December 29, 2008
Happy Christmas Djibo
I hope you all had a happy and peaceful Christmas, wherever you celebrated it. Here in Djibo, we had a really good time, throwing a Christmas Eve feast at church for about three hundred Muslim friends and acquaintances. Those present included one truck-load of Tuareg refugees, three truckloads of men and women from our immediate neighbourhood, herders, tailors, donkey-cart makers, rich men, poor men, magicians and thiefs - even our grouchy landlord Belko Sambo turned up to hear the Christmas message. Before the feast got underway, I talked a bit about the coming of the wise-men. Fulani people reckon they can tell from the stars if a king has died, but have never heard of a star portending the birth of a king. Now they have :-) Of course, it's one thing to see the star, it's another to make the journey. And quite another to prostrate yourself before the king, as the Magi did. Please continue to pray for our Fulani friends here, that God would give them the imagination and courage to respond to Jesus for themselves.
On Christmas morning we had a party for our neighbours' children. Charlie organized an around-the-yard hunt for milk-flavoured boiled sweets and then we showed them the first part of the film Magdalena. It's made by the same people who made the Jesus film and focusses mostly on telling Mary's story.
We went and had Christmas lunch with our friends Mark and Cheryl, who are English SIM missionaries from Rugby. No turkey, of course, but the chicken and roast potatoes went down a treat - they even shared their Christmas pudding with us, bless em.
Talking of turkey, Turkish Sophie is now in shops, and the books have a new range of covers and chapter illustrations. Sophie now sports a fashionable sunhat and her blonde hair tumbles all the way down to her knees. Chobbal is tuftier and smugger than ever and has taken on a pinkish hue - obviously been washed with the reds by mistake. Moussa ag-Litni is as round and menancing as any Ali Baba villain, and Crepe-Sombo is repulsive. Thanks are due to Gokce Akgul for his zany and eyecatching rendering of the Gorom-Gorom set.
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Posted by sahelsteve at 04:37 PM
December 28, 2008
A pat on the back for Christian missionaries
I have always enjoyed Matthew Parris's articles in the London Times and admired his honesty and good sense. And just yesterday, writing in the Times, Mr Parris admits to having changed his mind about the presence of Christian evangelists in Africa. It seems he now thinks they're doing an okay job. There's a snippet below, but really it's worth reading the whole article: As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God
'Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.'
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:47 AM
November 20, 2008
Shining like Stars
'Njaynodon hono koode' (shine like stars) is Paul's encouragement to Christians to be good news in their various work and home and social settings - to reflect the light of Christ wherever they are. We have just started a three-day Fulani conference here in Djibo, exploring the various applications of this idea. Please pray that the conference goes well, that people get inspired by the Light of the World and that they reflect his light all over this very needy province. Thanks.
Tomorrow night we're borrowing a telescope and doing some star-gazing; a kind of extended visual aid!
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:46 PM
September 08, 2008
Bokoum's story
Reproduced word for word from the CMM website, here is the testimony of Bokoum, who is well known in Djibo today. It is written by Dale Fagerland, whose integrity I can vouch for. I have met Bokoum a number of times but had no idea that his past was so colourful. He is as tall as me (6 foot 6 inches) and very warm and friendly - a real local character. Anyway, here is the article:
Another Source of Power
by Dale Fagerland
Bokoum was born in Mali, West Africa, perhaps 40 or 50
years ago—no one knows for sure. Through a revelation or a
dream, they had apparently been told that their son would grow
up to be a very evil man. Thus, when he was a baby, his
Muslim parents put out one of his eyes. "If he were handicapped," they reasoned, surely he won’t become too wicked."
The parents' fear must have led them to treat their child
horribly, and Bokoum did indeed grow up to be evil. He was
big, strong and violent. Eventually he went to Djibo, Burkina Faso. There he would stake out a path leading to the market and lie in wait for his victims. Attacking several people at a time, he would beat them, rob them and leave them for dead. He was the most feared
outlaw in the region.
