“So what do we do the next time one of us dies and gets buried up on the mountain?” One of the men addressed the audience. “Do we scare our kids and tell them the dead spirit is now hovering around? We can’t now! We can’t hold fireflies anymore and ask them which dead spirit has sent them. God’s Word has shown us that death is final and our spirit will go away forever at that point. Now we know the truth. Now we can’t tell lies to our kids.”
Another man began to talk a little while later, “Another thing is that we have always thought that the clan spirits have always existed and were here from the beginning. But the teaching of God’s Word has shown us that God created everything that exists and He is the only one that has always existed. We have to throw out our old basket (our way of thinking) and get a new basket (God’s way of thinking).”
It is so encouraging to see God’s Word take root in the lives of those hearing God’s Word. We have heard so many people tell us that this is good teaching, that they have never heard the Bible this clear before, and that some of the things they have always wondered about are now clear. The amazing part is, we have only taught through Cain and Abel.
Thank you so much to those of you who are praying and sending the emails of encouragement (You all have no idea how huge those things are to us!). Some of you have asked some details about the teaching. We are teaching under a temporary shelter made of bamboo poles, corrugated tin, and a tarp in the middle of one of the Patpatar villages. We teach every weekday morning from 8:00 to 9:00 or 9:30 (that is 5:00pm the day before central US time (4:00pm when daylight savings is over) so you can pray for us as you are getting off of work every night). The people can come hear “God’s Talk” and then go to their gardens or work in the village. We are teaching chronologically from Genesis 1:1 up through the Gospels to bring the Patpatar to a clear understanding of God’s plan to redeem condemned man to Himself. This process will take us to about the first week of December to complete.
Praise points:
* There is a large number of “village” and “religious” leaders who are coming faithfully to the teaching. * Many of those coming are clinging to the truths they are hearing. * Good weather, good health, and few distractions.
Prayer points:
* There are many who are only coming occasionally and some who have not yet come to the teaching who are within a short walk of the meeting place. * Continued illumination by the Spirit of the Word to the hearts of the hearers. * “Grandma” the villages’ oldest woman is in very poor health and we are praying she will come to understand the Gospel before it is too late. * Rain – all our water tanks are very low, and the rivers where the people get water are getting dry.
Coming this week:
Noah and the flood – Only one door to escape judgment.
Tower of Babel – man’s failure to obey God’s command.
Introducing Abraham – God’s promises to Abraham for mankind.
So that God will be glorified among the Patpatar,
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee