We drove north to Bebe-Jatto as far as the road north of Akweto would take us—just a mile. Where the road ended, we got out, and started trekking across golden fields where Fulani herdsmen were grazing their cattle. Two hours later, we found ourselves on a narrow path leading into the village of Bebe-Jatto. Dry straw huts were on the left and on the right. The second or third one on the left caught my attention, because a woman in her fifties was sitting on the parched ground with her back flush against the hut. She wasn’t wearing anything, so I asked Domche who was walking directly in front of me, “Domche, did you see that woman? She isn’t wearing anything. Why doesn’t she just get up and go someplace else?” Domche replied thoughtfully, “She is probably being left there to die. Or, maybe, she committed adultery and her husband is putting her out. Or, maybe, she violated some village rule so she is being shunned and has to stay there for a while. Or, maybe, she has a contagious disease, and until it runs its course she is in a quarantine situation. But most likely, she has an incurable disease and she is being left there to die.
At that moment, doubt, pessimism, and hopelessness began to assail me. What is the point of all this research that we do? Even if we find out and declare that this is a language group with a definite need for Bible translation, who will trek the two hours each way to live here? Just then, the verses God used to ignite His calling in my life simmered into consciousness. Yes, the Gospel must be proclaimed in all the world among all people groups before the end would come. And, yes, I had read Revelation 7:9 – someday people of every language, and tribe, and people group would be found worshipping Jesus around his throne. Based on what God’s Word said, the people of Bebe would be among them. Remembering 2 Peter 3:11-12 that we speed the day, I had to cry out, “Lord, then just speed the day. Just speed the day.”
Ed Brye