Whenever Bokoum went on a rampage, the police tried to
arrest him. At least 10 or 12 men were needed to capture and
confine him. They drained blood from his veins to weaken him;
then they put him in jail. But when Bokoum’s blood replenished
itself and his strength returned, he broke out of jail and planned
his next attack.
Bokoum trusted amulets and fetishes for his power. He collected a pebble from 97 different hills and had a Muslim spiritual
leader bless them. This act, he believed, gave him power
over all the land among the hills. However, as time went on Bokoum gradually became aware of another Source of power.
My wife and I were working with a small group of Christians
in Djibo. When Bokoum heard that we were building a church,
he was curious. He went to the work site and talked to the
Christians who were volunteering their labor. God had already
begun to deal with his heart, and he was not as violent with the
church people as he was with others. In fact, he began to
warm to them.
To construct the building, we had to mix the cement by
hand and make every block individually from a mold. Bokoum
wanted to help, so we gladly hired him. He could do the work
of four men. As they worked, the Christians talked to Bokoum
about his soul.
Later missionary Jim Bryant and his family joined us in the
work at Djibo. Because I had lived there for several years, Jim
asked if I knew anyone who would serve as a night guard for
his family. "Yes," I replied. "I know someone who is better than a
German shepherd, a Doberman pinscher, or a Pit Bull Terrier." Jim hired Bokoum to be his night guard, and the Bryant family continued to talk to him about salvation. They explained that God wanted to change his life. Little by little Bokoum came to realize that he needed this change, and finally the Bryants led him to the Lord.
Immediately Bokoum’s life began to change dramatically
and he burned his fetishes.
Today one would never know that he was once a feared
criminal. He now has a wife and family and he tells everyone,
even Muslim leaders, what God has done in his life. He knows
that true power does not come from fetishes or fists, but from
the Spirit of God.
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:52 PM
May 28, 2008
Muslim-Christian Dialogue
Regular readers of Voice in the Desert will already be familiar with its sister (or should that be brother?) blog, Under the Acacias.
Keith Smith, who writes Under the Acacias, encouraged me to come and work in Africa, then taught me all he knew about Fulani ministry. One of his many inspirational anecdotes can be read in this year's June edition of Christianity magazine, also available online as The Day I Preached in a Mosque.
It's a fun little article, and encapsulates his 'common ground' approach to Christian-Muslim dialogue.
Christians sometimes get nervous when they hear talk of dialogue, but there really is no need. Muslims, Jews and Christians have a common back-story to celebrate - a story which provides the context for an extraordinary event: the explosive arrival of self-sacrificial Love on the scene of religion.
Posted by sahelsteve at 12:30 PM
September 04, 2007
The M word
- Where do you work?
- Burkina Faso.
- What do you do?
- I'm a missionary.
- But surely you don't try and convert people?
- 'Fraid so. With all my heart.
- But that's -
- Controversial?
- Worse. It shows no respect for the beliefs of others. It's awful.
- It's obedience. Christianity is a missionary religion and always has been. Jesus told his disciples to go to the ends of the earth.
- To trample on the sincerely held beliefs of others everywhere they went.
- No, to say that light and love have come into the world. And to love and serve and heal in Jesus' name.
- Can't you just practise your faith privately and keep quiet about it?
- If everyone did that, Christianity wouldn't exist.
- That wouldn't be such a bad thing.
- Haha. Yes it would. Besides, I couldn't keep quiet about Jesus even if I tried.
- Yes you could.
- No I couldn't. Here's why.
- But what if other religions did the same? All trying to convert each other. It would be war. It would be chaos.
- Not necessarily. It could be dialogue.
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:35 AM
March 16, 2007
Idrissa
Idrissa Amadou is a cheerful old Fulani man. He is tall and toothless and he is a regular visitor to my house – I give him coffee to drink and he sucks on a baguette until it dissolves. When Idrissa visits he tells me stories about the Fulani of old and I tell him stories about Iisaa Al Masiihu (Jesus the Messiah).
