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A year ago I learned from one of our night guards that he had decided to begin attending church, thereby aligning himself with the Christians. I was glad, but also concerned because I didn’t think he understood what “becoming a Christian” meant.
If he was putting his faith in going to church, he was in trouble. It occurred to me that others were probably in the same boat. I began to contemplate options for reaching these and others with the plan of God for their redemption—and what it really means to be a Christian.
About that time, I received a document in French that presents THE PLAN in chronological order, beginning with God and creation and progressing carefully through Scripture until the coming of Christ and his work on the cross. I didn’t think I had a good enough command of the language (Cebaara) to do the teaching myself, so I asked this guard and others for names of various ones who might help me, and I got three helpers.
There was no point in trying to begin during rainy season or harvest, so we picked January to start. We started in February. We meet three times a week: Sundays, Mondays and Wednesday—when nothing else conflicts with it, like funerals or rain. Everyone is invited—believers and unbelievers. We meet under the trees in the chief’s courtyard—a neutral place. About 40 adults come. In the beginning, we did two lessons a night so that we would be able to finish before rainy season, but the people started coming later and later, so we are only doing one lesson per night.
They people appear open to hearing God's message. We will be faithful in presenting God's Word and look forward to seeing the transforming power of God's Word in the their lives.
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