Engaging on the Edge of the Church in Africa
Stretching the Loron with Responsibility
The Loron church in West Africa is going through growing times as it begins to push the edge of the Church into new areas. Paul and Marina Briggs have had the privilege of working with the Lorons and now are itinerant, traveling to West Africa from time to time from Northern Ireland.
One of the stretching times for the Loron church took place at the end of last year when a dozen Loron church leaders and Bible teachers attended an intense, one-week missionary training course to help them understand their role in reaching the unreached.
The Literacy Push
Literacy is an important part of establishing a thriving church for every people.
The last time the Briggs were among the Loron people, Marina taught literacy classes every weekday in their village for about five hours per day. She also travelled some afternoons to classes in other villages to guide and encourage the literacy teachers there. A literacy workshop to train new literacy teachers will occur when the Briggs return to West Africa this month.
And here is why the literacy classes are important: the Loron translation team has just completed a revised version of the Gospel of John in the Loron language and hope to meet with a translation consultant this month for the final check.
The Teaching Fans Out
Loron Bible teachers continue to reach out to new locations with the gospel. Ongoing efforts include outreaches to three local villages and another village about 90 minutes away by motorcycle. Joel, one of the teachers, will travel to a large Loron village in Burkina Faso this month to follow up on contacts made on a previous trip.
Pray for the Loron church as they stretch out to the edge — and then push it farther out.