Sometimes you enter a village and think 'How did I end up here?' This happened during our missionary journey to Burkina Faso.
Several times I had been invited by a local pastor from Soukola to visit his project. They had recently built a new school and he was very proud of it. Since the road did not go to his village and we needed to travel on sandy paths, I began to think where we had ended up.
Eventually I saw a small village in the distance: Soukola, village with about 300 inhabitants with a new school and a well. I was given a tour around the village and wanted to speak to the children about life in the village.
Regretfully, the children only spoke "Moore", the tribal language of the Mossi. Fortunately, the Pastor spoke French and so we could understand each other. How to share the Bible and the Gospel with these children?
I was glad to know Gospel Recordings in the Netherlands. This organization has materials that give an explanation of the Gospel and Bible stories in over 6000 different languages and dialects.
At 'Opwekking' (A yearly Christian event in the Netherlands), I had ordered a Saber (hand cranked mp3 player) with booklets at their stand. I often take these materials along to Burkina Faso.
Fortunately I had taken one with me with Moore on it! Coincidence? No! Because the children started to ask who I was and what I was doing, I decided to give the Saber a chance to do its work. Once switched on, it played a song. All of the children recognized this and started to clap and sing along with it. Surprised they looked at the Saber, and asked: 'How can this speak Moore?'
There were several booklets in the package, which explained the Bible by means of a series of simple pictures. I left these in the village. Now they use them for Bible lessons and even the Muslim children listened attentively!
Thanks to the work of Gospel Recordings it has become possible to share the message of the Bible in more than 6000 languages in even the remotest parts of this world. I thank Gospel Recordings for this. The village of Soukola can now listen to the Gospel in their own language.
Blessings, Frans Riphagen - Guardian Angels