Our West African friends Momodou and Laye are brilliant and fun-loving men. In his late fifties, Momodou has a satirical sense of humor, which reminds me of my brother Steve. Laye is much younger, about 30. He’s a sweet and kind gentleman, like my husband Chocho. Both...
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West Africa
Our Kawah Translation Priorities: Meeting our neighbors on common ground in Scripture
Genesis. Luke. Ruth. Acts. Joshua. James. Exodus. Deuteronomy. 1-3 John. Mark. Numbers. Leviticus. Matthew. This is the order in which the Kawah team progressed through their translation project. I know what you’re thinking. Why don’t you just go ahead and say it?...
Night of Power: April 5
Intense. Powerful. Reverent. This night is the pinnacle of the year’s spiritual journey. Crowds will gather for worship while others join online. They will fast. Millions of prayer requests will rise to heaven while sermons echo. Thousands will recite verses and give...
The Palm Sunday Offering That Changed Everything
Our mother tongue is the language we learned as kids from — you guessed it — our mamas. It is the language in which we think and pray and dream, and it is the language that touches our hearts and evokes emotions. It is the language in which the Word of God resonates...
The Problem of Blood
What happens when a person dies? As any Kono person will tell you, when someone dies, there is the problem of blood. Not the blood of the person who passed away, but a blood sacrifice that is needed to ensure that the soul of the deceased will, indeed, make it to God....
Facing the Challenge
Back in 2021, I was hiking up a mountain with a group of English students and friends. It was a steep and seemingly endless climb of hand-placed stone steps leading ever upwards. The sun hung low in the sky as my friends made plans to race to the top before sunset,...
Thursday Prayer Focus
Urgent Recruitment Needs In Luke 10, before Jesus sent out the 72 disciples, He told them that the harvest was plentiful, but the workers were few. Then He instructed them to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out more workers. God wants us to ask Him to send out...
Thursday Prayer Focus: Day of Fasting and Prayer
Because prayer is the strategy of Pioneer Bible Translators, our worldwide team intentionally sets aside a day of fasting and prayer every month. On this day, we join in unified prayer, offering up to our Father praises and requests collected especially for this day....
A Lesson in Hospitality
When we landed in West Africa for the first time, I naturally took everything in through my own cultural lens, though I mistakenly believed myself to be open-minded and impartial. It is a noble goal to be unbiased in our assessments of life, but since the only way we...
Mamata, Dare I Hope?
Mamata, I got to watch you grow and make your mistakes along the way; Scrubbing floors with your little one at home, like so many everyday. Another poor choice: a second baby, with still another man. Wishing for more, looking for love, trapped in the cycle of strife....
Aaron’s Breastpiece Meets My West Africa Village
Kawah men aren’t much for jewelry, aside from traditional amulets for spiritual protection. But my Kawah lady friends love all things shiny. Sequins and metallic embroidery threads are their favorite fashion statements. Cheap costume jewelry abounds in the...
Bookends
It was 1993. I was in junior high at the time, sporting fluffy bangs, big glasses, and braces, and my main worry was navigating the crowded halls of Kirby Junior High so as to ensure a seat in class next to someone I knew. Activities at school and church consumed most...