Mayl 2004

18 April 2004

Dearest Partners in Christ,

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. -- Psalm 48:14

I realize this update is early...okay, please don't faint! But as I mentioned, we will be gone from late April through late May, and I did not want the MNK to miss out on your continuing ministry of prayer. So, please hang on to this until May!

MNK women are an interesting lot. On one hand, they are subservient and abused; on the other, they are strong personalities who will speak up at the slightest provocation. Through it all, however, they are kept in ignorance and fear of the things of God. Please pray for all the "Bintas" among the MNK; pray that they will desire to know God and to proclaim with the Psalmist: For this God is our God for ever and ever!

As always, anything we can do to enable you to pray more effectively for the MNK is our joy and our privilege. Do not hesitate to ask.

PS We will be checking email during our vacation, but I may be even slower than normal in responding; thank you for your understanding. We will be visiting with friends, our parents, and our son and his wife; we thank God for this opportunity.

MNK Update, May 2004

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 18:3

When Binta was born, she had no name for the first seven days of her life. Within an hour of her birth, though, she was wrapped up tightly and taken to the alimaamoo, the MNK Islamic prayer leader. This man whispered and literally spit these words into little Binta’s ears: There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet…May God give you a long life…May God grant you success and prosperity…May God bless you with many children. At the end of this session, he uttered the traditional benediction: Honor the messenger – Mohammed. Within hours of her birth, her grandmother and aunts and other women began to place saafoolu, or charms, on her body for protection; notice the one around this little girl’s neck.

On the 7^th day following Binta’s birth, she was finally given her name. At the exact moment that her name was being whispered into her ear, her head was shaved and the throat of a goat was slit. And the same blessings flowed all over again. This is how an MNK becomes a Muslim.

When Binta was seven, she was awakened in the middle of the night and taken out to the bush along with all her young (female) friends. She was physically circumcised. After several days, the old women began teaching Binta new songs. These songs taught her how to be an MNK woman; how to behave in society, how to treat men, how to treat her husband, how to treat her father, her uncles, her sons…Binta was taught to distrust men completely. Now, Binta was an MNK woman!

Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. – Ephesians 5:33

Binta was taught to respect her husband, but not to trust him, not to love him, and never to allow him to know her secrets. Her father is in the final stages of selecting a husband for Binta. She really has no choice in this matter, but for Binta, that is normal. Her father will agree to the marriage proposal of a man whom he believes will take care of Binta well, or perhaps he will agree because the bride price is right. What Binta wonders is if she will be wife #1, #2, #3 or #4! Regardless, Binta has no illusions about marriage…how can she?

It is the responsibility of the older women pictured here to advise the younger women, women like Binta, on how to be a good wife…how to take care of your children…how to be a good Muslim woman so that perhaps your husband’s conduct will find you a place in paradise. But there are no guarantees. Still they wait, but without hope.

So, how can Binta come to know the love of God? This is the difficulty of witnessing to MNK women. They have no sense of trust of a father figure, certainly not God, and they cannot comprehend unconditional love…at least, not yet!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

This picture is indicative of Binta’s religious world. She prays with the other women, in the back row, so as not to disturb the men. To our Western sensibilities, this is unconscionable. However, looking with God’s eyes and heart, we see the sadness of His heart that half of his precious creation is restricted from knowing Him.

There are currently four female missionaries working specifically with the MNK in this area; there are a few others working in neighboring countries. But when you consider that we can identify fewer than five female MNK believers, out of a female population of 650,000, the task is daunting. Pray with us that God will draw MNK women to Himself; pray that we will be willing and prepared when Binta comes asking, "What must I do to be saved?"

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:18

As you pray this month, please reread this brief article on women, and pray that God will quicken the hearts of MNK women to desire to know Him and be freed from the lies, fear and bondage of Satan.

