The catalyst for bringing together HeartBeat for Africa [HBA] based in Arizona and the Mennonite Church of Guinea-Bissau [MCGB] was a “Providential=God-directed” meeting of Community Health Evangelism/Lifewind [CHE], attended by both in search of a wider and more holistic Christian outreach in West Africa. There Ed Harrow of HBA and Beryl Forrester, Eastern Mennonite Missions country rep for Guinea Bissau were inspired by CHE/Lifewind’s West Africa director, Dayo Obaweya, to partner in Catel, Guinea-Bissau. The first step was to provide CHE training to indigenous MCGB members by Mr. Obaweya in early March, 2011
Later in March, the two Guinea-Bissau HBA Teams learned valuable lessons when we met our Catel neighbor, Dolores M and her 5 year old daughter, Katy [not actual names]. Dolores is a 33 year old Balanta mother of three and a new believer, part of the Catel Mennonite community.
