November 2001

Welcome to the IMB Collegiate eNewsletter for November 2001! The format of this eNewsletter is a bit different because of some technical difficulties. We plan to have the "fancy " look back for December's eNewsletter.

This month's eNewsletter focuses on the Marensé people of Burkina Faso, West Africa.

What's Inside: People Group Info: Marensé of Burkina Faso, Prayer Points, Mission Projects in West Africa, Ramadan Prayers, Ad: Testimonies Needed!, God's Heart for the Nations Bible study

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Marensé [Mah-RAHN-say] of Burkina Faso, West Africa

From Paul, a Journeyman on the field:

"Soon after I met Josef* in early October of this year, God burdened my heart to witness to him quickly and with boldness. I don't know the Marensé language very well, but Josef is one of the few who speak English. Ironically, Joseph is a Marensé man who cannot speak his own heart language because he grew up in Tougouri, a non-Marensé town.

Last week God gave me the chance to tell Josef about Jesus. I gave him a book (he is one of the few who can read) on the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the New Testament. The fulfilled prophecies are crucial for Muslims to understand. Josef asked many questions and finally responded, "I pray everyday for God to show me the truth. If he tells me that Christ is the truth, I will put my trust in Him."

Josef is willing; his heart simply needs to be opened to understand the truth. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would guide us into all Truth (John 16:13). Please pray for Josef, that the Holy Spirit reveal the truth of Jesus' identity to him. Pray that he come to Christ and be used to bring many more. I have a vision that he may even learn his heart language, Marensé, and be used as a pastor and evangelist among his own people. Time will tell. Please pray!"

The Marensé people live in an arid area just south of the Sahara Desert. During the two-month rainy season, the Marensé grow their own food - mainly millet, corn and peanuts. They live in mud or grass huts without electricity. Water comes from a well located miles away.

Formal education is rare among the Marensé. The few existing schools use either French or Moore (a neighboring tribal language) for instruction, so Marensé children, like Josef, are not taught to read or write in their own language.

The work of the Marensé men is unique to their people group: they dye cloth with indigo. The men purchase white cloth woven by the women of a neighboring tribe, and then dye it in deep pits dug in the ground for this purpose. When finished, the Marensé sell the beautiful, dark blue cloth in the market.

The religious beliefs of the Marensé center around African traditional religions (animism) and Islam. Some Marensé combine these two religions to form a type of folk Islam. Some villages claim to have abandoned animism, but many are still steeped in the traditional religions. Most Marensé people have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are lost without Him. How can they hear unless someone tells them?

"Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" - Is. 6:8
"Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest fields." - Matt. 9:38

*Name changed to protect his identity.

For more info about the Marensé people, see www.byhisgrace.com/marense/ 

Prayer Points:

• This summer several teams of X-treme student summer missionaries prayer-trekked through every Marensé village. One village, Sankala, was not receptive to them, making it difficult for future team members to return there. Pray that family members from other villages that accepted the team members would receive the Gospel and take it to Sankala.
• For more than a year our prayer partners have been asking God to send workers to live and work among the Marensé. Hallelujah, God has added eight new team members in 2001! Kneel before our Father and ask Him to quiet the anxieties of the new team members as they enter an unfamiliar culture. Ask Him to be glorified in their lives among the Marensé, so that the Marensé may know Jesus.
• Our prayer partners have prayed for many months for semester missionaries to live and work among the Marensé for one semester (or more). Ask God to call out these students and to give them the strength to go against the flow and leave college for a season in order to tell the Marensé about Jesus the Messiah!

Message from Paul on the field: "It gives us confidence to know that we can go into villages and share with people who have been brought before the very throne of God in intercession, and that we ourselves are being brought before God by you so often. God bless you all."

