Alito, boda-boda driver in Jinja
Dear Friends,
Thanks for your prayers for our family and for joining in our excitement of the birth of Jeremiah Daniel. He is a healthy little boy with a strong appetite. For the latest photos, check out our blog: www.jorenews.blogspot.com
We said goodbye a week ago to Rhoda's parents who were here with us for three weeks. It was wonderful to have them here and we are all missing them already. During their time here, I flew back to Minneapolis for 9 days for the wedding of my brother Ben to Adela. It was great to be there and even better to get back to Rhoda and the kids!
Several weeks ago I was walking in town when a friend of mine, Alito, rode up on a motorcycle. He works as a ‘motorcycle taxi’ driver (boda-boda). He had heard the Bible stories that we recorded in his language (Lango) from Bosco, our night watchman, who has been recording the stories into his mother tongue.
“Those stories are VERY good! Can you please assist me so that I can get my own Mega Voice so I can hear the stories from the Bible?” I did not have any more Mega Voice audio players to give him, but after discovering that his mobile phone had a memory card slot, I suggested that we put the stories on his phone.
I saw him again a week later and asked him if he had been listening to the Bible stories. He said with excitement, “Every night before I go to bed I have to listen to those stories.”
The Word of God is powerful to bring people to salvation. As the Bible says, “How can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? … Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:14b, 17). People 'hear about' God as He reveals Himself to them through His Word.
The MegaVoice has been doing great work in Uganda, but it has one inherent problem. It is not reproducible. By this I mean that it is not accessible to the average person. A typical response when someone hears the MegaVoice for the first time is, "Wow, that is great!" The second response is, "Where did you get that?" followed by "Where can I get one?" In the case of the MegaVoice, the answer is, "I got it from the missionary." If the missionary doesn't give you one, then you are not going to get one.
Contrast that with someone who is listening to the stories on his mobile phone. Someone says to him, "Cool, where did you get those stories?" He points down the road and says, "From that shop on Main Street. You can get them there yourself!"
BREAKING NEWS: Just two weeks ago a shopkeeper on Main Street agreed to distribute the audio Bible stories from his shop FOR FREE! This means that people with a memory card (micro SD) slot on their mobile phones now have access to the audio Bible stories! Many people in Uganda already have memory card capabilities on their phones and virtually all the new phones have them. The potential is unlimited and the impact immeasurable.
Please continue to pray with us for a great soul harvest here in Uganda!
It is a blessing to partner with you all. Thank you for your support and prayers,
Nate (for Rhoda, Elijah, Judah, Hannah, and Jeremiah too)
