“Reaching the unreached.” This is AFM’s slogan and the first phrase I saw on AFM Brazil’s website. Since I first read these words, I have often thought and wondered about this work. In a world that is so globalized and with so many modes of communication, how is it that there are still people who have never heard the Good News?
Many other questions lingered in my mind until I arrived in Benin, West Africa, an animistic/Muslim country in the 10/40 Window. I’m working in Natitingou, a town in the north of Benin. There is just one Adventist church in the city, located in a Muslim neighborhood. There are about 60 people in church, all from Christian or animist backgrounds. No converted Muslims yet. I am working with the Pathfinder and Adventurer clubs and helping with children’s Sabbath School. I participate in the choir and do whatever else I can. It has been a beautiful experience to work with these people and see them so engaged in learning. Though they are living in difficult conditions, their lives are a joyful testimony of our Creator.
So how is the AFM Otammari Project reaching the unreached? That was my question. As I started attending the evangelist training seminar run by Ulrike Baur-Kouato, my vision began to expand, and I understood that AFM’s slogan is real. For our mighty God, no people group is unreachable. On the Otammari Project there are people who are willing to walk the second mile to reach across cultural barriers to introduce the unreached to their Savior.
In addition to a few church members who are interested in studying the Bible and learning about evangelism, three full-time evangelists faithfully attend Ulrike’s weekly training classes. One evangelist is from Natitingou, one from Boukombé and the other from Kouaba. All three have been working with the Otammari Project for some time. In Boukombé there are 35 members. In Kouaba, a group that was started only two years ago, there are about ten. These numbers may sound small, but this actually represents miraculous progress. These are the “unchangeable” Otammari who have stonewalled the evangelistic efforts of other denominations for decades with their strong cultural attachment to mysticism, ancestor worship and fetishes. When I hear the testimonies of the Otammari Project evangelists, I understand that we cannot hurry this work. In this culture, success comes only with patience and one-on-one discipleship, just as Jesus demonstrated.
AFM has been working with the Otammari for about 20 years now, and every soul won is a cause for great celebration. Just recently, the work has picked up speed. Boukombé is planting daughter churches, and the group in Kouaba, an extremely resistant area, continues to flourish.
“The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall” (Education, p. 57). Men and women who are willing to dedicate their entire lives so that even just one person is saved—that is the work of AFM, and I am very glad to be a part of it. This work is slow but effective, hard but possible, demanding of sacrifice but a joy for our God. Your prayers and donations help us in this work. We count on you!
For the first time, missionaries from our new sister organization, AFM Brazil, have joined the teams in the field. The Otammari Project had the privilege of welcoming Bruna, and it has been a joy and a blessing to work with her. She brought valuable gifts to our team, especially in working with Pathfinders. In this society where 43 percent of the population is under 15 years old, youth ministry is extremely important for the progress of our work.
_Thank you all for your ongoing support for the AFM Brazil missionaries. _
—Ulrike Baur-Kouato
