UPDATE: Fishers of Men

Back in February I wrote about some fishermen that I met while I was researching the "B" people in The Gambia. Well, I was able to go back and visit these some of the fishermen last week. When we left their village back in February, we had given them an SD card with some stories from The Word on it. We had be hoping that the fishermen had been listening to the stories. When we arrived back at their village they greeted us and said they were very happy that we had come back to visit. We were not able to stay very long, as we had somewhere to be, but one of the fishermen, we will call him "S", asked if we could meet with him later. He told us he had some questions about the stories.

A couple days later, myself and my friend went and visited with "S" in a nearby village. We sat with him for a while and answered some of his questions. Many of them were about JC and his death, as well as different cultural questions. After we had answered his questions, "S" told us that he believed and that he wanted to Follow. We were very excited, but we wanted to make sure that he was serious about his decision. After talking with "S" some more we pr*yed together and thanked the Father for showing Himself to "S". As we got in the truck and drove away, I couldn't help but smile and think, yes, we have a new brother!

It is crazy to think that we just stumbled upon this village on the river in The Gambia, and here we are just a few months later with a new brother. The Father is so good and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of this awesome work. He does not need me to do His work, but He still allows me to be a part of it. My hope is that "S" will be an example to the other fishermen in his village and that they too will come to know the Father. I hope that more of these men will not only be fishers of fish, but like "S", they too will become fishers of men.

The True Road

"There are two roads in life," Adam says as he draws two lines in the dirt. "I was born on this road. My family is on this road. Everything I know is on this road. You are on this other road. You want me to leave this road to come to the road you are on. I know that the road you are on is the true road. I know it is the road I should be on."

This is a real conversation that I had with a M*slim man named Adam a few weeks ago while I was doing research in some villages. It was getting later in the day and we decided that the next village we would come to would be the last one that day so that we could get back to town before dark. We came into Adam's village and we entered into his compound. When we entered his compound he and his family and friends were sitting, visiting, and shelling peanuts. We sat down with Adam and his family and began shelling peanuts and talking with them. We told them that we are people who lift up requests to the Father. After we had lifted up their requests we kept talking with Adam. Adam's father was sitting there with us and he mentioned that he had become blind due to old age and so I asked if I could tell them a story. They said yes, so I told them the story about the man who was born blind who was healed by JC. This led into a conversation about the Father and the free gift that He has offered to us. It was a really great time, sharing the Good News with Adam and his family. 

After sharing a few stories and talking for a few hours we had to leave and head back to town. Before we left, Adam asked me when we were going to come back, because he has friends that he wanted us to share stories with. He said to us that what we shared has to be true. This was not the first time that Adam had heard the Good News, and he said that because we had come and shared the same things with him, that it had to be true. We said that if the Father wills it, that we would return and share more stories with them.

That night I couldn't stop thinking about Adam and his family. I couldn't stop thinking about how close Adam was to the Truth. So the next morning we called Adam and asked him to meet us outside of his village so we could talk with him. He agreed and we met. We asked him if he had been thinking more about the stories that we had shared with him. He said that he had a conversation with his father after we had left. He told his father that he wanted to follow the Truth and that he knew what we had shared was true. His father told him that if he followed the Truth that he would lose his family, his home...he would lose everything. This sadly is a reality for many of the people we share with. Here in West Africa you culture is your identity. When you decide to leave I*lam and follow the Truth, you lose who you are in society and your family.

I was so excited when Adam told us that he knew the Truth was the true road. After hearing this I asked Adam if he wanted to accept the free gift that the Father was offering him. Adam said that he still needed to think about it. He said that he knew it would be hard if he followed because he would be alone. I shared the story of Paul with him as a way to encourage him. I wanted to share with him that even if he felt alone that the Father would still be with him. I told Adam that the Father would always be offering the free gift to him. I shared that no matter what, the Father would always be waiting for him and that He loves him. Before we left, we gave Adam an SD card with some stories in his heart language on it. He said that he would listen to the stories that day. My hope as we were driving away was that Adam would listen to those stories and that they would help him to say yes and accept the Father's free gift. Please lift up Adam and his village, that they would come to know the Truth and that they would choose to follow the true road.

Fishers of Men

"These things you tell us, these stories, we believe they are true." 

"We know they are good."

"Many white people come here and take boats down the river. They come and take pictures and leave, but they never share these things with us."

"I must study these things...this is the first time I have heard these things and I want to understand more."

"When are you coming back?"

These are all things that I heard last week as I was out on a research trip in search of the "B" people along with 2 teammates of mine. One morning we decided to take a boat up the Gambian river in hopes of finding some "B" people. We came across some fishermen who are from a similar area as the "B" people. We arrived in their village as the men were beginning to repair their nets. We sat under the shade of a large tree and began to talk with the men. At first they just wanted to know who we were and why we had come. After a while we began to tell them different stories from The Word. We began by telling them that fishermen are very important to the Father. We shared a little about how J*sus called fishermen to leave behind their nets and become fishers of men.

After a little while, we started from the beginning, and told the story of The Word...also know as Creation to Chr*st. We didn't tell the whole story straight through though...we told it little by little. After we had told a small section we discussed it. The men would ask us questions and many of their questions would lead right in to the next part of the story. We were telling the stories to maybe 6 or 7 men, but there was one man, we will call him Ibrahim, who was so captivated by the stories. When we began telling the stories he was just repairing the nets along with his fellow fishermen, but as we continued with the stories, he put down his net and just sat and listened. He had very good questions for us and was very interested in hear what we were sharing. Ibrahim along with the other fishermen in this village are M*slims. Many times M*slims will listen to what you have to say, but will not show very much interest. Ibrahim not only listened to us, but seemed very interested.

We stayed with the fishermen for a little over 2 hours, before we felt that we needed to head out back up the river. The last thing that they asked us was, "When are you coming back?" We said we hoped to come back very soon. Thankfully, myself and my roommate should have the opportunity to head back and visit them in the next couple of months. It was so cool to see these men sit and ask us questions about The Word. It was also cool to see Ibrahim desire to hear more stories. My hope is that this is only the beginning of sharing with these fishermen. My desire is to return to them and share more stories with them. I would love nothing more than for them to no only be fishers of fish, but also to become fishers of men.