What is our role in this.  1) Keep praying. The mustard seed prayers daily go up for the Mehanna Road and we have seen answers to prayers in 2009.  A first believer in village Y; seekers and persecution in village K; Abdourahman joining Lawally on the road; new discipleship methods pioneered by our teams and disciplers; many new folks at First Hurst stepping out on faith to go to Niger and minister, the list goes on and on.

2) Keep on going.  First Hurst has become such a wholistic Acts 1:8 church with strong mission ministries locally and globally that we joke "you don't have to go to Africa to be a missionary!"  This is true, but someone has to go.  The bottom line is even in many place our church does ministry the people that are seeking can find the gospel. Most can read; many have computers; most even have born-again churches nearby.  In Niger on the Mehanna there are NONE of these.  Most cannot read.  They have little to no access to media; there are NO churches.  They are truly lost.  This breaks my heart and gives me passion to keep on going.  Jesus said in Luke 10 verse 2 "the Harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harves field. Go!"  This verse and others don't specifically say pray for the lost - God wants them to be saved and is extending the Gospel to them. It says pray for workers - i.e. the Church to be the Church - to go.  That is what my prayers are for the Mehanna Road. For workers to be raised up to pray, give and go. 2010 holds such great potentially for blessing for our church and the Songhai on the Mehanna Road. I want to be able to say at the end that God once again found our church and specifically me faithful to the call!!! 

Be encouraged 2009!!!!!  Marc

Post by Marc from Songhai Team (September Update)

I have some information that I would like for you to share with all of the Hurst Church:

 Abdourahaman shared that last week his motor cycle was broken down and they were walking to do visits.  They thought they had timed it right to get back before the rain and had asked God to keep them dry until they were finished.  It started pouring and they were far from the house they were staying in – out in the bush heading back.  Abdourahaman started to complain to Lawaly, does God not know what is happening to us.  He let our motorcycle break down and now He is allowing the rain to come before we can make it home.  Does He not care?  Does He not see what is happening?  They continued on home in the rain, wet and tired from the walk.  Abdourahaman was not happy that all the non believers were home, in their houses not getting wet. It was only he and Lawaly that were out in the rain.  When they got home, they saw that the rains had made the house where they were staying cave in.  If they would have been home, both would have lost their lives.  Lawaly said, “Well, I do guess that God knows and cares where we are.  Look what He just saved us from?”  They both rejoiced in God’s provision.  The village gathered to see the house and began to ask why they had been spared?  Lawaly took the chance to tell how God had promised to be with them ‘even until the end of this age” and many started to understand that these men were bringing truth. 

 Lawaly shared that they are now welcome in every village, by the chief and the people.  He said that the people hold them in great respect.  He said this is because of the work that FBC Hurst has done.  He said that all are talking about the amazing work that you have done in the schools, clinics, shot clinics.  He said that they marvel that white people have come and done the work and that they have given so kindly to each village.  He said that your trips, giving and work have opened the door for the Gospel to be shared along the Mehanna Road. 

 In His Love

 The Songhai Team

On Tuesday, 6/30, we spent part of the day looking for people in Village K with whom we could share the Bible stories, but found few because of the work in the fields. Later in the afternoon, we returned to the school where Abdrouman and I spoke with "Paul" at the school about the gospel. Paul said that he needed to understand more about Jesus because the children in school often asked about the BC/AD division of history. This offered an ideal entry into a discussion of how Jesus was central to all of human history and why He is so central. We gave Paul a French New Testament, a tape with stories from Songhai believers, a set of the John tapes, and a video cassette of the Jesus film in Zarma. He said he had read the New Testament in the past with a nurse who worked in Village K and had gone to university in Niamey next to a church where he also read some of the New Testament.    "Paul", in Village K  

Near the end of the discussion, I asked him what he thought about Jesus and the truth of His claims. He said that he believed that love was very important and that he would need to think more about our discussion. Abdrouman said that this was typical of initial discussions with Songhai about the gospel, and that he and Loualy would follow up with further discussions.

