Unknown Nations Podcast

This is the Unknown Nations podcast, where we'll be sharing about reaching the nation where Jesus is unknown. Hey, hello, friend, and welcome to this episode of the Unknown Nations podcast. We are really happy that you took time to join us today. We're going to be telling you a story that I believe is going to be incredibly inspirational. We love all the stories—it's amazing. As we distribute the Word of God, we know that it will not return void.

And so, as a result, that's going to create amazing testimonies. But where we work at Unknown Nations really becomes everything. It's the places where the gospel's not been, where people have never heard of Jesus. I marvel every week when I think about someone, from cradle to grave, never having access to the gospel.

And that's exactly—you know what I'm talking about—what today's story is all about. A precious woman in the country of Somalia. Now, not only is it a very difficult country in Africa to reach with the gospel, but from a global scale, Somalia is on that list, friend, with Afghanistan, North Korea, and Yemen. It's the most difficult of difficult places. In today's story, it's about the transformation of a young woman who multiplied and is making disciples, and she is literally revolutionizing an area that has never heard of Jesus before.

So, we're going to get into that story, but I wanted to give you a little bit of background. What is Somalia? Where's Somalia? You may have the understanding of Somalia because, well, that's the place where piracy is taking place. And that's true. For many years, there were Somali pirates, and you might have even seen visuals of these guys in little boats attacking massive ocean liners and freighters, climbing up. There was even a movie made about it. That is Somalia.

But our perspective of Somalia is it's a place that is 99.9 percent Muslim, and most of the precious Somali people will never hear of Jesus. It's a country in East Africa. It's actually called the Horn of Africa. If you look, the reason it's called the Horn is because if you were to take your hand and flip it upside down like this, this little area that juts out is considered the Horn of Africa. And Somalia is right there on the edge.

It's kind of facing the entrance into the Red Sea that goes up towards Egypt and the Suez Canal. There's literally probably 20 percent of global exports that go right through that area, which is why the piracy issue is such a big issue. But Somalia is really in a strategic spot.

The Horn of Africa consists of other countries like neighboring Ethiopia. Kenya is many times considered in the Horn of Africa as part of East Africa. A country called Djibouti and Eritrea—those are mainly the conglomerate of countries considered the Horn of Africa. But Somalia is unique. For example, neighboring Kenya has well over a hundred nations or people groups—what we call the ethnic. Jesus said, "Go make disciples of all nations." That doesn't mean countries; that means people groups.

In the country of Kenya, you have well over a hundred nations. In the country of Somalia, it's a little different. There are only about 20 different nations. And that's because the majority of the people living in Somalia are Somali people. So, we have to distinguish between the country and the people. The people are called the Somali people, over 14 million living in Somalia. And again, 99.9 percent Muslim. In neighboring Ethiopia, you have around 8 million. In Kenya, about 3 million.

These people are fiercely loyal to the religion of Islam. They practice Sharia in most instances. They are violently opposed to Christianity, and we've heard so many stories of people who come to faith in Christ. They have to immediately go underground as soon as they get exposed. There are lots of stories of the worst forms of persecution, including many people losing their lives because of becoming followers of Jesus in Somalia. But Jesus has called us to go to the Somali people, which makes our story today so amazing.

Some more of the background: in the 1500s, Islam came through Arab traders. Africa was largely kind of animist. Islam aggressively came through the Fulani in the western part of Africa and Arab traders in the Horn of Africa, and it got entrenched in Somalia. It's not so much that they haven't had the Word of God, because that is a critical thing. When you say, "Let's go make disciples of all nations," hey, we need the Word of God, don't we? We need local churches. Those are the two key ingredients that are going to create disciple-making.

The Somali Bible—translation work began in the early 1900s. So, they've had scripture for over a hundred years. In comparison, neighboring Kenya has also had the scriptures, maybe a little before that—maybe the late 1800s, when the Swahili Bible first became available. But look at the contrast:

In 1900, Kenya was a country that was well under 5 percent Christian. In that era of one-way missionaries, people had a passion to take the gospel where it had never been. And in 1900, Kenya was in that category, as well as Somalia. And then you go a hundred years and say, "What happened in those hundred years?" Well, Kenya became the most evangelical country in the world—not just Christian, but evangelical—Bible-believing, Great Commission-oriented people who embrace the Word of God. Christians in Kenya are an incredible success story that we should celebrate.

What happened in Somalia in those hundred years? It remained less than 2 percent Christian. There was literally no movement of gospel activity, even though they had the Bible, just like Kenya did. So, it's not enough just for us to do translations. And we love Bible translation work. If you've supported that, continue to do so—it is a great place to invest. But we have to align strategic distribution with translation. Because if I have a Bible that's translated, I can't just check it off the list and say, "Okay, let's go on to the next one." I have to be determined and diligently put a strategy together that's going to distribute it. And that's what's been lacking in the country of Somalia.

