Showing posts with label faith comes by hearing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith comes by hearing. Show all posts
10/08/2010
Faith Comes By Hearing, Annual Report
Christians are generally good in listening to the NT but the filling out of the reports still remains mediocre. People are getting used to filling them out little by little. The leaders of the Christian communities are finding more and more that the program contributes to the consolidation of the faith of the Christians and strengthening their dialog with
the Word of God. The recording helps some Christians and pastors to learn to read the Nzime NT. The catechists and some pastors as well as writers of hymns in Nzime are finding that the listening program helps them better to understand the Bible. It also helps them in the preparation of sermons and of hymns in the language.
A Christian, Ng*** M***, got baptized on account of the listening program in the Presbyterian community of Ampel. In the past, he prohibited his wife and children to go to church, but now he has become very committed to this and is active in the church. With the new policy of working together with church leaders, they are taking more and more the responsibility for promoting the program to their parishoners. Some of them, especially in the area of Messok and Lomie, even help the promoters and their supervisor in their travels and living costs while on the road. More and more Christians are coming to church services on Sunday. The life of the church is taking on a new vitality in the Lomie area. Priests and pastors are taking note of the results of the programs in the lives of Christians.
9/03/2010
What the Lord is Doing in Lomie
Fifty Proclaimers with the Nzime New Testament have gone out to Lomie. Francois Medjo will deliver them and create new listening groups in response to the guidance of the Christian leaders in the area. Roman Catholic priests and Protestant pastors alike are looking at this tool as a major means of breaking through to the soul of the Nzime people with the Good News ("Gospel" in old English) of Jesus Christ. Pray for many miles of safe driving for Francois on his motorcycle.
7/30/2009
The Word in Audio Form Is Producing Church Growth!
The country administrator of Faith Comes By Hearing, Apolinaire Ambasa, reports that the Word of God is stirring up the church in the Koonzime area. He writes:
"After 2 quarters of activities, the program is impacting the Koonzime land. The attendance in many churches is increasing and some people now understand deeply what Christian life is. In Malen, the group leader – he comes from 6 km away - succeeded to create a church. At the beginning, he set up a listening group and when the group grew, the listeners decided to get in touch with the Parish Pastor. They expressed their desire to transform their group into a church. The day of the inauguration of the church, the participants offered a piece of land for the building in presence of their chief and the listening group leader was appointed the Catechist of the new church.
"Some Koonzime pastors testified that since their church started the program, there are many conversions of adults and young people. The attendance in church services is increasing; the number of adults who are requesting baptism has increased. There is a great improvement in the lives of Christians.
"The program helped the Achip Catholic Church (Koonzime) to restart functioning again. This church was closed because of spiritual crisis which discouraged the Christians to continue attending church services.
"In Ngoulmakong in Koonzime land, two sisters reconciled after listening to Mathieu 5. They spent 10 years without talking to each other."
"After 2 quarters of activities, the program is impacting the Koonzime land. The attendance in many churches is increasing and some people now understand deeply what Christian life is. In Malen, the group leader – he comes from 6 km away - succeeded to create a church. At the beginning, he set up a listening group and when the group grew, the listeners decided to get in touch with the Parish Pastor. They expressed their desire to transform their group into a church. The day of the inauguration of the church, the participants offered a piece of land for the building in presence of their chief and the listening group leader was appointed the Catechist of the new church.
"Some Koonzime pastors testified that since their church started the program, there are many conversions of adults and young people. The attendance in church services is increasing; the number of adults who are requesting baptism has increased. There is a great improvement in the lives of Christians.
"The program helped the Achip Catholic Church (Koonzime) to restart functioning again. This church was closed because of spiritual crisis which discouraged the Christians to continue attending church services.
"In Ngoulmakong in Koonzime land, two sisters reconciled after listening to Mathieu 5. They spent 10 years without talking to each other."
7/28/2009
Njyem Hearing God's Word... in Nzime(!)
The Nzime received the New Testament in 1998 as a result of the support of CABTAL and other funders. Then they received generous support from Faith Comes By Hearing, which orchestrated the recording of their New Testament and the distribution of "Proclaimers", digital players that are powered by the sun. They saw the Nzime at first responding little to the printed New Testament, but then responding with joy and excitement at the arrival of the Proclaimers. They gather together in listening groups and let the translated and recorded Word of God pour into their ears and hearts. Lives are changed, relationships restored, and people given new hope. One of the readers, Bolakam Severin, died recently in total peace, asking for nothing but the Proclaimer that he could play at all times.
