(From Beth)
The Komba villages are full of beautiful people! Ray has found many dedicated partners and pastors that truly love God and their people, and want to reach out and help them physically and spiritually. These people are hard-working! They live in conditions that we would consider primitive camping. Ok, so Pete and I happen to like camping, but to camp for 365 days a year, farming in the hot sun, and carrying 40-50+ pounds of water, wood or yams on your head, would probably wear you down. It’s an honor and a privilege to come alongside Ray, who is joining with the Komba pastors to reach out to their own people…it’s a beautiful chain, strengthened by God’s love for these people.
We are excited about how the content for the first version of the audio players is coming together. We recorded 51 tracks over the last few days, received some songs from the Bashara radio station in Tamale, selected additional content from Faith Comes by Hearing and Global Recordings Network, and were given materials from other people working among the Komba people (found through our friends at Lutheran Bible Translators). At the end of the day yesterday, we sat down with Ray and some of the pastors to select what will go on version 1.0 of the BIBLEplus audio players, including music, testimonies, Bible stories, prayers and exhortations (wow, they can preach!), a version of the New Testament (in Komba!), and some community health information dictated by our new friend, Nurse Suzie. If all goes well, we will be able to load the 10 audio players that we brought with us, and leave them with Ray to distribute to a group of pastors and elders to listen to and give us feedback before we order the next batch of players. Our goal is to distribute 1,000 BIBLEplus units to the villages in Komba-land this year! If you want to help us meet this goal, talk to me :-)
It was hard to say good bye to our new Komba friends yesterday! You grow strong bonds quickly when you work closely with people on a common goal, even if it’s for a short period of time. We will miss the brightly colored clothes, the beautiful smiles, the picturesque village huts, the dry and warm climate, the yam farms and farmers, the prancing goats and slow donkeys, the ladies carrying everything on their heads, the school kids in their colorful uniforms, and perhaps even bouncing along the narrow dirt roads. Good bye, Komba-land…you will remain in our hearts and prayers!
