A LONG JOURNEY
From Fear to Faith

It was almost time to lock their door when an IMB missionary couple heard a knock and wondered who would be visiting so late. N*, a young lady they didn't know, came in and began to explain why she was there. Several years earlier she had heard about Jesus, and since that time she had yearned to know more. She had heard that white people had moved into town and thought that perhaps they could tell her more about Jesus. The missionary couple was just beginning to learn the local language, but they communicated the best that they could. The young lady could not read, so they couldn't give her any books. Besides, her father would not permit anything in the house that would be against the local religious faith. Afterwards, whenever she had time, the young woman would come by the missionaries' house and listen to the "Righteous Way" messages on cassette tape (a series of 100, 15-minute Bible lessons). N* continued to be a shepherd for her family's cattle and sheep and later learned to read her language. After her father died, she had more freedom to have books and cassette tapes at home. She would read anything she could about Jesus. She was very secretive at first, but then she started attending meetings with other believers.

For several years N* talked about how much she wanted to be baptized, but she was afraid to take that step and afraid of the persecution that it would bring to her and her family. She was terrified of going into the water, worried that she might get sick, and concerned that people would find out. But all the while, she insisted that when she did it, she wanted to be baptized "like Jesus was" - nothing else would do. At last her desire to obey God's Word overcame all of her fear, and the woman who had never been in water above her knees before walked into the surf of the Atlantic Ocean and was baptized before a gathering of fellow believers, 9½ years after her first encounter with the IMB missionaries. Today she is married to a fine Christian man and they have a small child. Please pray that N* will continue to grow in her Christian faith and boldly share with her family and friends about what Christ has done for her. Intercede for other "secret believers" throughout West Africa, asking God to give them courage to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ.

*Name withheld for security purposes