On Monday morning we’ll start to teach about John the Baptist and get ready for the birth of Jesus. It is exciting for us to finally be able to share with them the truth about Jesus to replace all the lies they’ve heard over the years and to finally tell them how God has kept his promise to send a Savior.
As we’ve taught through the Old Testament we’ve shown them what God is like, how much he loves us, and how he hasn’t forgot his promise even though we are all sinners. We’ve taught them what the law says and how it can’t save us, and we’ve talked over and over about the punishment for sin and how it can only be paid by death – their own personal eternal death.
And the good news is that many of them are accepting what they’re hearing! A large group of faithful listeners has confessed to us that they agree that they are sinners and can do nothing to save themselves, and after the lesson about Jonah and the prophecies about the Messiah there was spontaneous applause and shouts of “Thank you!” as we ended the lesson by telling them that they would soon see all these prophecies come true in the life of Jesus.
We have heard reports of people refusing to participate in animal sacrifices in their villages, and we no longer hear about them doing “church” every night of the week to try to please God. We’ve heard them express joy and relief when they finally understand what the Bible means after years of believing something completely different about it.
We’ve even heard one or two of the lesson-writing helpers say that their fear and worry are gone. We believe they are ready for the New Testament and the message that it offers and we move forward with hope that many of them will soon join us in God’s kingdom!
Please continue to pray for them. Many are ready, but many are still trapped in darkness. They come to the teaching because they think their attendance will score them some points with God. Many are expecting to be baptized when it is over and for us to tell them that their sins are gone. Many are still holding out hope that we will tell them the secret formula for making God forgive their sins so they will be blessed materially while on earth and go to heaven when they die. And many just don’t care to come at all.
We know that the gate is narrow and few will enter it, but we also know that God often does things that seem impossible to us. So let’s pray continually, giving thanks to Him.
On a more practical note, we have a whole bunch of translation that needs to get ready to be checked next year, and we are almost ready to start translating Romans. (Yay!)
We anticipate teaching the last lesson of “phase 1” on November 14th, and then we will be working together with the community of believers to decide where we go from there – meeting once or twice a week, moving into phases 2-7 of Bible teaching, how to live as a body in obedience to God’s Word concerning his church – and we are only about a year from furlough now, so there’s lots to do!
Our family is doing great and enjoying good health, although Chris and I have been starting to look forward to a break from the tribe in January. It’s a busy, busy time, and we know we are blessed to be here. Thanks for your prayers.