Words From The Bush

Usually we use this space to tell you about what we’re doing or seeing. However, most of our experience in Mali is limited to the big cities. Mali is a big country by most standards. It is about twice the size of Texas. That means there are a lot of villages and tribes here, many of whom have never heard the Gospel. A couple of missionaries here recently were working in the remote villages in different ways. We’d like to share with you their experiences. Here is a brief recap of what they did, written by them:

Tim Wright

Tim went recently to a town 100 kilometers into the bush (near Konseguela). A Malian pastor (Luka Coulibaly) and 3 men from the church went with him to show the Jesus film and witness to Luka's family who live in the village there. They had a great time at the village - it was a quite an experience. Tim was the first white man that had ever been in their village. He felt it was like stepping back in time. He showed the Jesus film and many of the people were very interested but unwilling to commit yet, but they wanted to hear more. Tim would like to be able to go back there again in about a month. Pastor Luka says many of his family are not Christians but beginning to show interest, so please join with us in praying that the harvest will be ripe and plentiful!

Randy & Marsha Barnwell

What does inoculating cows, sheep, and goats have to do with evangelism? It opens doors that would otherwise remain shut to the Gospel! Every two years Veterinary Jay O'Leary and a team of men come from Western Pennsylvania to inoculate animals as a gesture of God's love towards the Malian people. Each time they come we try to go into different villages that we want to reach out to with the Gospel of Christ. This year we went into four villages while the team was here, and have been able to go into several more since they left. The impact has been tremendous. One of the villages would not previously let us come in to preach, but because of the treatment for their animals, they let us come and show a film and hold an evangelism service. Although there were no converts in that village, the whole village showed up and listened very quietly as the Gospel was presented. Seeds were sown! In another village, we sat and shared with a group of men under a tree. They asked very good questions, and we were able to give a firm witness to them. The seeds were sown! In the town of Finkolo, where years ago a church had once stood, we inoculated 1,400 cows. The evening of evangelism, we had 11 people pray for salvation. More importantly, we are now meeting every week with these new converts. Their enthusiasm and hunger for God is encouraging. Most of the group is made up of men and teen boys. Our first Sunday back to teach them, the village chief gave us a place to worship. It is the old village meeting place, and very adequate for our needs. We have had 14 in attendance each week and praising God for what He is doing. All of the men have already started getting hassled for their new belief. One man is a mason who used to tell the future for the families whose houses he built. Since he is now refusing to do that, one man has already broken a contract with him to build his house. Another young man is being threatened by the family of his fiancé to take her away from him. We also know that there are others in the village who want to convert, but are afraid. Please pray that God would give these men and women protection, and perseverance in the midst of trials, and power in Jesus to stand firm against the enemy of their souls. Pray that God will give courage and that His Holy Spirit will continue to work in lives. The seeds were sown! We are watering, and your prayers will help them grow. One old man, a non-Christian, in the village of Finkolo said, "I have never seen anyone come and do what you did for our animals all for the love of God. This village is big enough for more than one religion. Little by little, if you don't give up, you will get believers."

If you enjoyed hearing about their experiences, let us know so we can provide more updates like this in the future. If you’d like to personally email these missionaries, email us at mcmali@gmail.com and we’ll pass along your words.