Through a ministry of proclamation & reconciliation we seek to help the Bambaras, Fulanis, and Moors hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has used us in Bible teaching, helping prisoners, famine and refugee relief & church development.
We have lived and raised our four adult children in the city of Kayes and the capital in the Republic of MALI for over 35 years.
Our Redeemer & Messiah Lives! Job 25
Questions to ask regularly of disciples: such as my friends like Benj & Mamadou
& Ousman & Oumar, & Adama, & Modibo, & Samba, & Houseni, etc.
Adama & Samba in Dakar
-What
r u reading in Bible?
-Prayer needs?
-How is the relation w/ wife n kids?
-Ministry activities?
-What books r u reading?
-Do u feel close to God?
-Do u feel on fire for God?
-Are u fruitful?
-Is your love for God growing?
-How are u doing in holiness?
-What are your spiritual gifts?
-Are you filled w/ HS currently?
-How r u helping the poor or oppressed?
-Are you being persecuted?
-Can you praise God in spite of health problems?
I want to update pray-ers on how things are coming with previous requests.
1/ Digging at the well in Fulani nomad village of Duduya has progressed to 26 yrds deep, but blasting in the very hard rock is slow, and not much more water has been found. We will stop in a few days and wait until after the coming rainy season. Pray for God's provision of funds to reach 30 yrds deep. btw:It is very hot and dry here now, it was over 120 degrees the other day (in shade) with promise that Easter will be celebrated on a very hot day.
2/ Our good friend Hasel Sow, an older Fulani nomad, is very sick with a cancer, and Jim hopes to visit him in Assoum soon with some other Fulani believers to encourage him and to be encouraged in the word and faith.
Hasel on left ready to pour his tea,
Oumar on right, one of the Bile school students
3/ The reconciliation process of the Malian church association, AGEMPEM, is moving, but slowly. The next meeting, where we expect good progress, is not until June! It is critical to achieve much more progress before assembly meets again in September.Pray for wisdom for the reconciliation committee members: Pastors Dondo and Kalan, Ruth, & Jim.
4/ Some missionary coworkers have been hit by severe challenges of health and culture adaption, pray especially for new workers Andrew, Sherry and Eva. Andrew spent three months with us in Kayes and is now hosting as Chinese team from Hong Kong in Dakar. He will return to Canada in June before Mary and he come back to Kayes in September.
5/ Two Fulani brothers are studying in Bible schools: Ousman in Cameroon is writing his final thesis, on polygamy in Senegal, and Oumar is back in Benin for his 2nd year of studies. UWM is helping partly with their scholarships.
6/ The Malian Malinké pastors will be helping churches in the Nyagala and Bafing areas with evangelism campaigns. Pray for hosting pastors Toma, Joel, & Yousouf, as they work with Pierre, Sekou, Eli, and Jacques. Also, Pastors Founeké and Pierre will be conducting a dry season preparatory school for mountain village kids in Kenieba in May.
1: woman of the Soninké tribe discipled through weekly Bible studies and baptism preparation. (Jennifer)
1: Christian FM-radio station launched by a Malian Christian NGO with help from UWM (we have provided facilities and electricity, and helped them to find equipment); they currently broadcast about 18 hrs/day.
1: semester served on board of Dakar Academy. (Jennifer)
1: graduate class for education degree. (Jennifer)
1: son graduated from Dakar Academy, with honors.
2: new missionaries recruited for MALI, in a seconding agreement with WEC.
2: evangelism and medical teams to the Moors (about 15 participants all told, to 8 villages altogether).
5: meetings of the Malian Assoc. of Evangelicals attended by Jim, where he is serving on the Committee of Reconciliation to head off a split in the organization.
6: men taught in Bambara language Bible school (in partnership with Norwegian Lutheran Mission).
10: meetings with the local Christian school committee (see pix).
10: ESL teachers whom Jennifer observed and trained in Bamako during 2 weeks in January.
15: meetings in churches last summer, and we were featured at the Missions Night of the Annual Conference of the Church of Christ (Holiness), an African-American denomination, in St. Louis.
22: visits to disciple new Fulani believer in Kayes (who came to Christ through the controversial "Common Ground" method of evangelism). (Jim)
27: women trained in leadership seminars (in partnership with Marcie Harris). (Jennifer)
28: years celebrated married to same spouse!
35: Christian Fulani leaders hosted in MICCAO annual conference in Kayes for one week
30: visits to Fulani villages for outreach and supervision of the well project in Duduya. (Jim)
40: meetings with the Kayes Pastors' Cooperative for prayer and planning of joint evangelistic events. (Jim)
49: shows of original Star Trek watched!
