There is a lot to pray about for the Sandawe people group.
Dr Jon and Melissa Eager are currently on home assignment so that adds extra work to the medical staff who
Sandawe group
have remained behind. The dispensary and mobile clinics continue to need prayer in their ongoing work to meet the medical needs of the area.
One of the concerns in the medical work is the work going on at the village of Birise. During this rainy season they need to cut their airstrip well, otherwise the monthly medical flights will not be able to land. They’ve had a change in village leadership and this has affected their motivation.
Although we don’t have much in the way of details to report to you, faithful pray-ers, there seem to be tensions between local church leaders in Usandawe. It seems that both cultural and traditional perceptions are playing a role in this. The leaders need wisdom in order to find a Christ-honoring solution to the problem.
In this agricultural society the blessing of rains mean that there is a chance for a crop. God has been good—there doesn’t seem to be any famine amongst the Sandawe but we need to continue to pray that the crops will grow and also that there will be no flooding. We praise God for the good rains that are coming in the Usandawe area. Continue reading ‘Sandawe Update 1, 2010 - “God has been good—there doesn’t seem to be any famine among the Sandawe.”’
One of the exciting things about our line of work is watching a church develop, not into a building but into
Pahi church leadership
an indigenous body of believers whose Savior is Jesus Christ. Seeing the work of discipleship take roots in the believers is an exhilarating thing to see and watch emerge.
Right now there is a body of believers meeting together to worship the Lord but the acting pastor in the church is also the clinical officer from the health center. Though doing a good job he does not have the time or energy to visit church members, arrange services and organize ministries well. Although he has a passion for serving the Lord, his obligations keep him from focusing on all the needs of the church.
Claudi, however, is finishing his 4 year studies at Nassa Theological College this spring. He has a heart to reach his own people and hopes to be assigned to work back among the Rangi people. Pray for him as he finishes his studies, that he would finish well and be used of the Lord to reach his own people. Claudi is also engaged and he asks for prayer for both himself and his fiancé to do the work the Lord gives them. Continue reading ‘Rangi Update 1, 2010 - “The Rangi can now read the word of God in their own language.”’
The Cray family is back in Ba Illi after a year’s leave and contacts with the Ndam are better than ever. There is a high school in Ba Illi and four young men from an Ndam village are there for the school year.
They are interested in the translation and have all taken copies, including and especially the Transitional
An Ndam woman
Primer. One of the men can read the Ndam text and they are helping William to test and improve the work in Exodus. William has been revising their earlier work which includes the first four chapters and parts of several others. He hopes to get his translation helper up soon to carry on the work with Exodus.
There is a tradition in West Africa that once God was near to people. But one day, a woman was pounding our her grain in her mortar and lifted her heavy wooden pestle too high striking God in the nose. He took offense and went away. William has heard an Ndam elder tell this story as well. It is interesting to see the parallels between this and the story of the Fall in Genesis: that the action of a woman seems to be the cause of God’s absence, and that once it was not so. Continue reading ‘Ndam Update 1, 2010 - There is a tradition in West Africa that once God was near to people.”’
Dear pray-ers,
Mwani girl in Mocimboa-da-Praia
We are hearing so much exciting news from workers among the Mwani at this time. Thank you for your faithful prayers; 30 years of hard work, planting, praying and interceding is beginning to see its fruit. For this update we have encouraging reports from Radio Nuru and also from the team working in Mocimboa-da-Praia.
Radio Nuru News:
The Spirit of God is at work in the hearts of our listeners! (see comments below) If I want to be “moved” in my spirit, I need only to go into the studio when Muchante is on the air during his special 15 minute segment of “Questions and Answers for Brother Muchante.” When I help him field the text messages and phone calls and listen to his on-air responses to people, I just want to jump and dance around the studio or cry tears of joy…that is… right after all the hairs on my arms settle back down after standing up on end!
Aside from these times, the other moments that give me feelings of utter joy and fulfilment are when we are able to create new “studies” on Biblical truth, appropriate for Muslim seekers, using passages of God’s Word in Kimwani and then mix them with relevant, practical advice and music, seeing it all come together in an irresistible way! It is most gratifying, and I love the fact that people’s souls are “delighting on the richest of fare as they listen and eat what is good!” Truly, God’s Words are delicious, and THAT is what people are discovering now! Continue reading ‘Mwani Update 1, 2010 - “To be good, what must I do?”’
Our contact worker among the Mündü has this to report at the start of 2010:
Mundu man
“Dominic (one of the Team who translated the Mündü New Testament) was very ill in November and December. He writes says: “I thank God for healing me. My sickness was very complicated, but the doctor told me that it was only malaria and migraine, and the cause of the headache was due to frustration.
