Please PRAY for Kayla in the coming year, that she would find many opportunities to serve God here in Guinea, before returning to the U.S. next year.

PRAY for Kayla’s health, that the painful symptoms she has had due to scoliosis do not increase, that she won’t need medical attention for this condition until at least next year. (If her symptoms do worsen, we will have to take an early medical home assignment to pursue treatment for her.)

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

The question came from a soldier at a checkpoint. These checkpoints are common here along the major roads. Usually we are waved through after a friendly greeting and a quick explanation of my identity – “I’m a pastor with La Mission Evangélique de Boké.”

I (Kirk) was on my way to the capital city with my daughter, Kayla. We needed to visit the embassy so we could get her passport renewed. We were also taking along a Landuma fellow, Mamadu, who was returning to school.

We had room for the young lady. “Does she have baggage? Not much? Okay, no problem.”

She climbed in, and we were on our way.

We found out her name is Hawa. She is 18, and lives with her father (a soldier) and her younger sister. Her mother died several years ago. She is beginning 10th grade for the second time. If she isn’t able to make it to 11th this year, she said she will drop out and look for work. For the next several hours we visited off and on.

At one point, Hawa, in the back seat, looked over the front seat to see Kayla seated cross-legged. “You’re sitting shaman style,” she remarked.

I glanced over at Kayla to see what she meant. Okay. So “Indian style” to us is “shaman style” to her. Interesting. Maybe this could be a good conversation starter.

“So what do shamans do?” I asked.

“Well, they can put curses on people, and heal people.”

“So, is that good?”

“Yes, it can be good.”

“Where does their power come from?”

Now Mamadu was getting interested.

“From demons,” they both said.

“Well, is it good when people deal with demons?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it means you have two gods.”

“That’s right! God is the one who created us. Why did he create us? What does He want us to do?”

After a bit of deliberating on that one, they both answered, “We are supposed to worship Him!” Wow. These kids were onto something.

As the conversation continued, we talked about how people can’t worship a holy God as they should because of sin, which separates us from Him.”If you sin, who must forgive you?”

“The person you offended has to forgive you,” they replied with much conviction. “God can’t forgive you if the person doesn’t forgive you. If the person forgives you, then God will forgive you.”

We have heard this line of reasoning many times before. It really turns Matthew 6:14-15 on its head! The common belief here is that the unforgiven person won’t be forgiven by God. But Jesus says it is the unforgiving one whom God won’t forgive.

“Actually, God’s Word says that God can forgive even sins that the person we have offended refuses to forgive. And only God can forgive our sins if we are to be reconciled to Him. But God won’t forgive sins based on the so-called good works of a sinner, because He is holy, clean, perfect. Nothing unclean or sinful can come into His presence. So we must be separated from Him forever in Hell. So if we can’t save ourselves, and everyone else is also sinful, and so they can’t save us, who can save us? Who can help us with our sin problem? Is there anyone who never sinned?”

They seemed at a loss to name someone. But Kayla couldn’t hold back. “Jesus Christ!” she exclaimed.

“That’s true. Even those of your religion, and your holy book, say that Prophet Jesus never sinned. You can go and ask your prayer leader. He will tell you it is true.”

Mamadu said, “In the village I saw someone listening to one of those audio players with the lessons from the Word of God. But I didn’t have time to listen to all of it.” Then he turned to Hawa and said, “They teach God’s Word on the audio player.”

“I sure would like to have one of those so I could listen,” she said.

By this time we had arrived at our destination. I just happened to have with me one audio player with the evangelistic firm foundations Bible lessons in Landuma, as well as one with a similar set of lessons in French. So each of these young people received one.

Please PRAY for Hawa and Mamadu. PRAY that they listen carefully to the lessons, and share them with their friends. PRAY that God works through the preaching of His Word to bring about salvation for these two young people.

Our neighbor Beles listens to Bible lessons on an Ambassador audio player

Picture yourself as a missionary

Picture yourself as a missionary, ready to teach the Bible to an unreached people group for the first time.

