Yalunka Ministry Overview

WHERE THEY LIVE:

The Yalunka people live in remote, primitive villages in the far southwestern corner of Mali, West Africa as well as the neighboring nations of Senegal and Guinea.  The majority of the Yalunka population (over 100,000) lives in Guinea.  First Baptist Church of Keller has adopted the roughly 10,000 Yalunka people of southwestern Mali.

 

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE:

Like all West African peoples, the Yalunka live in a highly relational society.  Their villages are governed primarily by tribal elders and chiefs who make virtually all of the decisions for the people.  It is almost unthinkable for a tribe member to do something against the will of the elders.  The Yalunka people live in compounds comprised of a leading man and his wives (polygamy is still common) and children, sometimes including grown sons.  Young women are married in their early teens, and they do most of the work in the village (getting water, preparing and cooking food, cleaning, laundry, taking care of the children, etc.).  The women grind their grain (millet, rice, and corn) and peanuts by hand using long bamboo or wooden poles.  They pound it— sometimes dry, and sometimes after it has been boiled— in deep bowls carved out of tree trunks.  The men primarily work in the fields during the growing season.  The Yalunka people are very poor, living in mud huts with grass roofs.  Their villages in Mali do not have electricity or running water, and their few possessions consist primarily of things that they have made themselves from natural materials.  Staple foods are millet, rice, peanuts, and a few garden vegetables.  The climate in Mali is generally hot and dry, but there is a rainy season from June to October.

 

OUR WORK WITH THE YALUNKA PEOPLE:

First Baptist Church of Keller officially “adopted” the Yalunka people of Mali on April 11, 2007.  The church now sends about four teams each year to teach the Bible, evangelize, and establish churches.  Access is limited to the months of January through May because swollen rivers make it almost impossible to reach their villages during and immediately after the rainy season.  We are also working to provide other tangible ministries to them as the Lord leads.

 

ADOPTION COVENANT

Being led by the Holy Spirit, we, the members of First Baptist Church of Keller, Texas,

hereby covenant before God

to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Yalunka people of Mali, West Africa.

As an engaging church that takes responsibility for this task,

we will devote our energy and resources to it until there is a viable, Yalunka-led

church planting movement among them so that the people of each village

have a chance to hear about Jesus personally and to become His disciples.

This covenant includes fervent intercession for the Yalunka people,

investment of our financial resources for gospel materials and other projects,

and sending our own members to disciple the Yalunka people directly.

We wholly depend on the power of God working in us to fulfill this covenant,

and we seek His glory above all else.  We will work alongside

the Engaging Team of the International Mission Board’s West Africa region

and other like-minded Great Commission Christian groups.

 

JANUARY 2007:

Though Christendom was unaware of these people, the Holy Spirit had been preparing their hearts.  As Keith Arnett and Lawrence Duhon completed the long journey (over 15 hours in flight and then at least two full days by road), they finally reached Yalunka village “F.”  They were welcomed hospitably by the chiefs of that village and offered a place to stay.  With local help the next day they traveled to the last Yalunka village at the border between Mali and Guinea.  There village elders gathered around.  “Why have you come here?” they asked.  “We come to tell you about God’s love,” we responded.  They listened for a few hours, then 12 men stood to say they wanted to know more about the Jesus Road.  Lawrence and Keith left rejoicing at the open doors they had found for the gospel.

 

MAY 2007:

On the next trip, Lawrence Duhon and Keith Arnett took picture books and recorded Bible stories in the Yalunka dialect.  The people of Village “Y” listened to those for many hours and understood enough to know that God has provided for their salvation through Jesus.  No one professed faith in Christ at that time.  We left the books and tapes for the people to listen to and share until we could return after the rainy season.

NOVEMBER 2007:

FBC Keller sent Mike and Pat Anderson, Keith Arnett, and Lawrence Duhon on our third trip to the Yalunka villages.  Because of high waters, we could not make it to the Yalunka villages in our vehicle.  However, God was at work.  The canoe ferryman received the message of Christ and believed, and he immediately shared Christ with his household.  After “hitching a ride” into the village area, the chief’s son said, “I’ve been in the fields when you were here earlier, but I want you to tell me about the Jesus Road.”  He listened intently, and we gave him a recorded New Testament and the Bible picture books.  God was working in his life … but we didn’t suspect that this young man would immediately begin to carry the gospel from village to village as he did!

FEBRUARY 2008

As Keith Arnett and Richard Harris approached the Village “F,” people in a smaller outlying village (Village “Z”) stopped them.  “You are the ones who are teaching about Jesus.  You must stop and teach us!” they insisted.  Sadly, they responded, “Our time is so short.  We will stop on our next trip and teach you.”

Shortly after we arrived in the base village, a foot messenger arrived with over 25 names on a sheet of paper – a petition asking us to come back NOW and teach them.  THANK YOU, GOD, FOR NOT GIVING UP ON US!  We returned to Village “Z” in a couple of days, and all the village gathered.  “We know we are in darkness, but we do not know the way.  Please stay 30 or 20 or 10 days to teach us about the Jesus Road,” they pleaded.  We taught them that afternoon and left materials … and the young man who, since the November trip, had taken on the mantle of evangelist.  God would work in this village.

Before we left the young evangelist (“Philip”) and two elders from Village “Y” believed and were baptized in a shallow river as a testimony that Jesus lives in their hearts.  One was so eager that he dove in headfirst!

 

APRIL 2008

This trip involved the introduction of more technology.  The team (Lawrence Duhon, Bobby Morgan, Jed Ford, and Jerry Kiser) carried in a DVD player, projector, and screen to show the JESUS film in the local languages in Villages “F,” “Y,” and “Z.”  For many, this was the first “movie” they had ever seen.  Their response was great!

Since the Yalunka language is not written and most of the people are illiterate, the only way they can hear God’s word is through oral means.  Jerry Kiser showed the villagers how to listen to the New Testament on the MP3 players that our church sent to them.  They listen eagerly and for long periods, sharing each set of headphones so that two people can listen at a time.

 

After a time of preaching the gospel in Village “Z,” almost everyone in that village committed his or her life to Christ late one night.  This was the same village that begged our February team to come and teach them about Jesus.  15 men from that village were baptized in a water hole the next day, and another 13 men and women from Village “Y” were also baptized before the team left.

With these believers, access to the Word, and local leadership by the evangelist and other believers, the Yalunka Church is being established!

 

JUNE 2008

The team (Keith Arnett, Alisa Arnett, Tim Dicken, and Jarod Pyron) found the people still listening to God’s word through tapes and MP3 players and also reviewing the Bible story picture books.  They communicate the gospel through the Storying Method – using narrative Bible passages taught and passed on orally to communicate spiritual truth to a non-literate culture.  One evening, the team asked a few of the local people to be actors in the story.  Not only did they enjoy participating, it also helped them REMEMBER the story so they could share it with others.  By the end of this trip, 2 chiefs and 1 teenager had been saved, local men were readily sharing the Gospel with their friends, and local leadership was clearly being established in the Church.

 

JANUARY 2009

The story continues as FBC Keller’s seventh team travels back to the same villages to share God’s word.