MP3 players carry lessons
Missionary Phil Henderson doesn’t have a split personality but everywhere he goes lately he hears his own voice.
"At first it was a little unnerving," Phil wrote, "but I am getting used to it."
Phil and his co-worker, Francois Hattingh, are being heard on MP3 players throughout the Mwinika village where they have been teaching evangelistic Bible lessons.
"I have one friend that has been sick for years," Phil wrote. "He lives close to my house so I stop in from time to time to visit him. He can hardly walk now and spends most of his days in bed. … He gets up from time to time to prepare himself a small meal and then goes back to bed.
"Each week I take him an MP3 player for him to listen to. He loves it. Not only does it decrease his boredom but it is interesting to him. He is tracking along very well and always eager for new installments. He literally has nothing else to do except listen to God’s Word being taught."
The missionary team has 17 used MP3 players in circulation. They record each teaching session and at the end of the week they load them on to the players, along with previous lessons and Scripture, and distribute them to the people.
At the end of each week those who’ve attended the teaching make a list of who will receive the players. The priority is the old and the sick who have not been able to attend the teaching. They can listen to the recordings over the weekend and return them when the teaching begins on Monday.
"At the end of the first week, one guy reported that at one sitting he played the week’s lessons for a group of 53 people," Phil wrote.
Several people have started coming to the teaching when their interest was sparked by listening to the recordings at a neighbor’s house.
"Because the MP3 players are such a hit we are in the process of trying to get more of them," Phil wrote.
The team would like to purchase units that are solar powered and have their content protected. Please pray that God will provide for these units and that those who are hearing God’s Word will understand what Christ has done for them.