Keba's Story

I met Keba a few years ago when I was on a trip to Diouloulou. He is from a village called Karongue about 12 kilometers south east of Diouloulou. Both Keba's parents died when he was a child and he ended up living with a family in Diouloulou so that he could attend school.

Keba walks with a severe limp as a result of having polio as a five-year-old child. As Keba recounts the story, he contracted polio when he was five and was taken to the village "hospital" to receive a shot. The "doctors" in the village treated him for the wrong type of polio and gave him the wrong shot which caused him to lose the ability to walk properly. As a result, Keba today walks with a very severe limp. (Keba's wife had the same thing happen to her when she was five years old and she is now confined to a wheelchair.)

When I met Keba he was not a Christian. As a matter of fact, he was one of the men that chanted the Islamic call to prayer in his village of Karongue. Yet during our visit he would walk with us to the neighboring villages around Diouloulou as Abdoulaye and the Christians shared the Gospel. Though walking was a struggle, Keba would without fail be right along side us as we walked, sometimes over 5 miles, to a village to share the Gospel. You could really get the sense that God was at work in Keba's life and heart.

About two years ago Keba committed his life to Jesus Christ and trusted Him as his Lord and Savior. Since that time  he has faced persecution from friends, family, and from those that he used to work with at the Association for the Handicapped. But Keba has remained steadfast in his commitment  to Jesus Christ and the Gospel. He has shared the Gospel in his home village and has even taken part in an evangelism effort in the town of Bignona. He loves and studies God's Word and is eager to share the Gospel and the truths contained in the Bible.

Recently our family was able to  go watch Keba and his basketball team practice in Bignona. They take part in competition between other "handisport" teams in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Please pray for  Keba. He is a young man who has a heart for the Gospel and the Lord Jesus and an eagerness to share with others. He also has a servant's heart and a tender disposition that reflects the character of Christ to those around him. Pray that God  would  use Keba in reaching his people, the Diola, with the Gospel. Pray that God would continue to clarify what He is specifically calling Keba to do in His service. And pray that Keba would continue to have courage, boldness, and joy as he serves King Jesus.