Not long ago, Idrissa said to me, ‘The things you say about Jesus are interesting, but how do I know what you say is true, when the marabouts are saying something different?’
Classic – the old question of authority rears its horny head. In a school of theology this one would be answered with reference to the origin and authenticity of New Testament manuscripts, the process of canonization and the fulfillment of Messianic expectation. The Roman historian Josephus would probably get a mention somewhere along the line. But somehow I was reluctant to dump all this on Idrissa – he has struggled for some time with an inoperable hernia, and I didn’t want to exacerbate it.
So I told him to pray to Allah before he went to sleep and ask him to reveal himself. I don’t always recommend that (in fact, this was a 2007 first, I think).
That was the morning before the lunar eclipse. When I realized there was going to be an eclipse, I felt sorry for Idrissa: I imagined him asking God to reveal himself and then looking up and seeing that the moon had turned to blood!
I need not have worried. Idrissa slept soundly through the eclipse, and even the accompanying clanging. He came to my yard in the early morning – I was still bleary-eyed – and he said ‘Mi hoyDi ko hulDini’ (I have had a frightening dream).
Here is Idrissa’s dream. I have written it down in Fulfulde as exactly as I can remember it, and then translated it into English.
MiDo sogga na’i am, tawi laawol am fecci, laateke laabi didi. Yeewnumi ndaarumi inan ngol Do ina yaaji, ngol Do ina faaDi. Mi suBeke yaajungol ngol. Laawol ngol ina heewi yimBe, faa mobilaaji ina ndewa toon. Ndeen na’i am puDDi waatude. Terkaaye fukki, waati, hoore magge tappi leydi – pap! Poornyiimi cubiimi laawol pamarol ngol, tawi – ee – ngol ina weli. Bayeeri ina dara gere nano e nyaamo fuu, indi rawni farr farr farr, abada nji’imi bayeeri ina Bendiri noon. Kewtumi nokkure to rewBe ina Yooga toon, Bulli luggiDi belDi, dariimi, ndaarumi. Ni foti koyDumi.
I was driving cattle along a road, and I came to a fork. There were two roads leading off, a wide one and a narrow one. I herded my cows onto the wide one. The road was full of people – even trucks were passing along it. Then my cows started to die. Terkaaye (a grayish cow) lay down on the road died and her head hit the ground – thwump! – like that. So I turned round and I took the narrow road. Wow, that road was sweet. There was millet standing on both sides, and it was whitest white; I have never seen millet plants as ripe as that before. I arrived at a spot where women were drawing water; the wells were deep and sweet. I stood and watched. That was all I dreamed.
I’m no expert in dream-interpretation, but it doesn’t take a Brother Yun to grab a Bible, find Matthew 7:13 and read it. I had never shared this passage with Idrissa before that day. The old man said ‘Allahu Akbar’ and his brow gathered into a dozen furrows. I went inside and put some water on to boil.
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:23 PM
February 17, 2007
God's Call
Regular visitors to this site will have noticed the link to 'Our Impassioned Calling' in the sidebar on the right. Placing it beneath the Sophie books is a little like storing jewellery at the bottom of a box of lego.
My father (Mark T. Davies, for those who hadn't made the connection!) has written a book about God's Call. "His call to the whole Church is to honour him as God and ask him to do what he wants. His call to individuals is to say Yes to him and live in a relationship of love with him."
Our Impassioned Calling is an extremely powerful book with an unashamedly prophetic edge. Here is what the reviewers had to say:
'Our Impassioned Calling' is just what it says and I heartily commend it. Here is a book to re-awaken us to what God can do, written by a 'scholar on fire'.
Rev Tom Stuckey, President of the Methodist Conference 2005-6
I judge this to be an important book. It is theology done prayerfully from the front line. I particularly welcome the emphasis on the initiative of the Holy Spirit in mission.
Dr Colin Morris, former Head of BBC Religious Broadcasting
This is a fine piece of work which should stimulate new thinking among church members. I was particularly moved by the sections on listening to God and on the effects of prayer.