Yolanda with Landuma women and kids

You have worked for years preparing for this moment. You have trained for this, studying the Bible, learning principles of Bible translation and church planting. You have learned the national language, and then moved to a remote location to live among people with incomprehensible customs and unintelligible speech. You have spent years living among them, learning to know and love them, as they learned to know and love you.

Finally you are ready. Together with your local helpers you have translated the needed Bible portions, covering the key events and doctrines from creation to the story of Jesus and His death and resurrection. You have written Bible lessons based on these Scriptures, and you are confident that if only some of the people would listen, God would use this Scripture and these lessons to flood their souls with Truth, the truth of Jesus. And, God willing (and He is willing! See 2 Peter 3:9), some would believe and be saved!

No religious vacuum

But one more detail remains before you may begin teaching in the village.

You aren’t operating in a religious vacuum. The people belong to a powerful religious system which won’t give up ground easily. The people must obey their religious leaders. As a guest in their land, you must show those leaders respect and obey them to some extent as well.

Village elders

It is the custom that religious teachers who teach publically must obtain permission from the powers that be. The civil powers have already given you their permission to teach. After all, freedom of religion is guaranteed in the constitution, and the government supports your right to carry out your mission work. But what about the religious leaders? Will you ask their permission? What if they say, “No!”? What will you do then? And if you don’t ask permission, what will you do? Will you teach anyway? If you do, you might get kicked out of the area. Then how will the people hear the Gospel? How will a mature church ever be planted among them?

This is the dilemma we faced in 2002, when we were ready to teach the Landumas publicly. What do you think we did? What would you have done?

Interview with the big boss

Landuma religious leaders

We really only had one choice. If we were to teach the Bible to the Landumas publically, we had to ask permission from the top religious leader of all the Landumas, really of almost all the Africans, in the region. So it was with a measure of fear and trepidation, but prayerfully and with boldness and trust in God, that we went to see Ali.

We had had some limited contact with Ali in the past, but had never had a prolonged conversation with him. We found him to be a talkative and interesting man.

Ali’s bibliology

During our discussion with Ali, we explained that we had translated portions of the Bible. There is no Landuma word for the Bible as a whole, so we listed the parts of the Bible which they have heard of, that is the Torah, the Psalms, and  the Gospel. We also added “the books of the prophets” to cover the rest of the OT. We said we wanted to teach the Landumas what God says in these books, so they could know God’s Word. We told him that since he was in charge of the region, we felt it was important that we inform him about our work.

In his reply, Ali asserted some things he wanted to make sure we understood:

• “God sent down 104 books. Initially he sent 50 books to Adam, 30 books to Enoch, 10 books to Abraham, and 10 books to Moses. That makes 100 books so far. Then he sent the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the final book to the final prophet.
• “Since you didn’t mentioned the final book (the book of Ali’s religion), as one of the books you intend to teach, it appears you don’t intend to teach the same religion as we profess.
• “All the books from God are in agreement. We know that because all the prophets asserted that God is one, and they told their followers to worship this one God only. None of them commanded people to worship the prophet himself.
• “When you believe the final prophet, you have believed also Moses, Jesus, Abraham, etc.
• “The final book snuffs out (erases, supersedes) all the other books. If you only obey the former books, you are abandoning the final book, and you have rebelled against God.”

Is that your final answer?

Wow. How do you answer that? Well, if he would have allowed us to sit there and teach him the Bible, as we wished to teach all the Landumas, from Genesis to the ascension of Jesus, we could have provided an adequate answer.

Instead we reminded him that there are already many Landuma religious teachers who teach the final book. They know it better than we do. We just want to teach the former books.

After more discussion, Ali told us that he wouldn’t stand in our way, we could teach our books to the people. Big sigh of relief! (And no, we did not ask him if that was his final answer.)

Give honor to whom honor is due

Some might suggest that we are commanded by God to preach the Gospel, and therefore we shouldn’t have to ask permission of anyone. After all, the apostles didn’t ask permission of the religious leaders before they began preaching Jesus on the day of Pentecost.

This is a valid question. But it’s not the only consideration. Jesus also told his disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” Matthew 10:16. Though Jesus boldly confronted the religious leaders of His day with His verbal and even offensive attacks on their doctrine, attitudes, and practices, He didn’t do that all the time. He chose the right moment, and then had His say. For much of His ministry He tried to avoid stirring things up, to operate under the radar, as it were.

