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Missionaries
in Burkina Faso Witness the Fruit of their Efforts
AIMS
News: Posted 3/1/2004
The
wife of a Fulani man lay on her bed, near death. Several
witchdoctors had come to see her, but nothing they did
could help her. A missionary approached her bedside.
He held her hand and prayed mightily for her health
to be restored. Within a short time, she was miraculously
healed. She began attending a new church plant in her
village. Her Fulani husband joined her. Both have given
their hearts to Jesus and are currently waiting to be
baptized.
In
November 2000, about 3,500 pastors attended an Equipping
for the Harvest conference in Burkina Faso, representing
14 major denominations and approximately 66% of the
countryís church leadership. The conference focused
on networking pastors to reach the 32 unreached people
groups in Burkina Faso. At the end of the conference,
partnerships formed for all 32 people groups.
"Some
groups and villages have asked our missionaries
to come and plant churches among them." |
Last
May, seventy-five Burkinabe missionaries out of the
2000 conference completed missionary training in Burkina
Faso. Representing ten major denominations, these missionaries
were commissioned to take the Gospel to various unreached
people groups in the country. In less than one year,
they are already seeing the fruit of their efforts.
Five of the ten denominations that completed training
reported that fifteen new churches have been planted
and 118 people have accepted Christ.
"The
Gospel is making a big impact in this area," said
one pastor. Thirteen missionaries from his denomination
attended the training and are now working among several
unreached people groups. "Some groups and villages
have asked our missionaries to come and plant churches
among them."
Last
year, AIMS had agreed to partner with several of the
national denominations in raising a portion of the necessary
funds for these missionaries.
"Your
efforts through conferences and financial support have
mobilized our members for missions," said another
pastor. Out of his denomination, three churches have
been planted among the Fulani, Leele, and Jelgore tribes
in Burkina Faso. "We are working to mobilize and
send other missionaries to continue this work. We are
influencing our local churches to adopt an unreached
people group."
"Abraham"
(AIMS West Africa Coordinator) has planned another Equipping
for the Harvest conference in Benin this summer.
Eventually, he would like to focus on a new country
every year.
"Our
goal is to see a church-planting movement among every
unreached people group in West Africa. We"d like
to see the whole continent saturated with the Gospel."
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