Africa Team 2000

Yearning to Plant a Church Among the Wolofs of Senegal and The Gambia

By Jonathan & Sara Stone

We had a very specific goal for our mission to Africa: to begin the process of establishing the first-ever church among the Wolof people—a fiercely resistant Muslim tribe—that live in both Senegal and The Gambia (yes, the proper name of this west African nation is "The Gambia", not just "Gambia"). The Wolofs, numbering 1.3 million people, are one of our targeted unreached people groups, in partnership with a local congregation--Christ Memorial Church of Poulsbo, WA. There are only fifty known believers among the Wolofs and NO known churches. This summer we took another significant step toward reaching them with the gospel.

We spent ten days in Senegal and seven days in The Gambia. The long-term missionaries in each country hosted our team in each place. Our team was generally new at overseas missions, making every small thing very exciting. We had five outreachers from Alaska, two from Arizona, one from Wisconsin, one from Canada and twelve from Washington (including partners from Christ Memorial Church). Our first stop was the French-speaking nation of Senegal.

We spent a lot of time learning about the ministry that is currently taking place in Senegal (a nation of about 8.3 million of which 1.3 million are the Wolof people). We joined the missionaries in intercession over six Wolof villages where they hope to establish long-term work. We returned to a village called Mbissaaw, which we had visited in 1998 on our first visit to the nation. Two years ago we prayed for a woman that was barren and desperately wanted a child. When we arrived at the village we were amazed to see that she had a little baby boy! Praise the Lord. This was used as a testimony in every village we late visited.

In the various Wolof villages we prayed over the people's crops, cattle and physical health, and especially of their children. We know there is power in the name of Jesus and believe that in our next visit we will hear of other answers to our prayers. We could not share the Gospel with total openness (this is a Muslim group), but looked for every opportunity that presented itself. In many situations, God cracked open the door to share His love with the Wolof people.

We also had the chance to serve the social service ministries that other missionaries have established there. We worked in their care-center for the beggar children, who are called Talibes. Every morning these young boys come to eat a warm breakfast, learn basic skills like reading and writing, and to just have fun before a long day of begging (for a local Muslim religious leader). We also interacted with the people waiting in line at a missionary-operated medical clinic, which sees approximately 350 people everyday. Their ministry is very impacting because it not only introduces people to Christ, but also meets many physical needs. That seems to be a key in reaching Muslim people with Christ's Good News.

We then traveled by van to the smaller nation of The Gambia (which happens to have English as a second language—very helpful to us). After our arrival, we began a whirlwind tour that included visiting and ministering in thirteen villages in only five days (two-to-three villages a day)! We were on a non-stop schedule, but God was so faithful to sustain us to the end. The people were incredibly hospitable to our team. Many times we were welcomed with dancing and drums. We would do a short "cultural presentation" (including a Western square-dance number which even featured bandanas and cowboy hats), and then look for personal opportunities to pray and share Christ. We believe that many seeds were planted in hearts and trust that God will send many more to water them and eventually reap a great harvest.

On our last day of ministry in The Gambia, God blessed us tremendously by allowing us to see fruit from our labor. At the third village we had visited that day, two women accepted the Lord in front of the entire village. We were awed by the thought of all heaven rejoicing over these two hearts that had surrendered their lives to Christ. We pray that the whole village will be reached because of the testimony of these two women. Later that evening we did a program in the courtyard of the hotel we were staying in. Many wandered in from the street to see the Americans dance. After the program three more people gave their lives to the Lord. It truly was an awesome way to end an awesome outreach!

For many years we will continue to pursue the planting of a church among the Wolof people. It is not an easy task—but God is the Lord of the Harvest. He will bring it to pass.

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