One fascinating thought to ponder is the degree to which Jesus accommodated to the culture into which He was born. When God came to earth He didn’t totally vaporize the sinful world with what we might call “God’s culture,” as it were, which is what would happen if the Holy God ever really appeared on earth in all His glory and splendor. No, He “emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:7) to the point where He could adapt to a human culture, functioning in it and as part of it as any other man, yet without sin.

We, too, are called to adapt to the culture of the people we live among – not just we missionaries, but we Jesus believers, wherever God may have called us to live – becoming all things to all men to whatever extent necessary  (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) in order to effectively do what God has called us to do (disciple all ethnic groups – Matthew 28:18-20), yet without sin, without being morally or spiritually tainted by that culture (Romans 12:2). And that is why we sought permission of the religious leaders to teach the Bible publicly the way we did. Honoring the leaders in this way is what was expected of us, it was the right thing to do in this culture, and the right thing to do biblically. Praise God for giving us favor before this leader! 

Some have told us they would like to know who the Guineans in the photo are. They are those who regularly attend the Landuma church meetings. The adults are, from left to right, Salu, Masalu, Abulay, Sajo, Dave, Abraham. Masalu’s sons Bagar and Bunyamin are in the front row. Below we have given a little more information about each one (village names are not given in full for security reasons):

Salu – Lives in H village. Salu has been a believer for several years. He is currently learning to teach the Bible to children at our monthly kids’ clubs. Salu has two wives. His first wife, Ayisatu, has professed faith in Jesus, but won’t attend church due to Salu’s poor testimony in the past. But Salu seems to be doing better the past year or so. PRAY that Ayisatu recognizes God’s work in his heart, and decides to worship with the church on Sundays. Salu’s second wife has no interest in the Bible teaching.

Masalu - Lives in K village. Masalu was the first Landuma person to hear the Gospel in his language, and the first to believe (in 1999). He is a valuable ministry partner, and is Kirk’s primary helper in the Bible translation work. Masalu has three wives and 11 kids. His first wife, Kadi, has heard much Bible teaching, but we are not sure if she has understood and believed. She will not attend the Landuma church meetings due to fear of her brothers and other family members who would persecute her if they thought she were a Christian. Masalu’s other wives are not believers, and have shown less interest in being taught. His two oldest sons, Bagar and Bunyamin (Benjamin), have professed faith in Jesus. PRAY for Masalu, that he might effectively teach and disciple his large family.

Abulay – Lives in K village. Abulay is the oldest believer, and we appreciate his wisdom. He cannot read, but loves to listen to tapes of Bible lessons and sermons, and he shares these with his family and visitors. Abulay has two wives. His first wife, Kadiyetu, like Masalu’s wife Kadi, has heard much teaching, and seems to understand. But she, too, is fearful of her family, and so will not make a public profession of faith in Jesus. Abulay’s second wife has shown little intrest in the Bible teaching. PRAY that Abulay’s outreach to his family and neighbors bears fruit.

Sajo – Lives in K village. Sajo is a blacksmith. He spends many hours each day making tools to sell to villagers. He is disabled, as he fell out of a tree some years ago and broke his back. By the grace of God he has made good progress and can now walk with a cane. Sajo’s first language is actually Fulani, but understands Landuma well. PRAY that Sajo would grow in spiritual maturity.

Dave - Lives in B village. Dave met with the Landuma church for several months, and has a keen interest in understanding the message of Jesus. Due to a severe infection in his foot he lost his job as a taxi driver, and had to move back home. His mother and brother are strongly opposed to Dave studying the Bible, so he has had to do it in secret. PRAY that Dave’s foot would fully heal, that he would be able to get work and move out on his own, and that he would continue to have a desire to know the truth.

Abraham – Lives in H village. Abraham is a good reader, and enjoys leading singing in church. PRAY that Abraham would make wise choices about how he spends his time, and that his stated desire to grow spiritually would be borne out by those choices.

In addition to these there are a few other Landumas, mostly women, who have made some profession of faith in Jesus, but who are afraid to be open Christians. All would face severe persecution should it be known that they have believed the Gospel.

