A Reposting

I just saw this post on the "Seeking the Songhai" blog that I follow! I thought you all might like to read it--I know I enjoyed it! If you'd like to keep up with the missionaries me and Emily stayed with this summer, you can read their blog too! It's... http://seekingthesonghai.blogspot.com/

Ok, read on! :)

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"God's Sheep Hear His Voice"

If you've sat through our on-field orientation then you are familiar with the title of this blog. Our ministry philosophy is summed up in two presuppositions:

1) God's sheep hear His voice
2) Wide sowing equals wide reaping.

Practically this simply means that we speak the name of Jesus boldly and often in places it's never been spoken and to people who've never heard it.

These came about from years of ministry among the Songhai and seeing the same words being received differently. As we shared Christ in a group, there would be 2 who got up and left, 2 who ignored us, and 2 who were acting as if they were hearing the voice of their Father! We shouldn't be surprised by this. In fact, these presuppositions are nothing new and are based on Jesus' parable of the sower. The point is that our job is to share the name of Jesus and trust God for the fruit.

I am writing this after seeing it displayed on two separate occasions in two different villages.

*Sam in Boubon:
We had the first believer in Boubon accept Christ a few weeks before the May Living Hope team came. One of our national partners had led him to Christ and our LH team spent the week discipling him. We were all amazed at how fast he was growing. He is almost 60 years old and he can read. These are two things that separate him from 90% of our other believers. After the team left we got the whole story about Sam.

He told us that around 20 years ago he had some interaction with a Nigerian Christian in Niamey. This man didn't really share his faith with Sam but he did give him a New Testament. So for 20 years Sam has been reading this New Testament but not really understanding it. Then we sent 2 national partners to Boubon to live for 3 months.

As one of them was walking by Sam's house, Sam called out to him and said, "Why are you here?' Our partner was a little worried he'd run across an iman or maribou who wanted to pick a fight. But our partner answered boldly "I've come to tell people about Jesus, the Messiah." Sam's heart leapt as he said, "Please come tell me about him, I've been waiting for 20 years to understand who Jesus is." Sam became a new creation that day.

David in Kouli Kwaara:
We've spent the past week in KK painting a clinic but also sharing in the village. There have been some obvious attacks on our group and our time. Yesterday, our two translators were not able to go out in the village and story so my initial thought was, "Let's just hit the clinic really hard and finish the painting." However, I asked if some of the group wanted to story and they said, "Yes," so off we went. I had seen a group of women and children (since most the men were out farming) and was heading to talk to them. But a man came to us out of his compound and was greeting us.

We went through the typical greetings and I was still planning on going to the women's group when he said, "Wa kokari," which means something like "take courage" or maybe more appropriately "you're really doing something good here." He said, "You need to change the children [this generation] with your message, they need to hear it." I responded that he was right but that he too needed this message.

His eyes sort of lit up and he scurried into his house to produce a mat for us to sit on. He called all his children onto the mat to listen to our story. You could just see each of the words sinking into his heart. When we got towards the end he exclaimed, "I believe, I want Jesus!" This 56 year old man became a new creation yesterday. He said that he would now lead his whole family to find salvation in Jesus as well. He said he'd been waiting for 3 years for someone to explain the story of Jesus to him after receiving a cassette that many years ago.

So why do Sam and David respond to the Gospel when so many others don't? I don't know.
Why did God use the same dream 4 nights in a row to call Ibrahim but not Alassan? I don't know.
I don't know how God's sovereignty and human responsibility work together but that's sort of the way mysteries work: they're mysterious.

But one thing I've learned in 5 years of ministry among the Songhai is that God's sheep hear His voice. The only problem is that there aren't enough people looking for those sheep. How many more have waited 3 years or 20 years for someone to come and tell them about Jesus. Will you be one of the ones to carry the name of Jesus to those who've never heard?

Sweet Home Kentucky!

I'M BAAAAACK! :)

I've been back in the States for a little over a week now and it's been incredibly bittersweet.

It was so wonderful to arrive at the Louisville Airport Sunday night and be surprised by so many friends that were all anxious to welcome us back with lots of hugs and CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES!! :) And I've so enjoyed getting to spend time with some of my very best friends, catching up on life and eating all the American food I can get my hands on! I loved getting to talk to my Aunt ON THE PHONE--not just over email! And I'm also keeping busy with moving into my new apartment with two of my best friends! Needless to say, I'm really excited about this new change! :)

But I've missed Africa so much. I miss the people mostly... I've already cried my eyes out in my first breakdown, struggled with jet lag, and dealt with many weird experiences and emotions. For instance, I freaked out (in a good way!) the first time I realized I could put dishes in a dishwasher (as opposed to filling up two buckets with soapy water and bleach and scrubbing and drying everything by hand.) I'm not usually so attached to my dishwasher, I promise! Or, there have been many times when people will say things in English to me and I won't comprehend it for a second--it takes a moment to process that I actually understand what they're saying. And of course, thanks to my henna "tattoos", five guys with ear gauges have hit on me since yesterday. Little do they know that I have about ten guys in Africa are expecting me to come back and marry them. The ear gauge men will be sorely disappointed I'm sure. ;)

America is strange. And all these emotions are strange.
But I've missed home. :)

When I talked to my Aunt, she encouraged me to write a follow up of sorts to conclude this blog. I'd really love to share with you all the lessons that I came to learn this summer and just write a little bit about what God has changed in my life.

At the moment, I'm not near my journal (which is key to helping me phrase this last blog post) but I figured I could let you all know that you can be on the lookout for the final post!

Thank you for reading this blog. I hope you realize that by reading this account, you were able to share in one of the most important milestones of my life. (That's a big deal to me!) I love you all and it means the world to me that you cared enough to keep up with my life this summer. I pray that God took my words and made them truly mean something to you...I hope they'll stay in your hearts for a very long time. :)

No TIme To Waste!

I don't have much time to write, but I thought I should send a quick update from the other side of the world!

God has blessed us in so many ways over the past week or so, concerning sharing the Gospel with the Songhai. Since we don't have the language capabilities yet, Emily and I have been playing recorded cassettes with the Gospel message in Zarma for groups of women. Some of them seem interested, so please pray that as we finish our time here we are able to communicate clearly with these particular women and find out exactly what their thoughts are! Thankfully, we'll be having our translator back with us for a couple of days, so she'll be a HUGE help in communicating with them! We're SO excited for the opportunity to have more in-depth conversations about Jesus!!!

I'm struggling with mixed feelings about our time here coming to an end. I wish with all my heart that I could stay, but the responsibilities waiting for me back in the States are constantly in the back of my mind. Please pray for me, that I will use the rest of my time here wisely, and that I will be able to begin to adjust to the idea of coming back to a life in the U.S.

Before I go, here are a couple more names of some women that you can be in prayer for:
~Mariama 1, Alima, and Alima's Mom (neighbors of the Foxes)
~Mariama 2, her sister, their Mom, Baby Luke, Fati, and the rest of their compound (neighbors of the believer)
~Mariama 3, her children, and her compound (more neighbors of the Foxes)

(Yeah, I know, everyone here is named Mariama...I'M even named Mariama!! Haha!)

Thanks once again for all your prayers and support! We love you all! Kala Tonton!