Abeedou's Secret

From SPARK

One-sentence summary

Brief Internet children's story of a Malinke boy of Senegal.

Description

This is a brief five-part story of Abeedou, a young boy in Senegal, West Africa. He lives in a Malinke village where his father is the chief.

• Part One: Who are those men? Describes the village, Malinke religious beliefs, their foods, how boys play, and the arrival of two strangers in the village. This section includes a photo of a Malinke boy and a globe locating Senegal. A black and white line drawing is included to be colored.

• Part Two: You brought a hippo? Describes the settling in of the two strange men, their struggles learning the language. Abeedou learns they want to teach God’s truth to the Malinke people. He begins to help the men learn his language. A photo of a Malinke village and a sketch to color are included in part two.

• Part Three: Save me? From what? Translation of God’s Message begins and eventually it is time to begin teaching the people. But the village elders decide only the men will come to hear the Good News. Abeedou is heartbroken since he and his beloved grandmother will not have a chance to learn about the "Debt-Payer." The photo shows fields by the village and the line drawing shows Abeedou helping with language learning.

• Part Four: Hiding in the Hut. Abeedou and his grandmother plan how to listen to the teaching in secret. Night after night they listen and learn about God’s love. A photo of Abeedou’s grandmother is in this section.

• Part Five: Their secret is out! As he hears the Jesus story Abeedou begins to understand God’s plan. As he hears about the crucifixion, Abeedou cries out – and he and grandmother are discovered! The elders decide the story is for everyone! Learning of the resurrection, both Abeedou and his grandmother put their trust in Jesus, the Debt-Payer! Others must now be told the Good News. Section five includes a photo of Abeedou and grandmother.

Abeedou’s Secret is a fact-based fiction story. There really is a boy named Abeedou in the Malinke tribe, but this Abeedou is made up from the experiences of several children.

Considerations

• This story would be good to use as a shell because it is so brief. Its best audience would be African children, but it could be used elsewhere as a teaching tool about other countries and cultures.
• It could also be used as an audio book, especially in Africa, but perhaps elsewhere as a teaching tool about other countries and cultures.
• Only three of the sections have take-home color pages but every section has at least one color photo which may or may not be useful with a specific language group.
• With a few alterations, (they must be cleared with NTM) it would be useful as a radio story, especially in Africa.

Limitations

Guidelines for Use

Where to Obtain

Link to Producer or Source Organization

New Tribes Mission

Cost

It is available free online, with one condition, from the New Tribes Mission website.

Producer/Owners

Author/Artist/Producer

Abeedou’s Secret was written by Dena McMaster

Current copyright owner

Whenever this story is used or distributed, it must include the following note in its entirety:

This story is a gift from New Tribes Mission, made available through the mission’s web site. You may use it wherever it will be a blessing, and may freely distribute the story and photos as long as you include this notice in its entirety.

For more children’s materials, visit Children’s Shelf at the New Tribes Mission website. For contact information, see New Tribes Mission

Other Information

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