Prayers and thoughts from Kaffrine.
Jesus Film weekend
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Whenever we try to show a Wolof film about Jesus, we have so many problems it seems like some invisible enemy is working against us.
On Saturday, I know that many of you were praying for us and for the message about Jesus to be clearly proclaimed. There were times Saturday night when I was sitting in a bustling crowd of people, a small Wolof child on my lap and people pushing on all sides, waiting restlessly for the movie to start, and in my heart I was crying out, “Lord, please, answer the prayers of your people and make this old speaker system work so that these dear folks can hear about Jesus tonight. Please, Lord, please!” Our prayers were answered but it was a rather nerve-wracking evening for us…
Having lived in Senegal for twelve years now, we have finally learned a couple things. One is, in this context, there is no point in forcing your own plans. So Corey and I said to each other several times during the day, “We are going to be patient, we are not going to stress out, and we are going to let our host and the villagers be in charge of what happens, and how, and when…” As Americans, we had to keep repeating this to ourselves at regular intervals.
So, at four o’clock in the afternoon, when our host said it was time to kill the goat and buy the other food for dinner, we had already been champing at the bit for a few hours. When we discovered that all of the little shops in the village were out of macaroni, and our host said we should drive 7 km across the bush to a larger shop in another village, we smiled at each other, got into the car and set off. We were able to buy 33 lbs of macaroni, and the onions, mustard, pepper, vinegar, and bouillon seasoning that we needed and get back by 5pm. Corey and our host cut the goat into pieces with a machete while I was with the women at the two giant pots on wood fires. At around 7pm our teammates, Steve and Esther, arrived with two of their boys and 25 Wolof folks from another village. They had come across the bush on a dirt path with two vehicles. Even though they drove slowly, a few people got carsick from the rough road and threw up during the 50-minute drive. But they arrived safely and we thanked God for this first answer to prayer.
It was dark when we served the macaroni with meat and bread in giant bowls on mats on the ground. We squatted around the bowls under a starry sky, our fingers covered with oil, and enjoyed the feast. (I have to say that in the village dinner is ALWAYS the same, and it is the same food that the villagers have for breakfast every day too: millet grain couscous with a thin peanut sauce–so this rich food was a huge treat.) By the time we were done eating, Corey, Steve and Songyung (a Korean Christian friend) had set up the big screen, and had the projector, DVD player, and loudspeakers hooked up to the generator. We had rented the 30 chairs available for rent in the village and we spread a few plastic mats on the ground in the still-hot sand. Soon a crowd had gathered around the screen. Corey had walked around to each household in the village during the day inviting everyone to come. We rejoiced to see so many people – men and women, children and adults – and we thanked God for this visible second answer to our prayers. We handed out 250 small bags of frozen drink, and that wasn’t enough for everyone!
It was almost 10pm by now and Corey pressed play on the movie. The picture was clear, but there was no sound. Grrrr! We had set it up and tested it in town and there was no problem. However, the projector (which would be too big to fit in an overhead compartment on an airplane) and speaker system are 20+ years old and have given us problems in the past. So Corey, Steve and Sungyong messed with it for about 15 minutes, letting the movie play silently while the people began to get restless and Esther and I prayed fervently. Then, when the guys were really sweating and we were all starting to groan as we imagined having to cancel and try again another time, they turned off one of the speakers (which had apparently been shorting out the system), and the sound began to play loudly and clearly out of the other speaker. The third answer to prayer.
It was at this point that we realized we hadn’t brought the remote control for our DVD player. Without the remote control, it is impossible to rewind a DVD. The machine is so clever that even if you take out the disc, turn it off and unplug it, it still knows where you are and automatically plays from that point. Seriously!? So, after fiddling with it for another few minutes, Corey went up front and explained in Wolof what we had missed in the first 10 minutes of the movie! Then we were able to play the rest of the movie, which showed Jesus’ life, Him teaching and healing, being unjustly nailed to the cross and forgiving those who were killing Him, and Him risen and He and His disciples calling others to believe in Him and be forgiven of their own sins. The movie is told from the perspective of Mary Magdalene and is extremely well done. The context of Jesus’ life is quite similar to village life so it all makes even more sense from here. The clear presentation of Jesus as the Promised Messiah was the fourth answer to our prayers Saturday night.