Thank you for praying for the Landuma church!

It is interesting and instructive to note that in the Gospel record, whenever Jesus prayed to God the Father, He nearly always addressed Him as “Father” (See for example His prayer in John 17). Nowhere is it recorded that Jesus addressed God simply as “Lord” (without first calling Him Father). And the only time it was recorded that Jesus addressed God as “God” was while He was on the cross, taking the punishment for our sins, when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46/Mark 15:34).

Jesus’ entreaties to God thus emphasize the closeness of relationship and fellowship they enjoyed, of which the relationship of an obedient son with his loving father is a picture. And Jesus instructed His disciples to address God in the same way (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2). Paul agrees (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 3:14, 5:20). Whatever sort of father you may have had, you can be sure that for all who believe in Jesus as their Savior, our Father in Heaven is loving, gracious, forgiving, patient, and gentle. He wants us to rest in His loving arms and call Him Father!

Jesus was not pluralistic. He made exclusive claims. “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Only we who have trusted Jesus’ death as full payment for all our sins can call God Father in the truest sense, with all the intimacy of relationship and fellowship that term implies. It is only we who have been born into the family of God (1 John 5:1). It is sad to consider, but the rest of humanity, those who reject the message of Jesus, miss out on the benefits of salvation. They cannot call God Father in the biblical sense. The Scriptures are clear on this. And indeed, some religions are even violently opposed to the concept of God as the Father of those who trust in Him.

BELES’ BELIEF

Our neighbor Beles once told Kirk that it was wrong for Jesus to address God as “Father.” To him, using such language implies that God had fathered Jesus like a man fathers his children. No amount of explaining could get Beles to understand that this term need imply no such thing, but was rather a figurative way of expressing the close relationship between Jesus and God the Father.

Though Beles has been a good friend and neighbor of ours for years, he still strongly rejects some key Bible doctrines which he must understand and believe in order to understand and embrace the Gospel. Of course, this is not surprising, as he has not heard all of the foundational, chronological Bible teaching, which carefully lays out the biblical basis of these key doctrines in a way which Landuma people can understand and accept – if they will embrace the Bible as their source of truth.

Yet Beles is always interested in talking about spiritual things. He and Kirk have had many interesting discussions. Though he has not been willing to listen to us teach God’s Word in person, last spring he agreed to start listening to the Bible lessons on an Ambassador audio player (see photo). He takes a long time to finish each lesson, as he listens to it repeatedly to make sure he understands. But in discussing the first few lessons with him, it was evident that, so far, he had understood well.

• PRAY that Beles would continue to be motivated to listen to God’s Word taught. PRAY that he would continue to understand the message well. And PRAY that one day Beles would be able to call God “Kas kami, my Father.”

One day recently we taught Kadi, and she was listening and seemed to be understanding what she heard. The next day she was just staring and mostly unresponsive. And the next day she could not sit up, but just lay still. A few days later she died.

Kirk was able to share a message of hope with several of Kadi’s relatives and friends who came to the funeral. He explained that we were mourning her death, yet we were rejoicing as well. Why? Because Kadi had been listening to the Word of God for the past year. She had heard how God can save sinners because of the Savior He sent. Kadi heard that message and she said she believed it. So we were happy for her, because the Bible says that if you believe God’s message, then you will go to Heaven when you die.

The Landumas smile politely and are happy to agree, at least outwardly, with such talk. But when it comes down to it they really are afraid of God’s Word. They know that if they were to show interest and follow the message we have brought, it would result in terrible upheaval in their personal lives. There is just too much opposition.

• PRAY that God would show us ways to make the need to listen to God’s message real to these people.
• PRAY for the Landumas, that God would give them a strong desire to listen to His Word taught.
• PRAY that God would work mightily among the Landumas to bring many to Himself.

