Retreat and Leadership meetings will be held there. We got to be the lucky ones to drive the 10 hour trip! J We praise the Lord for Pastor Dan Nagel who led us in a series on transition through the lives of Elijah and Elisha. He was joined by Andrea Hawthorne and her daughter, Ellie, who came to minister in music and lead our children in some Bible lessons. Our kids really had a great time being fed spiritually as we did in our sessions! They were a great blessing to us personally and our entire team! |
Upcoming Events – opportunities for prayer*Several missionaries traveling this month Dave & Becki Thompsons Carolyn Thorson Keir & Joanna Thelander Mary Cloutier *Saying good-bye to Dr. Saskia de Poel as she relocates to Mali *Visit by the regional director of Operation Christmas Child, Paul Braun *Construction workers – Jason Kalb, Mike Cederburg, David Paligulie, *Surgeons – Dr. Jacobs, Dr. Sokovich *Phone repair man – Jerry Barton *Auditor – Steven Von Gunten *Arnie & Jereon Van der Rijst travel again to Bongolo for FLT meetings *Tim & Meredith Brokopp with STMO (Short Term Missions Office) arrive with 12 others on May 1st. Pray for their adjustment to Gabon! *We ask that you would pray with us concerning some school choices we need to make for next year. Please ask the Lord to give us wisdom in future decisions. Our fellow partners!We have good news for our fellow partners - many people have come to know Christ in Gabon these past few months, because you have supported the Great Commission Fund, because you have prayed for us and other missionaries, and because you have remained faithful for so many years. During our time at Bongolo, we had the opportunity to hear again several stories of people choosing to follow Christ. As you may know, a Great Commission Sunday offering will be taken during May. Only four out of every ten people who attend an Alliance church support the Great Commission Fund (GCF). We cannot accomplish what the Lord has called us to do without continued strong giving to the GCF. Would you consider helping your church reach 100 percent participation in this year’s offering? Please ask your pastor for more details about the offering. If you do not attend an Alliance church, you may send a gift to: THE ALLIANCE (P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935) and designate it G.C. Sunday Offering. You can also always give to several of our other accounts: SOLVIG WORK & SOLVIG VEHICLE. There is more information about these on our website. We offer up Thanks to OUR Great God in heaven who loves us with an unfailing love and who provides for all our needs: spiritually, emotionally, and financially. Serving together in Gabon, Arnie, Cheryl, Nicole, Stephanie & Katie Solvig |
| March Madness? February has rushed by and left us wondering if we will even have the energy to face March. This next month promises to be as busy as the last, but hopefully with a few less disasters or problems! Thank you for praying for our visitors! They have been a blessing to us and many people at the hospital. Below is the Ellensburg’s Team’s “Last Supper” Chez Le Solvigs. Rusty had this to say concerning his trip to Gabon and Bongolo Hospital , “What a treat it was for me to attend a C&MA church in Libreville on our last Sunday there along with 1,500 attendees in the first service alone. I saw joy and celebration throughout the service. Amazingly about 30 people stepped forward that morning to give their life to Jesus. God is doing great works around this world.” Our family was also blessed with the return of Dr. Dan Shook, a radiologist, who also knows a lot about computers. Before his trip to Bongolo, he spent an entire weekend working on getting our wireless internet connection back up and running. Just one of the many glitches we faced during February. Water Woes! For over 2 weeks the City water pipe under our driveway had a leak. The water was gushing up out of the ground and running down our driveway. On Sunday while praying at church, I said “Lord, please help us to find a solution to this water problem.” It had taken me a while to come to my knees and really pray over this situation. That afternoon, the Ellensburg team found a way to redirect the flowing water into our backup water reservoir. I was then able to get all the sheets & towels done in record time and be ready for the Cape Cod team that exchanged places with them. TWO days later, the Water company came and said they would fix the water that afternoon…I thought - yea right! BUT by sundown, the water problem had been fixed and our driveway was dried up! God certainly does answer our prayers. Another FEBRUARY Highlight has been the visit of family - Tim & Meredith Brokopp. They will be joining our missionary team full time in May 2008. They will begin a pilot project of running a Short Term Mission hub here in Libreville. Please pray for them as they raise support and work out the logistics of moving to Gabon in 2 months. Pray also for the Gabonese national pastors and leaders as they welcome this new branch of missionary service. Comings & Goings Our MARCH Madness sees the departures of several visitors: Dr. Dan Shook, the STMO team, the Dinnages, and Judd Davies. We are privileged to be a part of their lives as they pass through the Guest House and recount their stories of God’s working in Gabon during their short time here. One of the things that touched my heart was a letter from “short termer” Rusty, “I loved the sight of the C&MA emblem in the jungles of Africa. It solidified my feelings that the C&MA is so much more than our local church. There are so many brothers and sisters in Christ working in challenging conditions throughout the world giving God’s children a chance at hope, joy, & life everlasting. We are privileged to be a small but important part of that work.” We look forward to the following folks coming to Gabon in MARCH: *Dr. Renee Valach returns from her 6 month Tropical Medicine course * Dr. Tom Robey returns and brings his son, Tim * Nurse Jake Tillet comes for another visit *Dan Nagel’s team coming from Montana to lead our field prayer retreat! Celebrations! As we come to the end of the month we will attend our field Prayer Retreat in Bongolo (March 28-30), during our kid’s “Spring break”. This will give us the opportunity to celebrate “getting out of Libreville” for an entire week. We also can hardly wait to celebrate some upcoming birthdays in our home this month. Two of our daughters will be getting a year older! Stephanie will turn 11 on the 15th and Nicole will be 13 on the 27th – wow, can you believe it? Thank you for your prayers, your financial giving to the Great Commission Fund and your continued emotional support. As we think of you, John 1:16 comes to mind “From the fullness of HIS grace we have all received one blessing after another.” Serving Christ in Gabon, |
Arnie, Cheryl, Nicole, Stephanie & Katie Solvig
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