The chief allowed us to show the Jesus film in Village K on Wednesday, the second night we spent in the village. Because we showed it in the evening, many people had returned from their work in the fields. Well over 100 came to see the film based on the gospel of Luke, and translated into their native language. After the film, we passed out more tapes, with some team members being almost mobbed by the crowd seeking these tapes. On our final day we headed north into Village M itself to share the stories with the crowds that had gathered for the market there. The people in M listened attentively to the stories, with crowds pushing for tapes afterward to the extent that Abdrouman was knocked down trying to hand them out.

While we were pressed from every side in many ways while we were there, we have already learned some of what God is doing on the heels of this trip. The tapes had Loualy’s cell phone number on the labels, and five people have already called to discuss the gospel with him. This is a first for our work among the Songhai—those who have heard reaching out to learn more.

I write this less than a month after returning from Village K and other towns along the Mehanna Road. During our time there we experienced Songhai hospitality, a broken-down bush taxi, camping in the village, and having our personal space invaded by crowds in pursuit of gospel tapes.

We painted two of the four classrooms in the Village K school. Cindy Tyndall and Laurie White created beautiful murals of river scenes in both rooms between windows overlooking the Niger River. Each of the three days we worked on the school , Paul, provided us with a traditional lunch of either noodles or rice, and a spicy fish sauce. By the third day he had even found three spoons for eight of us to share. While this sounds primitive by Western standards, he offered us the best his family had, sacrificing food they would otherwise have eaten in a hungry and thirsty land.

Our team shared stories with many people in Kduring the Sunday market day, our first day in the village. These Bible stories focus on the love of God and his forgiveness through Jesus. Breaking into two sub-teams we were able to speak with more than 200 people and distribute tapes that included the gospel of John and stories from Songhai believers. When we returned to share more stories on Tuesday, however, we found the town nearly deserted, with most people having left to plant their crops outside of town because of the rains that arrived shortly before our team. We found the same situation in Village Y the following day.

There are many experiences I could blog about. However, I think what touched me most was Dave Adcox reading from Matthew 25: 35-40 to Chief A.

If anyone is not familiar with this passage, it speaks "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me."

Since the chief has indeed been sick in the past, and now he is better because of our mustard seed prayers, and since he did indeed let us come into his village and Bible story to his people; and since they did indeed feed us three different times at the school we painted; I was overwhelmed with tears running down my cheeks. Since we now know some of the results of our trip, that scene at the school as become even more of a blessing

Email update from Gerri Adcox during June/July 2009 Trip - Village K

I just spoke with Dave, and he said that everything is going very well. They painted almost all day Monday and then spent the night in the village last night. They attempted to story today, but because of the timing of the rain this year, almost everyone was in the fields working. They storied with about 20 women and children today.

 The headmaster of the school has been very gracious and pleased to have them there. Dave spent time with him today, going through the plan of salvation with him, and then gave him a New Testament and a copy of the Jesus film. Dave said that the headmaster was excited to get the New Testament.

 Dave tried all day to find the chief to ask permission to show the Jesus film tomorrow night, but the chief was in his fields all day. The headmaster said he would speak to the chief on Dave’s behalf and tell him how hard Dave tried to find him. The headmaster said, "You have done great work. We are very pleased. The chief will be glad for you to show the film." Please pray that the chief will be as agreeable as the headmaster thinks he will be!

 The team is at the guest house in Niamey tonight, but will return to village K tomorrow morning. Two of them will finish painting the school tomorrow while the other two will go to Village Y (a larger village) and try to story to a larger group.

 They are planning an open house at the school Thursday morning. The chief has already told them that he will be there and will bring his entire council.

 As you can see, they have MANY praises to report! Dave said that no one is sick and everyone is holding up well. The headmaster’s wife has brought lunch to them two days in a row, and they had to eat it in order to not offend her or her husband, but Dave said they all still remain well, which is an answer to prayer. He said to keep praying because he thinks she may keep feeding them. :-)

 Dave said that the murals Cindy painted are beautiful. They have trees, boats, and the river, and at least one of them is painted next to a window that overlooks the river. He has pictures he will share when he returns.

