Ministry
Bible stories for oral learners
Even if the full Bible were translated into the language spoken
by the Sokoto Fulani, most have never been to school
and couldn’t read it. But the Sokoto Fulani’s oral culture
helps them remember every word of an intriguing story
told in their language. That’s why the Lottie Moon Christmas
Offering helps send young OneStory missionaries like
Tara to work among various people groups in
West Africa.
OneStory workers live in a village for two or three years to
learn local language and culture. They work with villagers
to craft 20-50 localized Bible stories their people can orally
pass down for generations.
Hearing about Jesus on the radio
Every night at sundown he turns on his radio. Like many other people in West Africa, he listens to the radio because he can not read. He listens to the news, and later he and his friends tune in to local programming and music as they sip attaya, a strong, bittersweet tea. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering gives a local missionary $46 a week to prepare Christian programs so that when this man turns on his radio, he will hear the story of Jesus in his heart language.
Reading the Bible for themselves
West Africa has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world – 78 percent illiteracy. New believers live in countries like Burkina Faso, Mali or Niger, where many people cannot read or write. Handing out a Bible or using a worksheet to teach Biblical truths will not work. Consider that $1.77 provided by the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering purchases a packet of training materials, such as pictures, to help teach Bible stories orally.
Movie draws people to Christ
“‘Oh, oh, oh,’ the elderly lady said as she watched Jesus being tortured in the film,” Lin shared. “She was sitting on the grass beside me. Later, during the invitation to follow Jesus, she actually jumped up to respond. We had an estimated 300 Africans watching the film and about 50 or 60 decided to dedicate their lives to Christ. This was the same village where the chief had said to me, back in August, ‘I don't believe in Jesus. What's going to happen to me when I die?’
‘Well, you'll go to Hell,’ I replied, ‘but the good news is that you still have a chance as long as you're alive.’ He finally made his decision to follow Jesus.” This chief was able to accept Christ through watching the JESUS Film that your giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering provided.
Bringing hope
While on a walk in her village, Kimberly passed a cemetery. She’d been in West Africa for less than a year, working among the Mandinka people.
“The thought entered my mind, ‘Not one of the people buried here is now in the presence of the Lord,’” Kimberly said. “They were born into a world with no sign of hope, and they died only praying that God would have mercy on their souls.”
Because of Southern Baptist giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Kimberly works with the hope that “the spirit of the true and living God will one day permeate the hearts of these people. The kingdom of God is present in this place. He is at work in my life and in the lives of many people here. I must not forget that salvation is coming.”
Raising Up Future Missionaries
Sylvie remembers hearing the stories about Jesus at night as she sat with her family
around the glowing fi re in their open mud-block courtyard.
Chickens and goats meandered about as her father played the cassettes he got
from a missionary named Jay, who lived with his family in their Bissa village in
Burkina Faso.
Soon, Sylvie’s father quit visiting the traditional African sorcerer who lived next
door. The stories of Jesus had changed her father’s heart. When Sylvie turned 16,
she decided to join him as one of the few Bissa people to follow Jesus.
But despite six years of public school, Sylvie never learned to read well. Eager to
understand the newly translated Bissa scriptures, she worked through the missionary family's
village literacy program.
At age 24, she now leads the Bible-based literacy program that presents the
Gospel while teaching adults to read.
She also uses her literacy skills for other purposes. She recently directed a choir
of small girls who sang a song Sylvie composed herself, reflecting her desire for
the Bissa people to hear the Truth.
“We give ourselves to You, Lord,” they sang. “We put our trust in You, Lord. We
abandon ourselves to You, Lord. We are the missionaries of the future.”
Your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering makes partnerships like this possible.
Faithfully teaching
Ray, a 32-year veteran of missions work, travels monthly to a village in Togo to teach a three-hour seminar for pastoral training. “I’ve been doing a series of how a Christian should live and relate to the African traditions that make up such a large part of the everyday life here,” Ray said. “Many of the traditions are pagan, occult practices. Some, however, are noble and good. The Christian needs to learn to distinguish between them and have courage to resist those that are ungodly.”
They meet in an open-air market that is usually filled with people on market day, but this day it is empty and the pastors can study the Bible.
So, Ray goes to faithfully teach pastors from three towns every month. One pastor walks four and a half hours to attend the training. He has to cross a small mountain range and leaves his home at first light to start the hike.
“His name is Minsa,” Ray said. “In Kabiye that means 'the fire is burning.’ Doesn't that seem like a good name for someone with that kind of constitution and passion for learning about the Lord?”
Your giving through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has supported Ray for more than 30 years. He has trained pastors all over northern Togo, about 150 pastors and leaders a month.
“This gives me a feeling of being a part of a mighty movement on which God evidently has his hand,” Ray said. |