THE BALANTAS
Of the half million Balantas in West Africa, about 3,500 of them live in northwest Guinea, in a few villages scattered among other, larger people groups. The Balantas of Guinea are animists, having resisted for generations the pressure exerted by their neighbors to convert to the majority religion. In fact, the Balantas’ name means “those who resist,” and their obstinance regarding religion is proverbial. They are considered by their Guinean neighbors to be the lowest of the low, the supreme pagans. A common insult is to call someone a Balanta, which carries the connotation of “stubborn, obstinate, pagan, gross sinner.” (Similar to how the 1st Century Jews would call someone a Samaritan; see John 8:48.) Balantas have been known to laugh at the religious people as they bow their heads to the ground, asking derisively if they are worshipping the dirt!

The Balantas have their own language, but many of them also speak Susu, the dominant trade language in this part of Guinea. There are no missionaries to the Balantas of Guinea.

MASALU’S & ABDULAY’S MISSIONARY JOURNEY
One of our missionary coworkers, Benton, speaks Susu fluently. In November 2008 he was invited by some Balantas from a village near where he lives to go there and teach them the Bible. He did, and after several months of careful, foundational teaching, a few of the Balantas were saved!

Not long thereafter, Benton and his family had to leave the field for a short home assignment. But it was difficult to leave these baby Christians with no one to teach them. So Benton asked Masalu, a Landuma Christian, if he would be willing to go to the Balanta village a couple of times during his absence to encourage and further teach the believers. Masalu also speaks Susu well, and he happily agreed to serve in this way. Abdulay, another believer from Masalu’s village, also decided to go along. Both of these men have been following Jesus for many years, and have much of value to share with new babes in Christ!

So one day in June Masalu and Abdulay traveled by taxi and then by foot (nearly an hour of walking) to the Balanta village. The Balanta believers were thrilled to have them share and teach. Masalu started by giving their testimonies of how they came to know the Lord. Masalu then read Acts 1 in the Susu Bible, and taught the passage to them. He also shared many other Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments as the Lord led, “proving that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:20), and not someone else, as the neighboring religionists insist.

CONFRONTATION
The Balantas shared how they had come to the Lord, and how their non-Balanta neighbors had responded to their conversion. “Why has Benton been going to your village?” they were asked.

“He has been teaching us the Word of God.”

“And you have listened to it?”

“Yes, and we have believed it, too. We have entered their religion.”

“What?! We have been with you for many years, and you have refused to join our religion. And now you have joined another religion, a foreign religion?”

“Yes, we didn’t search after a foreign religion or a domestic religion. It is the truth that we sought. Since we have seen the truth, we can’t leave it alone and hang onto a lie! A person follows a lie till he sees the truth, then when he sees the truth he lets the lie go and follows the truth.”

Their religious neighbors weren’t pleased with that answer, but what could they say?

ENCOURAGEMENT
Masalu and Abdulay had a similar testimony to share with their new friends. “We too, they try to get us to go back to our old religion. But we have seen the light. Regardless of what they say, how they insult us or shame us, regardless of the suffering we endure, we can never go back to the darkness! We can try to get others to join us, but we can never return to the darkness and ignorance.”

Before they left, the Balanta believers urged them to return before too long for another visit. Masalu and Abdulay said they would try to do that once they had finished planting their fields.

It gives us great joy to see Landuma believers reaching out to others. The Landuma church remains so small, and it is struggling due to pressure from materialism, and from a society which shuns Bible truth and shames those who seek non-traditional answers to spiritual questions. But we are encouraged that God is working in and through the Landuma church, and thankful for these little proofs of that!

PRAY

PRAY for spiritual growth for the Balanta believers. PRAY that they would meet together for fellowship and prayer.

PRAY that Masalu and Abdulay would be able to return to the Balanta village for more teaching and encouragement.

Kadi (pictured second from left) is a Landuma woman in her 70s. She has diabetes, and last year we helped her when she needed a foot amputated due to complications of the disease. She and her daughter Ami were very grateful, and told us they know that no one else would have helped like that, not their family, not their neighbors, not their leaders, no one. They said they knew that God sent us and that they know that we missionaries really know the truth of God, that the message we preach is the truth.

Tragically, though she had stated that she was interested in hearing he Bible teaching, Ami died a few months ago, before she had heard the truth. Soon after, Kadi’s second daughter, Jenaba, came to the village to care for her mother. Jenaba said she also knows we teach the truth. The two agreed to let Kirk teach them the Bible.

