Spring 2001

Week one

What's inside:

People group focus, prayer priorities, global projects, urgent prayer request, Pray Around Africa, THETASK.ORG/STUDENTS!, God's Heart for the Nations Bible study

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Fulbe Jeeri

"Last fall missionary Ken Hills took the Jesus Film to a nearby Fulbe Jeeri [Full-bay Jee-ree] village in West Africa, the culmination of two years' work and preparation. Two years earlier the chief of this village had come to the Hills' home wanting to know more about the Chronological Bible Teaching stories that he had heard on cassette in his tribal language, Pulaar [Poo-Lahr].

For a year and a half Ken went weekly to this village and shared Bible stories of how God has sought out a relationship with man down through time. Each week Ken would ask if the men wanted him to return again, having carefully stated in the beginning that he did not want to force anything on this Muslim village. Each week they exclaimed, "Oh, yes, please come back. This week's story was even better than the last." One evening a man said that he knew that the stories were true because he heard them speaking to his heart when he was out with his cattle.

Now the time had come when Ken would show the Jesus Film in this village. All of the people of the village gathered around, paying close attention in silence. At the end of the film everyone was excited. They wanted Ken to return the next night and show it again for those who were not there the first time. The chief told Ken that night that he loved Jesus and pointed to his heart. Many others in the village are also following Jesus."

God loves the Fulbe Jeeri, a people group which lives all across Africa from Senegal, West Africa, to the Sudan. Traditionally, they have been a nomadic people, and are still primarily cattle farmers. Recent economic difficulties have forced them to live in permanent villages, moving only when water and grazing areas become scarce. Many Fulbe Jeeri have also moved to larger towns when lack of resources, a fragile environment, and over-population make the ideal herding lifestyle too difficult.

Despite these lifestyle changes, the Fulbe Jeeri maintain a strong sense of family and cultural identity through their practice of Folk Islam, a mixture of the traditional elements of Middle Eastern Islam and elements of animism. Animism includes traditional practices that employ charms and magic to protect them and help them deal with their daily spiritual needs. They also hold to a strong moral standard that gives high value to modesty, reserve, fortitude and patience.

The main unifying force for the Fulbe Jeeri people is their language, Pulaar. Pulaar is a difficult language, not spoken outside of the people group, and there is a great need for literacy training in both Pulaar and the official French language. Only the New Testament exists in Pulaar, but because many Fulbe Jeeri cannot read, the Message is still unavailable to them.

The Hills' strategy among the Fulbe Jeeri is to: 1) Share God's word in stories, leaving the cassettes behind for further listening. 2) Spend time with the people so they will know and trust you (and, hence, your message). 3) Share the Jesus Film when the people are ready to understand its message. 4) Personally disciple believers, encouraging them to share with others.

Prayer Points:

• Pray for Christians to reach out to the Fulbe Jeeri. Ask the Lord to help them overcome difficulties, such as remote location, difficult language, and illiteracy.
• Pray for the physical needs of the Fulbe Jeeri such as enough water for their cattle herds, and sanitary water for their families. Over population, a difficult climate, and limited health care make feeding their families and staying healthy difficult.
• Pray for more workers to go and live among the Fulbe Jeeri and that these workers would have wisdom and creativity to try new ways to tell the good news of Jesus.
• Pray for strength, wisdom and freedom from fear for the few believers among the Fulbe Jeeri, who are often persecuted. Pray that they would come together and be united in a strong church that can reach out to their own people.

Project List

Global Projects among the Fulbe Jeeri in Senegal, West Africa

Other Global Projects in West Africa

For a complete description of these projects, check the Web site at www.thetask.org/students under the Mission projects link.

Urgent Prayer Request!

The only known believer among an unreached people group has been arrested by the security police in his country. The Lord has used this brother greatly in the translation of the Word into his people's language.

Our immediate intercession for this brother is critical. Please begin to pray for Him, asking the Lord's sustaining strength and encouragement. Pray that this grievous act will turn out for multiplied Kingdom good.

What is 2001 Pray Round Africa ! Yes? How can you participate?

• 2001PRAY - a call to prayer for Africa from now through 2001.
• 2001PRAY - a nondenominational gathering point for the focus of prayer on the continent of Africa and on behalf of Africa by all Christians, Churches, and Organizations.
• 2001PRAY - a unifying movement among all Churches to emphasize the spiritual nature that binds Christians together under one Lord.
• 2001PRAY - an opportunity to mobilize prayer support for ongoing ministries in Africa.
• 2001PRAY - an appeal for a crescendo of prayer for Africa on August 3, 2001 for all Christians to be of one accord and seeking God's face for Africa during this critical time.
• 2001PRAY - a reminder that one half of Africa remains to be reached with the gospel.

Contact us at www.2001pray.org

Bible study:

Habakkuk 3:19 - "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to walk on the heights."

This time of the semester it's easy to become mired in the drudgery of everyday-more papers to write, more exams to study for, more all-nighters, more Raman noodles for dinner. This is the time to include God in your daily routine more than ever, even when there seems never to be enough time. God is calling you to run with him on the mountain tops and pursue the dreams he has for you. Read the testimony below about running on the heights with God in the midst of life-shattering illness.

Reflections on the Journey to the Mountain Top

By Linda Gray, missionary to Odessa, Ukraine

"We left for Colorado to ski the 2nd day following my chemo treatment, and while the previous treatments had not been too bad, this one proved more challenging. Shortly after our arrival in Crested Butte, I ended up experiencing some of the less pleasant effects of chemo. While I rested, my friends prayed. On Saturday the Lord provided all I needed to last through 4 hours of lessons, including a lot of learning how to get up from a seated position.

At the end of the lessons, a friend and I headed up the mountain by lift. As the lift kept rising and rising I asked myself and the Father what in the world I was doing up there. You see, from the bottom of the mountain, we couldn't tell that the lift kept going farther and farther up. From where we stood waiting for the lift to pick us up, it appeared that we would simply go up over the slope we could see, get off, and ski down a short distance. Instead, we found ourselves going much farther up the mountain before the lift dropped us off, with a much longer path to ski to the get back to the bottom. But, there was so much more to see from the top of the mountain than we ever imagined from the safety of the bottom!

In many ways, that is reflective of my spiritual journey. Initially for me salvation meant that I would try to start doing the "right" things, going to church, serving in some way, etc. In return, when this life was over, I would spend eternity in heaven. I had such a small view of God, and of His gift He through Christ. As a babe in Christ, I had no way of "seeing" all He had for me past salvation.

There have been times as He has moved me "up the mountain" in my physical and spiritual life that I have thought I had gone too far, that I didn't have enough left within myself to make it back to the warmth and security that I already knew. How could the place to which He was moving me be any better than where I already had become comfortable? But, oh, what awesome wonders have been found as I have continued on over each new crest! What I would have missed had I chosen to stay in the places along the way that felt so good and secure at the time!"

What does God have to show you from the mountain tops? Take time with God to bask in the beauty of the Gospel amidst the daily grind of school. God isn't "one of the many" items on our agenda, He is the One and Only. Don't simply add God into your schedule, make your schedule around Him and let Him take you on the heights.