Fulbe Fula Jalon of Mali

 

Fulbe Fula Jalon of Mali 

The Fulbe Fula Jalon [FULL-bay FOO-la ja-LONE] are a nomadic people originating in the Futa Jalon region flowing from Guinea into southwestern Mali. These Fulbe live in an area not easily accessible due to mountainous terrain and ravines flooded during rainy season. They often walk alone or with a couple of shepherds traveling miles a day through treacherous areas before finding suitable places for their herds. Recently, a worker was leading worship among a neighboring people and two Fula Jalon men appeared standing in the background. Later, the worker approached the men and discovered they were seeking truth. Praise the Lord these two men, wandering in the dark, heard the voice of One calling out to them.


Pray:

· that other Fula Jalon who are wandering in this difficult-to-reach region will hear God’s voice and be led through the wilderness and into salvation.

· that those who have found truth will go back and tell others this good news.

· for God to send workers who are willing to become nomads for the sake of bringing more Fula Jalon to salvation.

 

“A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight! Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low; the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth, and everyone will see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:4–6 HCSB) 

This little light of mine....

Perhaps you remember that song we sang as children “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…… hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine….

Right now, God is giving believers all over the world the opportunity to shine for Him.  Are we going to hide our light under a bushel or are we going to let His light shine through us to those who need to know Him?

When the coronavirus started coming to Africa recently, I began to think of ways we could help the community near our home.  One thing we needed to consider was how we could help, yet, obey the government and our leaders.  I hired two local tailors from this community to make face masks.  Then I bought 170 bars of anti-bacterial soap.  We had brochures printed which had hand-washing instructions from the CDC on it plus a gospel presentation on the back.  I met with 5 leaders in our local, Kenyan church who were willing to deliver these items to those who were vulnerable in the community; older people, those who were already sickly, boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers, and those who sell vegetables in the market.  We also sent some items to a community center that reaches out to Alcoholics, drug addicts, and thieves.  Then lastly, we took some of these things to the small, local hospital.  These leaders in our church delivered these items and shared the gospel as they went.  I have not heard a final report from everyone but so far 110 people and some of their families have heard the gospel and 16 have prayed to receive Christ. 

One of the team members reported that many people heard the gospel; some were already believers, some were not ready, and then some were ready to follow Jesus.  It reminds me of the parable in Luke 8 where the sower went out to sow seed. Some of the seed fell along the path.  Some fell on rocky ground, and then some fell among thorns.  Then other seed fell on good soil.  It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than what was sown.

Then the next verse after this parable says, “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.” 

How are you letting your light shine?

Prayer Requests:

-Pray that this Baptist Church would be a light in this community. Pray that when this virus is over, people would remember the kindness and compassion they saw from this church and desire to join the church and come to know the Lord.

-As the 5 groups from the church are going out into the community to give out these items and share the gospel pray that their conversations would be fruitful. That people will desire to be born again and that all would be encouraged as they might be struggling with fear and anxiety.

-Pray there would be good follow-up with everyone who is being shared with when this virus is over.

  

As we were waiting at the tailors for some face masks my friend taught the kids the proper way to wash their hands.  I love this video of this sweet little girl doing a demonstration for us and singing a song to make sure she washed her hands long enough.

 

A tailor from our church made some of the face masks.

 

 The pastor from the community center took some soap to the boda-boda taxi drivers stations and shared the gospel.

We were getting so many made we hired another tailor in the community to help.

 Here are the ones in our church who went out into the community to distribute the items and share the gospel.

 

 I was able to take some clothes collected from our m. colleagues in Nairobi plus some soap and face masks to a community center.

 

 Look at all those face masks!

  

 donating soap at a hand-washing station

 donated clothes from our m. colleagues in Nairobi

 

 These items were given out in the market to those who sell vegetables.

 

Rodgers' Reflections- part 2

Mark 5-6 CSB

Again chapter 6 of Mark is filled with so many amazing things. In the middle of the chapter is the story of the feeding of the 5000. We often focus on that story in isolation but it happens in a context. The chapter starts out with Jesus’ rejection in His hometown. The bible actually uses the word “amazed” when it says that Jesus was amazed at their unbelief. Then there is the sending out of the 12 and their success at preaching, driving out demons and healing people. Then the story of the murder of John the Baptist, who was the “cousin” of Jesus. Matthew 14:13 tells us that after Jesus heard about his murder he withdrew to a lonely place to pray. Mark says this coincided with the return of the apostles from their ministry trip. Think of this; the context of this story is Jesus dealing with grief, rejection, and weariness from constant ministry.

Yet, as He tries to get away from the crowds, the crowds follow; not because they loved Him but because they wanted something from Him whether it be healing, food or whatever. However, instead of becoming angry, the bible says “He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.” In Matthew’s account, it says that “he began to heal their sick.” He never stopped preaching, teaching and healing. Despite His personal needs and His personal struggles, Jesus always looked past Himself to see the needs of others. I think this is extremely instructive for us in this current challenge. We need to take precautions with this virus and we need to obey the law and be careful. However, we do not need to get so wrapped up in self-protection that we forget the needs of those who are suffering around us. Typically, when we focus too much inward, we neglect what is happening all around us.