The treatment took almost one and half months. During the last three years I had been moving between Yei, Juba and Terekeka looking for green pasture, but all in vain. I am sure God wants me to come back home to Maridi (southern Sudan) to continue with the work he has assigned to me among my own people (the Mündüs), so that is what I am now doing.
I have started translating the book of Exodus. I am halfway now. I would also like to re-open the collapsed schools and visit some new areas.” Pray for on-going victory for Dominic in his battle with alcoholism.
I hear that the LRA rebels are continuing to give trouble, especially in the Mündü area of DR Congo. Pray for an end to this terror and misery. A lot of people (including many Mündüs) have fled from Aba, DRC. Most of the Sudanese refugees have returned to Sudan. Continue reading ‘Mundu Update 1, 2010 - “We had never really understood before what the Bible has to say about magic and the spirit world”’
UNHCR has opened a field office in eastern Cameroon to cope with the arrival of several successive waves ofethnic Mbororo refugees fleeing from the neighbouring Central African Republic. In total, an estimated 25,000 refugees arrived in Cameroon and are scattered along the country’s border with the Central African Republic (CAR).
Mbororo child
Mbororo fleeing to Cameroon say they have been systematically and relentlessly targeted by organised groups of bandits and rebels who steal their cattle. Livestock are not only the Mbororo’s primary possession, but also a sign of wealth in this part of Africa. Many Mbororo refugees also claim that their wives and children have been kidnapped and they had to pay high ransoms to get them back.
Most Mbororo cross the border on foot, carrying their few remaining possessions. A small number of those who managed to save some of their livestock continue to graze cattle inside Cameroon. But the others, having lost everything, are in an extremely precarious situation. Continue reading ‘Mbororo Update 1, 2010 - “They have been systematically and relentlessly targeted by organised groups of bandits and rebels”’
An ethnomusicologist held a seminar in December that had a profound impact on the Gabra at Kalacha.
Gabra Man
The focus was music and it lasted for 5 days. In that period of time over 40 Gabra men, women and youth gathered together for a time of studying God’s word and music development. In the past years the Gabra believers used songs that were mostly translated from trusted hymns and songs that had been used from outside the Gabra culture. During the seminar, the people gathered to learn to develop music their own way to in order to worship God and celebrate what He’s done for them.
During the seminar one man stated, “We didn’t get much to eat or drink because of the drought, but we sure feasted together in the word.” Another man summed up the time by saying “I love this teaching! We can’t stop now though, the rains haven’t come and we need to keep praising God until they do.” (Two weeks later the rains did come, in abundance).
The seminar resulted in a number of new songs that are being sung that are distinctly Gabra. One elder recently shared, “These songs are just too good to keep here at Kalacha; let’s take them to other Gabra up in the Hurri Hills.” Continue reading ‘Gabra Update 1, 2010 - “These songs are too good to keep to ourselves”’
Last year we were saddened when the TIMO Team working among the Didinga in Sudan was forced to end early. The Sudan team, working among people with little exposure to the rest of the world, were blamed for the lack of rain and suffered a dramatic threat to their lives.
Didinga crowd
They pulled out after only 8 months (usually the TIMO program runs for two or more years). This early ending was sad for us and the team and many others within AIM and even elsewhere who had worked so hard to put this team in place. Yet in this situation we have seen evidence of God’s faithfulness.
To the Sudanese Didinga, among whom the team had the privilege of sowing many seeds of the Good News, a Didinga evangelist named Hector went to continue the work. Church meetings were continued and interest went from around 25 to 200 almost immediately and now fluctuates weekly. A number have committed themselves to Jesus. But there’s also been more persecution and spiritual warfare. Continue reading ‘Didinga Update 1, 2010 - “We have seen evidence of God’s faithfulness.”’
Cattle Farming
Desperate times call for desperate measures…
Crime is on the rise all over Madagascar, especially as criminals take advantage of the unstable political situation in the country. Here in the Bara area, violent crimes have increased exponentially since last year. Hopelessness, boredom, unemployment, rapidly changing cultural values, financial desperation, political instability, the West’s glamorization of violence and crime in the media, as well as a culture that often prizes cunning behavior and even stealing, all contribute in creating an ideal environment for lawlessness here. Many people live in fear of the thieves and gangs that prowl both day and night. Rumors and local gossip only fuel these fears. It seems that no one is immune.
The Bara have long been a proud and independent people. Many have remained isolated from other groups due to their confidence in their relative wealth—some owning hundreds of cattle. They have set themselves apart as successful, and this has only reinforced their attachment to the ways of their ancestors and to the spirit world they so carefully try to live in harmony with. But things are beginning to change. More and more of the Bara in the countryside have lost their fortunes to cattle thieves. Several years of drought in the South have further humbled many Bara as they can no longer survive through their traditional methods of farming and animal husbandry but must seek food and a way to make a living in nearby towns. Continue reading ‘Bara Update 1, 2010 - Some Faithful Servants Among the Bara’
