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VIDEO
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Transformation in West Africa
Beryl Forrester reflects on Thanksgiving Day in Guinea Bissau
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EMM Gambia team ponders response to invitation from Guinea Bissau
PIRANG, The Gambia – When an EMM team began work among the Balanta people of The Gambia two years ago, they were surprised at the receptivity and spiritual hunger. Within only a few weeks, a group that gathered for Sunday morning worship began to experience profound spiritual renewal.
“People spoke joyfully of coming out of darkness into the light and moving from confusion to order, peace, and community,” said Beryl Forrester, EMM team leader. “They were thrilled to discover that the living Christ would come to be with even them and begin to make them into a new people. New hope glowed in their eyes.”
As with many who experience true salvation, the Balanta didn’t keep the good news to themselves. As they shared along extended family lines, six new fellowships sprang up in nearby Balanta villages.
A tribe of about one million, the Balanta have roots further south along coastal West Africa, particularly in the country of Guinea Bissau. Because of strong tribal identity and intra-tribal communication, word about the “Mennonites” and the spiritual renewal in The Gambia spread quickly over this vast area.
Requests began coming in from Senegal and Guinea Bissau, imploring the missionaries to come and show the way to God. The EMM mission team of five pondered how best to respond to the thousands who were begging for assistance.
The team’s strategy is to equip the Balanta believers themselves to share the gospel with their fellow tribesmen and to establish village fellowships, so that the Balanta believers will be at the forefront of the revival that is happening. Many come out of a nominal Roman Catholic background.
In October when Forrester, co-worker Gary Williamson, and four Balanta brothers from The Gambia traveled throughout Guinea Bissau, they learned that few of the Balanta there knew anything about the Bible; many knew nothing about holistic salvation that touches all areas of life, and most felt abandoned by the church.
“Many felt that God didn’t want them,” Forrester said. “They are taunted by other tribes as being pagans without religion. They are heavily into idol worship and spiritual bondage, but once you get beyond all that, you quickly find hearts starved for God’s love and righteousness – hearts that quickly light up when they hear words of hope, promise, and deliverance.”
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Two local assistants pull weeds at the Small Farm Resource Center, a development project initiated by the EMM team in Pirang, The Gambia. Photo by Julian Weber |
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During a week in the village of Catel in Guinea Bissau, the Gambia group met with the villagers, fielded questions, shared faith stories, prayed for the sick, and listened to people’s needs and hopes.
Julio, a Balanta brother from The Gambia, stayed on several more weeks, meeting with people in five additional villages after securing permission from the village chiefs. Hundreds gathered early mornings or late afternoons around the edges of their farming work. In these initial meetings the most common question was, “What church do you represent? Are you Protestant/evangelical?”
Forrester said, “We discovered a significant aversion to the term ‘Protestant.’ People told us, ‘We don’t like the Protestants because they preach against us. They think they are better than we are. They want to destroy the local culture.’”
“We assured them that we come with an invitation, not a threat. God accepts and loves all of us just as we are. We do not require people to suddenly change the way they live, but as Jesus becomes part of our lives he makes us new people. When people meet Jesus they gladly leave pagan practices, not because of a law, but because they know in their hearts that God wants them to be his holy people.”
Forrester said that along with spiritual hunger, the team also saw extreme poverty and signs of malnutrition in nearly every household. People were suffering from chronic malaria, chest infections, and skin ulcers that don’t heal. There was no medicine available, so most diseases and injuries went untreated. The villagers, on their own initiative, had built a clinic and a school, but there were no furnishings or supplies.
Forrester said, “We told them repeatedly that we do not have the financial resources to meet all these needs, but that as we partner together with God, he will bring genuine physical and spiritual transformation at every level of our lives and communities.”
During their short exploratory visit, the visiting Gambia team was awed to see how God confirmed their words with “signs and wonders.”
One day a man came complaining of uncontrollable anger. At times he would – suddenly and without provocation – start chasing people with his machete. His family, who lived in fear, said he was under the influence of a witchdoctor. The man confirmed this, and asked to be set free. The team gathered around him and prayed for deliverance. Reports weeks later confirmed that the man remains free from demonic oppression and is living a normal life.
Members of the team also visited and prayed for a man who was locked in a rigid, contorted, catatonic position. His clothing was soiled, and he had not been bathed in a long while. The latest report is that the catatonic symptoms have gone; he takes daily walks, and is able to take care of himself.
A woman came with a serious infection in her lower leg. She had been bitten by a fiddler crab while netting fish in the river. She was in constant pain and unable to sleep. Julio anointed her and prayed for healing. That very night she was healed.
After returning from Guinea Bissau, Forrester said, “We feel compelled to call for help here. Word about the ‘Mennonites’ is spreading like wildfire, leapfrogging from village to village. From the church in North America, we covet your prayers and your involvement in all that the Lord is longing to do among these people.”
Clair Good, EMM’s representative to Africa, said, “We are consulting with our board and supporting churches about how best to respond to this wide open door and what appears to be a people movement to Christ among the Balanta of West Africa.”
The EMM team in Gambia includes Beryl Forrester from New Holland, Pa., Gary and Denise Williamson from Chambersburg, Pa., Angela Gehman from Richfield, Pa., and Kendra Sauder of Gap, Pa.
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