Whoosh!  Dave Kline stepped off the small airplane and onto the cement slab, looking around. He let out a breath of air, wiping his brow. He was here. He had finally made it to Senegal, yet no one seemed to notice.

            “Where is everyone?” His translator, Matt Johnson asked himself, also searching the open area they were in. The work they had done to make this trip happen was beyond imaginable, yet in all that time Dave hadn’t been able to learn the native language. So he had been given a translator, who was at least 10 years younger than him. He felt a strange feeling from the fact someone so much younger than him had to talk for him. But he had grown to like Matt, especially because they were the only two ministering to this tribe.          

            “Maybe we should go look.” He replied.

Matt shrugged. “If you will.” They advanced cautiously, ready at any moment for someone to jump out and kill them. Finally, as they were in the forest, Dave stopped. “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this.”

Matt looked at him as if he were crazy. “You kidding? This is exactly what God wants from us.” That was the thing about Matt. He had the "ready to do anything" optimism that Dave only wished he had. Dave was more of a quiet, think before you act type of person.

            “Couldn’t we just have done some type of orphanage service? At least they’d be glad to see us.”

Matt grinned. “Relax Dave. God’s watching over us.” Dave knew this, but couldn’t help but worry. As they walked farther into the deep forest which seemed to have no end, an arrow whizzed past Dave’s head. Matt looked surprised, and then commented sarcastically, “Yeah, they sure are happy to see us.” Dave ignored this, and called out, “Hello?” Automatically, Matt translated. “We come in peace!” Again, Matt spoke a flood of the other language. When he finished, there was a rustle, and a tan figure leaned out of the bushes. Matt spoke some more. The boy looked scared, and listened to Matt while he regarded at Dave suspiciously. When he finished, the boy nodded doubtfully and crept off. Matt followed, and Dave jogged after him.

“What did you just say?” Dave hissed into Matt’s ear.

“We have news for your tribe. Can you bring us to your village?”

Dave looked at him surprised. “And he agreed?”

Matt grinned. “Yeah. I guess I just have a good way of making people cooperate.” They followed this quiet boy until they reached a clearing. There was a large cluster of black men and women of all ages, working and caring for their young. There were also kids, who either played if they were young, or were working along with men, probably their fathers. As they approached, the boy ran ahead to a grown man sitting on a chair. The boy spoke the dialect as the man nodded and looked at them. Then he stood and called out to his people in the words of their land. They all looked at the team, shocked. Dave felt so out of place. "We are Americans." Matt translated. "We have come to tell you the story of Jesus Christ." As Matt finished converting this, the people looked around in confusion. Dave felt his stomach turning. The old missionaries had always said people won't always like what you tell them, but still, Dave was nervous about what might happen. The man, who Dave assumed was their leader, began to speak to Matt. Matt nodded and spoke to Dave. "He says he will let us. But if we upset his people, he will never accept our type of people again." Dave felt his stomach tighten.

            "Great." He said quietly, his voice shaking. Matt smiled.

            "Don't worry. God will help us through this."

Dave nodded. "Right." Dave turned to the people and began speaking, with Matt echoing. They worked endlessly through the night, with the people hanging on to his every word. The people seemed to enjoy what they were hearing, that is, until Dave uttered one line.

            "You all can accept Jesus as your Savior if you will only renounce your faith.” After Matt said this, the people stopped their smiling. A murmur began among the people. Matt began to frown. "This isn't good." He whispered nervously. Dave began to panic. If Matt didn't think something would be okay, then that meant this was something big. The ruler jumped to his feet and began to shout at the two. "Uh-Oh." Matt murmured. "Run." But it was too late. A few of the men grabbed spears and began walking toward them. Dave turned to leave, but someone grabbed him from behind and pushed him to the ground. A black man pressed his spear to Dave's chest. He looked to Matt for help, but he was in the same situation. He closed his eyes tightly and began to pray. God, he began, I need help! I'm doing this for you. Please……