"Is this what it was like when Jesus walked the earth?”, I found myself wondering many times as I walked the dusty village of Dargol and Tera. Day after day, our small team walked through the village streets surrounded by the tall walls of each family’s compound. It reminded me of a maze in a carnival where you made turn after turn, not quite sure where the next turn would lead you. One such street, so very narrow, vividly reminded me of Jesus walking the roads of Jerusalem.
As the little children seemed to come from every direction and run toward us, they would begin to follow us wherever we went. Before long, we would have twenty or more kids walking with us. On three occasions, our team stopped in the shade and used a story cloth to tell stories. As it would near the time to walk back to the compound to begin discipling a few women believers in the village, it was very hard to tell the children goodbye each day. Tears would come to my eyes as we could see the children’s feet under the gate as they stood outside hoping to spend more time with us.
During our brief time here in Niger, we truly saw our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in action. We came along beside our missionaries as a source of encouragement to them and the Songhai believers. It was a powerful thing to see with our own eyes what our gifts given over the years to the annual Christmas Offering had accomplished. The believers we discipled had a good knowledge of the Bible. Why? Because the missionaries that are here before us and those that we are leaving behind have done a wonderful work.
I have been blessed beyond measure to see my monetary gift to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in action. But a stark reality hit me right in the face. Each day as we traveled between Dargol and Tera, we saw many small villages along the way. It broke our hearts as we wondered “who will come and tell those people about Jesus?” We have a great commission to “go and tell”. Who will come behind us as volunteers? Who will provide the monetary means for more career missionaries to come to this region?
Will you come? Will you provide the means for someone else to come? There is a wonderful Songhai team of missionaries here that need you.
As the little children seemed to come from every direction and run toward us, they would begin to follow us wherever we went. Before long, we would have twenty or more kids walking with us. On three occasions, our team stopped in the shade and used a story cloth to tell stories. As it would near the time to walk back to the compound to begin discipling a few women believers in the village, it was very hard to tell the children goodbye each day. Tears would come to my eyes as we could see the children’s feet under the gate as they stood outside hoping to spend more time with us.
During our brief time here in Niger, we truly saw our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in action. We came along beside our missionaries as a source of encouragement to them and the Songhai believers. It was a powerful thing to see with our own eyes what our gifts given over the years to the annual Christmas Offering had accomplished. The believers we discipled had a good knowledge of the Bible. Why? Because the missionaries that are here before us and those that we are leaving behind have done a wonderful work.
I have been blessed beyond measure to see my monetary gift to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in action. But a stark reality hit me right in the face. Each day as we traveled between Dargol and Tera, we saw many small villages along the way. It broke our hearts as we wondered “who will come and tell those people about Jesus?” We have a great commission to “go and tell”. Who will come behind us as volunteers? Who will provide the monetary means for more career missionaries to come to this region?
Will you come? Will you provide the means for someone else to come? There is a wonderful Songhai team of missionaries here that need you.
Pam
Second Baptist Church
Lancaster, SC
November 2008
Second Baptist Church
Lancaster, SC
November 2008
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