52: beggars helped on our front porch by prayer, food, Bible reading, cash, work, clothing, loans, empathy, medicine, counsel, etc.
75: visits drinking tea to do friendship evangelism among mostly Fulani friends, often playing Bible story cassettes or mp3 players like the Megavoice. (Jim)
150: radio broadcasts managed in the Fulani & Moor languages (on 2 different stations).
12,000: miles traveled June-August in the USA & Canada to facilitate partnerships, raise funds, promote ministry, and keep in touch with supporters including many visits with churches and dear friends.
Yesterday, Nov 19th, was the 2nd day of the Muslim feast memorializing Abraham's sacrifice known as Tabaski here in West Africa. So in an effort of fraternity and witness several of us went to a number of different mosques to visit the imams in their homes. We focused on the Kayes Ndi (small Kayes) side of the river where there is one Bambara speaking church and where I focus my visits to the Fulanis.
As a delegation of two pastors, Pierre and Joshua, and two missionaries, Siegfried and myself, and two other church members, Abel and Benjamin, we visited about ten imams and two town officials: the mayor and the village chief. (I think this was Siegfried's third time to do such greetings, I went with him once before.) I knew over half of them; in fact the chief is in a "grin" group where I often drink tea! We had a great time and were warmly rec'd in every case as we made these short visits of ten to fifteen minutes. We were even giving them a large card with Arabic writing in the round like Muslims do but this time with Bible verses such as the Lord's Prayer or the Beatitudes. I gave a small tract in Pulaar to the Fulanis, too.
I heard today that one of the church members really liked this and thot that we should also visit all the mosques in Kayes, too! I was also able to sort out better who was who and to make a few connections. It was interesting that our guide, Mr. Ndiaye, was one with whom I had eaten part of the feast the day before via Mr. Diop, too, so I've made a better friend with him, too. Another was a relative of one family I know very well, so that connection was improved, too. Because of my work with the Mauritanian refugees several years back and the help of one Kayes Fulani, Mr. Abba Sy, I took his family name, so I'm known by many jokingly as Abba's son, his oldest son even, since Babba is a year younger. Abba passed away a couple years ago never confessing Jesus, and I don't think he really understood the gospel much in spite of clear witness several times. As yet we have just one Fulani believer in Kayes, and he's not from here. Another man form Kayes was saved elsewhere a long time ago, and he's currently in seminary in Cameroon! Two or three others are very open and close, but stepping over the fence requires a real effort here.
I have a dream to do more research in Kayes as to what varieties of SLM we have here. They have many denominations, too, and most of the Christians and missionaries are ignorant of these distinctions among them. Some have told me that every mosque of Kayes is a different denomination (brotherhood)! Most West Africans are Sufis of the Moroccan founded Tijaniyya order (and there are now many versions of this), but some are Wahabiyya, some are Quadiriyya, etc. Such visits as we did yesterday help me in pursuing this dream.
Those met yesterday:
M. War, a Fulani near Thiam’s home, not present, only older lady who blessed us forever!
M. ___, a Fulani behind Peter’s house and friend of Abel, cheap mud house, not present
M. Sow, a young Fulani in new mosque near Nema’s RA housing; M. Dicko was there, too.
M. Souleyman BA, jom woro and member of tea ‘grin’(Oumar Diallo’en outside)
M. Ly, near Ba family but head of grand mosque of Baka Foro (pix)
M. Adama(?) Mariko, Kayes Ndi Mayor (pix), small yard and house, next to Samba Docter (sic) place.
M. Ibrahima Nimaga, past the church in Karankaran, Kadija Diop husband, and Modibo Diop was there, and a griot, too! (pix) Nimaga is ‘politician’ of Kayes, his bro. a deputé, he selected the mayor, etc., Family from Nioro, a cattle dealer.
M. Sacko, a Soninke, mosque in Karankaran, older house on one side two stories, newer side large and roomy!
M. Sy, older Fulani who knew me as ‘bi Abba’ (!) lives near big mosque but imam of Ba’en mosque!
M. Mogobé Traoré, a Bambara, near market (son a rapper in France!)
M. Ibrahim Ndiaye, a Fulani tailor, was our guide; he lives near Woppa Diop’en; Joba, an old lady there is also my friend.
odd notes:
-all named Chiekna are also called Yuba after Alamamy Cheik Hamala of Nioro.