ASTRADHE is the literacy and Scripture-Impact organization that is providing the supervision for this far-flung program.
The Njyem, meanwhile, were seeing little progress on their side of the river. Life was not bad, but it wasn't quite what it should be, either. They asked for a New Testament to be translated, but the resources were not forthcoming. They waited some more and then they did something uncharacteristic... they asked and asked again for the Proclaimers to be brought south across the river for use in their villages. They knew that this was going to mean that the Nzime language would gain more of a foothold in their midst, but they could not let that distasteful aspect come between them and their deeper exposure to the Word of God.
After all, the proverb says "a drowning man will even grab a snake that is swimming by if will help him to survive".
They still want the word of God in their language, but until that happens, they know they need the Proclaimer and the Nzime language that it brings.
The Presbyterian pastor of Ngoyla is Reverend Bengene Mebere Innocent. He wrote:
"We ask you to esctend the praiseworthy project into our sector, that of the Njyem. This program you initiated faacilitates the evangelization of a people group through the hearing of the Word of God in the local language.
"We have met in August 2008 in Ngoyla to study how to better evangelize this area and it was found that the main handicap was that the majority of the population was illiterate, and for this reason very few read the Bible.
"Having heard a member of ASTRADHE speak of the FCBH program, we expressed our appreciation for the program and are asking that in the days to come seven listening centers should be opened as a preliminary step. ...I will supervise the listening centers so that peoplle are blessed by the Word of God."
In the days to come, however, the Roman Catholic curé based in Ngoyla also said that he would supervise listening centers for his own parishioners. As a result, twenty listening centers have been started in the Njyem area, half under the supervision of each of the major Christian communions.
Recently, Rufine Adjowa returned from her Njyem village and said that the Proclaimer is used in church where the reading of the Word of God is called for. She said lives are being touched by God and they are finding a sure basis for their faith in God.
ASTRADHE is the literacy and Scripture-Impact organization that is providing the supervision for this far-flung program.
The Njyem, meanwhile, were seeing little progress on their side of the river. Life was not bad, but it wasn't quite what it should be, either. They asked for a New Testament to be translated, but the resources were not forthcoming. They waited some more and then they did something uncharacteristic... they asked and asked again for the Proclaimers to be brought south across the river for use in their villages. They knew that this was going to mean that the Nzime language would gain more of a foothold in their midst, but they could not let that distasteful aspect come between them and their deeper exposure to the Word of God.
After all, the proverb says "a drowning man will even grab a snake that is swimming by if will help him to survive".
They still want the word of God in their language, but until that happens, they know they need the Proclaimer and the Nzime language that it brings.
The Presbyterian pastor of Ngoyla is Reverend Bengene Mebere Innocent. He wrote:
"We ask you to esctend the praiseworthy project into our sector, that of the Njyem. This program you initiated faacilitates the evangelization of a people group through the hearing of the Word of God in the local language.
"We have met in August 2008 in Ngoyla to study how to better evangelize this area and it was found that the main handicap was that the majority of the population was illiterate, and for this reason very few read the Bible.
"Having heard a member of ASTRADHE speak of the FCBH program, we expressed our appreciation for the program and are asking that in the days to come seven listening centers should be opened as a preliminary step. ...I will supervise the listening centers so that peoplle are blessed by the Word of God."
In the days to come, however, the Roman Catholic curé based in Ngoyla also said that he would supervise listening centers for his own parishioners. As a result, twenty listening centers have been started in the Njyem area, half under the supervision of each of the major Christian communions.
Recently, Rufine Adjowa returned from her Njyem village and said that the Proclaimer is used in church where the reading of the Word of God is called for. She said lives are being touched by God and they are finding a sure basis for their faith in God.
7/18/2009
You can hear the Nzime New Testament Free!
The digital recording of the Nzime New Testament is available free to anyone who wants it at http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/. This is a dramatic recording that will inspire and delight you, ... provided that you understand Koonzime.
You can also buy a $29 individual digital playback unit of the Scriptures in many languages, including Nzime. They call it a "Bible stick".
They send it without any additional charge for postage and handling.
I just learned that the funds for the recording came from Faith Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM. The Nzime are very grateful to them for their generous gift!
You can also buy a $29 individual digital playback unit of the Scriptures in many languages, including Nzime. They call it a "Bible stick".
They send it without any additional charge for postage and handling.I just learned that the funds for the recording came from Faith Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM. The Nzime are very grateful to them for their generous gift!
6/28/2009
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