Newsletter, February 2009

2 Timothy 2:2 Jay’s discipleship group in Ouaga will soon take on a new twist. Two leaders in the group will begin to guide those new believers through this early portion of their Christian journey. Jay will continue to meet with these two young men to offer them leadership training and more in depth discipleship and they, in turn, will teach the new believers what it means to really be a follower of Christ and how to grow in their faith. One of these young men is literate; the other is not. Both of them are young men who have shown a sincere desire to lead lives that are pleasing to the Father. Is the ability to read a Biblical requirement for leadership? No, so pray for Kahdair, that as he hides God’s Word and His stories in his heart, as he shares that Word with these new disciples, as he lives out a Godly life before young believers and others, that this “unschooled and ordinary man” will have the courage of Peter and John in Acts 4 and that all around him will “take note that he has been with Jesus.”

“Group Meditation.” In my ladies’ discipleship group, that’s what we’ve begun to call the process of repeating a Bible story or verses to be memorized. We, the church, gather together in a building – with a straw roof and a dirt floor. Before our meeting one servant heart has come to sweep the floor of its wind-blown debris and goat and sheep droppings. Some of our ladies are not readers, and this “group meditation,” this repetition, is helpful to them and to all of the rest of us as well. We listen carefully as someone tells the story. Then we go around the group repeating the story and listening intently to see if correction is needed. If we see that some are struggling, we act it out. During the telling and retelling and correcting of the story (with much celebration for those who tell it without fault or help), we find that the Holy Spirit is whispering to those hearts who are meditating on His spoken word. Recently the story was about Mary and Martha. “What has God said to you through this story?” I asked. Wow!! To one, “When we have visitors in our homes, we should give them more than just food. We should talk about spiritual things and what Jesus would talk about.” To another, “As women, we often skip out on the worship service and teaching time if baptism or some other church celebration is taking place. We are the ones who must prepare the food. Maybe we should make more of an effort to hear the teaching on those days.” To yet another, “We talk too much about others. Martha wanted to point out what she saw as her sister’s weakness to Jesus. But He saw it in a different way.” Knowing that God has spoken to us, individually and corporately, we pray together, commit to share what we’ve learned with our children and others. And I, the missionary, marvel at the great goodness of my heavenly Father who allows me this phenomenal privilege – to hear His voice in fresh ways through the voices of those whom I have come to serve in His name. Thank God with me for these ladies who, according to Colossians 3:16, are letting the Word of Christ dwell in them richly as they teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as they sing psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in their hearts to God.

A word about those Shafto kids... All parents should be able to boast in the Lord and share thanks for their children’s successes. This month we boast about James, who was named “co-most effective delegate” of the Security Council at the Model United Nations conference in Accra, Ghana. Students from international schools from the countries of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Lebanon, and Germany participated in this conference. We boast about Robbie who received an A+ in his guitar class. Kids from his class performed at the Celebration of the Arts at the end of the quarter. All who attended (not just the proud parents) would agree that Robbie’s performance of his own song was one of the best, if not the best, of all. What a joy to hear his guitar ring through our home as he sings praise to the Father! We boast about Madeleine with her straight A report card, creativity without end in her school projects, and her selfless compassion as she faithfully goes each Monday afternoon to a local orphanage to bathe and feed and play with babies and toddlers. Thank God with us for these precious ones, “our heritage and our reward.”

Blessings,
Jay & Kathy Shafto
James, Robbie & Madeleine
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso