MKs In Action
Part 2 – More MK Stories

All four of our children, having grown up in French-speaking West Africa, speak a special brand of French that has helped them meet and make friends quickly. When we moved into a new assignment among the Sereer in Senegal, their friends began teaching them Wolof (the trade language) and Sereer.

From the very beginning, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Gloria and Nate, our two oldest children, share their faith in such a relaxed way. On Nate's birthday, his dad took him fishing with some local fishermen. After finding out that Nate and his father were not Muslim, they started to make fun of the Christian faith, but Nate was very straightforward and remained firm in what he believed, articulating it quite well for his nine years. The fishermen looked at my husband Travis with surprised smiles, obviously impressed.

One day I saw our daughter Gloria sitting on a mat in the shade with her friends. They had all our Bible story books in French spread out around them. The girls were reading and Gloria was explaining what they didn't understand.

One night our 6-year-old, Melody, had one of her Senegalese friends spend the night. Whenever our children have friends over to spend the night, we follow our normal family routine. We eat dinner, take baths, and then have family devotions. Gloria read the story of David and Goliath. I walked out for a minute and came back to find that before she turned each page, she would translate it for Melody's friend. We realized that this friend had never heard the story, because she cried out that David was going to die. Gloria encouraged her by saying, "No, wait and see what God does!" This made the old story brand new again for us all. Travis prayed, thanking God that He could do such an amazing thing through someone so young.

Kimberley Forsythe, Senegal

My daughter has a new friend - a neighbor who lives on the same sand covered road where we live. She speaks French, but no English. My daughter is learning French, but is still a beginner.

One day her new friend came over to play. First they played basketball outside - my daughter, her new friend, and her friend's little sister. After playing outside, they went upstairs to find some books for her friend to borrow. As they were looking at books together, my daughter noticed her Bible on the shelf and told her friend, "Jesus est bon - très, très bon", (meaning in French - "Jesus is good, very, very good"). The next day when the friend came to play, she wore a special charm around her neck with a large photo of a Muslim leader that her family follows.

On another day we went to visit my daughter's friend and her family. The friend followed us back home and asked to borrow some books. Then she told us in French that when she had seen the "JESUS" film one day on television, she began to sob because the film had touched her heart. She wanted to be a Christian, but her grandfather had beaten her severely and told her she couldn't follow Jesus. I asked her to remember this, "God loves you very much." I knew then that she would have to see Jesus in my daughter and in me.

Join us in praying that that the Light we have will bless those who walk in darkness, so that they, too, will have the Light.

A missionary serving in West Africa

Repaying debt means opportunity for Deaf children to learn

BENIN, West Africa -- When Mariam Toure Chabi left her home village for college, she made a unique friend. Josie* had a remarkably friendly spirit, something she communicated even though she couldn't hear or speak a word.

"Josie* invited me to her church for the Deaf," Mariam remembers. "I saw people reading the Bible and communicating with their hands. It was amazing."

Soon after, Mariam became a Christian.

"I accepted Christ because of a deaf woman," Mariam said, and that's why she has dedicated her life to serving the Deaf. She explains that the Deaf need to know Christ, but they are locked inside themselves without a language or a way to understand that Christ died for them. To understand that message, Mariam knows they technically have to see it.

They can't do that unless they are taught to read or understand sign language, a privilege few Deaf people enjoy in developing countries like Benin.

Mariam married a pastor and God gave her a vision. She began a Deaf school in their one-room church.

The Lord also brought a helper, Kari Singerman, the teenage daughter of International Mission Board workers who live nearby. Kari is not deaf, but she hopes to also start Deaf ministries someday.

The four students' ages range from 6 to 12, but none has any educational background. They lived in a dark, detached world until Mariam and Kari started teaching them to read, write and communicate with sign language.

But Miriam knows, "The most important thing is for the children to be able to communicate and hear the Gospel."

"The Word of God says the Deaf will hear and the blind will see," she said, "It's our job to help them do that."

*More Deaf children from surrounding villages would like to attend Mariam's school. Please pray for God to give Mariam wisdom in expanding the school.

*Name changed for security purposes

• Learn more about work in West Africa at http://www.gowestafrica.org/.
• For opportunities of service with the International Mission Board, go to http://going.imb.org/.

(Emily Peters, Teen helps bring learning, Gospel to Deaf children in Benin - March 2007, International Mission Board)