We’ve had some great conversations this week and shared some of those stories on our podcast this past Friday. Check out this link villagebible.church/amdu to hear more of the details there. It’s ironic that on this Mother’s Day weekend we are preparing to teach the lessons about the fallout of our mother, Eve’s, fateful decision in the Garden of Eden and the disaster that Adam brought on our race by following her lead. The heart of these lessons and the point that we are praying comes out very clear is that humanity is hopelessly lost and we’re all helpless to save ourselves. But right there at the heart of these lessons, too, is God’s promise of a Deliverer and our introduction to the One who will overcome Satan.
Around the fire with one family this weekend it was very good to hear everyone echoing the sentiment that no branch broken off the tree can be put back again and produce fruit. This shows that the ground work is being laid well for understanding personal lostness. With another group of young men it was really good to see the sober look of understanding when this point was being applied to their personal situations. Another lady who is thinking ahead is already asking the question, “Is God going to help Adam?” For many Amdu people it is not the first time that they have heard these Bible stories, but it is very evident that they have not heard them explained well before. It’s like they are hearing them for the first time, and that is exactly what we have been praying for. Continue to pray that our friends would here this story with new ears and that they would grasp the implications personally.
Tomorrow we will be telling the story of Adam and Eve’s shame, fear and hiding from God. It’s the proof that, just like God said it would happen, Adam and Eve experienced death in their relationship with God because they went their own way. We are going to be hammering the point that while Eve was deceived she made her own willful decision to betray God. It is HUGELY important that our friends see this clearly. This is the foundation for them seeing that each person is culpable for their own separated condition before God.
We’d like you to be praying for some other specific needs. There are three families who are attending the teaching who are part of a bigger group who have decided to boycott our public meetings. These three families have decided to come anyway despite pressure from their group. Pray that they will continue to attend, grow and learn. Who knows how the Lord will use them in the future to be a light to their friends who aren’t coming.
We met with four young men over the weekend who haven’t been attending the teaching. We taught them some of the most important points from recent lessons and they really listened well. These guys represent a big group of young people who are easily distracted with the mundane and throw little energy after things that are meaningful. Pray that this little bit of exposure might draw some of them into regularly attending the teaching.
Living in the middle of the rainforest there are always “good” reasons for people to be gone from the village whether it is to start a new garden, gathering wild fowl eggs, harvesting sago palm or visiting buddies in their hunting camps. Pray specifically that our regular attenders would continue to make the hard choice to stay in the village during the week so they can continue to catch our morning classes. Prioritizing God’s word is a challenge for most Believers, so please pray hard that our friends would be gripped with the importance of what they are hearing.