“But what about your son, the village religious leader,” Kirk asked, “Won’t he object?”

“Don’t worry about him. We can listen to God’s Word if we want to. He can’t stop us.”

So Kirk and the ladies began studying God’s Word together. Kirk is teaching the evangelistic Bible lessons which take one through the panorama of Bible history from the creation of the universe to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. God’s attributes and man’s sinful nature are communicated clearly, as is the provision our loving God has made for reconciliation between a holy God and sinful man. Recently they studied the 10 commandments, and God’s pattern for salvation shown in the Tabernacle. The goal is to help them understand who God is, the holy sovereign ruler of the universe, and who they (and we all) are, sinners separated from Him and in need of salvation.

Kadi and Jenaba seem to be understanding the truth. They have stated that they know they are sinners, that all people are, and that no one can be saved by doing good works, and that we all need God to save us. This is real progress, as their religion teaches that everyone must save themselves through performing religious duties and being good to others.

–PRAY for Kadi and Jenaba, that they would have good understanding of the truths they are learning.

–PRAY that they would be convicted of their sin, and truly see their need of a Savior.

–Sometimes other family members and/or neighbors listen in on the teaching. PRAY that God would give them a hunger to listen to all of the foundational Bible teaching.

UPDATE

Jeneba left the village and returned to Conakry before we finished studying the lessons. PRAY for her, that she would return to our village and again listen to the Bible teaching.

Kadi continued to listen as Kirk taught her the remaining foundational lessons in the Old Testament. They continued to study through the Gospels about what Jesus has done for us. Many times Kadi affirmed that she knew she was a sinner who couldn’t buy forgiveness from God by any good works. She knew that she needed to trust the Savior whom God sent. She said she believed that Jesus died to pay her sin debt!

We rejoice in this testimony of faith in Jesus!

During the days when we were studying the final Bible lessons, Kadi became seriously ill with complications from her diabetes, and she died. See the story posted a couple of posts above this one to learn more.

Note: Click on thumbnail photos to enlarge!

LOST!

Alfa and Mamadu and their families were hungry. In these last few weeks before the harvest food was very scarce. But they knew that there was meat available for the taking. They would just have to go and get it. They knew what they were up against. The meat has wings. And the meat lives in the deepest part of a large cave. And the cave is inhabited by something other than the meat. They believe it is inhabited by demons. Mamadu’s father had gone into the cave many years ago, before Mamadu was born, to get some meat, but had been imprisoned by the demons for five days. In such circumstances, how hungry would YOU have to be before you would brave the dangers and go get some meat?

Alfa and Mamadu were hungry enough. So they found some batteries for their flashlights, cut a couple of suitable sized sticks, and went to the cave. They hiked deep into the cave, where the large bats hang out. Alfa began throwing a stick at the bats hanging from the ceiling. Mamadu picked up the stunned bats and stuffed them in a sack. They continued working for some time.

Finally Mamadu said he was tired, he wanted to go. But Alfa said he had hit three bats and needed to get them first, and then they could go. He collected the bats, but when he turned around to tell Mamadu to come with the sack, he was no longer there!

Alfa called to his friend. No answer. “Perhaps he started back and is waiting for me,” Alfa thought. He headed toward the cave entrance, but saw no sign of Mamadu. Though it was strange that Mamadu would go home without Alfa, there seemed to be no other explanation. So Alfa went home alone.

That night, Mamadu’s younger sister came to Alfa and asked, “Where is Mamadu? Didn’t you two go to the cave today?”

“Yes, but he left the cave before I did, and I thought he must have gone home. I was going to go to your place tomorrow to get my share of the bats.”

“Well, he never came home! Where is he?”

Alfa returned to the cave. Near the entrance he found Mamadu’s shirt, shoes, and bush knife, which he had left there before entering the cave. So he realized that Mamadu must have never come out. A search party was organized. Several men went into the cave to look for Mamadu, but they found no sign of him.

A FAMILY ADVENTURE

“Konk-konk-konk!” Karfalo was “knocking” verbally as the Landumas usually do. Kirk greeted him. He told Kirk about how Mamadu had been lost a couple of days earlier, and said they were going to his village the next day. Did Kirk want to go along? Maybe go into the cave and take a look? Colton and Kayla were home for the weekend, so we decided to all go together and see what we could see.

