December 20, 2011
Dear Praying Warriors,
You all just have to read this new update!!! And pass it on!! WOW!! It is amazing to see God's hand at work....He sends the rain (the hardships, struggles, sickness, etc) but He also sends the new growth. Read on and see how God is using your prayers to make much of His name in Cameroon!!!!
Just an update to let you all know how God has answered your prayers in regard to Adam our Fulfulde language teacher who is also the Iman in Bossa.
This morning as we began our lesson I simply felt very much compelled to share the Gospel with Adam so I began to do so. I could tell that he was listening intently and when I finished I asked him if he understood what I was telling him. He told me that he did but that Muslims do not believe that Isa Al Masih (Jesus the Mesiah) actually died on the cross. He also explained that Muslims do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God but rather a prophet like Mohammed.
Then I asked him what he believed. He looked at both Fidele and I for a moment and then told us that he wanted his heart to be clean and that he wanted to believe in Isa and follow Him. When I pressed him about Jesus being the Son of God thus being equal with and to God as well His death on the cross for our sins Adam told us that he too now believed this and wanted to follow Isa. I do not think I could believe what I was hearing so I kept pressing him upon what he thought and believed about Jesus and he kept telling me that he now saw that Jesus is the Son of God and thus God Himself and that He did die for his sins on the cross and rose again.
It was as though God just opened Adam's heart and eyes in front of
us as I shared the Gospel with him. Romans 10:17 came to mind where Paul writes: "And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ." Anyway, as we continued talking I told Adam that he could not follow Christ and Mohammed at the same time--he would have to make a choice--and he simply said his decision is to follow Christ. Then I brought up the Koran and made the point that the Koran and the Bible cannot both be true especially in regard to the teaching of who died
on the cross. Adam's reponse was that the Koran was a lie and that
he would follow the Holy Bible.
Well you can imagine our joy mingled with surprise as we heard these
words coming from the Iman of Bossa. But I had a couple more
questions for Adam. The first concerned what he would now do in
relation to the Mosque as he was supposed to be there Friday leading
the men in Muslim prayers and teaching the Koran. He told us he would
no longer go to the Mosque but would instead come to our home for more
teaching about Isa and that he would invite any of his people who
wanted to come. He also said that he would tell his people why he
could no longer go to the Mosque and that the reason is that he is now
a follower of Christ rather than a follower of Mohammed. Now please
understand that neither Fidele nor I told him he had to do this. We
were simply asking him what his plans were. He did add that he would
like us to come with him to preach the Gospel to his people so they
could hear of Isa.
We also broached the subject of baptism as we wanted to see how deep
his new commitment to Christ went. Keep in mind that to be publicly
baptized before Muslims as a follower of Christ is a dangerous thing.
A private profession of faith in Christ is one thing--to publicly
proclaim this new profession through baptism is quite another. And in
his case as an Iman, to profess Christ and then to be baptized will
bring ostracism and even persecution not to mention part of his
livelihood. Adam's response to the subject of baptism was that he
would pursue this as it would be liking taking off his old clothes of
Islam and putting on the new clothes of Christ........WOW!!!!
As we finished our almost three hours together today we played John 10
on our Fulfulde Proclaimer and Adam was overjoyed that he was one
of Christ's "other sheep". When we asked him about his eternal
destiny he said he fully expected his destiny to be Heaven as now his
heart was clean because of Isa. As Fidele walked him back out to the
road from our house Adam shared with him that John 10 is true--one
can only enter through the door and the door is Christ. As you can
imagine our joy is great but we also realize how much work
is still ahead as we now disciple Adam and prepare to visit his
village to share the Gospel with those he used to teach in the Mosque.
Please continue to pray hard for us and especially for Adam in his
new Faith. Pray for him as he shares Christ with his wife and
children. Pray that God will grant us much fruit in this family and
village and that Adam may be transformed from the Iman of the
Mosque to the Pastor of a new Fulbe church. Also pray that we can
obtain some Fulfulde Bibles to use in discipling him. They are hard
to come by and have to be ordered out of a place in Maroua. Until
then we will use the Proclaimer. Also pray that we have great great
wisdom in how we proceed with Adam and his village.
So thank you for your prayers on Adam's behalf and also for praying
for our trip to see the other Muslim man yesterday afternoon.
He was not home but we did visit with his wife and two other
compounds. We left them with solar light bulbs and rice. We will
return to their compounds on the mountain Thursday with Nancy and the
kids as they will better be able to minister to these Fulbe women and
children. We will also bring medicine to treat the children with ring
worm. Please keep praying that God will grant us fruit among these
Fulbe people as well.
What a Merry Christmas It Is!!!
Love,
mark, nancy & kids
Held By Grace,
Sara
No comments:
Post a Comment