On Saturday evening after the medical clinic, one of my colleagues invited me to go with him to greet the head imam (mosque leader) and give him Scripture.  This missionary had felt a burden to greet the imam but had been unable to find him.  We headed toward the mosque after the call to prayer.  When we arrived, we entered the courtyard outside the mosque but found that the imam was not there.  There are two mosques in the village, and the imam rotated between the two mosques.  We asked one of the men in the courtyard if he could guide us to the imam’s home.  He agreed and off we went, walking in the dark by the light of a flashlight.

Finally, after about a ten minute walk, we arrived at the imam’s home.  At first he welcomed us warmly.  We greeted him, and he brought chairs for us to sit on.  We chatted for a few minutes.  Then, we offered him a gift, the books of Genesis and Matthew in Pular Arabic script.  When he saw what we were offering, his attitude turned cold.  “I can’t read this,” he said.  At first we were unsure if he was unable to read it (illiterate) or unwilling.  After some more questions, it became apparent that he was unwilling.  He refused to even accept it.  We tried in vain to convince him he ought to accept it and read it, that it showed the path to eternal life in heaven.  Before long, he rudely ushered us out of his home.  Even though he didn’t want to, he guided us back to the main road himself because he didn’t want his grandson to guide us alone, fearing that we would speak to him about the Gospel.

As we arrived back at the clinic where we would be sleeping that night, we stopped and prayed for the stubborn imam.  We also prayed that he would not succeed in leading his community astray or turning them against our message.  You, too, can pray with us for the stubborn imam and his village.

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This past weekend we helped out at a medical clinic outreach in a village deep in the Guinean countryside.  During the course of the clinic, we saw 92 patients.  Diagnoses ranged from the minor (heartburn) to the serious (heart murmur) to the critical (kidney failure).  We saw people of all ages from infants to a man 90 years old.  Billlie helped out mainly by registering the patients as they arrived.  David helped by showing the Jesus Film to people as they waited and by selling Scripture and health literature at the registration table.  Every person who came through the clinic was prayed for and received an audio cassette of Scripture before they left.  In the next few blogs, we will be sharing some of our experiences from the clinic.

This past week, a colleague and I went on an outreach to a village market.  We loaded up our backpacks with Scriptures and other literature and drove approximately two hours into the Guinean countryside.  There we came to a village where they were having a weekly market.

We prayed, got out of the car, and headed toward the market.  As we approached we saw some women dressed in the telltale head-to-toe covering of the most fundamental sect of Islam.  Fortunately, most women were not dressed this way.

We began calling out in Pular, “God’s Books, God’s Books!  Buy God’s Books!”  A crowd quickly gathered around us, and the people began looking to see what we had for sale.  We were carrying translations of Genesis and Matthew.  We also had Scripture calendars and some health books.

Almost immediately, people began buying Scriptures.  My colleague and I split up to cover more ground.  In places, a crowd gathered around me, a few people would buy some literature, and the crowd would gradually disperse.  Then, I moved on to another spot, and the same thing happened again.  It seems that people attract more people.  The people also seemed vaguely amused to see white people, dressed in African clothes, selling Holy Books and speaking Pular.  Some even asked if I was Arab.

As the day wore on, we sold more and more literature.  Eventually, it was time for us to head back home.  We had a quick meal of rice and peanut sauce at a lunch counter and headed back to the truck.

Some people ask why we sell Scripture in markets here instead of giving it away.  Quite simply, by asking a price for the books, we show that we are selling something valuable.  We know God’s Word is more valuable than anything else in the market.  Of course, we sell it for less than we paid for it.  We are not trying to make a profit, only to keep the books from ending up crumpled on the ground.  If people pay for something, however little, they are more likely to value it and read it.

Two days ago, while waiting outside a store, I struck up a conversation with the young man sitting on the bench next to me.  After some small talk, I asked him if he prayed.  That is a common question here to find out if someone takes their Islamic religion seriously.  It is also a good way to start a spiritual conversation.

The young man, “Sal,” responded in the affirmative.  He said that he does pray, and that he had studied the Qur’an.  I asked him if he could understand what he was saying when he prayed, since Muslims are required to pray in Arabic, and he said no.  He had simply memorized the words to the prayers and repeated them from memory.

He asked me if I pray.  Knowing he was wondering if I was a Muslim, I answered “yes, I do pray” but was quick to emphasize that I am a follower of Jesus, the Messiah.  To this he replied, “Does he live in your neighborhood?”

I answered, “No, I mean Jesus the Messiah who is written about in the Gospel.”  Our discussion continued on, and two days later I was able to bring him a copy of the Gospel to see for himself.

Pray for Sal, and the others that I met there that day, that they will come to know Jesus, the Messiah for themselves.

Saturday was full of drama around our house.  David woke up and unlocked the doors to find our guard, Mr. B so sick he couldn’t walk. David took him to a colleague who used to be a nurse. She recommended he be taken to a local clinic for further examination. After trips to two clinics, David was able to find a doctor who knew what he was talking about. He then returned home to have lunch.

After lunch, David went to several pharmacies to fill Mr. B’s prescriptions. When he returned, I went out to open the gate for him and heard our two year old neighbor screaming. His grandma said he put his hand in a pot of boiling sauce. She wanted to know if I could help them. I had no clue about treating burns, so I ran inside and called our colleague. She came over right away and showed me how to treat a burn.

Now the toddler comes to our house every day at 4 o’clock for treatment. I am getting better at cleaning and dressing his wounds, but my hands still shake when I have to pull dead skin off his little hand. He should be totally healed within a week or two, and Mr. B will be well in a few weeks if he takes all his medicine, too.

