Hi, I'm Jay Wintermeyer, editor and producer for AFM 00:00:02.01\00:00:04.39 digital productions. Adventist Frontier Missions began work in 00:00:04.42\00:00:07.72 the Poni Province in southwest Burkina Faso in 1993. 00:00:07.76\00:00:11.37 When we left the project in 2000, there were 135 baptized 00:00:12.00\00:00:15.76 members in four villages. 00:00:15.79\00:00:17.42 Today, there are more than 400 baptized members in 20 villages. 00:00:17.96\00:00:21.81 In fact, Adventist membership is growing faster in this region 00:00:22.00\00:00:25.38 than in any other part of Burkina Faso. 00:00:25.41\00:00:27.37 So what makes this growth possible? How do we take 00:00:27.41\00:00:30.19 someone beyond their initial baptism and foster a lasting 00:00:30.23\00:00:32.95 relationship with Jesus Christ that motivates them to 00:00:32.99\00:00:35.68 evangelize their friends and neighbors? 00:00:35.72\00:00:37.45 Let's take a closer look. 00:00:37.48\00:00:39.20 One of the first steps toward a lasting gospel movement 00:01:04.53\00:01:07.39 involves discovering how to communicate the gospel in 00:01:07.43\00:01:10.22 ways that speak directly to the needs of a particular 00:01:10.25\00:01:13.16 people group. 00:01:13.20\00:01:14.17 Former AFM missionary Kurt Unglaub shares how one of the 00:01:14.18\00:01:17.64 local Bible workers he trained is doing this. 00:01:17.68\00:01:20.23 Falstan and his workers have an ability to present 00:01:20.33\00:01:25.57 Christianity in a way that makes sense to animist people. 00:01:25.60\00:01:30.46 Falstan and his workers begin with the creation story. 00:01:35.28\00:01:40.06 They explain how things were in the beginning, which agrees 00:01:40.10\00:01:44.73 with Lobi and Agari traditions. 00:01:44.76\00:01:47.75 The first part of the Lobi 00:01:47.79\00:01:49.20 tradition, of course, we 00:01:49.23\00:01:50.61 believe in. That there is a 00:01:50.64\00:01:52.63 creator God and He did create 00:01:52.66\00:01:54.93 things in the beginning in seven 00:01:54.97\00:01:57.13 days and that it was very good. 00:01:57.16\00:01:59.37 And we agree with the Lobi tradition that there was a fall 00:01:59.41\00:02:03.42 of man that made a separation between God and man. 00:02:03.46\00:02:07.48 So we are on common ground with the Lobi tradition and 00:02:07.51\00:02:11.46 the Agari traditions, but here is where our stories differ. 00:02:11.49\00:02:15.77 We have a remedy to the fall of man, a remedy to sin. 00:02:15.80\00:02:21.05 And it's not the fetishes. So, Falstan explains to the 00:02:21.09\00:02:25.61 people how, through their system of endless sacrifices 00:02:25.64\00:02:30.09 to the fetishes, it is only creating and exacerbating 00:02:30.13\00:02:34.68 the problems that exist here. 00:02:34.71\00:02:35.82 For example, we have poor people who, whenever there 00:02:35.85\00:02:40.17 is a problem, whenever there is a worry, whenever there is 00:02:40.20\00:02:43.63 something that goes wrong, they have to go to the 00:02:43.66\00:02:46.35 diviners and find out where the fetishes have been offended. 00:02:46.39\00:02:50.70 What spirit has been insulted, and what is the price to appease 00:02:50.74\00:02:55.02 these spirits? 00:02:55.05\00:02:56.02 The price is going to be in the form of animal sacrifices. 00:02:56.06\00:02:59.79 So they are obligated to give of their precious few chickens 00:03:00.16\00:03:05.55 and goats and cows to appease the fetishes who are never 00:03:05.59\00:03:10.95 satisfied. If they don't have any animals, they are 00:03:10.98\00:03:14.41 obligated to sell off their food supply, their grain, 00:03:14.45\00:03:17.81 in order to be able to buy the animal and make the sacrifices. 00:03:17.85\00:03:22.01 As Falstan is telling the people this story, they are all nodding 00:03:22.04\00:03:26.17 their heads, "Yes, we've all been there, and we've all 00:03:26.21\00:03:28.55 done that. " 00:03:28.58\00:03:29.55 Falstan poses the question to the group, "How much have 00:03:29.56\00:03:34.26 you spent the last two years to appease the fetishes?" 