Those waves

I asked you to pray for a training I was going to do...the training that made me feel like I was jumping into deep water.
God is faithful to his Word...those waves will NOT overcome us! Here are some pictures of the joyful experience I had coordinating a workshop with about 20 participants from the Irigwe language community.  The hope is that from this training, they will each go with the New Testament in Irigwe on the audio player and facilitate audio Bible studies as they were trained to do.

Auntie Victoria, the sister who helps me in my house, was one of the participants.  Here she is listening to God speaking Irigwe, her language.

"What do we learn about God?" the participants said in Irigwe as we all did the motions together.  In an attempt to make the course all oral, we didn't give out the 6 questions they were to ask during the Bible study, they memorized them with motions. An excited buzz filled the small room as a group they could say each of the questions from memory.

My colleague, Janet, helped facilitate the training, which was done primarily in Hausa and Irigwe.  "May God fill up Irigwe land with the knowlege of his glory, as the waters cover the earth!" She declared after reading the verse with them.  No doubt when Janet shared, that she has vision and passion for this work!

I asked people to come and represent different stages of Bible translation throughout history, starting with the Greek translation of the Old Testament through to the first Nigerian translation, Yoruba, done by a former slave who had been sent to Sierra Leon and ending with "You are part of this rich history in Irigwe land, you are part of a determined, faithful people who want to hear God's word for themselves, in the language that they best understand."

Janet helped them to prepare themselves through discovering the "Why" of having listening Bible studies. She shared three Bible study scenarios and they determined the goal of each of the groups...discipleship, evangelism, family spiritual growth, etc.

Each participant practiced leading a listening group with their fellow participants.

At the end we presented them with the audio Scriptures in Irigwe on an MVP (MegaVoice Player)

We praise God!  So thankful to have a team of saints praying for me!
Please continue to pray that the participants make use of what they have learned, and that their enthusiasm doesn't fade!
The excitement and passionate faith of these brothers and sisters encouraged my heart...I'm so thankful for this experience, and for the courage to wade into the waves.