Another article on the “M’s” we work with in West Africa:

NIGER — As the only believers in a village with no previous Christian presence, John and Jennifer Smythe’s* job was to stand out. Striving against a prevalent Islam and animism, the Smythes began with prayer.

“We spent about three months walking about the streets,” John Smythe recalls, “meeting people, praying for them, telling them why we were there.”

The Songhai highly value hospitality, and many villagers welcomed the Smythes, hearing them out even if they silently disagreed. Slowly, the couple began to share Bible stories with their friends and neighbors, and a few believers soon multiplied.

“We got to see just amazing things, things we never thought we would see, as a large group of people came to faith in Christ,” Smythe recalls. “We were able to plant the first church ever in our village, a church that is now seeking to plant other churches.”

Their ministry philosophy among the Songhai is “really simple,” Smythe claims. “We speak the name of Christ boldly and often, in places it’s never been spoken to people who’ve never heard it, and we do that as often as we can.”

Response varies, but a general pattern has emerged, he indicates. For example, the team will “share the same story with a group of six people; two will immediately walk away, two sit there and kind of talk amongst each other, and two sit there and listen like they’re hearing the voice of their father.”

Many of those who listen attentively decide to become followers of Christ, and the Smythes intentionally encourage them to share their new faith with others.

“The only way the Songhai are going to be reached is with Songhai believers going out,” Smythe claims, “and so our goal is to disciple Songhai believers, and then send them out to Songhai lands.”

Discipleship is especially vital in areas with only one believer, providing a sense of connection to otherwise isolated Christians. On a visit to Niger, men from an American mission team spent the week counseling the sole believer in one village.

Smythe grants, “People may look at that as foolish … [but] I believe that this one man is going to be the catalyst for a great thing among the Songhai.”

Converts often face persecution and exclusion from their families, friends and neighbors, but consider the truth worth the cost and deeply value their new family in Christ. They also enthusiastically share their new faith. For American church members participating in mission trips to the Songhai, their zeal is a striking example of devotion.

“They know that they serve a mighty God and they do not fear,” observes mission team member Reggie Almondine* of Living Hope Baptist Church (LHBC) in Bowling Green, Ky. “They go at it full force.”

LHBC team member Charlotte Painter* recalls witnessing an exchange between a village elder and a national believer: “How many times do I hear [about] grace every Sunday, and then I’m sitting on this cot with this old man laying on a bed, with the banter going back and forth, and I’m hearing grace.” Coming face to face with a living examples of obedience to Christ has a lasting impact on volunteers.

The Songhai team’s partnership with churches like LHBC (which is the Smythes’ home church) is another part of their strategy to reach their people group – they ask churches to adopt certain Songhai areas – or the Songhai people as a whole – and commit to go there to share the Gospel.

LHBC sends four teams per year to Niger, and has an array of programs and initiatives to keep the Songhai immediate in the minds of church members. Even the children’s ministry has weekly activities related to the Songhai. “We just have truly adopted these people,” Almondine shares.

Adopting a people group enables churches in the United States to more fully engage with the conversion and discipleship of believers. Smythe notes, “They’re able to go back with names and stories, and then the next team comes back and asks about those, and it develops those relationships, and over time they build these connections.”

LHBC member Ann Marie Mooney* agrees: “For us at Living Hope, when we start seeing those faces, and knowing names to those faces, it has a huge impact.”

Having received a heart for the Songhai, LHBC members who visit Niger look forward to increasing awareness about the Songhai in the United States, even reaching out to immigrant Songhai communities. By partnering with churches like this, the Songhai team has expanded its reach well beyond the traditional Songhai territories, touching even exiles of the kingdom for Christ.

*Name changed

Jacqueline Gordon is serving for five months as a writer with the IMB’s Global Communication Team.