Stories from the Field

April 2004

God is always sufficient

By Branden Camp,
semester missionary in Burkina Faso among the Marense people

God has done some awesome things in my life in the last month. It never fails that whenever I need a word from God, He gives it.

Last month, we had planned a meeting with all the Maranse [Mah-rahn-say] believers. Prior to the meeting, we traveled to several villages in order to spread the word about the meeting. Our last stop was in the Maranse village of Bagade where I spent five days.

I spent the first several hours in the Bagade market. At the market, I began to feel very discouraged. I didn't know the language well enough to really share the gospel with anyone and felt God was unable to use me. As soon as I began to feel discouraged, God stepped right in.

A young boy walked up with an American one-dollar bill. I was really surprised to see a dollar in this little village, so I motioned for him to come over to me. He brought the dollar bill over. On the bill was a little note from an American and a Bible verse. The verse was Philippians 1:6 which says, "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on till completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Even though I was unable to share the gospel, God reminded me that He is working in me what is well pleasing in His sight. I do not need to think that nothing is being accomplished in and through me.

That evening, my Marense partner, Paul, was very hungry to learn God's word. (He changed his name to Paul from a Marense name when he became a believer.) I had a copy of God's word in the Marense language, so I read it to him. We sat for what seemed hours going over Ephesians 6:12. Since Paul is unable to read, he tries to memorize everything that we share with him, but that night Paul was unable to memorize
the verse.

We started again the next day with the same discouraging results. Frustrated, I took a walk around the village and asked God for direction on how to communicate His word to Paul so he would be able to understand. I was flipping through the Bible while I was walking, and I came across Isaiah 55:11 which says, "So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." I am not able to communicate clearly because of the language barrier, but God is more than able to communicate! Praise Him for His sufficiency and power in every situation!