‘Faith really does come by hearing!’

CÔTE D’IVOIRE/GHANA — The Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) program has become firmly established in Ghana, where thriving listening groups have been established for speakers of languages including Konkomba (see World Report 384/15) Dagbani (see World Report 376/16) and Éwé (see Special Report 29/24).

Even in the remotest parts of the country, more and more people are experiencing the joy of hearing God’s Word in their own language for the first time. By comparison, FCBH is less developed in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, but here too, lives are being changed through making the Scriptures readily accessible to speakers of the country’s local languages.

A listening group at one of the churches in Côte d'Ivoire where the Faith Comes By Hearing program has proved very popular. Photo: BSCTI (CTI04DJ-3.JPG)

Comments received by the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire give a flavour of people’s reactions to the FCBH program, while the next article presents a detailed account of how FCBH brought healing to one sick Ghanaian woman.

l “My husband was behaving very badly; so badly, in fact, that I wanted to leave him. But then I heard on audio cassette the passage in Matthew 15 which tells of a woman who had great faith that Jesus could heal her demon-possessed daughter. This encouraged me to persevere in prayer. All at once, my husband’s behaviour towards me changed and he began to attend church.” — Mrs Nikiema, Assemblies of God Church, Issia-Ville

l “I lead an emerging church. Being a lay-person, and being burdened with a great deal of work, I prayed that it would be possible to develop a strategy for planting a Christian community in my area. When I heard about the FCBH program, I hurried to buy a set of cassettes in French for my group. This proved to be the start of a large project. I’m now eager to buy a set of cassettes in Baoulé for my second group. Now we are in the process of becoming a parish. May God bless the Bible Society and FCBH.” — Maurice Tokpa

l “I was always sceptical about what pastors said. Being unable to read, I didn’t trust what they told me. But now I’ve had the opportunity to hear the words of Jesus for myself. Since then, I’ve been convinced about the truth of God’s Word. I praise God for having enlightened me.” — Emmanuel

l “I praise the Lord for the FCBH program, which allows us to listen in groups to parts of the New Testament. This gives members of our congregation a better understanding of the Scriptures. Faith really does come by hearing!” — Koné Désiré, a Baptist pastor

(WR 388/12 - 10/11.04)