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TRAGEDY CHANGING LIVES

In the new 2020 report, Mali was the 6th poorest country in the world, or rather the 6th least developed country in the world (Human Development Index). All ten least developed countries are in Africa, Mali's neighbor Niger being on the bottom. It was with the coup in 2012 that everything started going downhill. Jihadists took control of the north of the country until the French liberated it in 2013 thanks to a UN resolution. The French, UN peacekeepers and a EU mission have been in Mali since, thousands of them, trying to train the Malian army and keep the jihadists at bay. Mali is twice the size of Texas or of France, and half the country is in the Sahara desert, so it's not easy to have any lasting progress in fighting the threat. The jihadists practically control parts of the country north of the capital, trying and succeeding in turning the population against the government and other ethnic groups.

Last summer there was another military coup, toppling the president. Add to that Covid-19 and the Chinese closing factories and leaving, and the many Malians fleeing hardship and jihadists in the north of the country and coming to the capital, the needs of many have been great. For many years we have been doing our tiny little part, giving out rice to widows and families in need. These past few months, we have given away more rice than ever - thanks to many of you, as well as a small German NGO financing many of these bags of rice. We have countless testimonies, many of them really touching, and have already share some with you. Paul told me how he's recently wept in prayer in light of the great need. Today I'd like to share a few more testimonies with you.

RICE CHANGING LIVES

This is Awa from the village of Dara. Four years ago her husband died. Just recently her only son died, and so she's found herself raising his little children. She has been attending our Bible Discovery Group and has put her faith in Jesus. When we gave her a bag of rice, she was extremely thankful.

~x~x~

Koniba from Dara is a widow and has 6 children, 5 girls and a boy, who are all married. Three years ago Koniba's only son left to try to make it to Europe through the Mediterranean sea. She never heard from him again, and she does not know whether he is dead or alive.

When one of her daughers died, her husband remarried, and as his new wife did not want to keep his children, he simply dumped them all on his late wife's mother, who now struggles to take care of them all. Life with her grandkids is really difficult. Sometimes they go two days without any food. When we gave her a bag of rice, she was so very thankful, saying saviors had come to her. Koniba now attends one of our Bible Discovery groups.

~x~x~

This is Djeneba from the village of Dara. One day three years ago, her husband left the house and simply did not return. She found herself alone with 4 children without any income. Every day Djeneba goes out into the bush to cut branches she then sells at the market. That provides barely enough money for her and the children to eat twice a day, in the morning and at night. She went to the local mosque, asking for help, but they refused to help her. When our local Bible Discovery group heard about her need, we gave her a bag of rice. She started attending the group, saying she'll never miss a single meeting, and has now started a life with Jesus.

~x~x~

This is another Djeneba from the village of Dara. Her husband is paralyzed from birth. In Mali handicapped children are thrown away or hidden away, and their only career path is to become a beggar. Djeneba's husband goes out on the street every day to provide for his family the only way he can in their culture. What he makes begging is what they live on. They are outcast, treated horribly, constantly being cursed and mistreated.

Djeneba and her husband have four children. When we gave them a bag of rice, they were deeply touched and said that that was the first time ever they had received a free gift like that.

~x~x~

This is Baroh. A year ago she came to the village of Dara with her husband and 7 children (4 boys and 3 girls), as they had to flee the north of Mali, where jihadists had killed their whole big family.

After some time of struggling to survive, her husband decided to return to their village in the north so he could sell his cattle and remaining possessions and bring the proceeds back to Dara to provide for his family. However, while he was there, he was also killed by the jihadists.

Now Baroh is alone with her 7 children and no means of income. When we gave her a bag of rice, she started crying, saying "thank you" over and over again. She has started attending one of our Bible Discovery groups.

~x~x~

This is Kadja. She is from the Dogon people and has 9 children. She fled her village, when jihadists came and burned everything down. They came to Dara, but her husband never found any work and could not afford any land to farm on. They are having a very difficult time trying to find enough food to survive. After we gave her rice, Kadja said, "The Muslims kill us, but the Christians bless us." Then she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

~x~x~

If you'd like to help us provide rice for a family in need, a 50 kilo bag costs 31€, which is currently $37.

LOVE CHANGING LIVES

It was in 2006 that I started going into unreached villages - some of which had never seen a white person before. We would go into these villages, ask everyone to bring their sick, they'd be healed, and then they'd intently listen to the gospel and most would receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Many churches were started that way.

In 2008 the church in the village of Dara was born this same way. Today, it's a florishing, growing church, and we have more and more Bible Discovery groups in the area. People are getting healed and saved all the time. Paul goes there every Tuesday, and has raised a local up to be the pastor there.

