Greetings from Dakar!
I want to share a quick update on the first village trip of 2015. We returned Saturday evening, feeling exhausted, joyous, and thankful for God’s answer to prayer and for all that we witnessed and participated in.
In general, we were very warmly welcomed in each village we visited. Not just warmly welcomed, but with much joy and celebration. Speeches were made, food was cooked, and hugs were shared. Everywhere we went, the local people requested that we come more frequently to bring the teaching on a regular basis. They are SO hungry to know more of God’s Word. One village told us, “We want you to come as often as you can. Don’t ever worry that we may be too busy. This is your home! You come whenever you can and we will send word out and gather together to hear the teaching. You are welcome here anytime.”
I am fiercely proud of Ashley, Troy, and Gerri for the way their Yalunka language skills have progressed; so were the people in the villages – they were excited to hear them speaking their language. One of the believers ran into his hut and brought out a Bible picture book. He handed it to Troy and said, “Now that you speak my language, can you tell me this story?” Troy got his Bible out and considered translating, but determined that he didn’t have enough vocabulary to fully-explain the story, so he called Samba over to help him. It worked out fine, but Troy was disappointed that he couldn’t do it on his own. I told him not to be disappointed, but to understand that he had received a huge compliment! The man with the book had heard Troy’s greeting and small talk, and thought he was fluent-enough to translate a Bible passage. That’s a big accomplishment!
In one village, we were teaching on the first 16 verses of Ps. 139. As we shared about the Great Creator knowing us full well even before we are knit together in our mother’s womb, a local believer suddenly spoke up, saying, “This is a true example of love. We know it’s not easy for you to leave your homes and your families to come here and sit with us and sleep in our huts and eat our food. But you do this so you can bring us this teaching from the Big Creator and so we can know His words.” I thanked him for saying that, and I explained to him how all the other Yalunka villages in the area also want us to come more often and bring them more teaching, and reminded him that we can only get to them when the rivers are low enough to ford.
I asked them to join us in praying for the Big Creator to raise up more people who are willing to come to Africa and teach. I explained to them that it isn’t enough for someone to be willing to teach, but because it’s so hard for us to live in their villages like they do, each one must also know in their heart that the Big Creator has called them to do this. He said, “Yes, we know and we will also pray with you for more to be called by God, and we will be patient”. I think they’re getting it.
As exciting and promising as our trip was, we recognize that we have our work cut out for us. Our hearts are absolutely breaking to begin to meet with the Yalunka people more frequently and regularly to teach them God’s Word. However, this is just a start. There are many villages that we still want to get to this season. PLEASE keep praying with us for God to raise up more workers.
In everything, God is good! We look forward to our next trip. Stay encouraged and keep praying! May God greatly bless each of you and reward your faithfulness!
Steve Nelson | FEC West Africa Initiative Director