00:03:34.29\00:03:39.12 One man volunteered to say that if he could calculate all 00:03:39.16\00:03:42.73 of the money that he had spent in the last two years 00:03:42.76\00:03:45.80 to satisfy the fetishes, it would be enough to buy him 00:03:45.84\00:03:48.85 a big motorcycle. 00:03:48.88\00:03:50.93 And Falstan asked them, "Are the fetishes ever satisfied?" 00:03:50.96\00:03:56.05 "Is there ever an end to these sacrifices?" 00:03:56.09\00:03:58.91 And they all say, "No. " 00:03:58.95\00:04:00.44 And Falstan explains to them, "I have a better way. 00:04:00.47\00:04:04.52 There is a better way. Jesus is the sacrifice. 00:04:04.56\00:04:08.54 He is the once and for all sacrifice for all of our sins. 00:04:08.58\00:04:12.52 So, if we believe and accept the sacrifice of Jesus, 00:04:12.56\00:04:16.19 there is no more need to make these animal sacrifices. " 00:04:16.22\00:04:20.18 And when the hope and the logic of that appeal sinks in, 00:04:20.22\00:04:24.14 the people are very interested. 00:04:24.18\00:04:26.44 When people understand how the gospel meets their specific 00:04:31.25\00:04:34.27 problems and worldview, they begin to experience the 00:04:34.30\00:04:37.44 freedom that comes from serving Jesus. The results are 00:04:37.48\00:04:40.58 amazing. Take, for example, Palé Pinyalé. 00:04:40.61\00:04:43.30 Palé Pinyalé came into Loropeni one day and asked the first 00:04:43.34\00:04:48.18 person he saw, "Where are the Christians?" 00:04:48.22\00:04:50.04 And he was directed to our house. He basically told us 00:04:50.08\00:04:55.12 that he was tired of worshiping the spirits and being a slave 00:04:55.15\00:04:59.30 to the fetishes, and he wanted out. And he wanted to learn 00:04:59.33\00:05:03.44 to be a Christian. 00:05:03.48\00:05:04.45 So, over the next months, we had Bible studies with him, and 00:05:04.46\00:05:09.07 he faithfully rode his bicycle or walked the 17 kilometers from 00:05:09.10\00:05:13.82 his village to the Loropeni group. He was baptized 00:05:13.86\00:05:18.02 along with another man from his village. 00:05:18.06\00:05:22.41 Whenever somebody steps out of the traditions, it creates a 00:05:22.45\00:05:27.57 fear and problems for the other villagers because they don't 00:05:27.60\00:05:32.69 want to incur the anger and wrath of the fetishes. 00:05:32.73\00:05:36.49 So any misfortune that would happen in the village would be 00:05:36.53\00:05:40.13 blamed on Palé and Yuel, the two believers. Of course, when 00:05:40.17\00:05:45.37 good things happened and blessings would come, 00:05:45.40\00:05:47.95 all people would rejoice. But whenever anything 00:05:47.98\00:05:50.74 bad would happen, they were the scapegoats. 00:05:50.77\00:05:53.49 Once I remember when Palé was returning to his village 00:05:53.53\00:05:57.80 from Loropeni at night with two children and his wife, his wife 00:05:57.84\00:06:03.16 was bitten by a snake. These are deadly vipers. 00:06:03.19\00:06:07.38 He put his wife on the bicycle, strapped one of his 00:06:07.42\00:06:11.54 children on his back and took the other one in tow, 00:06:11.57\00:06:15.81 and pushed his wife on the bicycle all the way back to 00:06:15.85\00:06:19.71 his village. Of course, there is no antivenin, there is no 00:06:19.75\00:06:24.43 help there. People from Loropeni came out and prayed with him. 00:06:24.47\00:06:29.12 Miraculously, his wife recovered from the snake bite. 00:06:29.16\00:06:34.27 Which, in itself, was a big testimony to the villagers. 00:06:34.31\00:06:39.39 Palé Pinyalé's story is one of perseverance. 00:06:39.42\00:06:41.68 There is beginning to be an interest in his village. 00:06:41.71\00:06:44.70 We are in the midst of constructing a chapel for 00:06:44.73\00:06:47.88 them in their own village so that they will have the 00:06:47.92\00:06:49.80 option of staying there and worshipping. 