►For more info about praying for the Marensé, go to www.byhisgrace.com/marense/pray-ers/pray-ers.htm 

►For more info about praying for the nations, go to http://www.imb.org/compassionnet/default.asp

Project List for West Africa

• Details on all projects are available on the web at www.thetask.org/students  on the mission projects link

Job #	Place	Dates	Description	Cost
"10970	Burkina Faso	8/1/01-12/31/03	Marensé disciple maker       (5 months or longer)	600 + airfare
11590	Burkina Faso	6/1-8/2/02	Mobile Village Outreach (Marensé team)	340 + airfare
47614	Ghana	6/1-8/10/02	Tropical Nursing	1280 + airfare
11736	Niger	6/1-8/20/02	Sahara Sojourner	930 + airfare

• New projects arrive daily! Check www.thetask.org/students/projects
• Check out the stories from last summer's Xtreme student team at www.byhisgrace.com/marense/news/news.htm

  

  Ramadan Prayers

  Many of the Marensé are Muslim, which means that they will participate in Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting which starts today. The month of Ramadan is a time when Muslims seek God and reflect on their lives by fasting from food, entertainment, cigarettes, and sex during the daytime.

  Ramadan occurs this year from Nov. 16 - Dec. 26 (this holiday follows the lunar calendar, so the dates change each year). Will you pray for the Muslims of the world during Ramadan, asking God to reveal Himself to them in the person of Jesus?

For information about how to pray during each day of Ramadan, order your FREE copy of the Prayer Guide for Muslims from the IMB Resource Center at resource.center@imb.org  or 1-800-866-3621.

Calling All Testimonies!

We're looking for testimonies of what God did in and through you on the international mission field - or with internationals on your campus - during 2001. Whether you served during spring break, summer, or semester, send us your stories! Please include on the testimony the school you attend along with your name.

We also want testimonies from your parents about how and why they support you on mission. Your parents' testimonies can encourage other parents who are afraid to let their students follow God overseas on mission. Please ask your parents to include on the testimony the city and state in which they live along with their name.

Testimonies need only be 3-4 paragraphs long (longer only if you want to make it longer).
Submit all stories by email to studentteam@imb.org with "student missions testimony" in the subject line.

Bible Study: Christmas and the Great Commission

by Laura Savage*

Have you ever tried to demonstrate something to someone who is in another room? Have you ever tried to describe the shape of an object to someone who is trying to draw the object with his or her back to you? Both of these tasks are difficult at best and sometimes impossible. Obviously, the best way to help people learn to do something new is by demonstrating it for them. Do you think that's why Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations" and not "Send all the nations a brochure," or "Write out the Ten Commandments in their language and email it to them?"

Jesus left the comfort of His heavenly home to come to earth and demonstrate for us how God wants us to live through Him. As a matter of fact, Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 49:5-6 (known as the "Great Commission of the Old Testament") was fulfilled when Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and rose to life again to defeat death and sin. However, the message of salvation was not received by everyone while Jesus was physically present. So, Jesus passed His task of telling the nations about salvation to His followers - us. Jesus said it this way, "As the Father sent me, so I am sending you" (John 20:21).

Read Isaiah 49:5-6 and Matt. 28:18-20. Write out your commission below as found in Isaiah 49:

. . . as found in Matthew 28:

During Thanksgiving we are reminded to be thankful for all that God has given us. At Christmas we remember the Gift God gave us in His Son, Jesus. What are some ways you can fulfill your commission to tell the nations of Christ's love and salvation during the upcoming holidays?

Write out your thoughts. Be specific about the actions you plan to take. For example, "Talk to an international student about Christmas" is very non-specific. "Take Remi from Indonesia to my church's Christmas cantata and talk to him about the real meaning of Christmas" is a more specific example of actions you could take to fulfill your commission this holiday season.

Think about the international students on your campus who have nowhere to go for the holidays. What will they do when the dorms close? Many of them have probably never been inside an American home and, to them, the holidays are all about turkey and Santa Clause. How could you impact their understanding of Christmas for the rest of their lives?

* Bible study based on session two of "In and Not Of the World: Life Mission for A World Christian" by Laura Savage and Felicity Burrow. Copyright 2000 by LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville, Tennessee, pp. 24-25.