Your Generosity in Action: The Good Shepherd Comes For His Sheep
Original article appeared in Alliance Life Magazine.
By Jake, an Alliance worker serving in West Africa.
We sat on thin mats rolled out under a canopy of stars. A crescent moon and the nearby cooking fire provided just enough light for us to make out the crowd sitting with us. My friend Jerry, a veterinarian, was sharing his reflections on the Good Shepherd. That night, the image of Jesus as a caring Shepherd captivated me more than ever before.
Part of that undoubtedly came from Jerry’s experiences growing up on a farmstead, spending his whole career working with animals, and visiting West Africa for the past 15 years to treat livestock. But sitting among 40 Fulani men listening to Jerry’s every word was a holy moment for me.
Our evening devotional times were intended for our small work team that had come with Jerry to treat animals against parasites in several rural villages. In a village without electricity or cellphone service, however, our small group was the best show in town. Our host, Babacar,* had invited all his neighbors and friends. I met him two years ago while treating his son, Amadou.* I’ve been visiting their remote village once a month for the past year as part of our medical clinic’s community outreach.
On a recent visit to Babacar’s home, a colleague remarked that Jesus was moving in a powerful way in the village. To my shame, I was dismissive of her discernment. That night, though, gathered with those Fulani men to listen to Jerry’s description of Jesus, there was no mistaking it: the Good Shepherd was coming for His sheep.
A Shepherd for Shepherds
The Fulani are the largest nomadic people group in the world, spreading across Africa from Senegal in the west to Chad and Sudan in the east. Many Fulani families have permanently settled in villages and towns, but most still make a living by raising animals. They carry on the proud heritage of shepherding, passed down through countless generations.
These shepherds are also very proud of their adherence to the region’s majority religion. They are fiercely resistant to the gospel. Thanks to your generosity and prayers, The Alliance has been working among the Fulani for the past 100 years. Our work in Senegal is, however, more recent.
In the early 2000s, a Fulani doctor, who came to know Jesus through the ministry of some Alliance World Fellowship (AWF) partners in North Africa, returned to Senegal to bring the gospel to his own people. To do this, he started a clinic in a small town in the central part of the country, where a huge weekly cattle market draws herders from countless nearby villages and towns, as well as from surrounding countries.
His instincts were correct, as his testimony and witness are widespread throughout our area. Unfortunately, he passed away suddenly in 2019. Canadian and Dutch Alliance workers based in the capital immediately stepped in to keep the clinic going.
But supporting such a work from afar was taxing, so they began to pray the Lord would send workers willing to live in this small, dusty desert town.
The Lord responded, and there are now two young families and two other Alliance workers living near the clinic. While we are a young team and still learning language and culture, we’ve started to reach out to surrounding villages and towns. We are working with a small group of local believers committed to giving gospel access to their own people.
A Holistic Approach
Our goal is to care for whole families and communities while pointing to Jesus as the source of our love and as the One who can meet our deepest needs. The clinic provides one practical way to engage our Fulani neighbors, especially those with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
One day, shortly after moving here, I met a young man in the market with severe physical disabilities. My teammates and I soon developed strong ties with this young man, Amadou, and his family. This led to my visits to their village.
As I began to regularly interact with these rural shepherds, I wondered how to communicate the gospel to them effectively. It soon became apparent that to care for these men in ways that would speak to their hearts meant caring for their animals. Healthy animals would mean thriving families and communities, and this would create receptivity to hearing about the Good Shepherd who sent us.
Your Generosity at Work
Bringing teams like Jerry’s out has allowed us to build deep relationships in several rural villages. Because of your generosity, we’ve treated close to 20,000 animals for parasites, encouraged herdsmen to adopt better practices, and begun exploring ways national believers can be trained to provide veterinary care in remote villages.
Our strategy for creating gospel access is proving effective. As I type these words, I have just hung up the phone with a young man who wants to talk more about Jesus after meeting us during our last trip to his town.
We can’t do this work without the Alliance family. Your financial support makes it possible to provide veterinary care in these communities, and your prayers make our gospel presentations effective. Please consider adding the Fulani people to your regular prayer list.
The Sheep Listen to His Voice
The morning after Jerry described Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we worked alongside the herders to treat 2,000 animals against parasites. As we prepared to leave that afternoon, a couple of us pulled Babacar aside to thank him for his hospitality. Knowing some of the recent challenges his family has faced, I encouraged him to look to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to be his source of peace. He responded with words that surprised me.
“If you ask me today who I follow, I would tell you that I am Jesus’ disciple because all my thoughts are in His direction.”
I should not have been surprised, though. Jesus speaks to the hearts of all His sheep. And when they hear His voice, they will follow Him.
*Name changed
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