The Borana People

February 2008

We stood at the edge of the baptism pit as Wako maneuvered down the steep steps into the water. He waded towards the pastor, turned around and knelt down in the water. Placing his hands on the young man’s shoulders, the pastor asked, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of all your sins?” Almost laughing with joy, Wako announced in a clear, bold voice, “Akka malee!”(very much!).

This is the young man who, two years ago, was totally disinterested in church or spiritual things. The urgings of his brothers and sisters to attend church fell on deaf ears. At one point, Wako had quarreled with his father and had run away from home. He was sick and tired of being bossed around and spoken to roughly, his hard work of herding the family’s camels was unappreciated. Because he had been kicked in the chest by a camel years earlier, he was frequently sick with respiratory troubles. He was just plain tired of his hard life and wanted to get away from it all.

His older brother urged him to return home and interceded for him with their father. He did return home, and began herding the family’s goats instead of camels, which is less strenuous work, and better for his health.

Eventually, Wako’s attitude softened, and he trusted Christ as his Savior. Although his father is still a very harsh man and difficult to live with, Wako’s anger and resentment have diminished. He is active in the church youth group, and has partnered with another young man to start a small shop in their village. The formerly withdrawn youth is now outgoing & cheerful.

Over the years, we have seen the members of this family come to Christ one by one. Still remaining spiritually needy are 3 younger sisters, a brother-in-law and the father.

Pray for the Borana:

• Praise God for the many young men who have come to Christ in the past 3 years.
• Pray for them to grow deeper in spiritual maturity and in their love for Christ.
• Pray that God would raise up godly young women to be their wives (for some unknown reason, there are very few young women who are coming to faith).
• Pray for these young men's many family members who still do not know Jesus. Some of these families are Muslim or Ayana cult, so there is tremendous spiritual resistance to the Gospel.