“Muzungu! Muzungu! Muzungu!” These are the shouts I (Bekah) would
hear every week as I was swarmed by a group of kids chasing my boda on the way into
Bible study. For the past year, I have been teaching an evangelistic Bible
study in a neighboring village. As I teach, the children always peer around
trees staring at me and when I wave to say hello, they run away laughing, only
to come back a few minutes later.
A few weeks ago as I was teaching, I looked around at all
the kids’ faces. I thought about how it’s too far for them to walk to Kubamitwe
for church, VBS, or any other events we have (it’s over an hour walk). Then it
hit me. This was a project for Compassion in Action. A Kids’ Bible Club is
exactly what this unreached village needs. I rushed home that night to tell the
gang, and everyone was excited.
Last week, Elisa, Ethan, and I hopped on our bikes to make
the trek to this village. We wanted to find a central location to hold our Bible
study. As we rode in on the dusty, bumpy road a large group of Muslims, both
kids and adults, were exiting the mosque. This village is 90% Muslim and as we
looked around at the people leaving the mosque, we saw more than just a poverty
stricken village, but a place in desperate need of Christ. There is no church
or opportunity for these people to hear the gospel. One great way to reach a
community—through the children.
As we were returning from our journey with the sun scorching
down on us, Ethan begged us to stop for water. Reluctantly, we stopped at a local
shop to look for something to drink. To
the right, I saw a man and woman reading the Koran and beckoned Elisa to look.
“Let’s go talk to him”, she said and without hesitation Elisa (the fluent one
in the group) was sharing the gospel. She asked him what the Koran teaches
about how one gets to heaven and his response was that all one needed to do was
tell God he was sorry. After sharing with him about man’s desperate situation
and the need for someone to pay the penalty for our sin, the man refused to believe
we needed an advocate on our behalf and refused to believe that Jesus Christ
was more than just a good man. After 45 minutes, Elisa concluded the
conversation saying she would be praying for him, as he would have to pay his
own punishment for sin. His reply, “Okay, I’ll pay it.” As our physical thirst
was satisfied, we were reminded that there is a much greater thirst that needs
to be satisfied for this man and for this village. As Jesus said, “Everyone who
drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall
become in a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
On Sunday, Emma, Elisa, Kabite, Evan, and I (Ethan was home
with a fever) launched the Bible study. We weren’t sure who would show up since
many told us they wouldn’t come because:
they were Muslim, they had work to do, or just didn’t want to come. But our God
showed us His kindness. 47 kids showed up. We played games, handed out candy,
and taught them a song to get them excited about our Bible club. At the end of
the day, we told them that ultimately we are coming to do more than just have
fun, to do more than just play games, to do more than just give them candy, but
to teach them about the most important person, Jesus Christ.
Pray with us that these kids would come to know the love of
Christ. Pray with us for this lost,
Muslim populated village. Please pray that the devout Muslims won’t stop our
efforts or persecute the children coming. Pray that they would drink the water
of eternal life and truly thirst no more.
Check out our updated photo gallery to see pictures!
Check out our updated photo gallery to see pictures!