00:06:49.83\00:06:52.46 The village of Loropeni was home to the Unglaub's for 00:06:58.62\00:07:01.43 six years. One of their helpers was a man named Palé Togo. 00:07:01.47\00:07:05.55 Palé owns and operates a flour mill and loves to help 00:07:05.79\00:07:09.09 people as a way to spread the gospel. 00:07:09.13\00:07:11.07 While attending a trade school, Palé began sharing his faith 00:07:22.39\00:07:25.58 with a fellow student by the name of Dossier. 00:07:25.62\00:07:28.01 Before I became a Christian, I drank a lot. I don't know 00:07:28.82\00:07:31.98 what I would have become if Palé Togo had not introduced 00:07:32.01\00:07:35.14 me to Jesus Christ. 00:07:35.17\00:07:36.52 Palé would share with him about Christ and about the 00:07:37.50\00:07:42.78 Adventist beliefs, and Dossier was very interested. 00:07:42.81\00:07:47.79 Palé invited him to come to church in Ouagadougou, which 00:07:47.82\00:07:52.00 they went to church together. And then when they returned 00:07:52.03\00:07:56.17 to the village, Dossier visited the Gaoua church and 00:07:56.20\00:08:00.31 the Loropeni church. Palé invited him to come and 00:08:00.34\00:08:03.91 to work with him as an apprentice to learn more about 00:08:03.95\00:08:07.48 the flour mill business. 00:08:07.51\00:08:09.41 So Dossier moved himself and his wife into Palé's home. 00:08:09.45\00:08:14.77 After I was baptized, my wife and I went home to our 00:08:18.31\00:08:20.87 village to start our own flour mill. The villagers 00:08:20.91\00:08:23.75 tried to influence my father to force me to give up 00:08:23.79\00:08:26.60 my faith. I started sharing my faith with others, and we built 00:08:26.64\00:08:30.41 a little grass church. The witchdoctor told everyone 00:08:30.45\00:08:33.55 in my village, "If you don't get rid of the church, it will 00:08:33.58\00:08:36.24 change the whole village. " 00:08:36.27\00:08:37.88 A group of youth even threatened to burn down 00:08:37.91\00:08:40.71 the grass chapel next to the Mango tree. 00:08:40.75\00:08:43.00 Dossier and his wife persevered. They knew they were on 00:08:45.20\00:08:49.06 the right road. Today, Dossier is appreciated by many people 00:08:49.10\00:08:52.88 in his village, and the little grass church still stands. 00:08:52.92\00:08:56.67 Today, there are nine baptized members and about 20 others 00:08:56.71\00:09:00.39 who are attending their Sabbath worship services under the shade 00:09:00.42\00:09:03.41 of the large Mango tree. 00:09:03.44\00:09:04.82 The Holy Spirit is working in the Poni province to convict 00:09:05.44\00:09:08.52 people and lead them to freedom in Jesus. 00:09:08.56\00:09:10.83 When the members of the Kampti church experienced this freedom, 00:09:10.87\00:09:14.19 they began witnessing in the neighboring village of Perigban. 00:09:14.22\00:09:17.51 Perigban was a project of the Kampti church. 00:09:17.54\00:09:21.12 Perigban is a village that lies halfway between Kampti 00:09:22.18\00:09:26.21 and Gaoua, the two principle villages in this province. 00:09:26.25\00:09:30.21 So it was natural for the Kampti workers to be interested in 00:09:30.24\00:09:34.05 evangelizing Perigban. They passed through there very often 00:09:34.08\00:09:37.85 on their way to Gaoua. 00:09:37.89\00:09:39.63 So, many times on Sabbath afternoons, a group of them 00:09:45.22\00:09:49.18 would go out on their bicycles - three or four or five or more - 00:09:49.22\00:09:52.76 and they would spend Sabbath afternoon singing with the 00:09:52.79\00:09:55.78 people and telling Bible stories. Any way that 00:09:55.82\00:09:58.74 they could attract a crowd, they would try and get a group 00:09:58.77\00:10:01.43 of people together and share with them Christianity and 00:10:01.46\00:10:04.09 share with them our Seventh-day Adventist message. 00:10:04.12\00:10:07.02 Finally, their efforts paid off. A married couple named 00:10:11.83\00:10:15.22 Nestor and Bridgett accepted the message and were baptized. 00:10:15.26\00:10:18.61 They also wanted to share the good news with others. 