 Dave said that as they painted yesterday, they left their paint supplies outside of the school. At one point, they went outside and the village children were painting their clothes and shoes with the paint! He said that no one seemed to mind, and that it was very entertaining.

 Thank you for your prayers. Dave said that the entire team feels the presence of God and appreciates all of the prayers that are being lifted on their behalf.

 Gerri

"I first thank God for all that He did for us on the Mehanna Road. We started with visiting all the believers, praying for them, visiting their families and encouraging them. After that, we went out and did evangelism, telling the story, praying and singing. There is one thing that I discovered, that Mehanna Road has been chosen by God." What was amazing is the way the people listened and their desire to know more. They were great with us and welcomed us with open arms. We are praying for three persons who are ready to follow Jesus and our hope is that you will continue to pray with us for the Gospel to spread on the Mehanna Road. Amen, Your Friend Abdourahamane."

Cool - keep on praying!

The temperatures were in the 120's while we were there with only a slight drop below 90 at night.  Jeff and I were able to spend additional time in KK and T while we slept in tents.  Laoualy and our new friend (and Mehanna Road discipler) Abdraman were our translators and guides during the week.  Both are great and we are excited that Abdraman will be partnering with Laoualy along the road.

The Songhai have an oral culture for learning, teaching and storying.  Many of the Songhai are not literate so oral teaching is the easiest and best way to pass along history and learning.  We were privileged to story to about New Testament passages of Jesus birth, the feeding of the 5000, Jesus walking on water and calming the sea, healing the Gesarene demoniac and the story of the master's banquet invitation.  Believers and  non-believers alike welcomed us graciously with their time and resources.  We were able to meet with believers in all three villages we visited, and if we were unable to locate the believer(s) in the village, we simply approached a group of people and asked if we could story to them.  Each time we were welcomed as honored guests.

We were able to teach the Songhai some songs and found that singing is a great way to draw a crowd (as it putting up or taking down sleeping tents).  We attempted to get everyone to enter into a discussion about the teaching segments and ask questions about the storying and teaching time in an effort to generate discussion for a few reasons: 

1. We want to make sure the teaching is fully understood by everyone.  Asking questions to and from the teacher ensures that everyone comprehends the meaning of the lesson.
2. Additional discussion helps the believers gain confidence in their knowledge of the Bible and will hopefully cause them to generate discussions with friends and family around them about their faith.  We want the believers to be more vocal in their beliefs to share Jesus with others.

Historically, teaching involves listening and then leaving.  No discussion time is included after the teaching to ensure comprehension.  By making interactive storying our new teaching method, we hope to strenghten the believers to share what they've learned with others where they live.

Kids are kids no matter where you go.  The kids I saw in Africa are dirty, their teeth are rotting, they haven't eaten anything with nutritional substance for days, if ever, and they constantly have a swarm of gnats and flies following them wherever they go.  Most sleep on the ground - no pillow, no blanket, no favorite stuffed animal.  They attend school sometimes but no one takes them to class, they have no school supplies, and their desks are falling apart.  Yet, amidst all of these things that would make an American child think he was literally about to die, they are the happiest children I have ever had the privilege of meeting.  They fashion toys out of tin cans and sticks.  They ride donkeys and play in the dirt.  They make up songs and take care of each other.  Not being able to communicate with them was the most difficult challenge for me but a simple smile, no words needed, and a wave had the ability to light up every face in the village.  They giggled when we tried to speak their language and oftentimes mocked our accents but their sweet faces only forced us to keep trying if only to make them smile.  They would greet us at the gate every morning and run behind or beside our bus each day as we left.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are PRECIOUS in HIS sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

I'm certain I will never forget the faces of some of the children I met along the Mehanna Road.  I realized that I have so much to learn from them and I pray the Lord will send someone after us to help them understand how special they are and how much they are loved.  I pray that I will learn to live with such joy even in the midst of such dire circumstances.

"I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever... Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts; let them proclaim your power."
Psalm 145:1,3-4