Consider His disciples. When confronted with His command to feed the 5000+ people, they looked at Him incredulously and gave the standard Baptist excuses for why they couldn’t help: 1) It is a bad place, 2) It is a bad time, 3) We don’t have enough money (resources). I, unfortunately, hear these same excuses used time and time again in our churches (which is why I love to call them Baptist excuses… and why I am convinced those first disciples were Baptist 😊). How many times have we failed to do what Jesus told us to do and blamed it on the place?... “these people or this location is the problem.” How many times have we failed to do what Jesus told us to do and blamed it on the time?... “well this lockdown is a bad time, or things aren’t conducive to ministry right now.” Yet, we often weren’t doing it before things got bad and we probably won’t start once it gets better. How many times have we failed to do what Jesus told us to do and blamed it on money?... “we just don’t have the resources right now, maybe when things get better.” These three excuses have always been there, but the disciples looked at the creator of the Universe and said “this place is too desolate,” and they looked at the author of eternity and said, “it is already late,” and they looked at the owner of everything and said, “we don’t have enough denarii.”

Like most of us these days, the disciples looked at themselves and their circumstances and saw all the reasons why they couldn’t minister to others. Instead, they should have been looking at the source of all things who was standing in their midst and leaned into Him to use them to minister to others. After everything was said and done, Jesus met the needs of everyone with the little that they had available and there was even a great surplus left over. What is God asking you to do in these days, and what are the excuses you are making for not doing it? Isn’t He bigger than every one of those excuses?

Blessings in Christ,

Kevin W. Rodgers

Rodgers' Reflections-part 1

Mark 5-6 CSB

Mark 5 and 6 are probably my two favorite chapters in all of Mark, and there is just so much to talk about. I’ve been wondering how I would boil it down to a single devotion and realized I just can’t. 😊 With your permission, I will do two today (part 1 and part 2). Perhaps this will make up for another day I miss.

Mark 5 has three amazing stories all packed together into one chapter: The deliverance of the Gerasene demonic, The healing of the woman with an issue of blood, and the rising from the dead of Jairus’ daughter. In a single chapter, Mark recounts Jesus’ power over Satan, over Sickness and over Death. It is a powerful vignette that helps us see who Jesus really is and what He is all about. I love Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac, because he gives so many details. He talks about how this man lived in the tombs (likely subsisting on the flesh of rotting corpses), how he had superhuman strength and could not be bound with chains, how he was always crying out in the wilderness and cutting himself with stones, and how everyone in the entire region feared him.

Yet, the one thing this man feared (or better said the thousands of demons inside him feared) was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I have dealt with demon possession many times here in Africa and while every situation is different, there are always some commonalities. We cast them out by the power of Jesus and not by our power, shouting, wisdom or anything else. Also, demons are very evil and very clever. If you read the passage carefully you see that they were resisting Jesus and trying to debate with Him; even trying to bargain with Him. I have seen this many times where demons try to change the subject, trick you or make it all about something else and not about submitting to the authority of Jesus. In the end, they were no match for Jesus and he cast them into the pigs. Even when they thought they had won, as the pigs rush down the steep bank you see the demons actually lost.

But what I think is more shocking in this chapter than the power of Jesus and the wiles of the enemy, is the depravity and hypocrisy of people. So many characters are mentioned in this one chapter that it makes your head spin. There are the people who witnessed the deliverance of the demoniac. Rather than rejoice that the demoniac they feared was now changed, or worship the Messiah, they begged Jesus to go away because they were scared of His power and angry with Him for destroying their pigs. There are the crowds that pressed around Jesus, not because they loved Him but because they wanted something from Him. Yet, they were willing to stand in the way of a poor unclean woman who needed to get to the Savior. Some tried to convince Jairus to despair and leave Jesus alone because his daughter had already died… and there were the mourners at his house who were crying one minute (because they were paid to) and then laughing the next when Jesus suggested she would live again.

We see Jesus ministering in a world that was religious and yet confused, broken and resistant to truth. It reminds me a lot of what I see every day when I go outside my gate. I wonder how Jesus wasn’t constantly frustrated and annoyed with the sinfulness, the selfishness, the faithlessness and the hypocrisy of everyone He met (even His disciples). It is enough to drive a well-meaning missionary to despair. But, then, those are not the only characters in the chapter. Consider the former demoniac whose first reaction was to follow Jesus and Jesus (shockingly) said “No,” and sent him to be the first missionary to Decapolis and the ten cities heard the gospel from his lips. Consider the woman who had faith enough to break every social and religious barrier to get close enough to Him to touch the hem of his garment and be healed. Consider Jairus who after hearing the word that his daughter had died, looked Jesus in the eye and heard him say, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” And he did, and he received his daughter back from the dead that day. Ministry in this world is tough, ministry at this time in history (especially with COVID-19) is exhausting, but Jesus is on the throne. Even though there are many people out there who don’t get it and who won’t respond, there are still those out there who understand their need and who will respond. He is always at work around us. Instead of despairing, let's lift our eyes and see where He is moving amid the chaos.

Blessings in Christ,

Kevin W. Rodgers