Tyrone LaValley

Serving as Your Missionary in Cote dIvoire

News from West Africa

March 2015
The Filtering Properties of the Lenten Season:
I have settled into my house and began a routine that ensures
spiritual self-care, physical well-being, and vocational
effectiveness. One of the tasks I must do daily is filter water for
drinking and cooking. The point one mini filter from Sawyer is
small enough to carry in my pocket when I am away from the
house. It filters out the bad things that could cause me harm. I
created a system for home use.
The container with the tap
water is like the sin in our lives.
It is visible and appears to be
harmless, but something
harmful lives unseen in the
appealing depths of the
container.
The filter is Gods Sanctifying
Grace, trapping the things in our
lives that seek to do us harm
and purifying us so we may
become like Christ in loving
obedience. The Lenten season is a time when we are more
aware of our need for this filter.
When the container is full, I place it on the counter for daily
use. I have the assurance that what is coming out of the vessel
is clean and proper for the purpose for which it was called.
Visitors for meetings are a little hesitant at first, until they see
me drink from it. They know the physical shape I am in and my
life testifies to the purity of the water. The conversation then
turns to spiritual formation and the ministry begins.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Mailing Address:
EMU-CI
Attn: LaVALLEY, Tyrone
41 Boulevard de la Republique
01 BP 1282 Abidjan 01
Cote dIvoire

Tyrone LaValley
VOIP: (912) 480-0444 local from USA
Cell: +225 45.82.33.36 Cote dIvoire
Skype: tyrone.lavalley
Email: tlavalley@umcmission.org
Facebook:
UnitedMethodistScoutingCotedIvoire
Blogger:
Tyronelavalley.blogspot.com

Cheryl LaValley (until June)

Cell: (912) 661-1867 from USA
Skype: Cheryl.LaValley
Email: 2chlavalley@gmail.com

Advance Giving
#3022028
Salary Support-Tyrone
Pending
Scout Ministries
Pending
Salary Support Cheryl

Financial Support
Please encourage your church to include this ministry in their
mission budgets. They receive credit through the advance. The
Advance number is 3022028. Individuals are encouraged to
donate. Information is to the right of this sentence.

Home Church: Marvin UMC

Augusta District

Mail to:

Advance GCFA
PO Box 9068
New York, NY 10087-9068

North Georgia Annual Conference

Serving as Your Missionary in Cote dIvoire

Scouting Ministry News

Delegates, from around the country, representing the Boys and Girls Brigades
and Eclaireures et Eclaireuses (Scouts) came together for a seminar at the
United Methodist University in Cocody on March 14-15. This is the first time
both groups assembled for collaboration. After a worship service that
included communion we gathered in a large group to present the Bishops
vision, and the national leaderships plan to begin implementation of the
vision.

TYRONE LAVALLEY
Scout Ministry Coordinator
United Methodist Church
Cote dIvoire
The Mission: to partner
with the youth civic
movements of the United
Methodist Church of Cote
dIvoire as we seek to make
disciples of Jesus Christ for
the transformation of the
world.
Certified in Christian
Education through the
GBHEM.
Scouting Ministry Specialist
through the GCUMM
Commissioned Missionary
through the GBGM

Bachelor of Science in
Social Science from
Campbell University
Certificate in Christian
Education from GarrettEvangelical Theological
Seminary

The content was informed by the Ivorian context of ministry.

Extensive consultations with the organizations top leadership led us
to this point. In an effort to ensure grass roots support, we broke
out into workshops on four subjects: Uniform, Insignia, Mission, and
Book content. When the groups reassembled we were able to
reach agreement on many of the major concerns. The top concern
was not losing the individual organizations identities in the midst of
shared ministry. All were relieved to hear that the organizations
would still exist with their symbols, however joint ministry time
required a single uniform. The great compromise was that Scouts
could still wear their neckerchiefs and Brigades could still wear their
hats.
All were excited to know that this is the first mission assignment in
the world to involve Scouting as its primary objective. Youth and
young adults make up 65% of the nations population. We are at
the forefront of ministry. Many heads nodded at I presented, in
French, this truth: The children and youth are not only the church
of tomorrow, they are the church of today. We begin our mission in
the world today with 3,500 youth and children through Scouting
and the Brigades.

Serving as Your Missionary in Cote dIvoire

Childrens Ministry News

Cheryls candidacy for missionary service and missionary assignment were
both approved by the Cabinet of the General Board of Global Ministries. She
has received an invitation to attend missionary training in Nashville, TN from
April 21-May 13. Unlike my training in Ecuador, she will not be commissioned
on the last day. Instead, she will be commissioned at the North Georgia
Annual Conference in Athens, GA in mid-June. This is to reinforce the fact that
we are called out of the local church and serve as a part of our conferences.
The next few months will be a transformational time for her as she
leaves her classroom of 20 pre-school children, and the teaching
team she has grown with. She will be thrust into the worldwide
scope of missionary training with people from around the world.
Upon her return, she will go through her personal belongings to
determine what goes to Cote dIvoire, what goes to storage, and
what is no longer needed. The laying on of hands will strengthen
her for ministry and mission.
I will join Cheryl around commissioning time to assist with closing
out the house, selling the cars, and encouraging her as she deploys
to our new home in West Africa.
What she will find when she arrives is a support structure of people
waiting to help her succeed. She will find a classroom on the
ground floor of our house that she can turn into her teaching space
for Sunday school teachers and pastors. She will find that the
ministry here is amazing and the people are crying out for training.
Thank you for being part of our shared ministry in the United
Methodist Church.

CHERYL LAVALLEY
Pending Assignment
Childrens Ministry Trainer
United Methodist Church
Cote dIvoire
Cheryl is an educator
with15 years in public
school classrooms.
Certified Teacher in Georgia
with Special Education
Endorsement
Missionary Candidate
through GBGM
Master of Art in Teaching
Early Childhood Education
from Armstrong Atlantic
State University
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic
Design from Campbell
University

Serving as Your Missionary in Cote dIvoire

How can YOU Assist the Mission in Cote dIvoire?
Your Prayers hold us up with an invisible hand. When you pray to God to protect and guide us your
prayers are heard by God and felt by us. God also uses this prayer time to guide you to support Gods
mission here in Cote dIvoire or in other places around the world.
Your Presence in your local church supports your congregation whose mission we share. Your collective
wisdom in Small Group Studies and Large Group Worship help shape the local church and the larger
mission.
Your Gifts help us do the ministry we have been called to do. Monetary donations can be made to the
Advance. Instructions are on the bottom of the sidebar on the front page of this newsletter. Involve
others in a meaningful fundraiser that mirrors the mission here.
Your Service here in Cote dIvoire will change you forever. Organize a team to help us build churches,
assist in the clinics or hospital, assist with clean water, or help in our education programs.
Your Witness is a force multiplier. When you tell others what Christ is doing here in Cote dIvoire, your
enthusiasm will be contagious. Involve childrens classes, mens groups, womens groups, Scouting
units, and Sunday school classes.
Remember your baptism vows and God will direct you from that point

Thank You
Thank you for reading this newsletter and
sharing in our mission to bring the Gospel of
Jesus Christ into all the world. Without your
support this mission would not be possible.
Please pass this newsletter on to others and
pray that God will touch their hearts to join us in
shared missions around the world.