BaptistLIFE Online

Speaking in Pular to a missionary physician who accompanied the Susquehanna Association mission team, Mamadou expressed thanksgiving for the “books” (the first five books of the Old Testament written in Pular) that the team had given to the village a year ago.

“These books helped explain so much that the Koran doesn’t explain,” Mamadou said.

Dan Sheffield excitedly waited to hear how Mamadou responded to the New Testament that last year’s team had also provided. Unfortunately, he learned, Mamadou was unable to read the book. Though it was written in Pular, it was written in English script. The Old Testament books had been written in Arabic script.

But this year, the team brought something even better. Together, they purchased 20 Megavoices, solar-powered devices that tell the entire story of the Bible, from Creation to Revelation, in the Pular language.

The IMB suggests seven steps to adopt a people group. First and foremost, they suggest that church members pray for God’s guidance. They should take time to discover their church’s natural affinity (DNA) and determine the church’s expectations for adoption. Next, they should work with church leaders and identify a mission “champion” and investigate opportunities. When God directs a church to a specific unreached people group, pray and celebrate God’s direction. Finally, churches should communicate, follow through and keep their commitments.

Casey Kellum is a 25-year-old young woman suffering from Batten Disease. She is blind, developmentally disabled, eats through a feeding tube and is confined to a wheelchair. She attends North Arundel Church (NAC) in Glen Burnie where she gets excited when people talk about Jesus.

Baptist Global Response, Southern Baptist relief/development organization that works closely with the International Mission Board (IMB), is asking SBC churches to make in-home care kits for use in Sub-Saharan Africa for people with AIDS. Kentucky Baptists helped with the pilot project last year and this summer they are opening it up to any church that wants to participate.

AssociationLIFE: Members of The Light Church, in Baltimore Association, built a sculpture of a covered wagon and won a costume award for the American Visionary Art Museum’s annual Kinetic Sculpture Race. The sculpture had to be able to travel on land, pavement, water and mud.

Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D) General Mission Board (GMB) members met on an overcast May 5 at the Baptist Mission Resource Center (BMRC) to conduct business, hear “on the field” reports from missionaries throughout the area and to worship. During the meeting, GMB members voted to pursue negotiations to sell a portion the BMRC and to hire a naval academy collegiate minister who would also oversee all the BCM/D collegiate ministries.