-all named Ibrahima are also called Baya!
-all named Moussa are also called Bala,
-all named Oumar can be called Baril, at least by Fulanis, etc.
-An Oumou as daughter, the brother who follows is always Modibo (works in the Modibo Diop and Vieux Mohammad’s cases!)
We are encouraged that the UN is again making this return of Fulani refugees happen, see below link to an IRIN report in Oct 2010. The UWM in MALI helped this situation extensively from 1990 to 1995 when 18,000 of these Fulanis landed in areas north of Kayes. Over 100,000 also flooded into northern Senegal, and while most have returned 'home' over 20,000 refugees remain in the border areas of the two countries facing Mauritania. This article speaks of their plight in remaining and their plight in returning. The UN hopes to move over 2,500 from Oct to Dec 2010.
UWM helped make initial reports in the fall of 1990 about their situation, and then worked long to alleviate the situation. We also recommended that the UNHCR work with MALI's national church/mission association, AGEMPEM, and their social aid office, BADS, which became a very fruitful mission. A sister agency was also much involved in the center of the refugee area. A number of the refugees became believers in Christ and some have formed the nucleus of the nascent church in Mauritania. My friends in the photo above, Abba and Boofo, met during these times, welcomed me, gave me lots of tea, & taught me tremendously about the Fulani culture. Sadly both have passed away without understanding the gospel.
This article about Fulani children appeared in an IRIN report this week. Many efforts are made to help these 'Talibé' Islamic religious disciples. This reporter speaks of a homegrown effort by families in a neighborhood of Dakar. Reports say there are well over 10,000 of these begging & oft mistreated, students in the city! Similar situations exist in other large cities of west Africa including Kayes, Conakry, and Bamako.
UWM also seeks to help the Talibé children in another effort in the same city. See 'Tad's Life' at tadhampton.blogspot.com for some encouraging stories.
The Kayes bridge is open again, so at first opportunity I drove across and out to the Fulani village of Duduya again to see progress on the well. I’m pleased to say they’ve deepened it by over 7 meters since restarting in late July, and, even better, there is ankle deep water each morning :-) The main diggers, Nyama Djonson and his apprentice, were deep down in the hole when I arrived around 11 am, and didn’t come up until about 1 pm, then went down again for an hour or so to set the charges, and we got to watch the explosion around 3pm. We visited around homes while waiting for work progress. Being the middle of the day most men were out in fields or out with their cattle, so we greeted mostly the women and I played with the kids.
I had brought out the local Malinké pastor, Marka Fofana, as he’s expressed interest in working among the Fulani and also seeing the village for some time. I had Madu Aan, a local Fulani teacher, come along, too, to have more time with him and understand his growing faith. We played a couple Way of Righteousness tapes while there to village friends. I want him to learn a way of witness that comes naturally from the Bible using the stories in the Bible order. Two other men were along, long time friends who have not yet heard the gospel in their hearts, Baba Dramera and Vieux Diarra. Please pray for each one mentioned. On the way out I picked one bad section of muddy road where trucks had made deep tracks, and got stuck, but having four men along to push backwards while I put it in low four-wheel drive, we were soon moving again. There was deep water in two other places, but that’s not a problem for the Isuzu!
The chief, Hamet Diallo, was pleased to see us, but since this was in the midst of the daily fast during this month of Islam Ramadan, nothing was cooking. They gave some of us milk to drink, and later some rice and peanut sauce came along anyway. I had to hold up my hands and hold my nose; oh those peanuts they love to try to make me eat! Some more sour milk came to stir into the rice, so I had a snack anyway. Rain threatening, we headed back to Kayes by 4 pm. Oh, it is so nice to just go and come back in one day now!
What a trip! It's not the mud, nor the rain, nor the African roads, but the ferry crossing of the river at Kayes. Sekou and I were all loaded up to visit the Fulani village of Duduya to see progress on the well and to bring in some supplies, fuel, and tools. On a good day I've made it from my house to the village, only 20 kms (15 miles) over the dirt road in less than 40 minutes. Monday it took three hours just to cross the river, and a further hour to navigate the mud and stream crossings. I had thot in the morning we'd get out there, stay for lunch, and come home by night fall ...... Well, when we finally got all organized and loaded and to the river at 2:30pm, I realized then I'd be staying the night in the village.
