For nearly ten years, the book “Simple Truths for the New Believer” has been available in West Africa. The first translations were done in French and Jula (Dyula). Then, because of the work of Nebié Badiou and Dieudonné Somé, our champions in Burkina Faso, the books became available in Mooré, then Dagaara, Cerma, Bwaba, Pougouli, Nunuma, Gourmantché, Lobiri, Sissala, Fara Fara, Ashanti, and Dogosé (not necessarily in this order). All of these translations were undertaken because one or both of these men had connections with church networks that needed and wanted the books, as well as competent translators who could put them into those languages.

At the end of August, Dieudonné will be one of the plenary speakers in a Youth Conference in Burkina Faso. More than 1,000 Burkinabe youth (ages 18 to 30) will gather for several days of worship, teaching, and encouragement. Dieudonné and his team decided to put a tool into the hands of those who attend that would allow them to “stretch” the impact of the gathering. By the end of this week, 3,000 French copies of Simple Truths for the New Believer will be delivered from a printer in Ouagadougou to be distributed to the youth at the conference.

In conversation with a missionary a few weeks ago, I heard him repeat a phrase I had first heard in University in 1975. “The church in Africa is a mile wide and an inch deep.” The statement was not meant to be a critique of those who labor in Africa today, nor of those who gave their lives to pioneering and planting the church on that vast continent. It was simply a commentary on how vast Africa is, how quickly the church there is growing, and how monumental the task of discipleship there.

Perhaps with the distribution of the 1,500 books at this youth conference in August, and the distribution of the remaining 1,500 books at two other conferences in which Nebié is involved later in the year, our little book can help make a difference.