We have 10 books of the Bible on cassette (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, the Gospels, Galatians, and 1&2 Peter) that have been distributed to each of the major mission organizations in Niger as well as the national churches that we are working through. They have also been getting air time on several radio stations in the Zerma area of Niger. We have several story sets told to music and have had the stories retold verbatim by nationals who have listened to the cassettes.

We have three audio projects designed for use by volunteers including an audio presentation of the evangecube, in which the volunteer turns the cube with the beeps, and two story sets with picture books designed for a volunteer to turn the pictures with the beeps.

We have several recordings of original, Zarma hymns used to encourage believers and tell about the Gospel of Christ Jesus. These are being distributed on cassette with Christian parables as a very ‘Zerma’ method of presenting the Gospel. They are also getting radio play.

Finally, we have an ongoing series of recorded testimonies that we are distributing on cassette. Within the first two weeks of having these cassettes available, people were asking about following Jesus after listening to the tapes.

Let me begin by saying that true worship is magnetic. When someone is truly in the presence of God, whether in prayer, or in song, or simply in their study of God’s Word, a magnetic draw exists that pulls kindred hearts into that experience. True worship is also magnetic in the opposite sense. When a heart is hardened to the Gospel and a person is not ready to follow Christ as Lord and Savior, they can be repulsed by our worship. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 says, ‘We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?’

We believe that you are equal to such a task. God is calling you to go to a foreign land and serve among people whom you do not understand. He is calling you to worship Him in Spirit and Truth so that the place of worship is of little consequence, whether in Jerusalem, on Mount Gerizim, under a tree, inside a mud hut, or on pews in a church building. God is calling you and is making you equal to His task for you. Thus, we have faith that you will be the aroma of Christ to the world.

That being said, we would like to equip you as much as possible for appropriate ministry with our people group. In the following paragraphs, I will give some examples of worship services I have been in around the world. The ultimate goal of all of this is to help show you how vital you are to our ministry, how much of an impact you can have on people’s lives, and how, without being able to speak one word to the people, your life of worship can forever change their destiny.

I had been in Niger for 3 days and my family and I attended one of the local church services. The bulk of the service was done in the language that we were to be learning, so it was going to be a good introduction to the country. We enter the church, my wife and child go sit on the right with the other women and I sit on the left with the men. The pews feel unstable and give a little when you sit on them. They also are only about half the width of my rear end (which isn’t very big) and have no backs. Since it is a little warm (low 100’s) the people do have the fans turned on (which they do not if it only gets to the mid 80’s) and we begin a jet-lagged, 2 hour service, in a foreign language, separated from my family, with nothing to lean against. Suddenly I hear English. The pastor is a blind man and reads from an English, King James, Braille Bible. He does an instant translation into Zarma and does all of his exposition in Zarma, but from that point, I am able to follow and participate in worship, because I know the context of our worship.

Scripture is a great unifying agent. If our songs and our prayers are guided by scripture and we can share those scriptures, even if we do not understand each other’s languages, we are drawn to the same place by the God who spoke the Words we are emulating. Since there is a full Bible in Zarma, having key passages picked out to use in prayer, song, Bible study, or in your testimony before you come will help draw people into worship. You will be using interpreters, but if you are willing, we can teach you to read in Zarma and you can ‘speak Zarma’ to the people. (Zarma uses the Roman alphabet, like English, so reading it is very similar to reading English)

I was in India doing disaster relief after the Tsunami that devastated Indonesia. We were attending a Gospel rally and I was called on to pray, this was told to me by a friend since the actual call had been in Hindi and I had no clue why people were looking at me. After my prayer, a woman in the back of the crowd begins screaming and shaking violently. I was told she was demon possessed and that we needed to pray for her. This was pretty scary considering I had never seen a demon-possessed person before and I had no idea how to pray to exorcise demons. So I (and as I later found out, the guy at the podium praying in Hindi) simply began to pray in Jesus’ name that God would bind Satan, drive out his demons, and give this woman health in body and spirit.

I do not remember much else about that rally, but even though it was strange and new, I remember that being a place of prayer. Believers were gathered in one accord, in many languages, to pray for the healing of that woman, the salvation of those who were hearing the Gospel, and other common goals. We did not need to be praying the same words; the important issue was that we were praying ‘together.’ For people who want to be prayer guides in a foreign country, it is important to be able to guide prayer, not control it. Allow people to express their hearts to God in their own language, but help them progress through the experience of drawing near to God: laying their faults and their needs before Him, experiencing His provision, and desiring His revelation to the whole world. Prayer themes are easy to translate; individual words in a long prayer are not.

I had some Tuareg friends (one of the people groups in Niger) and had learned to do the greetings in their language, so they invited me to church one Saturday. Church was sitting on mats without shoes in a semi-circle around the pastor and the song leader. The entire service, close to three hours, was entirely in Tamasheq (the Tuareg language) and a few times I understood them singing the word ‘God.’ That is all I understood for three hours. But in the midst of this group of 20+ Tuareg people, I worshipped God. I was part of their family not because I could speak to them, but because they opened their hearts to God. I felt that and wanted to follow. And so my worship may have been completely different than theirs, but we worshipped together as one body.

