(Recorded on cassette tape in the Temajeq language; transcribed by David Edens.)

Let me say first of all that I am addressing this to everyone, to my friends, to my relatives, to those whom I do not even know, to all who will listen to this cassette.

This is the story of my life:

Then I was very young my parents placed me under the tutelage of Islamic priests. When I went to them I went along with two dromedary milk cows. While I stayed with them I did not get very much to eat, just a little millet gruel or something. Whenever I became old enough to understand what was going on, I began to try to flee from these priests. I would run back towards home; many times they would follow me and catch me at the well. They would tie me up and beat me. They would carry me back to their encampment. I gained a better general understanding of things, and then I just refused to try and learn anymore. So I left the Quranic school altogether.

About a year after I came back home, I was riding a dromedary in the desert when he jumped out from under me. Apparently something had spooked him. I fell onto a small agar tree on my knees. A splinter from the tree went into my knee. After returning home I began to feel something in my knee. The knee swelled, and I was ill. After a while the whole leg swelled up, and I couldn’t even stand up. After a long while of sickness, the splinter came out. My leg became better, but a sore was left in my hip.Then the sore in my hip became an illness of its own.

Then one day friends began to look for a remedy for it. My older sister began to look to the Islamic priests for the remedy. She gave one priest two cows to perform a remedy. This priest was a healer of renown. He accepted the cows for my healing; that was the last we heard from him. My leg remained as if he had never worked any cure.

After this I left home and began to visit the sorcerers. Everywhere that I would hear of a different sorcerer, I would go to him for a possible cure. But there was no cure in sight. None of these did me any good. God had not seen fit to heal me. Many years passed.

Afterwards I traveled to Nigeria. I heard that there was a doctor who could help me at a hospital in Katsina, Nigeria. I stayed there for a long while being treated, but to no avail.

Then I went back to Lagos. I went to the hospital and spent a long time trying to see the chief doctor. My leg was x-rayed. They gave me a number of shots. But none of this did me any good at all. I felt that I was about to go completely crazy over this problem. Then I returned home.

There was this friend of mine, David. I had met him before leaving home the last time, though I did not know him very well. He had given me several books.

I stayed in Togo awhile, sleeping in the bus station, and wandering around. Then I left to go over to Ghana. There is not much of a (guarded) border between Ghana and Togo. I would not hesitate to do wicked things nor good things. Whatever came to my mind I would do. I continued on wandering, sleeping in mosques or churches. Finally I got together enough money to travel on to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast.

There in Abidjan I found a good hospital where they did much to treat my bad leg. It seemed to me that they tried every kind of medicine or treatment possible. But my diseased leg did not show any sign of healing. I spent a long time, many months in Abidjan. Then I came back home. The Lord provided for me to return, so I came back to Niger. On the way I spent some time in Nigeria again, and tried sorcerers. Then I lost all hope of my leg ever getting better.

Anyway, I came back to Niger, and I was still very mischievous. I did not care what I did; evil or good made no difference to me. When I came back I visited my older sister who lived in Agadez. I was staying at her home when my friend, who had given me some books earlier, came to visit me. He gave me a book (at the beginning of our acquaintance).{1} When I returned to Niger I would read from it from time to time. He came often to the home of my older sister to preach to us. Then one day he came with some other important preachers who had arrived from America. One was their director.{2}

Just before they arrived the baby girl of my older sister had been very sick. She had been sick for some time, and had taken much medicine. She had been time and again to the doctors and they had given her many shots. But all of this had not helped her. Then these preachers came, the ones who had come from America. They came and prayed for the baby in the name of Jesus the Messiah. God answered their prayer, and granted that the baby girl be healed. She was healed immediately after these (preachers) who were followers of Jesus the Messiah prayed for her! This is when it came to my mind that these (other) priests and sorcerers are all blatant liars! And it troubled me that I had followed them (Muslim priests) from the beginning.

So this was my state of mind for a long while. But during this time, this man who was my friend, David, was forever struggling with me; he was forever trying to show me the way of Jesus the Messiah. And meanwhile I had the book of Gospel (of Luke), and would read it from time to time. But I did not understand it yet very well. I remained as I was, and we still were friends and would visit together. At that time, I - May God forgive me for what I did at that time - David, you too, forgive me for what I did to you at that time - I pulled one over on him, I stole some of his money. Then when we came back (to town), and he missed the money, we were all upset for some time, and everyone was trying to figure out who stole the money. After a while I told him that I was the one who took it.

Now, this affair - someone that you do some dirty deed to, unless he is someone who really loves you with a love that comes from the Holy Spirit, and comes from the Spirit of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God - how could you possibly do him a bad deed like this, and he still even desire to have anything to do with you? But in spite of all this he still did not refuse to have any more to do with me. He continued to struggle with me to show me and cause me to follow the way of Jesus the Messiah. But I continued on in my wicked ways as I had for so long. Satan was my master - May God destroy his wicked power and influence - May God never allow me to return to his ways, neither me nor anyone who is a friend. In all of this work I did for Satan, it caused me to go to prison. I stole from people and I ended up in prison.

Whenever I came out of prison (I speak of my first imprisonment), I was around Agadez. David and myself continued to be friends. He continued to care. He would come to visit me. Then this illness of my leg increased and became very serious. They would buy medicines for me from the doctor. But this was all in vain. David was also grieved because of my illness.

