My day with Terje

After a brief coffee break in Goure, which is a story all by itself, we left the “town” and headed 20/km out into the bush. Bush driving with Terje can only be described as a combination roller coaster, jet boat ride, and deep snow driving without the benefit of 4 wheel drive. About 4 hours after leaving Zinder, after numerous stops to dig our vehicle out or push us back on track, we arrived in Maja, the desert outpost. Maja has a bustling market, which apart from the occasional flashlight and batteries we found for sale, felt like we had stepped back in time about 2000 years. As you can imagine three white individuals in a bustling market drew a rather large crowd, especially children who were enamored with Max’s digital camera.

Shortly after arriving, the first local asked someone from our team for prayer. No one seems to remember the first miracle or exactly how many people were healed, but everyone we ministered to in the market was instantly healed, including six blind or partially blind eyes. In fact, one women’s eye was extremely deformed and looked like a bowling ball pin protruding from her eye socket, but that did not inhibit the Lord from restoring her sight. Another gentleman was set free from a severe and debilitating head ache he had for eight years. Terje noticed that the man had a large collection of amulets around his neck which we asked him to remove before we ministered to him.

In this culture up to 1/3 of their meager income can be spent on these pagan ritualistic possessions. However, after he removed his amulets and we ministered to him he was instantly healed and told his friend to go and burn his prized amulet collection. After the radical healings in the market we proceeded to the tribal Fulani chiefs meeting.

Bønn for syke på markedet i Maja.

The full tribal meeting was going to take place the following week, but Terje was not going to be in town, so an earlier meeting with a few of the chiefs was arranged. Terje really wanted to spend time reconnecting with these leaders and work on getting Essa, his local Fulani pastor, better accepted by the chiefs. Fortunately, the word spread and 3 of the 4 biggest chiefs were able to attend, including the largest and most well respected chief. Approximately 15 of the 45 total chiefs were there, which included an additional entourage of 10-15.

Terje and the main chiefs sat on their own mats while the rest of us congregated nearby on our own mats. We were all able to hear what was going on, but it was very clear who the leaders were. No one spoke at the meeting except those at the main chief’s meeting. It was like living out a National Geographic moment in real-time – words do not do the monumental occasion justice.

At prior meetings Essa was asked to join the main meeting at the very end; however, on this occasion he was asked to join almost immediately – this was a very good sign for future relations. As the meeting progressed it becomes increasingly evident that we are in the poorest country in the world meeting with the poorest people in the world - their plight is very severe.

Because of the drought, the largest chief had gone from about 2000 cattle to 10. The average cow costs about $500 which means he went from a tribal net worth of approximately $1,000,000 to $5,000. Another chief had 300 cattle and now has 8 while another had 150 and is left with 5. I was left with a sinking feeling – what do you tell a man who has lost all his wealth and his ability to provide for tens of thousands of people – dead cattle don’t rebound like an investment account.

The chiefs are seeking answers and want to learn to follow Jesus – they all emphatically express that they are done with Islam as Allah has done nothing for them. At the close of the nearly hour long meeting we were able to give them some money for food and also pray for them. While we were praying the Holy Spirit’s presence was very strong and was visibly manifesting in the leaders.

I had a very strong vision and sense from the Lord that this dark moment in their history will be a turning point and will ultimately lead to a radical change in this region when others see how Jesus supernaturally met their needs. They are hungry for Jesus and the Father’s Love. You can see the presence of the Lord in these people and how much they long to understand Him and want to follow Him.

To appropriately conclude our visit to Maja, as we were getting ready to leave, we were able to minister to one more gentlemen who had several health ailments.

To complete our day, we had the return drive to Zinder, which included the additional adventure of driving in the pitch black desert, making the formidable potholes nearly impossible to navigate. After our 10+ hour day to the bush and back – we were able to return in time to help close out the WOM conference and help facilitate the Holy Spirit’s radical encounter with 80+ Christian pastors and leaders from all over West Africa.

Høvdinger samles for å møte Terje i ørkenen i Niger.

My day with Terje – words can not adequately express the indelible impact it had on me and the people of Niger and West Africa.

JT Mlinarcik

Photos by Max Drummond