You might ask, “How did the people respond?” Yesterday and today, we’ve been asking people what they thought of the movie and then explaining again the significance of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Most people don’t have much to say beyond “It was enjoyable!”– we try to go deeper, and they politely listen to our explanation and then conversation goes on in other directions. There was one conversation that stands out though.
One day soon after we moved to the village, Corey was talking with some men about spiritual things and one young man cut the conversation short, saying that they are Muslms and Mohmmd is the only one they need – end of discussion. He walked away, unwilling to even engage in the conversation. Yesterday, this same young man had a question for Corey about the movie: where exactly and when exactly had the events in the film taken place? They talked through this until his curiosity was satisfied. It didn’t go anywhere beyond that. As they parted ways, Corey thought to himself–is this why we’ve been in the village all this time–at least as far as he is concerned? To go from spinning on a heel and walking away to wanting to know at least where this Jesus story happened?
But here is a change in this man–an almost indiscernible change, but a change. This is obviously not all that we are ultimately hoping, laboring, and praying for. As far as we know, not one person in the village has yet understood and believed that Jesus is the Promised Messiah who died to conquer death and pay for our sins once and for all. But God is answering our prayers and allowing us to share this message, and we believe that He is softening hearts in preparation for a work of His Spirit among the Wolof people. Continue to pray with us that He will enable people to understand and accept this Good News so that they may have forgiveness, peace and joy in Jesus.
Jesus film showing tomorrow
We are going to try again to show the film showing Jesus’ life, including many of the incredible miracles of healing He did as well as His teaching, and His death and resurrection. We are begging for your prayers as the enemy does not want the Gospel to be heard. The whole village is invited Saturday evening (May 12), plus we are expecting some 25 Wolof folks to come from a nearby village. We bought a goat to have a special dinner and have been inviting people. Please pray that all would go well and the message would be clearly heard!
…and rescheduled
We were really looking forward to projecting a version of the Jesus Film this weekend, but did not get to do so. In the end I think, as things worked out, it was a better witness to not show it, although we had to be helped to see that!
The night before we were to show the film, a young father of six children died after a long illness. The village immediately went into mourning. In Wolof culture it is not appropriate to do any activity that could be considered ‘fun’ on the same day as a funeral (with some pre-planned events, like weddings, being an exception). I, in my rather Western way, was considering the projection, which had been scheduled for quite some time, to be a pre-planned event. As we were inviting folks to the film people were saying they were going to come.
Around 5pm my host and I walked over to the chief’s house to get the final go-ahead and instructions for where the screen should be set up (the placement of the screen is often the thing that requires the most conversation). The chief and his son felt strongly that we should push back the date of the projection. After some discussionn, we agreed willingly. They are still fine with us showing the film, but the problem was just the timing being on the same day as the funeral. In fact the chief’s son said even if we wanted to do it the very next day that would be fine, so we do feel welcome still to show the film.
After our conversation we called our teammates who were en route (one having already arrived in the village!) to call it off. My host and I then went to pay our respects to the family of the man who had died. As we were there and I saw so many of my friends who I was hoping to see at the film, I realized I had really failed to see things from a Wolof perspective. I had let my Western time orientation blind me to the importance of paying the proper respect to this man and pushing back the film projection. I should have seen it myself, but the chief helped me avoid making a big mistake by doing a good thing at the wrong time. God helped us miss making a huge cultural faux pas by just a couple of hours and I am thankful for that. We are going to reschedule the projection soon and we will let you know when it will be because we want to cover this event in prayer.
We were able to purchase a goat to have a special supper along with the movie, and thankfully it was not killed before we made the decision to postpone! So now the goat is in the village getting fattened up for the big party. Keep praying for the Spirit’s work in this village – that He will use us in spite of our block-headedness and that the gospel message will be heard, understood and accepted.
[Near our goat is a real manger that Katie thought was worth taking a picture of and sharing as it just screams "Jesus chose to lie down in something exactly like this?!" .]