For more information, visit our web site at www.mandinkapeople.com

1. Saturday: Thank God for those serving among the MNK who have birthdays this month!

2. Sunday: Ask God to help MNK believers who are persecuted to rely on Him in order to extend His mercy.

3. Monday: Thank God for His protection and care of the prayer-walkers during their time in the villages; thank God that they were able to see His hand moving.

4. Tuesday: Ask God to bless the radio broadcast tomorrow night at 5:00PM EDST: Cain and Abel: The false road and the way of righteousness.

5. Wednesday: Thank God for the MNK Scriptures that are translated; thank Him for those who work so diligently to provide God’s word in Mandinka.

6. Thursday: Ask God to touch the hearts of those non-believers who are involved in Scripture translation; ask Him to not allow them to read one more word without conviction!

7. Friday: Thank God for those missionaries involved in medical care of MNK, especially the care of women; thank Him for the precious few opportunities MNK women have to hear the Gospel.

8. Saturday: Ask God to make us diligent in sharing the Good News.

9. Sunday: Thank God for Godly mothers who desire for their children to know Him; thank God for the privilege and responsibility of raising children.

10. Monday: Ask God to raise up women who will desire to know Him, to follow Him, and to teach their children about Him…to become women of Godly character.

11. Tuesday: Thank God for bizarre opportunities of being a witness for Him, such as dealing with the police following an automobile accident that was clearly the fault of the other driver.

12. Wednesday: Ask God to help MNKs understand the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel; ask Him to clarify tonight’s broadcast: Unrepentant Cain.

13. Thursday: Thank God for MNK wedding ceremonies and baby naming ceremonies; these give us opportunities to interact with our neighbors as well as come to a better understanding of MNK culture.

14. Friday: Ask God to draw unto Himself those MNK women suffering from HIV/AIDS; among the MNK, this disease is usually passed from husband to wife.

15. Saturday: Thank God for the mental capacity to learn a foreign language!

16. Sunday: Ask God to intervene on behalf of MNK children who are forced to memorize the Qur’an in Arabic, yet have no clue as to the meaning of what they are learning; ask God to allow that energy to be channeled into memorizing His Word.

17. Monday: Thank God for Christian teachers who work in local government schools; thank Him for the Bible studies they have outside the classroom.

18. Tuesday: Ask God to enable Christian teachers from other tribes to have a positive influence on MNK students.

19. Wednesday: Thank God for tonight’s radiobroadcast on the Prophet Enoch; ask God to help MNKs understand how Enoch was able to walk with God in a sinful society.

20. Thursday: Ask God to draw to Himself those men and women who sell the saafoolu (charms); ask Him to reveal Satan’s power in that enterprise.

21. Friday: Thank God for the beauty of His creation that surrounds MNKs every day of their lives; thank Him that His majesty is proclaimed through the songs of birds.

22. Saturday: Ask God to give the MNK the ability to see God at work in the world around them, though they struggle daily just to survive.

23. Sunday: Thank God for the way in which He communicates with His creation!

24. Monday: Ask God to visit MNK men and women through dreams; ask Him to cause them to be unsettled by these dreams; ask Him to push them to consult Godly men and women for advice.

25. Tuesday: Thank God for opportunities on the prayer walk to distribute Scripture to interested persons; thank God for the adult literacy classes which are taking place.

26. Wednesday: Ask God to allow the radio message tonight to be broadcast with power and without interruption; ask Him to reveal the truth regarding His patience and His wrath through the Story of Noah.

27. Thursday: Thank God for the prayers written in Arabic script/MNK language which were left with village leaders during the prayer walk; ask God to bless the reading of His Word.

28. Friday: Ask God to work with those who were prayed for during the recent three-day prayer walk.

29. Saturday: Thank God for the hospitality – place to sleep, water to bathe with, and food to eat – extended to our prayer-walkers.

30. Sunday: Ask God to bless those who "entertained strangers"; ask Him to reveal that these men of God were sent in His Holy Name.

31. Monday: Thank God for the sacrifice missionaries make to proclaim the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.