THE BEGINNING OF THE FRANCOPHONE PROJECT During the early part of 2001, brother Blakely received an E-mail message from brother Lawrence Jimoh, of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Brother Jimoh related how he had been called by the Lord to do a special work for Him. Already having started over sixty churches, and ministering regularly to a congregation of several thousand people, brother Jimoh told how he was being directed to begin a new work, with large implications. Brother Jimoh tested the calling to see if it was of God, also sharing it with his wife, sister Lydia. After he was convinced this was of God, he sought to know the direction and focus of this new ministry into which he was being called. Following a season of prayer and fasting, he was directed to access the Internet. After spending some time surfing through various sites, he came across The Word of Truth Website, brother Blakely's Internet ministry. He then felt the call to translate the writings of brother Blakely into the French language. These would then be distributed among French-speaking Christian teachers, leaders, and serious disciples. The French-speaking world consists of over 600,000,000 people -- one tenth of the world's population. During the next few months, there was considerable correspondence between brother Blakely and brother Jimoh. The matter was also placed before The Word of Truth Fellowship, where prayer for Divine direction was made. The point arrived when both brother Jimoh and brother Blakely, together with their respective fellowships, concluded this was, in fact, the call of God. In September of 2001, brother Jimoh visited our home. During that time we drafted a strategy to be followed in fulfilling the call. Appropriate writings were selected to launch the project, and translation work began. During the first part of September, 2003, brother Larry was able to come again to the States. Travel expenses for himself and his wife were supplied by a contact in California. Three completed manuscripts were brought. The first has been formatted, and is ready for printing. A copy of it can be seen by clicking on the book cover to the right of this message. The booklet is 54 pages long, and is in the French language. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to read the file. It can also be downloaded to your own system, and printed if desired. The Word of Truth Fellowship has received support from several interested brethren for this extensive project. We have been able to procure a new computing system for brother Jimoh, together with advanced translation software, and need peripheral equipment. If you would like additional information on this project, or are interested in being a part of it, please address your inquires to brother Given O. Blakely at GivenB@aol.com. We also have documentation that provides the details of this project that will be sent to those requesting it. | 