Dr Ralph Waller, Principal of Harris Manchester College, Oxford
Dad's recently launched website God's Call is a pleasure to browse. The CSS is excellent and the content even more so. For myself, I was particularly impressed by the sections about God's heart for his church. Here's a taster.
Also worthy of mention are this joke and this pizza.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:43 AM
February 14, 2007
Interesting photos of Africa
A few photos from the last couple days...
Tuaregs hard at work checking a new Tamasheq-French dictionary:
Keith in one of several woodless huts he has been building:
This was in Markoy. 'Legend'? Anyone know what that is?
Luther would have loved the decor in this church:
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:09 PM
June 03, 2006
Thirst
"On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)
Returning to Djibo has been good but life has not got any easier here. Our most frequent problem has been getting water - near the end of the hot season there are always water-shortages but this year has been worse than most. The last couple days we have not had any water and resorted to buying bottled water just for drinking - an option which is not available to the majority of Djibo residents.
Many villages around Djibo have already had rain, and their wells are filling up. Djibo itself has had a couple light showers, but not yet enough to have a real impact on the water-table - or to start planting.
There is a good deal of spiritual thirst around too - a longing for real, workable answers to spiritual needs - needs that Jesus has promised to fulfil. Please pray for us as we try to point people towards him.
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:39 PM
May 06, 2006
Frog herders
Duroowo paabi kam anndi layooru mabbe.
Translation: Only a herder of frogs can recognize a limping frog.
The Fulani of Burkina Faso think that frogs are ridiculous, and there is certainly no such thing as a frog herder. However, the proverb aptly illustrates a herder's intimate knowledge of the animals in his charge.
I often talk with Fulani herders about Iisaa the Good Herder. He knows our personalities and our weaknesses and he loves us deeply. That has got to be good news.
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:06 PM
April 25, 2006
Waste time with Jesus
I'm spending some time in Toronto this week, learning about 'soaking prayer'.
Soaking prayer is a form of contemplative prayer. You put yourself in an attitude of stillness, focusing on Jesus and open to the Holy Spirit but with no requests or agenda. The aim is to be still in God’s presence, to “waste time with Jesus.”
Here is a good article about soaking prayer in the magazine 'Christianity and Renewal'. It sounds a couple notes of caution but is basically very positive about the effects of soaking prayer.
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:37 PM
March 11, 2006
Monsieur Bertholon
Met a French missionary this week who I found really inspiring. Monsieur Bertholon is in his seventies and used to live in the north of Burkina Faso. He owned camels, and used to travel round villages on camelback, ministering to Fulani and Tuareg families. We ate a meal together and he spoke in an extremely moving and poetic way about God's love for the nomadic tribes of the Sahel. French is a sublime language for speaking about God, and God is a sublime person to be spoken about. It's nice to feel inspired now and again, isn't it?
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:24 PM
November 22, 2005
Fulani baptisms
Kunjel and Mamadou have both been on the edge of church life for some years, watching, waiting, weighing. This month they decided together that the time had come to take the plunge (literally), making a public commitment to follow the Good Herder.
After the Fulani service on Sunday morning we all went down to the lake, read a bit of Matthew 28, sang 'Moyyere ngam yimbe fuu' (Grace has come to all people) and baptised Kunjel and Mamadou in the name of Alla Baabiiwo e Biddo e Ruuhu Ceniido.
Dikko Kunjel is a Fulani herder from Winde Jigaaje (literally 'desolate place of vultures'), a tiny settlement far to the north of Djibo.
Mamadou is the son of a marabout and he lives near Bagadoumba, a few miles north of Djibo. Mamadou is very gentle man - the only time I have ever heard him raise his voice was to scold an errant goat. He plies a quiet trade selling cigarettes and dates on the lonely desert road which runs past his hut.
After the baptisms the church sang more worship songs, and then ate together. Now and again, even in this difficult place, there are glimpses of heaven.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:12 PM
October 23, 2005
One Faith, One Baptism...Two Wives?
