Use Your Talents turns poverty into abundance
A total of 70 participants from ten different countries attended this year’s Use Your Talents conference for French-speaking countries in Africa. The conference was held at a Catholic center in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
On the last day of the conference, Amos Ounsboubou, who leads the Norwegian Mission Society’s Use Your Talents work in Africa, can smile broadly. Everything went well this time too.
– Based on the feedback we received, I would say we achieved our goal, says Amos. – People have gained new ideas about what they want to do in their own communities and local churches. I also see that the conference we had this time was not really dependent on me and my efforts. I take that as a positive development.
Living with conflict
Many of the participants come from areas affected by conflict and unrest. Participants from Mali, Chad, and Northern Cameroon all live in regions where Islamist groups and other terrorist organizations wreak havoc. The limitations and dangers they face in everyday life are overwhelming. Therefore, it is even more liberating to share stories about the opportunities they have and what they can still achieve. “Finding new hope together heals traumas,” the women from Northern Cameroon reported. “I find strength in the Bible verse that we are sent as lambs among wolves,” said a Malian missionary who continues her work despite living in an area occupied by extremists.
Just sand?
There were many examples of how one can see new opportunities in the most extraordinary ways. From Northern Cameroon, a story was shared about a women’s group that had independently mapped their own resources, as the Use Your Talents method encourages. The conclusion was that the only thing they had in abundance was sand and stones. But then they had an idea: What if we sell sand to those who make bricks? As said, so done, and suddenly they had money for seed. In the next round, they could sell the harvest they had obtained from the fields and invest in something even bigger. Thus, this group managed to acquire two cows.
People with disabilities also have talents
B. Bari from Mali attended the Use Your Talents conference for the first time this year. – I have learned a lot, he says.
– For example, I now understand that people with disabilities also have talents and abilities that can be used, and that everyone is equally valuable. I have made many new contacts and developed new ideas about entrepreneurship. I find that very exciting. At home, I am involved in fish farming, for example. Use Your Talents has taught me that we can support our church ourselves, with the gifts and resources we have. We do not need help from any external “project.”
Want to contribute to Mission
One of the presentations at the conference was about how Use Your Talents can be used in mission and evangelism work. It was given by Magadji Thomas, who leads the mission work supported by the Norwegian Mission Society in Mali.
– This is the second consecutive year that this topic has been addressed at the conference, says Use Your Talents leader Amos. – But this year, I would say it received even more attention. I like that Magadji challenges us to act. Use Your Talents is not a theory; it is practice.
The presentation sparked engagement, and several participants gave feedback that they want this topic included in next year’s program as well, and that the delegations from different countries will be challenged to share what they have done to support and promote mission and evangelism work.
Bessane Brigitte from Cameroon has attended several Use Your Talents conferences. The last time she was in Abidjan, she was so inspired that she returned home and started over a hundred savings groups in Cameroon.
– This time, I am going home with two things, says Brigitte. – One is that I want to teach the youth in our church about Use Your Talents, so that they also begin to practice this way of thinking. The other is that I will suggest that we, in the women’s groups, start collecting money for missions!
Use it yourself!
– I experience that more and more people are interested in Use Your Talents as a method, says Amos contentedly. – That bodes well! Now I just hope that we at the Norwegian Mission Society begin to practice Use Your Talents ourselves, both in the way we work and in relation to our partners.