00:10:18.65\00:10:21.96 They carried on the missionary work of the Kampti believers 00:10:21.99\00:10:26.25 who continued to come on a regular basis and support Nestor 00:10:26.29\00:10:30.51 and Bridgett. 00:10:30.55\00:10:32.05 Marcelan, one of our leaders and baptized members of Kampti, 00:10:32.09\00:10:37.80 decided to move to Perigban. He found his own little hut, and 00:10:37.83\00:10:43.51 he stayed there for about nine months working with Nestor to 00:10:43.55\00:10:48.75 build up that group. 00:10:48.79\00:10:50.58 Today, Nestor is working as a fulltime evangelist in Perigban 00:10:50.62\00:10:54.74 and 29 surrounding villages. 00:10:54.77\00:10:57.07 One of the things that was very gratifying to Margaret 00:10:58.47\00:11:03.14 and me was to see the local members sacrificing for 00:11:03.18\00:11:07.82 each other. 00:11:07.86\00:11:09.50 So often the case is that they wait for the missionary to do 00:11:09.53\00:11:13.90 something, and they feel helpless because of their 00:11:13.93\00:11:17.61 poverty to do anything for themselves. But one of our 00:11:17.65\00:11:21.70 members in Kampti, a young man by the name of Eric, 00:11:21.73\00:11:25.71 who is a baker, he invested his own money 00:11:25.75\00:11:30.47 in building a chapel in Perigban. 00:11:30.51\00:11:34.88 The Perigban members made all the mud bricks. 00:11:34.92\00:11:38.70 They constructed the wall. And then, Eric donated 00:11:38.74\00:11:42.49 the materials to put on the roof and the door. 00:11:42.52\00:11:45.54 Jerome was an elderly gentleman in the village of 00:11:53.04\00:11:57.16 Lucura, and he has the distinction, the honor, of 00:11:57.19\00:12:02.11 probably being the first Lobi Seventh-day Adventist. 00:12:02.14\00:12:06.40 He was converted at an agricultural school outside 00:12:06.43\00:12:10.74 of Ouagadougou and was baptized and returned to his home 00:12:10.78\00:12:15.02 village in Poni Province as the only Seventh-day Adventist 00:12:15.06\00:12:19.39 for hundreds of kilometers. 00:12:19.42\00:12:21.69 He faithfully kept the Sabbath with his children under a 00:12:21.72\00:12:26.91 shade tree in his yard for years. 00:12:26.95\00:12:30.07 One day, three of Jerome's neighbors traveled the 30 00:12:33.41\00:12:36.60 miles to the Unglaubs' home in Loropeni just to see if 00:12:36.64\00:12:39.76 there really were other people that believed as Jerome did. 00:12:39.80\00:12:42.65 The Unglaubs shared a large supply of Bible studies and 00:12:42.68\00:12:45.50 other materials with them to take back to their village. 00:12:45.53\00:12:48.21 Eventually, Jerome's neighbors were baptized and 00:12:48.25\00:12:50.85 began meeting together in a little church they built. 00:12:50.89\00:12:55.07 There are now 23 members in four villages in that area. 00:12:55.10\00:12:59.25 Jerome is no longer worshiping alone. 00:12:59.28\00:13:01.92 And it all started because of the persistent faithfulness 00:13:01.95\00:13:04.75 of this lonely gardener, who cherished the Advent 00:13:04.79\00:13:07.28 message and lived out his faith openly. 00:13:07.31\00:13:09.90 The story behind the Tantou group is a story of one 00:13:23.37\00:13:27.24 person telling another person telling another 00:13:27.27\00:13:29.27 person the message. 00:13:29.31\00:13:31.49 A young man named Theodore used to come 00:13:44.62\00:13:46.67 every Sabbath to the Gaoua church for Bible studies. 00:13:46.71\00:13:49.38 He came from Tantou, a distant village in an 00:13:49.41\00:13:52.01 almost inaccessible part of the province. 00:13:52.04\00:13:54.57 Theodore absorbed everything like a sponge and began 00:13:54.60\00:13:57.60 sharing what he learned with his friend Dah Faustan. 00:13:57.64\00:14:01.01 Faustan was impressed with what he heard and asked 00:14:01.04\00:14:04.20 his village elders, who were all animist, if they would 00:14:04.24\00:14:07.36 approve of the Adventist missionaries coming to 00:14:07.40\00:14:09.62 their village for a visit so they could tell everyone 00:14:09.65\00:14:11.81 what they believed. 00:14:11.85\00:14:12.99 His request was granted. 