A man walks into church with his machete and walks up to the front and begins talking about this (imaginary) good garden plot and then lays down a ‘sodo’ (pronounced: sun-duh). The sodo is how shared garden plots are typically divided up among different clans. Another man then walks in also carrying his machete and walks up to the front and also begins talking about the good garden plot, then sees the divider blocking him from part of the garden. He lifts his machete and angrily starts yelling at the man on the other side of the divider. As the hostility shoots back and forth over the divider the wide-eyed congregation watches on. Then another man comes and removes the divider so that both can share the same garden, and encourages them to shake hands. That little drama was how the Simbari Bible teachers chose to begin the service on Sunday morning to illustrate the truths of Ephesians 2:12-18. Afterwards as the Bible teacher taught through that portion of Scripture the Simbaris had a better idea of the kind of hostility that existed between the Jews and Gentiles before becoming one in Christ. As Gentiles the Simbaris were also without hope and far away from God but now through the blood of Christ they have been brought near to God. These are the kinds of truths that the two Simbari churches have been hearing as they study through the book of Ephesians verse by verse on Sunday mornings.
Another drama followed the next Sunday to further illustrate how the Gentiles were far from God and not allowed inside the Temple of God. Now they themselves are temples of God as described in Ephesians 2:19-20. We looked back at how God used to dwell inside the Holy of Holies but when Christ died the veil was torn from top to bottom and His dwelling place is now in the hearts of His people. From a tabernacle model that a team from GBC had just brought over the teacher used the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat to show God’s way of dwelling among man before Christ. But now in Christ,
“You are being built into a place where God lives through His Spirit” (Eph. 2:22)
A special thanks to the team from Grace Baptist Church who recently came to be an encouragement and help to the Simbari church (and to us). They faced difficult circumstances with their eyes fixed on Christ and were indeed a blessing.
We just finished reading a book that we’d like to recommend: What’s Going On Downriver? by Rob Greenslade. It’s about the Gospel reaching the Bisorio tribe where David visited in 1986 when he was first challenged to become a missionary. Shari also became interested in Papua New Guinea when she heard the Bisorio story.