Page 15
November 2007
The AC Phoenix
GOD’S MAN IN TIMBUKTU
Continued from Page 1
sage of Jesus Christ. He accepted
the Lord at a young age and matured
to become the first national pastor in
Timbuktu. Today the church he pas
tors, L’Eglise Evangelique Baptiste
de Tombouctou (The Evangelical
Baptist Church of Timbuktu) with
120 members is the largest in the city
and growing.
As a child. Pastor NoUh was
kidnapped along with other
Tamasheq children and forced to
attend the French school. The
nearby Evangelical Baptist Mission
was giving away “click-clacks” (ball
point pens) and Nouh wanted one.
To receive a pen, children had to re
cite Bible verses. He was later re
buked and beaten by a Muslim priest
for having associated with “infidels.”
Muslims told him that Christianity is
“only for white people.” Four years
later the Baptist missionaries sent
him to a Bible camp where he was
able to meet other black Christians.
The boy Nouh realized that the mes
sage of salvation was not restricted
by race or language. He received
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
When he returned to Timbuktu his
father tied him up and demanded that
he renounce Christianity. However,
Nouh had found peace and joy in
Jesus. His father put him out of the
house; he was stoned and beaten in
the streets. Nouh’s mother felt dis
graced, and with the aid of a Muslim
priest, even tried to poison him. The
poison did not harm Nouh but the
priest became fatally ill. Before the
priest died he warned the people that
a “Great Spirit” was in Nouh. Fam
ily and all in the community began to
take his conversion seriously. It was
then and continues to be through
much tribulation that Pastor Nouh
serves the Lord in full-time ministry.
The persecution he endures only re
inforces his understanding of God’s
unconditional love.
An intellectual who under
stands the value of education. Pastor
Nouh studied for four years at a Bi
ble College in Cote d’Ivoire before
entering the pastorate in northern
Mali. In 1998 he came to the United
States where he completed a Mas
ter’s Degree in Economics and Com
munity Development at Eastern Uni
versity in Pennsylvania. Through his
travels and training he has gained a
catalyst comprehension of global
missions. Pastor Nouh recognizes
that there is a great need for African-
American and other missionaries of
color. He has formed a partnership
with Rev. Hoise Birks in New York
and works with other African-
American believers.
Pastor Nouh has dedicated
himself to the liberation of his own
ethnic group, the Tamasheq, and has
launched several projects to meet the
needs of the people and at the same
time to share the gospel with them.
The church has a well that serves the
entire neighborhood. For the well to
perform more efficiently an electric
line was added. Since the church
renders such a great service to the
city, they do not have to pay an elec
tric bill. Pastor Nouh utilizes all the
resources available to him to spread
the Good News. The Bible pro
claims that “he who winneth souls is
wise.” Nouh’s winning ways ac
corded him favor with the radio net
work and now he broadcasts weekly.
He also projects the “Jesus” film
around the city. Many Muslims have
become interested in Christianity and
even converted through Pastor
Nouh’s powerful preaching. How
ever, due to the fear of persecution,
many new converts remain what 1
label as “closet Christians.” I have
encountered secret believers in Jesus
in various parts of the Muslim world.
Timbuktu is considered by
many Muslim scholars as the fourth
holiest city to Islam after Mecca, Me
dina and Jerusalem. But there is a
strong effort to make it the holiest
city of Islam outside of Saudi Arabia.
Until recently there were only 10
mosques in Timbuktu. Today there
are over 30 mosques and the new
brotherhoods are more fundamental
ist and jihad in orientation. Radical
sects, especially from Saudi Arabia,
have financed the majority of the
new mosques. Their ultimate goal is
to turn Timbuktu into an exclusive
holy city of Islam where the practice
of other religions would be forbid
den.
Another strong, growing,
political and religious emphasis in
Timbuktu is coming from President
Mommar Ghadaffi of Libya. He is
pouring hundreds of millions of dol
lars into the country of Mali, espe
cially into the city of Timbuktu. All
over this desert city are signs boast
ing the presence and partnership of
Libya. Ghadaffi is building
mosques, Koranic schools, paved
roads and a water canal for boats
from the Niger River. He also re
cently purchased the largest tourist
hotel to make it his showcase in
Mali. In addition, he bought a huge
tract of land very close to the Ahara
Kabara Church that was birthed from
the mother church in Timbuktu led
by Pastor Nouh.
After Ghadaffi’s visit to
Timbuktu religious tensions began to
resurface. It became difficult for
Christians to get jobs, to trade, and
receive basic necessities. The be
lievers in Timbuktu fasted and
prayed. And then Holy Spirit in
spired Pastor Nouh to serve one of
the neediest groups of people, single
mothers. Many women in this soci
ety are abandoned, oftentimes by
very short-term husbands. Pastor
Nouh and the other Christians over
looked their own suffering to reach
out to others who also suffered and
in 1990 the Women’s Center was
opened. Women are taught skills in
sewing, embroidery, knitting and tie
dyeing. They also learn to read and
write. Pastor Noah shares the Word
with them and draws parallels be
tween the Bible and the Koran to
illustrate the Truth of the Scriptures.
Men in the community began to
question the women’s involvement.
So, Pastor Noah opened a Men’s
Center. Now, the men also are learn
ing tailoring and other trades, to read
and write and to learn about Christi
anity. Nouh’s ministry is so excel
lent because participants are free and
are neither pressured nor forced to
convert. Due to the insistence of
Pastor Nouh there is now a clear
translation of the New Testament
available in Tamasheq.. The
Tamasheq people or Kel Tamasheq
are descendants of Berber traders and
warriors who crossed and settled in
the Sahara from the 10'*' century of
the Black African peoples enslaved
by them who adopted their language
and customs.
Timbuktu was founded in
about 1100 A.D. around a small oa
sis. tin which means “well” in the
local language, and Buktu, the name
of the woman in charge of the well.
Due to its strategic location between
the great kingdoms of West Africa
and the marketplaces of Europe Tim
buktu flourished and at one time had
a population of 100,000. Today the
city has about 15,000 residents. By
the time the white man arrived, what
Elliott Skinner refers to as the
“Glorious Age in Africa” had al
ready declined. Several decades ago
a country music artist recorded a
song with the refrain “You can’t get
to heaven on roller skates and you
can’t take a train to Timbuktu.”
Like many in our society at that time
the singer was unaware that Tim
buktu was and is a real place. Due
to the difficulty that European ex
plorers experienced in trying to
reach the city, Timbuktu gained a
reputation for being remote, impos
sible to access and thus became a
byword.
It is important to underscore
that Timbuktu was an intellectual
and spiritual capital for the propaga
tion of Islam throughout Africa dur
ing the 15”' and 16‘“ centuries and is
the location for three of the most
ancient mosques on the continent:
Djingarey Ber (1325), Sankore
(1581), and Sidi Yahya (1400).
These mud structures are endangered
due to desertification and preserva
tion projects are constantly in pro
gress. Together the mosques com
prise the University of Sankore.
There is also the celebrated Ahmed
Baba Institute for Advanced Study &
Islamic Research that houses thou
sands of ancient texts, and there are
many other shrines of ancient and
contemporary African history in
Timbuktu.
Timbuktu holds an indisput
able place in human history and has
been declared a UNESCO World
Heritage Site since 1988. The city
was also among the 2007 nominees
to become one of the wonders of the
world. And now, I can finally say “1
have been to Timbuktu.
For information about mission
trips to Mali or to invite Dr. Boyd
to your church, call 336-765-7651.
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