God is answering our prayers!

Two encouraging stories

We are praising God as we can see Him at work in the lives of the young people who are involved in the Scholarship Project.  Those of you who are praying for these young people will be particularly encouraged by what has been happening recently in the lives of Malle, a Wolof high-school boy, and Adja, a Wolof girl who is in the 3rd grade at the Catholic school this year.

Adja is the one I asked you to pray for in last month's post.  She had been going to school in the village until this year, when she moved into Kaffrine to attend the strong Catholic school here.  This has been a very difficult time for her for several reasons: 1) her mom died just over a year ago, 2) she has moved twice since school started because things didn't work out at the first place in town where she and her younger sister tried to live, 3) she is now living with Musl. relatives in town who often make fun of her and her father for being Christians, and 3) the schoolwork, particularly the level of French, is much more advanced than what she had experienced in the village school.  

The praise report is that I recently talked to Adja's teacher and the director of the school and they both say that she has made a drastic improvement in her reading and school performance.  I had shared my concerns with her father and he and her teacher sat down together with her and gave her a strong pep talk.  Since then, there has been a marked improvement in her work.  Continue to pray that she will be able to pass onto the next grade at the end of the school year.

I also spent an hour talking with Adja this past Sunday afternoon about the ugly things her extended family are saying to her about being a Christian and about getting money from the "toubabs", etc.  She was particularly upset because she said, "I'm not a Christian, but they all accuse me of being one!"  I talked about how there are two paths in front of her, the Way of Moham. and the Way of Jesus, and I encouraged her to continue to learn all she can about both ways before making her decision.  I gave her a brief comparison of the lives of Jesus and Moham. and explained why I have chosen to follow Jesus.  I shared Jesus' parable about the wide, easy road that leads to hell, and the narrow road full of trials and persecution which few find but which leads to heaven.  Finally, I challenged her to try to respond to cursing as the Bible encourages us to respond, with blessing.  Adja responded to everything I said with more questions.  She left with a lot to think about!  Pray for her to see the Truth and the Way.

Malle is an extremely mature high-schooler who has clearly chosen to follow Jesus.  He was baptised a few years ago and has since continued to mature in the faith.  He is a core member of the guy's weekly Bible study and often invites other non-christian friends to attend.  Two things I recently heard about Malle touched my heart deeply.  

The first is that Malle asked our teammates, Bennie and Maggs, for more christian reading material.  They gave him a book with in-depth Bible study which he is diligently working through on his own.  This is in addition to his school studies and his faithful participation in the Wed. evening Bible studies, and all-day Sunday Wolof meetings every week!  He has a hunger for the Word that is a challenge to me.

The other incident that made me want to sing and cry at the same time, happened earlier this year.  He had been living with Musl. relatives here in town since we started the Scholarship Project.  This family, like Adja's family, gave him a hard time, teasing him about reading his Bible, etc.  At one point, in an attempt to get him to change his mind and return to Isla., the family told him that he couldn't live there anymore unless he stopped following Jesus because they didn't want to eat out of the same bowl as him or share a home with a Christian.  Upon hearing this, he quietly got up and got his younger sister, they packed their bags, and left.  They went home to their parents in the village for a few days until they could find another place to live in Kaffrine.  After that, the family, realizing their threats hadn't worked, asked the kids to come back.  The younger sister is living there again now, and Malle has been staying at his village teacher's Kaffrine home.  The reason this story moves me so much is because of the calm conviction that Malle has in his heart.  And what a beautiful witness he and his sister and their parents have been to the rest of their family!  Malle has chosen to follow Jesus, and he doesn't complain about the difficulties this brings him daily, nor does he try to hide his faith - he simply and quietly lives it out.  Praise God for Malle and the other believers in his family.  Pray for God to continue to strengthen and deepen their faith and to use them to bring many others to know Him.