November 22, 2013
By Becky McCabe, serving with Compassion and Mercy Associates (CAMA), the relief and development arm of The Alliance
Alimata shuffled her way toward the front of the building, her back bent with age. She turned and faced us.
Keeping a Promise
With tears welling up in her eyes and a few francs clutched in her wrinkled hand, she told us that she needed to fulfill a promise she’d made to the Lord years before.
She explained that she had been a pastor’s wife. When her husband died, she had gone to live with her son in Weledigula.
Alimata and her son were the village’s only believers. Yet each week they faithfully worshiped together in their yard under a gwa—a shelter constructed of four poles covered with a straw mat roof.
Widow’s Prayers, Four-Year-Old’s Vision
Over time the church added a few members and eventually a pastor. But the congregation continued to meet under the gwa.
Alimata prayed faithfully that the Lord would provide a building to protect the congregation from Mali’s blistering sun and seasonal heavy rains.
She promised Him that she would give the first person who preached in their new facility 1,000 West African francs—about $2. (The average Malian family lives on less than that a day.) Together the church members made mud bricks and slowly built the walls of their church.
Alliance Church of the Valley (St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin) youth—mobilized by four-year-old Caden Folkestad—raised funds for the church to have a new tin roof.
All For One; One For All also is part of Big Ideas: Alliance Core Values for Kidz—a curriculum designed to teach children these biblical principles.
Beacon of Light
On this day, the first service in the Weledigula Alliance Church, Alimata handed the pastor her 1,000 francs. She then challenged us to thank the Lord for the beautiful building He had provided.
You would have thought that we were gathered in a multimillion dollar facility rather than a mud-brick structure with dirt floors.
In a village—and a nation—that remains spiritually dark, the Weledigula Alliance Church will be a beacon of light to lead the lost to Him.
What You Can Do
Pray
- Praise the Lord for the new church in Weledigula, for Alimata’s faithfulness, and for Caden Folkestad’s passion to raise money for the church’s new roof! Pray that God will shine His light through this congregation to push back the spiritual darkness in this village and surrounding communities.
- Your prayers also strengthen Alliance workers who disciple new believers as well as share the love, truth, and power of Jesus with those who have had little or no opportunity to encounter Him. Use the weekly Alliance Prayer Requests to assist you in praying for our worldwide team.
Learn More
- Check out Big Ideas: Alliance Core Values for Kidz (1:11)—a curriculum designed to teach children these biblical principles by which Jesus lived. The package includes seven videos of youth who model these values, one of whom is Caden Folkestad.
- Read about how VBS students in the United States were inspired to raise money to dig wells in Burkina Faso.
- “It Takes an Alliance to Build a Church” recounts another small African congregation’s journey to extend God’s Kingdom.