Fulfulde Audio New Testament Brings Joy!

Dear Friends,

On August 12, we celebrated the wedding of our second son, Kevin, to Sara Gagnon.

We welcome the new Mrs. Higby to the family and we attest that she is a wonderful compliment to Kevin! They'll continue their residence in Muskegon, Michigan--about 40 minutes from us. Lots of friends and family came for the event and some stayed at our house--really putting the old home to the test.  We are so thankful to have a permanent place that we call home when we are not traveling. It is a blessing to be near our boys and their families as much as we can, as well as being involved in our local church.

We received this short message recently:

I gave “B” the audio Bible that I got from Catherine Monday,
and he is delighted with it--he has been listening to it,
and playing it for his children. He sends you his thanks.

"What audio Bible was this?"—we were wondering.  I (Doug) was certain that “B” hadn’t gotten one of the 50 solar audio Bibles we delivered on our trip to West Africa since he wasn't in the target area. Believe it or not, what they were calling an audio Bible was a discarded smartphone we brought along! You see, we had purchased the phone for our son years ago and it got stuck in a drawer when he switched plans. After wiping it clean and installing the Fulfulde New Testament and dramatized audio, we left it with a colleague and asked her to find someone who would appreciate it. Apparently, she did!

That is only one small highlight from our trip to set up the audio Bible distribution program. It was a joy to finally deliver the Fulfulde audio Bibles with the dramatized New Testament to the Fulani believers as discipleship and evangelism tools. (Pictured below is the local distributor, Doug and Scripture-in-Use Coordinator.)  Because of the danger of moving about, we stayed in the capital and worked with the man selected to distribute the devices to the target area—the same place where we lived peacefully for eight years. How sad to think that today we can’t even go back and say hello to our Fulani friends!  In fact, just this past week there have been three terrorist attacks in West Africa, all in places we’ve been to in the past. Now is a better time than ever to set the Word of God free in this land through these audio Bibles, allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen the feeble church, bringing transformation to a culture in need of a Savior.  We are gearing up to send the next batch of solar Bibles, but are waiting for more feedback on how the first ones were received. Let's pray they will bear much fruit!

Our next training events are getting planned for the upcoming fiscal year which begins in October for our organization. Often people will ask us about our next trip abroad. The work we do in our home office is less glamorous, but daily I interact with people all over the world. The last trip had many frustrating moments with poor Internet connectivity, so it is always good to get stuff done at home while we can.

Thank you for the commitment you make to come alongside this ministry of Wycliffe USA and push us forward!  Your prayers and gifts enable us to focus on the task, as you are our...

Partners in the Gospel, (Phil 1:5)

Doug & Priscilla Higby