Again, you can't look at Somalia without looking at the country of Kenya. Kenya has been such a success story. But we can't treat Kenya and Somalia the same. Today, they are two different stories. Kenya is more Christian than most of the Bible Belt of America. Somalia, on the other hand, has never had access to the gospel.

One of the main reasons for this is a group called Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab is a terrorist group in the vein of ISIS. If you think of the Taliban or Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, Al Shabaab is a very fundamentalist group with a mixture of rich Somali nationalism aligned with jihad. It's heavily energized by global Muslim grievances. The unemployment rates in Somalia are off the charts. You get a bunch of young people who are just looking for purpose, and they will go with the mob. That's what's happened in Somalia.

This story centers around this precious woman. She was a young person who grew up in the entrenchment of the intensity of Islam, knowing that if she even considered Christianity, it would mean dire consequences for her. Somebody gave her a New Testament. Like so many people in these suppressed areas, she was seeking truth. She read the New Testament. She had an incredible encounter with Jesus as a result of that. She received Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Then her family found out. They beat her—they beat her so severely that she needed to be hospitalized. The person who gave her the Bible heard about this, came to visit her in the hospital, sympathized with her, loved her, and said, "Can I pray for you? The Jesus who you received also wants to touch your body."

She said, "I want as much as I can from Jesus."

This friend prayed for her. God healed her. And the story just continued to unfold because of that amazing encounter. I can't imagine the courage it took. Think about the players in this story. Someone had the courage to go to this woman, knowing that proselytizing—that's really the trigger. When we hear the word proselytizing, it's like, "No, you can't proselytize." You can talk to Christians in these countries, but don't you dare proselytize a Muslim. That’s what gets the attention of the leaders. This person was taking a risk. This woman was taking a risk by receiving the Bible. Yet all of that came together. God’s Word brought transformation. She recognized at that point that God had a great purpose for her life.

Can you imagine being the person who was praying into that story?

Listen to this. She was so determined and passionate about the impact of the Word of God that she would take her own Bible—the one New Testament she had—and tear the pages out of it. She would give the pages to people she was witnessing to, encouraging them, saying, "I want to give this to you," because that’s all she had.

You can imagine the day she received a treasure audio Bible provided by Unknown Nations. Somebody gave Unknown Nations a gift that allowed us to put it in her hands. It changed everything. Now she had something she could listen to and share with her friends. The treasure had such an impact on her. We’ve come to appreciate the mobilization effect of the treasure. When someone like her comes to know Jesus in such a hostile environment, you can imagine the intimidation of going to share with others as a baby Christian.

When a treasure is deposited in that environment, it gives confidence to the believer. The pressure isn’t on them. God just calls us to seed. God calls us to water. He’s the one who brings the harvest. As she shared, she is now discipling 45 Somali women because of the treasure she received. That treasure activated and enhanced her ability in such a dramatic way. So, there are so many different things going on in this story. When it’s all said and done, it’s about a life being transformed—and that’s what happened to her.

What does it look like now? She’s back in her community. This is the principle we love to convey to people: When people in unreached areas like Somalia come to know Jesus, it’s critical that they become relevant. Not that they try to change everyone to dress like them or talk like them. You want to engage in the culture with the Holy Spirit now inside of you and become relevant.

That’s what she’s done. She walks with these ladies. She leads Bible studies. She watches their children. She bakes food with them. She does life with them. She doesn’t distract or extract herself from the situation. She engages in the culture as a follower of Jesus, contributing in a meaningful way to the community. This story encourages us because it ties so many aspects of who we are. It highlights the indigenous leader in Somalia—it wasn’t an American going there. I couldn’t even get the proper visa to do that kind of work. I would stand out. It’s the indigenous leader. They use God’s Word, first and foremost—Scripture is beautiful.

For this person, who is an oral learner, the audio Bible triggered exponential impact. And then, there’s the commitment to not just keep it to oneself. The good news is good news—it needs to be shared. She was committed to that. She began to multiply herself, watching the Word of God transform and change other areas.

Friend, we want you to be a part of that in other places around the world—not just Somalia. Hey, Indonesia needs it. Yemen needs it. Just across the Red Sea, Yemen desperately needs it. Afghanistan needs it. North Korea needs it. Cambodia needs it. Vietnam needs it. All these areas in the 10/40 window need us to engage. Are we going to pray? Are we going to mobilize someone to go? Are we going to send a treasure? You can be a part of that.

Join this podcast. Give us a favorable rating. Share it with your friends and family. Pass this on. I hope this story has encouraged you because of where it happened, what it did, and the fruit, all to our precious Lord Jesus.

We appreciate you joining us today on this episode of the Unknown Nations podcast. My name is Greg Kelly, and I’ll be with you next time with a very exciting story that brings life and the example of the transformational power of the gospel to you. God bless you.