WEST AFRICA—When taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, there is no “end of the road.” That is what one Missouri Baptist team member said while driving cross country for more than 90 minutes from any improved road to a new village.
First Baptist Church, Arnold, is the missionary to the K people of West Africa. The K people are oral learners who are Muslim synchronistic with traditional African religions (witchcraft). They have no written language, and consequently there is no Bible in their language. That means First Arnold must take the Word of God to them in story form.
“We are ‘writing the Word of God’ on the hearts of the K people with an ‘Oral Bible,’” said Jim Nicolls, missions coordinator, First Arnold. “Our first vision trip was just two years ago. Six short-term missions journeys later, after much removing of rocks, tilling of soil, planting, planting, planting, the harvest has begun.”
Before First Arnold came, God was already working in three separate villages. For security purposes they are MD, SDH and MS. There were sufficient missionaries to break into three teams. Tab Schmidt led the team in MD, David Hague led the team at SDH, and Nicolls led the team in MS. Here is what the teams are reporting.
MD: The Creation to Cross story was taught along with Philip and the Ethiopian. Personal testimonies were shared along with John 3:16 and the Lord’s prayer. Along the way questions were answered.
Bacere is the most promising disciple, learning and growing at a good pace in three days. He received a megavoice, which is a solar-powered audio player with Bible stories, and a French Bible with a few of these stories highlighted for him to read. He was especially excited as he learned the gospel. Four others may also be believers now.
SDH: The team shared the Creation to Cross story with the village. Creation to Cross was split into three segments presented over three evenings. No. 1 was “creation to the fall,” presented on Dec. 3. By the end two men were able to repeat the story back. No. 2 was “the fall to the birth of Christ,” presented Dec. 4. No. 3 was “the birth of Christ through His death, burial and resurrection.” It was presented Dec. 5. An invitation was presented and 10 people prayed to receive Jesus Christ, adding to the two Christ followers from a previous trip.
MS: This team ministered to the MS and SG villages. In June God brought 11 new believers to Himself. When a team returned in July, the number had grown to 16, with five committing to be discipled. These five are already repeating Bible stories, making up songs about the stories, and praying for themselves and others.
One day the disciples in the MS village invited friends from the SG village to hear about Jesus. At least four adults prayed to receive Christ. The village was then visited again and almost all of its people were present at the meeting to hear one Bible story. They were overwhelmed and invited the missionaries to return. They did the next day and took the disciples from MS with them. They helped tell stories and demonstrate prayer to the new believers from the previous visit.
The Creation to Cross story was told to those who had not previously chosen to be Christ followers. Nearly every adult prayed to receive Christ. There are now at least 15 new Muslim-background believers (MBBs) in SG. Three are ready to be discipled. Discipling responsibilities are now in the hands of the MS disciples.
BY STAFF