February 2004 - Posts

• Gift of a Holy Son

  The answer was there all along I was visiting with a pastor in a rural area of Ghana. I asked him how his day had gone and he said, "Great." I asked him why and he said because he had led a person to faith in Christ that morning. I asked him how that happened and he said he simply used the Koran. Now intrigued I asked him how he had done that and he explained. "The man came to me this morning because his daughter was in our school. He was having difficulties paying for his school fees and wanted to talk about that. After concluding that matter, I asked if he knew that the Koran talked about Jesus. He said he did. Then I asked if he knew what Sura 19:19-21 says.  We read it together. In part it says that God ‘announced the gift of a holy son...and appoints him as a sign.’ So I told the man that in the Koran God says that his son is a sign for people. I asked him if he believed that God's son was a sign like the Koran says. He said he did. Next we read Sura 3:55 that says in part that Allah (God) said ‘I will make those who follow, thee, (Jesus) superior, to those who reject faith.’ So I asked the man if he believed that following Jesus was better than not believing and again he said yes. Finally I took him to Sura 57:26 that says, "We sent Noah and Abraham...and established in their line prophets and revelations."  So I explained that Jesus indeed in the Koran is in the line of Noah and Abraham, came to reveal God and that those who place their faith in Jesus are better than those who do not believe. He was ready to believe and prayed with me to place his faith in Christ." Posted Feb 06 2004, 02:00 AM by Transformed

• Heaven is Dancing! (Luke 15:10)

  A life changed We hired a substitute guard named Diatta ("jah-tah"). He works the Friday night shift. One evening he surprised us by saying he was an Animist. This began a significant conversation as we told him what the Bible says. He said that he had talked to Christians before, but one thing he didn’t understand was how one could be sure that the Bible was the reliable Word of God. I had translated a very convincing article on that very subject so we gave this to Diatta and he suddenly became extremely interested in what the Bible had to say. We gave him a book to read that provides a good overview of the Bible’s message, and each week he would ask me questions about what he had read. When he finished that, we gave him a Gospel of Luke. Again, each week he would return with more questions, but he no longer asked, “How do I know this is true?” Then we gave him a booklet of Romans. We noticed that his questions were often quite insightful, and portrayed a real desire to understand the truth. Eventually, I asked Diatta if he wanted to study the Bible with me once a week. Diatta surprised us one day by telling me he wanted to be baptized! I wasn’t sure he really understood all the implications of that, so the following week we studied what the Bible teaches about baptism. Diatta was more determined than ever to be baptized. I suggested that since Diatta was sure of this decision that maybe he should tell God about it in prayer. I purposely did not prompt him in any way about what or how to pray, wanting to see just how much Diatta understood of real faith in Jesus. To my surprise, Diatta prayed a perfect “sinner’s prayer” in his own words! I was now sure that Diatta knew Jesus. While continuing the weekly Bible studies, I contacted a local Senegalese pastor about the possibility of Diatta being baptized and joining his church. In an amazing answer to prayer, this pastor was enthusiastic about welcoming Diatta and mentoring him. Diatta has been attending that church and loves it. He continues to devour the Word. He is already witnessing to his family and friends. Posted Feb 06 2004, 02:00 AM by Transformed

• The Fruit of Faithful Gifts

  A woman in need finds hope A Fulani woman came to see Diane Eliason, nurse practitioner at the Baptist Hospital in Ferkessedougou, Côte d'Ivoire. The Fulani live in much of West Africa and are a people group who have not yet embraced Christianity in large numbers. The woman was pregnant and weak. And yet Diane noticed that she was a pretty woman. She had the typical beads and jewelry of the Fulani too. Diane asked her if she had come from far away. The response was that it wasn't far, just a three hours walk. Tests showed that her hemoglobin was low. She really needed a transfusion. Diane hoped that she had come with someone who might be able to give blood. She was alone.  Transfusions at about $20 a unit, a fraction of the cost in the United States but still very expensive for most people coming to the hospital. Diane has a fund to help in such cases. Diane explained to the weak woman that even though she did not have the money for the needed treatment that she was special in God's eyes, that God loves her, and that God had prompted Christians in America to give in Christ's name so that Diane could allow the woman to have her needed transfusion. A week later the woman was back at the clinic where Diane works. She had come again, three hours walk, for another check up and with a sister. But she had come with more. The Fulani woman explained to Diane that her father had killed a cow, taken the meat to the market and given her the $20 so that she could repay Diane and the hospital for the cost of last week's transfusion. Diane's heart was torn as the tests came back again that the woman needed another transfusion.  Again she explained God's love for the woman and gave her again the transfusion needed without payment, because of the generosity of Christians in America and the faithful work of medical people in northern Côte d'Ivoire. Posted Feb 06 2004, 02:00 AM by Transformed

• The Power of Changed Lives

  People hungry for the truth Twenty-five years ago a Roman Catholic priest came to the village of Nangoula not far from where we live in southern Mali. A number of the men of the village decided to believe in the God that the priest talked about. Unfortunately the priest didn't return to teach the people. So when the men of Nangoula, now older men, heard that we were not far away, they sent for them so that they could learn more about the God they believed in. The Nangoula village surprised everyone. The 6th grad students took the exam that they must pass in order to enter 7th grade. Normal passing rate is about 75 to 80 percent. But 96 percent passed. Of their 50 students only one did not pass and that student was a dumb-mute. The village was thrilled with the results. When the villages around heard about the success rate of the Nangoula children they wanted to know what type of sorcery or what charm or magic they had used so that their children learned so well. The village told the others that they made a covenant with God giving him the children in their village and asking God to bless them in their school studies. They believed their children's success in school was a direct blessing by God on their children because of their prayers. While studying at Denver Seminary, God laid southern Mali on our hearts. Now we are working there and finding remarkable openness to the gospel among the Supire, a Senoufo people who tend to be animists or spirit worshipers. Mali has 33 spoken languages. Of those languages only four have more than 1 percent believers in Christ. There are 11 languages that have no missionaries working among them at all.  Posted Feb 06 2004, 02:00 AM by Transformed

• The True Shield and Protector

  A bodyguard can quickly respond to an attack from any direction, agile and attentive, while the person they guard moves ahead with life. I will never forget Moise, one of my language helpers, sharing with me a story that illustrates the shield of the bodyguard. A sorceress was asked to put a curse on a young woman in her village who had come to Christ. She mixed her "medicaments" and approached the woman's hut during the night, but found her way barred by some invisible barrier. So the next night she re-mixed the potion and approached from another direction, but found a barrier there as well; the next night the same, and so on. When Moise heard her testimony at a conference this experience led her to get to know this Jesus who was taking such care of his devoted one—the sorceress had become a believer! God is our protector, our shield, our helper. Posted Feb 06 2004, 02:00 AM by Transformed