Then one day I was washing the (open) sore myself with hot water. As I was washing it, I felt something pushing against the edge of the sore. Lo and behold it was a bone! This bone splinter was what I had felt at the edge of the sore. Then I carried it to the hospital in Agadez, and showed it to the doctor. He said to me: “Yes, whenever we find a bone like that, we take it out.” Then he wrote me an order for treatment on paper to give the nurse. After he wrote it he told me to go to the place in the hospital where they put on bandages. Just a bandage and a little red medicine (mercurochrome) to be applied only to (the surface of) the body, right here on top! Then I tore up the prescription, threw it at him, and left, I went out of the hospital. I parted ways with the hospital at Agadez from that time!

My friend continued to come and visit me. He said that he knew of a doctor in Arlit {3} who could perhaps help me if I could go up there to see him. I think that the time was nearing when God had ordained my healing. This was all of God’s doing. Then I went back to the doctor in Agadez, and asked him to write me an order to go up to the doctor in Arlit. He gave it to me to carry to the doctor in Arlit. Then David took over. He is the one who always helped me. He gave me the money to pay for the car fare. And I left for Arlit. After I left, he (David) helped my family and occupied himself with the welfare of my children while I was gone to Arlit. He gave them what they had to eat during that time.

So I left. I was there seven days. They examined the diseased leg, and told me that it would not heal unless they split it open (performed surgery). “Oh yes, I’m in agreement,” I told them. “If this leg refuses to heal up, I no longer want it at all! Just cut it off completely!” Because this disease had really caused me much suffering; I was no longer able to drink or eat (because of the pain). So they told me to leave and come back the next day.

I left, and came back the next day. When I arrived, they skinned me (performed surgery), after they had given me shots that caused me to sleep. When I went to sleep, they took my leg and split it open. When I awakened my leg was already sewn up.

I stayed in the hospital for a long time. Then David and my cousin Kucin sent my wife to join me. When she arrived, she took care of me while I stayed in the Somair hospital. I stayed there until I recuperated. Then they sent me to the Agadez hospital. At Agadez they continued to care for my leg, but it was still sewn up, because the sewing (stitches) had not yet come out. Whenever the time came for the stitches to come out, they saw a spot toward the top which was not yet healed up. So they sent me back to the hospital in Arlit again. When I arrived back there they went back to the same place, and split it open again right over the same place. They scraped out all of the disease from my body, they took it all out, and then they sewed it up. After I spent more days in the hospital, the disease ceased. My leg healed up. The disease was completely healed from that time.

Then I returned to Agadez. I began to read the books that David had given to me. I was always reading them. Each afternoon I would go to this big acacia tree. I would sit alone under the tree and read the book. I would be overcome with grief, for I would remember those wicked ugly things that I used to do to David! I would be overcome with grief each time. Sometimes when I had spent much time crying out there alone where all was quiet, I would bring my book (Gospel of Luke) and return home.

Now I have told you about the healing of my disease (diseased leg), and about all of the trouble it caused me. But I have not yet told you of another thing - about the big disease. What is the really big disease? I did not find the remedy for this big disease at the hospital. I found the remedy for this big disease in the books that David gave to me. From reading these books God allowed me the favor to understand them; the reading of these books brought about the cleansing of my heart. As I read from the Gospel of Luke, I saw the place where it says: “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This is what brought the healing of my soul, through the name of Jesus the Messiah.

I am glad that the disease of my body, the other disease was healed! But if there had to be a choice as to which one of these diseases could be healed, I would choose that the disease of my heart find a remedy, and that the other disease (of my leg) remain - if only one of them could be healed. But I prefer it that they both have been healed. But the biggest disease of all is the blackness of the (sinful) heart.

What is the blackness of the heart? He has a black heart who does not follow the way of God. What is the way of God? The way of Jesus the Messiah is the way of God. This is what I learned from the book (the Gospel of Luke).

You know that the remedy for the really big disease is not in the hospital; the hospital is not the place to find this remedy! As for me, I found the remedy (for sin) by reading the books that David gave me. I read them many times over. I read them and read them until I came to the place which I just told you about, where it says: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Now this is not speaking about just anyone. This is speaking of Jesus the Messiah, He is the one who came to save the lost. He is the one.

God is not as man. He is far beyond any man! Some people seem to put God on the level of men. But the Lord is not a man; He is far greater than any human being!

So this is how the Holy Spirit brought healing to my soul. This is the healing that I needed most of all. Many people really need this healing, but they do not realize it. Now I wish to thank the Lord very much. And I also thank David for giving me these books so that I could read in them and find the remedy for my soul, and the remedy for the ugliness and dirt of sin that was in my soul. The Lord wrought (His work), He washed my soul by His Word that David gave to me in the books. These books were like the water that washed my soul. This is the healing of the soul!

Now to my friends whom I know are mocking and making me a laughingstock, you are the ones who are the laughingstock! Now I understand my situation. You are the ones who do not understand where you stand! And you are not following (the way of Jesus the Messiah), you are neither for nor against Him. But if you only could understand the right thing to do, you would come to the way of the Lord, the way of Jesus the Messiah. He is the true way, and the way that the Holy Spirit bears witness to. Now this is the way I am following today, this is the way that God has shown me. He (Jesus) is the one I am following, and He is the one who is eternal life, forever and ever, which will never end. I am certain that if right now as I sit here and speak my soul should leave my body, the way of Jesus the Messiah is the way that I am following.

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{1} Refers to the Gospel of Luke which we had translated into the Temajeq language and printed in 1982.

{2} Refers to Dan Truax who visited the field in summer 1975 with Brother Russell Turner.

{3} Arlit is a uranium mining town about 150 miles northwest of Agadez. The companies who run the mines have set up a couple of pretty good hospitals there. One of these companies is Somair.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Noel & Charlene Shrivnauth -  GUYANA
Raymond & Sharon Shull -  CAMBODIA
B Clayton & Joan Shumpert -  ARM PERSONNEL