JMBC Team Travels to West Africa

This spring, four Jackson Memorial Baptist Church members traveled to Niger in West Africa on a mission trip to minister in villages around the capital city of Niamey.  The team consisted of Michal and Sara Small, Pat Behan and Donna Robinett.  While there, the team encountered people living in poverty and spiritual darkness.

The team assisted full time missionaries in Niger in medical clinics.  “These were extremely poor villages.  There is no financial opportunity there for these villagers.  The biggest problem though is disease.  Meningitis is a huge problem there,” said team member Donna.  A missionary nurse gave babies meningitis shots while the team members weighed and measured the babies brought to the clinic.  The team also gave out baby blankets donated by JMBC members to new mothers they encountered.

In addition, the team also took with them 500 evangelistic cassette tapes.  “As people would come towards us, we would give them a cassette containing the Easter story of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Then they also contained testimonies and some songs that glorified Christ.  Everything on the tape was in the native language of the people we were ministering to, the Songhai,” explained Donna.

While most of the villagers didn’t have electricity or running water, many did have tape players.  “The villagers graciously accepted those cassettes and clung to them.  Our prayer is that God would protect those cassettes and that, even if they are put on a shelf for three years, those cassettes would be put into cassette players and that the Gospel would be heard.  I can’t wait to get to Heaven to see the impact of that cassette ministry.  I think the impact will be huge,” commented Donna.  Team members also had opportunities to share their faith personally with the help of interpreters.

Donna described the villagers who worship evil spirits under the leadership of witch doctors.  “If a child got sick in these villages, they would think that the child was possessed by an evil spirit.  So they would dedicate the child to that evil spirit.  To them, dedicating a child to an evil spirit would be an honor, just like as Christians we would dedicate our children to Christ,” explained Donna.

Even though the travel was long and she was sick for a portion of the trip, the trip greatly strengthened Donna’s faith.  She encourages anyone who feels called to missions to overcome any fear that may cause them to hesitate to answer that call.   She stated, “You have to depend on God daily on these trips.  He provides everything you need.  He provides the strength, the healing, the energy, the words.  And most of all, He provides the opportunity.”

The trip was made possible through the prayers and financial giving of JMBC members.  “Many church members gave us encouragement as we walked through the church hallways.  A few even came to see us off as we left on the trip.  The WMU came in and put the labels on the cassettes and stuffed them in their cases.  We got a lot more baby blankets than we asked for from JMBC members.  It really was a church effort.  That support is huge in addition to all of the prayers and financial giving,” stated Donna.

“The call to be a blessing to the nations runs throughout the entire Bible.  So it is vital, in order for a church to be obedient, that they send out people to minister to the nations.  It is something we have to do to be a healthy church,” Donna said. 

West Africa

The West Africa mission team included Donna Robinett, Pat Behan, and Michal & Sara Small.