There has been a new village chief in Dara for this past year. A few years ago his firstborn son Aboudou came to our big annual celebration on our base and heard me preach. It was his first time hearing the Christian message. After that event he stayed in touch with Paul.

You might have noticed that the above rice testimonies are all from the village of Dara. Giving away this much rice, and helping so many people, has caught people's attention, and the whole village has been talking about it, including the new village chief. Everyone has been talking very positively about us because of it. Someone from a Bible Discovery group invited Aboudou to come to their group, and he did. But only once.

Then he had a dream. In that dream he was being chased, but he did not know by what or whom. Still in his dream, Paul and another person prayed for him to be safe. Waking up from this dream, Aboudou decided to contact Paul and tell him about it. Paul told him we'd pray for his protection.

A few days later Aboudou had a bad accident, when his car went off the road and overturned. Completely miraculously, he walked away without a scratch. That night he had another dream: A man in white came to him and told him that he was the one who had saved his life. The next day Paul told him that that man was Jesus. Aboudou instantly received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. That was just over two weeks ago.

And that has now become the biggest scandal of Dara, with everyone talking about it. His father, the village chief, had given land (which is very valuable) to the Muslims, and Aboudou had invested much of his own resources to build the biggest mosque ever in Dara on it. It was only just completed and started operating. When Paul recently happened to run into the imam on the street, the imam told Paul how upset he was with what we had done. Paul responded that he'd pray for him to know Jesus also.

This coming Tuesday Paul is meeting with the new village chief for the first time since his firstborn son's conversion. Aboudou told Paul that he's not against his conversion. Aboudou would like for his whole family to know Jesus, including his several wives and many children.

As for the Christians in Dara, they are elated about all that has occurred.

EDUCATION CHANGING LIVES

This is Souleymane. He is 23 years old. His Dad died in 2019, leaving his Mom alone with 6 children. As a widow, she was unable to continue paying for her children's schooling, and so they had to drop out. Souleymane, the oldest, had actually never been to school all his life.

After her husband's death, his Mom started coming to our church with her children and started a life with Jesus, and so did Souleymane. Souleymane also became a motorbike mechanic apprentice.

As a new believer, he would love to be able to read the Bible for himself. He's told us of his desire to learn to read and write, and there is a two-year evening school program he could do, while continuing doing his apprenticeship during the day.

Would you sponsor this young man for the next two years with $60 or 50€ a month? Give the gift of literacy to a promising young man, and watch what God does through him.

SPONSORSHIP CHANGING LIVES

This is 11-year-old Casimir. After Paul's Albino Mom died (he was the youngest child), Paul's Albino Dad married another Albino lady. Casimir was her youngest, who was born just before Paul's Dad died. We have supported Casimir all his life, but now he has lost one of his two half-sponsors (again).

Would you consider supporting Casimir with $30 or 25€ per month, so that he can continue going to school, and being taken care of?

QUICK NEWS

•        Daily Blog - If you are not on Facebook but would still like to read my daily blog about our life (with the triplets), including pictures, you can do so on our website. Go to https://h2tni.org/blog/.

•        The Triplets - Austria has never ended their lockdown yet, on the contrary. Therefore both, the triplets' swim and dance class have been canceled as there is no end to the lockdown in sight. So there is not much they can do right now. We've been to the playground, zoo and to a petting zoo, and are excited about the warmer weather ahead. Sammy continues his physiotherapy, working on learning to sit, and has received his special chair. Tammy and Emmy are able to say more and more words, and have become pretty good at using a spoon all by themselves.

•        Security Situation - Since the coup, and then the interim government put in place, things in the capital have calmed down, though many do not like to see so much military in government positions. Jihadists continue attacking military and UN installations, as well as villages, and now the French are considering reducing the number of troops they have in Mali. Thank you for praying for the country and our protection.

•        Permit & Title - Paul has been really busy working on getting our title and the building permit, which is connected, but with corruption, and the coup causing a change of people in positions, it's been really challenging. Thankfully it's all been making good progress, and so he'ss very hopeful that we'll get them soon. Please pray.

•        Malian Director Paul - Please continue praying for him, as he carries the weight of the ministry all by himself and is very busy.

•        First-Grade Teacher - We are still looking for a French-speaking first grade teacher to join our team. There is such a need for a good, Christian school where the children are treated with dignity and learn something. Many of our Muslim neighbors would send their children to our school. Please pray we'll find a teacher!

•       Volunteers - Do you want to come change an orphan's life? Do you want to heal the sick? Preach the gospel to those who've never heard? Come to Mali for a season and let God change your life. No language skills needed, but French skills are helpful.

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6:2b)

Loving HIM,

Claudia (& Randy)