00:14:13.02\00:14:14.63 Several of us went out one Sunday morning and met 00:14:14.67\00:14:19.41 with - the whole village was there - all the elders 00:14:19.44\00:14:24.15 the young people, the children, the women... 00:14:24.18\00:14:26.09 they were all there to sit and find out what this 00:14:26.12\00:14:30.94 was all about. 00:14:30.98\00:14:32.09 So we gave them a sketch of the history and the 00:14:32.12\00:14:36.39 diversity in the Seventh-day Adventist church, our various 00:14:36.42\00:14:40.98 ministries, our various emphases, and some of 00:14:41.02\00:14:44.57 our core doctrines. After hearing this, the 00:14:44.61\00:14:48.10 village decided that they would allow us to come. 00:14:48.13\00:14:51.58 In fact, they were wanting us 00:14:51.62\00:14:54.29 to come to install in their village. 00:14:54.32\00:14:57.79 We came back for a second visit to meet with those who 00:14:57.82\00:15:01.76 were truly interested in becoming Seventh-day 00:15:01.80\00:15:04.58 Adventist Christians. There was a group of about 15 00:15:04.62\00:15:07.55 people that were very interested in taking the 00:15:07.59\00:15:11.17 next step. So, we had some meetings with them and left 00:15:11.20\00:15:15.15 them a lot of literature, Bible studies and books, 00:15:15.19\00:15:18.59 which they devoured. 00:15:18.63\00:15:20.57 After several weeks, we received word again that 00:15:20.61\00:15:24.54 they were ready for another visit, and in fact 00:15:24.58\00:15:28.57 they were wanting to be baptized. So we continued 00:15:28.60\00:15:32.82 studies with them. The first group of baptisms 00:15:32.85\00:15:37.03 included 12 individuals. 00:15:37.07\00:15:39.42 Faustan and Will emerged as the leaders of that group 00:15:39.45\00:15:43.92 in Tantou, and that group has actually grown to be 00:15:43.96\00:15:48.39 the largest group in the entire province. 00:15:48.43\00:15:51.82 They had their sites on other villages. 00:15:51.86\00:15:55.19 And Faustan and the other believers began visiting 00:15:55.22\00:15:58.59 other villages like Zumulucun and Topar and 00:15:58.63\00:16:02.32 Womi. They found interested people in all of those villages, 00:16:02.35\00:16:06.56 and groups have sprung up in each one. 00:16:06.59\00:16:09.53 They each have constructed their own chapels, and 00:16:09.56\00:16:13.27 those three villages have gone and spread the message 00:16:13.30\00:16:17.70 to others. They are going to Tobo. They are going to 00:16:17.74\00:16:21.13 Ponta Leon. And they are going to Tanyo, where 00:16:21.16\00:16:25.76 believers are being organized into churches, and people are 00:16:25.80\00:16:29.96 being baptized. 00:16:30.00\00:16:31.09 As I mentioned, the story of Tantouo - the story of one 00:16:31.50\00:16:34.02 person telling another person telling another 00:16:34.06\00:16:35.87 person - and this is especially true in how the group in 00:16:35.90\00:16:40.72 Zumulucun was planted. 00:16:40.75\00:16:43.17 Faustan had a friend by the name of Patrice. 00:16:43.21\00:16:46.43 And Patrice was married to Bridgett. So Faustan began 00:16:46.46\00:16:51.04 sharing the faith with Patrice and Bridgett 00:16:51.07\00:16:53.99 who both accepted the message, and they were baptized. 00:16:54.03\00:16:58.21 During my visits with Patrice and his family, 00:16:58.24\00:17:02.40 Patrice's mother was always there. 00:17:02.44\00:17:05.86 She was an elderly animist 00:17:05.89\00:17:08.13 lady who seemed to be totally uninterested in what 00:17:08.16\00:17:11.87 we were talking about, but she was always sitting 00:17:11.91\00:17:15.40 around the fire as we sang and prayed and talked 00:17:15.43\00:17:18.70 together. She never said anything and never showed 00:17:18.74\00:17:21.98 the least interest in what was going on. 00:17:22.01\00:17:24.66 But it turns out that she was listening. 