Location Location Location

by Levi Noble

Finding where a least-reached people group lives is a vital step in delivering the gospel to them.

I recently was able to go to Nigeria on my first field-research mission. The intent was to gather information to map the dialects within a particular language.

To give an idea of what a research mission is like, I will give a brief overview. After arriving in Jos, Kish Bai, the GRN Nigeria director and I chose a target language known to have eight dialects that needed investigation. Along with Jonah, our driver/mechanic, we would go to the area where the maps portrayed the location of the language.

We would find the chief of that particular tribe and seek an audience with him. I, being white and fairly noticeable, was a welcome guest for every chief, more as a prestige builder than a real interest of what I had come to do.

We would ask the chief regarding the culture of his tribe, including the names of all the villages inhabited by those speaking that particular language. Then we would ask his permission to visit all these villages and the Lord always opened the door.

Usually the chief instructed one of his people to guide us. I would take a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) reading of each location while Kish would strike up a conversation to find if that village had a variant dialect. We learned as we went and worked on perfecting a system of finding dialects.

The trip was exhausting. In the four weeks I was in Nigeria, I traveled close to eight-thousand miles. Some was by plane, some by foot, but most was by car. The heat was simply incredible. There would be days when the temperature would soar above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind felt like the blast of heat when one opens an oven door. Riding in a car without air-conditioning was frankly, miserable. But God kept our attitudes in check. You really get to know people extremely well when you spend three weeks in a car with them!

In reality, there is no way I can really convey what the trip was like other than that it was not in any way easy. But then Jesus said it was the hard road, didn't He? (Matt 7:13-14) and the trip was anointed.

It was very strange to realize that I was probably the first white man ever to visit many of those villages. In one place the entire village lined up to shake my hand. I had to learn to move very slowly and deliberately to avoid startling them.

I am thankful for those who prayed for me. God guided us in every single step of the way. I would ask prayer concerning those whom God would bring onto our mapping team. As He prepares and leads them, I ask for prayer on their behalf now because when they enter into this ministry, they will be joining the battle as scouts, the forerunners of the army.

Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.

Levi Noble serves on the language tracking team at the GRN office in Temecula