Senegal (MNN) – Ibrahima D.’s comfortable life turned tragic one night, but he now knows what he couldn’t have imagined then: God’s hope shines even brighter in the darkness.
In the primarily Muslim country of Senegal, Ibrahima works with Every Home for Christ and World Missionary Press to share the faith he found with his people.
An Answered Prayer
In one night, Ibrahima D.’s whole life came crashing down. His family enjoyed their life in Mauritania, a country in West Africa, where his father worked for the government. However, tensions erupted one night in 1989, forcing the family to flee back to their native country of Senegal.
“My family was forced to leave Mauritania and settle in Senegal in desperate conditions,” Ibrahima remembers.
Ibrahima fled with his family back to Senegal. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
His family’s condition continued to worsen in their home country. His father didn’t have a job, so many of his mother’s relatives believed she should divorce him if he couldn’t find a way to provide for his family. With money so tight, Ibrahima wasn’t even able to attend school. Though he grew up in a Muslim home, Ibrahima turned to God for help.
“As my family situation worsened, I prayed to God, asking that if He would deliver my family from their troubles and potential break-up, then I would testify that He is the only true God and follow Him whatever the cost,” he says. “The Lord answered my prayer.”
Soon after his prayer, Ibrahima’s father found a new job, and his mother decided not to go through with the divorce.
“Since then, my only desire has been to announce salvation in Jesus to all Senegalese,” he says.
Reaching the Lost
As an adult, Ibrahima became a teacher. However, he left teaching to help bring his countrymen the same hope he found as a teenager once he heard about the ministry Every Home for Christ. This is an international ministry that helps equip local churches to share the Gospel from home-to-home, capitalizing on relationships believers have developed with people in their communities.
“The idea of God using me to reach out to my own people with the Gospel, sharing with and encouraging the broken hearted, perfectly matched my deeply-entrenched yearnings,” Ibrahima says.
Wolof women are known for their dress and beauty.
(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
He reached out to World Missionary Press for help obtaining the much-needed literature to make home-to-home evangelism possible. With their help, he obtained booklets of Scripture, including some specifically written for a Muslim audience.
“In Senegal, people avoid being seen publicly with Christians,” Ibrahima explains. “Having literature allows them to look for the truth without persecution from their parents or family. [It] allows people to teach themselves and discover truth and grow in their spiritual life.”
Even though the ministry in Senegal has had great success with the literature they’ve received in Arabic and French, challenges still exist. The Wolof, an almost entirely Muslim people group comprising a large portion of the Senegalese population, are especially a concern for Ibrahima since they can’t currently read the Gospel in their own language. However, a translation of a World Missionary Press booklet, “How to Know God”, and a Bible translation are underway.
Ways to Help
Please continue to pray for the ministry Ibrahima leads in Senegal and for the translation being done for the Wolof people. Donations for literature and translation work in Senegal can be made to World Missionary Press here.
Header image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