Ultimately, being a worship catalyst is about having a vibrant relationship with God that people can ‘feel’ just by being around you. It is not necessary that you speak their language or know their culture. What matters is that you are the aroma of Christ. In Zarma, the word for ‘to smell’ and ‘to feel’ are the same: maa. May people maa Christ in you.

One final story: While in training to come to the field, I was charged with leading the group in ‘cross-cultural’ worship over a period of six weeks. Since we were going to Africa, I wanted to have an ‘African’ worship service. So, we called all the workers we knew of who had served in Africa and tried to learn as much as possible about what worship might be like there. In the end, we led the group in a few call-and-response type hymns from Kenya, a former worker from Africa preached for us, and we all met outside under a grouping of trees. None of us understood what we were singing, but we had a couple of djembes playing along and everyone seemed to have fun and enjoy the time of worship.

For your trip, we can teach you songs in Zarma, we can teach you to read scriptures, we can even teach you to give your two-minute testimony in Zarma (for those who can submit their testimony in advance, we will translate it and send it back to you in Zarma.) With or without these available tools, you can be a worship catalyst for the Zerma people. What it takes is a decision to lay aside what you are comfortable with, be willing to learn as you go from the people you are spending time with, and follow God wherever He may lead.

Now, you may be wondering what you will actually do as a ‘worship catalyst’ in Niger. Since we have broken worship into five areas, the different jobs will be according to their type. Our five areas of worship are (in no specific order): prayer, music, the study of God’s Word, the proclamation of God’s Word, and service (actions). The following job descriptions are not set into stone. They are simply to give you an idea of the work you will have here. We will work with each team to discover how to best use your gifts to advance the Kingdom in Niger.

Prayer catalysts have two main purposes: to help build prayer as an outreach tool of the local body and to ‘test new ground’ for the Gospel. Prayer walkers will go from compound-to-compound asking to pray for those living in the area, lifting up their hearts and physical needs in the name of Jesus, and having opportunity to share the Gospel as God opens doors. You can also work with a local church group to help organize a prayer ministry out of the church. Although it is important for the church to pray together and for each other, the main focus of these groups will be outreach.

Music catalysts are probably the most difficult job in this grouping. The problem is that Islam taught people to just follow the directions of ‘worship,’ even if they do not understand the language (Arabic). So from a Muslim background, people are accustomed to just doing the motions. When the French introduced Christianity, it was accepted in a similar manner. People who cannot read will open their Bibles at the appropriate times and will stand with a song book in their hands singing French hymns even though they do not speak French. We need to direct people away from ‘Western’ worship and guide them to expressing their hearts to God in their own language, in their own way. So, music catalysts will be leading scripture-song composition workshops. We will gather believers, study sections of God’s Word, discuss how the text is useful for expressing praises or other issues, and encourage those present to sing, chant, or play the scripture. The Zerma people love music, but composition is a lost art and it is very hard for them to think ‘outside-the-box.’ So take heart, but start praying now; the road will be difficult.

Study catalysts are the teachers. This is discipleship. You will sit with groups composed of any who are willing to come and guide them in studying God’s Word. Remember that it is important for believers to learn to study God’s Word for themselves, so you will be a model and a guide, not a lecturer. Expect Muslims to also take part in these studies. You will have many opportunities to be a witness for Christ by simply opening His Word. We have the books of Genesis, Deuteronomy, most of Isaiah, the four Gospels, Galatians, and 1&2 Peter on cassette. Hopefully, we will soon have the entire New Testament available. If you prepare studies out of these books, you can leave God’s Word in cassette form with the people after your study is finished and can truly teach them how to learn for themselves. (As a note: something like 98% of the Zerma are illiterate, which is why we have taken the time to record this much of the Bible.)

Proclamation catalysts are the evangelists. Your main disciple will be your interpreter. Through various tools that we have prepared for you, you will be taking the Gospel to the Zerma people. Currently, we can translate your two-minute testimony into Zarma and even teach you to give it in Zarma. We have the Evangecube presentation recorded in Zarma with beeps to let you know when to flip the cube. We have a short Bible story set with a picture book recorded in Zarma that also has beeps to let you know when to turn the pictures. Or (working with your interpreter) you can just go find a group of people and follow God’s guiding to tell them about Jesus.

Finally, there are service catalysts. We have many service oriented projects going on across Niger. They deal with agriculture, water wells, sanitation, and medical needs. We need people to come and model a life of worship through their skills and talents. We are bringing spiritual and physical life to those we minister to—we call it ‘whole-person’ evangelism. We need you to come and teach the Zerma about using your talents and skills to glorify God. You will be discipleing those you are working with and opening doors to evangelism with the Nigeriens who will benefit from your work.

We are eager for each of you to come and look forward to the impact you will have in Niger. May God bless your preparation and your willingness to serve.