What's up with the Moores lately?

Well, we thought we'd share with you the investments we've been making into two different people's lives (apart from our regular ministries).

Issa

We first met Issa almost 20 years ago, when he was attending our church. In his late teens, he developed some sort of degenerative nerve disease that left him partially crippled and very hard of hearing. He dropped out of school and became dependent on his family. A few years ago, another missionary helped him take some computer classes at a cyber café, and then he was able to get a scholarship through the government to study accounting at a technical school. This past July, he took, and passed, the national high school equivalency exam, and also received a certificate in bookkeeping!

Along the way, Issa became disillusioned with some of the people in our church not living the way he thought they should and he went to another church. As is often the case, he became discouraged there, too, and has bounced from church to church. Recently, he has started coming by the house several times a month. Sometimes he is looking for a little taxi fare to run some errands or put in job applications around the city, but many times he just comes to chat. We (Jonathan and Issa) talk about what he has been reading in the Bible, or other books, and he usually has a question about how that applies to life here in Niger.

I encouraged him to participate in a program called The Romans Project, which has you read through the book of Romans 20 times. Last time he came by he was on the 14th time through!

Please pray for Issa. I regularly encourage him to get back into regular fellowship in a local church, but he feels there are too many hypocrites there! Pray that he would recognize the truth of Paul’s words in Romans that we are all sinners, saved by grace! Also, pray that he would be able to find a good job as a bookkeeper and begin to earn his own living. He’s in his late 30s, and would really like to get married and have a family!

Koumbo

I (Bonnie) am reaching out to Koumbo who has worked for us since our youngest was a baby, more than 20 years now!  She's been told the gospel story a number of times via our family and other believers that she has come in contact with.  But, what she has lacked is hearing more of the Bible and its truths. 

A couple months ago, I asked Koumbo if she would be willing to listen to a “radio program” that has recently been translated into Zarma, a language that she and I can both understand.  She agreed and has been faithful to stay at the end of each of her work days to listen to one lesson/radio program (15 minutes).  In fact it is Koumbo who tells me she is done with work and is ready to listen.

I know she is doing some of this for my sake, as she knows I want to do this with her.  But, she seems to be keen as well.  We discuss the lessons briefly at the end and she is finding them filled with truths as I thought she would!  She's still struggling, though, to understand that God only asks of us to believe in Him to be saved.  But, I believe she is starting to get it.

So, would you pray with me, that God will move in a mighty way, and that He would speak directly into Koumbo's heart!  That she will come to understand our God of grace and be willing to make Him Lord of her life! 

Thank you so much for your prayers.  They are greatly appreciated!  On our own strength we couldn't do any of this, but with your prayers and words of encouragement and our time in God's Word, He can bless and He is! 

Have a great week! 

Jonathan and Bonnie Moore