00:17:24.69\00:17:27.27 And one day, out of the clear blue sky, it seems that she 00:17:27.31\00:17:31.88 announced to Patrice and Bridgett that she, in fact, 00:17:31.92\00:17:35.72 was very interested in what she was hearing and wanted 00:17:35.76\00:17:39.53 to follow their way. She had seen the beneficial 00:17:39.56\00:17:42.64 changes, all the positive things that were happening 00:17:42.68\00:17:45.95 in their family because of their newfound faith, 00:17:45.99\00:17:49.22 and she wanted to have a part of that, too. 00:17:49.26\00:17:51.44 So, after Bible studies, this elderly lady was baptized. 00:17:51.76\00:17:57.14 She became an instant evangelist. She returned to 00:17:57.18\00:18:02.13 her village of Zumulucun and began sharing with all 00:18:02.17\00:18:07.09 of the people of her generation, anybody who 00:18:07.12\00:18:10.43 would listen, the wonderful things that she had discovered 00:18:10.46\00:18:13.70 and the wonderful things that God had done in her life 00:18:13.73\00:18:17.52 and how she had been set free from the fetishes and fear 00:18:17.56\00:18:21.25 of the spirits and that she was rejoicing in the Lord. 00:18:21.28\00:18:24.94 Freedom in Jesus is contagious. 00:18:27.88\00:18:30.13 Just like the grandmother who shared her faith, young people 00:18:30.17\00:18:33.35 are also sharing Christ in spite of persecution. 00:18:33.39\00:18:36.30 The Depayo group started with a boy by the name of Bossico. 00:18:36.58\00:18:41.24 Bossico came into contact with Marcelan, one of our members 00:18:41.28\00:18:45.90 in Kampti, and they began talking about Christianity 00:18:45.93\00:18:50.27 and the Bible together. Bossico was a believer. 00:18:50.31\00:18:54.24 And so when Marcelan shared with him our Adventist 00:18:54.28\00:18:58.04 beliefs and gave him books to read, he became very 00:18:58.07\00:19:01.13 interested. He saw that there were differences in 00:19:01.17\00:19:04.19 what we believed and what he had believed. 00:19:04.23\00:19:06.02 And as he compared the two, 00:19:06.05\00:19:07.49 he came to realize that what we believed was 00:19:07.52\00:19:11.49 closer to the Bible. So he began asking more 00:19:11.53\00:19:15.43 questions and requesting more literature and visiting 00:19:15.46\00:19:18.35 our churches in Kampti and in Loropeni. 00:19:18.38\00:19:21.89 He was eventually baptized along with one 00:19:21.92\00:19:25.36 of his brothers. They were students in high school. 00:19:25.39\00:19:30.36 Here in Burkina Faso, they follow a different 00:19:30.39\00:19:35.29 system where the students are required to go to school 00:19:35.33\00:19:39.52 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... They have Thursday off, and 00:19:39.56\00:19:44.11 then they go to school Friday and Saturday. Well, Bossico 00:19:44.14\00:19:48.22 and his brother, they were firm believers in the Sabbath 00:19:48.25\00:19:52.30 and they would not go to school on Saturday, which 00:19:52.33\00:19:56.16 brought them into conflict with their teachers and the 00:19:56.19\00:19:59.98 school authorities. 00:20:00.02\00:20:01.30 Fortunately, Bossico and his brothers are also very 00:20:02.61\00:20:06.31 smart, and they were able to get such high grades that 00:20:06.34\00:20:10.43 even with the zeros that they got on Saturday, they were 00:20:10.46\00:20:14.52 still able to be at the head of their classes. 00:20:14.55\00:20:16.72 Even through this persecution and trial, Bossico and his 00:20:16.76\00:20:21.30 brothers were faithful. During the school year, 00:20:21.34\00:20:25.29 they would attend church in Gaoua or Loropeni. 00:20:25.33\00:20:29.21 During the summer vacation, they went back to their home 00:20:29.24\00:20:32.41 village of Depayo. There is no church or group 00:20:32.45\00:20:35.96 in Depayo except for these two believers. But they 00:20:35.99\00:20:39.74 began sharing their faith with their friends and their 00:20:39.77\00:20:43.49 other brothers and sisters. And so now there 00:20:43.52\00:20:46.60 is a group of believers that is there in Depayo. 