by an Alliance international worker, serving in West Africa
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. . . . They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God (Isaiah 35:1–2, ESV).
Scattered throughout our sandy, West African terrain are the magnificent baobabs—massive, gnarly, disproportioned trees that look like they’re growing upside down. Most of the year, they are leafless.
But months before the few sprinkles of rain arrive that characterize our “rainy season,” the baobabs’ leaves sprout—as if in sheer anticipation of what is to come. In some species, lovely pink flowers appear.
As I admired the new leaves on the roadside baobabs during one of our recent trips, it reminded me of the new story about what God is doing here.
Hoping for a Breakthrough
The work in this region is slow. The culture is strong, and the people are deeply resistant to any change, including responding to the good news. For international workers, this can be discouraging.
But, like the baobabs anticipating the rains, we hold on to the hope that a breakthrough is coming.
Although we don’t see the life-bringing, drenching rains yet, like the leaves on the baobabs, new life is sprouting as a result of the work God is doing through faithful prayer and our outreaches.
New Openness
With our local church partners, our team has helped to establish girls’ and boys’ vocational training schools, medical clinics, a street boy outreach, kids’ clubs, and radio broadcasts. Our goal is to provide access to the good news to as many people as possible in this country where less than .01 percent of the population knows our Savior.
Although we don’t yet see a harvest, we are beginning to see a greening in this area through a shift in openness and a softening toward the truth.
One example is a group of students who have been attending one of our vocational schools. During the first of three years of classes, they were quite resistant to the Bible teachings each morning before class began.
Resistance and indifference slowly gave way to openness and curiosity. By their second year, these students had joined several believers to begin their own extracurricular Bible studies. At the conclusion of their academic studies last year, one of the students met with the pastor and his wife to ask more questions about the truth.
Also, a husband and wife, who had heard the truth proclaimed over time through our regular radio broadcasts, together made the decision, along with one of their daughters, to follow Jesus. It is uncommon here for families to come to Christ as a unit.
The Rain Is Coming
Yet we are encouraged—this is what took place in the church-planting movements chronicled in the New Testament. This family has asked leaders in our partner church to disciple them and have been welcomed warmly into our small fellowship. And they ask for prayer that the rest of their family will come to faith as well.
This is an exciting time to be working in the fields (see Luke 10:2). The rain is coming.
Join us in praying that the Lord of the harvest will continue drawing His lost children to Himself and that more laborers will join in to work in these fields.