So at the appointed time we packed our best flashlights, prepared our bikes, and headed out. The bike ride to the village took an hour, up and down hills,

through fields of rice, peanuts and corn,

across streams,

along forest paths,

and traversing savannahs covered with tall green grass.

When we arrived at the village, we found a group of men had gathered. They had come from several villages in the area, and included religious leaders and teachers, adherents to the majority religion of this country. They were all convinced that demons in the cave had imprisoned Mamadu, and would not let him go until they were properly appeased. So they had sent for several diviners, men who knew how to deal with demons. They were taking a collection, because the diviner who was able to obtain Mamadu’s release would demand a large reward.

Alfa wasn’t present. He was being held by the authorities in the nearest city. Unless the demons released Mamadu, Alfa was the prime suspect in Mamadu’s disappearance. The authorities, too, would have to be paid a large sum if Alfa were to ever obtain his freedom.

The men said they were not going to search in the cave again, but would wait for the diviners. But if we wanted to go look, that was fine. So we all set off for the cave.

As we walked, Kirk asked a religious teacher whether he would be going into the cave. “Not me,” he said. “I’m afraid of caves. I don’t dare go in there.”

THE CAVE

The trail to the cave ended at what appeared to be a cliff. With the help of some convenient trees we climbed down to find the cave opening under the cliff edge. Before entering the cave we prayed together for safety, that God would protect us, and help us to find Mamadu.

Karfalo and Burama, men from our village, accompanied us into the cave. They had asked some of the others if they would be going with us. “No way,” they had said. “We know all foreigners work together with demons. We’re afraid they might take us in there and trade us to the demons for something they want, and we would never come out!”

Karfalo and Burama just chuckled. “We have known these people for a long time. They wouldn’t do that.”

Just inside the entrance of the cave there were two sticks stuck in the ground, with a piece of cloth tied between them. “That’s a sacrifice to appease the demons,” Karfalo said. Nearby was a dead chicken. “Yep, another sacrifice. But the demons didn’t want those sacrifices.”

We proceeded into the cave, and shortly we came to a little stream. The stream ran along the main passageway of the cave. From this main passage branched several smaller passages. We explored each branch of the entire cave. Each passage eventually got so small that we would have had to crawl to go any further. We were told that if one would crawl down some of the tunnels, which were only a foot or two high, one would arrive at other large rooms. We didn’t care to prove whether that was true or not. We figured we would leave the crawling to someone else!

The cave floor was very uneven, much of it covered by rocks which had fallen from the ceiling. We had to climb over many of these rock hills. And the rocks were covered with bat guano. So with the unevenness of the terrain, the darkness, and the slipperiness of the guano, it was slow, tedious going for much of the way.

After a short while, the heat and the smell got to be too much for Yolanda and Kayla, and they returned to the entrance, while the men continued exploring.

As we explored, thousands and thousands of bats were almost continually flying past us. The breeze their beating wings produced was a bit refreshing as the air was hot and humid. Their sonar appeared to be working well, for none of them collided with us, though a few wings did make contact as they brushed past our heads.

Most of the bats were of a small, orange variety. But when we reached the end of the main corridor, there we found the place where the larger, gray bats hang out. There were a few sticks lying about, the tools used to stun the bats. Karfalo and Burama proceeded to use them, and managed to get a few and stuff them into a shirt converted into a sack.

We looked everywhere we could in the cave, in every hole and down every corridor we could see, but there was no sign of Mamadu. The Landumas later explained that he must either be in another room we couldn’t get to, or he was covered up by the demons and thus hidden from our sight.

MAMADU’S FATHER

After emerging from the cave, Yolanda and the kids set out for home, while Kirk returned to Mamadu’s village with the village men. “Mamadu’s father is here,” someone said. “Would you like to meet him?”

Mamadu’s father is old and sickly. But he was able to speak with Kirk, and he told his story of how he had been kept prisoner in the cave by demons so many years ago. “I went into the cave and was collecting bats. I was in a large passageway, which I had to crawl to get to. After a while I lay down. I slept for a long time. I awakened, and went to the stream and drank some water. Then I slept again, and after a long time awakened again and drank some more water. I tried to leave the cave, but the exit was closed to me. I couldn’t get out.