00:20:46.64\00:20:49.68 And during the summer, they build a little 00:20:49.71\00:20:53.00 hut that they call their chapel, and they meet 00:20:53.03\00:20:56.02 for prayer meeting and church there every week. 00:20:56.06\00:20:59.01 During the school year, they 00:20:59.05\00:21:00.60 go back to school and attend other churches. But every 00:21:00.63\00:21:03.17 summer, there is a group that meets in Depayo. 00:21:03.20\00:21:06.34 Now, they are sharing their faith on a wider scale 00:21:06.38\00:21:09.17 and we hope that there will be a permanent group there 00:21:09.21\00:21:11.97 for everybody. 00:21:12.00\00:21:13.76 In addition to direct evangelism, Adventist members 00:21:15.45\00:21:18.64 are also using medical outreach as a key to people's hearts. 00:21:18.67\00:21:22.14 Well, what's most gratifying about the medical missionary 00:21:22.79\00:21:26.47 aspect of the project was that the local people 00:21:26.50\00:21:32.13 took to it so enthusiastically and faithfully. 00:21:32.17\00:21:37.77 They were eager to learn how 00:21:37.80\00:21:39.94 these natural remedies, these simple remedies, could help them 00:21:39.97\00:21:43.07 because there are a lot of medical problems and health 00:21:43.11\00:21:45.41 problems here. 00:21:45.45\00:21:47.50 They can't afford the medicine sometimes, and so simple 00:21:47.53\00:21:52.85 remedies are their only recourse. 00:21:52.88\00:21:54.92 Certain people enjoyed doing these simple remedies and were 00:21:55.51\00:21:59.32 excited about being able to help their members, and one 00:21:59.35\00:22:02.96 of them was a lady by the name of Solange who worked 00:22:03.00\00:22:06.57 a lot with Margaret. And Margaret gave her 00:22:06.61\00:22:10.50 special training in hydrotherapy and left her instructions so 00:22:10.53\00:22:16.25 that after we left, she would be able to carry on 00:22:16.29\00:22:18.23 this ministry. 00:22:18.27\00:22:19.24 Solange shared her training with several more women in 00:22:19.56\00:22:22.82 the Loropeni church. Together, they have used 00:22:22.86\00:22:25.28 their simple remedies to bring hope and the gospel 00:22:25.31\00:22:27.73 to several women in their village. 00:22:27.76\00:22:29.38 Ahdowa is one of the women they helped. When they first 00:22:37.82\00:22:41.59 began visiting her, she was completely paralyzed. 00:22:41.63\00:22:44.76 Her condition was most likely the result of a bout with 00:22:44.79\00:22:47.45 spinal tuberculosis. For more than three years, 00:22:47.49\00:22:50.76 she had lain in her hut in a fetal position, completely 00:22:50.80\00:22:53.69 dependent on others for everything. When Solange 00:22:53.73\00:22:56.61 and the other women first began visiting Ahdowa, 00:22:56.64\00:22:59.45 she turned down their offers of help. The women persisted, 00:22:59.48\00:23:03.23 however, and finally Ahdowa allowed them to pray for her 00:23:03.27\00:23:06.99 and began hydro and massage therapy. 00:23:07.02\00:23:09.56 Slowly, Ahdowa began to regain the use of her limbs. 00:23:40.34\00:23:44.70 It took more than six months, but finally she was able to 00:23:44.73\00:23:49.06 begin walking on her own again. 00:23:49.09\00:23:50.89 Today, Ahdowa attends church and gives God the praise 00:23:50.92\00:23:55.37 for restoring her health. 00:23:55.40\00:23:57.07 The Prandles and Unglaubs brought the seed of the 00:24:06.72\00:24:09.27 gospel and God's end-time message to these unreached 00:24:09.31\00:24:11.82 people groups in the Poni Province. 00:24:11.86\00:24:13.78 But once that seed was firmly planted, the Holy Spirit began 00:24:13.81\00:24:17.69 using the local people to carry it to others. 00:24:17.73\00:24:20.53 Students, old people, literate and illiterate, 00:24:20.56\00:24:23.75 men and women have all been used by God as lights 00:24:23.78\00:24:26.62 in the darkness and as messengers of salvation 00:24:26.66\00:24:29.44 to the remotest places all because someone cared 00:24:29.47\00:24:32.20 enough to go and find ways to communicate the good 00:24:32.24\00:24:34.93 news in relevant ways. 00:24:34.97\00:24:36.95 I think, probably, there are three reasons for the 00:24:39.36\00:24:43.74 success of the project. 