Songs for FreedomAn addiction recovery programfor the Ndali people
20-21 January 2022: In the office in Mbeya with representatives of the Ndali - The idea: a larger project with the Ndali for personal study of the Bible and for change from within the culture to the outside.
One participant told of how he used to run a pub. When something went wrong in his village, the police were the first to come to his door. He had grown up in a deeply animistic family, knew about the necessary sacrificial rituals for the ancestral spirits and also got to know many of the Ndali arts through them. God was working on him for a long time and that's how he came to believe in Jesus Christ. At first he felt comfortable in the Catholic Church because it did not prohibit alcohol consumption. But since he himself was deeply stuck in the addiction problem, he had to break away from his environment and ultimately became a pastor in another denomination. He was the most energetic composer at the workshop, as if God had already prepared him for the task.
There were many pastors present, also many believing artists, but also those who were far from the church and close to their Ndali culture. An elderly artist happily gave his life to Jesus midweek after Scott spoke to the group about the prodigal son of Luke 15. What a joy in heaven and for the workshop participants, but especially for the son of this elderly man, a pastor who was also present at the workshop. new text
Seven songs are not enough to start the addiction help Bible groups. Storyweavers Global's program includes ten interlocking thematic building blocks, or enabling principles, to lead people affected by addiction to freedom. There should be at least one song for each of these ten topics. The artists have composed seven songs for four basic building blocks. Therefore, there will be another composition workshop next year. We learned a lot from the workshop in May and would like to do better next time so that more songs of high quality are created.
In order to get pastors familiar with the idea, we would like to hold four or five pastors' conferences in the Ndali area in 2023, including one in the neighboring country of Malawi, where many Ndali live. The goal is to educate pastors to allow traditional musical instruments for God's purposes as well, so that the culture-loving Ndali will not be denied access to the Word of God and faith in Jesus Christ. The addiction help program will also be presented together with the songs composed for it. So the pastors can then go out and find potential group leaders for the addiction support groups. These leaders should then receive a one-week training course and then the groups could start in autumn 2023. The hope is that people will really get help with their addiction problems, but also find closer to Jesus and the Word of God in their language when reflecting on this topic. Ultimately it is about discipleship, following, changing lives out of the power of God. And we hope that this will positively influence other areas of people's lives and that the participants will be strengthened to live and serve in their communities and communities in a way that pleases God.
General donations that go to our work account also flow into this work. Thank you very much for every prayer and every gift that helps the people here.