“Meanwhile, outside, a diviner was talking with the demons and he found out that in order to appease them, the villagers had to get alcohol and food and have a big party, eating and drinking and dancing with drums. They had the party, and after that the demons let me leave. I found the exit and came out of the cave. I had been there five days.”

THE WITNESS

After leaving Mamadu’s father, Kirk rejoined the group of men. They were discussing the fact that we had come with our family and been willing to go into the cave, unafraid. “Yes,” Kirk said, “we were willing to go in and search for the man. We wanted to try to help you find him. We are afraid of getting lost in a cave. That’s why we brought our big flashlights, and we were careful not to get lost. But we weren’t afraid to all go in, including my wife and daughter, because we aren’t afraid of demons. We have never seen demons, we don’t deal with demons. We don’t know anything about demons, except what we read about them in God’s message.

“When Jesus was here on earth, He had power over demons. He cast them out of people, and they were afraid of Him. We are believers in Jesus. He is with us, and He still has power over demons. He protects us. We don’t need any protective charms. God is our protection. That’s why we aren’t afraid of demons. God will protect anyone who will believe Him and His message. That’s why we have come here, to tell you Landumas this important message.”

After a little more discussion, Kirk left for home.

THE DIVINER

Later that day a diviner arrived. He went to the cave to inquire of the demons. Afterward he reported on the meeting. “The demons met with me. They said they have Mamadu. He is healthy; nothing bad has happened to him. But he provoked the demons and they are not happy. One of the bats Mamadu and Alfa bagged was not a bat, it was a demon. Also, the demons said Mamadu had shined his flashlight in the eyes of one of the demon children. They don’t like that. They tried repeatedly to stop him from annoying them, but he wouldn’t listen. So they grabbed Mamadu.

“They also said they don’t like the foreigners. ‘Don’t let them go into the cave again!’ they warned.

“The demons don’t want the chicken sacrifices you all made,” the diviner continued. “They want you to make a sacrifice of a brown goat and a white rooster. The rooster must be released alive, but the goat must be slaughtered and cooked, along with a lot of rice, and you all must eat it and have a big party and make merry. Then the demons will be happy, and they will release Mamadu to you. You must put on this party this coming Thursday.”

The people made the sacrifice and put on the party as instructed, but afterward Mamadu didn’t appear as expected. Several days passed, and he still didn’t appear. It has been almost two weeks since the party, and Mamadu is still lost.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

The Landumas obviously have great faith that these demons exist, and that they live in caves. They believe that they are similar to humans, in that they eat, sleep, marry, have children, and die. Some are said to be followers of the majority religion, while others are pagans. But the demons are invisible to all but certain individuals, who can have dealings with them, and can get them to do things for them.

Whether Mamadu was really nabbed by demons, we have no idea. But whether demons are involved in this case or not, it is clear that these people are living in fear of Satan and his “angels,” and they are willing to appease them when necessary to get their problems solved. The religion they profess commands them to worship God only, to dispense with the sorcery and divination of their forefathers. Yet when push comes to shove these religious injunctions carry little weight. Animists tend to be more concerned with dead ancestors, spirits, demons, etc. than with the Creator, because these powers are perceived to play a more prominent role in their physical well-being. Thus the animist does what he must do to solve his problems, even if it contradicts the precepts of the “high religion” he claims to follow.

It is only the message of the Gospel which will deliver the Landumas from their blindness and fear, and bring new life and peace and security. It is not only Mamadu who is lost, in the most real sense of the word, but also 17,000 other Landuma people.

Please PRAY that Mamadu is still alive, and that he is found. PRAY that, somehow, through this ordeal more hearts here would be opened up to the teaching of God’s Word.

January 2009 update…

Mamadu has still not been found. He is presumed dead, but since the family is not certain, his widow will wait two years before remarrying (under normal circumstances it is customary for a Landuma widow to remarry 100 days after the death of her husband).

May 2009 update…

Still no sign of Mamadu.