Last week I took a trip to a section of Pal I have not been to before. It was a good long hike straight down a mountain, across a river, and straight back up a mountain on the other side, but the journey was well worth it. They received me well, we ate a delicious lunch together, and they had many questions about our work. Their first question was about when the literacy school was going to come to them. This led me to explaining a lot about our work and the reasons we are here (which would probably be beneficial for you to hear too).
I explained that the Pal people in our area were going to go to school first and then the school would eventually branch out to every other part of Pal. The goal of this school is twofold. First, the school is for the benefit of the community so the Pal people can become literate. But, another purpose of the school is for graduates to be able to read the Word of God. We want the people in our area literate first because here is where we’re going to share God’s Word first. When we begin teaching we’re also going to give the people hand-outs which review the lessons, include parts of Scripture, and have questions for further discussion. So, we want as many people literate in our area as we can before we begin teaching.
Eventually, we want to work with local guys to take Literacy to every part of Pal, and to take the teaching and the Word of God to every part of Pal. It was tough having to tell the people they need to be patient especially amidst their excitement for all of this to come their way. After I shared all this they asked if they could take this teaching and knowledge (when they get it) and take it to a neighboring language group with which they’ve intermarried. How encouraged I was to find that God already has these people thinking about outreach, even before they know the Father. How motivating it was for me, the missionary, to hear these lost people share their desire and excitement for literacy and the Word of God to come to them.
They had many more questions about our work and I answered as many of them as I could the best that I could. Pray that God would keep the work here moving swiftly forward. How we look forward to the day we will begin sharing God’s Word with them.