00:24:43.78\00:24:45.30 One reason may be the fact that we continue to remain 00:24:47.46\00:24:53.23 involved through annual visits. I think especially 00:24:53.26\00:24:58.29 in the first few years after we left, those visits 00:24:58.32\00:25:03.31 were important for the support and encouragement 00:25:03.35\00:25:07.31 of the members. 00:25:07.35\00:25:08.99 I think another reason why the project has been 00:25:09.02\00:25:13.06 successful is because of the way our church is organized. 00:25:13.10\00:25:17.46 These are not independent congregational churches. 00:25:17.81\00:25:22.18 These churches are part of a much larger 00:25:22.21\00:25:25.41 organization, part of a global movement. 00:25:25.44\00:25:28.57 But finally, I think the real reason, the biggest reason 00:25:28.61\00:25:33.65 for the success, the ongoing growth, is just the work of the 00:25:33.68\00:25:38.69 Holy Spirit - the Holy Spirit working in the lives of 00:25:38.72\00:25:42.54 people who are open to God. We see the Holy Spirit working 00:25:42.57\00:25:47.62 in many ways where members like Eric and 00:25:47.66\00:25:51.21 others are sacrificing and giving of their own 00:25:51.24\00:25:54.56 means to build chapels and to support the work. 00:25:54.59\00:25:57.61 We see the Holy Spirit working in the lives of 00:25:57.64\00:26:00.84 members who go out and do simple remedies, 00:26:00.88\00:26:04.01 who visit people, who pray for the sick, who minister 00:26:04.04\00:26:07.87 unselfishly to each other, who give of their means 00:26:07.90\00:26:11.70 for this. 00:26:11.73\00:26:13.44 Also, their willingness to endure persecution 00:26:14.66\00:26:18.58 and hardship is a demonstration of a 00:26:18.61\00:26:21.44 living faith in a living God. 00:26:21.48\00:26:23.98 The Poni Province mission project was spearheaded 00:26:25.04\00:26:27.69 by Adventist Frontier Missions. 00:26:27.72\00:26:29.61 AFM seeks to build up vibrant gospel movements among 00:26:29.91\00:26:33.16 people groups with no Adventist presence. 00:26:33.20\00:26:35.53 We currently have church planting projects in 16 00:26:35.56\00:26:38.35 different countries among people groups who would 00:26:38.38\00:26:41.09 never have heard the gospel without a missionary going 00:26:41.13\00:26:43.57 to live with them. 00:26:43.60\00:26:44.78 So what does it take to make an AFM project successful? 00:26:45.53\00:26:48.86 First of all, we need committed men and women willing to give 00:26:48.89\00:26:52.18 their lives in service. 00:26:52.22\00:26:53.28 We need people dedicated 00:26:54.49\00:26:55.69 to lifting up the missionaries in prayer. Time and time again, 00:26:55.72\00:26:58.86 we have seen how prayer plays a vital role in what 00:26:58.89\00:27:01.62 we do every day. 00:27:01.66\00:27:02.92 And, finally, we need financial support to enable 00:27:04.52\00:27:06.87 our missionaries to carry their work forward. 00:27:06.90\00:27:09.22 AFM is entirely supported through private donations. 00:27:09.53\00:27:12.99 If you would like to find out more about mission 00:27:14.20\00:27:16.15 service or how you can get involved with Adventist Frontier 00:27:16.19\00:27:19.05 Missions, come visit us online. 00:27:19.09\00:27:21.85 Hi, this is Jay Wintermeyer 00:27:35.91\00:27:37.30 with an editor's note. 00:27:37.33\00:27:38.51 The Poni Province video was a challenging shoot. 00:27:39.07\00:27:41.50 Not only were we working in tropical conditions, 00:27:41.53\00:27:43.93 we were visiting some very remote parts of 00:27:43.97\00:27:46.12 Burkina Faso. 00:27:46.15\00:27:47.45 There was no electricity, so we relied on natural light. 00:27:49.01\00:27:52.30 Our work frequently took us deep into the bush to 00:27:53.85\00:27:56.63 interview people like Palé Pinyalé and the 00:27:56.67\00:27:58.61 Tantou members. 00:27:58.64\00:27:59.79 If you have enjoyed the Poni Province video, 00:28:01.06\00:28:03.29 you can get your own personal copy on DVD 00:28:03.32\00:28:05.49 by visiting... 00:28:05.52\00:28:07.24