Nice post this week by Keith Smith about the issue of polygamy in the church.
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:30 PM
March 04, 2005
Blood of bat and toe of frog
In Djibo market sits Al Hadji Amadou, the medicine-man. There are various different sorts of medicine-men in Djibo. There are Western-style doctors in Western-style clinics, including the great Australian surgeon Ken Elliot, famous throughout West Africa for his philanthropy and skill. There are also hawkers of 'street-medicine', mostly young men with sacks of coloured pills in unmarked sachets - they are the reluctant subjects of a current radio and billboard campaign 'Medicaments de la rue - ca tue!' And there is Al Hadji Amadou, who does a roaring trade in blood of bat and toe of frog and skin of spitting cobra. His products are interesting, expensive and occultic.
In the market on Wednesday Al Hadji called me over and engaged me in a debate about his wares. I said we shouldn't need a snake skin in our pocket to protect us and solve our financial worries - that we should trust in God, who knows what we need even before we ask it. Al Hadji countered that it was God who had helped him to catch and kill the snake, so that people could buy bits of its skin. I said that God doesn't like us putting our hope in bits of wood and cloth and bone and skin. He said, 'This stuff is powerful - whose power is it, if not God's?'
'What are the most powerful things here?'
'This falcon foot here and that bush-rat skin over there.'
'What would happen to me if I burned the bush-rat skin?'
'If you burned the bush-rat skin, you would not be able to find your way home - you'd just wander around the market here for ever and ever.'
'What would happen to me if I burned the falcon foot?'
'You'd turn into a falcon and fly away.'
'Do you have fire?'
'Are you serious?'
'I want to show you that God's power is greater than the power of these things.'
'I refuse to be responsible for what happens to you if you burn them.'
'You are not responsible.'
'Okay - (turning to a child nearby) Bring me some hot coals from the brazier.'
Continue reading "Blood of bat and toe of frog"
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:34 PM
February 27, 2005
A Wolof tale and a Builsa proverb
Here is a story I discovered in Thomas Hale's wonderful book 'Griots and Griottes' - it is a Wolof folk story (from Mali) about the origin of griots (praise-singers).
'There were once two brothers on a long journey in the bush together - they had a shotgun with them, but they had not come across any animals for three days and were both very hungry. Eventually the younger brother could walk no further, so the elder one said, 'You wait here and I will go in amongst the trees over there and look for something to eat.' The younger brother sat down and waited; after a little while he heard the sound of the gun, and his brother came out of the trees holding a large piece of fresh meat. They cooked it over a fire and the younger brother ate until his strength returned. On they went until they were close to home. Then the younger brother noticed that his brother was limping, and asked him why. The elder brother rolled up his trousers and revealed that a large piece of flesh had been cut out of his left leg. When they got home, the younger brother started composing songs in praise of the love and courage of his brother, who had spilled his blood to save him. Every day he would come before his brother and sing his praises. His descendents in their turn all became praise-singers, too, right down to the griots of today.'
Thomas Hale comments that there are variant stories in the Sahel about the origin of griots, but they all share one feature - the spilling of blood. If this isn't a redemptive analogy I don't know what is. I included it in the preaching in church this morning and it seemed to hit the mark.
Continue reading "A Wolof tale and a Builsa proverb"
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:27 PM
March 26, 2004
Choggal Travelogue
Stephen Davies
As I walked up the main road in Djibo towards the customs’ post, I felt vaguely apprehensive. I had mentioned my intended journey to a couple Fulani friends that morning, and their responses were still echoing in my ears. One of those friends had bowed his head mournfully and said “Na yurmini” (I feel sorry for you), the other had laughed and said “A halkan de!” (You will be destroyed). Neither comment had encouraged me especially. However, there was a third voice at the back of my mind. A close friend back home, unaware of my plans, had emailed me yesterday to tell me that they had been praying for me and wanted to pass on the first few verses of the Old Testament book of Joshua: Be strong and very courageous, says the Lord, for I am with you.
