Discouragement yields to God’s assurance in West Africa
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| International Mission Board missionary Tom Smith talks with a Futa Toro man in West Africa. |
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| Missionary Debbie Hawkins smiles as she receives a hug from a Futa Toro woman. There are few Christian believers among the 2.75 million Futa Toro in West Africa; most are Muslims. |
As a missionary strategy coordinator, Smith and his wife Shirley face the daily challenge of reaching the Futa Toro (FOO-tah TOR-oh), a Muslim people numbering more than 2 million in West Africa.
It’s not just their size that gives Smith pause. It’s their far-flung locations and bewildering diversity.
The Futa Toro actually comprise two major subgroups of the Fulani peoples of West Africa: the semi-nomadic cattle-herding Fulbe (FULL-bay) and the more settled Tukulor (TOO-kuh-lor). They live in many clans and castes scattered throughout northern Senegal and parts of Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Mauritania.
Organizers cite common ground on prayer language issue
ARLINGTON, Texas (BP)--With San Antonio as the site of next year’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, conveners of a “Sandy Creek-Charlestonian Convergence” roundtable Dec. 5 saw the gathering as a prelude to addressing what they characterized as a narrowing of parameters of cooperation within the SBC.
FIRST-PERSON: Smaller world, bigger task
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--When I was a boy growing up in Arkansas, the world seemed so much bigger than it is today. That was before we took for granted the ability to step onto a plane in the morning and arrive across country or across the ocean in a matter of hours. It also predated satellite and Internet communications that today give us the means to instantly transfer video, voice and just about any other kind of data in which we may be interested.
Mother of 8 in Mali carries Bible lessons to village women
MALI, West Africa (BP)--Friday night comes to a West African village just outside Mali’s capital city of Bamako. The sun sets. The women finish their chores. But for one woman, the day’s work is far from over.
In Mali, this village may spark a wave of faith
MALI, West Africa (BP)--In a small Bambara village, light from a lantern cuts the dark of night. Tea is passed around. Village men have waited months for this conversation. Occasionally, one or two other men join the growing circle -– visible only when they come into the light. Excitement is palpable; all know the importance of the night. They need more nights such as this one.
Trailblazers carry their faith to the Hausa of Nigeria
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| Using a heavy wooden stick, a Hausa woman pounds grain in a village near Zaria, Nigeria. There are approximately 280,000 known Christians among the 30 million Hausa. |
But as things sometimes happen, across that career path walked a guy with Campus Crusade for Christ. As the two discussed what God might have in store for David’s life, the Crusade staffer suggested the engineering degree also could be put to good use on a remote part of this planet. It was an idea that interested David.
“A year later, I was seriously considering it,” he recounts.
As he broached the idea with Rachel*, the young nursing student in his life, she agreed -– and they began to explore the possibility of serving in a faraway place, perhaps Indonesia or Africa.
FIRST-PERSON: Season of self-denial
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP)--A letter from Lottie Moon, missionary to China, was published in the Foreign Mission Journal in 1887 urging Southern Baptist women to take seriously their role in reaching the world for Christ. In today’s busy church life, we sometimes forget her call to prayer, sacrificial giving and self-denial. As we begin our celebration of Christmas, let’s remember the words of Lottie herself:
Special bond blossoms on the mission field
NIGER, West Africa (BP)--Missionary Sharon Hessling visits her “mother” regularly –- cries with Ameera* when life is hard and celebrates with her in good times. This bond between mother and daughter does not pass from the womb, however, but from the heart.
Prayers by small church answered in West Africa
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (BP)--The praying members of Wickland Baptist Church are proving that small churches can impact the nations. The Bardstown, Ky., congregation, with an average worship attendance of 65, prayerfully chose to adopt the Sokoto Fulani unreached people group of Niger, West Africa. Now they praise God for providing co-laborers to share the love of Jesus Christ among the Sokoto Fulani people.
24-year-old is first missionary to West Africa’s Sokoto Fulani
NIGER, West Africa (BP)--When Danielle Koepke spent her first night in a Fulani village in Niger, West Africa, the young missionary journeyman wondered if she was ready for the experience. Surrounded by an older Fulani woman and several members of her extended family, Koepke suddenly realized how little these Fulani people understood her.
