I would like to update you on how the Mega Voice audio players are having an impact here by sharing some of the testimonies from the students who have received them.
Last week Fred (one of the students in Butagaya) reported that he had been sitting with a Muslim man. After hearing the sound of Fred’s player in his pocket, he asked, “What is that sound?” Fred showed him the MegaVoice and the man listened to several of the stories. After Fred saw that the stories were speaking to the man’s heart, he urged him to accept Jesus. The man replied, “I am near with salvation” (meaning: “I am getting closer to getting saved”). Fred said that the first night after receiving the player his whole family sat in their house and listened to the stories until late at night. He says that everyone from the 5-year-old to the grandparents can hear and understand the stories.
Geoffrey (a student from Naigobya) had been sharing the stories he learned in class each week with a group of guys that mocked him and said he did not know what he was talking about. After receiving the MegaVoice Geoffrey went to them again and started telling them the story of Creation. Once again they ridiculed him and told him he did not know what he was talking about. He then pulled the MegaVoice out of his pocket and pushed “play.” The skeptics gathered around in amazement as they heard this little radio recounting for them in their own language the story of Creation exactly how Geoffrey had told them. “You have been telling us the truth!” they exclaimed.
Godfrey (our yard worker) told me he heard the story of Paul and Silas (Acts 16) for the first time. He was amazed by the power of God in the story as the earthquake opened the prison doors. He said, “If I had been that jailer, I would have asked how I could be saved too!”
Daniel (from Butagaya) said, “People are now coming to me asking me to spare time for them so that they can hear the Bible stories.”
Peter (Naigobya) complained that the volume was too quiet. The players are ideal for a small group of 15-20 people to hear. When I asked him why it was too quiet, he said that he had been playing the stories for around 100 of his fellow students at his High School during a "Scripture Union" meeting!
The response to the MegaVoice players has been very positive so far. Many people are hearing the Word of God in their heart-language for the first time. However, one of the drawbacks is that they are not reproducible. In other words, it is a foreign device that comes from the West and it is not easily accessible to the locals. When it comes to reproducibility, technology once again becomes an ally of the missionary. Internet access is becoming more available and cell phones are becoming more advanced. We hope to have the Lusoga audio on the Internet soon for Lusoga-speakers to download. More and more people in Uganda (and in much of the 3rd world) now have cell phones that are equipped with MP3 capabilities which means people have the potential or putting the Lusoga Bible stories on their phones! The reproducibility question may be answered when the stories can be distributed from phone to phone throughout Uganda FOR FREE.
Meanwhile, the work of translating and recording stories continues. Roy, my Lusoga teacher, is the one who is working with me on translating and recording the stories. So far we have recorded 41 Bible stories with more in the process.
Thanks for your prayers that Uganda might hear the Word of God and turn to Christ.
Nate Jore
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” –Psalm 19:7a
Website: www.jorenews.blogspot.com