I’m grateful for opportunities like these to reach out to those around us. It’s fulfilling to share the love of Christ in a tangible way. It also gives me hope that they’ll be more open to the Gospel when my language skills are sufficient to share it with them.

Last Tuesday at the invitation of ‘John’, our home owner, we visited Gar, a village we had never before been to. Gar sits just outside our city and is only a few minutes away by car.

When we entered John’s family compound, we were welcomed by all and immediately given a platter of freshly roasted goat and sheep. I always pray that God will do two things when I find myself in situations like that: 1. That God will help me to swallow the food I eat, and not throw it back up and 2. That I won’t get Montezuma’s revenge from eating raw and undercooked foods. (more…)

Last week, we finished formatting the 2009 Scripture Calendars and sent them to the printer in Conakry.  We expect them to be finished soon and ready for distribution.  This year we are printing 4755 total calendars.  One calendar is in the Susu language, another in Maninka, another in Pular, and the last includes both French and English.  These calendars will be used by over nineteen missions and/or missionary families throughout Guinea as a means of sharing the Gospel.  If each calendar touches ten lives, which is certainly possible if it is hanging in a prominent place in a family home, then these calendars could impact up to 50,000 lives!  The theme for the 2009 calendar is God’s Law and Justification by Faith.  The first ten months each deal with one of the Ten Commandments.  The last two months are drawn from Romans 3, and explain the purpose of God’s Law (to reveal our sinfulness and need for a Savior) and God’s provision of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.  The calendars include artwork for each month illustrating the teaching of the verse.  Please pray that there would be no problems with the printing of these calendars.  Pray that God would use them greatly to share the Gospel with thousands of people throughout Guinea.

Our latest newsletter is available to read online.  Click on the “Newsletters” link to the right to access our fall newsletter.  If you do not know the password, click on the “Latest News” link above and scroll down to the “Request a Password” form.  We keep our newsletters confidential for the protection of other Christian workers.

For the past week, we have been in the country of Ghana.  We came to Ghana for a Pioneers Area Conference with other Pioneers missionaries from West Africa.  We have had a wonderful time here.

Ghana is a wonderful country.  The influence of Christianity is very strong here.  On Sunday, we went to a church that had a huge sanctuary.  In all their services, they probably have close to five thousand people who attend.  Ghanaian Christianity is very vibrant and lively.  The influence of Christianity is strong in the community.  As you drive down the road, you see that many businesses have Christian names.  For example, you might find “The Lord is My Shepherd Hair Salon,” “In Jesus Name Car Parts,”  “The Glory of the Lord Shop,”  and many more like that.  It is quite a refreshing change from our life in Guinea, a country that is nearly completely Muslim.

One day this week, we went on a trip to the city of Cape Coast.  There we visited a national park.  The park had a pathway built through the canopy of the trees high above the ground.  We walked on suspension bridges from treetop to treetop.  After that, we toured Cape Coast Castle.  It was an important center for the slave trade in Ghana.  It was sad to see the cells where slaves were kept as they were waiting to get on boats to North America.

During the conference, we met many other Pioneers missionaries.  We had teaching sessions dealing with various missions topics.  We learned a great deal.  We will be staying in Ghana a few more days and hope to see more of the capital, Accra.

I believe prayer is important.  I believe it impacts ministries, changes lives and is an essential part of our relationship with God.

We frequently post and update praises and prayer requests on our website.  Here are all of our pending prayer requests for this year.  Would you invest in our lives and ministries by bringing these requests to the Lord on our behalf?

September 29, 2008

• Pray for us as we travel home tomorrow
• Pray for us as we will be traveling a great deal the next two weeks
• Pray for us as we apply for entry visas for Ghana.  We are to fly there the second week of October
• Pray for our 2009 calendar project.  There is a paper shortage in Guinea that may create printing problems.
• There is also a cooking gas and toilet paper shortage in Guinea.  Pray that the needs for these items will be met.

September 25, 2008

• Pray that we will return home from vacation rested and ready to face the 5 month journey ahead of us before returning to the States in March for our home assignment.

August 30, 2008

• Pray for the Muslim world as Ramadan begins on Monday, September 1
• Pray for the safety of our house and car when we travel

July 16, 2008

• Pray for our financial support level as we will lose a large financial supporter this fall

July 10, 2008

• Pray for David as he works on a translation project.
• Pray for our neighbors who come in contact with Billie through our garden.

June 27, 2008

• Pray for language learning
• Pray for a neighbor girl who is thought to be demon possessed
• Pray for God to reveal His role for us in reaching the Fulbe for Christ
• Pray for unity and a passion for evangelism among local believers
• Pray for extra time and energy to complete administrative and personal tasks

June 9, 2008

• Pray for Georgia as she continues French language studies in the US

May 26, 2008

• Pray for our language study
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon our lives and our ministries

April 29, 2008

• Pray against further theft of items in our home and car. Last week someone broke into our compound at night, during a rain storm, cut the fuel line on our car and tried to steal gas.
• Pray for Georgia as she has still not recovered from a fall on ice before she left the States
• Pray for David as he sets up all the solar/electrical equipment for our homes and office

April 6, 2008

• Pray for energy to complete all that we have to do each day

March 26, 2008

• Pray that we would be energetic and productive in language study and ministry.
• Pray for God to send more long-term team members to join our team.
• Pray for the ongoing translation work of Scripture and Bible lessons into Pular.

February 8, 2008

• Pray for opportunities to share despite growing opposition to our message
• Pray against the escalating spiritual attacks on us and our colleagues

January 16, 2008

• Pray as we continue to learn Pular
• Pray for us as we seek opportunities to share Bible stories with Mr. B. We plan to share the story of the Wise Men with him this week.
• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we live and work in this spiritually oppressed place