The bridge has been closed since May for rebuilding and resufacing, and now that the old ford is hidden under water, all vehicles, motos, people, and goods go by ferry or local pirogues (sail boats). Because one ferry couldn't handle the traffic the Malian military brought in a second larger one real fast recently. But, because the banks are steep the trucks keep getting stuck or even fall into water at the edge! At least five a week have break failures and crash into something as they slam downhill. At last we were permitted to load onto the wide military ferry, but then had to wait while the soldier's trucks hooked cables onto a tractor trailer in the water and righted it, to the cheers of hundreds of on-lookers! I picked up Ousman Diop at his aunt's home, finally connecting with him in spite of repeatedly missing each other, and got moving to Duduya.
The road was muddy, very muddy, but my four wheel drive made it, even at one stream over two feet deep, PTL. The village, especially Mr Hamet Diallo, their chief, and the well digging team were all very glad to see us and the supplies. We checked out the well, a whole five meters deeper than two weeks ago, and heard they've even had a bit of a trickle into it, PTL. The chief decided to butcher a goat for us; that takes a while to cook, so Ousman and I visited around to see friends. The first Brazilian team had come out here with me often, so the ladies especially were asking how is 'Fatimata', 'Kumbel', and 'Asiata'. They were ticked pink to hear that two of them have since married. Everyone also asks about 'Baril' the Malian Fulani evangelist, and about Solomon, the Beninese Pastor who was with us a while.
Back at the ranch, indeed for about three hundred cows sleep there at night in the village center, as well as innumerable goats and sheep, we chatted over tea and listened to the radio while many in the village dropped by to greet. I pulled out the Bible scarf with about 40 Bible story pictures on it and asked them if they knew the stories; many did. It was good way to get a some conversation going about the gospel. Ousman and Sekou were also both quite interested in the MegaVoice players with bible stories and chanted Psalms. The goat was finally served around 10 pm, and soon after we had mosquito nets up for a long rest. The diggers even gave some of their nets and mats as we hadn't been prepared to stay.
I was up by 6:30 and found that the diggers had already started the compressor at 6 am and two were down in the hole digging away for the next two hours! Then they spent an hour setting the nine charges and being sure the wires were all connecting. Finally about nine they came out, the men cleared away the pulley support, moved the compressor away and then touched the wires to a battery ... BOOM! Some pieces flew out as big as a soccer ball and one as big as a sewing machine box!
Got lots of pix :)
I had expected to leave after the boom, but the chief told me another family had sent over a goat for lunch to honor us, so we had to stay, again .... it takes awhile: lots of tea, chatting, and resting. The diggers slept over an hour while the dust settled and air got back in the hole, afterward as they were to descend, clear the debris, and drill some more ... they wanted to do one more explosion by night fall. Ousman & I had ample time to chat about his theo studies in Cameroon and his upcoming marriage to a Cameroonian Fulani believer he's engaged to marry soon, etc.
The photo show Ousman helping skin our meal:
We headed out just after 3pm, made the river bank in Kayes Ndi just after 4 pm since the roads were a bit drier, and then waited and waited for a stalled truck to be pulled up hill, for another barge to unload, and for our ferry to load, problems in both directions for some vehicles. I noted that there was another truck in the water on the Kayes Ba side, another victim of bad breaks :( We cleared the Kayes side at 6:30 pm, and I left Sekou off at his home and returned home for a needed shower and Jenn's supper and an old TV movie to zone out.
It was a good trip overall, in spite of the ferry and mud, pleasing to the village to see us, and pleasing to me to see the progress, and a good time with Ousman and having some chances to witness a bit of our Savior and the Kingdom of God to the Fulanis.
May they have both well water soon as well as living water from above.
The Brazilians and I have been trying to visit all the surrounding Fulani villages so they can know what sort of ministry they can do near Kayes.On Tuesday this week we drove out to Pomiel, about 8 kms.I had hardly ever been there on my own so I missed it by a few kms and had to be directed back by a passing shepherd.We only spent less than a couple hours, not enuf for attaya even.At first they must have thot we were tourist for after greetings and water we were sort of ignored.The men were working on a hut, and the women were occupied with kids, but they slowly warmed up to us onceone or two recognized me.It’s nice to have a team along for these visits, the girls handle the women, and we guys play tapes and read with some.
Recently we’ve gone out to Duduya, another week to Segué, another to Kerisiani, etc.We don’t necessarily know people in them, either Oumar or I seem to know someone, but it works out to friendly visits each time, PTL.All are within reach by bicycle.The youngest of the Brazilian women, Aliné, is the best among all four in languages and has even begun to teach reading & literacy, each nite at the Red Sea bookroom near the Daral.
