When the Nations Come to Us

Missionaries Hal and Laurie Wright are reaching Somalis in the U.S.

By Beth Holmes

Tutoring children in their schoolwork. Teaching adults to read. Befriending those new to the city. Sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus. In an average-looking house in a fairly average neighborhood in Kentucky, Mission Service Corps missionaries Hal and Laurie Wright* do extraordinary Kingdom work through their ministry to Somali refugees living in their city.

Hal and Laurie become animated remembering how they first learned about the opportunities to minister to Somalis. Laurie had just returned from a mission trip in the winter of 2003. When she walked in the door, she announced, “I found our people!” Although they’d felt God calling them to some type of mission work, before Laurie’s trip, the Wrights had not had a strong sense of who or where to serve. However, they now had a purpose, and began to formulate a plan.

Hal and Laurie heard that Somali refugees were living in their city, so they began searching for them. After several dead-ends, Laurie located a halal food store owned by ethnic Somalis. “We went in and just started trying to be their friends,” Hal recalls. Through repeated visits, they befriended the owner of the store. Eventually, the owner also opened a restaurant, where Hal and Laurie met a waiter who had just arrived in the United States. They showed the love of Christ to this man and his family by helping them adjust to life in the United States.

Until 2006, Hal and Laurie worked with the Somali refugees on their own, but in March 2006 they became North American Mission Service Corps (MSC) missionaries. Because MSC missionaries raise their own funds, Hal continues to teach school, while he and Laurie work at least 20 hours each week with the Somali people group.

Although they originally met ethnic Somalis at the halal food store, the Wrights also began to develop friendships and discover ministry opportunities with the Bantu people of Somalia, also known as Maay-speakers (see sidebar). Through their willingness to befriend families and to help them in practical ways—helping them file government paperwork, teaching English as a second language, taking them to the grocery store, and by just being good friends—many opportunities to share the gospel and start Bible studies have surfaced.

Abraham* is a middle-school boy who often visits with the Wrights in their home, stopping by for help with his math homework or for a peanut butter sandwich. One evening, Hal went to the apartment Abraham shares with his younger brother and his aunt to install a washing machine for the family. While he was working, Abraham noticed Hal’s daughter was wearing a shirt with a picture of Noah’s ark. The boys began asking questions about the animals, so Hal shared the story of Noah and the flood. The aunt and boys loved the story so much that Hal began to tell other stories, such as Daniel and the lions’ den, and the story of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego.

“Their language is not written, it is totally spoken, so the aunt was back, for a little while I think, in her element,” says Hal. “She’d probably been told stories all her life. So here was something she could connect to. She just loved them. I don’t know how many I told that night.”

On another evening, Hal and Laurie went to dinner with a Bantu couple who were expecting a baby. After dinner, they returned to the Wrights’ apartment, and Hal says, “We started talking to them about what they would do with the baby. We were making jokes, and I said, ‘Maybe you’ll put him in a basket and send it down the Ohio River.’” 

Of course, this horrified the mother-to-be, who exclaimed that she would never do such a thing to her baby. Realizing her confusion, Hal began to tell the couple the story of baby Moses.

Laurie recalls, “She said, ‘I know this story. This is a Muslim story. You know our story.’ And we said, ‘It’s our story. It’s in our book [the Bible]. This is our book.’” Before the evening was over, Hal and Laurie gave the Bantu couple the Bible they’d used to show them the story of Moses. Looking at the Bible, the Muslim Bantu woman replied, “This is good news.”

This Good News is the reason Hal and Laurie continue to balance work, ministry, and family. Laurie says, “Whether we’re working with Maay-speaking Somalis, or ethnic Somalis, or Americans, we’re going to have to be open to people around us, and learn how we can help meet their needs. Sometimes that means meeting their felt needs first so they can understand that they have a spiritual need. We’ve earned the right to be real with them because they’ve seen that it’s real in us.” The Wrights hope to eventually start a church among Somalis.

Hal concludes, “The bottom line is, we’ve got the truth and they don’t. It’s not an arrogance thing, it’s realizing that we’re safe and they’re in danger. It’s imperative that we share.” OM

Beth Holmes is a writer living in Owensboro, Kentucky.

 Facts about Maay Speakers:

• The term “Maay (pronounced my) speakers” refers to the various minority groups of Somalia (including the Bantu) that commonly speak the Af Maay language.

• The Maay speakers are 99 percent Muslim. There are only a few known Christians among this group throughout the world.

• The Maay speakers live predominantly in southern Somalia, but many have become refugees in other countries, including the United States.

• Since Af Maay is an oral language, the Bible has not been translated into this language.