Continue reading "Choggal Travelogue "
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:02 PM
March 04, 2004
Two Beakers
Stephen Davies
“Study is sweet. I only have to think about study and I feel happy.”
I look up in surprise, waiting for the sarcastic guffaw, the “Not!” which Iisaa’s statement seems to invite - after all, this is a fifteen year old boy speaking. But sarcasm is not an African trait; the lad means what he says.
Continue reading "Two Beakers "
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:54 PM
October 16, 2003
Rainy Season Discipleship amongst the Fulani
Stephen Davies
Methodist Recorder, 16 October 2003
The balko dance is great fun and is performed in ankle-deep water. You hop up out of the water and look at your left foot, then you hop onto the other leg and look at your right foot. Carry on dancing until you are sure there are no balkos (leeches) attached to your feet, and then resume work. It is a dance born of experience, and is an essential aspect of rice-growing in Africa. The splashing also serves to frighten away water-vipers, most of the time.
Continue reading "Rainy Season Discipleship amongst the Fulani "
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:41 PM
August 13, 2003
Blood in the Guitar
Stephen Davies
‘You know what your problem is? There is no blood in your guitar.’
I was sitting cross-legged on a straw mat opposite Iisaa, a young jurkel-player in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso. The jurkel is the traditional one-stringed guitar used by the Fulani people of West Africa, and this was my third lesson. It was not going well. So far, my imitation of Iisaa’s frenetic fingering had been muddled and muted. If discordance is possible with just one string, I was achieving it.
At first I thought I had misheard or misunderstood Iisaa’s observation (my grasp of Fulfulde is better than my jurkel-playing but still far from perfect), until Iisaa handed his guitar to me for inspection. The instrument is basically a calabash bowl with a piece of cow-hide stretched tightly across it, and peering into the sound-hole I noticed dark red stains all around the inside.
Continue reading "Blood in the Guitar "
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:47 PM
January 10, 2003
Mission amongst the Fulani
Collingwood Alumni Magazine, January 2003
Hamadou and his family are currently living in a settlement called Menegou in the far north of Burkina Faso. It is evening, one of his sons has just milked the cows, and we are sitting on mats passing the bowl of milk around. Hamadou is telling a story; his fulfulde is rapid but I understand the gist. It is about two men on a long journey together; one keeps trying to con the other out of his travelling provisions. Hamadou looks very serious, his sons are falling about laughing.
Continue reading "Mission amongst the Fulani"
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:25 PM
August 01, 2002
Djibo FM - a Vision
Stephen Davies
Look to the Fields, August 2003
“Has 3.30 arrived yet?”
“No, Hama, it is still 3.10. I will let you know when 3.30 arrives.”
“I will turn it on now. We don’t want to miss it.”
Hama flicks a switch on his radio and it lets forth a torrent of French. He frowns. “Fransiire faa hannden,” he observes ruefully. Still French.
Continue reading "Djibo FM - a Vision "
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:36 PM
May 30, 2001
Wonders and Waterbuffaloes
ANCC, Hertfordshire, England (May 2001)
2 Corinthians is the best case-study in missionary spirituality ever published; it reaches its climax with Paul's paradoxical declaration, 'When I am weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor 12:10).
This paper consists of two parts. In Part 1 I examine Paul's concept of power in weakness in 2 Corinthians, with particular reference to 'The Fool's Speech' (11:1 - 12:10). In Part 2 I look at how this is applied in the lives and ministries of two very different characters: John Wimber and Kosuke Koyama.
John Wimber was a fundamentalist American pastor, founder of the Vineyard Church and author of Power Evangelism and The Dynamics of Spiritual Growth. Kosuke Koyama is a liberal Japanese theologian, author of Waterbuffalo Thelogy, No Handle on the Cross, Three Mile an Hour God and Mount Sinai to Mount Fuji.
Wimber and Koyama are worlds apart in terms of background and style, but I believe their approaches are not irreconcilable. They both exemplify the 'power in weakness' dynamic of authentically Christian mission.
This dissertation is available only in PDF format.
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